AIBBFSCITMLA Chapter 4

He Tang returned to Grade 12 Class 5 and saw at a glance that her deskmate, Lin Min, was already there.

She walked past the two seats on the outside and stopped in front of Lin Min. Her tone was cold. “Move.”

Lin Min was still holding a grudge. Why should she move just because she was told? She clenched her jaw and sat there without budging.

He Tang wasn’t annoyed. She leaned down slightly, moving closer to Lin Min, and said with a smile, “What’s wrong? Do you want me to step over your lap?”

Lin Min’s head shot up. She looked at He Tang, then glanced around nervously. In the end, she reluctantly stood up.

She was genuinely a little afraid that He Tang would step over her. She used to think He Tang definitely wouldn’t dare, but now she wasn’t so sure.

He Tang sat down with quiet satisfaction and took out her books. She didn’t spare Lin Min a single glance, as though she didn’t exist at all. That attitude only made Lin Min more frustrated, but she didn’t dare lose her temper.

After all, He Tang had really hurt her wrist when she twist it back yesterday. She was afraid of embarrassing herself again.

Lin Min swallowed her anger and held it in until math class, where she finally felt a bit better.

She still remembered what He Tang had called her yesterday—an idiot. And that the answer to that problem was A. Hah! Last place was still last place. No matter how sharp her tongue was, it couldn’t change that fact! That question could never be A.

Thinking this, Lin Min glanced at He Tang with a faint smirk, straightened her back, and waited for the teacher to go over the exercises.

The math teacher was a young man under thirty. He had refined features, no real air of authority, and was very popular with the students. At that moment, he was standing at the podium, going over yesterday’s exercises.

Finally, he reached that question! Lin Min clenched her hands excitedly. She couldn’t resist leaning toward He Tang and said provocatively, “Just watch. Problem 8 is definitely D. You’re the idiot.”

He Tang had been resting her head on one hand, enjoying a rare moment of quiet. Hearing Lin Min suddenly speak with such a smug expression, she recalled that Question 8 was the one Lin Min and the others had been arguing over yesterday.

He Tang narrowed her eyes slightly, scanned the problem again, and said nothing.

Seeing that she didn’t dare to respond, Lin Min grew even more smug. She knew He Tang had been guessing randomly yesterday. She probably couldn’t even understand the problem. Hah! If you dare to spout nonsense, you have to be willing to take the mockery. The last-place student should stay in their proper place!

“Who wants to answer question eight? Which option is correct?” The math teacher scanned the class and saw most students hastily ducking their heads, afraid of being called on. He smiled and was about to pick someone at random when he saw Lin Min raise her hand.

“Lin Min, stand up and tell us. Which one is it?”

“It’s D!” Lin Min raised her head proudly.

“Then tell us why you chose D.”

Since the teacher asked her this, Lin Min assumed she must have gotten it right. Without hesitation, she began laying out her reasoning.

The math teacher nodded with a smile, then addressed the whole class: “Most of you thought the same way, didn’t you?”

A few students immediately voiced their agreement.

“Does anyone have a different opinion?”

Lin Min shot He Tang a triumphant look. Then, an idea suddenly flashed through her mind. She wanted to embarrass her in front of everyone.

“Teacher, He Tang chose A. We were discussing it yesterday.”

He Tang raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced at Lin Min. She really didn’t want to stand up and answer the question, but since everyone was already looking at her, she could only give a faint nod.

To her surprise, the math teacher seemed quite pleased. He called on He Tang and asked her to explain her reasoning. He Tang stood up reluctantly and fluently laid out her thought process.

The math teacher looked at her with pleasant surprise, then turned to the class and asked, “Does anyone else share He Tang’s way of thinking?”

At that, the room stirred. A few hands went up here and there, and they all belonged to the top students in the class.

The math teacher nodded with a smile and said, “The correct answer to this problem is A. Lin Min’s approach, however, is a common pitfall that most students tend to fall into.”

As soon as he said this, the class erupted in shocked. What? He Tang, who was dead last in the grade, got it right, while Lin Min got it wrong? No way! What an unbelievable twist! How could He Tang possibly solve that problem?

The math teacher continued, “He Tang’s method is perfectly correct. Her logic is sound, her reasoning is clear, and she wasn’t misled by the information given in the question. The reason I had you students come up and explain these two problems is to remind you all that deep understanding of the material is very important. You might memorize the standard way to solve a problem, but if you don’t truly understand it, as soon as the problem changes slightly or adds some misleading information, you’ll fall right into the trap. So, you need to build a solid foundation, everyone!”

He Tang and Lin Min sat down under the curious and strange gazes of their classmates. He Tang didn’t care—it was just solving a problem, nothing to be proud of but Lin Min didn’t see it that way. Her mind kept replaying what He Tang had said yesterday.

“The answer is A, you idiot!”

The words echoed in her head, impossible to shake off. Every now and then, the math teacher’s words—”He Tang’s method is perfectly correct”—would pop into her mind as well, making her feel utterly humiliated. To make matters worse, Xia Lian’s deskmate had witnessed everything firsthand yesterday.

Thinking of this, Lin Min couldn’t help but turn around, and immediately caught Xia Lian’s deskmate snickering. A surge of anger and embarrassment rose at once. Lin Min shot her a vicious glare before quickly turning back around.

