NASAY CH 17

Luo Xing lowered his eyes. He wanted to show his best self in front of Huo Xingzhou, but he always seemed to miss the mark. He wanted to get closer, yet he was afraid of being found out.

If only he were a little smarter, then he could integrate into his world, even if just a little.

Throughout the entire class, he was lost in thought, not paying attention to a single word. It wasn’t until Hu Jiawen came to call him for lunch that he snapped out of it.

The classroom was empty; he had no idea when Huo Xingzhou had left.

“What were you thinking about? Just now, Huo Xingzhou called you for a long time, and you didn’t even respond,”

Hu Jiawen asked, puzzled as he stared at Luo Xing.

“Did you two have a fight?”

Luo Xing was stunned. Huo Xingzhou called him?

His ears… were they getting worse?

“What did he say?”

Luo Xing asked.

Hu Jiawen thought for a moment before replying,

“Not much. He just called your name a few times, but you didn’t respond, and then he left looking a bit unhappy.”

He paused before adding,

“Huo Xingzhou has a temper, you know—”

“It’s fine. Let’s go eat,”

Luo Xing interrupted.

***

“Hey, Huo Xingzhou, are you dating someone?”

“?” Huo Xingzhou frowned.

“Where did you hear such nonsense?”

Feng Jia shrank his neck, looking innocent as he said,

“I just heard it. Today, I saw you talking to a girl holding a love letter for a long time. Plus, you haven’t skipped class lately. Everyone is saying you’re in a relationship. Is it Li Lefan?”

Huo Xingzhou was drinking water when he heard this. He looked up.

“Do I look like someone who would break my own rules?”

Feng Jia trembled and shook his head.

“Not really.”

Li Lefan sighed and added,

“But who can escape the ‘True Fragrance’ rule?”

Huo Xingzhou chuckled coldly. He wanted to break his own rule, but that little ungrateful brat wouldn’t give him the chance. He might as well go stand under the national flag and sing ‘Conquer,’ or jump from the bell tower.

Thinking of that soft little kid, and recalling his gentle French that night, Huo Xingzhou suddenly felt something indescribable.

Feng Jia suddenly added,

“Falling in love isn’t a shameful thing. Just admit it. Worst case, you have to sing ‘Conquer’—if Liu Mengya agrees to date me, forget singing, I’d kneel and sing for her!”

“Pathetic.”

Huo Xingzhou gave him a sideways glance, slowly finished his water, and said coldly,

“Whether I sing or not is none of your business. Worry about your own love life first. Stop poking your nose into mine.”

Feng Jia had just wanted to stir up some fun and wait for Huo Xingzhou to get slapped in the face, but he didn’t expect the topic to be turned on him. He looked dumbfounded at Li Lefan, who was watching gleefully.

“Why are you so mad? I wasn’t the one who gave you a love letter.”

After a moment, Feng Jia asked, “Wait, is he in love with me?”

Li Lefan was silent for a while before pointing at Huo Xingzhou’s expression.

“Be careful,”

the server said as they brought over food.

“I don’t deserve this. What status do I have?”

Feng Jia quickly stood up and solemnly took the dishes, placing them on the table.

“Food is here.”

Huo Xingzhou: “……”

***

Three days had passed since the monthly exam, and all the test papers had been graded. The results were now posted in each class, and the school had a dedicated bulletin board in front of the bell tower to display the overall rankings.

Luo Xing had a rough idea of his score, and he never really cared about rankings. In contrast, Hu Jiawen seemed much more excited, dragging him over to check.

A crowd had already gathered around the rankings board, some familiar faces and some unfamiliar.

Hu Jiawen was a mediocre student himself, but he firmly believed that if his friend did well, Class 9 would look good, and if Class 9 looked good, he would also gain some recognition.

“Aren’t you curious at all?”

Hu Jiawen grabbed Luo Xing’s arm and squeezed into the crowd, scanning the list from the bottom up. He reached the twentieth name and still hadn’t found Luo Xing’s.

Going further up—

Holy sh*t!

“Luo Xing, you got the exact same score as the class president!”

Hu Jiawen gawked at the rankings, gripping Luo Xing’s arm excitedly.

“I’ve never seen anyone score the same as her before!”

Hearing Hu Jiawen’s exclamation, students turned around, their gazes openly shifting to Luo Xing as they whispered among themselves.

“Is this the guy who transferred from No 4 High School through the special selection?”

“He’s amazing! No one has ever gotten the same score as Ye Qiaoqiao before. She’s literally the school’s academic genius. The fact that someone could match her score is insane!”

Someone in the crowd let out a cold laugh.

“Who knows, maybe he cheated.”

Someone else gasped.

