Chapter 15: Pretending to Be Cool, I

On the second floor of the west side of the old teaching building, in Class 5 of Grade 9.

Since noon, classmates had been arriving at school one after another.

After all, graduation was imminent, and most students in the class would scatter to different high schools.

Even if they went to the same high school, they might not be in the same class.

So everyone cherished this likely final chance to meet.

Close friends had already shared their high school entrance exam scores and agreed to apply to the same high school.

"Don't worry, 508 points aren't guaranteed, but there's still a good chance," Vice-Class Monitor Shao Heqi comforted Jin Yuting near the podium, "Last year's cutoff was only 507."

"But the cutoffs the year before last and the year before that were both above 510," Jin Yuting sat in the front row, face gloomy, heart uneasy.

Educational resources in Yinjiang District were never as good as those in the main urban area, and high school standards were clearly tiered.

Throughout Yinjiang District, only Yuhang No. 1 Affiliated High School was a genuine provincial key school capable of competing with the top high schools in the city; all others were essentially mid-to-lower tier.

If Jin Yuting didn't get into No. 1 Affiliated, she'd have to go to No. 2 High School, where the undergraduate admission rate was only 40%.

Although No. 2 High School could be considered mid-tier across all of Yuhang City, compared to No. 1 Affiliated, it was night and day.

"Thinking about it now won't change anything," Xu Yinghuan sighed beside her, "The score is set; all you can do is pray the cutoff is lower this year."

Aside from Ying Chanxi and Zhao Rongjun, the two outliers, the top three scorers in the class were these three.

Right now, the three were huddled together discussing No. 1 Affiliated's cutoff; other classmates naturally wouldn't approach and embarrass themselves.

After all, even Jin Yuting, the lowest scorer among the three, still scored at least ten to twenty points higher than everyone else.

Most other students in the class, after the exam, would merely drift into ordinary high schools or vocational schools.

From then on, they'd walk entirely different life paths.

…

Just as everyone was chatting.

Homeroom teacher Zhang Wei walked in from outside, holding the score sheet.

He laughed and tapped the head of a mischievous kid in the back, telling him to get off his desk, then said, "You did pretty well this time—won't end up in vocational school."

"Hehe," the mischievous kid rubbed his head, grinning proudly, puffing out his chest, "I guessed at least five or six English multiple-choice questions right!"

"You're such a loser—I only got seventy in English," his academically weak friend complained, "My parents beat me senseless this morning, scared me so bad I skipped lunch and rushed straight to school."

"You just never put in effort," Zhang Wei shot him a disgruntled look, exasperated, "If you'd just learned from Li Luo, you wouldn't have ended up in vocational school this time."

"Li Luo?" The academically weak student blinked, curious, "Teacher Zhang, did Li Luo do really well?"

"Yeah," Zhang Wei's mouth twitched, "He did really well."

Jin Yuting, already gloomy in the front row, turned sharply and asked, "Teacher Zhang, did Li Luo score above the regular high school cutoff?"

"Regular high school cutoff…" Zhang Wei paused, then nodded with a wry smile, "Of course he did."

"I see…" Jin Yuting fell silent, her mood sinking further.

It wasn't jealousy exactly—just the thought that Li Luo had outperformed himself while she had crashed.

She'd even mocked him before the exam…

Still, she was a 508-point student; even if Li Luo did exceptionally well, he couldn't have scored more than 430 at most.

Thinking this, Jin Yuting's mood lifted slightly, as if comforted.

"Everyone, take your seats," Zhang Wei joked with the students a bit, then stepped onto the podium and instructed the class, "Let me see who's still missing."

At that moment, Li Luo and the other two who had been taking photos outside entered through the back door.

Hearing the teacher's words, Li Luo walked to his seat by the window in the back row, still pondering what the teacher had just said.

Surprise?

What surprise?

Li Luo couldn't figure it out for a moment.

