The look he gave Song Yu left him a little confused. A reward?
Oh, right. Since we met over summer break, I've been pestering Xie Sui with questions without giving him anything in return.
That won't do.
Brother Yu never takes things for free.
Song Yu leaned over and asked enthusiastically, "Then what do you want?"
With Song Yu so close, Xie Sui could see his eyelashes clearly and feel the warmth of his breath.
Xie Sui suddenly smiled and winked at him, like a hint at some unspoken understanding.
Song Yu froze briefly. He rarely saw Xie Sui make such a boyish gesture, fresh and bright as forest mist and the morning breeze.
Xie Sui pulled a sheet of paper from his drawer and took out a pen. Surrounded by the clamor of students reading aloud, he wrote a line for Song Yu.
[Tell me what was bothering you just now?]
Xie Sui's handwriting was beautiful, neat and elegant, yet his strokes were firm.
Song Yu gave him a puzzled look. So the reward he wanted was the answer to this question?
What's that supposed to mean?
But many things felt easier to write down than say aloud. Holding the pen, Song Yu thought for a moment, then wrote a reply.
[I don't really like our homeroom teacher.]
At the answer, Xie Sui's hand paused around his pen, and he chuckled.
Given Song Yu's family background, getting a teacher replaced in Jing City would hardly be difficult. Was someone like Ou Yilian worth worrying over?
He wrote.
[So?]
What Song Yu thought was, So I need to find a way to get rid of her. But Xie Sui already saw him as an ignorant delinquent who only knew how to fight. He had to salvage his image.
[So I'm going to study hard and slap her in the face.]
But halfway through passing his note, the Chinese teacher intercepted it.
The Chinese teacher had come to supervise morning reading. Xie Sui excelled in every subject, and Class One would largely be relying on him to pull up its average score, so naturally every teacher paid special attention to him.
The moment he entered, he saw Song Yu passing a note to pester Xie Sui. His brows knitted as he ambled over, grumbling disapprovingly, "Morning reading means reading. How is it morning reading if you don't read aloud? What are you passing around? Let me see."
The entire class had fallen silent when the teacher entered. They lowered their textbooks and looked over.
"N-nothing."
The note contained complaints about their homeroom teacher. How could Song Yu let him see it? His expression changed, and he instinctively tugged. With a ripping sound, half the paper tore off.
Holding the remaining half, the Chinese teacher read aloud, "So I'm going to study hard and slap her in the face?"
The whole class burst out laughing.
Song Yu: "..."
The Chinese teacher paused. He hadn't expected Song Yu to have that kind of determination. "Whose face are you going to slap?"
Song Yu's expression stiffened slightly.
Beside him, Xie Sui had already raised his hand to rescue him, amusement in his voice. "Mine."
The Chinese teacher's eyes widened slightly. Of course he didn't believe it-the note said "her," not "him." But with matters between students, there was no need to push too far. Kids this age cared about saving face.
He didn't force Song Yu to hand over the rest, either, merely frowned and scolded, "Don't pass notes during morning reading. You deskmates sit together all day long. What could you possibly still have left to say?"
The rest of the class struggled to hold back their laughter.
Song Yu: "..."
After the teacher left, Ma Xiaoding kept laughing, then asked Song Yu from behind, "Brother Yu, there are still weeks until the monthly exam, and you're already declaring war on God Xie?"
Song Yu glared at him irritably. "That's right!"
Xi Bowen held his pen beside Xie Sui like a microphone. "A question for God Xie: how do you feel about this challenge from City A's top student?"
Xie Sui's lips curved. "Deeply honored."
Ma Xiaoding clapped. "Brother Yu is fucking awesome. School bully and top student, all in one. Jingcheng No. 1 High School's daddy on both fronts."
A real academic failure and fake top student, Song Yu snapped in embarrassment, "Shut up."
The monthly exam was one of the more important events in Song Yu's high school life. He needed something to show his parents in City A. If he scored another 350, his parents would probably think he was wasting his time in Jing City, doing who knew what, and decide he might as well come back where they could keep an eye on him.
When homework was collected after morning reading, Song Yu realized he had forgotten to bring his.
The Chinese class representative was the girl who had asked about domains last time. She was pretty and especially gentle. "I can wait for you. Do you want to go back and get it now? There should be enough time, right?"
Song Yu lived in the teachers' apartments. A round trip would take at least half an hour, and he remembered the assignment was only three hundred characters. He might as well write another on the spot. "Thanks, class rep. I'll just write another copy. What was it about again?"
It was the Chinese class representative's first time talking to him, and she had been tense. Discovering how approachable Song Yu was left her both dazed and delighted. Blushing, she said softly, "You're welcome, you're welcome. It's about your plans and goals for the new semester."
Song Yu said, "Okay."
What did I write yesterday...?
Oh. I copied something off the internet.
Although Song Yu was working hard to become a top student, journals and essays had never been his strong suit.
"Let me see yours."
Song Yu turned to his deskmate for help.
Xie Sui declined with a smile. "I'm afraid not. Mine won't be any use to you as a reference."
Song Yu said, "We're both fifteen- or sixteen-year-old high school students. What do you mean? Looking down on me?"