Xia Lian’s deskmate curled her lip. She didn’t dare lash out at Lin Min, but she could certainly complain to her friends. So, she secretly took out her phone and started texting her best friend, embellishing the story of Lin Min’s humiliation.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was lunchtime.

In the past, He Tang had always gone to eat with Lin Min and the others. Lin Min deliberately waited, wanting to see how He Tang would have the nerve to follow them today or even ask to join them!

But He Tang had no idea that the original owner used to eat with Lin Min and the others. And even if she had known, she wouldn’t have continued to associate with them. She simply grabbed her meal card, stood up, and prepared to leave.

Lin Min looked up at her, waiting for her to speak.

“Move aside,” He Tang’s tone was flat, almost indifferent, as if she couldn’t be bothered to spare any consideration for her.

Lin Min pressed her lips together, stood up, and stepped aside. As He Tang passed by her, Lin Min couldn’t help but ask, “Where are you going?”

“To eat.” Without sparing her so much as a glance, He Tang walked straight out of the classroom.

Lin Min watched her retreating figure for a long moment. Finally, she turned to Xia Lian and said, “Don’t you think He Tang is different from before?”

“You’re just noticing?” Xia Lian was almost amused by Lin Min’s obliviousness. From yesterday onward, He Tang had seemed like a completely different person, okay? Aside from her face, even her entire demeanor had changed!

“But why? Even if she was provoked by the confession, would it really cause such a big change? Wasn’t she the one who used to shamelessly beg to come eat with us? Saying something about how if she ate alone, she always felt like people would gossip about her having no friends.” Lin Min found it really strange. Although they had never considered He Tang a friend and only ate with her because she was useful to boss around, their unwillingness was one thing, but He Tang being unwilling was another.

Lin Min was genuinely curious, so she pulled Xia Lian along and ran toward the cafeteria, wanting to see who He Tang was eating with. Surely, she wasn’t going to pull the same stunt as before, and deliberately putting on a pitiful, lonely act and insisting on eating with Gu Jingfeng?

They followed behind He Tang, watching as she stood in front of the cafeteria’s menu display screen on the first floor for several minutes. Then she headed up to the second floor.

Lin Min looked in the direction He Tang was walking, the corner of her mouth curling into a smirk. Just as she expected, He Tang was after Gu Jingfeng.

It was only after He Tang had started up the stairs that she saw Gu Jingfeng walking ahead of her but she didn’t pay it any mind. The lunch period for senior students was the same, so running into him was perfectly normal. She certainly wasn’t going to give up her favorite food just because of him.

However, while He Tang didn’t care, the gossip-loving students cared a great deal. Some had already started taking photos and posting them on the campus forum. One of the male students beside Gu Jingfeng discreetly elbowed him and lowered his voice. “He Tang is following you again.”

Gu Jingfeng’s brow furrowed slightly, but he didn’t respond and just kept walking up.

The surrounding students watched as He Tang followed Gu Jingfeng and his group up to the second floor and then over to various food counters. Almost immediately, they turned back to the forum to provide live updates.

[That’s right, she’s following Gu Jingfeng. They’re both on the second floor!]

[Geez, there’s more to this confession? I knew it. No way she’d just give up on Gu Jingfeng.]

[What kind of stunt is He Tang pulling now? Didn’t she just confess to someone else? What a slap in the face.]

[Haha, I think she wants to become public enemy number one of all the girls at school.]

[Oh oh! They’re going to the same counter! He Tang is still He Tang! Photo.jpg]

In the photo, He Tang was standing behind Gu Jingfeng and another male student, queuing for sweet and sour pork ribs.

However, she kept her head down, playing on her phone.

The male student in front of her grinned mischievously and nudged Gu Jingfeng, gesturing for him to look behind. Gu Jingfeng turned slightly and swept his gaze over He Tang, who stood separated from him by just one person. He saw the girl with strikingly fair skin, head bowed as she fiddled with her phone, the corner of her lips faintly curved, as though something on the screen had caught her interest.

He only looked for a few seconds before turning back, facing forward again without another glance, continuing to wait in line.

Gu Jingfeng and his friends got their meals first and found a table to sit at. There happened to be an empty seat right next to Gu Jingfeng. Normally, he wouldn’t have paid any attention to the empty seat, but perhaps due to his companions’ relentless teasing along the way, he found himself feeling vaguely curious—would He Tang sit there?

The classmate sitting across from Gu Jingfeng kept looking back and forth between He Tang and Gu Jingfeng, all while furiously typing on his phone, live-updating the situation on the forum.

“She’s coming, she’s coming, she’s approaching,” the companion said in a low voice to Gu Jingfeng, the amused grin on his face impossible to hide.

However, one step, two steps, three steps—they watched helplessly as He Tang, carrying her lunch tray, walked straight past them without a sideways glance. She went to an empty table a few rows behind them, as if she hadn’t even seen Gu Jingfeng at all.

All the onlookers: ???

Gu Jingfeng’s hand gripping his chopsticks tightened slightly, but he still said nothing.

Those not present on the forum were still demanding live updates:

[What happened? Where did she sit? She definitely sat next to Gu Jingfeng, right? Don’t just focus on eating, give us a photo!]

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