The Bet
"They're still studying there? Damn, it's almost eleven..."
"Let's go, let's go."
The evening self-study bell had rung a while ago. Students were leaving in a scattered trickle, leaving only a few figures still bent over their desks.
The clatter of footsteps in the hallway was noisy.
Xie Yue came back from the basketball court against the flow of people, his jersey still damp with sweat. He pulled out his chair with a loud clatter, sitting down, and slammed his basketball hard onto the ground.
"Thud!"
The dull sound pierced the remaining silence in the classroom.
Xie Yue gritted his teeth and cursed, "Fuck, those bastards from Class 2 lost the game and are still bitching about it. So damn annoying!"
Zhou Shihui looked up from his competition problems, helpless. "Who pissed you off this time?"
"Who else? Jiang Wenshao and those assholes!" Xie Yue got angrier as he spoke, his voice rising involuntarily. "They lost but won't admit it, and they even make sarcastic remarks about our class, saying our class's average score in this monthly exam definitely won't beat theirs. They're just asking for a beating!"
Yun Mi sat by the window, head down, calculating. Her pen tip flew across the scratch paper. Hearing "monthly exam average score," the pen in her hand suddenly stopped, leaving an ink blot spreading into a dark stain on the paper.
Xie Yue was clearly still furious, his voice not at all restrained. "If Chen Yiyang hadn't skipped playing ball, how would they dare act so arrogantly? Using grades to suppress people—they're even more shameless than those guys from Class 8!"
More than a dozen people were still in the classroom, all reviewing. Ding Yuan heard his cursing and couldn't help turning to whisper a stop, "Xie Yue!"
Xie Yue looked up, frowning. "What?"
"Yun Mi is still here."
Shanfu's key classes were strictly ranked according to the high school entrance exam scores. The top fifty students went into Class 1, the next fifty into Class 2, and the rest were randomly assigned to regular classes.
Normally, Class 1's total score far surpassed others, being one or two points higher than Class 2 and more than ten points higher than regular classes.
Xie Yue hadn't fully processed yesterday's gossip. Hearing this, he suddenly turned to look at the seat by the window.
Yun Mi was in the third row, writing problems.
Chen Yiyang had somehow already taken a seat behind Yun Mi. The boy had his school uniform loosely draped over him as he lay on the desk, his broad arms bent and folded beside his ears, covering most of his face. A pale, cold arm showed from under the dark blue uniform.
He was catching up on sleep.
Xie Yue opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but before the words came out, he saw a few boys from Class 2 walking past the classroom door, spinning basketballs casually. The leader, Jiang Wenshao, stopped and shouted into the classroom, "Hey, Xie Yue!"
Xie Yue instantly bristled. Just as he was about to stand up, he heard Jiang Wenshao's voice tinged with provocation: "Don't be a sore loser, bro. I'm just stating the facts. Shanfu emphasizes all-round development: morality, intellect, physique, aesthetics, and labor. Basketball, we can call a draw. But when it comes to academics, your class still falls short."
"You're asking for a beating!" Xie Yue shook with anger.
Jiang Wenshao sneered, his tone growing more arrogant. "What? Hit a nerve? Teacher Du Yun herself said that in this week's math quiz, your class's average score was 0.1 lower than ours. Don't fool yourselves—face reality."
Five or six boys from Class 2 around him chimed in, arms around each other's shoulders, laughing, their mockery undisguised.
Just then, a screech—
"Squeak—"
A chair was yanked back abruptly, the harsh sound breaking the deadlock.
Ding Yuan, who had been calm and composed, suddenly jumped up upon hearing this, ready to throw a punch, but was pulled back by someone beside her.
"Ding Yuan." Yun Mi tugged at her and shook her head.
Yun Mi slowly stood up, her gaze calm as she looked at Jiang Wenshao's group at the door. "Please don't disturb us; everyone is studying."
Jiang Wenshao said, "What? I'm talking about grades—isn't that related to studying?"
Yun Mi couldn't stand people like him. She said coldly, "The weekly quiz is just an in-class test, not even officially ranked. Comparing scores like that is meaningless, isn't it? If you want to compare, you should at least wait for the monthly exam to make it fair."
Jiang Wenshao, tall and burly, frowned. A fierce look instantly crossed his face as he asked harshly, "Fine, let's compete in the monthly exam! But who are you? What right do you have to speak here?"
Yun Mi didn't look aggressive, but her words carried weight, with an unshakable determination. "I'm Yun Mi, the one with the worst math score in Class 1 for this week's quiz."
She lifted her eyes, looking straight at Jiang Wenshao, and said word by word, "I promise you, in this monthly exam, Class 1's average score will definitely surpass Class 2's."
-
"Yeah, that's exactly what your sister told Jiang Wenshao."
Chen Yiyang had missed that incident while catching up on sleep. He heard the full story from Zhou Shihui as they walked home in the evening.
They had already left school.
The crowd of parents and students passing by was thick.
Zhou Shihui wanted to stand up for Yun Mi, but he had no valid reason. He urged, "A Yang, how about you stand up for Yun Mi? That Jiang Wenshao doesn't get along with us anyway."
Chen Yiyang stood there, his gaze shifting sideways. His sharp black eyes showed a hint of cold indifference. He pressed a button on his phone and asked, "Why should I stand up for Yun Mi?"
Zhou Shihui said matter-of-factly, "She's your sister!"
"Just because she's my sister, I have to step in?"
Chen Yiyang was a little taller than Zhou Shihui. He stood there, his body slightly turned, and asked, "Do you like her? Why don't you do it yourself?"
Zhou Shihui didn't want trouble. "I..."
Chen Yiyang got on his bike and cut him off coldly, "I won't stand up for a sister."