LMBYE 8
He must respond with the coldest attitude to this green tea-flavored sticky cake that plays with people’s hearts!
As soon as he stepped out the door, Glasses Guy was nowhere to be seen. Ning Ci could only sip his soy milk and head toward Class 8.
"Did you see it last night? The ghostly shadows on the playground? It felt like there were even more than the last few days—so creepy!"
"Nope. Maybe it was just the shadows from the leaves when you looked down from your dorm window? From our balcony, we couldn’t see anything."
Ning Ci immediately understood—they were talking about last night’s dance crew.
"Damn, that was so messed up! Don’t let me find out who it was!"
"People like that are terrifying... Just thinking that one of my classmates might be the culprit gives me chills."
"Seriously, what the hell is the school doing? Why haven’t they caught the person yet? Don’t tell me it’s some top student from the Rocket Class, and they’re trying to protect them?"
Ning Ci had no idea what they were referring to. He entered Class 8 through the back door and immediately spotted the "lost" Glasses Guy already sitting at his desk, reading. Hanging from the side of his desk was the bag of boiled eggs he had bought.
"Yo," Tang Yuan greeted with a smirk. "You’re finally here? Sit down already."
Ning Ci was confused. Chen Jue chuckled and explained, "He’s just joking. You should’ve joined the entertainment industry—you naturally attract trending topics. You’ve only been here for a day, and the whole school already knows you. Even those who don’t know you have at least heard your name."
Only then did Ning Ci remember the heated discussion on the forum last night. "Oh."
Zhang Yang was more anxious than him. "Ci, how good are your grades, really? I totally went all out for you last night. I split my personality, argued with a bunch of people, fought seven rounds, defended your honor seven times, and completely annihilated them!"
Ning Ci: "..."
Chen Jue translated, "He means he created multiple accounts and got into a heated argument on the forum for you. He argued so fiercely that several people couldn’t out-debate him and ended up blocking him."
Zhang Yang, now free from his obsession with CEO romance novels, looked radiant. He had already decided that Ning Ci was "one of them."
"You’re the one using the ‘Ten Steps, One Kill’ account, right?"
"Yeah! ‘Jue Has No Rival’ is also me!" Zhang Yang proudly declared. "That was originally Chen Jue’s account, but his old username was too lame, so I upgraded it to something way cooler. Tang Yuan wouldn’t lend me his, stingy bastard!"
Tang Yuan: "..."
You really don’t know why I wouldn’t lend it to you?
Zhang Yang was fuming. "Those people were being so judgmental! It’s so unfair—they don’t even know you, yet they’re saying all that nonsense!"
Ning Ci appreciated the support. "Exactly."
"Some of them were saying the nastiest things, like they just stored up all their bitterness from real life and dumped it on innocent people. They’re definitely going to have bad karma!"
Now, this was something in Ning Ci’s area of expertise. He seriously responded, "That’s true. Holding grudges and speaking ill of others can accumulate negative karma, which eventually affects one’s fortune."
Zhang Yang finally showed his true colors. "So... are your grades good or not? I kinda bragged that you’d definitely rank in the top half of the grade."
Ning Ci, with his scholarly-looking face, replied, "Nope, they’re bad."
Everyone: "..."
Tang Yuan: "Zhang Yang, it’s not too late to delete your account and disappear."
Zhang Yang let out a strangled cry. "Damn it, why?!"
First High School was an elite institution that sent top students to prestigious universities every year. The rankings carried real weight. There were twenty classes in the second-year grade. Classes 1 and 2 were the Rocket Classes, and Classes 3–5 were the Experimental Classes. To be in the top half of the rankings, you had to be one of the top students in the regular classes.
Chen Jue added, "He said that if you don’t rank in the top half on the next exam, he’ll run three laps around the school shirtless and call those people from the forum ‘Dad.’"
"I don’t wanna acknowledge them as my dads!" Zhang Yang wailed.
Ning Ci suddenly realized that the reason the forum thread had blown up was probably because of Zhang Yang’s antics.
"This won’t do—we need to find someone to tutor you." Zhang Yang straightened up. "This is a matter of our class’s honor now!"