“No way.”

“Why not? I heard that except for the first test, where he scored more than ten points higher than Ye Qiaoqiao, every other exam, whether big or small, their scores have been almost identical. They’re always ranked one after the other. Who knows if they’re sharing answers?”

Luo Xing stood far away and didn’t hear the discussion behind him.

Hu Jiawen, being timid and not wanting trouble, didn’t dare to argue after hearing a few sentences and quickly left the crowd.

Luo Xing stood in the corridor waiting for Hu Jiawen. He vaguely heard someone talking nearby.

“Hey, look, Zhang Ting is confessing again! Last time, she got completely rejected by Huo Xingzhou, and now she’s back at it.”

“She must really like Luo Xing. Honestly, I kind of feel bad for her. Haha, of all people, why choose Huo Xingzhou?”

“To be fair, I like him too—he’s fair-skinned, good-looking, and has great grades. Huo Xingzhou may be handsome, but with that sarcastic attitude of his, who could put up with him?”

“You call that just sarcasm? You haven’t seen him really go off—when he’s actually angry, even some guys are too scared to show up in front of him for days.”

“Look, look! Zhang Ting is going over!”

Luo Xing frowned slightly as he noticed the girl blocking the corridor corner. She stood in a tricky spot, completely blocking the way. The only way past her was to turn back and take a longer route.

Zhang Ting wore the school’s red-and-black plaid pleated skirt and long-sleeved uniform shirt, with a neatly tied bow at her collar.

Her long, silky hair draped over her back. She seemed a bit nervous, lifting her hand several times before finally tucking a strand behind her ear.

Her slender waist was cinched by the pleated skirt, looking delicate and petite. Half of her body was bathed in sunlight, and with her light makeup, her eyelashes fluttered as she blinked, making her look charming and adorable.

“Excuse me, please move aside.”

Luo Xing waited for a moment, but she still didn’t move. He frowned.

“Classmate?”

The girl’s pale face flushed red. She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and said,

“Luo Xing, I’m Zhang Ting from Class Seven. I—I like you.”

Probably out of embarrassment, her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, until the last part was so faint that Luo Xing could only understand it by reading her lips.

“Will you go out with me?”

Luo Xing frowned, glancing at the pink envelope and box of white chocolate in her hands. For a moment, he didn’t respond.

“I actually think that Lu—”

Feng Jia almost ran into Huo Xingzhou’s back and asked in confusion,

“What are you looking at?”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t reply. He followed his gaze forward and then, unable to stop himself, let out a solid “Holy shit.”

A confession, right in front of him.

“Good-looking and smart—what an unfair advantage. He’s only been here a few days, and someone’s already confessing. But hey, that girl is actually quite pretty, so it’s definitely a win for him.”

Huo Xingzhou turned his head and gave him a glance, his eyes so icy they could shoot daggers.

Feng Jia shrank his neck and quickly used his basketball to shield his face.

“Ahem! We can’t encourage teenage romance. We must put a stop to it before it even starts. Crush it in the cradle!”

Huo Xingzhou seemed to think of something, lowering his eyes as he let out a mocking chuckle.

“You want to do it?”

Feng Jia chuckled,

“I’m not going. I wouldn’t want to offend her. That girl is good friends with Liu Mengya. If they really get together, I’d be one step closer to eating the grass at my own doorstep.”

Huo Xingzhou leaned against the pillar nearby, his gaze shifting to Luo Xing’s face. Just a few days ago, he had warned him not to date early, and now the test came so quickly. He’d better remember that advice.

Luo Xing looked at the girl in front of him, quietly waiting for her to finish speaking. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly said,

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your feelings.”

The girl, rejected to her face, bit her lip, her eyes instantly turning red, almost on the verge of tears.

“Why? Is it because something’s wrong with me? Tell me! If it’s about grades, I’ll study harder! Or if you feel like I don’t know you well enough, actually, I…”

“I like someone else.”

Luo Xing smiled softly, looking into Zhang Ting’s eyes, his voice gentle and warm.

“He’s amazing, so I don’t think I’ll like anyone else. I’m really sorry.”

Huo Xingzhou frowned. He likes someone?

He’s amazing, so I won’t like anyone else?

Feng Jia propped his chin on his hand, nudging Huo Xingzhou’s arm.

“Hey, Huo Xingzhou, who do you think Luo Xing likes? He’s only been here for a month and already has someone he likes? That’s fast! Or… could it be someone from No 4 High School?”

Li Lefan followed that line of thought for a second before shaking his head.

“Who says it can’t be someone here? Maybe he transferred to this school just for that person. What do you think, Huo Xingzhou?”

“How would I know?”

Huo Xingzhou took a step and left, tossing out a chilly comment.

“Who he likes is none of your business.”

He walked ahead, leaving Li Lefan and Feng Jia staring at each other.

“What’s with him? Did he take gunpowder today?”

“Could it be… jealousy?”

Huo Xingzhou’s footsteps halted. His face darkened as he threw the half-full bottle of water in his hand at Feng Jia’s head, casting a sharp glance at him.

“Jealous, my ass.”

Feng Jia hugged the water bottle, grinning.

“I don’t have an uncle, so you can’t be one.”

Rumors are always dangerous.

That day, someone casually said something in front of the bulletin board. One word led to ten, and ten led to a hundred, and soon, the rumor that Luo Xing and Ye Qiaoqiao had exchanged answers during an exam spread throughout No 2 High School.

Eventually, the rumor even reached Cheng Limin’s ears.

He called both students in for a talk a few times. After finding no issues, he sent them back and warned the class not to believe every rumor they heard.

But rumors are like a straw stack catching fire. A couple of gusts from someone with an agenda, and it spreads uncontrollably.

Eventually, the rumor morphed into a story about Luo Xing and Ye Qiaoqiao dating early and cheating together on exams.

Since both Ye Qiaoqiao and Luo Xing were top students in their grade—especially Luo Xing, who had been the top scorer in the high school entrance exams—the idea that their excellent grades were due to cheating and an early romance caused an uproar.

The matter had initially only circulated among the students, but somehow, it reached the principal.

Furious, the principal called Cheng Limin to his office and scolded him relentlessly.

“How do you manage your class?! Two top students, and you let something like this happen?! What will the district officials think when they visit? Our school’s best students involved in early dating and cheating?”

“Call their parents!”

Cheng Limin calmly endured the reprimand. After the principal finished, he spoke.

“This whole thing is just baseless rumors spread by the students. If we call the parents, it will make the rumors seem true, and it’ll cause even more harm to these two kids.”

“The damage to the students is serious, but what about the damage to Second High’s reputation?!”

The principal slapped the table.

“Do you not realize which is more important? Besides, calling the parents can clear their names if it’s untrue!”

Cheng Limin responded,

“Give me three days. I’ll get to the bottom of this before the district inspection and resolve it completely.”

After the afternoon class, there was a PE session. The vice class monitor, Ding Chao, used the excuse of feeling unwell to sneak back into the classroom and steal Ye Qiaoqiao and Luo Xing’s exam papers. With his own notebook in hand, he went straight to the principal’s office.

The principal was busy discussing the donation of a new building, smiling widely at the camera.

“Oh, Mr. Lu, you’re too generous. When you have some time, I’ll accompany you to check out the site.”

The man on the other end of the video chuckled softly. His features were deep yet carried a hint of warmth. The principal momentarily lost focus at his smile. No matter how many times he met him, he still found it hard to believe that this man had an 18-year-old son.

Lu Xingshi smiled gently. “No need to be so polite. Thank you for taking care of Qinghe at school.”

The principal chuckled along, thinking to himself that Lu Qinghe was such a top student that he didn’t need much care. Besides, with that cold and aloof personality, even if he wanted to care for him, he wouldn’t get the chance.

“Of course, it’s only right. Both you and Mr. Ji have always supported our school…”

The principal’s words were interrupted by a knock on the door, and he turned his head to look.

Lu Xingshi smiled again.

“Oh, don’t let me keep you from your work.”

“Not at all.”

The principal quickly stood up.

“I’ll hang up for now, Mr. Lu. We’ll discuss the site selection another day.”

The video call ended.

“Come in.”

Ding Chao clutched the exam papers and his notebook with the total scores he had copied from the rankings. He didn’t go to find Cheng Limin.

First, because he didn’t believe Cheng Limin would handle this matter fairly. The rumors in the school had already spread like wildfire, yet he was still trying to suppress them—clearly protecting Luo Xing and Ye Qiaoqiao!

Second, since he was here to report them, he couldn’t afford to confront Cheng Limin head-on. After all, he still had to be under his supervision for another year. So, after thinking it through, he decided to approach the principal instead.

The principal placed his phone aside, glanced at the tall, thin student who had entered, and smiled kindly, still in a good mood.

“What’s the matter, student?”

“Principal, I want to report two students for cheating.”

The principal frowned and looked up at him.

“Do you have any evidence?”

Ding Chao spread out Ye Qiaoqiao and Luo Xing’s exam papers on the desk, then opened his notebook, pointing to each set of scores.

“Here are the total scores from every weekly test, quiz, monthly exam, and midterm since Luo Xing transferred here. This is Ye Qiaoqiao’s score as well. Apart from the first test, where there was a small difference, they’ve scored exactly the same every time since.”

