During evening self-study, Jiang Ning could still hear people discussing Zhuang Jianhui. The girl in front of him, Geng Lu, who had a bit of baby fat, was talking to her deskmate:
"Zhuang Jianhui used to be in an experimental middle school in the provincial capital. He was famous in their school's forum back then, and you can still see some posts about him now."
"Wow, he's from the provincial capital!" another girl exclaimed.
The difference between the provincial capital of Hui Province and other cities within the province was stark, resulting in mixed feelings from residents of other cities toward the capital. Those who liked it felt the city was great and were proud of it, while those who disliked it wouldn't even acknowledge it as the provincial capital.
At first, Ma Shicheng thought Zhuang Jianhui was amazing, but as more and more girls talked about him, he gradually started to dislike the name, chuckling:
"So, he was from the provincial capital, huh? Then why did he come to our Fourth Middle School? Couldn't he get into a high school there?"
Geng Lu turned her head to look at him and said,
"His middle school exam scores were over seven hundred. He could have easily gone to Second Middle School, but he came to Fourth Middle because it's closer to his home."
"That's what I call whimsical! He could have gone to a better school, but he chose his high school based on his mood. That's really cool. Truly worthy of coming from a provincial capital school."
It's undoubtedly very irritating for a reasonably attractive girl to praise another guy in front of another male.
Ma Shicheng sourly said, "I think the provincial capital is just so-so. Compared to Nan City, which is closer to us, isn't it still like a younger brother?"
"Why don't you compare yourself to the students from the key high schools in Nan City then?"
Seeing Ma Shicheng's unfriendly tone, Geng Lu also got angry, as she was not one to be meek usually:
"Can you dunk like he can? And he's also more handsome."
Ma Shicheng couldn't dunk indeed—he couldn't even touch the rim. But when it came to being handsome, he got upset. The day before yesterday, he had boasted about his own looks and Geng Lu had scorned him. Now, with new grievances piling on top of old ones, he retaliated directly:
"I don't think he's much handsomer than me? Everyone around me says I'm handsome."
"Wang Longlong, who do you think is handsomer, me or Zhuang Jianhui?"
The exceedingly honest-looking Wang Longlong said, "I think Brother Ma is handsomer!"
Ma Shicheng triumphantly looked at Guo Kunnan, "Who's handsomer?"
Guo Kunnan, very supportive, said, "In terms of handsomeness, my Brother Ma beats Zhuang Jianhui by a mile."
Now it was Ma Shicheng's turn to look disdainfully at Geng Lu:
"Your taste just sucks."
Geng Lu was speechless. She knew boys could be narcissistic, but it was her first time encountering someone who was narcissistic to this extent. She was simply clueless.
She quoted a few lines of classical Chinese: "Zou Ji was more than eight feet tall, and his appearance was striking." She forgot the rest, so she jumped directly to:
"Who among us is as beautiful as Xu Gong of North City? ... How could Xu Gong compare to you?"
Those who managed to get into Fourth Middle had a decent primary education and naturally understood the implication of this classical text.
Geng Lu asked, "Do you understand?"
Ma Shicheng's face looked bad, but he made a strange sound:
"Such a cultured person, a cultured person indeed!"
Seeing him like this, Geng Lu knew he was beyond help and turned her head back.
Ma Shicheng saw Geng Lu back off, laughed conceitedly, and handed out Stride gum that he had bought to the boys who had supported him earlier.
During the self-study period, Shan Qingrong announced some news:
"The last day of military training, which is September 9th, we'll have a training achievement competition. It will be among the classes, including the experimental classes. The top three best-performing classes will be awarded honor banners."
Hearing this, the students immediately looked eager to try. At this stage in high school, their sense of class honor was still strong, unlike college students, who didn't care whether their class was good or bad.
"I see you guys play with your phones quite a lot!" Shan Qingrong smiled, his gaze sweeping over some of the students.
When these classmates saw him, their eyes narrowed and they dared not meet his gaze.