Unable to resist him, Xie Sui handed over the paper on his desk.
Song Yu took one look and nearly blacked out with anger.
Xie Sui's plan for the new semester wasn't three hundred characters long. It probably wasn't even thirty.
One clear line sat at the top of the page:
Help my deskmate take first place in the city.
Song Yu: "..."
He's only being this brazen because his grades are good and the Chinese teacher won't do anything to him, isn't he?
Song Yu was very unhappy with his plan. "You're going to help me surpass you?"
Xie Sui said, "Yes."
Song Yu said, "And nothing else?"
Xie Sui smiled. "That's right. You're my only plan this semester."
Song Yu: "..."
The Chinese class representative, waiting beside them to collect their homework: "!!!"
After the cold school heartthrob had shattered her girlish heart when she asked him a question last time, she had become a shipper.
What was this now?
The actual couple handing out sugar in real time?
Being smart means you don't have to work hard? Seething with envy, Song Yu decided to give him a proper lecture. "How can you act like this? Do you want to study properly or not? Do you want to get into University A or not?!"
Ignoring his anger, Xie Sui smiled and said, "Aren't you going to hurry up and write?"
Only then did Song Yu remember that the class representative was still waiting. He turned to her. "Hold on. Give me fifteen minutes."
The class representative couldn't suppress her smile. "It's fine, it's fine. I can hand it in next period. Take your time with God Xie."
I'd happily wait another hour!!
Seeing his look of bitter resentment, Xie Sui kindly offered, "Shall I give you some ideas?"
Song Yu's eyes lit up. "Like?"
Xie Sui said, "First goal: start the semester by becoming the school bully."
Song Yu said, "...Shut up."
With things having progressed this far, Song Yu had to accept Friday's challenge at the Book Mountain Building whether he wanted to or not. It was his own fault for getting click-happy that day over summer break, opening the No. 1 High School forum, and making countless enemies. Today there was a Gao Feng; tomorrow there might be a Feng Gao. He might as well claim the school bully title and strike fear far and wide.
Why did I have to become a troll in the first place-but if Dad hadn't called out of nowhere and made that monthly exam agreement, why would I have been angry enough to pick fights online?
So, Dad, it's all your fault your son is becoming the school bully instead of studying.
You can take the blame.
The thread "Final Battle Atop Book Mountain" had remained at the top of the trending list for days.
Especially after "Your Husband Brother Yu" replied, the excitement reached a fever pitch.
Year Two, Class Fifteen.
It was Gao Feng's first time receiving so much attention, and he was overexcited. Sitting in the classroom, he bragged happily as a crowd questioned him.
"Honestly, I haven't even taken it seriously. Song Yu looks like a little girl. He'd probably fall over if I so much as moved a finger."
"No need, man. Ah, there really wasn't any need for this to blow up so much. Hahahahaha."
For all his talk of "no need," he was grinning from ear to ear.
Chen Zhijie, who had dyed his hair back and was sitting obediently in the last row doing homework, sneered.
Gao Feng heard him and turned around smugly. "What are you laughing at? Were you ever this impressive when you were the school bully?"
Chen Zhijie said nothing.
He looked at him with pity, as though looking at an idiot utterly unaware of his own stupidity.
Gao Feng grew angry. "What's with that look? Want a fight?"
Chen Zhijie ignored him completely and stood up to hand in his homework.
Fools had their own good fortune. Fucking idiots didn't.
Gao Feng sat there cursing.
The classroom remained noisy. By now, practically everyone had decided Song Yu was the troll Yu Mou. The boys egged Gao Feng on, urging Brother Gao to teach him a lesson.
The girls kept rolling their eyes.
One girl sitting by the window stood apart from it all. Her long, glossy black hair fell straight down her back, and beneath her school uniform jacket was an expensive white dress. She had fair skin, light makeup, and an elegant air. She was Class Fifteen's class beauty, and quite a few classmates had crushes on her, including Chen Zhijie.
"Xinxin, did you see that thread?"
The girl sitting in front of her had a few freckles on her face. She deliberately struck up a conversation, unable to hide the ingratiation in her eyes.
Bai Xuexin glanced at her.
The freckled girl continued, "I heard there's an eighty percent chance Song Yu is Brother Yu! Wow! Who would've thought Brother Yu, who's so good at roasting people online, would be so delicate and cute in real life!"
Bai Xuexin knew something about what was happening on the forum, but to her, it was all childish and ridiculous, like children playing house.
Conscious of her status, she felt her outlook was different from that of other girls her age.
"Just a troll. Is he worth paying attention to?"
Bai Xuexin spoke coolly.
The freckled girl smiled awkwardly and turned back around, having made herself unwelcome.
Bai Xuexin lowered her head and opened a text on her phone. It was from her younger aunt, who had married into City A's Xu Family.
[Xinxin, do you know someone at your school named Xie Sui? You'd better get closer to him. This young man's background is no ordinary one.]
The Bai Family held a respectable position in Jing City, but they were insignificant compared with City A's powerful wealthy families.
If even her aunt, who had married into the Xu Family, called his background extraordinary, then it truly was.
And she'd heard he was the new school heartthrob, too. Really, a perfect match for her.
Bai Xuexin's lips curved happily.
That evening, in his room, Song Yu sat at his computer, considering how to word his complaint. Unless absolutely necessary, he still didn't much like using the Meng Family's influence to handle school affairs. If his father heard he'd encountered a terrible homeroom teacher as soon as he arrived, he'd probably call again to urge him home.
Song Yu felt that if Ou Yilian didn't undergo some ideological cleansing, she would be disgracing the teaching profession. She would surely hold back even more people in the future.
He thought of how, in the book, Wang Ci had harassed Xie Sui relentlessly, even degrading him as a person, while Ou Yilian had turned a blind eye and dismissed everything as minor squabbling between classmates.
It made Song Yu angry.
While he was fuming,
an email suddenly appeared on his computer.
The sender was anonymous.
He opened it to find documents on Ou Yilian's previous teaching experience, along with several screenshots: a personal account from a female student whom she had driven into depression and several suicide attempts.
Song Yu froze. Ou Yilian was even worse than he'd thought?!
Author's note: Changing names is such a hassle (ノへ￣,). Do you all look down on my naming skills that much???
The scum will be gone soon, and a wonderful school life will begin~
Thanks to the little angels who sent me special gifts or watered me with nutrient solution~
Thank you to the little angel who sent [Deep-Water Torpedoes]: Wo Ya, 2;
Thank you to the little angel who sent [Rocket Launchers]: Preserves Aren't Too Sweet, 1;
Thank you to the little angels who sent [Grenades]: Preserves Aren't Too Sweet and l Qin q Cuan Jiu, 1 each;
Thank you to the little angels who sent [Land Mines]: Wo Ya, 4; Conic Curves Nine Winding Loops, Jin Feng, Yin Yun, Wild Pretty Boy, Ying Ying Ying, Wandering Poet, Clear Skies After Rain, Zhu and Pig, Yu Chen, Ink-Stained Expressive Face, Liang Que Zhi, Begone Mercury Retrograde!, Do You Know soura, and l Qin q Cuan Jiu, 1 each;
Thank you to the little angels who watered me with [Nutrient Solution]:
Do You Know soura, 40 bottles; Mint-Flavored Pork Belly and I've Figured It Out, 20 bottles each; Better Go Home and Lower the Curtain Hook, 17 bottles; Peach Blossoms Fill the Islet and s, 12 bottles each; Little Angel Hanyu_yu, Ketchup, Clear Skies After Rain, and Dawn Moon, 10 bottles each; Heard of Qin Er and Secluded Bamboo Grove, 7 bottles each; Jiang Family Sweet Orange, 6 bottles; Outsider., Candy in My Pocket, Shadow Dream Floating Life, Umbrella, Ink-Stained Expressive Face, and Little Rice Cake 030, 5 bottles each; Shu He, 4 bottles; Qiancheng Xing, Qi Zi, and 67, 3 bottles each; Flustered, Hey_Young Man!, You Huo's Earring, Huaqu Liu, Hanghang Comes to Read, Mo Yue, Lamplight~, Ginger Hater, and Jin Nan, 1 bottle each;
Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard! Thanks to the little angels who sent me special gifts or watered me with nutrient solution~
Thank you to the little angel who sent [Deep-Water Torpedoes]: Wo Ya, 2;
Thank you to the little angel who sent [Rocket Launchers]: Preserves Aren't Too Sweet, 1;
Thank you to the little angels who sent [Grenades]: Preserves Aren't Too Sweet and l Qin q Cuan Jiu, 1 each;
Thank you to the little angels who sent [Land Mines]: Wo Ya, 4; Conic Curves Nine Winding Loops, Jin Feng, Yin Yun, Wild Pretty Boy, Ying Ying Ying, Wandering Poet, Clear Skies After Rain, Zhu and Pig, Yu Chen, Ink-Stained Expressive Face, Liang Que Zhi, Begone Mercury Retrograde!, Do You Know soura, and l Qin q Cuan Jiu, 1 each;
Thank you to the little angels who watered me with [Nutrient Solution]:
Do You Know soura, 40 bottles; Mint-Flavored Pork Belly and I've Figured It Out, 20 bottles each; Better Go Home and Lower the Curtain Hook, 17 bottles; Peach Blossoms Fill the Islet and s, 12 bottles each; Little Angel Hanyu_yu, Ketchup, Clear Skies After Rain, and Dawn Moon, 10 bottles each; Heard of Qin Er and Secluded Bamboo Grove, 7 bottles each; Jiang Family Sweet Orange, 6 bottles; Outsider., Candy in My Pocket, Shadow Dream Floating Life, Umbrella, Ink-Stained Expressive Face, and Little Rice Cake 030, 5 bottles each; Shu He, 4 bottles; Qiancheng Xing, Qi Zi, and 67, 3 bottles each; Flustered, Hey_Young Man!, You Huo's Earring, Huaqu Liu, Hanghang Comes to Read, Mo Yue, Lamplight~, Ginger Hater, and Jin Nan, 1 bottle each;
Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard!