"Ugh." The thought made me sigh. Maybe my mother's coldness toward me was largely rooted in my father.
"What are you sighing about?" Liu Xiaoyu's question pulled me back to reality.
"Nothing," I shook my head.
"Did you get discouraged?" Liu Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow, pointing at the book in my hand.
"..." I was surprised he guessed my worries so easily, so I nodded.
"Can you even learn anything this way? Is it working for you?" Liu Xiaoyu opened his hand, spat out another grape seed, glanced at me, and then shook his head, looking at the mess of notes on my exercise book.
"It's hard," I sighed helplessly, leaning back and collapsing into my chair, holding the book up to cover my face, my arms naturally drooping.
"It's too hard and too boring to study."
After a moment, I felt someone tugging at my shirt sleeve. I took the book away and saw Liu Xiaoyu poking my arm.
"What do you want?" I pulled my shirt away.
"You want to learn? I'll teach you," Liu Xiaoyu poked my arm, grinning as he quoted a line from an old kung fu movie.
"You?" I rolled my eyes at him. "Come on. You and I are two peas in a pod, ranking last and second-to-last. We're in the same boat, let's keep it real."
"I really can," Liu Xiaoyu winked playfully at me. Watching him, I cursed internally. Damn it, what's wrong with this guy? Why is he acting like a girl? That wink is actually kinda cute.
"You're a pervert. Just teach, why are you winking?" I reached out to pinch his cheek, but he slapped my hand away. "Get lost, don't touch me."
I withdrew my hand and grabbed a few more grapes, throwing them in my mouth.
Liu Xiaoyu leaned over, casually scanning my exercise book. He spoke softly, "For this problem, you just need to draw an auxiliary line between A and F."
"You're full of it," I dismissed him completely.
"Hey, why don't you believe me?" Liu Xiaoyu frowned, reaching out, snatching my notebook, and starting to write.
"Don't write nonsense!" I tried to grab it back, but he turned his body to block my hand. I poked him a couple of times under his armpit.
"Don't touch me!" I hadn't expected that to anger him. He snapped his head around and glared at me. His clean face, flushed with annoyance, was actually a bit intimidating. When someone usually so gentle gets serious, it's actually unnerving. I sheepishly pulled my hand back and whispered an apology, "Sorry."
Liu Xiaoyu then turned back and continued writing. After a moment, he picked up the notebook and tossed it onto my desk. "Done."
I looked closely. Aside from everything else, his handwriting was truly neat. The characters were round and somewhat cute, and he had written a long explanation.
"You didn't actually figure it out, did you?" I was skeptical. How could the guy who ranked just above me get this right?
"I'm not wasting my breath on you," Liu Xiaoyu rolled his eyes at me. "Check the answer yourself."
I pulled out my phone, searched for the solution, and compared it. I was astonished. The answer was actually right, and his steps were even more detailed.
"Did you just get lucky, you rascal?" I stared at Liu Xiaoyu in surprise.
Liu Xiaoyu didn't say anything, just pursed his lips and spat out a grape seed into a tissue with surprising elegance. After that, he spoke, "These are problems you can see the solution to immediately. They're so easy. You're just too slow."
"What?" I immediately felt challenged and countered, "We're the bottom two. Neither of us should be talking!"
"Tch," Liu Xiaoyu gave me a side-eye.
"Oh, you brat, what are you trying to prove?" I scoffed, reaching out and gathering his entire small container of grapes, placing it on my desk.
"Give it back!" Liu Xiaoyu instantly sat up straight, his hands hanging at his sides, clenching the tissue, and his eyes narrowed, staring coldly at me. He looked like an angry kitten.
"Fine, why so aggressive? Can't I joke around?" I reluctantly pouted, putting the grapes back. This guy had a strange temper.
Liu Xiaoyu took the container without a word, putting the grapes back in their original place. He seemed truly annoyed, turning his body slightly away, only showing me his clean profile.
Seeing that he seemed genuinely upset, I felt a slight pang of guilt and stayed silent. The air between us became quiet.
After a moment, I poked his shoulder with my pen.
"Bro, can you explain how you did it?"
"I just guessed," Liu Xiaoyu didn't turn around, instead picking up a strange book and reading it. I glanced at it. It looked weird, full of strange symbols. What subject was that?
"Xiao Yu Bro, I'm sorry. Can you explain it to me?"
I pestered him shamelessly.
After a good while, he finally turned and looked at me. "Why are you so shameless?"
"What's 'shame'?" To me, it was long gone.
"You win," Liu Xiaoyu made a helpless face and gave me a thumbs-up.
Then, he took my notebook and started explaining.
As I listened, I became increasingly amazed. He was explaining it logically and clearly. His level was comparable to the teaching videos I had watched.
"Holy cow, are you serious?" I looked at his pale face. "You really know how to do this?"
"Is it hard?" Liu Xiaoyu looked at me strangely. "It just takes a little time to study."
"Just because you got this one right, doesn't mean you know anything else. I don't believe you can do the other problems," I found it hard to believe that the person ranked second-to-last was talking like this. It was hard to accept, so I picked out a few more problems.
Liu Xiaoyu glanced at them and pointed to one, saying, "For this problem, just substitute and calculate to find ."
Then he pointed to the next one: "For this one, convert to this form..."