On the podium, Zhang Wei surveyed the class once everyone was seated, confirming only two or three students were still absent.

He checked the time—it was already 2:30 p. m.

He placed the score sheet on the podium, smiled, and said to the class, "You've all checked your scores, right? Let me share the overall class results."

"This year's high school entrance exam results: some did exceptionally well, others had minor setbacks, but overall, our class has improved from before."

Saying this, Zhang Wei looked down at the score sheet and continued.

"Our class has 45 students; 16 scored below 420."

"20 scored between 420 and 460."

"5 scored between 460 and 500."

"And above 500, there are four students."

"The application system opens tomorrow at noon; if you have any questions about filling out your preferences, feel free to ask me anytime."

"Just in case, I'll write my phone number and QQ on the board—those who didn't write them down before, take note."

As he spoke, Zhang Wei picked up chalk and quickly wrote his phone number and QQ on the blackboard.

Below the podium, Shao Heqi had already furrowed his brow, wondering how their class had four students above 500.

If there had been a fourth person scoring above 500, they'd have already bragged about it in the QQ group.

Curious, Shao Heqi raised his hand after Zhang Wei finished writing: "Teacher Zhang."

"What is it?"

"You said we have four students above 500—besides me, Xu Yinghuan, and Jin Yuting, who's the fourth?"

Hearing Shao Heqi's question, other classmates grew curious.

Their eyes scanned the room, landing on a few students who usually performed decently.

But those students were equally confused, glancing left and right, unsure who it could be.

Zhang Wei on the podium looked at this scene and couldn't help smiling and shaking his head: "Hmm… well, this one."

"I need to commend Li Luo from our class—he also scored over 500 this time, with tremendous improvement."

"I was shocked myself when I saw the score sheet; it's normal you can't guess."

The moment Zhang Wei finished speaking,

every classmate's gaze instantly snapped toward the back row by the window, where the guy was idly propping his chin and gazing out at the scenery.

Their stares carried astonishment, disbelief, and utter shock; Li Luo had to exert all his willpower to suppress the upward curl of his lips.

Let's be honest—even a 35-year-old soul couldn't resist the sheer euphoria of such a display.

Especially when his homeroom teacher was actively helping him out, without him lifting a finger.

So this is the joy that comes from having excellent grades?

"He scored this high?!" Jin Yuting turned around from the first row, staring at Li Luo in utter disbelief.

She herself had only scored 508, yet Li Luo had also surpassed 500.

That meant Li Luo was only a few points behind her??

If Fuyi High's cutoff was high this year, would she end up getting into No. 2 Middle School alongside Li Luo??

The moment this thought struck her, Jin Yuting's face darkened.

Especially remembering her mockery of Li Luo before the exam, now contrasted with their nearly identical scores, she wished she could crawl into a hole and disappear.

"Didn't Li Luo only have around 400 points before? Is he really this good?" Xu Yinghuan couldn't help covering her mouth in surprise, then immediately stood up and hurried to the podium to look at Zhang Wei's score sheet.

"Teacher Zhang, Teacher Zhang, can I see it please~ Let me check Li Luo's score!"

Thanks to her status as a model student, Xu Yinghuan was lively and playful in front of teachers, always prone to coquettish behavior.

Zhang Wei was clearly used to her style; he chuckled and handed her the sheet: "Here you go."

Xu Yinghuan snatched the score sheet eagerly and instinctively scanned the names behind Jin Yuting.

But after two glances, she realized everyone behind Jin Yuting had scores starting with 4.

This made her freeze; she looked upward—and immediately went dumbstruck.

"What's his score? Xu Yinghuan, speak up!" classmates below the podium shouted, adding teasingly, "Could it be higher than our study committee's?"

No one believed that was possible.

Jin Yuting snorted twice, thinking: Li Luo scoring 500 was already a miracle—how could he possibly score higher than Xu Yinghuan's 520?

If that were true, wouldn't Li Luo have qualified for Fuyi High?

While Jin Yuting was thinking this, Ying Chanxi, sitting beside her, wore a smile, propped her chin on both hands, and gazed at Xu Yinghuan with closed, blissful eyes, savoring the astonishment on her classmates' faces.

To anyone unaware, you'd think she was admiring her own score sheet.

Yet even though Li Luo's score stunned the entire class, Ying Chanxi's joy surpassed even if she'd ranked first in the entire school.

Her legs beneath the desk couldn't help swinging back and forth.

At this moment, Xu Yinghuan finally snapped out of her daze, staring blankly at the score sheet in her hands, then looked up at the class, her voice uncertain and trembling:

"Li Luo… scored 555?"

The classroom fell utterly silent.

As if someone had hit mute.

Even the voice of Teacher Wang from the next room became clearly audible.

Jin Yuting sat frozen in the front row.

Shao Heqi in the third row stared open-mouthed, then mentally recalled his own score… damn it, wasn't his score only 554?

Li Luo had 555.

That meant… Li Luo scored higher than him?!

Are you kidding me?!

Shao Heqi shot to his feet in one swift motion, strode to the podium, snatched the score sheet from Xu Yinghuan's hands, and glared at it with force.

Li Luo — Total: 555 points!

Clear as day, in black and white.

Other bold classmates now rushed up, crowded beside Shao Heqi, stared hard—and a chorus of sharp intakes of breath followed.

"Holy shit! How the hell did he even get this?!"

"Li Luo, are you cheating?!"

"Insane! It's really 555!"

Surrounded by a ring of exclamations, Shao Heqi felt his head spin, as if oxygen-starved.

He simply couldn't fathom how Li Luo, who'd only scored around 420 in the mock exam, had managed to hit this score on the actual entrance test.

"Teacher Zhang, could Li Luo's score be miscalculated?" a classmate joked, voicing Shao Heqi's unspoken doubt.

But Zhang Wei only shook his head: "His case is special—the school verified it personally, checked the exam papers; Li Luo's score is correct."

Hearing Zhang Wei's final verdict, Shao Heqi tightened his grip on the score sheet.

He was supposed to be the top student after Ying Chanxi and Zhao Rongjun!

How had he suddenly become the fourth in class?

Even if Li Luo scored high, it didn't affect Shao Heqi's admission to Fuyi High.

But seeing the difference was just one point, Shao Heqi felt worse than swallowing garbage.

Especially after catching Ying Chanxi's smiling gaze—he felt a sharp pang of bitterness and resentment.

Thinking this, Shao Heqi carefully examined Li Luo's scores in each subject.

He finally realized: except for science, where he'd scored over 150 and held absolute dominance, every other subject had been completely outclassed by Li Luo.

Especially Chinese—how the hell did he get 110?!

Among the three main subjects, Chinese language was the hardest to score highly in.

In Shao Heqi's mind, only Ying Chanxi consistently scored above 110.

Even Zhao Rongjun couldn't guarantee that score every time.

Thinking of this, Shao Heqi found it even harder to accept the reality.

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out how Li Luo had done it.

But at that moment, Zhang Wei had already taken the report cards back from them, cleared his throat twice, and told them to return to their seats.

Shao Heqi returned to his seat, hollow-eyed, and unconsciously glanced back at Li Luo—only to see Li Luo smiling proudly toward the front, raising two fingers in a victory sign.

Turning his head back in the direction Li Luo was looking, Shao Heqi saw Ying Chanxi turning to face Li Luo, giving him a thumbs-up and winking playfully.

In that moment.

Silence filled Shao Heqi's ears, broken only by the crunch of glass shards beneath bare feet.

Oh.

It wasn't glass shards.

It was his heart—shattered.

"Alright, quiet down," Zhang Wei said from the podium. "Now let's go over the arrangements for the graduation ceremony."