Chapter 55: The Fact That She Appears Easy to Bully in Front of Lu Yuanqiu Doesn’t Mean She Has No Temper

At the usual pace, everyone should only just be working on reading comprehension, but Bai Qingxia had already reached the essay section.

She set down her pen, reached into her pants pocket, and hurriedly pulled out some tissues.

She glanced at Su Miaomiao on the podium; seeing that Su Miaomiao wasn’t looking their way, Bai Qingxia quickly poked Lu Yuanqiu on the back.

She knew Lu Yuanqiu never carried tissues with him, while for girls, tissues were a must—for any trip to the restroom, big or small.

Lu Yuanqiu turned around to look at her, his face ashen, bloodshot eyes wide.

Bai Qingxia was momentarily taken aback at the sight, and instead of feeling amused, she was suddenly overcome with a twinge of pity. Any remaining goodwill she might have had for Tan Le evaporated completely.

She quickly handed him the tissues, pointing seriously at her own nose.

Lu Yuanqiu understood at once. He took the tissues, tore them in half, rolled each piece into a ball, and stuffed them up his nostrils.

The tissues had a faint, familiar fragrance—Bai Qingxia’s unique scent. He had no idea where she’d pulled them from.

With a deep sigh, Lu Yuanqiu finally relaxed; his left hand, which had been clamped over his nose, was at last free.

He turned and noticed that Mao Sheng had been so overwhelmed by the stench that he’d turned away, retching over his test paper.

Lu Yuanqiu couldn’t help but grin.

Who would’ve thought Tan’s fart would have such unexpected powers?

Serves you right for ogling me! Say something now! Was your brother Tan’s fart big enough for you? Do you like those stinky farts?

Lu Yuanqiu got back to answering questions.

Still, after all the chaos, he was up against the clock.

When he saw there was only an hour left, Lu Yuanqiu decisively gave up on the practical reading and classical Chinese comprehension sections.

He went straight to the essay!

Compared to those questions with fixed answers, he felt the essay was his strong suit. With age and experience, his writing and depth of thought had far surpassed his former self.

After finishing the essay, Lu Yuanqiu counted the characters against the grid, and, confirming he’d written over 800 words, let out a silent sigh of relief.

Astonishingly, this was the first time in his life he’d ever completed a full composition in a Chinese exam.

It felt a bit surreal.

Though time was tight, Lu Yuanqiu still sat up slowly, a smile on his lips, holding his answer sheet upright as he read his masterpiece to himself.

When he finished, he flicked the paper with his fingers, and thought with pride: What a talent, sir!

Hearing the sound, Bai Qingxia, who was checking over her test, looked up in puzzlement at the boy in front of her.

With only twenty minutes remaining, Lu Yuanqiu started tackling the reading comprehension. When the whistle blew, he was still agonizing over whether to pick C or D on a practical reading multiple-choice question!

Lu Yuanqiu felt like crying—why was a native Chinese speaker struggling with Chinese reading comprehension?

Damn it!

He filled in C for all the remaining multiple-choice questions, and for the blank ones, there was nothing he could do but leave them.

Su Miaomiao stood up and clapped her hands. “Time’s up! Please stop writing. Students in the first row, please collect the answer sheets—small numbers on top, large numbers on the bottom.”

Lu Yuanqiu slumped in his chair, feeling more drained than after a certain other kind of exertion. Of course, Tan Le bore most of the blame for this.

The test was out of 150 points, a passing score was 90. If he scored high on the essay, maybe he’d scrape by.

He’d leave it to fate.

In short: forget each subject after you take it.

Now, he had to focus on the afternoon’s math exam.

Once the last answer sheet was collected, Su Miaomiao had intended to organize them before letting the students leave, but the group didn’t even wait for instructions—they simply got up to pack their things.

She couldn't be bothered to enforce order in the last exam room.

Lu Yuanqiu went to get his backpack and, coming back, asked Bai Qingxia, “Are you going for lunch now?”

The girl hugged her backpack, glanced up at him, and gently shook her head.

It had been a long time since Lu Yuanqiu had eaten with her. He figured that since Bai Qingxia had started earning money, she probably wouldn’t stick to just plain rice anymore—even if she didn’t eat meat, she’d surely add some vegetables.

“Come on, Lu Yuanqiu, let’s grab lunch,” Tan Le said, clapping him on the shoulder. Then, grinning at Bai Qingxia, he added, “Want to join us, Bai?”

At that moment, Bai Qingxia recalled Lu Yuanqiu’s earlier state and shot Tan Le a glare, ignoring him. Frustrated, she opened her backpack, pulled out some practice problems, and buried her head in them.

If Lu Yuanqiu didn’t do well on this exam, she’d be furious—though only inwardly.

Just because she was easygoing with Lu Yuanqiu didn’t mean she’d be a pushover with every other irritating person.

Tan Le, baffled by the glare, glanced helplessly at Lu Yuanqiu.

Lu Yuanqiu understood—Tan Le’s farting was always involuntary, what could be called “fart amnesia,” so this fool had no clue why Bai Qingxia was treating him this way.

“Let’s go, let’s go, time to eat.” Lu Yuanqiu dragged him away.

Tan Le, thoroughly dejected, trailed along, on the verge of tears.

A single look of disgust from his goddess was enough to keep him sleepless for three days and nights.

In the second-floor cafeteria, Lu Yuanqiu and Tan Le sat across from each other, eating.

Just then, Lu Yuanqiu spotted Dali Jiao carrying his tray to a vacant spot. As always, he managed to take up two seats with his broad frame, holding a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other, both fingers arched daintily. His sturdy legs were splayed awkwardly beneath the table.

Passing students shot him glances tinged with mockery.

Lu Yuanqiu looked away—such scenes were all too common at school.

Appearance, voice, dress, habits—any of these could be grounds for a student to be ostracized.

Perhaps not bullied, but certainly isolated.

In a way, Bai Qingxia was one of the isolated, too. But her case was different: she shut out everyone first, and then everyone shut her out.

While eating, Tan Le suddenly signaled with his eyes to the table to Lu Yuanqiu’s right.

Lu Yuanqiu, chewing, turned to see Mao Sheng at the next table, staring at him with utmost solemnity.

“Pfft!” Lu Yuanqiu’s eyes widened as he nearly spat out his food in surprise.

What the hell kind of sneak attack was that—how was he supposed to defend against it?

He gritted his teeth, suppressed his laughter, and turned his head away.

Mao Sheng, unfazed, continued eating while maintaining his intense stare at Lu Yuanqiu.

Tan Le couldn’t help but ask, “You slept with him and didn’t take responsibility?”

Lu Yuanqiu explained helplessly, “I broke his undefeated record in the eight-hundred meter dash—he’s probably got a grudge now…”

There was no way he dared to look back again.

If he hadn’t controlled himself, he would have died laughing just now.

There are always people in school who inexplicably hit your funny bone—Mao Sheng’s serious face was Lu Yuanqiu’s Achilles’ heel.

After finishing his meal, Lu Yuanqiu picked up his backpack, about to head home, when he remembered—his bag still held an old Nokia phone.

He’d meant to give it to Bai Qingxia.

Descending from the second to the first floor of the cafeteria, Lu Yuanqiu parted ways with Tan Le, who headed back to the dorms, while Lu Yuanqiu began searching for Bai Qingxia in the cafeteria.

Given it was exam day, she shouldn’t have lingered in the classroom for so long.

Sure enough, he soon spotted her sitting alone in a quiet corner.