I Like Your Pheromones - Chap 12
As the monthly exam drew closer, the study atmosphere in the class got stronger.
Song Yi walked straight in through the door of class ten and saw even the study-slackers cramming last minute.
“Where’s my physics book? …Where’s my book? Did I lose my book?! The last time I saw it was before last month’s monthly exam.”
“Can you be a little quieter? I’m trying to memorize ‘Jing Ke’s assassination of King Qin’ while you’re shrieking so loud next to me. Who are you trying to bother to death?”
The whole path was in chaos.
So when he saw Duan Jiayan also reading a chemistry book, Song Yi felt that he was witnessing a rare event.
As if.
Song Yi looked at Duan Jiayan and almost thought he was blind.
“Xiao-Duan,” Song Yi pondered for a bit and finally cautiously asked: “Did something go wrong back home?”
“…” Duan Jiayan sometimes felt that the way Song Yi thinks was very magical.
“Yeah,” Duan Jiayan said: “My parents both went bankrupt. If I don’t study anymore, I can only hope to work at the construction site and move bricks for a living.”
“…” No matter how weird his train of thought was, Song Yi realized that he was telling a joke. He replied: “Moving bricks at the construction site is such a waste. You are a mountain of gold, yourself, so you must be more resourceful.”
“Away with your bullshit.” Duan Jiayan said with a smile: “I promised my mom that I’d rank at least fiftieth from the bottom in this monthly exam.”
“Isn’t that easy? There are so many exam study groups in First Middle, I’ll carry you.”
Duan Jiayan: “No.”
Song Yi: “???”
Duan Jiayan: “Cheating is a shameful act.”
Song Yi: “…”
Hearing this coming from Duan Jiayan made it extra hilarious.
Duan Jiayan: “I promised my mom that I wouldn’t cheat.”
He said as he continued reading his chemistry book. Song Yi remembered that Duan Jiayan was someone who keeps his word. If he promised to do something, then he wouldn’t go back on it. Song Yi was just thinking that Duan Jiayan had some redeeming qualities when-
“What the heck?” Duan Jiayan tossed his chemistry book onto the table. He asked blankly: “Why does one element have so many valences? Do they not get into fights?”
Song Yi almost laughed to death.
A day passed and Duan Jiayan had, unbelievably, studied for more than half the day. Thus, Song Yi decided to test the results of his learning.
Song Yi’s grades were also poor, but, compared to Duan Jiayan, he was still a little better. At least he knew that the valences wouldn’t get into fights.
He tested Duan Jiayan on a few knowledge points.
Duan Jiayan was nowhere close to an answer.
Song Yi advised: “This isn’t working. Why don’t you find a top student to review some key knowledge points with you? For the previous monthly exam, Cheng Chi managed to improve 100 plus places all because he had a super-smart girlfriend to save him.”
Duan Jiayan agreed with what Song Yi said.
He was just wondering where he could find such a top student to save him from this crisis when Zhao Minjun entered the classroom.
“Everyone, we will be reorganizing the classroom in a bit into exam setting for tomorrow’s monthly exam.” She drew the seating arrangement on the whiteboard: “The group closest to the back door needs to move out into the hallway. The remaining students only need to help space out the seats.”
It was time to start rearranging the seats.
Duan Jiayan looked around the classroom and the first person his eyes landed on was Lu Xingci.
Firstly, it was because he was tall, and secondly, it was because there were only a few books on Lu Xingci’s desk. Unlike many other people who had piled up a few stacks of workbooks, it was very easy for him to move his seat in the crowd of students.
Duan Jiayan’s eyes lit up as if he saw his savior.
Was there a top student who’s more top than Lu Xingci?
Looking at Lu Xingci’s desk, there were rarely any books placed on top. Why was this so? This was the symbol of a pro: all his knowledge was already inside his head.
Duan Jiayan dragged his table next to Lu Xingci’s. He looked at Chen Yue who was supposed to be sitting next to Lu Xingci: “I want to sit here.”
Chen Yue saw that Lu Xingci did not say anything and knew that it meant that he did not object. Chen Yue then said: “Take a seat then?”
