Chapter 15: 015 Do You Really Have to Gross Me Out?

The homeroom teacher of Class 8 hurriedly found his glasses and put them on.

He pulled out the answer key provided by Jiang Jing and carefully compared it with the student's work. The answer key he held was ordinary and conventional—the most standard, concise method possible.

All the students in the training class followed these steps.

Even he himself was no exception.

However, the answer sheet in his hand was different. He stared at it intently, not missing a single punctuation mark. Upon finishing, he even had a moment of sudden enlightenment—

"So that’s what this question meant."

The homeroom teacher turned his gaze to the name section. Unsurprisingly, there were two neat, beautiful characters—

Bai Lian.

With a grand wave of his hand, he recorded an unprecedented "10" for her participation grade.

**

Nine o'clock at night.

Underground laboratory.

"The energy threshold is low," Jiang Fuli said, looking up and taking off his glasses. He leaned one hand on the table and pointed with the other at an energy diagram he had just drawn. "But the kinetic energy before the quark collision doesn't match the energy after. The WPMPs carried away part of the energy..."

He stood tall and straight, analyzing the newly detected results in an orderly fashion.

The curves drawn lightly with his pencil were comparable to those rendered by a computer.

The slightly dim light of the lab hit his smooth, well-defined profile, each stroke appearing as if meticulously outlined. His long, dense eyelashes were slightly lowered, casting a faint shadow.

The team members nearby held pens and paper, jotting down everything he said.

"That's all for today." Jiang Fuli put his pen away, tucking it casually into his collar. He hooked a black mask from his pocket with his slender fingertips, covering the bridge of his high nose.

He was tall, and his black jacket made him look somewhat lean.

Everyone watched his retreating back. A boy calmly put away his voice recorder and stated with certainty, "Something's not right."

The others nodded in succession.

As everyone knew, Jiang Fuli’s group was the most hardworking in the country, mostly because Young Master Jiang would basically stay in the lab until twelve o'clock every day, never returning home at night. It wasn't even rare for him to sleep in the lab for a month straight.

A team member had once heard him scold someone from the Jiang family for five minutes in the office after they came to ask him about some trivial matter.

After that, no one from the Jiang family dared to approach him casually.

Yet, for the past two days, he had been leaving promptly at nine o'clock every night.

"Heh," the girl next to the boy pulled the voice recorder out of his pocket with a sinister look. "So you've been secretly recording us behind our backs, huh? No wonder you always answer Young Master Jiang's questions so quickly!"

"He Wen, you really are a piece of work."

The boy: "..."

In the car.

Jiang Fuli sat in the back seat.

His laptop was on the table, and his phone rang. He glanced at it and answered.

A man's voice came from the other end. "Why did you reject the Gao family? It’s just inserting one person; it’s not like they’re going to the Jiang family. I knew it—the moment your mother died, you stopped treating me like your uncle..."

Jiang Fuli didn't listen to the rest.

The car slowed to a stop, and the assistant got out to retrieve Jiang He's dinner from the trunk.

Jiang Fuli looked out the window.

Through the glass, he could see Jiang He and Bai Lian still sitting at their spot in the milk tea shop, a small white light shining above their heads.

Jiang Fuli detached himself from his emotions. He was methodical, calm, and detached. "Because it’s completely useless."

"What?"

"I said," Jiang Fuli’s eyes were faint, calm as a deep pool, suppressing a cold sharpness. He picked up a black notebook and stepped out of the car. "I don't collect trash."

Hanging up the phone, Jiang Fuli walked closer.

Bai Lian was working on a physics test, hunched over the table writing on the paper the physics teacher had just handed out.

Seeing Jiang Fuli, she lifted her eyes, her chin still resting on her arm, and greeted him lazily: "Teacher Jiang."

"Still haven't finished your homework?" Jiang Fuli pulled out the chair opposite her.

Do high school seniors really have this much homework?

"Almost done." Bai Lian wrote the last line, her gaze falling on the black notebook by his hand.

"This," Jiang Fuli pushed the notebook over with an air of indifference, his exquisite brows as cold and aloof as ever, his voice sounding casual: "My old physics notebook."

Bai Lian perked up. She looked at the notebook, her black pupils reflecting the overhead light, looking excessively beautiful. "Thank you."

Jiang He sat to the side, watching Jiang Fuli intently.

Because she had to go to the training class at night, Bai Lian didn't make Ji Heng wait for her to go home for dinner. She ate at the cafeteria and stayed at the milk tea shop with Jiang He to study for a while after school before heading back.

