Chapter 104

"This Wednesday to Friday is the mid-term exam; everyone open your English textbooks, I'll first mark the exam scope."

Miss Ding Xiang, the English teacher for Class 8, after marking the exam scope, smiled and said, "When I checked the entrance exam results, I noticed some students' English scores are still quite weak, so I discussed it with another English teacher."

"For this mid-term exam, English will be scored out of 150 points, following the college entrance exam format."

"Students scoring below 100 points, I recommend you attend the school remedial class on Sunday, which I and Teacher Wang from Class 9 will be in charge of."

Similar remarks have already been made by several subject teachers.

This is probably also a tradition at Fuyi High.

Although class hours seem relaxed during the week, most students must attend competition club training after the seventh period.

Saturday afternoons, as part of club activities, are also designated for collective competition club tests.

On Sunday, the daytime is supposed to be rest time, with evening self-study only required back at school.

But if you're severely unbalanced in one subject and your score is very poor, teachers will pull you in early for extra tutoring.

If you're weak in two or three subjects, your entire Sunday afternoon will be completely taken up.

As a result, the weekend is practically no different from a regular school day—you go home Saturday evening and return to school by Sunday noon.

A lazy morning sleep means your whole weekend is gone.

Of course, these Saturday and Sunday sessions aren't mandatory.

If you don't want to come, the school won't force you.

But your parents certainly will…

Compared to Li Luo's past high school life, Fuyi High's methods are gentler, but the effect and intent are nearly identical—it finally gave Li Luo a faint sense of familiarity.

Yet under strong student intake, students' own drive for improvement is much greater, and many willingly come to school for extra classes on their own.

"Of course, if your score exceeds 100 but you still feel you need remedial help, you can also sign up later."

Miss Ding looked at Jin Yuting and smiled, "Jin Yuting, please keep a list; students who want to sign up should register with the class representative."

"Yes, teacher."

After the last class of the morning.

Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang had already rushed out of the classroom, becoming Class 8's frontline cafeteria warriors.

Li Luo stood up, stretched, and said to Yan Zhusheng, "I'm going to the restroom, wait a moment."

"Oh."

After Li Luo left, Ying Chanxi came down from upstairs and entered Class 8, seeing only Yan Zhusheng alone, and asked curiously, "Where's Li Luo?"

"He went to the restroom," Yan Zhusheng said, pointing toward the bathroom.

"Oh, perfect," Ying Chanxi hurried over to Yan Zhusheng's desk, pulled a small box from behind her back, and slipped it into Yan Zhusheng's drawer, "Keep this safe."

"Huh?" Yan Zhusheng blinked, still confused, looked down into the drawer, and saw only the outline of a palm-sized box, unable to tell what it was, "What's this?"

"A gift for you," Ying Chanxi winked at her, covering her mouth as she laughed, "Open it after lunch, but don't let the teacher find out."

"Oh… thanks, Xixi," Yan Zhusheng's face lit up with quiet delight—she hadn't expected to receive a gift.

"No need to thank me," Ying Chanxi said, turning to leave after delivering the gift, glancing back, "I have to go to the math competition training, so I won't have lunch with you guys—bye!"

"Alright, bye," Yan Zhusheng waved, watching Ying Chanxi's back disappear around the corner, then looked again at the gift in her drawer, her mood lifting further.

"You look like something happy happened," Li Luo said after returning from the restroom, calling out to Yan Zhusheng from the back door, noticing her expression.

"It did," Yan Zhusheng nodded, her steps noticeably lighter.

"I just went to the restroom—how could something happy happen to you?" Li Luo asked, surprised.

He'd just said it casually—yet it was true?

"Guess."

"Guess if I'll guess."

"I guess you'll guess."

"Then I won't guess."

"Li Luo, you're so childish."

"You dare say that to me?"

The two arrived at the cafeteria, bought their meals, and saw Xu Youyu sitting quietly alone in a corner, so they stopped their childish guessing game and walked straight over.

Meanwhile, Shao Youpeng, just finished getting his meal, spotted Xu Youyu; seeing Yan Zhusheng and Li Luo sit down, he had a thought, quietly approached the empty seat beside Li Luo, "Uh… Li Luo, is this seat taken?"

"No."

"Can I sit here then?"

"Of course."

Hearing Li Luo's reply, Shao Youpeng beamed, carried his tray over, and sat beside Li Luo, directly facing Xu Youyu.

"When did you two get so close?" Xu Youyu asked, curious.

As the former Class 1 Gao Er and now Class 16 monitor, Xu Youyu knew Shao Youpeng.

But after class reassignment, Shao Youpeng chose science, and they were no longer in the same class.

"Don't you remember?" Shao Youpeng grinned, reminding him, "I'm the bassist in the rock club—Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng are my clubmates."

"Oh, right, now I recall," Xu Youyu said, surprised, "So you performed together during the sports meet?"

"Exactly," Shao Youpeng puffed out his chest, suddenly realizing it was quite nice to be friends with Li Luo—he could now sit beside Xu Youyu openly and chat.

In this regard, his own cousin really ought to learn from him.

Li Luo was just one person; even though he had decent relationships with several of the school's currently recognized beauties, he couldn't juggle multiple relationships at once, could he?

During rock club sessions, Shao Youpeng had noticed that Li Luo and his classmate Yan Zhusheng seemed to have something going on.

So why not become friends with Li Luo?

With that thought, Shao Youpeng began chatting enthusiastically at the table: "Li Luo's guitar skills are really good; even though he didn't join our rock club before, he stepped in at the last minute to fill our gap and saved us—we owe him thanks."

Li Luo gave Shao Youpeng a surprised glance, thinking to himself that he wasn't nearly as great as Shao said — he'd just been set up by Yan Zhusheng and Niu Qingling.

"Then you'll have to work hard," Xu Youyu said with a smile, encouraging them. "It'll make things easier for me as student council president."

After the National Day holiday, Xue Yongbin of Gao San stepped down and yielded the position to Xu Youyu, who took over as student council president, overseeing some of the school's affairs.

For large-scale events like the sports meet, the director of the Academic Affairs Office takes the lead, the PE teachers handle the specific arrangements, and the student council serves as the bridge of communication between teachers and students, contacting each class's homeroom representative and PE commissioner to carry out a series of preparations and arrangements.

Something like the Rock Club wanting to perform at the opening ceremony all has to go through the student council for filing.

"Don't worry, once we've rehearsed for a while, the performance will definitely be brilliant," Shao Youpeng vowed, thumping his chest in front of Xu Youyu.

"Then as student council president, I should be able to drop by and see the results of your rehearsal, right?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes and said.

"Of course no problem!" Shao Youpeng agreed at once.

After the meal, Xu Youyu said to Li Luo, "The Literature Club meets this evening — remember to come, we're voting for a new president."

Li Luo gave an OK gesture and went back to the classroom with Yan Zhusheng.

When the lunch-break bell rang, Li Luo slumped onto his desk, ready to sleep.

After a little while, his arm was suddenly patted twice.

Looking up, Li Luo saw Yan Zhusheng quietly sneak something out of the desk drawer and hold it out to him.

On closer look, it turned out to be a wireless Bluetooth earphone.

"When did you switch earphones?" Li Luo asked, a little surprised. He took the small, delicate white earphone, put it on his ear.

Soft, soothing music was playing inside — perfect as a lullaby for a nap.

"A gift from Xixi," Yan Zhusheng whispered.

"Huh?" Li Luo froze for a moment, then suddenly felt the earphone burning a little against his ear.