Class 1 of the first year was on the sixth floor. When Song Yu and Ma Xiaoding walked in, the classroom was already packed and buzzing with chatter.
Gentle Control had introduced this class: its students either had outstanding grades or came from wealth and power.
Many of them had known each other since middle school and sat together. The girls were dressed stylishly, and the boys wore designer brands from head to toe.
One glance at their bearing and clothes was enough to sort them into ranks.
As for the students admitted on grades alone, most sat in corners. School had yet to start, but thick stacks of books already covered their desks. Wearing glasses and clean but plain clothes, they looked a little stiff and awkward, somewhat out of place in the lively room.
Ma Xiaoding had been famous at Experimental Middle School, a troublemaker who did whatever he pleased. Quite a few people recognized him.
Now, seeing him follow a very good-looking boy, the atmosphere in the classroom immediately shifted a little.
Song Yu looked around and spotted the books Xie Sui had told him about, set out by the window in the back row. Xie Sui himself, however, was not there.
Song Yu glanced over. "Let's sit there."
"No problem. Whatever you say, Brother Yu."
With instructions from his old man, Ma Xiaoding naturally had to stick close to Song Yu at all times.
Besides, he quite liked Song Yu-he came from a better family than anyone Ma Xiaoding had ever known, yet he had no airs whatsoever. His heart was set entirely on studying. What a hardworking, diligent rich second generation. A thumbs-up for Brother Yu.
Quite a few girls in the classroom glanced their way, exchanged looks, and chatted in their girls' group on their phones.
[What day is it today? A romantic encounter right at the start of school? This is the second one, right?]
[Oh ho, let's not beat around the bush, girls. I want to date him.]
[Which one?]
[Ei! Ther! One! Works! For! Me! The first one nearly made my knees give out when he walked in. He can be my husband. This one's so handsome I'm going blind. He can be my guy bestie. I see no problem with that [toothy grin]]
[Dream on. Wake up. You have to leave at least one for me [smirk]]
[No, wait. Hottie Number Two's seat is a little strange.]
[Holy shit! He sat next to Hottie Number One!]
[My life is complete, girls. Hehehe. If I can't have a man, no other woman gets to have him either. Hot guys belong with hot guys.]
[Trash fujoshi, get out of the group. You're getting kicked [knife][knife][knife]]
[Men in real life are so fake. Come love Brother Yu with me instead. Have an online romance where you go it alone, he's a scumbag, and you're blind [manual doge]]
[Go it alone, he's a scumbag, and you're blind, hahahahaha. That's our Brother Yu.]
[Brother Yu: Please don't, girl. I'm not falling for that.jpg]
"Scumbag Brother Yu" was now stepping past Xie Sui's seat to sit by the window.
Toward the back, against the wall-back when he had been in school, this had been the VIP spot for poor students.
Sleeping in class, playing on his phone during evening self-study: every condition was perfect.
Ma Xiaoding naturally sat behind him, full of curiosity and anticipation about this new environment.
Raring to go, he even greeted his deskmate enthusiastically. "Hi."
The boy with the buzz cut and black-framed glasses: "..."
Fuck, isn't this our old school bully from Experimental Middle School?
The boy's hand shook around his thermos. On the verge of tears, he said, "H-hello, Brother Ma."
Ma Xiaoding was delighted. All he wanted was to get along with his deskmate. "No, no, no. We're brothers, don't be so formal. Just call me Xiaoding."
Unable to voice his misery, the boy said, "Hello, Brother Ma."
After sitting down, Song Yu felt utterly peaceful.
His mind was now filled with that "monthly exam agreement" with President Song. No amount of noise around him could disturb his determination to study. He took out his worksheet and pen and continued battling those two brothers, sin, cos, tan, and cot.
For a moment, the classroom suddenly fell silent for several seconds, all for the beautiful boy by the window who was already scribbling away during their very first evening self-study session.
Light spilled over his face, giving him a soft halo, like a filter.
When Xie Sui returned from the office with a stack of papers, what he saw was Song Yu's profile as he sat quietly doing homework in the seat beside his.
His long lashes were lowered, his skin dazzlingly pale as he held his pen and racked his brains.
So well-behaved... it made one's heart itch.
Xie Sui's dark eyes stilled. In a sense, Song Yu's presence accounted for half the reason he had stayed in Jing City to obediently play the part of a high school student.
He stepped over with his long legs and set his speech on the desk.
Noticing the movement, Song Yu looked up. "You're finally back."
Xie Sui's fingers paused against the desk, and he smiled faintly. "Mm."
Song Yu held out his worksheet. "Quick, tell me why this angle is 135 degrees."
Xie Sui: "..."
And so, the moment he sat down, Song Yu eagerly dragged him into the world of high school trigonometry.
For Young Master Xie, who had graduated from a prestigious university in his previous life and returned to take direct control of the Xie Corporation Financial Group, this truly was a novel experience.
Under Song Yu's eager gaze, he silently took the pen, thought for a moment, then gave an inscrutable smile. "Song Yu, it's been a long time since I explained a problem to anyone like this."
Or rather, he never had.
I understand, Song Yu thought. I understand your entire tragic past. But what matters right now is why this angle equals 135 degrees.
