BTO CH64

The teacher announcing the scores wasn’t from Sixth High, but he read the second-place name twice. Realizing the entire gymnasium had fallen dead silent, he didn’t understand what was going on. He cleared his throat and read it one last time: “Second place, Linjiang Sixth High, Xu Sheng.”

Only then was there finally movement from the audience.

Someone in the audience shouted: “—That’s impossible!”

Grading Teacher: “…?” What is the situation with Linjiang Sixth High? Shouldn’t they be happy about taking second place?

Immediately following, the gymnasium became even noisier than when Shao Zhan had just won the championship.

“Really, seriously???”

“The School Tyrant is second?!”

“Our school’s School Tyrant is actually a hidden top student?”

Every student in the school had heard the legends of Xu Sheng. However, the students of Class 7 spent every day with Xu Sheng, watching with their own eyes how he slept in class and how he played games. Led by Hou Jun, the Class 7 students were the ones least willing to face reality: “I would rather believe I’ve gone deaf. No, the grading teacher didn’t misread the name, did he? Could he have picked up the wrong test paper? How could it possibly be Sheng-ge?”

Tan Kai: “Say no more, I might be in a dream.”

Yuan Ziqiang: “This situation is too absurd even for a dream.”

Hou Jun remained silent for two seconds, then nodded: “Ziqiang, I think you’re right.”

Xu Sheng himself felt it was very absurd.

The grading teacher could only continue reading: “Third place, Yinghua Experimental High School, Duan Yaosheng.”

Duan Yaosheng was still holding back tears.

The grading teacher flipped another page: “Fourth place, Xingjian High School…”

“This is your school’s student?” The Yinghua school leader, who was sitting next to Director Gu and had listened to him brag about his outstanding students the entire time, could no longer sit still.

The other schools recognized the famous competition students from Linjiang, having met them in official competitions. But where did this Xu Sheng pop out from?

The Yinghua school leader felt as if he had seen a second Shao Zhan, slaughtering everyone in his debut competition as a freshman: “Is this a freshman from your school?”

Director Gu: “…Uh, this.”

Director Gu couldn’t continue.

This was the student ranked dead last in their school, Shao Zhan’s desk mate, who had joined the competition group less than ten days ago.

“The winning school of this year’s Four Schools Joint Competition Team Match: Linjiang Sixth High.”

“The winning school of the Individual Match: Linjiang Sixth High.”

“Congratulations to Linjiang Sixth High for capturing the double championship again this year!”

“The 15th Four Schools Joint Competition has successfully concluded. Please exit the venue in an orderly fashion. Thank you for the active participation of the four competing schools: Linjiang, Yinghua, Songye, and Xingjian.” Following the script, the commentator read the final closing remarks. “Let us advance hand in hand through friendly competition, let us clasp hands in a symbol of friendship, and we will see you again next year.”

The contestants on the field exited in the order they entered.

No longer needing to sit obediently in their assigned seats, Xu Sheng moved forward a few spots. Taking advantage of the others not paying attention, he sat in the empty seat behind Shao Zhan and patted him from behind.

The long-lost feeling of returning to his own body was both comfortable and strange.

Xu Sheng tugged at his collar: “Study God. Second place. Do I look like a second place to you? How am I supposed to live from now on?”

Shao Zhan hadn’t had a choice at the time. Now faced with this question, he also realized the direction of things was somewhat bizarre: “The questions were too easy. Couldn’t control myself.”

Xu Sheng: “…”

While Xu Sheng was caught in concern for his own life, Director Gu called out to him: “Xu Sheng, stay behind for a moment.”

Half an hour later, inside the gymnasium.

The students had long since dispersed. The teachers responsible for organizing the competition from Linjiang Sixth High hadn’t left yet. Xu Sheng stood opposite them.

The teachers were studying Xu Sheng’s test paper.

Xu Sheng had taken second place.

This fact was unacceptable.

But the competition involved answering questions on the spot. Every move of the examinees was right under their noses; it was impossible to fake. The confidentiality of the test questions was extremely high, so a leak beforehand was also out of the question.

After inspecting Xu Sheng’s test paper, Director Gu found no abnormalities. He put down Xu Sheng’s paper and asked: “What exactly is going on with you?”

Having swapped back, the Xu Sheng before them didn’t look as cold as he had recently. He stood lazily in front of the teachers, looking exactly the same as the first time Director Gu had met this non-uniform-wearing student.

After battling for over a year, Director Gu truly couldn’t cure him of his habit of not wearing his school uniform.

Xu Sheng wasn’t tired of writing self-reflections, but Director Gu and all the teachers and students in the school were tired of hearing them.

