Unexpected Delays and Classroom Chaos

“Lin Yi, your transfer might be delayed a bit longer.”

Lin Yiting spoke suddenly as the two of them ate their meal.

Lin Yi had, in fact, anticipated this. Slipping away from under Chen Sishi’s nose would be no easy feat. Moreover, Chen Sishi’s father was the largest benefactor behind New City Private High School, so Lin Yi hadn’t truly taken the transfer matter to heart.

“Sister, if it really doesn’t work out, then I’ll just drop out. You can teach me a few things, and I’ll go out with you then.”

Lin Yi said, eating as he spoke. This was the easiest solution he could think of at the moment, certainly much simpler than a transfer.

Lin Yiting, however, shook her head. Her life was already a perilous existence, constantly teetering on the edge. Sometimes she earned money, other times not a single penny, making her situation incredibly unstable.

She did not wish for Lin Yi to lead the same life as her. Furthermore, with Chen Sishi’s personality, she would absolutely not allow Lin Yi to drop out of school.

Therefore, conventional methods would never allow Lin Yi to leave the school smoothly.

“How about this? The banquet is in a few days. I’ll ask Chen Lujun then and see what he says.”

Lin Yi propped his chin in his hand, considering. This approach wasn’t entirely unfeasible. In the original novel’s plot, Chen Lujun was depicted as someone easy to get along with.

That was, of course, assuming you didn’t infringe upon his interests. If you did, Chen Lujun would turn hostile faster than turning a page in a book.

After all, those who reached his position were no ordinary individuals; they were all ruthless predators.

Having exhausted all other options, Lin Yi could only nod reluctantly.

“Alright, but I won’t hold out too much hope.”

“A little hope is always better than none.”

Lin Yiting stood up, ruffled Lin Yi’s hair, then gathered the dishes and went to wash them.

Lin Yi sat alone in his chair, lost in a melancholic daze.

****

The next morning, just before morning self-study, the classroom was already packed. Not for any other reason than the teacher having an important announcement to make during the session.

As the bell rang, Liang Rumeng, wearing glasses and a black uniform, walked to the front of the classroom. From her grave expression, the students present sensed that something bad was about to happen.

“Students, I’m using this morning’s self-study time to tell you something.”

No one responded to Liang Rumeng below the podium. The entire classroom was eerily silent. Even Lin Yi, usually so laid-back and indifferent, uncharacteristically lifted his head during morning class.

Liang Rumeng pushed up her glasses with her left hand, then pulled a pristine white slip of paper from her book.

“Students, I believe you already know what I’m about to say. Please clear everything from your desks. Chinese language exams will begin at nine o’clock. The schedule has been posted on the blackboard.”

As Liang Rumeng’s words fell, a collective groan instantly filled the tense classroom. New City Private High School’s monthly exams had no fixed schedule. They could spring up at any time—at the end, beginning, or middle of the month—with two days suddenly allocated for testing.

This was essentially a surprise inspection, designed to catch students off guard and prevent them from preparing. The results obtained this way were considered a more accurate reflection of their true abilities than those from regular exams.

As for the mid-term and final exams, their timings remained fixed.

In stark contrast to the other students’ reactions, Lin Yi felt nothing upon hearing about the exam. Back when he was in school, it was a small test every three days and a major exam every five; he was already numb to them.

It wasn’t a big deal, so he simply put his head back down to sleep. However, he hadn’t slept for long before a series of scraping and shuffling sounds erupted around him, irritating Lin Yi.

Annoyed, he tidied his desk and opened his listless eyes, watching the students behind him move their desks and chairs.

In truth, the seating arrangement in this classroom was already set up for exams. The chairs the students were moving were merely extra ones.

After a while, once they had finished tidying up, Lin Yi finally turned his gaze towards Qin Ruoxue. Following Qin Ruoxue’s earlier reminder, Lin Yi had also started checking the campus forum from time to time.

Perhaps due to the student council’s intervention, the forum’s homepage no longer displayed those strange posts. However, the discussion’s intensity remained high.

When Lin Yi arrived that morning, he had already noticed that the way his classmates looked at him was off, as if they were staring at their arch-nemesis.

The reason for their animosity towards Lin Yi was, of course, Chen Sishi. She was a campus belle—which boy in the class could honestly say they didn’t harbor feelings for her?

They were simply jealous because Chen Sishi had been spending a lot of time with him.

Even now, some were still glaring at him with those eyes, which Lin Yi found quite exasperating. He thought, ‘If these people like Chen Sishi so much, why don’t they go confess themselves? With a bit of luck, they might even receive a ‘mysterious grand prize.’ As for whether they’d survive the aftermath of their confession, that was beyond Lin Yi’s concern.

“What are you looking at?”

As he was lost in thought, Chen Sishi, who sat behind him, suddenly stretched out a hand and waved it before his eyes.

Seeing no reaction from Lin Yi, she tilted her head. Following his gaze, she spotted a group of irritating boys.

Those same boys had bothered her when she first transferred to this class. Now, they seemed to be discussing Lin Yi.

Her cerulean eyes narrowed slightly as Chen Sishi listened intently to the voices coming from their direction. Although the classroom was a bit noisy, it was still possible to make out what they were saying.

“Tch, I really don’t get why all these girls are always circling around Lin Yi.”

“Bro, I think Lin Yi just has a handsome face. Looking at how fair and delicate he is, it’s debatable whether he even has ‘that’ function.”

The boys burst into laughter, unaware that Chen Sishi, not far away, had already clenched her fists.

‘Heh… truly despicable,’ Chen Sishi thought, her eyes devoid of light. She had already noted down the boys who were speaking ill of Lin Yi. As soon as she found an opportunity, she wouldn’t let them off.

Just then, a female voice abruptly interrupted their discussion.

“Pfft, *you’re* the one without ‘that’ function!”

It was an unfamiliar girl, one Chen Sishi wasn’t very close with.

However, Lin Yi recognized the voice. She had previously been discussing rumors about him with a few other girls. In the original novel’s plot, she was also one of the fish in the male lead’s ‘fish pond,’ an insignificant one at that.

It had taken Lin Yi quite a while to even remember such a person existed. It wasn’t until the later stages of the novel that her role became slightly more prominent, seemingly ending with Chen Sishi encasing her in a cement pillar.

Lin Yi often wondered if the original author had some psychological issues, as he remembered being so frightened after reading that part that he couldn’t sleep properly for days.

Bringing his awareness back to reality, the voices of those boys continued to drift over.

“Oh, so you’re defending your ‘brother,’ are you? Who knows if he’d even bother to look at you, hahaha.”

“Besides, what do you even have to compare to Chen Sishi?”

“I heard she even transferred here because of Lin Yi.”

The two boys grew more and more excited with their taunts, infuriating the girl, who clenched her teeth.

“That’s still better than you creatures who only think with your lower halves!”

“Oh, oh, aren’t you just lusting after a handsome man’s body? If I had Lin Yi’s face, would you still talk to me like that? You’d probably be fawning over me already.”

“You!”

Veins bulged on the girl’s forehead as she raised her fist, ready to strike him. Her friends, seeing this, quickly gathered around, and the classroom instantly descended into chaos.

With an irritated glance at the back of the classroom, Chen Sishi subtly took a photo of them with her phone and then sent a message to someone.

[Chen Sishi: Help me deal with everyone in this picture. Whether you kill them or not is up to you, just make sure they can’t attend school anymore.]