"You... you... why are you bringing so much stuff..." Sun Xiubin asked.
"Do students need a reason to bring stationery?" Li Zheng put down the last few materials, stood up, and showed Sun Xiubin his empty bag.
"..." Sun Xiubin was completely speechless.
But when she glanced at the inner pocket of the bag, she noticed something.
"Don't move!" She reached into the bag and pulled out a magazine with a cover featuring a guy holding a gun and wearing a mask, with robots in the background.
"What's this? What's this?" She restrained her excitement and showed the magazine to the surrounding students, "Didn't I say no bringing leisure books? Didn't I?"
"Director..." A normal girl examined the magazine cover and said, "It seems like there's a library stamp on it."
"Huh?" Sun Xiubin was stunned and took a closer look. It was indeed the official stamp of the Lake Ying Middle School Library.
So, he was just returning the book?
Sun Xiubin's face twitched, and she quickly stuffed the magazine back into the bag and pointed around, "What time is it? Are you all trying to be late?"
Instantly, the crowd scattered like birds and beasts.
Sun Xiubin looked at Li Zheng again, who was squatting on the ground, reorganizing his backpack.
He carefully arranged the space, stack by stack.
Without a complaint, like a little wife who had been wronged.
Her expression softened, and she felt a bit guilty.
"Alright, alright, stop packing." She said to the other duty students, "You guys can go back too, and help him carry the books to the classroom on the way."
After saying that, she didn't look at anyone and turned around to leave.
At the last moment, Li Zheng's charm score barely rose to -5.
At least he managed to limit the damage.
The other duty students also got off work early and walked towards the teaching building.
Only the normal girl stayed to help Li Zheng organize, "Director Sun is really... but you too... carrying such a ridiculous bag..."
She secretly glanced at Li Zheng and covered her face with a laugh, "And you walk so conspicuously."
"Hmm, I learned my lesson. I'll walk slower next time." Li Zheng nodded solemnly.
In two minutes, they managed to repack the bag, but it still couldn't hold everything as neatly as it did in the morning.
The normal girl picked up a stack of books and walked with Li Zheng back to the classroom.
"By the way, why did you bring so many chemistry books?" The girl asked, looking at the book covers.
"I need to catch up on chemistry," Li Zheng said regretfully, "But unfortunately, it's only for second year."
"Do you want to study third-year chemistry in advance?" The girl tightened her grip on the books, "If you need... I can lend you some..."
"Oh?" Li Zheng was delighted.
Advanced study was undoubtedly the simplest and most straightforward way to improve scores.
But he didn't want to appear too eager during their first conversation.
"Will it affect your classes?" Li Zheng scratched the back of his neck, trying to stay reserved.
"It's fine, we don't have chemistry class today." The girl whispered with her head down, "If you need them... come to Class One of the third year during the break. My name is Xu Mengxi."
"Class One of the third year? The elite class!" Li Zheng quickly nodded, "I'm honored, I'm honored."
"Pfft..." Xu Mengxi stifled a laugh, "You're so funny..."
As they chatted, they arrived at the entrance of Class Four of the second year.
Xu Mengxi handed the stack of books to Li Zheng and hesitantly asked, "You're... Li Zheng, right? Which 'Zheng'?"
"The 'Zheng' of peaks and heights."
"Alright..." She was about to turn and leave but suddenly remembered something and asked, "Do you want my study notes for the second and third year as well?"
Li Zheng was stunned.
Are you an angel?
"Yes, I do." He couldn't resist and nodded eagerly, almost drooling.
"Haha..." Xu Mengxi laughed at his expression, "Don't be so funny all the time."
"Alright, alright."
Suddenly, a stern voice came from behind Li Zheng.
"Hmm..."
A little guy wearing a white shirt stood at the classroom door, holding a water bottle and glaring at them.
Before Li Zheng could react, the little guy pulled Xu Mengxi away, quickly heading to the water dispenser.
"!!!" Li Zheng's eyes widened.
Not good.
This guy was competing for the third-year chemistry notes with him.
He wanted to chase after them but ultimately stopped.
After all, they were good friends.
People have varying degrees of relationships, and he was just a fleeting acquaintance.
He decided to go find Xu Mengxi during the break. If she lent them, great. If not, he'd find someone else.
Li Zheng carried the stack of books into the classroom.
At this moment, the classmates were gathered around Jiang Qinghua's seat, chatting noisily.
"Wow, did my score make it into the top hundred?"
"Liu Xin isn't at the bottom this time."
"Lin Yujing got first in biology too?"
"What about Li Zheng's score?"
Amid their chatter, Li Zheng slowly took out stack after stack of study materials and started organizing them.
But his mind was somewhat perturbed.
It seemed like the monthly exam rankings were out.
Normally, to protect students' privacy, the score sheets were not public.
But who was Hu Chunmei?
Rankings were undoubtedly the best reward for hardworking students and the greatest motivation for those who slacked off.
To circumvent privacy policies, she chose to give the class score sheets to the class monitor Jiang Qinghua to cut up and distribute.
In this process, all rankings would inevitably be made public, realizing double the reward and motivation effect.
Even Li Zheng felt a bit hopeful, wondering how he fared in his first monthly exam in the second year.
There were 264 science students in his grade, distributed across Classes One to Six.
Class One was the elite class, consisting of the top 45 students from the entrance exam rankings.
It was supposed to be 46, but due to a conflict between Lin Yujing and the homeroom teacher, she was transferred to Class Four.
As the high school courses progressed, the 45 students in the elite class didn't maintain their advantage.
Due to various reasons like aptitude, distractions, and laziness, only fewer than twenty students in the elite class remained in the top 50 at the end of last year.
After a year of effort, Li Zheng, who initially ranked outside the top 100, managed to climb to the 43rd position.
He wondered if he could reach a higher level in this monthly exam.
Just then, over at Jiang Qinghua's seat, the class's biggest gossip, Liu Yue, suddenly laughed and shouted, "Haha, after all that studying, Li Zheng is only 51st, still lower than Jiang Qinghua."
Li Zheng's face tensed.
What?!
51??
It felt like a bolt from the blue.
Li Zheng, holding a whole box of pen refills, sat frozen in his seat.
"Liu Yue! Stop talking, the school forbids it." Jiang Qinghua scolded, "I'm not giving you any more if you keep it up. Move aside, I'll cut them myself."
"Haha, you're already second in the class, stop pretending." Liu Yue grabbed a bunch of score sheets and dashed out of the crowd, "I won't say anything more, I'll help distribute!"
"See if I let you see them again," Jiang Qinghua scolded once more before turning to Li Zheng, "Sorry... Next time, I'll cut them in Teacher Hu's office."
Li Zheng shook his head to indicate it was fine.
Liu Yue, holding the score sheets, first chose to go to Li Zheng.
"Not bad, don't be discouraged~" Liu Yue placed the score sheet down and glanced at Li Zheng, half-smiling.
For her, watching a diligent student suffer a setback seemed to be quite enjoyable.