Bang!
Pei Song tossed a book at Ren Qian.
“If you have the time, why don’t you use it to learn new vocabulary? You won’t have to stand aside and listen to people reading your narration next time.”
Ren Qian smiled bitterly. “Fine, I’ll learn, I’ll learn. What’s so hard about that? The thing is, I’m certain that many other of our classmates share the same thought as me.”
Pei Song was taking notes on his book and his hand froze when he heard Ren Qian.
…
“Lil Ci, what’s going on with Ning Li? I thought students in Lincheng had terrible English!”
Cheng Xiangxiang’s anger exploded right after the class ended. She had been holding back her temper for the entire class.
If she had known that Ning Li was proficient in English, she would not have mocked her in front of the class. Now, every word that she had uttered to Ning Li felt like a slap to her own face.
Ye Ci frowned. “I have no idea either. Sister Ning Li did not say a thing about that before—”
“She must be doing it on purpose!” Cheng Xiangxiang was furious with embarrassment. She turned around to the corner of the classroom where Ning Li was sitting.
The seat was empty though.
Mathematics class was next, but Ning Li had left. Although she was not in the class, the other students were talking about what happened earlier and the topic was gathering attention quickly.
Cheng Xiangxiang even heard her name being mentioned a few times. She knew her classmates were laughing at her although she was not part of those discussions.
Ye Ci was quiet for a moment before she said softly, “Speaking of Sister Ning Li, her accent is really similar to our class monitor, Pei Song’s.”
Cheng Xiangxiang was hit with an epiphany after hearing what Ye Ci said. “You’re right! It’s really similar!”
She glanced at Pei Song a few times and acted all suspicious.
“Our class monitor practiced the play with Ning Li for the whole week, but based on what I know, Pei Song isn’t that kind of patient character. I think Ning Li must have secretly learned it from him.”
Cheng Xiangxiang pouted. “Pei Song used to live in the UK, hence the accent. But what about Ning Li? What’s her background? Did she learn the accent just because she can act cool in front of all of us?”
Ye Ci did not reply. She quietly tidied up the notes on her table and walked out of the classroom.
Suddenly, Cheng Xiangxiang saw the Physics textbook in Ye Ci’s hands. She asked, “Lil Ci, are you going to the competitive Physics class?”
Ye Ci nodded.
“The teacher in charge asked me a few times before, but I said no. However, I found competitive Physics interesting lately, so since I have the time recently, I want to give it a try.”
Ye Ci had obtained a perfect score in her Physics paper during her second year, so the competitive Physics class sent her an invitation. However, because she was preparing for Huatsing Cup’s competition at the time, she had rejected it.
“I wonder if Mr. Zhou will let me join the class now,” she said with a slightly worried tone.
Cheng Xiangxiang said, “Of course, you can! But there’s one thing you need to know: if you really join the class, you will have to face Ning Li again.”
Ye Ci smiled. “Mr. Zhou likes her very much, so her Physics must be good. If we can study together, it would be great.”
…
At the Physics department in the teacher’s office, Zhou Fei was leaning on his chair and playing with his phone as usual while Ning Li was sitting opposite him, answering the mock paper.
Zhou Fei would glance at her at times, appearing all mysterious.
Ning Li finished calculating the question about the magnetic field and then looked at Zhou Fei.
“Mr. Zhou, is there something wrong?”
Ever since she sat down in front of him, the man had been peeking at her. He had never done that before, but he was acting strange today.
Zhou Fei waved his hand frivolously. “Nothing, nothing in particular. Continue.”
Ning Li stared at him. Just when she was about to continue answering the paper, Zhou Fei finally gave in to his curiosity. He turned off his phone and leaned forward. After arranging his words in his mind, he asked, “I…um…it’s not important, but I have something to ask you.”
Ning Li nodded. “What is it?”
Zhou Fei cleared his throat. “You and, uh…Second…I mean Lu Huaiyu, are you guys close? I heard that the two of you went to the Cheng family’s last week.”
“Mr. Zhou, do you have a 2G network in your mind?” It had been a week since then, but he was only asking her now.
Zhou Fei smiled awkwardly and his face started to twitch. It was not his fault! He never really paid attention to this kind of thing, so he was not aware.
