Over the next few days, Jiang Yu behaved as usual, as if Jiang Nian being together with Chi Yexuan had not affected him in the slightest.
Lu Yige had come to understand his restrained, calculating nature and no longer expected to see him lose control.
On Friday afternoon, Jiang Yu asked the teacher for leave to attend the competition.
The recitation contest had two rounds. This week was the preliminary round, in which ten contestants would be selected from all participants to advance to next week's final.
Although the teacher did not encourage third-year students to take part, seeing that it was Jiang Yu, she readily approved.
And so Jiang Yu, the lone representative of the third years, headed off to the battlefield.
As he was leaving, Lu Yige joked, "As seniors, isn't it a bit immoral for us to bully the younger kids?"
Jiang Yu stopped her from packing her things. "You don't need to go today."
"Why?" Lu Yige thought to herself that not going was even better.
"There'll be a lot of people this afternoon. We might have to wait a long time, and it's just the preliminaries—no need to make it so elaborate."
"Alright, then I won't go." Lu Yige sighed. "You're quite considerate."
"Thank you." Jiang Yu smiled and left the classroom alone.
Lu Yige smiled and waved him off. The kid had some sense, after all—she didn't want to miss even a single minute of the two math periods that afternoon.
As soon as Jiang Yu left, Xu Lu抱抱 a pile of books and sat down in his seat, adjusting his glasses with a serious expression. "This seat is mine for the entire afternoon."
Lu Yige laughed. "What are you doing?"
"There's math class this afternoon," Xu Lu said solemnly.
"Yes," Lu Yige agreed.
"There are two math periods this afternoon."
"Exactly!" Lu Yige slapped the desk.
"The teacher said we're covering key and difficult points today."
"Fantastic!" Lu Yige clapped.
"I've been looking forward to it for ages." Xu Lu beamed. "Since your deskmate is gone, we can see who solves the problems faster."
"Give it up, you careless radish," Lu Yige taunted him.
Xu Lu snorted. "We're comparing reasoning, not results. Do you understand? The result isn't important."
"If the math teacher heard that, she'd definitely beat you up."
Xu Lu was about to retort when the bell rang and a young female teacher walked in. "Good luck, prodigy—try for first place citywide in the joint exam so the academic office has to adjust your schedule," Lu Yige said with a grin.
"Easy for you to say. Why don't you go take it, then?"
"That's nothing. In my eyes, you're a future provincial top scorer. You'll be on the newspaper headlines, prodigy."
"Thanks for thinking so highly of me." Xu Lu turned his head away in a huff.
Lu Yige listened attentively for a few minutes, then began to feel drowsy. She hadn't taken a nap at noon, and the material was unbearably dull.
They'd gone over this grammar so many times already.
She glanced at Xu Lu and saw him fiddling with a Rubik's Cube.
"Not paying attention," she whispered.
Xu Lu glanced at her and continued twisting the cube.
"You're still playing with a Rubik's Cube at your age?" Lu Yige lowered her voice. "I stopped touching that thing after I solved all six sides in fifth grade."
"Shallow." Xu Lu finished the cube and checked his watch. "Forty-three seconds."
"If you hadn't distracted me, it would've been under forty." He glared at her.
"You weren't focused enough yourself—how is that my fault?" Lu Yige took the cube. "Want me to try?"
"Mhm."
Lu Yige smiled. "Place your bets. Guess how many seconds I'll take."
"Hah, how arrogant. You won't even be using seconds as a unit."
"Then let me show you whether I'm arrogant or not."
She turned the cube a few times to get a feel for it. "You can start."
"Alright—three, two, one, start." Xu Lu timed her with his digital watch.
Lu Yige moved quickly. Though a little rusty, she still remembered the methods and steps. In no time, the cube was solved.
"Thirty-seven seconds." Xu Lu was unconvinced. "My fastest is thirty-five."
"Then let's do it again."
The second time was thirty-two seconds.
"Convinced?" Lu Yige returned the cube to him and casually ruffled his round head.
Xu Lu looked both unconvinced and aggrieved, which was rather adorable.
"Fine." He shoved the cube into his desk, looking dejected. "I lost."
"You lost in hand speed, not brains," Lu Yige said after a moment.
"I know," Xu Lu muttered.
The math teacher they'd been talking about for an entire period finally arrived—but instead of lecturing as planned, she handed out a test paper for a quiz.
The moment Xu Lu got his paper, he challenged Lu Yige. "Let's see who finishes first."
"Bring it on." Lu Yige grabbed an extra paper and slipped it into Jiang Yu's math book.