His notebook detailed several weekly tests and one monthly exam, along with the midterm. It was well-organized, even including a chart.

The principal furrowed his brows tightly.

“And? What does this prove?”

Ding Chao, afraid the principal wouldn’t believe him, quickly explained,

“The first time they had a small difference because Luo Xing had just transferred and was seated at the back. For the second exam, the seating arrangement was based on their scores, so he sat behind Ye Qiaoqiao. After that, their scores have been almost identical every time. Don’t you think that’s suspicious?”

The principal rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. He took the students’ exam papers and made a quick comparison. There were slight variations across subjects, but the final scores were nearly identical.

From quizzes to the midterm, they had taken more than a dozen tests, and their scores matched five or six times. That was indeed unusual.

Ding Chao continued,

“In the past, when I ranked third in the class, or when Lu Qinghe placed second in the grade, we always had a score difference of 5 to 15 points with Ye Qiaoqiao. But how come Luo Xing can always tie with her perfectly?”

The principal remained silent for a while, realizing Ding Chao had a point.

He recalled that Cheng Limin had mentioned before that Luo Xing was a peculiar student. He never seemed to struggle with any question, even if it was outside the syllabus. He could answer them fluently in class.

A student like that shouldn’t have lost points on these kinds of questions.

“These two must be up to something.”

Ding Chao saw the principal frown and added fuel to the fire.

Ever since Luo Xing transferred here, Ding Chao, as the vice class monitor, had become a joke. He could only rank third every time, and his overall grade in the year group was steadily dropping.

“Also, whether it’s the weekly quiz or the monthly exam, I even borrowed Luo Xing’s noon practice papers,”

he said, taking them out and placing them on the principal’s desk.

The noon practice wasn’t counted as an official exam, so Luo Xing didn’t hold back his score. The principal skimmed through it and found it almost entirely correct—so accurate that it seemed like he had copied straight from the answer key.

“If his noon practice papers are perfect with a high accuracy rate, then why does he conveniently get the exact same score as Ye Qiaoqiao during exams?”

Ding Chao said.

The principal flipped through the noon practice papers for a while and said,

“I see. You can go now.”

Ding Chao quickly agreed and left the office, delighted. As he walked out, he heard the principal suppressing his anger while making a phone call, “Teacher Cheng, come over for a moment.”

***

The third-year gym class only happened once a month. The boys, excited like they had been let out of a cage, played basketball enthusiastically, while the girls sat on the side, either chatting or cheering for the players.

Luo Xing sat on the sidelines, watching Huo Xingzhou sweating on the court, his eyes narrowing unconsciously.

He’s so good-looking.

“Hey.”

A shadow suddenly fell over him, blocking his view.

He raised his head.

“Vice class monitor.”

Ding Chao stood in front of him with an arrogant expression, sneering,

“Cheaters never have a good ending.”

Luo Xing frowned and didn’t respond. Ding Chao racked his brain for every insulting remark he could come up with and threw them all at Luo Xing.

“Don’t think staying quiet will save you.”

“Luo Xing, Teacher Cheng wants you to go to the principal’s office,”

Hu Jiawen jogged over.

“Me? What for?”

Hu Jiawen, who didn’t like Ding Chao much, thought for a moment and lowered her voice to whisper into Luo Xing’s ear,

“I just went to the restroom, and Teacher Cheng saw me and asked me to pass the message. He didn’t say what it’s about, but he didn’t look too happy. He also told you to bring the class monitor with you… It’s probably about that.”

Huo Xingzhou caught a glimpse of Luo Xing leaving in the corner of his eye and froze for a moment, which led to the ball in his hand getting snatched away.

Feng Jia jumped and scored a basket, cheering, but Huo Xingzhou didn’t react at all. Feng Jia leaned over and followed his gaze.

“Where’s Luo Xing going to the office?”

Huo Xingzhou frowned as he saw Luo Xing talking to Ye Qiaoqiao for a few seconds before they both headed toward the office building. Feng Jia raised his eyebrows.

“They’re heading to the office together. Could it be about that rumor?”

“What rumor?”

Feng Jia spun the basketball twice in his hands.

“Recently, the school has been gossiping that the class monitor and Luo Xing were sharing answers and cheating. I guess Old Cheng found out and called them in for a talk.”

“Bullshit.”

Huo Xingzhou grabbed the ball and threw it toward the hoop without looking, not caring whether it went in or not, then turned around and walked off.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

Feng Jia shouted after him.

Huo Xingzhou kept walking, not looking back. The only ones ahead could see his face, which was dark and tense—clearly not in a good mood, as if ready to pick a fight.