Director Gu’s imagination regarding “Xu Sheng is actually a top student” couldn’t stop running wild. He then recalled what “Shao Zhan” had said when he initially came to the office to recommend Xu Sheng: Xu Sheng has competition talent.

Moreover, the competition training papers Xu Sheng usually answered were quite commendable.

Could it be… that Xu Sheng really…?

Director Gu probed: “Have you been hiding your true strength all this time?”

Xu Sheng: “What?”

The lights around the gymnasium had been turned off, leaving only a few spotlights on the competition stage.

In Xu Sheng’s eyes, these spotlights were just like the glaring lights used during interrogations in prison—

It wasn’t that Director Gu hadn’t heard stories of top students disguising themselves as slackers. His eyes flashed. Taking a deep breath, the question he asked struck directly at the soul: “Usually, it looks like you completely haven’t put your mind on studying. You don’t listen in class, you don’t hand in homework… Were you previously pretending to be an academic slacker?”

Holy shit.

Xu Sheng’s mood right now was even more panicked than when he was on the competition stage just now: “Director Meng, I’m not…”

I’m not.

I haven’t.

Don’t talk nonsense.

Director Gu attempted to guide him patiently. He said softly, “Tell Teacher, why did you constantly conceal your talent?”

Xu Sheng: “…”

What kind of wild imagination does Director Gu have?

Xu Sheng realized these teachers were quite imaginative as well.

Xu Sheng was about to go crazy.

He thought to himself: I’m a fucking real academic slacker. I couldn’t be any more real.

Aside from the teachers, the only people left in the gymnasium were the staff clearing away chairs and cleaning up the spectator area.

Xu Sheng had absolutely no idea how to explain the current situation.

“Teacher Meng.”

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind. The voice said coldly: “I’ve taught him a few problems of the same type.”

Director Gu: “Shao Zhan?”

The Class 7 students had organized a celebratory banquet, and Shao Zhan had been dragged away by Hou Jun and the others before he even got off the stage. But after leaving, he felt uneasy, separated from the main group, and walked back along the tunnel.

Shao Zhan added: “They were all very typical foundational problems. I didn’t expect the exam questions today to coincidentally hit exactly what I predicted.”

Since Shao Zhan was usually very accurate at predicting questions, Director Gu was stunned for a moment and said, “…I see.”

Shao Zhan appeared far too timely.

Xu Sheng felt like he was seeing a divine soldier descending from the heavens.

Xu Sheng asked in a low voice: “Why did you come back?”

Shao Zhan glanced at him: “If I hadn’t come back, how were you going to explain it?”

“…” Xu Sheng thought for a moment. Given the situation just now, he had been very close to death. “I might have just committed suicide directly. From now on, the person named Xu Sheng would no longer exist in this world.”

Shao Zhan’s explanation could only explain half of the situation for Xu Sheng, making his second-place finish seem logical, but it still couldn’t erase Xu Sheng’s “talent.”

Director Gu had already firmly believed in his heart that their school’s Xu Sheng simply had talent. Otherwise, no matter how accurately Shao Zhan predicted the questions, he couldn’t have achieved this score. You had to understand, out of a perfect score of 100, Xu Sheng’s second-place paper had scored 98: “But no matter what, even if Shao Zhan’s predictions were accurate, being able to achieve today’s result is inseparable from your own innate talent.”

Xu Sheng: “…” It is very separable.

Director Gu added: “It seems Shao Zhan was right. You truly have talent. Your logical thinking ability is different from ordinary people’s!”

Xu Sheng, who had never possessed such a thing: “……………”

Fortunately, Director Gu didn’t hold them up for too long.

Knowing Class 7 was throwing a celebratory banquet, he quickly let them go: “Alright then. I heard Hou Jun shouting over there just now. Isn’t your class having a celebratory banquet?” Director Gu checked the time. “It’s past four o’clock, almost dinnertime. You guys go ahead first.”

After saying that, Director Gu pointed at Xu Sheng again: “I’ll find another day to have a good chat with you.”

The idea of “hiding his strength” wasn’t just Director Gu’s personal speculation. The entire student body of Linjiang Sixth High had coincidentally started discussing the same thing. Xu Sheng’s identity as a “top student” had been completely solidified.

A new thread on the Linjiang Sixth High forum quickly carved out a path among a pile of hot threads.

—Shocking! First the Study God tests second-to-last for love, now the School Tyrant takes second place for love! What exactly happened between the Study God and the School Tyrant?

1L: As the title says. 2L: I’m the one who said Xu Sheng had no future in the School Idol Competition thread previously. Borrowing this floor, I apologize to Xu Sheng. 3L: Could it be that the School Tyrant was naturally smart to begin with? Didn’t he join the competition group before? I’ll throw in a blind guess that the Study God tutored him. 4L: I’m going crazy! When the scores were announced, I couldn’t even believe it. Xu Sheng is actually a hidden top student. So badass! … 18L: So this is an inspirational (love) story about walking toward each other?

The location for Class 7’s celebratory banquet was chosen at a newly opened small restaurant on the street outside the school. The prices were moderate, and the menu mostly consisted of home-style dishes. Half the class showed up, making the private room exceptionally lively.

Hou Jun had booked the seats in advance. When Xu Sheng and Shao Zhan walked in, Hou Jun acted all mysterious and told them to close the door: “Top Student Xu Sheng, close the door.”

“…” Xu Sheng was starting to become immune to the term “Top Student” now. Closing the private room door, he said, “What are you up to?”

Hou Jun mysteriously brought out the alcohol he had hidden behind his seat: “I ordered a bottle of alcohol for a bit of ceremonial flair. You drinking?”

Xu Sheng: “I have no problem. What about you, Desk Mate?”

Shao Zhan had no objections.

Xu Sheng thought to himself, That makes sense. After all, as the former Nanping school tyrant, drinking alcohol was truly nothing to him.

So Xu Sheng added: “My desk mate has no problem either. But I’ve noticed you guys are putting the school rules in your eyes less and less nowadays.”

Hou Jun opened the bottle: “Ever since following Sheng-ge into a fight last time, my soul has been awakened.”

Hou Jun was indeed speaking the truth.

Sixth High’s discipline was strict. But youths—no matter how deeply they buried their heads in studying normally—always hid a restless, eager heart. Like dry kindling, they were just missing a spark. Xu Sheng’s unrestrained flamboyance happened to be that very spark.

Tan Kai chimed in: “I just randomly ordered a few dishes. If you guys want to add anything, look at the menu and order more.”

The dishes were served quickly.

Hou Jun poured drinks for the few people at the table.

The brilliance of today’s Four Schools Joint Competition left these students’ blood boiling, unable to calm down for a long time. Tan Kai added: “Zhan-ge was seriously too handsome just now. When the names were announced, my heart was racing—but Zhan-ge, I’m very sorry, I didn’t dedicate my most violent heart rate to you. I gave it to Sheng-ge. When I heard Sheng-ge took second place, my heart beat so fast I almost had a heart attack.”

Xu Sheng hurriedly distanced himself, pulling out the excuse he used to deal with Director Gu earlier, calling him “Zhan-ge” along with them: “It was Zhan-ge who predicted the questions accurately. Without Zhan-ge, there would be no Xu Sheng today. Right, Zhan-ge?”

The teenager’s voice habitually rose, his brows carrying a careless smile as he spoke.

Xu Sheng had called him many names: Shao Zhan, Desk Mate.

But joining Hou Jun and the others in messing around and calling him Zhan-ge was a first.

Facing those eyes, Shao Zhan gave an “Mm.”

The alcohol Hou Jun brought wasn’t low in proof.

The topics at the table shifted rapidly, soon moving onto gossip between teachers.

“I heard the teacher of Class 4 is pregnant, and then…”

Midway through, Shao Zhan swiped open his phone wanting to check the time.

Unexpectedly, he tapped into an unread message notification.

It was the Nanping discussion group.

His last message in his discussion group still remained on the line ‘Have someone I like’ from not long ago.

He hadn’t read the subsequent messages. With a casual scroll, he saw a screen full of exclamation marks.

—Who!

—Holy crap, what’s the situation!!!

It wasn’t their fault for being so surprised. After all, the Nanping school tyrant was famous for being cold and ruthless. Back then, relying on his school tyrant identity and delinquent appearance, Shao Zhan had unknowingly deceived countless ignorant girls. His popularity was off the charts, but no one had ever successfully gotten close to him.

—Are you together? Did you confess? Bro, say a few more words at least.

Whether it was because the air in the private room wasn’t circulating well, or because the alcohol was rushing to his head, Shao Zhan uncharacteristically raised his hand to unbutton his collar, and replied: Not yet.

Shao Zhan tapped his fingers on the screen a few times, then continued typing.

—Don’t know what he thinks.

Soon, someone in the group noticed that Shao Zhan had used “he.”

Shao Zhan wasn’t sure about Xu Sheng’s sexual orientation.

Even though he wore ear studs, could distinguish lipstick shades, and could help a girl named Zhang Tong from the neighboring class pick out clothing styles…

Shao Zhan let out a breath and finally turned off the screen.

The palpitations of youth were a tug-of-war between recklessness and helplessness.

Because he cared too much, he didn’t dare act rashly. He wanted to wait for him to walk over, just one step would do, yet found he couldn’t wait at all.