Suave.
Before Jiang Chi could react, Song Zhiyan punched him in the face. Jiang Chi staggered back two steps, his eyes turning vicious.
Shen Zhao failed to notice entirely. He grabbed Song Zhiyan. "Yan Gouzi, beat him up!"
Song Zhiyan pushed Shen Zhao away, pulled his uniform jacket's zipper all the way down, and stripped it off, tossing it straight onto Gu Wang's head. "Wangwang, hold this for me."
Gu Wang said, "..."
Gu Wang pulled Song Zhiyan's jacket off his head. How come he hadn't been this hotheaded in high school? They'd barely exchanged a few words, and the boys in front of him had already turned into fighting roosters, ready to start pecking at a single command.
He grabbed Song Zhiyan's T-shirt and pulled him back, then stood up, shielding both Shen Zhao and Song Zhiyan behind him. He flashed Jiang Chi a toothy smile. "Jiang Chi, what do you want?"
Song Zhiyan gaped, utterly baffled. "Wangwang, what's this supposed to mean? Why talk when you can settle it with a fight?"
Shen Zhao immediately chimed in. "Yeah, exactly!"
Gu Wang said, "..." He wasn't a combative person. In high school, he'd been one of the popular kids, and his smooth-sailing life had been almost entirely free of upheaval or conflict. Even the school's notorious troublemakers had called him their buddy.
As for this novel's male lead... strictly speaking, he was only three years younger than Gu Wang, putting them roughly in the same age bracket. Becoming buddies like Shen Zhao and Song Zhiyan might be difficult, but clearing up their animosity and making peace shouldn't be too much of a problem, Gu Wang thought.
"I don't like fighting."
The moment Gu Wang finished speaking, an iron fist came flying straight at his face.
Jiang Chi was an athlete. He looked lean with his clothes on, but underneath, he was all muscle. That punch nearly took half the pampered young master's life.
Caught completely off guard, Gu Wang took the blow head-on. He bent over, clutching his face, and heard Jiang Chi's arrogant voice ring out beside his ear. "I don't want anything. Today's just a warning. Keep pestering him, and you won't get off with just one punch."
By "him," he meant He Qinghuan.
Jiang Chi hadn't expected Gu Wang to be so easy to deal with today. He'd always been weak, but he'd also been a fucking nightmare to fight, using every shameless, dirty trick imaginable, from hair-pulling and biting to grabbing his dick. This was the first time he'd just stood there and taken a punch.
Looking at the boy clutching his face, Jiang Chi sneered, turned, and walked away.
Gu Wang recovered, his vision a blur. He saw blood all over his hand! Jiang Chi had actually given him a bloody nose with one punch!
That was the last straw!
He'd hit him back first and worry about the rest later!
He snatched up Song Zhiyan's uniform jacket and wiped his face, smearing blood across half of it. His face filled with ferocity, making him look like a vicious thug. Once he'd finished wiping, he picked up the basketball from the floor and hurled it hard at Jiang Chi, who was about to walk out of the classroom.
Jiang Chi's back went rigid. He slowly turned around, his expression icy.
"You motherfucker!" Gu Wang launched himself at Jiang Chi at a fifty-meter sprint. Thrown off balance, Jiang Chi fell flat on his back. Gu Wang grabbed his collar, his fists raining down in a flurry.
Everyone in the classroom was stunned by the sight.
Shen Zhao and Song Zhiyan froze too. Shen Zhao turned toward Song Zhiyan and mumbled, "Didn't Wangwang just say he didn't like fighting?"
Song Zhiyan scoffed. "When have you ever seen him run into Jiang Chi without fighting?"
Author's note: Gu Wang: Studying and fighting, I've got both covered.
Chapter 5
The teachers' office.
Wearing glasses, Li Shuya was marking assignments. Without looking up, she said, "Gu Wang, do you know how many times this makes this week?"
Gu Wang didn't know. Those were the Original Host's sins.
When she heard no response, Li Shuya put down her pen and turned her chair toward Gu Wang. He'd washed his face before coming to the office. His damp hair lay against his forehead, and his eyelashes were wet too, clumped together with water. He actually looked rather pitiful.
But that was all appearances. She couldn't speak for anyone else, but Gu Wang certainly wasn't pitiful. He was a little tyrant who ran wild at school.