Shan Qingrong said, "Let's do this. If our class 8 wins the pennant this time, I will install a power strip in the classroom at the front to make it convenient for everyone to charge their devices."
At these words, the students got excited, especially the boarding students. Their dorms didn't have power strips, and they didn't dare to charge in the classroom, so they had to go to the small supermarket outside to charge, which cost 1 yuan each time, an absolute rip-off.
If Shan Qingrong really could install a power strip for everyone, it would be much more convenient.
"Teacher, we'll definitely bring back the first prize for you!" A few boarding students caused a stir, resolved that for the sake to be able to charge in the classroom, they must place in the top three.
After Shan Qingrong left, some boarding students quickly mobilized under the influence of external incentives. Guo Kunnan found several boys in a row and urged them to be serious during military training.
When it came to Jiang Ning, Guo Kunnan glanced at him and immediately moved on to other students. In terms of the standard of military posture, Jiang Ning was definitely the first in their formation, having been praised several times by Instructor Li.
You couldn't ask Jiang Ning to be serious!
Initially, the classmates didn't like Jiang Ning, but now, knowing about the competition, they started to see him in a better light.
By then, Jiang Ning had received several friendly looks, making him chuckle.
While the boarding students were excitedly spreading the word, they encountered a tough nut.
Song Sheng threw cold water, "It's just a power strip. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? There are twelve classes in the grade, why should we be in the top three, not to mention the specialized class?"
"You don't have to worry because you're a commuter. You don't need a power strip, but we do!" Guo Kunnan said, annoyed.
"Yeah, I don't need it, so why should I care?" said Song Sheng coldly.
Beside them, Dan Kaiquan sneered, "What a fool, didn't you embarrass yourself enough a few days ago?"
He was also a boarding student and couldn't stand people like Song Sheng.
"Say that one more time?" Song Sheng stood up, pointing at him.
Dan Kaiquan was not afraid at all. As Song Sheng stood up, several boarding students also stood up, confronting each other, and the classroom atmosphere tensed up immediately.
Bai Yuxia, in the front row, saw this and frowned, saying:
"The teacher just left, what are you doing here?"
"Take it outside if you want to fight."
Seeing the most beautiful girl in class intervening, Dan Kaiquan did not persist with Song Sheng, but left a harsh word:
"I'm letting you off this time, fatty."
Song Sheng was already frustrated, and hearing this made him erupt. He hated being called a pig, and coupled with the humiliation he suffered the previous day, all the pent-up anger burst forth.
He rushed forward fiercely, knocking over several desks with a "bang" and swung his fist at Dan Kaiquan.
Song Sheng's sudden outburst startled the classmates, and several were affected by his charge.
Xue Yuantong, who had been sitting nicely, got brushed against and not only did his desk fall over, but his arm also got hit by the corner of the desk, hurting so much he couldn't stop rubbing it, his small face filled with grievances.
Dan Kaiquan also didn't have time to react. In haste, he raised his arms and was smashed by Song Sheng's fist, feeling both pain and numbness, and just as he thought of resisting, Song Sheng immediately smashed another punch onto his shoulder.
The surrounding students reacted and hurriedly went up to separate them. Guo Kunnan held Song Sheng from behind, making eye contact with Dan Kaiquan.
Dan Kaiquan kicked Song Sheng in the stomach, and before he could deliver a second blow, Guo Kunnan was thrown out.
Song Sheng raised his fist to strike Dan Kaiquan, drawing even more boys to separate the two.
Song Sheng looked sullen, "Useless."
Dan Kaiquan cursed in his heart that Song Sheng was a madman. Just starting school and resorting to violence, wasn't he afraid of school disciplinary action?
The key was that the guy was incredibly strong; after being hammered by a punch, his shoulder felt both numb and painful.
The two spat a few words at each other but didn't fight again. Song Sheng gloomily walked back to his seat.
At that moment, a leisurely voice resonated in the classroom:
"You knocked everyone's desks over, wouldn't it be right to apologize?"