"How about looking at my calculations first? I keep getting 45 degrees."
Whenever he drew close, there was that indescribable scent, fresh and clean, like shampoo.
Xie Sui took the pen and paused.
He had no experience explaining problems, so he could only treat Song Yu as an opponent across the negotiating table.
After glancing at Song Yu's work, he thought-
*This opponent is more difficult than any I've ever faced :)*
"Did you invent this formula yourself?"
"What a brilliant approach. A normal person wouldn't dare think that way."
"Did you actually attend middle school?"
The boy's voice was cool and clear, his casually delivered words piercing the heart like arrows.
Song Yu: "..."
Fuck!
He's no longer that sweet, shy boy from Linshui!
Seeing Song Yu's lowered eyes and visibly dejected expression, Xie Sui paused, adjusted his tone, and said, "But it's not entirely without merit."
Song Yu's ears twitched. His battered confidence showed faint signs of coming back to life.
Xie Sui said, "At least your solution managed to fall into every trap this problem set. That's quite an achievement too."
Unable to stand it any longer, Song Yu planted his hand on the desk in the impotent fury of a poor student. "I just want you to tell me why it's 135 degrees! Can you get to the point?"
The corners of Xie Sui's lips lifted. Reining in his mischievous streak, he wrote three lines of formulas on the worksheet.
"Like that. 135 degrees."
Song Yu's poor-student rage vanished just as quickly. He quietly took back the worksheet and really did plug in the numbers himself.
Meanwhile, behind them, Ma Xiaoding and Xi Bowen stared wide-eyed, their jaws practically on the floor.
After chatting with the former middle school bully, Xi Bowen was no longer quite so tense. He asked haltingly, "Your Brother Yu loves studying that much?"
Ma Xiaoding was stunned by the atmosphere between Xie Sui and Song Yu. Song Yu's love of studying, however, was nothing unusual to him. He murmured, "Of course. Brother Yu's the kind of man who went to buy textbooks first thing after arriving in Jing City."
Xi Bowen's eyes lit up. "Wow! Then Brother Yu must've been a top student in City A too."
Song Yu finally calculated 135. All was right with the world.
His mood improved, he heard them talking about him behind him. Twirling his pen, he turned around and asked mildly, "What are you saying about me?"
Ma Xiaoding immediately sold out his deskmate. "He said you must've been a top student in City A."
Song Yu's lips twitched. A top student with 350 points-he hardly deserved the honor.
But facing the sparkling admiration in young Xi Bowen's eyes-
Song Yu clicked his tongue inwardly. Brother Yu, who might lose but would never concede, accepted the title for now.
"I did all right. I didn't even get 800 on the high school entrance exam. Hardly a top student."
Ma Xiaoding: "Wow!!!"
Xi Bowen: "Wow!!!"
Xie Sui's lips curved in a half smile.
Didn't even get eight hundred.
Did you get four hundred on your entrance exam, Yuyu?
Xi Bowen's nickname in middle school had been Bookworm, and he naturally admired anyone who did well academically. His face flushed with excitement. "City A's maximum score is 850, just like ours, right? Brother Yu, you're amazing! How far off were you? Seven hundred and eighty-something?"
Song Yu coughed. "A little short. Don't bring it up. It's a painful memory."
Ma Xiaoding was enthusiastic too. "Seven hundred and what, Brother Yu?"
Song Yu said, "I told you, it's a painful memory. I don't want to talk about it."
A little short of eight hundred.
Don't ask. If you ask, it's a little short!
Four hundred short is still a little!
Xi Bowen sighed, taking this as the genuine sorrow of a top student. Cupping his face, he said, "Then, Brother Yu, now that you've dropped into Jing City, are you going to compete for the city's top ten?"
Getting addicted to pretending to be a top student, Song Yu leaned back and smiled as he twirled his pen. "Why stop at the top ten? I'm taking first place."
Xi Bowen, once again: "Wow!!!"
Though Ma Xiaoding had complete faith in his young master, he still found this scene far too awkward. He tugged at Song Yu's sleeve and whispered, "Brother Yu, don't say it so loudly. The city's number one is sitting right beside you."
Song Yu scoffed, stopped twirling his pen, and turned to Xie Sui. "I'm going to rank first in the city."
Xie Sui's peach-blossom eyes curved, gentle and elegant. "All right."
Song Yu said, "I'm about to overtake you. Scared?"
Xie Sui readily played along, saying mildly, "Scared."
Before Xi Bowen could recover from the shock that the city's number one was also sitting in front of him, Song Yu's outrageous display stunned him all over again.
Ma Xiaoding, too: "..."
Young master, aren't you being a little reckless?
While they were stunned speechless-
Song Yu was already perfectly composed.
"See? I said I was going to work hard, and even the city's number one got scared. What about you?"
"..."
What else could Ma Xiaoding and Xi Bowen say?
"Scared, scared, scared, scared, scared, scared."
Whatever makes you happy, Your Highness.
Also, why did he keep feeling that the way Brother Yu and Xie Sui interacted was so strange? Even explaining a problem was like flirting!
Had his innocent little straight-boy mind become dirty?