**

Ji Heng waited for Bai Lian at the entrance of the alley every night, and today was no exception.

It was nearly ten o'clock.

Bai Lian remembered time dilation. "Grandpa, are you sleepy?"

Ji Heng was holding a flashlight. He had intended to say he wasn't sleepy, but remembering what Bai Lian had been doing for the past two days, he spoke cautiously: "A little sleepy."

"Ah," Bai Lian said with some regret. "Then I'll wake you up tomorrow morning."

Ji Heng: "..."

Is it absolutely necessary to wake me up?

The next day, Thursday.

As soon as Ji Heng opened his eyes, he saw someone squatting by his bed.

"Grandpa," Bai Lian had been listening to English vocabulary, but seeing him open his eyes, she turned off the sound. "Are you awake?"

Ji Heng: "..."

Later, wherever he went, Bai Lian followed: "*&^%$@(^%……"

As soon as Ji Shaojun entered the courtyard, he heard Bai Lian’s lazy voice: "So time changes according to everyone's speed... Grandpa, did you understand?"

"..."

"Grandpa, why aren't you saying anything?" Bai Lian turned her head.

Ji Heng silently spat out his mouthwash. "Perhaps because your grandfather is brushing his teeth."

Why.

Why do high school students have so much energy?

Does she not need to sleep?

Ji Heng's courtyard had never been this lively. Ji Shaojun watched with a smile as Bai Lian circled Ji Heng from the kitchen to the courtyard, and then to the storage room.

Breakfast was something Bai Lian had gotten up early to buy at Qingshui Street.

At 6:40, only after she heard the correct answer from Ji Heng's mouth did she pick up her school uniform and head out. "Grandpa, Uncle, I'm leaving."

As soon as she stepped out, the whole courtyard became quiet again.

Ji Shaojun looked at the serious expression on Ji Heng's face and muttered to himself, *Keep pretending, you old man. You’re probably floating on cloud nine just from hearing the word 'Grandpa'.*

**

Xiangcheng High School seniors had PE classes.

Class 15 had theirs during the last period on Thursday mornings, along with Class 8.

With only a few classes a week and over eighty classes in the school, some were bound to overlap.

"There weren't any before," Bai Lian's desk-mate, Lu Xiaohan, who was also too lazy to move, sat next to Bai Lian and explained, "Later, someone reported it anonymously, and the school had to schedule PE classes."

Bai Lian held the black notebook. After the PE teacher announced free time, she sat under a tree and flipped through it slowly.

Even though she wasn't doing anything, many people pretended to glance her way inadvertently.

Another basketball flew toward them.

Only this time, it was a bit off-target, the ball spinning as it flew straight toward Bai Lian’s forehead.

A boy shouted anxiously, "Watch—"

Bai Lian slowly turned a page with one hand. She didn't even look up; just as the ball was about to hit her face, she raised her other hand, and the fast-flying ball landed steadily in her palm!

The wind from the ball gently blew the loose hair at her forehead.

At noon, the sun was just right.

She weighed the ball in her hand, lifted her eyes, and looked lazily at the boy. Sunlight filtered through the tree leaves, casting dappled light on her head. She tossed the ball back to the boy nonchalantly.

She smiled at him, her features as delicate as jade: "Be careful."

The boy reached out and caught it.

His face turned bright red, and it took him a long time to come to his senses and return to his team. Several of his teammates nearby lowered their voices, excited: "Damn, that was so cool!"

"Ten minutes," Lu Xiaohan came back to her senses. She closed her mouth and helped Bai Lian count. "In just ten minutes, two badminton birdies and three basketballs have 'accidentally' fallen in front of you. Bai, you're too much!"

Bai Lian gave a lazy smile.

She looked down, took out her phone, snapped a picture of a black cat in the notebook, and sent it to Jiang Fuli—

【What you drew doesn't look as good as my grandpa's】

Teacher Jiang: 【。。。。】

Not far away.

"She's actually reading?" Shi Yutong stared fixedly at Bai Lian, her brow heavy with gloom. "What is someone with an 85 in science pretending for?"

Ren Wanxuan leaned against the horizontal bar, holding a bag in her hand.

"Sister Wanxuan, Brother Zhe said you have an invitation to the International White Tiger Auction," several people from Class 8, having heard something, walked over with basketballs, acting mysterious. "We've never actually seen one."