If he had not overheard people talking about it the other day, he might still have been in the dark. However, Ning Li’s answer practically confirmed it for him.
“Can you tell me how you guys met?” Zhou Fei was intrigued.
Ning Li might be the first and only one who got special treatment from Lu Huaiyu. As a matter of fact, how she met Lu Huaiyu was not the point. She knew what Zhou Fei wanted to know.
Ning Li thought about it and said, “We—”
Knock, knock.
“Mr. Zhou.” Ye Ci’s voice came from the door.
Zhou Fei turned around and was rather surprised when he saw Ye Ci. “Ye Ci? Why are you here?”
Ye Ci came in. She saw Ning Li answering the mock paper in front of Zhou Fei and tightened her lips. Ning Li was probably the only one who got this special treatment from Zhou Fei.
“Mr. Zhou, I have something to talk to you about.” Ye Ci cleared her thoughts and asked with an anxious tone, “I…want to join the competitive Physics class. I wonder if I can still make it now.”
Surprised, Zhou Fei said, “Now? It’s a little too late.”
Students in the competitive Physics class had started their preparation for the competition a long time ago.
Since Ye Ci had no relevant experience in the past, Zhou Fei believed her sudden participation was not worth it.
Ning Li looked at the paper in front of her and frowned slightly.
It was exactly the same! In her past life, after the Huatsing Cup, Ye Ci had asked to join the competitive Physics class.
The only difference was that in her past life, Ye Ci had already gotten a guaranteed slot to Xijing University. Ye Ci joined the competitive Physics class just to compete with her and find a chance to ruin her completely.
Now, it was more likely that Ye Ci knew it was difficult for her to get into Xijing University with the entrance exam alone.
Ye Ci did not expect such a swift rejection from Zhou Fei, thus she was slightly caught off guard.
Zhou Fei said, “Moreover, with your current Physics score…”
“Mr. Zhou,” Ning Li said all of a sudden, “Ye Ci’s Physics has always been good. If she focuses on competitive Physics, there’s a high chance that she can win.”
Surprised, Zhou Fei looked at Ning Li. He had only been teaching Ye Ci’s class this year. Even though it was not that long, he already knew the student’s standards in Physics.
Ye Ci’s scores in combined science were average, but if she were to perform in a competition, she would be at a disadvantage. Could it be that Ye Ci had yet to show her full potential, like Ning Li?
Ye Ci never would have thought Ning Li would help her. Her eyes twitched for a second.
“If that’s the case…” Zhou Fei sat up straight. “Ye Ci. Let me ask you one more time. Are you sure you want to join the competitive Physics class?”
Ye Ci noticed the change of attitude in the man’s words. Was it because of what Ning Li said?
She felt uncomfortable but nodded nevertheless. “Mr. Zhou, I’ve thought this through.”
“The competition is time-consuming and will wear your mind down. If you’ve thought it through, I’m okay with it. If you run into any problems, you can ask Ning Li for help,” Zhou Fei concluded.
Ye Ci felt suffocated for a moment. “I…understand. Thank you, Mr. Zhou.”
Zhou Fei then returned to his phone while Ning Li returned to answering the paper.
Ye Ci lost her mood. She originally planned to find out more but could no longer stay after being given the cold shoulder. She quickly left the office.
After she left, Zhou Fei looked at Ning Li.
“Where were we just now?”
Then, he realized something. “Hold on! The 1,000 high-school Physics questions that you were doing, were they from Lu Huaiyu?”
Surprised, Ning Li asked, “Mr. Zhou, how did you know?”
As Zhou Fei clenched his teeth, he made a call with his phone. He wanted to ask Lu Huaiyu what he had done to make the man unhappy and why Lu Huaiyu would waste his student’s time
However, all he got was a flat line.
Lu Huaiyu had rejected his call.
Zhou Fei clenched his teeth tighter. “Ning Li, call Lu Huaiyu now.”
Ning Li was stunned for a second before she did as told.
After a short wait, the call got through.
“Lili?” The heavy and lazy drawl of a man came from the other side of the call.
Zhou Fei snatched the phone over and said with a scoff. “Second Master Lu, who are you calling Lili?!”