Facing An Youyu's silence, Lin Mo was well prepared. In his past life, his lack of understanding of An Youyu was partly due to his own carelessness, and partly because of An Youyu's personality.
Whenever faced with his questions, An Youyu would choose to remain silent most of the time.
Over time, this caused Lin Mo to lose the inclination to ask, and he simply settled into quietly enjoying the time spent with An Youyu.
However, this time Lin Mo was fully prepared.
The task issued by the Goddess Cultivation System before he went to sleep last night gave him a slight understanding of An Youyu's situation.
Lonely people generally tend to suffer from a bit of inferiority.
That was likely the reason why An Youyu always kept her distance from everyone, and why she had that ingrained habit of speaking with her head bowed.
As for why An Youyu had made a pact with him in front of the entire class, Ye Fan had not figured it out either.
Still, it did not matter.
In this lifetime, there was plenty of time; he would take it slow.
"Classmate An, shall we go?"
"…Mn."
An Youyu gave a barely audible response.
The two walked side by side, and every time their shoulders brushed, An Youyu would instinctively step aside.
With every inch she moved away, Lin Mo leaned a little closer toward her.
Before they had gone far, An Youyu was squeezed right to the edge of the path by Lin Mo, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
Lin Mo stopped as well, and feigning ignorance, asked, "Why did you stop walking?"
"You…"
An Youyu bit her lip. "Stop… bumping into me, okay?"
"Did I?"
Lin Mo's feigned innocence left An Youyu speechless. After hesitating for about ten seconds, she walked around Lin Mo to the outer side of the pavement.
Lin Mo shook his head and stepped over to her right side. "Walk on the inside, be a good girl."
*Be a good girl?*
An Youyu's eyes widened in disbelief as she lifted her chin.
Meeting An Youyu's gaze, Lin Mo repeated his words as if nothing was the matter: "Walk on the inside, be a good girl."
An Youyu's red lips parted slightly, but she failed to utter a sound for a long time. In the end, she acquiesced to Lin Mo's action and started walking forward again.
Not yet 7:30, the two entered the classroom one after the other.
At that moment, there was only one person in the classroom: Zhou Wenhao.
Hearing footsteps, Zhou Wenhao raised his head and saw Lin Mo following right behind An Youyu, almost causing him to have a heart attack from anger.
*Walking to school together?*
Taking advantage of the empty classroom, Zhou Wenhao called out to Lin Mo as he walked past, his gaze extremely hostile. "Stop right there!"
Lin Mo's expression was indifferent. "What do you want?"
Zhou Wenhao clenched his teeth. "A bad student is a bad student, your memory really is terrible. The advice I gave you yesterday after school, and you've forgotten it already after just a single night?"
While looking for trouble, he did not forget to belittle Lin Mo.
Yet such petty tricks were like children playing house to Lin Mo—utterly boring.
"Say what you have to say."
Seeing Lin Mo remain so calm, Zhou Wenhao darkened his face and warned in a low voice, "I'll give you a piece of advice: stay away from An Youyu from now on!"
"Are you done?"
"I'm done!"
Lin Mo nodded and walked toward the back of the classroom.
Zhou Wenhao was dumbfounded.
This guy was ignoring him?
Thinking of how An Youyu had walked to the back of the classroom yesterday in front of all their classmates to make an agreement with Lin Mo to apply for the same university, he was beside himself with rage!
"Lin Mo, you just wait…"
Shortly after 7:30, the students of Class 2 walked into the classroom one after another.
Taking advantage of the little time left before class, Lin Mo asked in his mind, "System, is there a time limit for the task?"
The System replied, "No."
At this, Lin Mo felt completely relieved; he did not want to be manipulated by the System's tasks.
In this life, he wanted things with An Youyu to progress naturally, without interference from any external factors.
"Ding-ling—"
The class bell rang.
The head teacher of Class 2 was Yan Shiming, who was also the mathematics teacher for the class.
As the bell finished ringing, he walked into the classroom carrying a stack of test papers and stepped up to the podium. "We're going to have a small quiz today to check everyone's review results for this week. You will have one class period to answer the questions, and I hope everyone manages their time reasonably."
As high school seniors, the students were long used to such quizzes.
Once the test papers were handed out, the quiz officially began.
The rustling sound of writing filled the air.
Lin Mo stared at the test paper in a daze. Although his IQ had increased by ten points, he was entirely unfamiliar with high school knowledge, and the paper before him looked like an unreadable heavenly book.
Aside from a few simple questions he could still answer, the rest were completely incomprehensible.
Screw it!
Even if he just guessed blindly, he had to answer.
Who knew, maybe Yan Shiming would award some points for effort.
Clinging to this hope, Lin Mo began writing rapidly on the test paper.
On the last monthly exam, his math score was 94.
