Chapter 283: They walked down the path of illegal crime, Lin Li decided

The lunch break bell rang. The clever Yingbao, who was sitting straight and doing extension problems, shook her head gently to let her hair escape from Lin Li's fingers, then raised her hands to stretch.

Even though it had been tailored, the school uniform was still on the loose side, but this looseness made the curves that were now faintly visible appear even more charming.

Good to look at, love to look at.

After spitting at the idiot Lin Li—who claimed to be appreciating it in a dignified manner but was actually a pervert who couldn't do extension problems—Chen Yuying picked up her things, stood up, and returned to her seat.

Lin Li watched her back for a while, and only when she went out to get water did he turn his head to look at the sunlight outside the window.

Although it wouldn't matter if he lost, wouldn't it definitely be best if he could hold this "excessive" requirement in his own hands?

To have that feeling, one needed grades in the top three of the grade level to be considered stable.

This difficulty had raised the bar by another magnitude; every single point in every subject now seemed important.

He should go buy a calligraphy practice book later.

Although Lin Li's handwriting wasn't as abstract as a doctor's, it definitely couldn't be called good-looking either.

In the past, it probably fell into the category of: writing normally looks like a dog scratching, and writing carefully looks like a dog scratching carefully.

Now that his physical control had improved, it was a bit better, but not by much.

And for liberal arts, handwriting can truly affect scores a lot of the time, especially in subjects like Chinese where there often isn't a standard answer.

Especially for essays: a 40-point essay with "dog-scratch" handwriting—if the content remained the same but it was written in clean, neat handwriting, a 45 wouldn't be strange, and nearly 50 was even possible.

The more irritable the grading teacher is, the greater the influence of the handwriting.

Lin Li could actually 【imitate】 neat handwriting, but if the handwriting were completely different from before, and a teacher or some classmate noticed and got curious while his ability was on cooldown, it would be very troublesome; proving himself would be a hassle.

So it wasn't very advisable; he still had to practice his handwriting for real.

"Hoo—" At this moment, Bai Bufan walked into the classroom, sat in his seat, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.

"Bufan, why didn't you go back to the dorm at noon? Did you start coming to the classroom to study again?" Zhou Baowei, who arrived later, also sat in his seat and then turned his head to stare at Bai Bufan vigilantly.

"Don't even mention it, I spent noon in the office." Bai Bufan slumped weakly in his seat and waved his hand feebly.

"Huh?" Lin Li also looked over curiously. "What happened? Didn't you go back to the dorm after eating?"

"I did, at least that's how it was supposed to be.

Before the sports meet, didn't Binbin assign a complete test paper including an essay? I got a little lazy with the essay, and as it happened, I ran into her after I finished eating and parted ways with you.

Then I was caught by her, since she had already graded my paper in the morning, and was dragged to the office to write for the whole noon."

Bai Bufan said listlessly.

"You didn't write it?" Zhou Baowei suddenly realized.

"No, I wrote it." Bai Bufan shook his head.

"Then how did you write it?" Lin Li was even more curious.

"Wasn't the semi-open-ended essay challenge 'Challenge XX'? My essay topic was 'Challenge Not to Write an Essay,' and at the eight-hundred-word mark, I wrote four words: 'Challenge Successful'." Bai Bufan replied. "Honestly, I think it fit the theme quite well; Binbin is just being too unreasonable."

Lin Li and Zhou Baowei: "..."

"Honestly, Bufan, you have a certain distance from being a god, but you are already very far from being a human."

"Honestly, Lin Li, you should keep an eye on Bufan. I feel like he isn't a real person. How about this: you feed him a pack of rat poison when he isn't paying attention. If he dies, it proves my guess is right—he's a rat in disguise."

Zhou Baowei suggested to Lin Li.

"Sure, I'll add a portion to his breakfast tomorrow and try it." Lin Li accepted the suggestion, then sighed softly. "I hope Bufan isn't a rat."

"Can you two motherfuckers stop plotting to kill me out loud! This isn't even about whether I'm a rat or not anymore!" Bai Bufan was so angry he laughed.

The afternoon classes followed immediately after the lunch break; the class bell rang.

"Talking nonsense with you guys robbed me of my last bit of sleep time, damn it."

Sighing, Bai Bufan patted his cheeks and drew a cross on his arm to cheer himself up:

"Come on, Bai Bufan, perk up, you can do it!"