Ren Wanxuan looked at Chen Zhe.

Chen Zhe nodded at her.

Ren Wanxuan smiled. She weighed her bag, intending to open it right there, but seeing Bai Lian not far away, she paused. "Let's go somewhere else to show you."

Lu Xiaohan didn't dare offend the people from Class 8 and could only complain to Bai Lian in secret, "I wouldn't even care to see it."

However, she knew that if it was something the 'Crown Prince Class' valued so much, it must be something rare.

After PE class, Bai Lian, Lu Xiaohan, and Yang Lin went to the cafeteria to eat.

Along the way, Lu Xiaohan tried hard not to stare at Yang Lin.

Zhang Size and the others also crowded around Bai Lian's table after getting their food. Yang Lin sat next to Bai Lian, her bowl containing only greens.

Bai Lian casually placed a chicken leg into her bowl. Having received millions in child support, she was calm and composed: "This is the child support my mom and my deadbeat dad gave me after their divorce. It’s not much, remember to pay me back later."

Yang Lin’s chopsticks paused.

Lu Xiaohan’s brain was spinning wildly. Bai Lian had dropped several pieces of information in one sentence. She opened her mouth, wanting to tell Bai Lian, "Yang Lin won't take it."

But she saw Yang Lin give a soft "Mm."

Yang Lin ate quickly, finishing in a few bites before heading back.

Lu Xiaohan and Zhang Size sat at the table, deeply shocked—

So the reason they couldn't give their things away was because their parents weren't divorced?

"Classmate Bai Lian." After eating, as Bai Lian and the others reached the second floor, they saw the homeroom teacher of Class 8 walking out of the office, wearing his glasses.

Zhang Size and the others naturally recognized the homeroom teacher of the 'Crown Prince Class'.

The students, afraid of seeing a teacher, scrambled off to the third floor.

Leaving Bai Lian alone.

"You did very well on the problem last time," the Class 8 homeroom teacher stood in the hallway, sighing before looking dissatisfied. "Why did you study liberal arts before? What a waste."

Bai Lian lowered her eyes, very honest: "Teacher, the problem yesterday was taught to me by someone else."

"That has nothing to do with who taught it," he smiled. "I can understand your entire problem-solving process from your steps. You were able to understand that question—even if I put that answer in the training class, only a few people would be able to understand it."

Bai Lian really wanted to explain to this teacher.

If Jiang Fuli explained it to them, they could write it out too; she just didn't know if the teacher would believe her.

She rubbed her nose and, after receiving the praise, returned to the third floor.

Of course, she wouldn't know—

Young Master Jiang barely managed not to curse at them; explain a problem?

Heh.

**

Class 8.

Chen Zhe and the others never ate in the school cafeteria; they returned only after eating at a private restaurant outside the school.

Ren Wanxuan returned to her seat. Because she had to go eat and others still wanted to see the invitation, she had asked Shi Yutong to bring her bag back to the classroom after they were done looking.

As soon as she returned, she opened her bag.

"What's wrong?" Chen Zhe saw Ren Wanxuan's expression change and stood up.

Ren Wanxuan’s face was cold. She scanned the people in the classroom: "Who came to our class at noon?"

The expression made it clear: something was missing.

The people in Class 8 were all prominent figures in Xiangcheng. Privately, they all knew Ren Wanxuan's status and wouldn't do such a thing.

That left only one possibility: someone from another class.

"It couldn't be... that, could it?" The class monitor looked nervous. He stood up quickly, referring to the invitation.

The whole class had been lining up to see her invitation today.

Seeing Ren Wanxuan’s gloomy face, the monitor knew he had guessed right.

"Damn," he slammed his hand on the table, scanning the room. "Who came to our class at noon?"

No one dared to speak; there was dead silence.

"That," after a long while, a girl in the corner raised her hand silently and spoke hesitantly: "At noon, I think I saw that transfer student from Class 15 come to the second floor."

Ren Wanxuan had never been this angry. She had lived a pampered life since she was a child.

At school, others could only look up to her. Let alone things in her bag, even the things she threw away, no one had the guts to touch.

Hearing the girl's words, Ren Wanxuan gritted her teeth. "Bai Lian, is it?"

She threw her bag on the ground and walked straight toward Class 15.

As she walked, she took out her phone and sent a message to her father—

【Do you really have to bring that relative of yours to our school just to disgust me?】

Goodnight, I hope you can sleep well.

(End of chapter)