Chapter 369 - 196: Why Not Let Me Hug You (Part 2)
Chapter 369: Chapter 196: Why Not Let Me Hug You (Part 2)
"Just kidding, just kidding. Check math answers? Why would I want to mess with my best bro’s exam mentality?"
Dinner was in the cafeteria.
It’s impossible for high school students to not compare answers after an exam.
As Shen Yuan and his friends were getting their food, they could hear plenty of other seniors comparing answers.
Ah Jie’s ears perked up as he listened for a moment, a faintly contemptuous smirk slowly forming on his lips.
When he heard a guy in glasses nearby confidently recite his steps for solving the second major question, he couldn’t help but let out a low CHUFF and shake his head.
Ah Jie nudged Shen Yuan with his elbow. He lowered his voice, but it couldn’t hide the disdain of a math king for mere mortals.
"Such creative thinking. They actually got a question wrong that even you could solve."
Shen Yuan once again felt the urge to strangle Ah Jie.
’What the hell do you mean, "even you could solve it"?’
Shen Yuan turned to glare at Ah Jie, his expression hostile.
Seeing Shen Yuan’s look, Ah Jie was stunned.
"No way, Yuan. Don’t tell me you couldn’t even solve the second major question?"
"If you don’t shut your mouth, I’m going to hang you from the cafeteria entrance."
"Oh? A little S&M?" Ah Jie asked, feigning a bashful look. "Be gentle with me, Yuan."
Shen Yuan was really starting to lose his patience.
But as luck would have it, it was Shen Yuan’s turn to get his food.
He strode up to the cafeteria window and rattled off his order to the server, "Braised pork ribs, spicy diced chicken, and a side of stir-fried greens and shredded potatoes!"
The moment the tray was handed out, Shen Yuan, quick as a flash, snatched the meal card from Ah Jie’s hand and swiped it over the machine with a BEEP.
It all happened so fast Ah Jie didn’t even have time to react. He only heard Shen Yuan toss a line over his shoulder as he walked away:
"Thanks, benefactor!"
Ah Jie watched the card get tossed back to him and clutched his chest in mock agony. "You animal! You just had to order all the most expensive dishes?!"
Shen Yuan laughed heartily, disappearing into the crowd with his tray piled high like a small mountain. His retreating figure radiated the sweet satisfaction of revenge.
After dinner, they left the lingering smell of food and the noisy chatter of students comparing answers behind them in the cafeteria.
The group walked back to their temporary classroom in the laboratory building, chatting and laughing.
The cool evening breeze blew away the bitter weight that the crushing math exam had left on Shen Yuan’s mind.
The math exam was over. The priority now was the comprehensive science exam.
He pushed open the classroom door. The fluorescent lights shone with a white glare, illuminating the desks and scattered books.
The air still seemed to hang heavy, stagnant from the afternoon’s "disaster."
But it was clear that Class 15 had already shifted gears to the next phase.
The comprehensive science exam was tomorrow morning.
Physics, chemistry, and biology textbooks, notes, and error-correction notebooks were piled high on every desk.
A new, silent pressure began to permeate the air—a more urgent compulsion born from the gloom left by the math exam.
Chen Mingyu and Yang Ze walked in sync directly to their own seats, the harsh scrape of their chairs breaking the silence.
Chen Mingyu took a deep breath and violently flipped open a physics *Wu San* prep book. The RUSTLE of its thick pages sounded like a war horn, calling them to battle.
Yang Ze, without a word, pulled a chemistry error-correction notebook from his bag and started flipping through it, his brow furrowed. The tip of his pen unconsciously tapped at the corner of his desk.
Shen Yuan silently walked to his seat and likewise took out his physics materials.
As for Zhou Shaojie, his attitude toward the comprehensive science exam was one of benign neglect.
Of course, that didn’t mean Ah Jie wasn’t going to review at all.
Ah Jie believed that, for him, reviewing for the science exam was far less cost-effective than reviewing for English.
His comprehensive science score was stable, but his English score was a train wreck.
Instead of trying to bolster his stable science score, it was more important to ensure the English train wreck didn’t go completely off the rails.
No matter how badly he did in science, it wouldn’t be a total disaster, but English could truly be the death of him.
As for what the physics, chemistry, and biology teachers would think seeing Ah Jie furiously copying vocabulary words during evening self-study...
Well, they couldn’t do anything about it.
In this class, only Old Zhou and Yang Yishui could give Ah Jie a proper scolding.
Zhou Ruolan was too gentle.
And as for why Old Zhou, the math teacher, could chew him out? Because Old Zhou had no problem chewing him out for his terrible English score.
Li Zhi sat quietly beside Shen Yuan. Her comprehensive science notes lay open on her desk, densely covered in annotations made with different colored pens.
She watched Shen Yuan from the corner of her eye, and only when he finally lowered his head to look at his materials did she shift her gaze away. She looked down at her own error-correction notebook, her expression one of calm and Concentration.
But the slight tightening of her fingers on her pen betrayed her own tense nerves, revealing that she, too, was bracing for tomorrow’s exam.
Although the evening self-study session hadn’t officially begun, the only sounds in the classroom were the rustling of turning pages, the scratching of pens on paper, and the occasional suppressed cough or sigh.
The ghastly white light of the fluorescent tubes froze the hunched figures of the Class 15 students amidst the mountains of books and seas of questions piled on their desks.
The shadow of the math exam might not have dissipated yet, but the urgency of the upcoming science exam had already flooded the room like a silent tide, drowning out all other noise.
...
The bell signaling the end of evening self-study sounded strangely distant, as if coming from far away, barely managing to break the oppressive silence in the classroom.
The students, as if released from a paralyzing spell, began to pack their bags a beat too late, their every movement steeped in a weariness they couldn’t shake off.
The sparse sounds of rustling paper and zipping backpacks filled the room.
Shen Yuan closed his physics notebook and rubbed his throbbing temples, where the images of several unsolved circuit diagrams seemed to be seared.
He silently packed his things. The bag on his back was lighter than usual, yet somehow, it felt heavier.
Li Zhi had already packed up quietly and was standing to the side, waiting for him.