Not a chance!
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Xie Ruan couldn’t hold back and lifted his foot to kick him. The seats were cramped, leaving Bo Jin nowhere to dodge. Just as he instinctively reached forward—
Both of them froze.
Bo Jin had caught Xie Ruan’s ankle.
Xie Ruan was tall, slender, and had thin ankles—strong, not fragile like a girl’s but defined by clean, bony structure.
Bo Jin lowered his gaze.
Xie Ruan seemed like he was blessed by the heavens; not only was his face well-crafted, but even his ankles were beautifully shaped, with smooth, delicate lines and a lean build, soft yet refined.
The light fell from above, casting a soft glow on his skin, like fine porcelain, making it hard to look away.
Bo Jin’s Adam’s apple shifted, and his eyes darkened.
The boy’s palm was scorching hot, radiating a searing heat. The area where he was held burned intensely, as if the warmth seeped into his body through the skin, creating a strange sensation.
Xie Ruan shivered, struggling to pull back, and hissed, “Let go!”
Bo Jin paused and slowly looked up.
The light reflected in his dark, narrow eyes, as if flames were dancing there.
Staring into that penetrating gaze, Xie Ruan felt his skin prickle with unease, even the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.
What was this? Did he actually want to fight?
He couldn’t be this petty, right? It wasn’t like he hadn’t kicked him before!
As he mulled over these thoughts, Bo Jin’s hoarse voice reached his ear.
“Behave yourself,” he said.
With that, he carefully adjusted Xie Ruan’s rolled-up pant leg, smoothing out the wrinkles before finally letting go.
“Tch?” Xie Ruan muttered, rolling his eyes. First, he messed with him, then lectured him. Was being the study god really that impressive?
Squatting down, Xie Ruan scratched the spot Bo Jin had touched. For some reason, it felt tingly, different from anywhere else.
He scratched away haphazardly, leaving faint red marks on his pale skin.
Watching this, Bo Jin unscrewed a water bottle, gulping down some water to douse the flames within. When he glanced back at Xie Ruan, he gritted his teeth and quickly placed a cushion on his lap to cover himself.
Xie Ruan shot him a strange look but didn’t give it much thought, assuming Bo Jin was just prepping to rest and left the room with his phone.
Bo Jin ground his teeth at Xie Ruan’s departing figure.
During the evening study session, Bo Jin held onto that cushion and didn’t let go. Normally, teacher Sun Fuan would have reprimanded him by now, but today, Sun Fuan was too busy grading papers to even glance his way.
With grading machines speeding things up, results were out by the next afternoon.
In the office, the atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed.
Teachers gathered to chat about students’ scores while homeroom teachers tallied scores on computers. Some were so busy they called in student helpers, making the small office unusually crowded.
Sun Fuan finished calculating the totals and glanced at the scoresheet. Bo Jin was still in first place, with Pan Yu in second as usual. The only surprise was Xie Ruan’s score…
Sun Fuan glanced over at Shi Mingrui, the homeroom teacher for Class 11, and quickly wiped the smile from his face, letting out a loud sigh.
Typically serious and withdrawn, Sun Fuan rarely participated in office banter. His sudden show of emotion drew plenty of attention, especially from Shi Mingrui.
Lately, whenever Xie Ruan came up, Sun Fuan would sing his praises—calling him hardworking, diligent in his studies. Someone unfamiliar might even mistake him for a top student.
Shi Mingrui didn’t buy a word of it.
Though he hadn’t taught Xie Ruan long, he had enough time to figure out his character.
Frankly, other than for Shen Xingyun, Xie Ruan probably wouldn’t care about anyone, not even his parents.
So why would Sun Fuan lie?
Shi Mingrui smirked. It was to bolster his own reputation, of course.
Imagine it—a troublesome student who skipped classes, fought, and slacked off, suddenly turned into a model student under Sun Fuan’s guidance. Who wouldn’t admire Sun Fuan for being such a skilled teacher?
No wonder he was able to win Bo Jin over from the other advanced homerooms. Such craftiness was truly remarkable.
Shi Mingrui resented being used as a stepping stone by Sun Fuan.
After grades were released, Shi Mingrui had wanted to log in to check Xie Ruan’s score, but he’d been too busy and had forgotten—until Sun Fuan’s sigh reminded him.
If Sun Fuan was acting so troubled, Xie Ruan’s score must have been even lower than before. Maybe he didn’t even break 100.
Shi Mingrui shot Sun Fuan a gloating look. Let’s see how smug he’ll be in the office now!
Of course, while he thought this way, Shi Mingrui still put on a friendly, collegial face. “Teacher Sun, what’s wrong? Did one of your students not do well in the test?”
Before Sun Fuan could answer, the homeroom teacher of Class 2 spoke up with a wry expression, “Give me a break—if his students didn’t do well, then my whole class might as well be thrown out.”
Class 2’s head teacher added with a sour tone, “Bo Jin and Pan Yu came in first and second place again. My class’s representative barely managed to grab third.”
