Cheng Nuo slowly raised one finger and said, "In exchange, you treat me to one meal.
"Seafood buffet!" he added.
Hao Shuai reached out to his thin wallet and clenched his teeth. "Sure. You win. Deal!
"But I have one condition—your answers must be right. If they are wrong, I'd rather guess the answers myself," Hao Shuai said.
Although Qing Cheng was a coastal city, where seafood was much cheaper than that in inland areas, it was still rather expensive.
A seafood buffet would cost Hao Shuai one week of pocket money.
"Absolutely," Cheng Nuo replied confidently. "I won't charge you a single cent if they are wrong!"
He had used his special powers to obtain the answers, so how could they be wrong? Hao Shuai certainly needed his answers more than Cheng Nuo needed the seafood buffet.
But Hao Shuai didn't feel the same.
He let out a regretful sigh as he realized that he would have to wait even longer before he could buy his skateboard.
"Forget it. I have no one to blame for having this kind of desk-mate!"
…
On the other side of the classroom, Mu Leng looked at the last question, which she left almost entirely blank. Her pretty brows knitted together. A slight trace of apprehension surfaced on her forever-frosty face.
"Mu Leng, Mr. Tang asked us to collect the answer sheets." It was the math rep, Jiang Qingqing.
Mu Leng put down her pen and said softly as she brushed a tuft of hair behind her ear, "Coming."
"I am probably the fastest in our class!" she thought.
As Mu Leng collected the answer sheets, she deliberately checked the other students' progress—it seemed that she was the only person who had reached the last question. Most students had left the last two questions, and even some multiple choice questions, unanswered.
As the academic rep of Class 18, Mu Leng had always been ranked top three of the entire cohort in terms of grades. Hence, she was naturally proud of her academic excellence, and mathematics was one of her best subjects.
"It doesn't matter if this test is challenging—I will still conquer it," Mu Leng had said to herself when she received the test earlier. "Never give up" had been her motto since she was young.
However, she had underestimated the difficulty of the test. Even a genius of studying like her had to admit that she couldn't get full marks on this math test.
But it wouldn't matter so long as she scored the highest in the class.
Indeed, that seemed very probable, until she came to Cheng Nuo…
Mu Leng reached out with her skinny hand and said, "Cheng Nuo, Hao Shuai. Pass me your answer sheets." Her voice sounded gentle and distant.
Before Cheng Nuo could react, Hao Shuai immediately snatched Cheng Nuo's answer sheet from his desk and handed both to Mu Leng. "Here you go, Mu Leng."
Mu Leng was one of the prettiest girls in their grade, or even the entire school. Hence, as a boy in puberty, Hao Shuai grasped every opportunity to be attentive to her.
However, it was almost impossible for a cold girl like Mu Leng to reciprocate in any way.
As expected, Mu Leng moved forward to collect other people's answer sheets as soon as she gathered theirs and put them in order. Suddenly, she stopped, and a surprised look appeared on her face.
She had just glanced at the answer sheet that she had collected and, to her astonishment, one of them had the last question fully filled with mathematical symbols.
"Who finished the last question? Was it Hao Shuai or Cheng Nuo? Or is it because he skipped questions and only did that one?" A string of questions popped up in Mu Leng's mind.
Then she stopped and pulled the answer sheet out.
"Oh, Cheng Nuo! The guy with average grades! Hmph, he must have left loads of blanks in front!"
Mu Leng thought.
But in the next instant, she froze on the spot.
She realized that all the questions on Cheng Nuo's answer sheet had been well answered. He hadn't skipped any part at all.
"That's impossible…"
Mu Leng was in disbelief. She felt her ego breaking apart.
She turned the pages of Cheng Nuo's answer sheet and compared his answers to hers. Soon, she realized that there was not much difference. The last glimpse of hope in Mu Leng's mind had vanished.
"How's that possible? Him?!"
"What are you doing, Elder Sis Leng? Is there a rose on my answer sheet? Why not look at me instead of my answer sheet? I'm much more handsome than a piece of paper!" Cheng Nuo said in a casual tone. His voice was getting on Mu Leng's nerves.
Mu Leng looked up and glared at Cheng Nuo. A frosty air shrouded her expressionless face.
"Cheng Nuo, how many times have I told you not to call me 'Elder Sis Leng'!?"
"But you're older than me! If you don't like 'Elder Sis Leng', how about 'Elder Sis Mu'?" Cheng Nuo leaned back in his chair, undaunted.
In fact, there was a story behind why Cheng Nuo addressed Mu Leng as "Elder Sis Leng".
What most people didn't know was that Cheng Nuo and Mu Leng were born on the same day, though Mu Leng was two hours older.
After learning that "secret", Cheng Nuo started calling Mu Leng "Elder Sis Leng" whenever he saw her.
However, a young, 18-year-old girl would never tolerate being referred to as "elder sister" by her peers!
"I-DARE-YOU-SAY-IT-AGAIN!" Mu Leng's eyes turned even colder, her tone sharp like an icy blade.
Hao Shuai almost shivered in fear.
But Cheng Nuo was not intimidated at all. "My dad told me yesterday that Uncle Mu wants us…"
"Fine. Call me whatever you like." Before Cheng Nuo could finish his sentence, Mu Leng's face turned back to normal and she walked away with the stack of answer sheets.
That was exactly what Cheng Nuo had expected she would do. He waved at Mu Leng and said, "Goodbye, Elder Sis Leng."
Beside him, Hao Shuai was deeply puzzled.
"What just happened? It seemed like… Goddess Mu gave in? She gave in to Cheng Nuo?!"
Hao Shuai felt that his world view was being challenged again.
"Cheng Nuo, how did you… dare to challenge Goddess Mu?" Hao Shuai asked after some hesitation.
"I'm just helping her face muscles move more. She's expressionless all day!" Cheng Nuo laughed.
"Err…" Hao Shuai was speechless again.
To Hao Shuai, too many strange things had happened today…
…
Meanwhile, Mu Leng's attention was no longer on Cheng Nuo's answer sheet. Her calmness had been disturbed by Cheng Nuo's words.
Together with Qingqing and another math rep, she gathered all the answer sheets and brought them to Old Man Tang's office.
"Okay. Leave them here!" Old Man Tang said after they entered. He instructed them to place the answer sheets on a desk.