Chapter 449: Xue Jian Isn't a Pinch-to-Zoom Toy, He's a Thorny Rose

Bell—

The bell for the end of the first evening study session rang.

Class 4, Grade 10.

Xue Jian, who was sitting in class, upon hearing the dismissal bell, slightly adjusted his sitting posture, used his left hand to rub his right shoulder, and his whole body unconsciously relaxed a bit, but his gaze remained fixed on the test paper in his hand.

He didn't get up to go to the office to rest or light a mosquito coil, after all, Ding Si was still asking him questions beside him, so he had to at least answer them first.

"This question—"

"Huh? Lin Li? How come you're back already?"

In the hallway, Bai Bufan's clear and audible tone of surprise came through.

Xue Jian, who had just not answered because he was analyzing the question, but now already had an explanation in mind and was about to speak, heard the sound from the hallway, closed his mouth again, and slightly furrowed his brow as he pricked up his ears.

Who said you can't tell a good horror story in one sentence?

Bai Bufan just did it easily.

"I came back to eat an apple."

Lin Li's voice then actually appeared, making Xue Jian's hand holding the test paper tremble.

Alarm, alarm, first-level alarm.

This kid actually came back from the multimedia room.

However, although the voice was very clear, neither Bai Bufan nor Lin Li appeared outside the door, and even through several open windows, Xue Jian couldn't see them.

"Apple? What apple?" Bai Bufan's voice continued.

"Haha, I just heard during tutoring that the homeroom teacher of Class 6 gave everyone in their class an apple, and their teachers all did this, so how could our dear Teacher Xue possibly not give us one?

No need to think, there's definitely an apple on my desk now, right?

Tsk tsk, Bufan, you still want to hide and tease, giving me a surprise?"

Xue Jian: "..."

When he heard "dear Teacher Xue" instead of "Old Stubborn Head," Xue Jian's mouth corners had already started twitching.

If those two outside the door weren't doing it on purpose, then Xue Jian would take Lin Li's surname from now on.

The conversation continued—

"Oh, oh like that, haha, yeah." Bai Bufan's voice sounded embarrassed.

"I knew it! Teacher Xue, long live! I love teachers the most! Then I'll go in to get the apple first." Lin Li's voice was very excited.

"Wait, wait a moment!" Bai Bufan urgently stopped, sounding flustered.

"What's wrong?"

"Ze Yu, you're not hungry, right? You go buy some late-night snacks with Lin Li first, Lin Li, you accompany Ze Yu."

"Huh? Why? I want to go back and eat the apple first."

"Oh come on, Lin Li, this is the apple Teacher Xue gave us, of course we have to treat it with the best attitude!

Fruit after meals, fruit after meals, fruit should be eaten after meals to maximize its value, eating it directly is disrespect to the apple, and also disrespect to Teacher Xue!!!"

"Oh oh—got it, got it! My problem, Bufan, you're right, Ze Yu, let's go, let's go eat late-night snacks first!"

The conversation in the hallway paused slightly at this moment, and it became quiet for a while.

But only for a while.

Shortly after, Xue Jian thought these two would quiet down, when Wang Ze's voice sounded, his voice lower compared to Lin Bai's just now, and at this moment carrying a probing tone:

"Bufan... why did you say that... Teacher didn't give us apples, did he?"

"Wang Ze, haven't you seen Lin Li's eyes just now, full of reverence and admiration for the teacher?

He so believes in the teacher, firmly thinking our homeroom teacher would treat him to an apple today, did you notice, when I affirmed his idea, Lin Li... was happy like a child—

Faced with such a person, how could I bear to tell him the truth, how could I bear to see him disappointed? Hmm?"

Bai Bufan recited in a tone similar to poetic recitation.

"Well, well, maybe so..."

"Wang Ze, we're leaving too." Bai Bufan's tone became urgent.

"Leave? Where to?"

"To the convenience store, we're going to buy apples."

"Buy apples for what?"

"Buy forty, buy them and put them on each classmate's desk, then we'll say this is from Teacher Xue, he told us to put them in everyone's place."

"Why do this?"

"Soul-less! You think only Lin Li reveres and believes in Teacher Xue! Lin Li is just a microcosm of Class 4, Grade 10, haven't you heard that saying, when you find one Lin Li in the class, there's actually a whole nest of Lin Lis!

Now besides Lin Li, there are definitely many other classmates who also have this idea, they just haven't expressed it as directly as Lin Li.

