To me, high school knowledge seemed very simple—anyone who's been to university would probably feel the same. Even though I hadn't touched some of the formulas for years, I graduated from a prestigious university in China, so picking things back up was relatively easy. By lunchtime, I had finished reviewing algebra and geometry. The key concepts and formulas barely filled a page. Luckily, when the school distributed textbooks, they also handed out the sophomore books. Otherwise, I would have had to go to the bookstore and buy them myself.
Zhao Yanyan couldn't help but glance at the boy sitting next to her, flipping through books at an incredible speed and occasionally scribbling something on paper, all while ignoring the teacher's lecture. She thought, Can he really understand all that while flipping through the pages so fast? And what about the exams? The more she thought about it, the redder her face became. Why do I even care about him?
Although Zhao Yanyan tried to convince herself that she didn't care, her eyes kept drifting towards me.
How could I not notice her little glances? Though it seemed like I was busy studying the "easy" high school math, anyone who's been to university would know that high school knowledge is nothing compared to what we learn later on.
Heh, it turns out some things can be changed in this second life. If this were the past, how could someone as proud as my deskmate ever steal a glance at me? It was always me sneaking peeks at her!
At noon, I went with Guo Qing to our usual spot from my past life, the Juyuan Snack Shop. Both of us came from working-class families, and we each had about five yuan a day for pocket money after factoring in transportation. We were both big fans of this place. Usually, we'd spend three yuan on a vegetable dish and order two bowls of rice. That way, each of us only spent two yuan. After transportation, I'd still save two yuan a day. In my past life, I would have been pleased with those two yuan every day, but now, with bigger plans, two yuan seemed almost insignificant.
Back in the classroom, I found that the annoying Liu Kesheng had taken my seat again, and Zhao Yanyan was carefully covering my books with protective plastic. I didn't even need to think—she was covering my books. Liu Kesheng, of course, would never have imagined that the girl he idolized was actually covering my books. I wondered how he would feel if he knew about this.
Without hesitation, I walked over to my seat and said to Liu Kesheng, "Hey, stop sitting in my spot. If you're so attached to it, go ask the teacher to switch seats."
I didn't even spare him a glance and turned to Zhao Yanyan with a warm smile. "Thanks for covering my books!"
As soon as the words left my mouth, Zhao Yanyan's face turned bright red. Standing next to us, Liu Kesheng's expression was even more bizarre—first pale, then flushed, and finally, his face turned a deep shade of anger. "Yanyan, why are you covering this troublemaker's books?" he demanded, clearly having asked Zhao Yanyan earlier who she was covering books for. She had probably been too embarrassed to answer him.
I snorted coldly. "What? Yanyan? You two are that close, huh?"
Liu Kesheng, embarrassed by my retort, quickly left. He was probably cursing me a hundred times in his mind, wondering how he could get back at me. In my past life, I might have been afraid of him, but now, after standing up to people like Ye Xiaoxiao, why would I be scared of someone like Liu Kesheng, who was only trying to bully people using his position as class monitor?
Zhao Yanyan quietly murmured, "I don't have much to do with him."
"Hmm?" I was a little surprised.
Zhao Yanyan immediately realized what she had just said and felt incredibly embarrassed. Why did she need to explain herself to me? She quickly changed the subject. "Liu Lei, I've finished covering all your books."
"Oh, okay. Thanks!" I acted as though I hadn't heard anything, but inside, I was secretly overjoyed. Just as I had expected, this little girl was definitely starting to like me.
I pulled out my physics textbook from the desk. The clean white cover and the neat handwriting on the book's protective cover made me feel a strange sweetness inside.