Good news: Bai Bufan perked up.

Bad news: he perked up too hard and Bai Bufan killed his spirit.

The first class in the afternoon was History; one could only say the buffs were fully stacked.

"Lin Li, wake up your deskmate." The history teacher put down the textbook, tilted her chin toward Lin Li, and said helplessly.

Lin Li turned his head; he had been studying so intently that he only just realized Bai Bufan had fallen asleep.

"Teacher, why should I be the one to wake him when you were the one who lulled him to sleep? That's not fair. I think you should be the one to wake him." But Lin Li didn't shout; he said it with sound reasoning.

History teacher: "..."

"Lin Li, you are the man with the most guts in the whole world!" Zhou Baowei gave a thumbs up and praised him in a low voice.

Although after his grades improved, he was still considered the bottom of the class and school scum in Xue Jian's eyes, there were obvious changes with other teachers.

For example, Koukou.

Koukou used to often hate that iron wouldn't become steel and tell Lin Li to get to the back of the class.

But now, she always gently tells Lin Li to get to the back of the class.

The change was too great.

And the history teacher's temper was already quite good; after Lin Li's grades improved, she gave him even more preferential treatment.

So, regarding Lin Li's joke, she knew there was no malice, so she just pointed at Lin Li from across the room and feigned annoyance: "You're the one with all the trouble."

"Bai Bufan! Wake up!"

Lin Li also patted Bai Bufan's leg. Bai Bufan, who finally woke up, figured out the situation within three seconds and stood up abruptly: "Teacher, I wasn't sleeping!"

"Still being stubborn? Then repeat what the teacher was just saying." The history teacher asked with a smile.

"Bai Bufan! Wake up!" Bai Bufan repeated.

History teacher: "?"

Not my bro?

The history teacher laughed, took an infrared pointer, and pointed at the multimedia screen behind her: "Fine, you weren't sleeping. Then, Bufan, you tell the teacher: in 1896, what ended?"

Bai Bufan, who hadn't previewed or listened to the lecture at all, cast a look of help toward Lin Li.

Lin Li naturally wouldn't stand by and watch.

But after getting Lin Li's answer, the corners of Bai Bufan's mouth twitched.

Your mom.

Although he told himself it should be the correct answer, Lin Li was still a pure bastard.

Wanting to speak but stopping, Bai Bufan finally just shook his head regretfully: "Teacher, I don't know."

"Forget it, forget it. It's normal to be sleepy during the first class of the afternoon. Go stand at the back for class; go back to your seat when you feel awake." The history teacher said, helpless yet amused.

"Okay, teacher, thank you, teacher."

"Come, Lin Li, tell your deskmate the answer to that question just now: in 1896, what ended?" The history teacher signaled for Lin Li to answer.

Bai Bufan, who was walking toward the back, turned his head and looked at Lin Li with expectant yet provocative eyes.

—"Don't be a coward!"

Lin Li sneered.

—"No problem!"

He didn't let Bai Bufan down. Lin Li stood up and announced the answer he had just told Bai Bufan in a super loud voice: "1895!"

"What?" The history teacher didn't react at first.

"Teacher, in 1896, 1895 ended!" Lin Li answered sonorously.

Bai Bufan lowered his head to stifle his laughter.

Your mother, Lin Li. You just told me this answer; did you say he was wrong? No, he wasn't wrong. But right is right, I really didn't dare to say it out loud.

"..." After a brief silence, the class burst into laughter.

"Genius!"

"So right!"

"Lin Li, let me test you again: what ended in 1895!"

"It was 1894!"

"Good!"

The few people who were originally sleepy were all laughed awake.

And the history teacher, amidst the class's laughter, was silent at first, and finally couldn't help but cover her face herself.

No way to refute that.

Lin Li really is a history genius; no wonder he did so well on the last monthly exam.

"Lin Li, you get to the back and stand for class too, stand until the end of class." But that didn't stop the history teacher from delivering divine punishment.

"Alright, teacher!" Lin Li, who actually knew the answer, happily rolled over to Bai Bufan's side upon hearing this.

One can only say that whenever other teachers, including Koukou, gently tell Lin Li to roll to the back, that gentleness is what Lin Li deserves, but the rolling is also what Lin Li deserves.

"Heh, Bufan, you coward."