When Lu Yige reached the second sub-question of the final problem, Xu Lu set down his pen, winked at her excitedly, and mouthed, I'm done.
She had to admit he was a bit faster than her. Lu Yige secretly gave him a thumbs-up, then wrote the word "Check" on her scratch paper.
After a moment's thought, she circled the word and showed it to Xu Lu.
He glanced at it and reluctantly began checking.
Lu Yige focused on finishing her work. When she was done, there were still seven minutes before class ended.
When the bell rang, the teacher stopped them and asked the students in the front row to collect the papers.
The classroom filled with groans.
Smiling, the teacher said this was to train their problem-solving speed, and that next period they would exchange papers for marking and review.
After class, the teacher had the papers exchanged and passed down row by row. Lu Yige picked one up casually and, as she was about to pass it on, noticed that the last one was Jiang Nian's.
Luo Qing marking Jiang Nian's paper? Better not刺激 her.
Lu Yige kept Jiang Nian's paper and passed another one to Luo Qing.
Jiang Nian's paper was neat, her handwriting elegant. Aside from one multiple-choice question and the final problem, everything was correct.
Lu Yige marked it as 137.
Beside her, Xu Lu complained while marking papers. "Why do we have to exchange randomly? Teachers are such a hassle. Why can't deskmates mark each other's? I wanted to personally catch your mistakes."
"You won't find any," Lu Yige smiled. "I got everything right."
"Again? Damn it!"
Xu Lu stared at her. "Are you some kind of calculator spirit? Not a single mistake."
"Looks like you made one again?"
Xu Lu deflated immediately and gave a quiet "Mm."
"I told you to check."
"It's not like checking guarantees you'll find it! I just couldn't see it at the time!" he argued stubbornly.
"Try harder next time, prodigy." Lu Yige clenched her fist encouragingly, just as someone reported at the door.
Jiang Yu was back from the competition.
The teacher nodded for him to enter. Jiang Yu walked over to his seat and looked at them.
Xu Lu glanced at him, obediently packed up his things, stood up, and said to Lu Yige, "You called me that nickname three times today. I've decided not to talk to you for three days."
Lu Yige: ...
Another day defeated by Xu Lu's childishness.
Jiang Yu sat down and glanced at the test paper on Lu Yige's desk.
Lu Yige quickly explained, "We had a quiz last period. This period is peer marking and review. We just finished checking the answers, and the teacher's about to start explaining."
"Mhm." Jiang Yu scooted his chair a little closer to her.
"I saved a paper for you—it's in your math book," Lu Yige added.
"Let's just look at this one." Jiang Yu's gaze swept over the paper. "Jiang Nian's?"
"Yes," Lu Yige said irritably. "Here, you can have it. Give me the blank one."
Jiang Yu chuckled. "No, this is fine."
"Alright." Lu Yige asked casually, "How did it go?"
"Not bad. Making it to the finals won't be a problem."
"First place won't be a problem either," Lu Yige muttered.
"Oh? You have a lot of confidence in me." Jiang Yu smiled faintly.
Lu Yige pushed the paper toward him. "Help her correct it. I'm too lazy to write."
"Okay." Jiang Yu lowered his head and began writing out the solution steps.
Watching him work so earnestly, that sense of unease surfaced in Lu Yige again.
Jiang Yu had definitely noticed something—and changed his strategy.
Now he seemed... gentler and gentler.
Lu Yige pondered grimly when a voice sounded beside her.
"This is?"
She looked over to see Jiang Yu holding Xu Lu's Rubik's Cube.
"That's Xu Lu's. He probably forgot to take it." Lu Yige reached out to tug Xu Lu's hat.
"Wait." Jiang Yu stopped her and began turning the cube.
In the blink of an eye, it was solved.
Lu Yige stared at him, eyes wide.
If she wasn't mistaken, Jiang Yu had finished it in under twenty seconds.
"You... you're basically a pro, aren't you?" Lu Yige was still in shock. "Don't tell me you've even competed in Rubik's Cube tournaments..."
"No."
"Oh..."
"When I was little," Jiang Yu paused, "I didn't have many toys. I picked up a Rubik's Cube and just played with it every day."
"I see." Lu Yige turned her gaze away. Why was he suddenly selling misery now?
Author's Note: I saw some readers mention past lives, so I want to clarify here—there is no past life. The world in the book and the real world are parallel timelines. The book functions like a script for this world; it's not something that has already happened. The world generally follows the book's setup, but deviations from the script inevitably occur. This will be addressed later.
***
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