Another teacher, surprised, asked, “Then what’s going on with Teacher Sun…?”
Shi Mingrui casually remarked, “It might be because of Xie Ruan.”
Xie Ruan was a well-known figure in the second year science division; every teacher had at least heard of him, if they hadn’t taught him. At Shi Mingrui’s words, the other teachers immediately looked at Sun Fuan with sympathy.
Having someone like him in an experimental class wasn’t just a matter of dragging down the average scores—it was an all-around headache. They quickly began to comfort him.
“Teacher Sun, try not to let it bother you. Just treat him like a temporary student; sometimes you have to close one eye and open one eye.”
“Yeah, exactly! And when you’re frustrated, think of the good students in your class, like Bo Jin and Pan Yu. Doesn’t that make things better?”
“I always said, Xie Ruan doesn’t seem to focus on his studies. Now, are you starting to see the light?”
“Trust me, after this exam, switch his seat with Bo Jin’s. They shouldn’t sit together.”
…
Listening to the teachers going on about Xie Ruan, Shi Mingrui finally felt a sense of release after holding it in for a month. He almost wanted to cheer out loud.
If it were anyone else, Sun Fuan could probably revel in his success a little longer. But Xie Ruan? A hopeless cause through and through.
Shi Mingrui tried to hide his smirk and was about to chime in when Sun Fuan suddenly slapped his hand on the desk and growled, “Close an eye? Open an eye? No way! Don’t try to stop me—I’m calling him in here right now to talk! How can he pass every subject except English? What’s his problem with the English teacher?!”
The English teacher, who’d been sneakily reading a novel: “???”
Excuse me? What does this have to do with me?!
The teachers who were just about to intervene: “…”
What’s going on here? Why does this feel so off?
Shi Mingrui stared in disbelief. “What did you just say? Xie Ruan passed every subject except English?”
Last time, he’d barely scraped a 19 in math. And this time he passed? Impossible!
“Sigh!” Sun Fuan let out a long sigh, his stern face sincere and almost goofy. “You don’t believe it either, Teacher Shi, do you? I was shocked too. This kid is just too shy—doesn’t tell me when he struggles, so now his English score’s the only one lagging.”
He reached into his drawer for the calculator, tapping away as he spoke, “Math: 91, English: 65, Chinese: 96, Chemistry: 63, Physics: 61, Biology: 65—a total of 441 points. That’s an improvement of…”
Sun Fuan tossed his own calculator aside, feigning disdain: “Only improved by 200 points since last time? No, no, that’s still too small of an increase, not proportional to the effort he’s put in.”
The other teachers: “???”
Two hundred points, a “small” increase?
Did he even realize what he was saying?!
When competition erupts in the office, not a single humblebrag goes unscathed!
Shi Mingrui could no longer maintain his composed facade. He leaned over to Sun Fuan’s computer, repeatedly checking the numbers, afraid he’d heard wrong.
How could it be? Except for English, everything was passing, and even English was up by several dozen points.
How long has it been? A month, maybe? With this kind of improvement, he’d practically become the pride of the school.
But no matter how many times he looked, the numbers on the computer didn’t change.
Shi Mingrui’s face was already stinging with embarrassment, yet Sun Fuan wasn’t done rubbing it in. He rummaged through his drawer and pulled out all of Xie Ruan’s test papers, clearly prepared in advance.
“Only got 91 in math?” Sun Fuan shook his head, sighing. “Teacher Shi, you teach math too. Look at this question… so simple. Should he have gotten it wrong?”
“And this one too.”
“Oh dear, he got the first part of the last big problem right? Barely acceptable. The first part isn’t worth many points; if you can’t do it all, you won’t get a high score.”
Shi Mingrui: “…”
Shi Mingrui looked at Sun Fuan’s deeply wrinkled face, almost wanting to throw a punch.
This old guy was asking for it!
Xie Ruan had only studied for a short time, and he could already solve the last big problem. Even if it was just the first question, it was enough to show his potential.
At this pace of improvement, what would he score next time? And the time after that?
Shi Mingrui’s hand trembled slightly, his resolve to compete with Sun Fuan dissolving as he drifted back to his desk.
The other teachers in the office were just as shocked. Though they’d heard Sun Fuan mention that Xie Ruan had started studying recently, they hadn’t taken it seriously, given how they’d all seen him acting crazily over Shen Xingyun.
But who would have thought that there really are people who, once they decide to buckle down and study, immediately excel?
A score of 441 alone wasn’t incredibly high, but compared to Xie Ruan’s previous score in the 200s, it was unbelievable.
The teachers all marveled to themselves. Incredible, truly incredible. If Xie Ruan kept this up, Class 1 might just produce another top student.
Sun Fuan took in their reactions with a smug smile.
Who said Xie Ruan was unteachable? Who said he was just putting on an act and would go back to his old self soon?
A 200-point improvement—how about that, huh?!
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