"Fine, you're the boss, I'll give it to you."

Evening.

A birthday day was no different from any other.

Throughout the day, quite a few people wished him a happy birthday. Yao Qiaoqiao even came to offer her blessings and gave him a bookmark she made herself as a small gift.

There weren't many other gifts; boys rarely prepared gifts unless the person involved made a big fuss about it.

As for the class monitor's gift, it seemed he wouldn't be able to get it until the weekend at the earliest.

However, today, whether it was eating or buying snacks and water, Lin Li didn't spend a cent.

That was enough.

Bai Bufan's point about return gifts being troublesome was also correct, especially for "friends" who were only half-acquainted. For example, for Yao Qiaoqiao's birthday, Lin Li now had a reason to remember it; he should go home and set a reminder in his WeChat notes and phone calendar.

It was best to return a small gift on the day; there was no helping it, that's just how human interactions go.

Evening self-study.

After reviewing another subject completely, Lin Li stretched and loosened his muscles.

He lifted his eyes to look at the classroom, starting from Chen Yuying's seat and scanning the whole class.

The clock on the wall showed that there were less than five minutes left until school ended, so the classroom seemed slightly noisy, with a lot of whispering and "un-un" groaning sounds.

Study for five more minutes.

Wait?

Did something strange get mixed in?

Damn it, where are the groaning sounds coming from in the classroom?

Lin Li turned his head abruptly to look at Bai Bufan, who was slumped on the desk and moaning.

(；o_o)?

Lin Li gave Bai Bufan a heavy punch and lowered his voice: "Not my bro, what are you doing? In heat and want to teach? Or is your workplace being investigated?"

This punch made Bai Bufan roll his eyes directly.

Bai Bufan turned his head toward Lin Li tremblingly, his voice strained: "No, I'm about to launch."

Lin Li: "?"

After reacting to what Bai Bufan was saying, Lin Li asked tentatively: "You want to take a shit?"

"Vulgar." Bai Bufan said with pale-faced disdain. Then, his expression turned gentle, and he sighed softly: "I think, perhaps the retention of the large intestine will ultimately not be able to withstand the tenderness of the toilet paper, but I will cherish this last time I spend with it."

What kind of literary bullshit are you spewing?

But Lin Li didn't dare to keep hitting Bai Bufan, afraid that one punch would shatter his current critical point.

"You really have to hold it in?" Lin Li asked with a complex look in his eyes.

Bai Bufan nodded.

It was evening self-study, not class time, and with no teacher sitting in, he could go to the bathroom whenever he wanted.

The only reason Bai Bufan could still hold it was that he wanted to go back to the dorm to do it.

Nansang Middle School only had toilets in the dorms of the senior campus; the teaching buildings and dorms for the first and second years were all squat toilets, but Bai Bufan's behavior was actually understandable.

Suppose Lin Li was on his way home and suddenly needed to take a big dump when he was five minutes away, and there happened to be a public toilet nearby—as long as it wasn't at the point of imminent explosion, Lin Li would also choose to go home.

It was mainly about comfort and ease.

"Then good luck."

In this situation, it was impossible for Lin Li to use a "Hold-It-In Talisman" to assist, so he could only wish Bai Bufan good luck; if he couldn't hold it, he brought it on himself.

Fortunately, until the bell rang, Bai Bufan had no other issues besides continuing to moan.

"Ding—" The bell rang, and Bai Bufan immediately rushed out like a wild dog off its leash.

"What's he doing?" Zhou Baowei, who was on the side, asked. "Running so fast?"

"Ever played 'Poop King Brothers'? Maybe he has a jet-powered accelerator behind him while running; how could he not be fast?" Lin Li said casually while picking out the textbook he wanted to favor tonight.

"Strategist! Father-in-law!" Wang Ze shouted while walking toward Lin Li with a book.

"What's wrong?" Lin Li, who had just put on his backpack and was about to stand up, looked up.

"In a rush to leave? There's a problem I don't know how to do; teach me, will you?" Wang Ze placed his workbook on Lin Li's desk and asked.

"Not my bro? Did the sun rise from Korea? Wang Ze, you're using your spare time to study?" Lin Li couldn't believe it.

"Hehe, I've decided to become a more excellent person, relying on grade improvement to make up for my flaws in emotional intelligence, so the senior sister will willingly continue to chase me." Wang Ze laughed proudly.

