In reality, the weekend was over the moment they walked into the Sunday evening self-study session.
However, to preserve the students' enthusiasm for learning, teachers weren't usually scheduled to give lectures during these Sunday evening sessions. Besides, it had only been a week since the start of their senior year. Even though the honors class was about to enter the first round of review, there still had to be a gradual transition.
Old Zhou strolled around the classroom. When he saw Shen Yuan working on math problems, he nodded in satisfaction.
He thought about how good it felt to see his students studying so hard.
It was just... how could this idiot child get such a simple question wrong?
Shen Yuan was in the middle of his math homework when he suddenly noticed a shadow looming over him. He looked up and locked eyes with Old Zhou.
He had just been worrying about having no one to teach him.
Shen Yuan immediately picked up the question and asked, "Sir, how do you solve this?"
As a teacher, Old Zhou was quite responsible. He leaned against Ah Jie's desk, resting one hand on a pile of books, and began to guide Shen Yuan through the problem.
Hearing the two of them muttering above his head, Zhou Shaojie peeked over to look at the problem Shen Yuan was working on.
It was another handwritten question. Seeing the familiar handwriting, Zhou Shaojie's breath hitched.
This was a question written by Li Zhi! Seriously, was this how they played?
Ah Jie was struck by the green-eyed monster.
"No way. Yuan, you can't even solve something at this difficulty level?"
Before Shen Yuan could say a word, Old Zhou slapped Ah Jie on the top of the head.
"What are you talking about?"
Hearing Old Zhou's words, Ah Jie pointed an accusing finger at him. "Hey, warning! That's corporal punishment!"
Old Zhou couldn't hold back his exasperation. What the hell did he mean by 'warning: corporal punishment'?
These days, the rules against teachers physically punishing students were indeed strictly enforced. More importantly, there was absolutely no clear standard for what constituted corporal punishment.
If a teacher laid a hand on a student, regardless of what the student had done wrong, the teacher was at fault. Schools almost always sided with the students. Sweeping things under the rug to keep the peace—that was the school's attitude.
This led many teachers to treat their educational careers purely as a task-oriented job. As long as they did their basic duties, it was fine.
Guiding and nurturing students was exhausting and demanded a lot of effort, only to result in a chorus of complaints at the end of the day. They just ended up mentally drained. What was the point?
If a child was truly a lost cause, it was better to let go. For some kids, their poor academic performance was actually their best quality. The ones who could be saved would save themselves. The ones who didn't need saving went without saying. The overarching principle was to let the students fend for themselves.
Old Zhou smacked Zhou Shaojie on the shoulder. "Zhou Shaojie, I heard the school has a new one-on-one tutoring program recently. How about I submit your name for the English subject?"
Ah Jie was dumbfounded.
"Old Zhou, I'm fiercely loyal to you! How could you throw me to Sister Shuishui?"
Speechless, Old Zhou squeezed Zhou Shaojie's shoulder, making Ah Jie grimace in pain.
"I'm joking. Even if I submitted your name, you wouldn't make any progress anyway."
Upon hearing this, the entire class erupted into cheerful laughter. Ah Jie was the only one whose face turned red.
A young man's blush was more expressive than any swear word.
After the evening self-study session ended, the students of Class 15 didn't leave immediately. Instead, they began moving their desks right then and there.
It was time to change seats.
The seats in Class 15 were shifted column by column. In this rotation, Li Zhi would move from the column by the window to the column by the hallway. Although both spots were against the wall, it meant moving from one side of the classroom to the other. Meanwhile, Shen Yuan would move from the middle to a spot against the wall.
For high schoolers, a seat against the wall was considered one of the chosen holy lands. After all, leaning against the wall felt fantastic.
Unfortunately, after this seat change, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi would be separated.
"Young Master Li! How am I supposed to live without you?!"
Although Shen Yuan wailed dramatically, his hands moved at lightning speed, pulling Li Zhi's desk straight out of its original spot.