As for the high school physics and chemistry textbooks, I had absolutely no words. They were so simple, it was almost laughable—just basic everyday knowledge. I spent two lessons reading through the entire book, finding it more interesting than I expected. The content was like the kind of daily-life encyclopedias I used to read online in my past life. As for English, I didn't bother to look at it. I had been dealing with senior executives in my previous life, so English was as natural to me as my mother tongue. And as for high school Chinese, I had plenty of experience. The textbooks were useless—everything was based on daily accumulation, and with all the years of experience I had from my past life, did I still need to learn Mandarin?
Looking at the neatly covered textbooks on my desk, I couldn't help but sigh, What a waste of these book covers. I might never open these books again.
After finishing the books, I slumped onto my desk, completely ignoring the math teacher at the front of the class, who was giving an animated lecture. Zhao Yanyan glanced at me with confusion and quietly asked, "Liu Lei? What's wrong? Are you sick?"
I stayed slumped over and replied, "The teacher's lecture is so boring, I just want to sleep."
Zhao Yanyan frowned when she heard this. Ugh, how did I end up liking such a hopeless guy? she thought. No, I have to figure out a way. I need to go to Huaxia University for sure, and what if he can't get in?
Just as Zhao Yanyan was lost in thought, a stern voice rang out. "The boy sitting in the third-to-last row by the window, sleeping—get up and come to the board to solve these problems!"
Zhao Yanyan quickly snapped out of her thoughts. What's wrong with me? Why was I thinking about such embarrassing things?
I stretched lazily and walked up to the board. As I looked at the problems, I couldn't help but laugh. Are they trying to insult my intelligence? The problems on the board were simple set theory questions—the kind that I could solve with my eyes closed. I turned to the math teacher with a helpless expression. "Is it okay if I don't answer?"
The class erupted in laughter, with Liu Kesheng's voice the loudest and most irritating.
The math teacher coldly responded, "No, it's not okay!" Then, turning to the class, he scolded, "Why are you all laughing? If you think you can do it better, come up here and solve the problems!"
The class fell silent, all of them staring at me, waiting for the show to begin. But how could I let them down? Without thinking, I picked up the chalk and quickly made some rough sketches on the board. After finishing, I casually tossed the chalk back and walked back to my seat.
These problems were meant to be simple examples for the class, but since the teacher hadn't covered all the material yet, I figured he was just trying to make an example of me. What he didn't expect was that I solved every single one correctly.
The math teacher's expression was hard to read, but he eventually said, "Well, if you know how to do it, maybe you shouldn't waste your time sleeping. It's good to do something productive."
The class was in an uproar—no one expected the teacher to say that. The math teacher then tapped the board with his pointer and said, "If you all think you've mastered everything already, you can sleep like him. These problems are easy for him, and now I'll explain the methods and steps for solving them..."
After class, Guo Qing turned to me and said, "Boss, you're something else! This morning, you stood up to the homeroom teacher, and this afternoon you were sleeping in math class. But when they called you up to the board, you solved all the problems correctly! Are you some kind of superhero?"
Zhao Yanyan overheard and scoffed, "Tch, who knows if he just got lucky."
I immediately responded, "Lucky, lucky, just good luck." Then, I laid my head back down on the desk and went to sleep. I'd been up late the night before thinking about ways to make money, and after staying up all morning, my eyelids were practically fighting to stay open.
"Hey, why are you sleeping again? What kind of person are you?" Zhao Yanyan muttered under her breath.
Just as I was dozing off, a book was slammed down onto my head, and a furious yet oddly captivating voice echoed in my ears: "Liu Lei, get up!"
I groggily opened my eyes and saw a beautiful face in front of me. "Big sis, can I sleep a little longer?" I mumbled sleepily.
A loud burst of laughter rang through the classroom.
I rubbed my eyes and realized that standing next to me was none other than my homeroom teacher, Ye Xiaoxiao. I immediately snapped to attention, stood up, and mechanically greeted her, "Good afternoon, Teacher."
Ye Xiaoxiao glared at me and shouted, "Liu Lei, you've got some nerve! Sleeping in class? I've heard from others that you were sleeping during the last math lesson too! It's only the beginning of the school year, and you're already this careless. Stay after school and come to my office!"