"I think instead of improving your grades, you should think of a way to blind the senior sister; the latter feels simpler."

"You curse so dirtily." Wang Ze gave him the middle finger, then tilted his chin: "Stop cursing, are you teaching me or not?"

"Which question?" Lin Li asked.

"This one."

Lin Li looked at the question Wang Ze was pointing at; it was the same one he had asked Chen Yuying at noon.

But Lin Li didn't answer immediately; instead, he looked at Wang Ze and frowned: "You're asking about this question?"

"What's wrong?"

"First tell me, do you know how to do this question?" Lin Li pointed to the previous question.

"Uh... no."

"How about this one?"

"Seems like I know a little bit."

"Tell me, which part of this homework do you actually know?" Lin Li laughed.

"Class, name, student ID."

Lin Li took a deep breath, feeling like there was a nigger in front of him.

"Then why are you asking about your dam's extension problem?" Lin Li questioned coldly. "Isn't this just a eunuch visiting a brothel? Wang Ze, besides getting drool all over this question, what else can you do? Without the tool, don't think about the pussy."

Wang Ze: "..." The words are rough but the meaning isn't, but you're too rough.

"Then just explain a few basic ones to me." But Wang Ze was thick-skinned and said indifferently upon hearing this.

"Studying can also be a blind box; Wang Ze, you're really something." Lin Li was amused; he felt Wang Ze didn't really want to study, probably just a three-minute heat.

So he didn't explain the questions directly; instead, he walked to the front row, took Wang Ze's textbook, found the examples and exercises to mark them one by one, added a few notes, and handed it to Wang Ze:

"There's not much point in explaining questions like this. You do it yourself by comparing it like this now, and if there's anything you don't understand, come ask me tomorrow."

"So good, thanks." Wang Ze raised his eyebrows and looked at the clock: "I'm going back to the dorm to study; you can roll home."

"Wasted my precious five minutes." Lin Li raised a middle finger.

However, there were actually quite a few people still studying in the classroom; after all, many students would study in school until the lights went out in the teaching building when exams were approaching.

It was also possible that couples were waiting for fewer people to find a place to kiss.

But that was none of Lin Li's business; he stood up and left the classroom.

Residential complex.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse tonight.

"I am a reverse butterfly, a butterfly flying against the wind~"

Lin Li hummed a little tune, looked at the medical report sent to him by his customer service on his phone, took out his keys to open the door, and pressed the entrance light button on the shoe cabinet.

Click, the light came on.

But what happened in this moment was more than just the light coming on.

"Happy birthday!"

"Surprise!"

The party popper exploded with a bang; the ribbons in Chen Yuying's hands poured down like a waterfall of sequins, spilling all around Lin Li, slightly distorting his vision.

Ding Sihan held a cake filled with candles, the firelight dancing in her pupils.

Lin Li froze in place, his hand still maintaining the motion of holding the keys.

Looking behind the three of them, the familiar yet strange living room curtains were tightly closed, but they were hung with star lights, and on the wall were crooked ribbon letters spelling "happy birthday".

A brief silence.

His Adam's apple rolled slightly, he pursed his lips, and looking at the three faces filled with smiles and anticipation, Lin Li, who had come back to his senses, raised one arm to block his eyes.

"Lin Li, don't cry, don't cry, Mom loves you."

"It's only right to be moved; this is a super big surprise, I'd cry too if it were me."

Watching this scene, Ding Sihan and Qu Wanqiu sang in harmony.

Chen Yuying clutched the used party popper, not knowing what to do for a moment, after all, Lin Li rarely showed this kind of posture.

Just as she was about to let him take off his shoes and come in before comforting him, Lin Li's figure slowly backed out of the door, and he began to go downstairs sneakily.

Chen Yuying: "?"

The three of them poked their heads out the door in confusion.

Chen Yu, Ying, and the other two poked their heads out the door, looking puzzled.

They saw Lin Li quietly heading downstairs while pulling his phone out of his pocket, his voice deliberately lowered but sounding somewhat anxious:

"Uncle, I think a thief has broken into my house. Can you send a patrol?"

"Really, I'm serious! Illegal trespassing, it's absolutely illegal trespassing!"

Chen Yu, Ding Sihan, and Qu Wanqiu: "?"

(End of chapter)