ABMSI Chapter 7

Faced with all kinds of gazes, Duan Wei listlessly dropped his eyes onto the class schedule. The next period was English. When Mrs. Tong walked in, she hadn’t shown any unusual expression. He instinctively let out a breath of relief—it looked like him stealing the pad hadn’t been discovered.

Who knew, just as he relaxed, he suddenly felt a scorching stare from the podium. At some point, Mrs Tong was looking his way. If looks could kill, Duan Wei figured he’d already have been hacked into eight pieces.

Maybe because of his guilty conscience, Duan Wei quickly withdrew his gaze and lowered his head. Right then the bell rang, and all the students who had been wandering around the classroom moments ago hurried back to their seats.

Unexpectedly, the class didn’t stand up and shout the usual “class begin.” The whole room instantly turned silent, like a graveyard.

With a bang, Mrs. Tong slammed her lesson book onto the desk. She looked toward Duan Wei’s direction and said:
“Take it out.”

Although she was speaking to Duan Wei, the student sitting in front—Peng Yan—shivered instinctively. He and Duan Wei had been strutting around school for ages, but when it came to Mrs. Tong, they still felt some fear.

Mrs. Tong wasn’t just Class 8’s English teacher; she was also the head of the entire senior grade. Her ways were forceful, her reputation widely known. The most legendary story was from a few years back: a senior had once thrown a tantrum and refused to listen in class. Mrs. Tong picked up his entire desk and hurled it straight out of a third-floor window.

From then on, she became a kind of “Extinction Master Tai” figure at No.1 High School.

Seeing he couldn’t slip by, Duan Wei could only play dumb. He adjusted his expression, glanced around, while the student next to him—Fu Duqiu—remained expressionless, as if all this was just a waste of his study time.

After a moment of mental prep, Duan Wei put on a brave front, met Mrs. Tong’s eyes, and pointed at himself with an innocent look.
“Me?”

At that moment, he’d already imagined the Oscar acceptance speech he’d give.

But Mrs. Tong wasn’t the type to be fooled. She’d eaten more salt than these kids had eaten rice. Watching Duan Wei’s straight face, she enunciated word by word:
“Take. It. Out.”

If it were anyone else, they’d already be sweating buckets. But Duan Wei wasn’t ordinary. He blinked innocently, stood up, and said:
“Take what out? I don’t know.”

“Your tablet. And your earphones.” Mrs. Tong cut him off directly. “Before, I let things slide without exposing you. But this time you even took everyone else’s phones. What are you learning in school every day? Did the school teach you to steal?!”

Duan Wei had been prepared to get scolded, but the second half of her words left him dumbstruck.

When did he steal all the phones??

At this point, it wasn’t about admitting or not—it was about absolutely not admitting. Eyes wide, hands spread, he said:
“No, teacher, I really didn’t take them!”

“Then tell me—where were you during dinner?” Old Tong folded her arms across her chest. One way or another, this wasn’t getting dropped today. No lesson would continue until it was sorted out.

All the classmates turned to look, not daring to breathe. Xu Jianian sat anxiously in her seat—she believed Duan Wei wasn’t the kind to steal. But during dinner, she truly hadn’t seen him anywhere.

Peng Yan, meanwhile, closed his eyes. He had no idea why all the phones had disappeared. Still, he stood and said:
“Teacher, he was with me.”

Given his and Duan Wei’s poor reputation at school, Mrs. Tong clearly didn’t buy it. Duan Wei was nearly crying inside—he had no idea which bastard had swiped all the phones. His brain spun rapidly, then his eyes landed steadily on Fu Duqiu.

Fu Duqiu sat upright, sensing Duan Wei’s gaze. He raised an eyebrow in return.

In that instant, Duan Wei felt like he’d glimpsed the dawn of hope. He blinked pitifully at him. Seeing no reaction, he arched a brow suggestively.

Under the desk, he tugged at Fu Duqiu’s sleeve with a fawning air. Then, leaning slightly, he traced a few strokes with his finger on Fu Duqiu’s thigh.

His fingertip brushed the fabric of his leg, each stroke tickling slightly. Fu Duqiu wanted to move away, but in the end he sat steady, letting Duan Wei finish.

Duan Wei wrote quickly. The moment the final stroke was done, he pulled his hand back. Fu Duqiu pieced the strokes together in his mind, realizing what he had written:

“I’ll treat you to a meal.”

The meaning was obvious—he was begging Fu Duqiu to lie for him. From Mrs. Tong’s perspective, Fu Duqiu was just a new student with no reason to cover for Duan Wei.

Although the truth was that Duan Wei had indeed spent most of dinner time with Fu Duqiu, Fu Duqiu had personally seen Duan Wei’s tablet lying in the bathroom. The connection wasn’t hard to figure out.

“Duan Wei, what are you fumbling around with?!” Mra. Tong suddenly raised her voice, making the front row of students all flinch. “If you don’t explain yourself today, nobody’s having class. You’re not only wasting my time—you’re wasting the time of over fifty students in this room!”

