Chapter 22

Yu Fan hadn't spoken to Chen Jingshen for two days.

Of course, he also didn't sleep.

Nor did he play on his phone.

Wang Lu'an who had watched him over the past two days couldn't help but shake his head and express, "Even Yu Fan is starting to pay attention in class, what qualifications do we have to slack off?"

It was now a short break between the classes. Yu Fan sat there staring at the birds outside the window.

He keenly sensed the person next to him turn over a page. Yu Fan immediately turned his head back, "Who said I have been paying attention?"

Wang Lu'an was leaning on the back of Zhang Xianjing's chair, "You haven't been playing on your phone or sleeping in class the last two days. If you haven't been paying attention, what else could it be?"

"Meditating."

"...."

Zhang Xianjing turned back, "Wang Lu'an, didn't you say that you're going to turn over a new leaf and become a new person? Why are you still asking for people in the group chat to join you in playing games every night?"

"I do want to turn over a new leaf but maths just doesn't want to give me the chance to. Of the ten questions in the exercise, I can't do all ten of them and even after looking at the solution, I still don't get it. Maybe I should just drop out of school."

"That is an option."

"...…" While they exchanged these words, Wang Lu'an's eyes glanced over at Chen Jingshen multiple times.

Finally, the person who had been working on a problem placed down his pen and reached out for his water bottle.

Wang Lu'an immediately snatched the water bottle and, under the surprised looks from the people present, he doggedly held it out in front of Chen Jingshen with both hands, "Here you go, Top Student!"

Yu Fan, "?"

Zhang Xianjing, "....."

Chen Jingshen also paused for a moment. He only reached out to receive his bottle of water a few seconds later.

"Thank you." He said, "You need something?"

Wang Lu'an, "It's actually not a big deal but since you've already asked, I'll just go ahead and say it."

Chen Jingshen, "."

"It's like this, Top Student. My dad plays baseball and his strength...I'm sure you understand. If I don't do well in this midsemester exam, the parent teacher meeting will be the day I leave this world. Not to mention the beatings, I won't get anymore pocket money and I might even get kicked out of my home."

Wang Lu'an paused and asked tentatively, "So I was wondering….I heard about this from someone….It seems that the invigilators for top students are not very strict?"

Zhang Xianjing, "What are you thinking, Wang Lu'an? You want Top Student to help you cheat? How is that possible——-But if it's possible, could you also help me out along the way?"

Yu Fan, "...."

Dream on.

Someone like Chen Jingshen would rather cover his exam paper with ten bricks than let the person he likes peek at it. Do you really expect him to help you cheat?

"No." Chen Jingshen said.

See?

Yu Fan spun his pen and coldly snorted.

Wang Lu'an became listless again, "Alright. I just thought it wouldn't hurt asking….."

"But I can help point out the key points."

"Hm?" Wang Lu'an was taken aback.

"If you don't understand the problems, it's likely because you chose the wrong book to study from." Chen Jingshen continued, "What did you score in maths last time?"

Wang Lu'an, "Heh, I performed exceptionally well at the end of the semester exam last semester and got a full 61 points!"

"…..What book were you using?"

"Higher Level Understanding of High School Mathematics."

"...."

Ke Ting who had been quietly listening to the conversation couldn't help but turn around and comment quietly, "Most of the problems in there are questions from maths competitions."

Zhang Xianjing, "Why would you even think that that kind of textbook is suitable for you?"

Yu Fan also wanted to ask this.

"How would I know? I looked around the bookstore and felt that the title of this book sounded pretty cool so I bought it." Wang Lu'an said, "Then, Top Student, what kind of textbook should I use instead?"

Chen Jingshen, "Do you have the exam paper from last semester's end of semester exam?"

"Hehe, I was afraid of my dad beating me up again when he sees it so I've never brought it home. It has been hidden in my desk all winter break."

"Let me take a look."

After Chen Jingshen briefly looked through the exam paper, he tore off a sticky note and wrote the titles of several textbooks for him.

Wang Lu'an who received it proceeded to comment, "Damn, Top Student you're writing is so beautiful. Let me see…..2017 High School Must Practice Problems, Summary of High School Mathematics, Dumb Birds Learn To Fly 2017 (Advanced Edition)..." Yu Fan, "?"

What is the meaning of this?

Why is his one the advanced edition?

Yu Fan's lips moved but, in the end, he didn't say anything. He turned his head back around and returned to looking at the birds outside.

"Alright, I'll buy these later today." Wang Lu'an said, "Top Student, why do you know about these textbooks?"

"Did some research on it."

"You even researched these? Were you bad at maths before?"

Ke Ting internally commented: If you paid more attention to the grade rankings, you probably wouldn't have asked a question like this.

"No." A long time later, Chen Jingshen answered lightly, "Researched for someone."

The bird circled the air and flew off. Yu Fan stared at the bare branch and lightly clicked his tongue.

-

On his way back home, Yu Fan bought a serving of wontons.

The weather had been warming up recently and he wasn't in the mood to cook.

When he reached the complex, he heard the sound of mahjong coming from his place. Yu Fan's expression contorted slightly and his act of taking out his keys stopped.

At this moment, he felt someone's gaze on him. Yu Fan looked over and saw a head sticking out from behind the stairwell wall.

A little girl was sitting on the steps, sticking her head out and looking his way.

Seeing Yu Fan suddenly come over, she was a little panicked.

"What are you doing here?" He glanced at the bag on her back and asked.

"Mummy and daddy….aren't home yet." After the little girl said that, her stomach suddenly grumbled.

She clutched her stomach, her face a little red.

Yu Fan made a sound of understanding and placed the bag of wontons next to her, "Eat."

After saying that, he got ready to go downstairs but his shirt was suddenly caught by the other person.

The little girl looked up at him and then turned her head and looked towards the door to Yu Fan's place.

Before she could speak, Yu Fan suddenly raised his hand and ruffled her hair a few times.

He then withdrew his steps and opened the door to his place with his keys.

There were several older men sitting around a table playing mahjong inside. When they looked over after hearing the commotion and were met with Yu Fan's cold face, their actions and voices couldn't help but soften a little.

Only Yu Kaiming deliberately raised his volume when he saw him.

Not sparing them a single glance, Yu Fan returned to his room and locked the door behind him. The father and son didn't exchange a single word.

"Brother Ming, is that your son? He's pretty handsome but also a little fierce. He didn't say a single word just now. Did you two get into a fight or something?"

"Is this your first time meeting his son?" The other person was used to this, "Their relationship is just like this. It has never been good."

"Don't worry about him. He's just a spoilt brat." Yu Kaiming pushed down his tiles, "I win!"

Not long afterwards, the door to the room opened.

Yu Fan came out from his room. Clearly having just had a shower, he was wearing a different set of clothes.

With a cigarette in his mouth, Yu Kaiming glanced over at him, "Where are you going at such a late hour?"

Yu Fan ignored him. He went over to the entrance to put on his shoes.

"I'm fucking talking to you." Yu Kaiming slapped the table.

Yu Fan opened the door to leave.

Yu Kaiming was about to curse him out when he saw Yu Fan stop and coldly look his way ——-"Yu Kaiming, let me give you a warning."

He said icily, "Touch the door to my room one more time and I'll knock out all your front teeth."

After saying that, Yu Fan closed the door and left.

The place was silent for several seconds.

Yu Kaiming extinguished his cigarette and exploded in anger, "That fucker, I'm going to rip off that mouth of his———" "Wait, wait, wait, wait!" The person next to him immediately got up and held him back, "That kid is just talking nonsense, don't take it to heart…."

"Yeah, that's right. There's no need to be angry. Come, let's continue playing."

Yu Kaiming didn't actually want to go after him. Seeing that someone had stopped him, he put on a show for a while before sitting back down again.

