Things went just as Shen Yuan had expected.

That evening, the weekly math test papers were handed out.

"Haha, the fun’s about to begin!"

Zhou Shaojie watched the papers being passed back, an expectant look on his face.

"Lao Yuan, guess what you got?"

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "Lower than you."

"Hey, hey, hey, that’s no fun."

"You get your kicks from my suffering, don’t you?"

Zhou Shaojie found his paper, passed the rest back, and then said to Shen Yuan, "I tutored you in math, you know. I’m just checking on your progress."

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes again and found his own paper in the small stack.

"91?!"

Shen Yuan froze, then let out a cheer, holding his weekly math test paper.

’I fucking passed!!’

’A test out of 150, and I just barely scraped by.’

’Awesome!!!’

Zhou Shaojie glanced at Shen Yuan’s math paper and pointed with a Great Wilderness Heaven-Imprisoning Finger. "You brat. You’re even going to lie about getting a 90?"

Shen Yuan craned his neck defiantly. "What lie? I didn’t do well! Can you even call a 90 doing well?"

"Pfft!"

Ah Jie looked scornful. "’Not doing well’ is relative to your usual scores. This score completely destroys your past self."

The moment Ah Jie finished speaking, he saw the corners of Shen Yuan’s mouth turn up.

’Uh oh. My scolding just made him happy.’

Shen Yuan was indeed very happy right now.

In fact, aside from math, Shen Yuan’s grades were relatively stable.

His English was consistently around 145, Chinese was above 110, and all three science subjects were consistently above 80.

Adding up the individual scores, Shen Yuan could get around 510 without math.

Everything else depended on math.

This time, math was in a good mood. Shen Yuan conservatively estimated he could reach 600!

’Hooray, I’m finally not a complete nobody.’

Of course.

The final result would still depend on the upcoming weekly test scores.

When the first period ended, Shen Yuan gathered everyone to announce the good news.

But all he got in return were scornful looks.

"That’s it?"

"You call a 90 good news?"

"Seriously. I feel like I’m at a funeral if I score 140."

The moment Ah Jie said that, a dead silence fell over the group.

A moment later, an order was given.

"Get him!"

Zhuo Peipei quickly moved out of the way as a group of guys hoisted Ah Jie out of his seat, carried him around the back of the classroom, and brought him to the front door.

"We are not wrong! The fault lies with you math dregs! You are merely jealous of our talent!!"

Ah Jie’s blood-curdling screams successfully summoned their Eldest Female Cousin from the teachers’ office, where she had been grading papers.

Yang Yishui poked her head out of the classroom doorway and glanced at the boisterous boys.

As if he’d found his last hope, Ah Jie cried out tragically, "Sister Shui, Sister Shui, save me!!"

Eldest Female Cousin turned her head away and tossed out, "Carry on."

Seeing Zhou Shaojie, Ah Jie’s words echoed in Yang Yishui’s mind.

"That old hag, Sister Shuishui."

’Go ahead and rough him up. Better yet, hang him on the door.’

While Ah Jie was being tortured, Shen Yuan was wandering around Li Zhi’s desk.

The Painful Sacrifice wasn’t thinking about spreading pain right now; she was on her phone instead.

’It’s the weekend, after all.’

’They’ve all been through the baptism of Old Zhou’s math scores. I might as well let my classmates have a comfortable evening study session.’

Li Zhi wanted to accumulate some good karma.

’I just wonder if it can be converted into points on the college entrance exam.’

Rumor had it that students in the regular classes would hang up posters of Detective Conan before exams and perform strange prayer rituals.

’That’s the very definition of a last-minute plea for divine intervention.’

Li Zhi wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t fail.

’But Li Zhi also wanted to ask, how can I consistently score above 700?’

’Should I repost lucky koi memes?’

’Slack off in your youth, repost lucky koi in your old age.’

Speaking of lucky koi, Li Zhi looked up at Shen Yuan, who was pacing back and forth nearby.

Just as their eyes were about to meet, Li Zhi looked down at her phone.

’Don’t want to deal with him.’

’Getting a 91 and he’s already bragging and making a scene. What a dumbass high school boy.’

Shen Yuan watched Li Zhi lower her head. He was about to speak up when he saw her put down her phone, pick up her math paper, and start doing origami with it.

She folded it into thirds, then held it up.

Shen Yuan immediately saw the score marked in red pen.

150.

’Fuck, I’m outta here.’

Seeing Shen Yuan slink back to his seat, Li Zhi’s lips curled into a smile, and she prepared to go back to scrolling on her phone.

"Zhizhi, how did you know Shen Yuan was coming to see you?"

Li Zhi looked up at He Zhiyu. "As his mom, of course I understand him."

He Zhiyu nodded, only half-understanding.

’The way those two refer to each other is a little absurd.’

’But...’

’...it’s also pretty great, isn’t it?’

He Zhiyu turned away and jotted something down in her phone’s memo app.

_The shifting titles they use for each other hold no real specific meaning. No matter what they call each other, the core logic connecting them never changes._

He Zhiyu’s face flushed as her fingers typed the final two words on the virtual keyboard.

_It’s love._

As a member of the Kissing Association, injecting a dose of "sugar" into their own minds from time to time was an essential skill.

Even the slightest hint of a "CP" vibe would be molded by them into a relationship so sweet it was like melting cheese.

In the absurd web of CPs, wrapped in a sweet, silken cocoon, the members of the Kissing Association could temporarily forget the heavy pressure of exam-oriented education.

The second period of evening study passed in a drone of Old Zhou’s lecturing.

Then, Class 15 received their weekly English test papers.

Ah Jie’s moment of glory was over.

As everyone knew, Ah Jie’s English scores were always remarkably stable.

A specter of failing English grades hovered over Class 15. Seeing Ah Jie’s score, it cackled with glee.

65.

"With a score like that, honestly, you could have just dropped your answer sheet on the floor and stepped on it and gotten the same result."

Hearing these soul-crushing words, Ah Jie slumped against his desk, completely defeated.

Eldest Female Cousin didn’t go over the test.

She was simply annoyed at the sight of Zhou Shaojie and handed out the papers just to make him miserable.

’That’s a bit mean...’

’Oh well. The fact that Eldest Female Cousin hasn’t quit her job to become a full-time social media influencer is already an act of accumulating good karma.’

When the third period of evening study ended, it was time for Class 15 to change seats.

The noisy, chaotic scene immediately returned.

"Goodbye! Ah Jie!"

"Yuan! Lao Yuan! I can’t bear to leave you!!"

Ah Jie watched Shen Yuan pull out his desk, reaching out a hand with a look of utter reluctance. "Yuan! What will I do without you!!"

"Yuan!"

Witnessing Ah Jie’s performance art, Peipei, a dedicated shipper, sighed.

"True love. This is true love."

Hearing this, Ah Jie immediately became as quiet as a quail.

This made Yang Ze burst out laughing.

Shen Yuan slowly pushed his desk toward the back row, then waited for Li Zhi and the others to move their seats out.

Once everything was ready, Shen Yuan got in line and moved his desk to the innermost spot.

Then he looked at Li Zhi with a cheerful grin.

"Ta-da! Your best sister is back!"

Young Master Li immediately did a General Yu-style facepalm with a wry smile.

’This is so embarrassing.’

But by now, Li Zhi was more or less immune to Shen Yuan’s strange way of thinking.

"My sisters can’t score below 100 in math."

"Then we’re bros. Bro."

"That requires a 120."

Shen Yuan wiped away his sweat. "I could just strangle you! You’re going to have no friends if you keep this up."

"There are very few people in class who score below 100."

Shen Yuan’s defenses were broken.