Gu Wang hadn't originally intended to fight the male lead. He genuinely hadn't expected him to be so violent. He'd never been hit growing up; he'd been doted on his whole life. When had anyone ever beaten him like that? Not even inside a book was that acceptable.
He refused to believe he couldn't handle a high schooler.
Besides, his conflict with the male lead wasn't over anything else. It mainly stemmed from He Qinghuan. As long as Gu Wang stopped pestering He Qinghuan, Jiang Chi wouldn't even deign to spare him a glance.
So Gu Wang wasn't worried at all that Jiang Chi would hold a grudge over the fight. He'd already worked through the implications before throwing a punch.
She sighed, drew a sheet of A4 paper from a stack of documents on her desk, and handed it to Gu Wang. "Take a look."
Gu Wang took it and discovered it was a grade sheet.
He searched down the page for his name and successfully found himself in the final row. Total score: 121.
How had the Original Host managed that?
Seeing the shock on Gu Wang's face, Li Shuya thought there was still hope for this child. At least he wasn't indifferent like before. Apparently, entering his final year of high school had given him a sense of urgency.
"About your fight today, I can let you off without calling your parents and just have you write a self-reflection, but..." Li Shuya paused, her expression serious. "By the next monthly exam, you must raise your total score to 200."
Gu Wang said, "..."
An exceedingly complicated expression appeared on Gu Wang's face. Mostly, he hadn't expected that one day his target would actually be 200! For his total score, no less!
Thinking he found it too difficult and beyond his reach, Li Shuya reassured him. "Don't think I'm being harsh. It's not that I'm asking too much of you. There's only a year left until the college entrance exam. You must pick up the pace. You can't fall too far behind your classmates. How about this..."
She considered it for a moment, then said, "I'll have He Qinghuan tutor you."
Hearing that Li Shuya wanted He Qinghuan to tutor him, Gu Wang refused without a second thought. "There's no need, ma'am. I can do it myself. I can score two hundred."
He could barely handle Jiang Chi alone. Add the completely unfathomable He Qinghuan, and Gu Wang would surely be headed for another dead end. His current plan was to stay as far away from those two as possible. Getting them together as a couple as soon as possible wasn't out of the question either.
Li Shuya was baffled by his resistance. The entire school knew about Gu Wang's very public pursuit of He Qinghuan. Why wouldn't he want He Qinghuan to tutor him now?
Seeing her puzzled expression, Gu Wang lowered his head and explained, "Mostly, I'm afraid that if I'm with the class monitor, I'll be even less inclined to study..."
Li Shuya said, "..."
With his head lowered, he didn't notice someone enter amid the office's constant stream of people. Almost everyone in the office looked over as soon as that person came in.
Except Gu Wang, who was still keeping up his act.
"Ma'am, these are the assignments you set in class this afternoon." The newcomer's voice was low, yet in the scorching air, hearing it somehow brought a hint of cool clarity.
Gu Wang, however, shuddered all over. He stole a glance at He Qinghuan out of the corner of his eye.
He Qinghuan's uniform sleeves were rolled a third of the way up his forearms. His fingers had well-defined joints, his nails were neatly trimmed, his wrists were slender, and the lines of his muscles flowed smoothly. Gu Wang recalled the novel's description of He Qinghuan. This person had almost no flaws.
Nor was he merely the male lead's white moonlight. He was white moonlight itself, loved by many.
They loved his lofty, unattainable air and his cool purity, untouched by worldly dust.
As an outsider and observer, Gu Wang simply found people like He Qinghuan frightening.
Naturally, the other two knew nothing of Gu Wang's thoughts. Li Shuya took the assignments from He Qinghuan and thanked him for his effort, her voice impossibly gentle. Looking at him, she teased, "I was just talking about having you tutor Gu Wang, but surprisingly, he refused. He said he didn't want to take up your time."
Li Shuya had a way with words. Gu Wang had clearly meant he didn't want to waste his own time, not He Qinghuan's.
He Qinghuan's expression remained unchanged after hearing her words. He didn't even glance at Gu Wang, merely offering a perfunctory response. "Is that so?"
Li Shuya didn't realize just how indifferent He Qinghuan was. He was considerate in everything and got along well with everyone. Only Gu Wang heard how thoroughly his answer was steeped in mockery and disdain.