"Brother Ming, there are actually many ways to teach a child a lesson. I'll teach you. You can just stop giving him money for a month or so and he's guaranteed to become obedient after that."

Yu Kaiming snorted and threw out his tile, "Only idiots would give him money."

"Huh?" That person was taken aback, "You don't give him money? Then where does he get his money from?"

Yu Kaiming blew out a puff of smoke, "His grandfather and mother left him some after they left."

"Sister-in-law…..left that early? Was it due to an illness or something else?"

Hearing this question, Yu Kaiming's eyes instantly turned cold.

The person next to them whispered, "No, she ran off with someone——-" "Pei!" Yu Kaiming spat and began cursing, "That fucking bitch! Just talking about her puts me in a bad mood. Son of a..." "Okay, okay, okay, let's not talk about this. Why talk about shitty things like this? Come, let's play."

-

Yu Fan went to the small and old internet cafe he often frequented.

There weren't many people there at this moment. He found a more comfortable sofa and began to play games.

He picked a shooting game. In a four player game, he insisted on playing alone and parachuted to a place on the map with the most number of people.

As soon as he landed, he picked up a gun and began killing the players around him indiscriminately and continued doing this over and over again in new rounds for almost an hour.

After his character died and revived countless times, the phone sitting on the table next to him sounded.

It was Wang Lu'an calling out to him in the group chat.

There weren't many people in this group chat; they were just the people he often smoked and played cards with.

[Wang Lu'an: @- Hey, are you at an internet cafe? Is it Cool Boy or another place? I see that you're online.]

[Wang Lu'an: Dammit. Why haven't you replied to any of my messages @-]

Yu Fan moved his fingers and replied 'Didn't see' before sending his location into the group chat.

While he waited, he scrolled through the chat history.

He then came across a particular message——-[Wang Lu'an has invited S to join the group chat.] ?

Why did he invite Chen Jingshen to this group? Is he going to play cards or smoke?

Yu Fan frowned but he also didn't bother asking about this.

Chen Jingshen hadn't said a single word ever since he joined the group chat. He probably blacklisted the group chat as soon as he saw Zuo Kuan and the others discussing where they should go tomorrow after skipping school.

[Wang Lu'an: Oh, I was just asking, I'm not coming over. I just bought the books Top Student recommended to me. I plan to give studying a try.]

Yu Fan didn't answer.

He threw his phone back onto the table and continued his game.

After another hour of fighting and killing, Yu Fan caught a glimpse of a group of people entering the internet cafe through the corner of his eyes.

They had come as a group to play games and were quite rowdy. Hearing that there were no seats next to each other, they were about to go to a different store.

Yu Fan glanced at the empty computers next to him and proceeded to get off his.

The night breeze was a little cool. More and more people began to fill the streets as night fell and many late-night street stalls opened for business, making the streets appear a lot more crowded.

Yu Fan left the internet cafe, stood in the corner and took out a cigarette ——

"Woof———"

A low and suppressed bark.

It sounded too close by.

While still maintaining the posture of lighting his cigarette, Yu Fan subconsciously looked over and saw a Doberman charging towards him.

The Doberman was wearing a metal muzzle, leather collar and there was also a leash attached to it. Yu Fan felt that this guy looked familiar but, before he could react, the dog had already reached his side and then aggressively——-Nuzzled against his leg.

Because it looked like it was about to attack, the people nearby screamed.

The person involved however didn't react. He just looked down and stared at the dog for a while.

Yu Fan returned to his senses as soon as it started nuzzling. Biting onto the unlit cigarette, his eyes slowly followed the dog's leash.

He then saw Chen Jingshen who had been dragged the entire way here stand before him with both hands holding the leash whilst maintaining his usual calm look.

The two of them stared silently at each other for a while.

Chen Jingshen, "Can you help me?"

Yu Fan, "….."

"I can't restrain him."