He quickly explained several problems, providing detailed steps. It didn't sound like he was guessing. I was skeptical, so I took photos with my phone. Without exception, his answers matched the solutions.
I was utterly dumbfounded, staring at the guy in front of me.
"?"
Liu Xiaoyu looked confused, a silent question mark hovering over his head. He waved a hand in front of me. "Hey, you okay?"
"Big Brother, please teach me from now on," I suddenly grabbed his hands in excitement, startling him.
"What are you doing?" Liu Xiaoyu frowned, quickly pulling his hands away. I instantly realized that this guy really disliked being touched. I quickly said, "Sorry, I'm not on purpose."
My clumsy attempt at English actually made him laugh. Liu Xiaoyu looked at me with distaste. "Idiot. The correct English for 'I didn't do it on purpose' is 'I didn't mean to' or 'I didn't mean it.' What you said isn't English; it's your own language." Liu Xiaoyu chuckled.
I was stunned. I felt like his English was too good. For a moment, I thought a listening comprehension tape was playing in the classroom.
"Is your English good? Why are you playing dumb? I've seen you fail before," I said scornfully.
"I find you really strange. Why do you like to judge a person based on their grades?" Liu Xiaoyu looked at me intently.
"Huh? In school, don't grades speak for themselves?" I retorted.
"In my opinion, good or bad grades are not the standard for judging a person's worth. Their personal character is the most important thing," Liu Xiaoyu looked at me seriously, then continued, "So what if you're ranked first, or last?"
"So, that's your reason for being ranked second-to-last?" I thought his eyes were really beautiful, sky-blue, like glass beads, almost like a girl's.
"Lin Nan, please note: you are ranked last, not me. Don't twist the facts, thank you," Liu Xiaoyu said with a smile.
"Tch, just wait. Next time, I definitely won't be ranked last. When I move up, you'll be the one in last place," I pounded my chest, declaring with great bravado.
"Well..." Liu Xiaoyu covered his mouth and giggled. "I wish you success, to become the Advancing Lin Nan."
"Wait, are you a boy or a girl?" I looked at the way he laughed, covering his mouth. It was so elegant.
I leaned closer, and sure enough, a familiar milky scent wafted over.
"You're not weaned yet, are you? Mr. Fragrant, you smell like milk," I wiggled my nose.
"Get away from me," Liu Xiaoyu moved his body away.
If I hadn't seen this guy's ID card, which clearly stated his gender was male, I would honestly suspect he was a girl.
"Bro, please explain the ideas to me," I held up my notebook, smiling with a flattering expression.
"Good little brother," Liu Xiaoyu laughed heartily, then looked at me and said, "It depends on my mood. I'll teach you when I'm in a good mood."
I immediately clenched my jaw, wanting to reach out and pinch him, but remembering his germophobia, I held back. I could only lower my head and start reading by myself.
After a while, I felt someone poking my back. I looked up. It was Liu Xiaoyu.
"Hand it over. Big Brother is in a good mood now. I'll explain it to you."
Whose big brother are you, you brat? I grumbled internally. But I needed his help now, so I didn't dare say it out loud. I obediently handed over the notebook.
Liu Xiaoyu took the notebook and slowly started explaining. He was incredibly detailed, surprisingly good. I quickly became engrossed, swimming in the ocean of knowledge like a fish, and time flew by...
It was only when the bell rang that I realized what had happened.
Evening study hall had started.
As the familiar sound of high heels echoed, the classroom gradually fell silent.
Mistress Extinction leaned against the doorway, scanning the classroom. Everyone who met her gaze immediately lowered their heads, daring not to look.
After preening at the door for a moment, the Old Witch walked up to the podium and spoke.
"Hand over your phones."
This was standard for boarding students; phones brought from home had to be collected every week and redistributed when school ended.
I hadn't been thinking about it, but I subconsciously patted my pocket and immediately felt a jolt of panic. I had brought my phone with me. Usually, my mother would personally check me, only letting me leave after she took the phone. But this week, I had accidentally brought it.
Watching the students line up to hand in their phones, I was conflicted: to hand it in or not?
I didn't actually plan on playing with my phone at school. Primarily, under Mistress Extinction's authority, let alone playing on the phone, even reading a novel or a comic required constantly checking the surroundings. Playing on a phone would be terrifying.
But I really didn't want to interact with her, especially after what happened last Friday. I was even more afraid of her. If I went up to hand in my phone now, it would definitely draw her attention. Not only would she give me a dirty look, but she might even bring up the past, questioning why I hadn't handed in a phone before, wondering if I had been secretly playing, and possibly calling my mother to ask about it.
Oh my god, the more I thought about it, the more terrifying it became. A whole chain of events played out in my mind. Although it was an exaggeration, knowing Mistress Extinction's style, I felt she would really do it.
So, after a moment of hesitation, I decided not to hand it in.
The phone collection was nearing its end. "Is there anyone who hasn't handed in their phone? Hand it over immediately. If I catch you, you'll face the consequences." Mistress Extinction's stern voice echoed through the classroom, making me feel incredibly nervous.
After asking twice more, she even checked to make sure all the students who had previously handed in phones had done so this time. Only then did she leave with the bag of phones. If I hadn't consistently never handed in a phone before, and if I didn't really play with my phone, I'm sure Mistress Extinction would have come to question me already.