As I sat back down, I noticed Liu Kesheng standing nearby, giving me a smug, sly grin. Damn, I thought. That bastard reported me behind my back.
Ye Xiaoxiao returned to the front of the classroom and announced, "This is an English lesson. Please open your books to the first lesson."
I lazily pulled out my English book and tossed it onto the desk. I passed the CET-6 in college. Now they want me to study these basic English dialogues?
I followed the rest of the class, repeating the text over and over, and I was on the verge of losing my sanity. Just as I was about to crack, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Ye Xiaoxiao put her book down and said, "Class dismissed. The duty students, please stay behind to clean. Liu Lei, come to my office!"
I closed my English book with a sigh, stood up, and Guo Qing turned to me, saying, "Boss, be careful, okay?"
I gave him an indifferent smile in return.
I followed Ye Xiaoxiao up to the fourth floor and into the farthest office. She pulled out a key, unlocked the door, and motioned for me to go in first. After I stepped inside, she locked the door behind us.
The office was just the two of us—one man, one woman. The fact that she locked the door behind her... was she hinting at something? Should I just rush over, rip off her clothes, and do something?
As my mind wandered, Ye Xiaoxiao walked to her desk and slammed the lesson plan onto the table with a loud "thwack." "Alright, Liu Lei, tell me, what's going on?"
My thoughts were still spinning, and what excited me even more was that from my current angle, I could just see a glimpse of her soft, fair skin through the opening of her blouse…
Ye Xiaoxiao didn't seem to notice my distracted expression as she continued, "Liu Lei, when I first met you during registration, I thought you were a good student. I even considered making you a class leader or a representative. But you've really let me down."
Ye Xiaoxiao stood up and faced me directly, standing just a fist's width away. I could even smell a faint fragrance coming from her. It wasn't perfume—more like a natural, subtle scent that most girls have.
Yet, Ye Xiaoxiao had no idea that the person standing in front of her was a young man who was practically on the verge of committing a crime, still lecturing me without realizing it. "I know you came from a bad middle school, and your grades are poor, but you can't just give up on yourself because of that. Since you're here at this school, you should treat it as a fresh start in your life. I won't say more, but you should go back and think about it."
Finally, I'm free! I thought. Ye Xiaoxiao, you have no idea how hard this was for me. You were standing so close... Isn't that practically a crime?
I didn't dare linger any longer and quickly turned to leave. Just as I was about to walk out, Ye Xiaoxiao called after me, "Liu Lei, did you understand today's English lesson?"
I didn't want to stay any longer, so I gave a perfunctory nod.
"As long as you understood. English requires a lot of rote memorization. Liu Lei, put in more effort. Don't disappoint your teacher," Ye Xiaoxiao said kindly.
I nodded and left the office. At that moment, I realized Ye Xiaoxiao actually seemed to care about her students. Why did I dislike her so much in my past life?
When I returned to the classroom, I found that everyone had already left. I packed my bag and headed out of school.
To my surprise, when I reached the school gate, I found Guo Qing waiting for me. I felt a warm sense of gratitude.
"Why haven't you left yet?" I asked.
"Boss, I've been waiting for you!" Guo Qing said with a smile. "So, did Teacher Ye give you a hard time?"
"No," I shook my head. "Teacher Ye is actually pretty good."
Guo Qing raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "Really? You got called into her office for a scolding, and now you're saying she's good? That's hard to believe."
Guo Qing and I lived close to each other, so we took the same bus home. On the way, I asked him, "Are you free this weekend?"
"Nothing planned, why?" Guo Qing asked.
"I signed up for a sanda class. Want to join?" I asked.
"Sanda? Sounds fun. I'll talk to my dad about it," Guo Qing replied.
I was worried his dad might not approve, so I shared the same excuse I had used with my own father.