Chapter 3: Sorry, Wrong Class

Zhang Kaiguo gritted his teeth in fury at Lin Siqing's lazy, nonchalant attitude.

"Lin Siqing, do you really think I can't do anything to you just because I'm no longer your homeroom teacher?"

"Huh?" Lin Siqing blinked, looking completely innocent. "You're not my homeroom teacher?"

Just as Zhang Kaiguo was about to fly into a rage, a tall, thin boy hurried into the classroom. He was slightly shorter than Lin Siqing. Though his features were delicate, his face bore a sallow, sickly tint from malnutrition.

"Teacher, I couldn't find the classroom, so I'm late," Jiang Chaozhou spoke slowly, his face pale.

Zhang Kaiguo waved his hand impatiently, gesturing for him to just go inside.

Seeing this, Fu Siqiao quickly stood up to give up her seat, gesturing for the boy to sit in the spot she had just occupied, while she walked over to the empty seat that everyone else had been ignoring.

Jiang Chaozhou hesitated for a moment. Seeing Fu Siqiao's lack of hesitation, he had no choice but to brace himself and sit down next to Xu Zhixing.

"Hello," he greeted Xu Zhixing politely.

"Mm," Xu Zhixing replied indifferently, not even turning her head as she gave a casual acknowledgment.

"Old Zhang, I've been waiting here for ages. Where is my new class?" Lin Siqing's obnoxious voice rang out abruptly, completely ignoring the setting. "Old Zhang, I'm talking to you."

"Upstairs. The sophomore experimental class." Zhang Kaiguo suppressed his rage, nearly grinding his teeth to dust to keep himself from snapping at Lin Siqing.

Lin Siqing let out a loud whistle and headed upstairs. "See ya, Old Zhang!"

The girls in the classroom watched his departing figure, their eyes filled with regret.

Hearing the quiet sighs of disappointment, Zhang Kaiguo slammed his triangular ruler against the corner of the podium. "What do you think you're doing? Lin Siqing is the school bully of Nantong High School. Are you seriously admiring him?"

A slender girl chimed in with a teasing tone, "Old Zhang, Lin Siqing is also the top student in our grade at Nantong High. Compared to him, we're miles behind."

"Exactly, Old Zhang. He's won national awards and has already been admitted to Huali University. How could we not admire him?"

Zhang Kaiguo cleared his throat, trying to salvage his dignity. "What do you kids know? He is the most rebellious student I've ever had to teach!"

The slender girl immediately shot back, "Old Zhang, just admit that you're outmatched and not qualified to teach Lin Siqing!"

A wave of laughter erupted throughout the classroom.

*Thud, thud!* Zhang Kaiguo slammed the ruler onto the podium again, his face turning a shade of red from sheer embarrassment.

"Class, begin!"

"Rise!"

"Good. Morning. Teacher!"

Fu Siqiao kept her head down, working through practice problems for a long time. When she finally looked out the window, it was already lunchtime. She grabbed her meal card and prepared to head to the cafeteria.

From a distance, she spotted the tall, thin boy who had been late that morning, walking toward the school gate with his head lowered. Fu Siqiao didn't want to meddle, but the path to the cafeteria happened to align with the direction the boy was walking.

Once the boy disappeared into the trees, Fu Siqiao stopped paying attention to him. Shaking her head, she put him out of her mind and walked straight into the cafeteria to get some food. Passing by the school's steamed bun shop, she bought a few buns and a cup of soy milk before planning to head back to the classroom.

As she left the cafeteria, Fu Siqiao noticed the boy busily delivering takeout. Many students at the school disliked the cafeteria food and ordered takeout from outside, and this boy seemed to be working as a delivery runner for those orders. Running back and forth like that must take up a lot of time.

"Here, have some buns."

Looking at Jiang Chaozhou's sallow, malnourished face, Xu Zhixing felt a pang of pity despite her usual cold demeanor. She couldn't bear to see him working so hard delivering food without eating anything himself. What she handed to Jiang Chaozhou was the very basket of steamed dumplings that Fu Siqiao had wanted to buy earlier—unfortunately, it had been the last basket.

"Boss, steamed dumplings."

"Boss, steamed dumplings."

Fu Siqiao and Xu Zhixing had spoken at the exact same time. They glared at each other, neither willing to back down, and shouted in unison, "Steamed dumplings!"

Fu Siqiao, refusing to lose, raised the bid. "Boss, I'll pay ten yuan extra!"

"I'll add twenty!" Xu Zhixing countered.

It was the first time Xu Zhixing had encountered someone who dared to fight her for something. She found it rather amusing. She had money to burn; there was no way she would back down.

Fu Siqiao was equally stubborn. "Boss, thirty extra!"

"Forty!" Xu Zhixing continued to raise the price, determined not to let Fu Siqiao have the dumplings.

"Fifty!"

The owner of the bun shop looked at the two generous patrons, his grin stretching from ear to ear. "Are you two going to keep going?"

"I'll add a hundred." With a wave of her hand, Xu Zhixing claimed the steamed dumplings for an extra hundred yuan.

Recalling how fiercely Xu Zhixing had bid, only to watch her give the hard-won dumplings away, Fu Siqiao felt a surge of irritation.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I really can't accept this," Jiang Chaozhou politely declined.

Xu Zhixing didn't feel awkward at all. She gave a slight nod of understanding and turned to leave. Jiang Chaozhou hurried off to continue his deliveries, leaving Fu Siqiao standing there alone, angrily chewing on her plain bun.

"Brother Lin, why did you go to Old Zhang's class on purpose today?"

Lin Siqing rested his head on one hand with a roguish smirk, casually looking at Zhang Chenxi. "My sister who appeared out of nowhere is in that class. I had to go show her some support, didn't I?"

How could Zhang Chenxi believe him? Knowing Lin Siqing's temperament, it would be a miracle if he didn't bully Fu Siqiao, let alone protect her. He was clearly full of it. "Who are you trying to fool?"

Lin Siqing threw his head back, spreading his arms and leaning half his body against the long bench.

"Brother Lin, we brought your delivery back."

"Brother Lin, there's something we need to tell you. Don't be mad, but when we went to pick up your food, we noticed someone had messed with it. Half the soup spilled."

"I don't know which bastard did this, but I'm going to skin him alive."

Lin Siqing looked at the state of his food. Most of the broth had spilled into the plastic bag, and the meatballs inside had rolled out. There was no way he would take this lying down. He gestured for Zhang Chenxi to grab their gear, determined to teach that delivery boy a lesson.

"Are you the one delivering food?" Zhang Chenxi grabbed Jiang Chaozhou by the collar, pulling him up and forcing him to look up.

Jiang Chaozhou had been going about his deliveries as usual today, with no idea why he had suddenly been targeted by the school's notorious gang of bullies.

The gang parted to make way for Lin Siqing.

Lin Siqing slowly squatted down and patted Jiang Chaozhou's cheek. "Skinny as a bean sprout. You're not much different from her, are you?"

Jiang Chaozhou trembled, looking at the crowd surrounding him. In this blind spot of the security cameras, he felt utterly helpless and terrified.

"Hey, don't be so scared. We're just here to ask you who messed with my food. I've asked around, and you're the one who handles all the deliveries in this school."

The implication was clear: who else could it be but him?

"I... I..." Jiang Chaozhou stammered for a long moment, unable to form a proper sentence.

Lin Siqing impatiently grabbed Jiang Chaozhou's chin. "Speak! Who the hell dared to mess with my food?!"