The novel described He Qinghuan as looking at Gu Wang like he was garbage. Who would treat garbage kindly?
Li Shuya looked between the two students a few times and said, "Gu Wang, if there's anything you don't understand, ask He Qinghuan more often. His thinking is very clear. It'll definitely help your studies."
Jinyang High School didn't take an excessively hard line against teenage romance. Developing feelings was human nature. As long as students knew their limits and teachers kept an eye on things, sometimes even a good thing could become a bad thing.
Li Shuya understood He Qinghuan. She knew her student wasn't someone easily influenced by outside factors, which was why she felt comfortable entrusting Gu Wang to him. If He Qinghuan could give Gu Wang a hand, that would truly be wonderful.
But now, it seemed Gu Wang had no such intention. She wasn't someone who liked forcing others, either. If Gu Wang wasn't willing, she'd let it go.
Gu Wang nodded and said he understood.
He couldn't refuse everything.
Satisfied with his answer, Li Shuya waved the two of them away.
Gu Wang and He Qinghuan left the teachers' office one after the other. Gu Wang caught up with He Qinghuan. "Wait."
There was no one else in the corridor. He Qinghuan still kept his emotions well under control, only asking mildly, "What is it?" That was, if one ignored the flash of darkness in his eyes.
Gu Wang saw all of it. Facing He Qinghuan, he inexplicably felt his knees go a little weak.
He took two steps back and said slowly, "Don't worry. I won't pester you anymore."
Even Gu Wang cringed after saying it. What kind of idol drama line was that?
He Qinghuan was half a head taller than Gu Wang. He lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over Gu Wang's face. For the first time, he saw such clear, candid eyes on him.
"Is that so?" He Qinghuan withdrew his gaze, tossed out those indifferent words, and turned to leave.
He's improved. Learned how to act.
Author's note: Everything our Wangwang does is wrong. There, there.
Chapter 6
The self-reflection had to be handed to Li Shuya before Sunday's break. Gu Wang only started writing it on Saturday evening.
Writing a self-reflection was essentially the same as writing an essay: a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning explained what had happened, the middle admitted fault and sucked up to the school, and the ending declared one's commitment and looked ahead to a bright future. Before transmigrating into the book, Gu Wang had been a top student. Writing a self-reflection was a piece of cake.
But this self-reflection took Gu Wang a full hour, because he also had to imitate the Original Host's handwriting, which was horrifically ugly. Gu Wang had practiced calligraphy since childhood and had long since developed his own style. Even though he'd tried his best, a close look still revealed traces of his brushwork slipping through unintentionally.
He finished and blew on the page, only then realizing that Song Zhiyan had disappeared at some point. He sent him a WeChat message asking where he was, then switched off his phone without waiting for a reply, intending to hand in the self-reflection first.
She'd said before Sunday. He couldn't put it off any longer. In the novel, the Original Host never wrote self-reflections. He was someone who completely disregarded school rules and discipline.
Change would start with writing a self-reflection!
Gu Wang found it funny himself. Since when had writing a self-reflection counted as progress? Not to mention, he was the one who'd fought that day. It had absolutely nothing to do with the Original Host.
He placed the self-reflection on the desk in front of Li Shuya. She stopped him, saying she had more to tell him.
Li Shuya picked up the self-reflection, skimmed it briefly, and set it aside again. She folded her hands in her lap, feeling somewhat heartened. Even if Gu Wang still didn't like studying, at least he was beginning to recognize his mistakes and write self-reflections, wasn't he? She'd nearly given up on this student.
Looking at Gu Wang, she said earnestly, "Gu Wang, you know, before you can become accomplished, you have to become a decent person. I don't expect you to reach the heavens in a single step. Take your time, and I'll be here as you change. All right?"
When Li Shuya saw Gu Wang nod after a moment's hesitation, she smiled sincerely.
Looking at her, Gu Wang couldn't help feeling moved. Any other teacher faced with a student like him would surely be thoroughly fed up, repeatedly urging him to withdraw so he wouldn't drag down the class average or the school's college admission rate.
But Li Shuya wholeheartedly wanted every student to do well.
Gu Wang left the teachers' office and ambled down the corridor toward the classroom.