Old Master Lu was confused. “Study…companion?”
Before he could ask further, Lu Huaiyu switched the topic, not wanting to talk about him being someone’s companion for studying.
“Cheng Xiyue is back. I’ll talk to you later. I’ll go visit you and Grandmother when I have the time.”
“You little—”
Lu Huaiyu hung up the phone and looked at Cheng Xiyue.
“It’s fine that you hung up on your grandfather, but why did you use me as an excuse?” Cheng Xiyue might have to suffer Old Master Lu’s wrath when he meets the man in the future.
Lu Huaiyu consoled him, “It’s fine. It’s not the first time anyway.”
Cheng Xiyue was speechless. He wanted to curse out loud but did not know whether he should speak his mind. He sized Lu Huaiyu up carefully and thought of what he had called himself over the phone. He could not help but giggle.
“A study companion? How did you come up with that? Does Little Ning Li even know that you are accompanying her in her studies?”
Lu Huaiyu raised his brows. He stared at Cheng Xiyue with a slightly dangerous gaze.
In return, Cheng Xiyue lifted his chin arrogantly. “Sigh. I’m just sending Meng Jiang’s records to the station on your behalf. Don’t you turn your back on me now.”
Lu Huaiyu nodded. “Thank you.”
With his connection and methods, dealing with a small gangster like Meng Jiang was a piece of cake. However, he wanted to solve the matter as soon as possible, so he asked for Cheng Xiyue’s help to gather evidence for the police.
For the time being, Meng Jiang was held in police custody.
“The guy is quite young, but he’s committed a lot of crimes.” Cheng Xiyue sounded heavy as he recalled the records he had gone through earlier.
Although Meng Jiang came from a normal background, he was fierce when it came to fighting.
Cheng Xiyue learned that the guy had stopped Ning Li and harassed her. Fortunately, things had gotten under control. Otherwise…
“Oh, I found out that Meng Jiang had something to do with Dai Li.”
Lu Huaiyu frowned. He checked on Dai Li before and did not find any connections with Ning Li. Therefore, he did not expect Dai Li to be connected to Meng Jiang. “Is Dai Li a part of this?”
Cheng Xiyue shook his head. “Meng Jiang didn’t snitch on him, so there’s no evidence. It’s going to be difficult if you want to press charges.”
Lu Huaiyu went silent for a moment as his long fingers tapped on the table softly. “Yesterday, Ye Ci said she wanted to buy a book. That’s why she brought Ning Li into that alley.”
…
At Second High, Meng Jiang’s expulsion stirred up quite the commotion in both Second High and Seven High.
He was notorious to start with, plus he was arrested because he had broken the law, so it was natural for him to become the hottest topic.
However, the incident whereby he had tried to stop Ning Li and harass her did not seem like it happened because no one was talking about it.
Ning Li returned to her seat after a quick chat with He Xiaochen. She sat down and took her books out, not seeming intrigued by the gossip at all.
Ye Ci looked at Ning Li a few times. The scene of Ning Li throwing Meng Jiang to the ground kept replaying in her mind. She heard that Ning Li used to get into fights back at Lincheng, but it was her first time seeing Ning Li beat someone up in person.
When Ning Li had grabbed Meng Jiang’s hair and slammed his head to the ground, she had appeared extremely cold and ruthless.
The thought alone gave Ye Ci chills.
The class teacher, Geng Haifan, came in. He knocked on the board and said, “There’s a monthly test coming up this Thursday and Friday. Are you guys ready?”
The class groaned in misery.
“On top of that, similar to the previous test, our class will rearrange the seating for the upcoming tests.”
The higher one scored, the higher chance one would have to select his or her favorite seat. It was an old tradition in Second High’s third year because it was considered a form of exciting entertainment to the students.
Lin Zhouyang sobbed and turned around. “Brother Pei, Brother Qian, you guys must keep a place for me behind you!”
It was hopeless for him to get a seat beside the two geniuses, but it might be less demanding to request a seat close to them.
Ren Qian kicked Lin Zhouyang’s chair. “Go away! This is all up to you. Why does it have anything to do with us?”
Lin Zhouyang looked aggrieved. “I’m not good enough to call the shots!”
Due to his scores in English, he ranked last in the class. He was only able to stay in the first class because his other subjects were above average.
Ren Qian felt disgusted. “Go away! Shoo! Shoo!”
Everyone knew that Lin Zhouyang was trying to get a seat close to Ye Ci but was too embarrassed to say it, so he used the two geniuses as cover.
After all, the few of them always ranked close to each other in exams or tests.
Cheng Xiangxiang tapped Ye Ci’s hand. “Lil Ci, why are you looking at Ning Li?”
Ye Ci recovered from her blank stare. “It’s nothing. I’m just thinking about the monthly test. Sister Ning Li should be the last to enter the exam venue, right?”
The seating venue of the monthly test was arranged based on the previous monthly test ranking.
Ning Li was a transfer student, so she had never taken the previous monthly test. She had nothing in her records yet, so she would be placed in the last venue.
Cheng Xiangxiang pouted. “Who cares about her? No matter which venue she gets, she either knows how to answer the paper or not at all.”
“Hey, can you help me with these few questions?”
Her result was considered below average in terms of the first class standards. She must be feeling immense pressure from all the competition.
Ye Ci thought about it and said, “Your foundation in Physics is rather weak, and you have a few days left. If you just study at the last minute, I don’t think you can make it. Why don’t you go to our class monitor and ask him to help you?”
Cheng Xiangxiang believed it was a good idea.
After class, she took her book to Pei Song. “Monitor, what do you think will be in the upcoming Physics paper? Can you give me some tips and tell me which part is important?”
Pei Song was doing exercises in his book. He looked up at Cheng Xiangxiang and glanced at the book in her hand. He simply said, “Everything is important.”
Ren Qian swiftly looked down, trying his best to hold his laughter back.
Embarrassed, Cheng Xiangxiang said, “B-but, there should be some important parts and some less important parts, right? I am going to skip the difficult parts and focus on the easier ones—”
Pei Song slightly paused and said, “Difficult parts? Which one do you mean?”
Ren Qian cleared his throat and decided to join the conversation while holding his laughter back. “Cheng Xiangxiang, Brother Pei has finished studying high school physics by himself. How would he know which part is difficult?”
To a genius, everything seemed equally easy.
Embarrassed, Cheng Xiangxiang clenched her teeth and left.
Ye Ci went up to her and consoled her.
The bell rang and it was time for the next class—Mathematics.
As usual, Ning Li left through the back door.
Cheng Xiangxiang was furious. “Why should I be scared? There’re still Lin Zhouyang and Ning Li taking the last place!”
…
Thursday arrived in the blink of an eye.
The entire third-year building was rearranged into a big exam venue; with each venue housing 30 students.
Ning Li got her exam identification and went to the last venue on the west side of the building. There were already some students at the venue, and when she entered, they went quiet.
Ning Li turned a blind eye and walked to the last spot in the last row.
A while later, the seat to her left was pulled out.
A tall young man sat down at the small table that could barely contain his long legs.
Screech!
The young man leaned back in his chair.
“Hey, you,” the young man called out to Ning Li.
Ning Li turned around.
The young man had fairly tanned skin, but he looked sharp and rigid with a buzz cut. He smiled at Ning Li. “Can you lend me a pen?”
Ning Li scanned over his table and realized that he came in empty-handed, so she gave him a black ballpen.
“Thanks.” The young man took the pen and moved closer to Ning Li. “You are the new transfer student in first class, aren’t you? Can you show me your answers later?”