Duan Wei’s hand dropped away completely. Seeing Fu Duqiu unmoved, he squeezed his eyes shut and decided to force it through.

“I was with Fu Duqiu!”

Sure enough, as soon as those words came out, everyone’s expressions in the class changed. Mra. Tong looked a bit shocked for the first time, Peng Yan was astonished, and the vast majority of the students seemed to understand what had happened.

The other protagonist, Fu Duqiu, seemed almost as if he had anticipated this. He slowly stood up. Standing together, Fu Duqiu was half a head taller than Duan Wei. Even just standing there simply, they were quite a striking sight.

Although most people wouldn’t admit it, teachers naturally viewed top students through a special lens. Seeing Fu Duqiu stand, Mrs. Tong narrowed her eyes suspiciously:
“You were with Duan Wei?”

“Yes!” Fearing Fu Duqiu might change his mind, Duan Wei quickly answered before him. “I was with him. Teacher, now will you believe me?”

“…” Still doubtful, Mrs. Tong paused. There was no way Fu Duqiu would cover for a classmate he had only known for a day. After a moment of silence, Mrs. Tong frowned and asked,
“Is what he’s saying true?”

Under Duan Wei’s eager gaze, Fu Duqiu hesitated briefly, then spoke:
“Yes. He was with me.”

Duan Wei and Peng Yan both exhaled in relief. Fu Duqiu really was honorable. But before Duan Wei could even speak, Fu Duqiu continued in a calm, even tone:
“But class ended at 5:30. I didn’t see Duan Wei in the restroom until around 5:45. Those fifteen minutes in between? I have no idea where he was.”

Duan Wei: …

Peng Yan: …

Holy crap, now even restroom breaks have a timeline?!

Fu Duqiu’s tone didn’t fluctuate at all, like he was calmly solving a math problem. Duan Wei was struck dumb. He hadn’t expected that lying would force him into reconciling a timeline with Fu Duqiu.

Meanwhile, the surrounding onlookers were glued to this sudden twist. Top students really were top students—even their time management was precise to the minute.

Mrs. Tong was momentarily stunned, hesitating, then turned her gaze back to Duan Wei, waiting for an explanation.

“…“

Duan Wei glanced at Fu Duqiu beside him. Fu Duqiu remained expressionless, calmly returning his gaze.

After a long moment, Duan Wei finally gave in. He pulled the tablet and earphones from his bag, ready to hand them over. As he walked to the corridor, he had to pass Fu Duqiu’s side. In that moment, out of Mrs. Tong’s sight, he glared at Fu Duqiu and hissed:
“Just you wait.”

Being half a head shorter and standing so close, he had to look up at Fu Duqiu. No matter how intense he tried to be, from Fu Duqiu’s perspective, he posed no threat at all.

Fu Duqiu raised an eyebrow, looking at Duan Wei with total indifference.

“That’s all?” Mrs Tong took the tablet, clearly unconvinced. She knew all the phones in her drawer had been taken.

Duan Wei sighed internally. “Teacher, really, that’s all. I didn’t take anyone else’s!”

He looked at Fu Duqiu, who was still standing at his desk. This statement was true—Fu Duqiu couldn’t possibly pretend he didn’t know, right?

But Duan Wei had overestimated Fu Duqiu’s level. Fu Duqiu’s expression remained calm, as if to say—none of my business.

Mrs. Tong checked the time. Nearly twenty minutes had been wasted. The students in the class, on the other hand, were secretly hoping this would drag on a bit longer so they could leave early.

She put on her microphone and addressed Duan Wei from the podium:
“Good. Tomorrow, have your parents come to school. This isn’t over.”

Upon hearing this, Duan Wei cursed Fu Duqiu in his mind from head to toe. Sitting back in his seat, he was still full of resentment. His parents—one a middle school teacher, the other a nutritionist—both drilled him with education. Compared to being lectured, he’d rather have been physically beaten.

And the matter still wasn’t cleared up. So many phones were missing, and he was the prime suspect. Yet Fu Duqiu acted as if it had nothing to do with him. It was infuriating.

His mind was no longer on flattering the male lead or advancing the plot. All he could think about was how to properly teach Fu Duqiu a lesson.

This male lead was exactly as described in the original work—cold, indifferent, and detached. He shouldn’t have changed his attitude just because of that trivial restroom incident.

By now, his anger had reached full capacity. Even the classmates around him could sense the intensity of his emotions, like snow falling in June. Fu Duqiu, being closest to Duan Wei, naturally saw it all.

The entire English class passed with Duan Wei silently scheming revenge on Fu Duqiu. Yet, after school, during a brief restroom break, Fu Duqiu mysteriously disappeared. The classroom was empty, and his backpack remained at his seat.

Duan Wei sat down, noticed a bunch of keys Fu Duqiu had left on the desk, and an idea struck him. He pocketed the keys.

He reached up, turned off all the lights, and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Fu Duqiu, sleep on the street now!