Unfolding the crumpled piece of paper, Su Ming’s handwriting truly did not match his appearance at all.
How the two entirely contrasting descriptions of a handsome, sunny youth and a wretched, crooked mess could manifest in the exact same person was quite a mystery.
"He wants to swap seats with me, and he'll agree to any condition."
"Good grief! To get to share a desk with you just this once, he's really breaking the bank."
Guo Lingling understood in a flash, and immediately looked over to gauge Shen Ruoyan's reaction.
As it turned out, the latter remained completely silent, which was clearly a tacit consent.
"Well, I never! Putting sex before friends!"
"No, no, how can you say that?"
Shen Ruoyan hurriedly waved her hands, then fished several bags of snacks out of her drawer.
These were all gifts from other people, and they would expire if she didn't eat them soon.
"Here, this is the price I'm paying on his behalf. If it's not enough, there should be more tomorrow."
"Alright, alright, always leaning toward outsiders!"
Guo Lingling was also an adorable girl—thoroughly decent and kind at heart.
Anyone who could hit it off with Shen Ruoyan couldn't possibly be a bad person.
"Ge, the plan worked. Just play it by ear when the time comes."
"No problem! It's so great having you as a brother!"
"Uh, there's a price for this, you know. Make sure you pay up when the time comes."
"Damn! Lin Daiyu really doesn't drop from the sky after all!"
Just like that, Su Ming and Guo Lingling miraculously completed their seat swap.
"Ah-yan, I'm coming~"
Su Ming let out a cheeky chuckle, then audaciously sat down right beside Shen Ruoyan.
"The teacher said the prerequisite for changing seats is studying. If I hear anything else, I can't guarantee I won't report it to the teacher."
Just as Su Ming sat down, he received a warning from Liu Rumeng.
He desperately wanted to talk back, but he was in the wrong.
"Don't worry, I'm just here to ask questions."
He pulled out a crumpled English test paper and got straight down to business.
Of course, before diving in, Su Ming deliberately took a sniff with his nose.
Ah, yes, this was the scent~
Sitting in the back row reeked every single day, constantly doubling up with the trash can.
With Shen Ruoyan right beside him, Su Ming's entire world became bright and fragrant again.
"Which part don't you understand?"
She symbolically pushed Su Ming away; one must maintain a serious attitude in class.
"What baffles me most is reading comprehension. Why is it that every time, my interpretation is completely different from the actual intended meaning?"
He remembered during one mock exam, Su Ming's English score reached as high as 67 points.
Among them, the score in the reading section was even more harrowing—it wasn't even as big as his penis size.
The reason was simply that he understood nothing and relied entirely on wild guesses.
In the end, he scored a total of 520, which was rather romantic.
If mathematics hadn't carried him through, he probably would have dropped below the undergraduate cutoff long ago.
"Reading comprehension? That's tricky. First of all, it's best if you memorize more vocabulary and use your word bank to figure out the meaning of the article. At the same time, you can try reading the questions first—wouldn't it be better to look for the answers with the questions in mind?"
Shen Ruoyan took Su Ming's English very seriously.
A score gap still existed between the two of them, and the best way to catch up was to launch a crash course in English.
"Hiss! Hearing your words is better than reading books for ten years. But what should I do if I keep forgetting the English words after memorizing them?"
"Then just keep writing them down. A good memory is no match for a worn-out pen."
As she spoke, Shen Ruoyan pulled a brand-new notebook out of her schoolbag.
She had wanted to give it to Su Ming for a long time, but never found the right opportunity.
After all, in the previous timeline, Su Ming had thrown away even the most basic learning just to pursue Liu Rumeng, acting like a complete moron.........
"This is for you. From now on, you'll memorize fifty words every day—oh, no, there's no time, let's make it a hundred!"
As soon as those words left her mouth, Su Ming instantly deflated like a punctured ball.
A hundred!
For someone with zero talent in English, this was absolute, agonizing torture.