Many students in Class 8 were sneakily watching and nodding like crazy. Even though they didn’t know Ning Ci well, that hadn’t stopped them from jumping into last night’s forum battle. They had already placed their bets on him.
Tang Yuan rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. "But who’s gonna tutor you? Our class doesn’t have many top students—it’s mostly warriors, not scholars. There is one person, but he probably won’t help you. Better not ask and get rejected."
Ning Ci keenly asked, "Who?"
Tang Yuan motioned toward the second row. "That guy, Jiang Beiqing."
"Why? Does he hate me?"
"No, it’s not just you. I think he hates all of humanity." Zhang Yang lowered his voice as he badmouthed him. "That guy’s personality is ridiculously antisocial. He doesn’t talk to anyone except teachers, like speaking to us would lower his IQ or something. Don’t mess with him—you’re too nice. He might bully you."
Seeing Ning Ci’s expression, he quickly added, "Hey, don’t think we’re isolating him. He isolated himself from the whole class!"
"If he’s so smart, why is he in our class?"
Zhang Yang gave him a "how-could-you-say-that" look. "He was originally in the Rocket Class, but apparently, he was so insufferable that he got ostracized. Then he transferred to the Experimental Class, but things didn’t go well there either, so he ended up with us. He barely lasted a week in those classes, but here in Class 8, he’s somehow been ‘peacefully’ staying for nearly a month. Even our bald teacher seems to like him the most."
"Maybe his good grades come from eating so many eggs?" Ning Ci finally asked the question that had been bugging him all morning.
Zhang Yang gave him a "you-can’t-be-serious" look. "That much cholesterol would fry a normal person’s brain. He probably doesn’t like people, but he seems to like animals. He buys a bunch of eggs every day—probably to feed the school’s stray cats."
"Either way, you can’t lose. If you make me run naked, I’ll lose all my chances at romance forever." Zhang Yang teared up. "I talked you up so much, dude. I said you were a hidden dragon, just waiting for the right moment to soar!"
Tang Yuan ruthlessly quipped, "Yeah, but our Class 8 pond doesn’t have any wind or clouds. How’s he supposed to fly?"
"That hurt, man."
Ning Ci lowered his head, deep in thought. Something felt off.
Reality was ironic. A socially awkward genius got pushed out of the elite classes but found a place in the so-called "troublemaker" class. Meanwhile, Class 8 students, labeled as rich brats, weren’t actually that bad.
Ning Ci looked around. This classroom was supposed to be a lucky spot, yet the energy was all wrong.
"Who’s on cleaning duty today?" he asked.
Chen Jue thought for a moment. "Oh, it’s Lou Zhengdu. He’ll handle it when he gets here."
"I’ll do it," Ning Ci said.
As his classmates watched in shock, he got up, cleaned the blackboard, then grabbed a broom and started sweeping.
When Lou Zhengdu finally arrived, he saw Ning Ci holding a workbook, asking Jiang Beiqing questions.
Lou Zhengdu's face darkened.
He must respond with the coldest attitude to this green tea-flavored sticky cake that plays with people’s hearts!
When he comes back, no matter how he uses his charm to charm people, he will respond to him with a thunderous look!
As for the dumplings that I bought after queuing up so hard? Even if he threw it, he wouldn't even let Ning Ci eat a bite.
Zhang Yang, who had been secretly watching his elder brother for a long time, asked weakly: "Brother Lou, you didn't sleep well last night again? You look too bad... How about you lie down for a while? Anyway, my desk mate has finished the duty for you."
Lou Zhengdu: "..."
Lou Zhengdu: "What did you say?"
Zhang Yang chuckled: "Don't you find that the classroom is very clean? It feels that the visual range is wider and it's very bright."
Zhang Yang saw his brother Lou's handsome face change several times, and finally he grunted out a word.
"Put this thing on my desk on Ning Ci's desk."
The author has something to say:
Xiaolou, who thought his wife had run away: I would rather throw away the steamed buns than let that sticky cake spirit have a bite! hateful! !
Xiaolou, who found out his wife had helped him clean up, said: Please put the buns on my wife’
s table, thank you.
