The Sickly Villain Only Wants to Survive

15

Shi Wenshu was momentarily unsure whether to ask Zhu Tong why his maternal grandfather taught him this principle or why it was not his father, but rather his maternal grandfather, who taught him.

He took a gentle breath and continued, "Yes, your grandfather is not wrong, but what he taught you is a principle of being a person, which does not apply to exams."

Zhu Tong looked confused. "Why not?"

Shi Wenshu: "..."

"Because you are now a high school student. When a high school student takes an exam, what you should do is think of every possible way to get more points, so that after the college entrance examination, you will have more choices."

Zhu Tong paused, still looking at him in bewilderment. "But scores obtained by guessing aren't my own results."

He didn't care much about his college entrance examination scores.

The universities he wanted to attend could still be reached without relying on guessed scores.

For universities he couldn't attend, even the guessed scores wouldn't get him in.

So he didn't understand the usefulness of scoring more by guessing.

Shi Wenshu felt a mix of emotions.

This student of his was unexpectedly simple-minded and stubborn.

He helplessly rubbed his temples and sighed. "Alright, let's not discuss this for now. If, according to your logic, as long as you can determine the answers to the questions, you will do well on the exam?"

Zhu Tong nodded. "I will."

Shi Wenshu asked, "Then do you want to improve your grades?"

Zhu Tong's eyes brightened slightly. "I do."

That made things easier.

Shi Wenshu smiled. "Then how about we change your seat back, and you continue to sit next to Shao Ming?"

Zhu Tong had excellent English scores, and his Chinese was not too bad either.

This indicated that he had a solid foundation for learning.

As long as he focused properly, there was no doubt he would improve his grades.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, the light in Zhu Tong's eyes visibly dimmed.

"Sit next to Shao Ming?"

Shi Wenshu replied, "Yes."

Zhu Tong asked, "Why?"

"..."

Was this a hundred thousand whys?

Shi Wenshu said, "Didn't you want to sit next to him when school started? He has great grades, and you can ask him if you don't understand something."

Zhu Tong fell silent.

Shi Wenshu thought he was worried that Yuan Shaozhao would trouble him again. Just as he was about to comfort him, saying that someone would handle the matter, he heard Zhu Tong look up and say, "Can I switch with someone else? They said my front desk mate is the second in the grade, so I can ask him for help."

"Your front desk mate... is Lu Zheyu?" Shi Wenshu was momentarily taken aback and laughed. "His grades are indeed very good, but he..."

Zhu Tong: "?"

"What about him?"

Shi Wenshu hesitated for a moment, not saying anything.

He then looked at Zhu Tong again. "You don't want to sit next to Shao Ming?"

"Not really." Zhu Tong shook his head.

Shi Wenshu asked, "Then..."

"It's that he probably wouldn't want to sit next to me."

"..."

Shi Wenshu said, "How do you know that?"

"I..." Zhu Tong suddenly became tongue-tied.

How was he supposed to explain the recent significant drop in his favorability?

He stammered, "I... guessed."

Shi Wenshu was momentarily speechless, then smiled more kindly. "For uncertain things, don't jump to conclusions."

Zhu Tong: "..."

Did he just shoot himself in the foot?

In the classroom, Shao Ming was leaning by the window, absorbed in his phone, looking at a text message from an unknown sender without any notes.

[-]: Since you already know about your background, you should know what you should and shouldn't do. You will eventually have to return to A City; this is your true home.

Shao Ming stared expressionlessly at the WeChat message, coldness in his eyes.

How decisive they were when they abandoned him over a decade ago!

Now they spoke of "true home."

He sneered inwardly, not knowing how many times he had blacklisted another strange number before deleting the message and turning off his phone.

Just as the phone screen went dark, a shadow suddenly fell over him.

A person stood in front of him with their back to the classroom's fluorescent lights.

The newcomer was slender and tall, their fair face exhibiting a somewhat unhealthy pallor.

Because of the backlighting, their face was shrouded in light and shadow, the illumination casting a glow around them.

Shao Ming paused for a moment before remembering to manage his expression, raising his head to smile and say, "Is there something you need?"

Zhu Tong looked somewhat tense, trying to appear calm as he gazed at him. "Teacher Shi asked me to move my seat back."

Shao Ming was momentarily stunned, then smiled. "Oh, do you need help?"

He didn't mind Zhu Tong moving the desk back.

His desk mate seemed to have some interesting misunderstanding about him.

With a smile on his face, the earlier low pressure from receiving the text message completely dissipated.

Zhu Tong was puzzled by his few words and struggled to regain his train of thought. After a moment, he managed to steer the topic back, saying, "In any case, I don't have any strange thoughts about you. You don't need to... you don't need to..."

What did he not need to do?

Before Zhu Tong could figure it out, he noticed his desk mate finally showing some change in expression.

Shao Ming suddenly made a pained face and sighed deeply, "The more you emphasize this, the more I'll start to doubt my unparalleled charm. It's quite hurtful."

"Congratulations, Host. You have gained 3% in white moonlight affection. Current affection level: 14%."

Zhu Tong: "..."

Listening to the system's notification in his head, he looked at his desk mate's devastated expression.

Zhu Tong thought blandly, Oh, I believe it.

He hadn't expected his desk mate to be such a drama queen.