Heaven's Favorite

Early the next morning.

In the office, Pu Yu tactfully conveyed Yuan Su's response to the physics teacher.

After hearing her out, Teacher Wang said nothing for a long time.

"You can head back now, Pu Yu," Cheng Siyi said softly, glancing at her.

"Yes, teacher."

Pu Yu turned and left, keeping her footsteps light.

She had barely closed the door when a heated argument broke out inside.

"He's wasting his talent!" Teacher Wang's voice trembled with restrained agitation. "That approach to solving the problem isn't something an ordinary high school student could come up with!"

"Teacher Wang, please calm down..."

"How am I supposed to calm down? Teacher Cheng, look at this problem!"

"He used the Lagrangian Method from university physics. I'd wager there are hardly any high school students in this entire county who could even understand it!"

Pu Yu stopped outside the door, her heart suddenly beating faster.

"But he doesn't want to enter the competition. What can we do?" Cheng Siyi sighed. "Tie him up and drag him there?"

The office fell silent for a long time.

Teacher Wang's voice sank. "Such a promising student. How could he..."

Pu Yu couldn't make out the rest.

She returned to the classroom, her steps a little unsteady.

Registration for the Physics Competition closed on Thursday afternoon.

Teacher Wang made a point of waiting an extra half hour in the office.

But the person he was waiting for never appeared.

He sighed and slipped the other students' prepared documents into a file envelope, unable to hide the disappointment in his eyes.

Late September.

Tingnan Middle School held its first monthly exam for the senior year.

A tense atmosphere hung over the entire grade.

As was school custom, students were assigned to exam rooms according to their rankings on the previous exam.

The highest scorers went to Classroom One, with everyone else arranged in descending order.

As a transfer student with no previous scores on record, Pu Yu was assigned directly to the last exam room.

The exam room for the infamous "slacker class."

It brought together the lowest-scoring students in the grade, the ones least interested in studying.

As it happened.

Yuan Su was in this room too.

He sat directly behind Pu Yu.

Since he often skipped exams or handed in blank papers, he was also a "regular" here.

The exam bell rang.

The invigilator had barely finished handing out the papers before a whole swath of students slumped over their desks.

Snores rose and fell all around, and some students even secretly tossed notes and whistled.

Pu Yu sat by the window, tuning out the distractions around her.

Pen in hand, she studied the questions intently.

Chinese and English were her strengths, and her answers flowed effortlessly.

Yet in this classroom, where even the air felt lazy and chaotic, her seriousness stood out sharply.

"Hey, new girl. Slip your buddy a few multiple-choice answers, will you?"

The slouching boy diagonally behind her lowered his voice, making no attempt to hide his mockery. "You're not getting into Qingbei no matter how much you write. Why not help us guys out instead? I'll look after you from now on."

As soon as he finished, a crumpled ball of paper arced through the air and struck Pu Yu squarely on the shoulder.

Pu Yu paused, her brows drawing together, but she didn't turn around.

The boy, however, seemed to take her restraint as a sign that she was an easy target.

"Tsk. Won't even acknowledge us. Pretty stuck-up, huh?"

Several muffled snickers came from the back row.

Then another, larger paper ball flew toward her.

Smack-

This time, it hit her ear hard enough to hurt.

Pu Yu called for the invigilator twice, but received no response.

A low ripple of laughter spread through the classroom.

The invigilator sat at the front, turning a blind eye to the chaos below. As long as they didn't start fighting or cause a scene, they could do as they pleased.

Pu Yu's fingers tightened around her pen until they went slightly white. Just as she was about to stand up and snap back, a piercing scrape of chair legs against the floor came from behind her.

Screech.

The boys who had been grinning and joking abruptly fell silent.

Sensing something, Pu Yu turned around.

At some point, Yuan Su had straightened up in his seat.

He toyed with the paper ball that had accidentally bounced back toward him, an unfathomable chill radiating from him.

"Whose is this?" Yuan Su asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Zhao Qiang froze at the question, an inexplicable unease creeping over him.

Though Yuan Su's family had fallen on hard times and he had become a "jinx" everyone avoided, the wild, ruthless streak in him still frightened the school's delinquents.

Besides, even a fallen giant was still a giant.

Yuan Su had once been one of the school's most prominent figures. That kind of presence didn't simply disappear.

"M... mine," Zhao Qiang admitted, forcing himself to answer. "Blame the girl in front of you. She kept ignoring us. That's why the paper bounced over."

Yuan Su said nothing. He merely lifted his eyes and gave Zhao Qiang a cold glance.

The next second, he flicked his wrist.

Thwack!

The paper ball slammed into Zhao Qiang's eye.

Zhao Qiang clutched his eye with a yelp, the pain nearly bringing tears to his eyes.

Humiliated, he snapped in fury, "Yuan Su! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Yuan Su remained seated, barely shifting his posture. He only tilted his head slightly, his expression cold and world-weary, a deeply mocking smile curling his lips.

"Having fun?"

Those few words carried an overwhelming sense of menace.

"We're all just coasting through school. Who the hell are you trying to impress?" Zhao Qiang swore, but didn't dare charge over and fight him.

Ignoring that barking, Yuan Su reached out and picked up the blank exam paper on Zhao Qiang's desk.

Bracing a hand on the desktop, he rose, turned slightly, and leaned casually against its edge, holding the paper before his eyes.

He leisurely inspected the blank sheet in his hand, then-

Tore it up and crumpled it into a ball.

"Yeah, it is pretty fun."

Though he wore the same uniform as everyone else, Yuan Su still seemed like heaven's favorite, standing on a podium and looking down on the world.

"If exam papers aren't enough for you, there are bricks outside."

His fingers loosened, and the paper ball struck its owner squarely.

"Want to try?"

Zhao Qiang's expression changed instantly.

He knew Yuan Su would do it.

A man with nothing to lose feared no one, and Yuan Su was now a fucking lunatic with nothing to lose.

"All... all right, Su. I was wrong, okay?"

Zhao Qiang gritted his teeth and backed down, sinking into his seat. "I'm done messing around. Going to sleep."

The exam room instantly went quiet.

Even the whispers disappeared.

Yuan Su coldly dropped the ruined exam paper, ready to return to his seat.

As he turned, his steps paused for half a second.

Pu Yu was looking up at him.

Her eyes, so clear they seemed almost transparent, were filled with surprise.

Yuan Su didn't meet her gaze. He sat back down with a cold expression, as though he had only intervened because the boy had disturbed his sleep.

Could he still sleep?

Not anymore.

For the remaining exams, Yuan Su never put his head down again.

The sky above Tingnan Middle School was gray and dull, with nothing worth looking at.

Every so often, he glanced at his paper and casually filled in a few answers.

The cheap gel pen spun between his fingers, leaving blurred trails in its wake.

He was rotting in this mire.

Yet he would not allow anyone to splash filth on the only person still struggling to get out.