His goal this time was around the same—49 points, perhaps!
Gu Fan was not doing much better either. He slumped over his desk, darting shifty glances left and right.
Taking advantage of the moment Yan Shiming was looking down at the textbook on the podium, he poked Lin Mo's elbow. "Brother Mo, lend me your answers to copy."
Lin Mo gave a strange look. "Are you sure you want to copy mine?"
Gu Fan nodded frantically.
Lin Mo didn't say much either; he pulled back his left hand, exposing most of the test paper.
Gu Fan gave Lin Mo a thumbs-up under the desk. "Brother Mo, you're a real friend. I'll treat you to an iced cola at noon."
On the last monthly exam, he had only scored 48 in math—more than half lower than Lin Mo's score.
He had ranked last in the class, and also last in the entire grade.
Because of that score, Gu Fan had been summoned to Yan Shiming's office and lectured for nearly an hour. Even now, recalling the scene made him feel lingering fear.
If he copied Lin Mo's answers this time, at worst he could still score around 80 points. Yan Shiming surely wouldn't scold him again, right?
Thinking of this, Gu Fan smiled happily.
Lin Mo reminded him in a low voice, "Don't copy everything; it's easy for the teacher to notice."
Gu Fan winked. "Don't worry, Brother Mo, I know what I'm doing."
The end-of-class bell rang.
After collecting the test papers, Yan Shiming began grading them right on the podium. The second period was also his class.
At Jingchuan No.2 High School, classes were basically held in double periods—one period for testing, and the next for targeted explanations.
Because Yan Shiming's teaching style was rather harsh and students were frequently scolded until they were utterly cowed, the students of Class 2 had privately given him a resounding nickname.
The King of Hell!
Clearly class was already over, but the classroom remained very quiet. Aside from a few students going to the restroom, everyone else stayed obediently in their seats to review. This alone showed the status Yan Shiming held in the hearts of Class 2's students.
However, the corridor outside was packed with students, and at a glance, they were all boys.
"That's the guy outside the window seat in the last row."
"I heard this piece of work is named Lin Mo, and his grades are abysmal. How could An Youyu possibly fall for him?"
"Tell me about it. Could it be fake news?"
"Are you guys overthinking it? I heard An Youyu just asked Lin Mo if he was going to apply for the same university, and nothing more."
…
Yan Shiming put down the test papers in his hands, walked to the classroom door, and shouted in a deep voice, "Which class do you all belong to?"
A man's reputation preceded him, just as a tree's shadow did.
The students in the corridor scattered instantly in all directions.
Gu Fan glanced over and sidled up to Lin Mo. "Yesterday's affair has already spread. Your days ahead probably won't be easy. Since ancient times, great beauties bring disaster."
Lin Mo glanced at An Youyu's back and said nonchalantly, "An Youyu and I are just ordinary classmates."
"Ordinary classmates?"
Gu Fan chuckled. "In that case, then I suppose I can…"
Before Gu Fan could finish speaking, Lin Mo suddenly turned his head and asked, "Let me ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Are you good at taking beatings?"
"…"
***
Facing Lin Mo's serious gaze, Gu Fan gave a sheepish smile. "Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything, pretend I didn't say anything…"
Lin Mo's gaze drifted toward the front right, a hint of a smile pervading the corners of his eyes.
Seeming to sense that she was being scrutinized, An Youyu turned her head and glanced toward the back of the classroom.
Their eyes met in mid-air.
For just a fraction of a second, An Youyu lowered her head and buried her face in her desk, panic filling her eyes.
At that moment, the smile in Lin Mo's eyes deepened.
With Yan Shiming's deterrent presence, not a single person could be found lingering in the corridor outside Class 2's classroom.
The class bell rang, and Yan Shiming put down his pen, his expression turning cold.
This situation made the hearts of the Class 2 students pound anxiously.
Based on past experience, whenever Yan Shiming wore this kind of expression, it meant their test scores were far from ideal.
Whenever test scores were less than ideal, a scolding was guaranteed!
After nearly a minute of silence, Yan Shiming looked at Zhou Wenhao in the front row.Study committee member, pass the test papers down."
Zhou Wenhao hurried up to the podium and began handing out the papers one by one according to the names written on them.
When he saw An Youyu's test paper, a flash of joy crossed his heart.
An Youyu had only scored 68 points.
Far from ideal.
The tutoring plan he had been brewing for days could seemingly be brought up taking advantage of this opportunity.
As long as An Youyu agreed, the two of them would have time and space to themselves.
As the saying goes, those close to the water get the first view of the moon.
Thinking of this, Zhou Wenhao was elated. He walked casually to An Youyu's desk, placed the test paper down, and flashed what he considered to be a very handsome smile. "Classmate An, I took a brief look at your test paper."
"Your math foundation is quite weak, and you frequently make mistakes on basic problems. My math foundation is very solid; if you're willing, I can help tutor you."An Youyu refused, "No, thank you."
Zhou Wenhao’s smile froze. With Teacher Yan standing right there, he didn't dare linger too long in one spot. He lowered his voice and said, "I hope Classmate An will give it some thought. Whenever you figure it out, you can come find me."
An Youyu kept her head down and didn't answer.
Zhou Wenhao awkwardly twitched the corner of his mouth and continued handing out the test papers.
A few minutes later, he reached the back row. "Gu Fan, 29 points!"
Instantly, the students all over the classroom looked over.
Gu Fan took the test paper and stared at the glaring bright red 29 on it, saying in disbelief, "Did you make a mistake? I've never scored this low in my life!"
Zhou Wenhao sneered. "If you think there's a problem with your score, you can go ask Teacher Yan."
Ask Yan Shiming?
Gu Fan instantly dismissed the thought.
Are you kidding me? That would be walking right into the line of fire!
"Damn, 29 points?"
"No wonder Old Man Yan... Teacher Yan looked so terrible. Turns out someone in our class scored this badly."
"Didn't Gu Fan score in the 60s for math in the last joint examination? This test was way simpler than the joint exam paper—how did he only get 29?"
"Maybe, possibly, probably just bad luck."
Someone muttered those words, sparking a round of suppressed chuckles.
As everyone knew, a poor student's score had a lot to do with pure luck.
Gu Fan put away his test paper and immediately looked at Lin Mo.
Lin Mo consciously turned around.
It was Gu Fan who insisted on copying; it wasn't that Lin Mo had nothing to do with it, but his involvement wasn't that deep.
"Mo-ge, you..."
Right at that moment, Zhou Wenhao slammed a test paper down in front of Lin Mo. Intending to humiliate him, he raised his voice and shouted, "Lin Mo, 18 points!"
As soon as those words fell, the whole class broke into an uproar.
He scored 18 points on a math test?
An Youyu looked back toward the rear, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes swirling with a complex mix of emotions.
Gu Fan’s words cut off abruptly; the words "you screwed me over" refused to come out.
18 points?
That was 11 points lower than his own...
"Each generation produces its own talents, and that's really true!"
"There's even a more outrageous one: an 18 and a 29. They really deserve to be desk neighbors."
"Tsk tsk, how did Class 2 ever catch a break, having both Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix at the same time?"
"The test paper was clearly super simple this time. Even if you closed your eyes and guessed, you couldn't possibly get just 18 points, right?"
...
"Quiet!"
Yan Shiming slapped the desk, looked down from on high at Lin Mo in the last row, and scolded, "What on earth is inside your head? With a test of this difficulty, how could you score like this?"
"Putting everything else aside, how do you face your parents?"
Under the gaze of dozens of pairs of eyes, Lin Mo picked up his test paper and stood up, offering an apologetic smile to Yan Shiming. "Teacher's lesson is well taken, but a single subpar test result doesn't prove anything. From now on, I will definitely study hard."
His tone was very light, yet filled with determination.
Despite being scolded like that, not a trace of panic showed on Lin Mo's face.
Yan Shiming felt a jolt of surprise inside and gave Lin Mo a deep look. "For the next quiz, if your score is below 80, have your mother come to school."
"Okay."
Lin Mo knew Yan Shiming's teaching routine: tests once a week.
Which meant there were still seven days until the next quiz.
Seven days to raise a score from 18 to 80 was difficult—extremely difficult.
However, that didn't mean it couldn't be done!
"Gu Fan, get out here!"
Called out by name by Yan Shiming, Gu Fan's expression changed drastically. "Mo-ge, you really screwed me over this time!"
With a bitter face and a drooping head, he walked out of the classroom.
Soon, a full-bodied, booming scolding echoed from outside.
A few minutes later, Gu Fan dragged his head into the classroom, returned to his seat, and slumped over his desk as if life had lost all meaning.
Lin Mo kicked Gu Fan under the table. "Sorry, brother, I'll treat you to iced cola at noon."
Hearing "iced cola," Gu Fan's mood recovered just a little. "Two bottles."
"No problem."
Up on the podium, Yan Shiming wore a stern expression. "Next week marks the hundred-day countdown to the college entrance exams. There isn't much time left for you. If you keep slacking off like this, you won't even be able to get into college."
"Anyone who scores below 80 points on this test will stay after school for an hour of remedial tutoring."
Hearing the teacher's decision, Zhou Wenhao's brows instantly knitted together.
Both An Youyu and Lin Mo scored below 80, which meant both of them had to attend tutoring.
That being the case, he simply had to stay for the after-school tutoring as well.
If he didn't watch with his own eyes, he wouldn't rest easy!
"Ring—"
The students of Class 2 poured out of the classroom in a swarm, running quickly toward the cafeteria.
In less than a minute, only An Youyu and Lin Mo remained in the classroom.
The reason Lin Mo didn't go to the cafeteria was thanks to the power of cash.
He and his mother depended on each other, and their financial condition wasn't very good.
Fortunately, he liked saving money. Apart from necessary expenses, he saved the rest of the allowance his mother gave him.
Near the end of class, he handed Gu Fan a 50-bill. "I'll treat you to lunch. Drink as many bottles of iced cola as you want, and remember to bring me back a meal when you come back. It has to have meat, and you can keep the change."
Gu Fan naturally wouldn't turn down such a good deal.
Lin Mo did this for two reasons.
First, he really had dragged Gu Fan down today. Although Gu Fan had initiative in wanting to copy his paper, the main reason Lin Mo agreed so readily was that he wanted someone to share the blame—otherwise, he'd definitely be the one getting chewed out.
The second reason was An Youyu.
After successfully awakening the Goddess Cultivation System, Gu Fan also recalled many memories from his past life.
In those memories, An Youyu never went to the cafeteria to eat. She brought food from home every day and ate alone in the classroom at noon.
Seeing that there was no one around, Lin Mo strode over to the seat in front of An Youyu and sat down. When he saw the food in An Youyu's lunchbox, a twinge of emotion stirred in his eyes.
Inside the pink lunchbox, apart from rice, there were only a few green vegetables and a bit of chili.
Noticing Lin Mo's sudden appearance, An Youyu quickly packed up her lunchbox. "Wh-Why aren't you going to eat?"
Lin Mo tapped the desk. "Put it down."
An Youyu didn't dare raise her head. "What are you doing?"
Lin Mo forcibly snatched the lunchbox from her hands, picked up the white spoon resting beside it, and began to eat.
"Huh?"
An Youyu froze in place, weakly reminding him, "This is my lunch..."
Lin Mo didn't speak, quietly chewing the rice.
An Youyu had a very small appetite, and she hadn't prepared much food to begin with. Under his storm-like consumption, the rice and vegetables were wiped out completely—though the chili in the small compartment remained untouched.
It wasn't that Lin Mo couldn't eat spicy food, but rather that he didn't dare touch the chili An Youyu prepared. In his past life, he ate it once, and it was so spicy that his mouth swelled up the next day.
The moment Lin Mo put down the spoon, a slender, delicate hand offered him a tissue. Its owner was none other than An Youyu. After putting down the tissue, she lowered her head and began tidying up her tableware.
Lin Mo wiped his mouth, showing no signs of leaving whatsoever.
After tidying up, An Youyu saw that Lin Mo still hadn't left, and the head she had just raised lowered once more. "You've already eaten, wh-why... why aren't you leaving yet?"
"I'm not full."
"There's no more food."
"Since that's the case, can you bring a little more food tomorrow?"
Chapter 5: Equivalent Exchange
Bring a little more food?
An Youyu's face quickly turned red. "I get hungry too, you can't... always steal my food."
Lin Mo swore he had never seen anyone turn as red as a tomato in a single second.
In his previous life, the time he knew An Youyu wasn't long, but he still managed to figure out some of her personality.
Those words just now might seem like normal conversation to anyone else.
Given An Youyu's frail and timid nature, however, they were somewhat intrusive.
Seeing Lin Mo stay silent, An Youyu tugged at the hem of her clothes with her lowered hands. "I'm sorry."
The sudden apology left Lin Mo somewhat bewildered. "Why are you saying sorry?"
A layer of mist welled up in An Youyu's eyes as she repeated her apology.
In his past life, Lin Mo never married, which didn't mean he didn't understand girls.
Due to his mother's coercion, he had quite a rich experience with blind dates.
More than once, girls had been brought to tears by his cold attitude or blunt rejections.
Yet the attitude he had just used toward An Youyu was as gentle as could be, completely disconnected from anything cold.
Still, Lin Mo was in no mood to figure that out right now.
At this moment, he only knew one thing.
She was about to cry...
This time, the person apologizing became Lin Mo. He rested a hand on the corner of the desk, a trace of hidden tension flashing deep in his eyes. "I stole your lunch; the one who should be saying sorry is me."
His tone was exceptionally cautious, much like someone coaxing a younger sister.
An Youyu stared blankly at Lin Mo, and after a long while, she finally spoke: "Tomorrow... is Saturday."
Lin Mo didn't understand what An Youyu meant by that, but he still answered, "Yeah, today is Friday."
After saying that, feeling it sounded a bit awkward, he hurriedly added, "Yesterday was Thursday, and the day before was Wednesday."
An Youyu fell silent.