Chapter 12: The Advantage Is Mine

In the classroom, everyone’s glances were strange—some curious why Xu Qingzhou was helping Song Yao move things, some envious of Xu Qingzhou for getting close to Song Yao, and others jealous, like Zhang Yuquan and the like.

Song Yao was aloof and disliked accepting help; she always moved desks and did heavy labor herself.

“Big Brother Quan, is there really something between Song Yao and Xu Qingzhou?” asked Yi Xiaoli, Zhang Yuquan’s desk mate, tilting his head and eyeing them suspiciously.

Zhang Yuquan looked like he’d swallowed a fly, his tone sour: “Xu Qingzhou must’ve shoved himself forward—Song Yao couldn’t refuse, and dating? Impossible. She’s said before she doesn’t date.”

Watching them chat casually, he could only comfort himself: Xu Qingzhou had thick skin, unlike him—when rejected, he didn’t pester. That’s what true dignity looked like.

Approaching girls? What kind of skill is that? In high school, grades are king.

If all goes as planned, he and Song Yao will go to Tsinghua and Peking University—what’s called “close to water, close to the moon”? This is it!

Hmm, when you add it up, the advantage is mine.

“Alright.” Xu Qingzhou nodded. Guo Ziyang was the type who broke a sweat at the slightest exertion—he’d gotten a free ice cream, and that was enough.

Read! {

“Yeah, no questions beyond my ability.” Xu Qingzhou nodded.

“We’re classmates, it’s nothing.” Guo Ziyang scratched the back of his head, embarrassed—his earlier resentment had vanished into thin air.

With a tug, he felt a terrifying downward pull from the desk and gasped: “Damn, it’s this heavy? Are your books made of iron?”

Thank goodness for this young body—if it had been his old one, he’d have strained his lower back already.

Ding Jiahui: “?”

!.

As they passed the front row, Ding Jiahui called out to them: “You’re heading to the cafeteria, right? Wait for us—we’ll go together.”

Song Yao nodded, stood up, and waited with Xu Qingzhou and the others for Ding Jiahui.

Because of the exam, there was no fixed dismissal time—once you finished moving your desk and chairs, you could go eat dinner.

Guo Ziyang smiled blankly, feeling he’d taken advantage of them.

The four had already gotten their food and sat together. Ding Jiahui was always the lively one—she’d just complained about someone sleeping in her exam room and sneaking cheat sheets, and now she started asking everyone about their exam impressions.

Looking down, the drawer was packed solid with books—every inch filled, 100% space utilization.

Ding Jiahui still sensed something off. She paused, then suddenly thought of a possibility: “Yao Yao, are you falling for him?” “No,” Song Yao denied, her voice cool and clear.

Xu Qingzhou and Guo Ziyang had just finished moving the desks when Ding Jiahui rushed over: “Whoa, already done? Thank you so much!”

Ding Jiahui sat down, flipped through her textbook, and asked Song Yao: “Why are Xu Qingzhou and the others helping us move things?”

She turned to Xu Qingzhou and asked: “Xu Qingzhou, what about you?”

“Just books.” Song Yao figured her friend had misjudged—normally, boys wouldn’t show weakness in front of someone they liked.

“Just okay?” Ding Jiahui didn’t know if that meant hard or easy. Guo Ziyang had just finished moving Ding Jiahui’s desk, stepped outside, and saw this “romantic” scene—he instantly wanted to curse. Same hard labor, but he got a beautiful girl beside him, while he was alone.

Xu Qingzhou was helping Song Yao move her desk. In high school, everyone had a huge box of books—especially heavy for girls.

Ding Jiahui scowled: “Xu Qingzhou, before you brag, at least draft it first.”

She turned and urged Song Yao: “Yao Yao, let’s go eat first—we’ll pack up later.”

How did it end up waiting for me? Cafeteria.

Xu Qingzhou pointed at Guo Ziyang, drenched in sweat, and listed Ding Jiahui’s crimes: “You showed up right on time—look how tired you’ve made us.”

“Yao Yao, you tell him—make Xu Qingzhou see sense.”

Seeing Xu Qingzhou rub his wrist, she bent down, pulled a stack of books from the drawer, and hugged them to her chest.

He shook his head inwardly and lowered his eyes to his own work.

“What did you think of the mock exam questions?”

“But didn’t you say before you didn’t want to trouble others?”

“I went to the bathroom—it was packed.” Ding Jiahui felt even more embarrassed. To make up for it, she thought for a moment and said: “I’ll treat you all to ice cream.”

“Same here.” Ding Jiahui sighed heavily, not too pessimistic: “But we don’t need to worry too much—our homeroom teacher said the mock exam is harder than the Gaokao. Even if our scores aren’t great, it’s fine.”

“My stuff’s too much—I can’t move it all alone.” Song Yao had already pulled the books from her drawer and laid them out on the desk.

But I’m so damn envious of him!

“Fine.” Ding Jiahui sighed in disappointment, regretting she wouldn’t get to see the love story between the top student and an ordinary guy.

Xu Qingzhou thought it over. Aside from a few tricky Chinese questions, the rest weren’t hard at all. He said: “I think the mock exam questions were just okay.”

“Pretty hard, especially math—several questions I didn’t even understand.” Guo Ziyang sighed helplessly.

Xu Qingzhou and Guo Ziyang tidied up quickly. Seeing other grades about to dismiss soon, they stood and headed to the cafeteria.

Xu Qingzhou and Guo Ziyang returned to their seats, sat down, and noticed someone watching them—they looked up to see Zhang Yuxin staring at Xu Qingzhou with a wounded expression.

“You can fool your buddies, but don’t fool yourself,” Guo Ziyang patted Xu Qingzhou’s shoulder solemnly, thinking: Man, Zhouzi really seems like a different person now—he’s even pretending.

Ding Jiahui thought Xu Qingzhou had gotten too full of himself—he needed a wake-up call from the top student, Song Yao.

“I believe in him.”

Song Yao answered calmly—after these two days of contact, Xu Qingzhou was clearly a freak, as if there was nothing he couldn’t do.

So both were left dumbfounded.

(End of Chapter)