"Then go die," Li Zhi said, her face full of exasperation.
Hearing this, Shen Yuan put on a look of absolute determination.
"Then, Zhizhi, this is my final Hamon! Take it!!"
With that, Shen Yuan shoved Li Zhi's desk all the way to the other side of the classroom.
Li Zhi's mouth twitched. She felt a profound sense of powerlessness, not even knowing where to begin making fun of him.
"Ah! I feel so fired up!" Zhou Shaojie looked at the two desks in front of him and struck a pose like he was executing the Great Wilderness Heaven-Imprisoning Finger.
"Then, let me show you the Will of Fire burning within my heart!"
Zhou Shaojie pressed both hands against his desk and pushed with all his might.
But it didn't budge.
A senior student just had too many textbooks. Furthermore, there were books stacked at the foot of the desk, making it even harder to move.
"Move!!"
Just as Zhou Shaojie's face was turning bright red from the exertion, a pair of hands pressed against the desk.
Ah Jie looked up. It was Yang Ze.
"Ah Ze!"
"Ah Jie!"
The two locked eyes, gave each other a firm nod, and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Witness it! The power of our bonds!"
The next moment, the two desks lurched forward and were shoved all the way to the wall.
At that exact moment, several boys standing nearby stood up and began to applaud.
"So hype!"
"This is true friendship!"
Wait, why had this suddenly turned into a shonen anime?
Shen Yuan realized he still couldn't quite keep up with Ah Jie's thought process. Was this how everyone who was good at math behaved?
Then again, Ah Jie had never participated in any academic competitions, right? Whatever. Who cared? He probably couldn't pass the exams, so he came back to honestly take the college entrance exam like everyone else.
Shen Yuan didn't dwell on it. After helping Li Zhi move her desk, he packed up his things and prepared to go home.
Moving seats had already delayed them for a while; if they dawdled any longer, it would get very late. As for his new desk-mate, Shen Yuan vaguely remembered it was a girl, but he hadn't paid much attention.
The two of them walked out of the school gates, following the main road just like always.
"Actually, I'm really going to miss you," Shen Yuan said, suddenly leaning over toward a nearby flowerbed as they walked.
Li Zhi raised an eyebrow, wondering if this guy was having another one of his episodes.
"Just think about how happy the time we spent together was, and now we have to suffer the agony of separation," he continued.
"Bestie, don't be so cringe. It's just a seat change. You'll rotate over next week."
Li Zhi couldn't stand him anymore. She felt like throwing up, honestly.
Shen Yuan gave Li Zhi a weird look. "What are you talking about?
"It's just a seat change, do you have to act crazy?
"Was I talking about the seats?"
Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan, her heart skipping a beat. She knew something was wrong.
Her years of experience sparring with Shen Yuan made her realize that this guy was playing dirty.
Sure enough, Shen Yuan struck in the very next moment. The guy reached straight into the flowerbed and grabbed something, immediately revealing a triumphant expression.
"Oh! I get it now!" Shen Yuan leaned in close to Li Zhi and said with a cheeky grin, "Did you think I was talking about changing seats just now?"
"Ta-da!" Shen Yuan opened his hand. Lying right in the center of his palm was a small stone.
She remembered now. She remembered everything.
Yesterday, Shen Yuan had hidden a rock right here!
"Hehe, tell me, are you going to miss me?"
Li Zhi laughed in sheer exasperation.
If you walk by the river often enough, your shoes are bound to get wet. And this time, Li Zhi had stepped right into the trap.
High school boys were all fucking idiots! And Shen Yuan was the biggest one of all!
"Go away! You smelly idiot!" Li Zhi pushed Shen Yuan away, her long legs taking quick strides as she kept her head down.
"Hey, wait for me! I still have your backpack!"
Li Zhi's footsteps paused.
She really wanted to murder someone right now.