The bet

Morning reading was always especially noisy, with everyone reading something different. Without the unusually active minds of children this age, adults would probably feel dizzy and overwhelmed after just a few minutes in that environment...

After thirty minutes of morning reading, the teenagers were all brimming with energy. Adults really could hardly compare...

Although Qin An should have been the same, he genuinely felt rather uncomfortable. He wondered whether he should skip morning reading in the future, though that would probably wipe out the little impression he had given Qin Huai last night that he had turned over a new leaf...

Watching Qin An yawn, Li Hao still could not accept it. Wasn't he just relying on his father being the homeroom teacher? That was how he had gotten the seat beside Sun Sun. And Li Hao had seen Sun Sun's bashful expression just now, which made him, newly awakening to romance and gradually coming to understand matters between boys and girls, feel especially miserable...

Because Sun Sun had not looked that way because of him, but because of Qin An...

Only yesterday, he had suffered Qin An's humiliation. Now he did not even dare turn around to look at the blackboard display, always feeling that those maxims were stabbing at him every moment...

Li Hao had rushed to school early that morning. While the classroom was still empty, he had taken out a dictionary and looked through it, finally identifying all the unfamiliar words Qin An had written. Even so, he still could not understand how those English sentences could be translated that way...

He did not dare question whether Qin An had translated them incorrectly, either. He lacked that confidence. It seemed he was no longer the student with the very best English grades in the year...

"I heard Qin An's pretty good at English..." Li Hao's deskmate, Liu Yang, was also watching Qin An. Having gone through the entire morning reading session without opening a book, Qin An certainly stood out...

The striking column of ornate English lettering on the blackboard display was impossible to miss. Previously, Li Hao had always written the English corner, but this time nobody thought he had done it. The students who had arrived early had all asked around, while Li Hao had only hemmed and hawed... Only after Ye Xiaohua arrived at school did the story spread: that new transfer student, Qin An, actually had such beautiful handwriting. Ye Xiaohua's meaning became slightly distorted, turning into a story that Qin An had replaced Li Hao in writing the English corner because his English grades were better...

"What good is being good at English... The high school entrance exam covers seven subjects, not just English... I reckon that's the only subject he's relying on to keep him afloat. He'll still end up at the bottom..." Li Hao deliberately raised his voice. "He'll probably even drag down our class average..."

Li Hao was not quiet, and class had just ended, so he immediately drew plenty of attention. Those who had heard about Qin An replacing Li Hao in writing the English corner yesterday all understood whom he meant...

With a bunch of half-grown children staring at him in all sorts of ways, Qin An could hardly pretend not to have heard. He would not get much satisfaction out of taking Li Hao down a peg, but in a new class, among a group of children, he had to do something to hit back...

Otherwise, they would not recognize Qin An's attitude as disdain or disregard. They would only think he was weak and easy to bully, bringing him more trouble...

Sun Sun frowned. The clear skin of her radiant face shifted with the movement, revealing a trace of seriousness. "Qin An, Li Hao has a point... Your strength in English can't make up for how far behind you are in your other subjects..."

"I have plenty of other strengths, too. I sing pretty well, I used to be amazing at marbles, and I'm a master at making slingshots. Give me an iron hoop to roll and I'll be gone in a flash, all the way from the south end of town to the north without stopping. Nobody can hit me with a beanbag, and I'm unbeatable at whipping tops. You'd be dizzy from watching before I'd even blink..." Qin An sighed, recounting his glorious history without the slightest blush, as proud as if he had placed first in the entire year. He was also the legendary figure who was the only person in the dormitory building capable of making a slingshot that could break a third-floor window from outside the courtyard...

"Are you still a little kid? You're already in ninth grade!" The things Qin An mentioned were all games only elementary school children were enthusiastic about. Aside from singing, Sun Sun had no interest in any of them...

Li Hao burst out laughing. "Including your English, those strengths of yours do make exactly seven subjects. If next week's placement test covered those seven subjects, you might even make the top three in our class..."

Hearing Li Hao say this, Liu Yang, who did not particularly like the look of Qin An either, laughed along. Several girls who were close to Sun Sun also gathered around, covering their mouths as they giggled...

"You laugh like a funnel. Aren't you afraid you'll give yourself a stitch..." Qin An glanced at Li Hao, who seemed to feel he had vented his anger and humiliated him, and said with a smile, "Why don't we make a bet? Whatever seven subjects they test-singing, marbles, making slingshots, rolling iron hoops, beanbags, whipping tops, or Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, politics, and history-I'll place in our class's top three in more subjects than you..."

"What did he say? Has he lost his mind? Does he think the placement test really covers those little kids' games?" Li Hao's increasingly unrestrained laughter grew even more brazen. Qin An really had lost his mind. He was Class 69's academic monitor, and generally, only students with outstanding grades could hold that position. If Qin An could score better than him, Class 68's homeroom teacher would never have kicked him out...

Sun Sun also looked at Qin An with some displeasure. Although she thought he was rather thick-skinned, he should not have been someone who made wild boasts. She had not expected him to provoke Li Hao like this and invite humiliation...

"Just tell me whether you dare." Qin An ignored everyone else and stared straight at Li Hao...

Qin An's stare made Li Hao uneasy, and his smile gradually faded, but he was not afraid to bet against Qin An. "If you place in our class's top three in more subjects than me, I'll let you be academic monitor!"

"You don't get to decide who becomes academic monitor. You need to understand that... If you lose, you just have to agree to do one thing for me..." Qin An casually took out his chemistry textbook as he spoke, no longer looking at Li Hao...

"Fine, I'll take that bet!" Li Hao did not ask what Qin An would have him do. The possibility of losing never even crossed his mind. "If you lose, stop sitting next to Sun Sun!"

"Teacher Qin assigned me to sit with Qin An. What does that have to do with either of you?" Listening to Li Hao and Qin An compete had already left Sun Sun rather irritated. When Li Hao dragged her into the conversation, she could not help losing her temper...

At Sun Sun's expression, Li Hao began to stammer and lose his nerve. Qin An, however, patted the back of her hand without a care, his eyes narrowing into slits as he smiled. "Don't worry. I'm absolutely delighted to sit with you. Why would I change seats? You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried..."

Sun Sun shuddered and snatched her hand back as though she had been shocked, both embarrassed and angry. Getting mixed up with this thick-skinned Qin An was truly bad luck. With those words, he had made it sound as though she had lost her temper because she was worried he would no longer be able to sit beside her, as though she could not bear to part with him...

Seeing Qin An's grinning face, Li Hao was also filled with anger. He made up his mind to study hard over the next few days and widen the gap between himself and Qin An as much as possible. Once the results came out, he would see how Qin An still had the nerve to sit beside Sun Sun...