Duan Jiayan satisfactorily placed his table next to Lu Xingci’s.
Chen Yue put his table behind Duan Jiayan’s and thought that this was very unexpected today. Then, an even rarer thing happened.
He heard Duan Jiayan ask: “Class president, do you think it is possible for a person who does not usually study and suddenly decides to study hard the night before the exam to perform miracles?
“That depends on what kind of miracle.”
“For example… improving by fifty to sixty places?”
When Lu Xingci saw that he first moved the table over and then started beating around the bush, he pretty much knew what Duan Jiayan was trying to do.
“If that person who doesn’t study is you, it is possible. After all, you have an amazingly large room for improvement.”
He vaguely remembered that since Duan Jiayan entered high school, his grades have hovered in the bottom tenth of the grade, which was fairly stable.
Duan Jiayan pretended not to understand his ridicule and handed the exercise book in his hand forward: “Then, are you interested in helping me make some amazing progress?”
Chen Yue: “???”
Chen Yue turned around and looked at Song Yi who was sitting behind him. He quietly asked: “Did something happen in Duan Jiayan’s home?”
Song Yi: “…”
Lu Xingci retorted: “What makes you think I’d be interested?”
“I think you are a warm and kind-hearted top student who is willing to help others.”
“You overestimate my kindness.” Lu Xingci placed his legs on the horizontal bar under his desk and said lazily: “I am a top student who is neither willing to help others nor am I warm or kind-hearted.”
Duan Jiayan: “…”
When Duan Jiayan realized being soft was not going to work, his tone became cold: “Lu Xingci, for you to become the class president, do you know how much I have silently done for you behind your back?”
“?”
Duan Jiayan did not tell any lies. On the high school election day, he went straight to sleep, and Song Yi, who sat next to him, helped him to vote for Lu Xingci.
“I gave you my precious vote.” Duan Jiayan paused: “So…”
“…So?”
Duan Jiayan once again handed the exercise book forward: “You should be responsible for every student who trusts you.”
Chen Yue watched their interaction and almost laughed out loud.
If Duan Jiayan didn’t say that and wasn’t the one who deliberately moved his seat next to Lu Xingci. He would have thought that this was such a low and flirty move of one who is trying to play mind games.
Chen Yue could not hold back anymore and let out a laugh behind them: “As soon as you two sat together, you guys began to discuss who was responsible? Aren’t you two moving a little too fast? “
Upon hearing this, Duan Jiayan realized what he had just said. At that moment, it felt like someone had clutched his throat. His mouth, which had been talking so much just now, lost its voice.
Lu Xingci stared at Duan Jiayan’s uneasy expression for a while and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
The way he spoke seemed as if he were joking because he spoke slowly, with a little bit of real delight.
“Okay, I’ll be responsible for you.”
Only when starting to help fill in Duan Jiayan’s missing knowledge points did Lu Xingci fully realize how poor Duan Jiayan’s knowledge reserve was.
He suspected that Duan Jiayan might not have read textbooks much after he graduated from primary school. However, Duan Jiayan still had a lot of his ideas. He refused to follow his teaching momentum and would ask him questions from time to time.
Out of who knows where, Duan Jiayan brought up a biology question, which was a big question on Genetics.
Lu Xingci roughly scanned the question. This was a typical genetic question. He thought they could talk about it, so he motioned Duan Jiayan to read the first question: “A Red dd Chromosome is crossed with a White dd Chromosome. What would the color of their offspring be?”
Duan Jiayan answered instantly: “Pink. I just read a similar question earlier.”
Lu Xingci paused: “Is the answer to the question whether red plus white equals pink?”
Duan Jiayan: “Yup.”
Lu Xingci put down his pen and looked at him: “Is this an art question that you are looking at right now?”
Duan Jiayan: “…”
Duan Jiayan was about to explain when the bell signaling that it is time for Self-Study suddenly rang. Zhao Minjun announced on the platform: “The three classes in the evening will be dedicated to self-study. Everyone should keep quiet in the classroom and focus on their work. Don’t disturb the other students around you.”