If given the choice, Su Ming would rather try doing a handstand on a wall and washing his hair for a hundred seconds.
"You, you've had no self-discipline since you were a child. Someone has to supervise you, so I'll just play the bad guy!"
Shen Ruoyan knew Su Ming far too well; their bond as childhood sweethearts was more than just a label.
And at the mention of self-discipline, Shen Ruoyan glanced ahead at Liu Rumeng.
If he had been able to resist temptation even slightly back then, he wouldn't have been played around with in the palm of her hand.
And so, Shen Ruoyan silently made up her mind........
From this day forward, she would never let Su Ming fall back into that vortex!
"Alright~_~, I'll do my best. Can you explain this paragraph to me first, starting from the approach you used to tackle it?"
When it came to Su Ming, Shen Ruoyan held nothing back.
She explained whatever came up, leaving the rest entirely to Su Ming's comprehension.
As expected, he was completely dizzy right at the start, his English foundation was simply too poor.
However, right as his mind wandered, Su Ming noticed Shen Ruoyan's slender fingers.
Her delicate hands looked like an invaluable piece of art.
"Teacher Shen, let me interrupt for a moment—your handwriting is so pretty~"
Most girls had pretty handwriting, but Shen Ruoyan was the pinnacle of excellence.
"You don't need to tell me, I'm the one who draws the blackboard bulletin boards!"
Just as Shen Ruoyan turned up her nose in pride, Su Ming grabbed her hand.
Silky!
As smooth as mutton-fat jade~
"Ouch, what are you doing???"
Her little face turned red again. What Su Ming loved most was seeing Shen Ruoyan looking all bashful like this.
Even though she struggled hard, it was completely futile.
"Ah-yan, your hands are so small~"
"Give me that hand, let's compare this one of yours and mine."
How could Shen Ruoyan not know what mischievous thoughts Su Ming was harboring? Wasn't this a blatant pervert taking advantage of her?
And so.......
The playful little squirrel was activated!!!
"Awooo!"
With zero wind-up animation, Shen Ruoyan went right in and bit him.
Su Ming's expression contorted in pain, yet he didn't dare to cry out.
If he let out even a peep, the entire class probably would have exploded.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop! My bad! Ah-yan! Big sister! Granny!"
Only after he had addressed her across several generational ranks did Shen Ruoyan finally release her grip.
"Pfft!"
"I bit you on purpose! All men are big scumbags!"
"If you don't listen properly again, I'm calling Lingling back!"
With no other choice, Su Ming could only bite the bullet and listen.
Meanwhile, Guo Lingling and Zhang Wei in the back row had also gathered together.
"Um, classmate Guo Lingling, could you teach me how to solve this math problem?"
Don't let Zhang Wei's usual boisterous exterior fool you; he could even step up when Su Ming needed help the most.
But when facing the girl he admired, Zhang Wei became a nervous wreck.
He didn't dare lift his gaze, his hands rubbing furiously behind his back.
If things kept going like this, that yellow-haired nine-tailed fox in the TV show was going to be out of a job.........
"Please, this kind of pickup line is so cliché. Your brother is the top scorer in mathematics, and yet you come to ask me a math problem?"
Guo Lingling was sharp; when it came to matters between boys and girls, she was way ahead of Shen Ruoyan.
"Ah, did you see right through me?"
"Alright, you can rest assured that I definitely won't go back midway to disturb the two of them."
"I'm not worried about them at all. I just wanted to chat with you for a bit."
Su Ming had said that when chasing a girl, you must be direct.
If you beat around the bush too much, you might just beat the person right out of your life.
So Zhang Wei mustered up his courage and launched his attack!
"Fine, what do you want to talk about?"
The opportunity had presented itself, and Zhang Wei took a deep breath.
"Uh, about that... have you, have you eaten yet? Don't answer yet, let me guess—just by looking at you, I can tell you're a big eater!"