Chapter 79: Chapter 78: “Xi Zirong, Are You Crazy?

This question really stumped Xu Su. What was she supposed to say? ’The only difference is that you’re not as unhinged as him?’

Who could dislike a gentle boy? Especially one who blushed so easily. He had such an aloof personality, yet his cheeks would flush at the drop of a hat.

And most importantly, he was a great student.

Without Xi Zirong’s one-on-one tutoring, Xu Su had once again been knocked from her spot in the top three of her grade on the latest monthly exam.

If she didn’t have to consider any other factors and could just choose between Xi Zirong and Zhou Mochen…

…her memories from her past life meant she would never, ever choose Zhou Mochen.

But that was the whole problem, wasn’t it? She was terrified of Zhou Mochen snapping.

And was it true that she didn’t like Xi Zirong at all?

Of course not!

If she really disliked him, why would she be standing here letting him hold her hand and listen to all this nonsense? When you truly want to avoid someone, you don’t give them any opportunity to get close.

Xu Su was silent for a moment before saying, “I don’t accept your gifts because I don’t want to give you hope. I’m not trying to lead you on; it’s for your own good, understand? If I accepted your gifts but didn’t want to be with you, what kind of person would that make me?”

Sensing she was softening, Xi Zirong pressed his advantage. He stepped closer, lowered his head, and said, “I don’t feel like you’re leading me on. And if this *is* you leading me on, then please, Xu Su, I’m begging you to keep doing it. It’s you ignoring me that I can’t stand.”

He leaned in so close that Xu Su instinctively pushed him back a bit. “Xi Zirong,” she said, trying to drill some sense into him, “can you please not be so desperate? Have some self-respect, will you?”

’He really needs to get rid of this simp Attribute!’

’Otherwise, who knows how many girls will take advantage of him and have him wrapped around their little fingers in the future.’

Xu Su felt like she was worrying herself sick over him.

Xi Zirong froze. After a long moment, he said slowly, “If I don’t act like this, you just ignore me. Xu Su, you’ve been avoiding me for so long. It makes me miserable.”

He asked, “If I’m not desperate, will you like me?”

“…” Xu Su was rendered speechless.

’Help me!’

’Why does she only ever meet simps or love-obsessed idiots?’

’Oh, wait.’

’Looked at this way, Xi Zirong’s love-addled brain wasn’t any better than Zhou Mochen’s.’

Before she could even figure out how to fix the boy’s brain, her vision was suddenly obscured. Xi Zirong was hugging her again.

!!!

’He’s hugging me? Just like that? In the middle of the school field, in broad daylight?’

Xu Su shoved him away with all her strength, fuming. “Xi Zirong, are you insane?”

Xi Zirong looked completely innocent. “I’ve been wanting to hug you this whole time, but I held back. You’re the one who told me not to be so desperate. Xu Su, if I act like this, will you like me?”

’Like you, my ass!’

Xu Su felt like she was just wasting her breath. She wrenched her hand free and walked a few steps away. When she saw he was still following her, she spun around, pointed a finger at him, and snapped, “Stop following me! I’m going to the girls’ restroom now. You go back to class!”

The boy stood frozen in place, quietly watching her walk away into the distance.

After that conversation, Xu Su went back to avoiding Xi Zirong. But since he sat right behind her, they were bound to see each other all the time.

Xu Su could only try to focus harder on her studies and do her best to ignore the scorching gaze on her back.

Fortunately, after the monthly exam, Teacher Wu changed the seating arrangement again. Xu Su’s deskmate was no longer Chen Huiyu but Huang Feng. The two had finally gone from being roommates to deskmates.

Once they had moved to their new seats, Huang Feng excitedly threw her arms around Xu Su in a death grip. “AAAAAH! We’re finally sitting together!”

They were acting like a young couple dramatically reunited after a tragic separation.

Huang Feng was squeezing her neck so hard that Xu Su could barely breathe. She laughed and pinched Huang Feng’s waist. “Let go! If you don’t let go soon, I’m going to suffocate.”

Perhaps Teacher Wu had done it on purpose, but this time, Xi Zirong’s new seat was a full three rows away from Xu Su’s.

After the seat change, even though they were still in the same class, Xi Zirong appeared in Xu Su’s line of sight much less often.

As long as she didn’t actively look for him, she wouldn’t see him.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was April. Xu Su’s attitude during this period had pretty much convinced the rest of the class that the class president’s first love had crashed and burned.

The midterm exams arrived right on schedule, marking the halfway point of the semester.

The main subject teachers for the rocket class had been extremely busy lately, as most of them also taught senior-level courses.

The third-year students would be taking the Gaokao soon. The atmosphere had been tense for months, and now it was getting more and more taut.

The third-year classrooms were brightly lit at four or five in the morning. While the students crammed, the teachers were also pushing hard, giving them extra mock exams to gauge their progress.

By this point, everything that needed to be taught had been. Now it was all about reinforcement, using a constant stream of mock exams to simulate Gaokao results.

In comparison, the first-years’ midterm exam results didn’t seem all that important.

In any case, Xu Su placed sixth in her grade and fifth in the rocket class. Compared to her final exams from the previous semester, her score wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good enough to turn any teachers’ heads either.

After the midterms, Teacher Wu only briefly commented on the few students whose scores had fluctuated wildly. He didn’t call students into his office one by one for meetings like he used to.

This was because many students would be moving to the liberal arts track next semester, so their subject imbalance wouldn’t matter anymore.

Huang Feng had chosen the liberal arts track. She even mentioned that her Chinese teacher had been paying much more attention to her than last semester.

Several times, he had even used her essays as examples, reading them aloud to the class.

Honestly, despite Huang Feng’s boisterous personality, her writing was incredibly rich with emotion. She wielded the power of words with masterful ease. On several occasions, her essays moved many of the more sensitive girls in class to tears. She was already considered Mr. Chen’s future star pupil.

With the teachers all busy with the third-year students, maintaining classroom discipline was largely left to the student officers.

The rocket class had always been well-disciplined, so that wasn’t a concern.

The material for the first semester of their second year had already been completely covered in just over two months. After midterms, most of their class time was spent doing practice packets.

Some students grumbled, wondering why they weren’t moving on to the second-semester material after finishing the first. Instead, it was just an endless grind of practice packets.

The chemistry and English teachers hadn’t even shown up for the past few classes. The subject representatives would just hand out packets for everyone to work on. Rumor had it there were several thick stacks of them, enough to keep them busy for over ten days.

As the homeroom teacher, Teacher Wu was aware of the situation. During math class, he took a moment to explain. “The teachers have taught you everything from the first-year curriculum, and now we’ve finished the first-semester material for the second year as well. The rest is up to you—to see how much you’ve actually absorbed. For now, just focus on these practice packets and reinforce what you’ve learned.”

“Your chemistry and English teachers are on official business. They’ve gone to help predict the questions on the Gaokao for your upperclassmen.”

“They helped write questions for the Gaokao the last two years. It’s rare for them not to be involved, so of course the school wasn’t going to let them off the hook. They were basically conscripted, so don’t you all go blaming them.”

The entire rocket class erupted in an uproar.

They knew their teachers were badass, but they didn’t realize they were *this* badass.

They had actually written questions for previous Gaokao exams?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep