Returning to Parents' Seventeen
Chapter 53 Shen Yubai Sits Beside Xu Chuning

Chapter 53: Chapter 53 Shen Yubai Sits Beside Xu Chuning

When this name was mentioned in the classroom, all the classmates simultaneously lifted their heads, looking toward the person not far away.

Shen Sinian’s steps faltered slightly as he looked toward the classmate who had called his name. "What’s up?"

"...Are you the one who got a zero on the math test?" blurted out the classmate, quite shocked.

Shen Sinian uttered an "ah," facing dozens of pairs of eyes nonchalantly raising an eyebrow with a bit of confusion, "Am I the only one with zero in the whole school?"

Doesn’t anyone else get zero?

Hearing his question, a classmate choked, "...Even if you guess randomly on the multiple choice, you wouldn’t get zero."

Shen Sinian suddenly realized, "That’s true."

He had forgotten about that.

Everyone: "..."

"Did you deliberately not write anything?" someone inquired.

Shen Sinian was about to respond when the bell for class rang. He touched his nose and casually said, "I just don’t know how."

"..."

Who was he kidding?

Sitting down at his own seat, Shen Sinian looked up to meet Xu Chuning’s deadly stare. He felt slightly embarrassed and whispered, "I’ll explain at lunch."

Xu Chuning: "Class first."

The incident of someone getting a zero in math on this monthly test was known not only by the students in the regular class but even reached the ones in the international class.

After the second period, Shen Yubai had just woken up when Ban Shu leaned over to him, "Brother Yu, do you know what earth-shattering thing your brother Shen Sinian did?"

Shen Yubai: "...What?"

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, "He scored first in the grade?"

"?"

Ban Shu: "Aren’t you a bit too confident in your brother?"

Shen Yubai gave him a bland look.

Ban Shu awkwardly continued, "Not first place, but he got last in one subject."

Shen Yubai frowned.

Ban Shu: "Guess which subject?"

Shen Yubai glanced at him, paused for a moment then ventured, "Math?"

"How did you guess so accurately?" Ban Shu was shocked.

Shen Yubai didn’t directly answer his question. After a moment of silence, he asked indifferently, "How did he do on the other subjects?"

"Rumor has it he scored full marks on several subjects. I’m not clear on the specifics; I just know that he got zero in math," remarked Ban Shu, "Do you think he did it on purpose?"

"Otherwise?" Shen Yubai chimed in.

Ban Shu frowned, puzzled, "Why would he?"

"Their math teacher brought it upon himself," said Shen Yubai.

Ban Shu: "Huh?"

He didn’t know about the incidents where Lai Yongliang had treated Xu Chuning differently.

Shen Yubai didn’t elaborate. He dropped his gaze, "And her?"

Ban Shu: "Who?"

He didn’t immediately catch on.

Shen Yubai lazily glanced at him sideways, and after a couple of "Oh" sounds, Ban Shu touched his nose, "I’ll ask my younger brother."

He didn’t have Xu Chuning’s contact but had added Shen Sinian’s QQ at the video arcade on Saturday.

Shen Yubai didn’t speak again.

During math class, Shen Sinian, not surprisingly, was subjected to a round of cold sarcasm and harsh ridicule from Lai Yongliang for not taking the test seriously and treating it as a joke. After class, he even summoned Shen Sinian to the office.

It was pretty much what Shen Sinian had expected, but he didn’t take Lai Yongliang’s scolding to heart; it went in one ear and out the other.

What he didn’t anticipate was Xu Chuning waiting for him at the office door when he came out.

Their gazes met, and Shen Sinian feeling belated guilt mumbled, "...Ningning."

He admitted his mistake in advance, "I will correct it next time."

He also had no way of saying that it wasn’t intentional.

Xu Chuning: "..."

All words were spoken by Shen Sinian; at this moment, she seemed to have nothing to say.

After a moment of silence, Xu Chuning spoke softly, "I know you were standing up for me, deliberately wanting to make him lose face, but it’s unnecessary."

She seriously said to Shen Sinian, "The more he discriminates against us, the more we have to prove him wrong and show him that even if we come from a less privileged background, without impressive tutors or extra lessons, we can still achieve excellent scores."

Xu Chuning knew very clearly why Lai Yongliang looked down on her.

Apart from her mathematics grade being the weakest of all her subjects, the fundamental reason Lai Yongliang despised Xu Chuning was her poor background. She didn’t have a good family history and was just an ordinary classmate. Even if she did well academically and got into a university, it was not certain she would fare better than other students from privileged backgrounds.

Some people are born in Rome, a height that perhaps many ordinary people striving their whole lives could never reach.

"But—" Speaking of birth, Shen Sinian became even more puzzled, "You are clearly—"

"Shen Sinian." Xu Chuning timely called his name.

He lowered his head to meet Xu Chuning’s gaze.

Xu Chuning’s expression was solemn as she spoke softly, "Let’s not talk about this matter anymore."

Shen Sinian pursed his lips, feeling somewhat stifled, "Ningning, why?"

He knew that Xu Chuning didn’t want to upset You Shuzhen, so she never mentioned her own background. But she clearly knew she was the daughter of the Xu Family, and that Xu Zhiyan was the false heiress. Why didn’t she expose her, and why wouldn’t she return to the Xu Family?

Hearing Shen Sinian’s question, Xu Chuning looked away, "I can’t answer you that question right now."

Shen Sinian: "...Alright then."

He sighed, not probing further, "If you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t."

In the course of their conversation, the two returned to the classroom.

"Shen Sinian, did Lai the Madman scold you?" a classmate asked.

Shen Sinian: "He did."

He showed no sign of being disheartened after the scolding.

Other classmates, "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine," Shen Sinian gave a reassuring smile to the concerned classmate, "Don’t worry about me, he can’t do anything to me."

Everyone: "..."

Indeed, Shen Sinian was the first student to dare confront Lai Yongliang; worrying about him was less of a concern than worrying about oneself.

The news that the new transfer student scored full marks in English and Geography, and exceptionally high in other subjects except for Mathematics, spread throughout the entire grade by the end of the morning.

At lunch, Yu Gaoyi made a special trip to find Shen Sinian, a few people met in the cafeteria. Yu Gaoyi held up his thumb to Shen Sinian directly, "Bro, you’re really awesome."

He exclaimed, "You know, I thought you were just scribbling nonsense during the exam."

Shen Sinian responded calmly, "I know."

Yu Gaoyi: "...Why didn’t you explain at the time?"

"Explain what?" Shen Sinian felt there was nothing to explain, "Don’t you know already?"

Yu Gaoyi was at a loss for words.

Listening to their conversation, Xu Chuning couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "His academic performance is actually not bad; he wasn’t intentionally hiding it from you."

Yu Gaoyi was taken aback, then laughed, "I wasn’t bothered by that."

He couldn’t possibly be angry with Shen Sinian over such a trivial matter. He slung an arm around Shen Sinian’s shoulders, curious, "Tell me again, what other talents do you have that I don’t know about?"

Shen Sinian arrogantly said, "There’s plenty, and even talking for three days and nights won’t cover them all."

Yu Gaoyi: "..."

How could this guy start being narcissistic?

After everyone got their lunch, they found seats to sit down.

Yu Gaoyi and Shen Sinian chatted happily, while Xu Chuning also spoke with Deng Xitong.

As they were talking, a familiar voice reached her ears, "Is this seat taken?"

Xu Chuning looked up and saw Shen Yubai standing beside her.

After a few seconds of eye contact, she silently shook her head, "No, it isn’t."

Under watchful eyes, Shen Yubai sat down next to Xu Chuning.