Chapter 15: Desk Mate, I Lost My Test Paper

Xu Yannuo was speechless. After a while, she sighed and said, “How about you report it to the teacher?”

“……” This time, it was Chen Ciyi’s turn to be speechless.

Soon after, the preparatory bell for class rang. The chemistry teacher for the next period walked in through the back door carrying books. The chemistry teacher was a middle-aged woman surnamed Gao, whose personality and physique perfectly matched her soprano voice—she was particularly loud. Not only did she bring books into the classroom, but she also managed to shout away the girls who had gathered around the door to watch Chen Ciyi.

After entering the classroom and closing the door, she continued her lecture while walking, “Some of the newly transferred students in our class—I don’t care if you’re a real top student or just pretending—you’d better prove yourself with your grades. Don’t start attracting attention before the exams even begin! School is a place for learning, not for showing off. You’re here to prepare for college, not to idle away your days…” Teacher Gao went on and on until she reached the podium, silencing all the whispers in the classroom. She then gave Chen Ciyi a sharp look and added, “Alright, take out yesterday’s homework—the test paper. Let’s look at the second-to-last question. It’s a new type of problem, a bit challenging but also quite interesting. We’ll analyze it together.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of rustling papers being flipped through filled the classroom as everyone searched for their test sheets.

Chen Ci leaned closer to Xu Yannuo, “Was she just talking about me?”

Xu Yannuo pulled out the test paper, glanced at him with a look that clearly said “Who else but you?” and then lowered his head to focus on the paper.

Chen Ciyi shrugged and sat back down with an indifferent expression, leaning against the chair as he watched his classmates flipping through their test papers. He wasn’t in the habit of doing homework—skipping class or taking leave had made assignments seem irrelevant to him. Since his grades consistently ranked in the top three, even back at No. 2 High School, teachers had never specifically asked him about his homework. So naturally, he couldn’t remember when the test paper had been handed out yesterday, where it was, or even what it looked like.

He sat there watching his classmates lower their heads and flip through their test papers for a while, then glanced at Xu Yannuo’s paper on the desk—filled to the brim with answers, every question completed.

“Deskmate, I lost my test paper,” Chen Ciyi said, staring at Xu Yannuo’s profile.

Xu Yannuo glanced at his desk, which only had a chemistry textbook—and the book was so clean and blank it looked like it had just been bought and never opened. “Top students don’t need to study,” Xu Yannuo added with a smile while looking at Chen Ciyi’s face. “They just need to attract attention.”

Damn!

How could there be a girl like this?

Weird personality and a sharp tongue!

A chemistry class passed with one group nervously fearing being called by the teacher to solve problems on the blackboard, while another group secretly worked on their math homework, afraid the chemistry teacher might confiscate it. After all, the chemistry teacher was merely sharp-tongued without real harm, whereas the math teacher was truly ruthless—his corporal punishment left no grounds for complaining to the principal. Faced with two evils, they chose the lesser, and so the class concluded with everyone listening attentively.

Afternoon was nap time, and following the nap were afternoon classes. During the break between afternoon and evening classes, students could sneak out of the school gate because that was when the art students were dismissed. Sometimes, the international classes would also get out early. To boost graduation rates, No. 8 High School had developed quite a few unorthodox methods—each academic year featured several specialized art classes and two international classes, which not only brought in more money but also made the graduation statistics look better. As a result, quite a few students were dismissed at that time, making the school gate bustling and chaotic. Even though art students had early dismissal passes, the sheer number of people overwhelmed the security guards, who couldn’t possibly keep track of everyone.

Many students took advantage of this gap to head to the snack street outside the school to grab better food. It wasn’t far—just the first street to the left after exiting the school gate. Not only were there all kinds of delicious street food stalls, but there were also plenty of affordable small restaurants, though their hygiene standards were slightly questionable. Plus, the first period after returning was self-study, so whether they came back early or late didn’t matter.

Xu Yannuo rarely ventured out at this hour. The area outside the school was crowded and chaotic—Xuefu Road not only had a university but also two vocational schools nearby, making it particularly disorderly. If she encountered any bullying or harassment, she couldn’t help but intervene, so she opted to eat almost exclusively in the school cafeteria. Better to avoid trouble—her life was already complicated enough.

As for Chen Ciyi, she wasn’t sure—she hadn’t paid special attention nor asked about it.

But Li Wei and his gang of guys would definitely go out to eat, sometimes even bringing along girls from other classes. Off-campus, there were no teachers keeping an eye on them, unlike the school cafeteria where even if a guy and a girl just shared a table because there were no seats left, the patrolling teachers from the student affairs office would come over to interrogate them—down to the most minute details, practically demanding to see your family register to check if there were any unknown connections between your ancestors eighteen generations back.

Chen Ci wasn’t very hungry that evening, so he didn’t go to the cafeteria or go out. He just sat at his seat scrolling through his phone, searching various apps or educational websites for any newly released test papers or novel question types he hadn’t encountered before. But after searching around, he found that almost all challenging question types were variations of what he’d seen before. He put away his phone and rested his head on the desk to sleep. Lately, he hadn’t skipped class to go home for afternoon naps, and he’d still been sticking to his original study schedule at night. He was genuinely too exhausted to stay awake.

But he had barely lain down for two minutes—probably just fallen asleep—when his phone rang. He had forgotten to mute it before sleeping, and now the urgent buzzing vibration echoed sharply in his ear, jolting him awake. Every hair on his body stood on end.

He took a deep breath, lifted his head in irritation, and unlocked his phone. Slowly opening his eyes, the double vision merged into focus as he located the screen and tapped into WeChat. It was a group message from Zhang Zhao and the others.

Chen Ci opened the “Lonely 5 Missing 1” group chat.

Messages from Zhang Zhao, Wang Sinan, and the others popped up.

Zhang Zhao: [“Didn’t find that grandson of yours.”]

Wang Sinan: [“Can’t say I didn’t catch him at all—saw him at your school gate.”]

Zhao Xu: [“Ended up getting intercepted and taken away by a few idiots from the vocational school.”]

Finally, Qi Yang added his conclusion: [“They only took him alone—he told the others to go eat first. Should we go over and rescue your grandson for you?”]

Chen Ciyi: [“No need, it’s not a big deal. We can talk about it later.”]

Wang Sinan: [“Alright then, are you coming out to grab a meal together?”]

Chen Ci: [“You guys eat, I’m sleepy!”]

Zhang Zhao: [OK, we’re going to eat then. Have sweet dreams—you’ve been working hard lately with no skipped classes for naps. I’ll wait for you at the school gate tonight with late-night snacks.]

Wang Sinan: [+1]

Zhao Xu: [+1]

Qi Yang: [+1]

.

Li Wei and his group had just stepped out of the school gate when they ran into some vocational high school students from next door—faces Li Wei had seen before.

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