As Xu Lin resumed school, he instantly felt that school was a good place, although there were also bad students. But here is truly the cleanest place in one’s life, aside from home. In society, one has to face many challenges.

In the new week, he continued with his regular routine of attending classes, exercising in the morning, and writing in the evening.

He also occasionally visited Teacher Guan to learn music. In order to balance his studies and writing, he spent 20,000 points to increase his intelligence, successfully reaching 7.2.

Although he originally had seemingly plenty of 75,000 points, he now only had 30,000 left.

Fortunately, Miss Ji’s favorability increased to 40 after their heartfelt conversation that night, making her the third person besides the two sisters in the Chu family to reach 40 favorability, earning him a large sum of 25,000 points.

In other news, Bai Xiao Xiao’s mother was discharged from the hospital, and after taking a day off to take care of her father, she returned to school.

Chu Qingchan is busy preparing her song recording at Teacher Guan’s place, while Chu Fengyi temporarily left Linshui due to company matters but would return in a few days.

Teacher Su continued with her normal work routine, inviting him to have a meal together and taking a photo to show her parents, while also tempting him to come home for dinner.

On Saturday afternoon, the afternoon classes for the second-year high school students were changed to mock exams for Chinese, mathematics, and English, leaving some people happy and others worried.

Those who excelled in studies and those who struggled were happy—one wasn’t afraid, and the other wouldn’t perform well anyway.

Mock exams were shorter than regular classes, allowing them to finish school earlier.

However, those with average grades were a bit confused— if they don’t perform well, they would have to deal with their parents and teachers.

“Everyone, you have 30 minutes to prepare. This mock exam, we won’t change classrooms, you’ll take the exam in your original seats. Don’t cheat, the surveillance is on.”

The teacher also reminded from the podium. Everyone took out their textbooks. As the saying goes, ‘sharpen the axe before chopping the wood’. Of course, if you’re originally a wooden stick and not metal, no matter how much you sharpen it, it won’t be very sharp, naturally, you still won’t pass.

Just as Xu Lin was bored looking at his Chinese textbook, Li Bin gently pulled him.

“What’s up?”

“Xu Lin, Ma Zhiyu didn’t come today.”

“Yeah, he didn’t come the day before yesterday either. I sent him a message asking, but he didn’t say anything.”

Xu Lin also recalled the strong smell of smoke on Ma Zhiyu last time. He himself doesn’t smoke.

Although Ma Zhiyu isn’t a very good student, he isn’t a bad kid either. He had never been in a fight and didn’t stir up trouble.

But recently, he skipped class twice. The teacher called his parents to come, but they didn’t find out anything.

He hasn’t talked to the two of them recently either. Xu Lin had planned to have a good chat with him, but he didn’t come again today, something was wrong.

“Xu Lin, I’ll tell you something after the exam.”

“Okay.”

Ji Yun on the side was also reading with her head down, but her attention was completely focused on Xu Lin’s side, but she only heard something about Ma Zhiyu not coming.

“Xiao Jiyun, are you daydreaming again?”

“Ah? Zuo Yan, I’m just reading.”

“But you’ve been on this page for almost 5 minutes, right?”

In an instant, Ji Yun felt embarrassed and buried her face in the book.

“Don’t be shy. How far have you and Xu Lin progressed?” Zuo Yan felt that these two must have something going on recently. A while ago, Ji Yun had some feelings for Xu Lin, but now it must be different from before, more intimate.

“What progress? What step?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Zuo Yan reached out sneakily and grabbed her waist.

“Haha, it’s ticklish… Zuo Yan, stop messing around, we haven’t even gotten to bed yet.”

“…”

Zhuo Yan heard what Ji Yun said, and she stood there in a daze. After a few seconds, she trembled and said, “You’ve changed, Ji Yun.”

“What do you mean by ‘changed’?”

“I mean, I asked if you kissed him, and you just put yourself straight onto the bed!”

“Zhuo Yan, I thought… Oh, never mind, don’t tease me.”

Ji Yun couldn’t hold it in either, she directly used a book to cover her face, pretending to be serious.

“Okay, okay, but Ji Yun, to be honest, at our age, don’t be too impulsive, or you might regret it.”

“Okay, I understand. I haven’t even talked to him as a friend yet, maybe he doesn’t like me anymore?”

“Huh? Although Xu Lin looks good, I don’t think he can find a girl who is prettier and more outstanding than you!”

Ever since Zhuo Yan got to know Ji Yun, she felt that there was no better girl than her desk mate in the world. It’s not just about looks, personality matters too.

“Do you think Chu Qingchan is pretty?”

“Are you talking about that ice-cold goddess?”

“Yes.”

“She’s pretty, but it’s different. You don’t wear makeup, and you have to consider your own strengths. You’re smart, with a great personality, you’ll definitely win!”

After hearing Zhuo Yan praise her like this, Ji Yun couldn’t help but laugh, but the next moment she thought of Chu Qingchan.

Actually, that night, after she finished talking with Xu Lin and went back, she was caught red-handed by someone, who clearly hadn’t fallen asleep.

However, that person didn’t mention anything about Xu Lin, still chatting with her so gently.

She’s not foolish; she can sense that Chu Qingchan definitely likes Xu Lin, but it seems they’re not officially a couple.

Ji Yun is not the gentle and kind goddess in everyone’s eyes; she’s just an ordinary girl who wants to compete instead of giving up.

She approached Xu Lin on her own, was it really because of her parents’ situation? It’s seeking comfort for herself, shamelessly hiding under the covers.

But she’s happy and content, yet she won’t compete with any girl who likes Xu Lin using unethical means.

Because she doesn’t want to define her relationship with Xu Lin now; she has more important things—study and her parents.

But she also doesn’t want to give up. She suddenly feels that, emotionally, she’s grown up a bit since that day, but Xu Lin doesn’t need to know about it.

If one day he chooses another girl, she’ll quietly step back. She won’t be overly saddened, nor will she let him know that she has been hurt.

The afternoon exam went smoothly; the underachievers slept, the high achievers finished early, and the average students scratched their heads.

At 5 p.m., with a bell, the exam was over. Xu Lin greeted Ji Yun but didn’t wait for her to go back together. With his backpack on, he walked to the end of the corridor with Li Bin.

“Is it about Ma Zhiyu’s situation?” Xu Lin asked as soon as he came up.

“Well, Xu Lin, do you think Ma Zhiyu is our good friend, our bro?”

“Of course, we’ve been in the same class since junior high, it’s been almost 5 years.”

“Ma Zhiyu might have been threatened.”

“Wait, what? Threats? Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s about Ma Zhiyu. He stole someone else’s girlfriend, who seems to be a second-rate figure in the underworld.”

“Damn! Are you serious?”

“I am.”

“I can’t believe it. That guy who looks like a gaming shut-in actually snatched someone’s girlfriend who is from the underworld!?”

“I can only say he’s impressive! But are you sure it’s not just a rumour?”

“Well, I heard they’ve been out on dates several times…”

“Li Bin, I feel like we’re really embarrassing. Ma Zhiyu actually got a head start in the romance game before us!”

“Yeah~ No, Xu Lin, what do you think we should do about this matter?”

“But even so, it’s normal for him to be beaten or something, but what’s with this not coming to school?”

“I’m not sure about that. Maybe we should call the police first…”

“I don’t think so. Hold on, let’s go directly to him and see what’s really going on?”

“Okay, I’ll make a call and ask first!”

“Good.”

[T/N: The chapter name is actually “登dua郎” in chinese. But I don’t know how to translate this. So changed the chapter name.]


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