But Old Stubborn Cough Cough, Teacher Xue today didn't bring apples, is it because he doesn't want to, or because he wants to disappoint our reverence and belief? Absolutely not! It's definitely just because he's busy, so he forgot!

But being busy can't blame the teacher, I believe if the teacher realizes this today later, he will surely blame himself immensely, make it up to us, but even if the wounded heart is repaired, it will still have scars, and this is not what I want to see.

So for the teacher's reputation, and for Lin Li's expectation, we need to fabricate a kind lie, what's more, it's not even a lie, just doing what Teacher Xue forgot to do."

"I... I understand," hearing this earth-shaking enlightenment, Wang Ze suddenly realized, then immediately echoed: "Then when we finish buying, we'll report it for reimbursement using class funds via the monitor?"

"What to reimburse? Reimbursing would just expose everything, I'll pay myself, hah, today, I offer my blood! Xuan! Yuan!"

"It's ignited!" Wang Ze's blood surged, "Bufan, I understand your heart, I'll also chip in half!"

"Good! Wang Ze, truly worthy of being Teacher Xue's favorite, so specially left to constantly monitor the podium desk day after day, let's go!"

"Go!"

The conversation outside the hallway temporarily stopped here.

Inside the classroom.

The classroom, originally still somewhat noisy because class had ended, subconsciously began to quiet down the moment Lin Li's voice appeared, especially Huang Yi and Zhou Jiana; as the conversation progressed, everyone grew quieter and quieter, until right now the entire classroom was utterly silent.

Everyone was pricking up their ears to listen.

But as the sounds outside faded, discordant noises gradually arose inside—

After all, aside from Xue Jian whose mouth corners kept twitching, everyone else was suppressing laughter.

The main victim was still present; laughing too loudly would be impolite.

Ding Si on the podium was even more so, she held back laughter until she was just like her aunt.

Damn it, before evening self-study, when Lin Li entrusted her to go up and ask Xue Jian a question one minute before class ended if Xue Jian was present, he didn't tell her the plot would be this rich.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Ding Si turned her head and gently bumped her forehead against the blackboard, trying to stop her mouth corners from curling up.

Victim Xue Jian: "... o_o..."

His gaze looked toward the corridor.

Every time he thought Lin Li and Bai Bufan would amount to just this for their whole lives, the two always managed to pull off operations that made his vision go even darker.

Are these two b's black people?

Feel like I need a 7.62 antibiotic IV drip.

"..."

"..."

"We're leaving, no one's going to stop us—"

"Really leaving now—really, you know—"

At the back door, after Bai Bufan discovered Xue Jian surprisingly didn't move, his voice dragged out in tone, already sounding somewhat unconfident: "Really really really really leaving now, although my living expenses for this month only have a hundred yuan left, buying forty apples for sixty or seventy yuan out of pocket is still fine, thirty yuan for four days, I'll definitely live well too—"

"Really, really, really, really leaving now. Even though my living expenses for this month are down to just a hundred bucks, spending sixty or seventy on forty apples is still no problem — thirty bucks lasts four days, and I'll definitely manage just fine——"

"But actually you can still stop me... hello?"

"Then I've already walked far away..."

This is great.

Listening to Bai Bufan's somewhat desperate "lament" and "soliloquy," not to mention the other remaining classmates in the classroom, even Xue Jian himself found his mouth corners a bit hard to hold.

Listening to Bai Bufan's rather desperate "lament" and "soliloquy," never mind the other students left in the classroom — even Xue Jian himself found the corners of his mouth a bit hard to keep steady.

Even his exhale trembled slightly from laughter.

Xue Jian shook his head; he really committed sins in his past life.

Glancing at Ding Si squatting on the ground laughing, Xue Jian didn't lecture anymore, stood up and walked toward the door.

But just as Xue Jian poked his head out the front door preparing to scold a couple sentences, he discovered Bai Bufan and Wang Ze instantly pushed in through the back door.

When Xue Jian withdrew his head, the two immediately exited the classroom again.

Once Xue Jian withdrew his head, the two of them immediately left the classroom.

Are they playing hide-and-seek or Wang Bu Jian Wang here?

But he couldn't be bothered to deal with these two anymore; the mastermind probably wasn't on scene anymore anyway, he'd clean them up later. Xue Jian's gaze swept the classroom, and he cooperated:

But he couldn't be bothered to deal with those two anymore; the mastermind probably wasn't even on the scene anymore anyway, he'd clean them up later — Xue Jian's gaze turned toward the classroom, and he cooperated: