I Might Have Fallen in Love With My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 168 - 164: Changing Deskmates

Chapter 168: Chapter 164: Changing Deskmates

Students from City No.1 High School, seated beside F High, are the strongest rivals often mentioned by Old Wu.

Last time, in the preliminary round, City No.1 High School had the highest number of students passing, and for many years, their teaching faculty’s strength has been on par with F High.

City No.1 High School has no shortage of top-performing students; previously, every year, their highest scores would surpass those of F High. However, since the rise of God Ji and Xie Ying’an, two academic prodigies in F High, for three consecutive years, City No.1 High School has not been able to outscore F High in the highest marks.

Because of this, the school authorities are placing great importance on the results of this competition.

Ji Yanchen is set to leave for university in the second half of this year, and Xie Ying’an’s time at the school is also limited to one more year at most.

After observing the freshmen for a whole year, the authorities haven’t spotted anyone with potential quite like them.

Therefore, in this last year, the school has tried every means to squeeze the most out of Xie Ying’an, aiming to leave behind a record that City No.1 High School will not be able to beat for the next two or three years.

At least to give F High some breathing space, after all, being constantly surpassed is quite an uncomfortable feeling.

City No.1 High School also brought two teachers along, both women, one plump and one slender, both appearing very capable.

Currently, these two female teachers are speaking with Teacher Sun; whatever they are discussing is unknown, but from time to time, the hearty laughter of the plump teacher can be heard.

When the room gets crowded, Qingran often feels stuffy, so she took the opportunity when it was not to choose a seat by the aisle.

The pain in her head was subsiding; she leaned back in her chair with her eyes slightly closed.

"Hey?"

There was a deliberately lowered voice speaking nearby, a male voice. Qingran did not recognize it, so she paid it no attention.

"Hey? Fellow student?"

This time the voice sounded closer to her, and Qingran felt as if her sleeve was gently tugged. Unconsciously frowning, she opened her eyes to look.

Stooping in front of Qingran was a boy wearing glasses, pale-skinned and dressed in City No.1 High School’s uniform; Qingran did not know him.

Perhaps realizing Qingran was looking at him, the boy reddened with embarrassment. He was shy and his hands fidgeted along the seams of his pants, finally giving up and scratching his head: "Uh, hello there, are you feeling unwell? I notice you’re quite pale."

The boy stumbled over his words before managing to speak a full sentence.

It was the concern of a stranger. Qingran managed a strained smile: "I’m fine, thank you for your concern."

The boy returned the smile shyly: "As long as you’re fine, that’s good."

Having said that, he quickly slipped back to his own seat.

Only then did Qingran notice that she and the boy were merely separated by an aisle. Glancing his way, she saw a girl also in City No.1 High School’s uniform seated beside him; at the moment, the girl was pouting, her arms folded across her chest in an unhappy demeanor, looking at the boy. The boy turned his head towards her, his expression unreadable.

The girl’s voice wasn’t loud, but close enough for Qingran to hear—

"Bai Wenxing, are you only showing concern because you think the girl is pretty?"

The boy, Bai Wenxing, no longer stuttered; his voice warm and gentle: "What nonsense is that? I saw she looked pale and was worried she might be ill."

"Bullshit!" The girl retorted sharply: "The girls sitting in the same row all look pale. Why didn’t I see you ask anyone else?"

The girl’s voice rose noticeably, with a tinge of jealousy.

Bai Wenxing hurriedly glanced over at Qingran, and before he could see her, she had already closed her eyes.

Bai Wenxing finally heaved a sigh of relief, his usually gentle voice now tinged with displeasure: "This is all my own business, why do you have to interfere?"

The girl seemed to have been choked by her words, and after a moment of silence, she said, "Yes, it’s your business, but I just wanted to remind you not to forget that once we stand on that stage, we are opponents!"

After that, Bai Wenxing stopped speaking, and the girl also fell silent.

Qingran, fearing the awkwardness, hadn’t opened her eyes until Xie Ying’an returned.

Xie Ying’an hadn’t eaten breakfast and had just returned from the cafeteria, handing over the breakfast he had bought to Qingran.

The promised steamed buns turned into piping hot buns, and although Qingran wasn’t hungry, she reluctantly ate one.

Xie Ying’an too had somehow come up with a pair of disposable gloves and was now sitting next to Qingran, carefully peeling an egg.

After a while, he handed the peeled egg to Qingran.

Qingran was already used to such gestures from him. Just as she didn’t want to eat and was about to decline, she caught the surprised looks from around.

There were looks from Fang Jin, from Teacher Sun, and even from the girl who had just showed jealousy towards Bai Wenxing.

After her surprise, the girl began to pat Bai Wenxing’s arm signaling him to look over, and she shouted, "Bai Wenxing, Bai Wenxing, look at that girl’s side, there’s a prime guy, wow! So handsome, the two of them sitting together are just like a talented man and a beautiful woman, look quickly—"

Bai Wenxing didn’t look over and completely ignored the girl.

After all the classmates had arrived, there was still half an hour before the competition started.

Old Wu walked over to Xie Ying’an with a serious expression and his voice was also grave: "Xie Ying’an, your performance in this round of the competition is closely related to that... impulsive incident in class 2. Ahem! Whether it counts as misconduct, so you must do your best, don’t think—"

"Old Wu!" Li Qingmo, who was sitting behind Xie Ying’an, became a bit more interested upon hearing this, and leaned forward, asking with a curious face, "What about me? I also made an impulsive move in class 2, do I get the same treatment as Xie Ying’an?"

Old Wu’s face stiffened noticeably for a moment. Li Qingmo had been ignoring school rules for years; did he even care about receiving demerits?

Also, what did he mean by ’also made an impulsive move in class 2’? Hadn’t he caused quite a trouble by picking a fight with the not-so-easy-to-deal-with Liang Fan? Was that what he called an impulse?

Sun Ningzhi, who had just eaten breakfast, came up from behind with a somewhat helpless tone: "If you can also pass this round of the competition, I will go to the director and apply for you, to offset your merits and demerits."

Li Qingmo spread his hands, a look of not caring as if he was asking for trouble: "Okay then! I’ll do my best."

That was his way of stating his stance.

Old Wu and Sun Ningzhi exchanged glances: forget it, with this thorn here, there’s no use trying to threaten them with a record of misconduct.

Neither Xie Ying’an nor Li Qingmo really cared about the prospect of receiving a demerit.

Old Wu thought for a moment, then turned to Li Qingran with a smile that brought out several crow’s feet, and his gaze inadvertently swept across Xie Ying’an, who was pretending not to hear him, and shifted his responsibility onto Li Qingran: "Li Qingran, you must do your best in this round of the competition. If you pass this round, with so many classmates in the class, you can choose anyone you want to switch desks with."

Qingran was stunned; had she ever told Old Wu she wanted to change her desk partner? Why did Old Wu’s words sound so misleading?

However, faced with Old Wu’s "I have high hopes for you, oh" look, Qingran finally stiffly nodded her head.

Seeing this from the side, Xie Ying’an, who had been half-leaning on the back of his chair, also finally sat up straight, his thin lips pressed into a tight line.

Even though he knew that Old Wu’s words were just a little trick to provoke him, he still couldn’t help but take it to heart.

After getting Qingran’s response, Old Wu casually put his hands behind him, turned around in front of them facing the stage, and couldn’t help but reveal a triumphant smile at the corner of his mouth.

Kid, trying to compete against me?

I’ve eaten more salt than you have rice!