Rain was bucketing down outside, and Xia Yingluo was stranded at the Cafeteria entrance, worrying.
"Yingluo, let me walk you back to Class."
"Yingluo, my umbrella's big—let me do it."
"Yingluo, take my raincoat; I'll just run back."
…In an instant a pack of lickdogs popped up.
How could they miss such a perfect chance to curry favor with the school flower?
Walking the school flower back to the Classroom under an umbrella—so romantic!
Ye Chen walked over. "Yingluo, let me take you back."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Ye Chen, you didn't even bring an umbrella—how are you going to escort her?"
"Exactly; you can't even cover yourself, and you want to help someone else?"
"Don't tell me you want Yingluo to get soaked with you."
Ye Chen only smiled faintly, then handsomely slipped off his school jacket.
He draped it over both of them. "Let's go—back to Class together."
"Mm!" She nodded hard.
Xia Yingluo looked blissful.
Watching the two dash into the rain, everyone froze.
No need for lunch after that face-full of dog food.
Even the girls were envious: "Wow—seriously, so romantic."
…In the afternoon Math Class Wang Chao handed out a quiz.
The paper was tough; many students looked gloomy the moment they finished.
"Teacher Wang's quiz is brutal—especially that last problem; I had zero clue."
"Yeah, the earlier questions were already hard; I didn't even get to the end."
Xu Liang, listening to the complaints, was bewildered.
This paper is hard?
I found it a breeze!
Hearing classmates who usually outscored him gripe about Teacher Wang's questions, Xu Liang panicked.
Almost no one had solved that last problem—yet Xu Liang had.
Suddenly he panicked: Don't tell me I copied the wrong question!
Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo were chatting when they noticed Xu Liang's gloomy face.
"What's eating Xu Liang?"
Xu Liang was near tears. "I'm done for—I bombed this quiz."
Ye Chen blinked. "That shouldn't be the case."
Yesterday Ye Chen had drilled him on targeted exercises, explaining every problem.
That last big question wasn't identical but was basically the same type.
Moments ago Ye Chen had been bragging to Xia Yingluo that after his tutoring Xu Liang should do well.
And now the slap in the face?
Ye Chen asked, "Why do you think you bombed?"
"I—I think I mis-copied the last question."
Ye Chen said, "And what makes you sure you got the wrong one?"
Xu Liang moped, "I just heard everyone discussing—it seems what I wrote is totally different…"
"Mm, that last problem was so hard I only solved half before giving up."
A classmate leaned in and chimed.
Xu Liang felt even worse.
This guy scores top-ten in Class—if even he couldn't do it, how could I?
Everyone says it's impossible, yet I found it easy—something must be wrong.
So the paper has to be faulty.
Other classmates crowded over, grumbling about the brutal problem, and Xu Liang became utterly convinced he'd messed up.
Ye Chen blinked again. "That hard? I thought it was pretty simple."
Saying so, he looked toward Xia Yingluo.
"Yingluo, how did you find today's practice? Difficult?"
"I found it super easy—finished it without any effort."
Classmates: "…"
No one else uttered a word.
They exchanged glances.
Clutching their chests, they drifted off, leaving the two staring at each other.
Xia Yingluo still looked aggrieved.
"I was only telling the truth—those problems really were simple; why is everyone ignoring us?"
…In the Office Wang Chao was marking the papers.
The more he marked, the deeper his frown.
This set of questions had been hand-picked by him.
They were all the error-prone types the Class usually stumbled over.
As expected, the whole Class scored miserably.
Suddenly Wang Chao lifted one paper and smiled.
As always, Ye Chen was the rock—perfect score.
After a few more, another flawless paper—name: Xia Yingluo.
Wang Chao exhaled in relief.
Good thing the Class still had aces like Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo.
Wang Chao kept marking.
The rest scored terribly; no one else had solved that last big problem except Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo.
Wang Chao's red crosses became mechanical.
In a foul mood he nearly tore the papers with his pen.
Just then his eyes lit up again.
Another high-scoring paper appeared.
Not full marks, but only a few points lost on the fill-in-the-blanks.
The Class average hovered around seventy.
Yet this student had hit 96.
He checked the name.
Hmm—Xu Liang!
Wang Chao was surprised.
Xu Liang's grades had improved a bit lately, but he was still mid-tier.
This time he'd shot past the average straight into the top three.
Not bad, kid—clear improvement… Ever since Class ended Xu Liang had compared answers with classmates and felt awful.
He was sure he'd bombed.
Must have been nerves—he'd copied the question wrong.
Done for—Old Wang had warned that anyone who messed up this test would get parents called.
Imagining his hardworking mother's disappointed face when she learned his grades were garbage made Xu Liang miserable.
He lay on his desk, gloomy.
"Xu Liang, Teacher Wang wants you."
"I'm doomed."
The very thing he feared—he really had bombed.
Head down, Xu Liang trudged toward the Office.
He knocked and walked in.
Glancing up, he saw to his horror that Teacher Wang was smiling at him.
Dead meat!
Three years of High School had taught them all Wang Chao's temperament.
A dark face meant nothing serious—just a scolding.
But if he was smiling, the problem was grave.
He'd smiled—proof of how badly Xu Liang must have done.
"Sir…"
Xu Liang was near tears, trembling as he stepped forward.
Wang Chao blinked at his expression.
What's with this kid?
Why's he so scared of me?
Wasn't I being perfectly amiable?
Hadn't he just smiled at Xu Liang?
With that thought Wang Chao softened further, voice gentler than ever.
"Xu Liang, how do you think you did on this quiz?"
He had meant to praise him lavishly.
Instead Xu Liang completely broke down.
"Sir, don't torture me like this—I messed up, I know I didn't do well; scold me, I'll work harder, just please don't call my parents, anything but that."
Wang Chao, who had wanted to commend him, was stunned.
For a moment Wang Chao really felt like scolding him!