FIMA Ch3: Mockery

The test papers the two students had propped up as a cover fell straight down, and the next moment, they stood up with a swish, their eyes filled with confusion and fright.

Miss Zhang glanced at their fallen English test papers and got even angrier, tapping her pointer repeatedly. “You can still sleep after this? How many times have we gone over this? And you still lost points? You two are really something. Now… go stand at the back.”

“Oh.” The two immediately left their seats with bitter expressions and headed to the back of the classroom.

Seeing this, Miss Zhang’s cold smile deepened.

Only when they were standing against the back wall did she continue, “Ha, you two are really something, just walking over like that, huh? No test papers, no pens, not planning to listen to the class? Do you think I asked you to stand at the back to have fun?”

“Ha ha…”

At this point, for some reason, her words hit the class’s funny bone, and everyone turned back with smiles to watch the scene.

Damn.

Only then did the two realize what was wrong. They quickly ran back to their seats to grab their pens and test papers, but their faces were completely red with embarrassment, and any sleepiness was gone.

However, Miss Zhang’s anger was far from over.

She pointed to a few students who had laughed the loudest. “You guys are having so much fun, huh? Got everything I taught down perfectly? Scored 149 like Gu Siyuan?”

Uh, everyone quickly covered their mouths.

Scoring 149 was impossible, even in another life.

Xie Qingxiao, though not laughing, sneaked a glance at Gu Siyuan’s test paper and felt a bit of admiration.

He himself had scored 142, which was not bad, but it was still far from Gu Siyuan’s score. The most impressive part was Gu Siyuan’s consistency; no matter how difficult the paper was, he always scored that high.

However, Gu Siyuan seemed as if he hadn’t heard any of these praises, his expression remaining completely indifferent.

Miss Zhang turned to look in the direction of Shen Ting and Huang Cheng, “You two, I saw you laughing the hardest. Don’t think I didn’t notice you were secretly sleeping earlier as well. Not sleeping during lunch break and instead playing basketball must have been fun, right?”

Shen Ting and Huang Cheng sighed in unison at their bad luck and quickly stood up as well.

Miss Zhang continued, “You’re all in your senior year, yet still act like immature children. Especially you, Shen Ting. You have a good foundation in every subject, but your attitude is not serious. When I was grading your paper, I found several mistakes that should not have happened.”

In the teacher’s eyes, there are always a few students in every class who seem smart but are not diligent.

“You four… after class, write out every question you got wrong on this paper 20 times each. Hand it to Lin Ling before the end of the school day. Lin Ling, bring it to my office. You can’t leave until you turn it in.” Miss Zhang didn’t want to waste more time reprimanding them, so she instructed, “Lin Ling, don’t forget.”

Lin Ling, the class’s English representative, immediately replied, “Got it.”

“Yes,” the four responded reluctantly.

Miss Zhang resumed her lecture, continuing to walk around the classroom.

Time passed in the repetitive cycle of classes and breaks.

By the time the last class of the afternoon ended, Gu Siyuan and Xie Qingxiao hadn’t exchanged another word.

This was normal; neither of them was particularly talkative.

After the third period.

Lin Ling left her seat and walked over to the four students punished in English class, joking, “Hey, guys, have you finished copying your punishments? I don’t want to be stuck here after the fourth period waiting for your assignments.”

“Oh my god, help, I completely forgot about the punishment after English class ended. Have you started writing yours yet?”

“Of course I have, who wants to stay after school!”

“Damn it, you could have reminded me…”

The classroom was momentarily chaotic.

This was a familiar scene, played out every time homework was due, even though this time there were only four participants, it still caused quite a commotion.

“Shen Ting, you definitely haven’t started copying yet, have you?” Huang Cheng turned around, looking slightly smug.

Shen Ting gave him a sideways glance and sneered, “Looks like you’ve finished yours.”

Huang Cheng puffed out his chest proudly, “Of course, while the chemistry teacher was explaining the paper, I secretly finished copying mine. A good student should be like me, understand?”

Hearing this, Shen Ting and Lu Jiayang couldn’t help but laugh, “Good student, such a good student!”

The chemistry teacher was an older man, a seasoned educator who taught very well.

But perhaps due to his age, he lacked the energy to constantly engage in battles of wits with young students, so he required students to be self-disciplined and rarely monitored them in class. After all, it’s their loss if they don’t listen.

Lin Ling, who was going around collecting homework, looked at the laughing Shen Ting with some frustration, “Hey, you’re still laughing? Are you planning not to hand in your punishment work?”

Shen Ting flipped through his English paper and realized he had quite a few mistakes. Twenty times each, just thinking about it gave him a headache.

He waved his hand in defeat, “I can’t finish it.”

Lin Ling was at a loss for words. After a moment, she quietly said, “Fine, in that case, I’ll just tell Miss Zhang tomorrow that Shen Ting said he won’t copy or hand it in.”

Her tone was so stiff that it was clear she was unhappy. This was a trigger point for all class representatives.

Xie Qingxiao’s seat was in the fourth row, just one row away from Shen Ting’s, so he could hear their conversation clearly.

Seeing this, he quickly turned to Shen Ting, his tone coaxing and comforting, “Shen Ting, give me your English paper, I’ll help you finish copying it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Cheng’s deskmate Chen Jun immediately teased with a smile, “Having a partner is such a blessing, especially when the partner is a top student who helps with homework.”

He didn’t bother to lower his voice, so everyone nearby heard and chuckled.

Most of high school life was dull, so this small incident provided a bit of amusement, with no ill intent.

A hint of pink appeared behind Xie Qingxiao’s ears, but his beautiful eyes were filled with a smile, clearly pleased.

“No need.” At this moment, a cold male voice sounded.

Shen Ting leaned lazily against the back of his chair, shaking his head at Xie Qingxiao.

Then he raised his arm and put it around his deskmate Lu Jiayang’s shoulder, smiling at him with a brotherly look, “If anyone’s going to help me, it’s going to be this guy.”

“Having someone to help you and you’re not happy about it, why do you insist on bothering me?” Lu Jiayang rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“What’s wrong with asking you?” Shen Ting grabbed him, pretending to be fierce.

“Haha, okay, okay, I’ll help you…” Lu Jiayang complained verbally, but his eyes were full of resigned amusement. He had already turned around, pulled out Shen Ting’s backpack, and seriously found the paper and notebook.

Shen Ting had a strong sense of personal territory. Not even his parents, or Huang Cheng who was usually inseparable from him, could casually touch his things or his bag.

Of course, this included his nominal boyfriend, Xie Qingxiao.

Except for Lu Jiayang.

Chen Jun found the scene in front of him baffling and instinctively tried to mediate, “Yes, we should all learn from Shen Ting and care for our Omegas…”

As he spoke, he still felt something was off, so he just shut up.

Lin Ling, also not understanding these romantic entanglements, was simply relieved Shen Ting would turn in his assignment. She turned back to her seat.

The star-like smile in Xie Qingxiao’s eyes seemed to be extinguished by a cold wind.

He placed his hand firmly on the edge of his seat, his back straight as if he were a stiff corpse, and slowly turned around.

“Ha… heh…”

Suddenly, a faint yet distinctly clear laugh reached his ears.