Class ten was always disciplined during evening self-study. Even though he was the class president, Lu Xingci did not like to be in charge of others. All the boys in the class obeyed him so no one would pick a fight in the evening self-study classes. Those who didn’t study would just play with their phones or skip the classes directly.
After Zhao Minjun left the classroom, class ten fell silent.
Suddenly, a small ball of paper flew in and fell onto Lu Xingci’s table.
After the classroom was rearranged into the exam setting, each seat was one meter apart from every other seat. Duan Jiayan silently gestured to the seat that was a meter away from him, signaling to open the ball of paper.
Lu Xingci unfolded the small paper ball and saw a paragraph written on it.
[I saw the answer: it should be red. What does the diagram mean in the second question?]
Lu Xingci: “…”
He was almost moved by Duan Jiayan’s persistent learning spirit.
He tore up a piece of the draft paper, wrote a detailed explanation of the answer, and threw it back. Duan Jiayan looked at it for a long time and then gave him another note. On that note, there was a math problem followed by three huge question marks.
Lu Xingci directly marked the knowledge points Duan Jiayan may not know.
After marking them, Lu Xingci pondered and then added a sentence below. He passed the note back to Duan Jiayan, who received it and was about to unfold it.
Director Jiang suddenly entered the room.
He walked straight to Duan Jiayan and grabbed the note that had not been able to be unfolded yet. His tone was severe: “I have been watching you from outside the window for a long time. You were not only not self-studying, but you also dared to pass notes?”
The whole class looked over. Director Jiang held the note and looked at Lu Xingci who stayed silent. He affirmed his suspicion.
If one stays silent, it means that they are guilty.
When he saw Duan Jiayan deliver a fruit tea that day, he already suspected that the relationship between the two students was unusual. He didn’t know the history between Duan Jiayan and Lu Xingci. He only knew that between the two students, one was an Alpha and one was an Omega.
An Alpha and an Omega. Not only delivering drinks but also passing paper notes.
Isn’t this just puppy love?
If Lu Xingci wants to fall in love early, the teachers will turn a blind eye. But if he falls in love with Duan Jiayan, then it’s a little different.
A problem student and a first-rank student. If this young master lets Duan Jiayan lead him astray, then…
Duan Jiayan quickly explained: “Director, you have misunderstood. We were only discussing a problem.”
Director Jiang snorted.
Lu Xingci concurred: “It’s true.”
If he didn’t talk, then it was still fine. But when he spoke, Director Jiang’s heart skipped a beat.
“Won’t I know whether you guys were doing the right thing if I just read the note?” Director Jiang said, unfolding the note in front of the whole class: “What is written here? It is both x and y…”
It was the step-by-step process of solving a math problem.
The rest of the class started making comments and Director Jiang became a little embarrassed. Seeing that there was a line written at the bottom, he simply read out the line: “Substituting x just means substituting x back into the original equation. How can you be so stupid?”
Chen Yue couldn’t hold back and was the first to quietly snicker. That sound ignited fireworks and, soon, the classroom was filled with the sound of snickering.
Even Director Jiang was amused by the contents of the note. He put the note on Duan Jiayan’s desk and knocked on his desk: “Don’t repeat this mistake.”
When he left, the whole classroom burst into laughter.
“What the fuck hahahahahaha! I’m going to die of laughter. Passing notes for the whole day just to pass notes on a math problem…”
“Did you see Lao-Jiang’s expression when he read the note until the end? That skeptical expression. He really hahahahahaha! That was awesome!”
Song Yi smiled and held his abdomen as he tried to catch his breath from laughing too hard: “Xiao-Duan, how can you be so stupid?”
Duan Jiayan lowered his head. His ears were super flushed and he wasn’t sure if he was blushing.
It was much too shameful.
He now knows the reason why Lu Xingci didn’t speak back then, it was not because of embarrassment, but because of that extra line of words.
Duan Jiayan looked to the side and coincidentally saw the corners of Lu Xingci’s eyes bent and almost forming a curve.
Lu Xingci still had the face to laugh?
Damn thing.
I’ll kill you.
