"Old Hu said that if he catches me sleeping again next time, he'll punish you along with me."
"What for? What does your sleeping have to do with me?"
"I don't want to drag you down either, but who says we're such good friends? Old Hu calls this mutual supervision."
Seeing the little chubby guy's distressed expression, the corners of Lin Yi's mouth curved upward. The chubby guy was named Wu Zheng. They sat right behind and in front of each other and had always gotten along well.
The only pity was that in his past life, Lin Yi went to Yanjing while Wu Zheng stayed in the south, and they lost touch as time went on.
"Don't try to scare me. But seriously, if my family were as rich as yours, why the hell would I bother studying? Wouldn't it be way better to go home and raise pigs?"
Wu Zheng spoke with great animation, feeling not a shred of shame for his ideas.
Lin Yi didn't retort. Studying was still necessary; at the very least, he had to get into university, otherwise those relatives of his would inevitably start gossiping again.
The idea was great, but once class actually started, he realized how difficult it really was.
His math grades were mediocre to begin with, and after seven years, the formulas he once knew had long since been returned to his teachers. He couldn't understand a single thing.
When the bell finally rang, ending the class, Lin Yi let out a sigh of relief. There was only one month left until the college entrance examination, and he had to step up.
He was a liberal arts student, but math was a mandatory subject, and math was precisely Lin Yi's weak spot.
To have to worry about the college entrance examination all over again after being reborn—it was really enough.
"Going to the restroom?"
Wu Zheng turned around and asked.
Lin Yi stood up directly; his head was feeling a bit dizzy.
There were quite a few students in the hallway, yet almost none of them were running or fooling around. With only a month left until the entrance examination, the seniors were strung as tight as bowstrings.
Of course, there were exceptions. Yu Shanshan and a girl in glasses were standing together, chatting away animatedly. The girl in glasses was looking at the manicure on Yu Shanshan's hand, her face full of envy.
"Hi, human tool~"
You have to hand it to Yu Shanshan; her way of greeting people was quite unique.
Lin Yi nodded. Was Yu Shanshan really this mischievous?
"You know him?"
The girl in glasses looked at Yu Shanshan.
"Just met him today."
A flash of amusement crossed Yu Shanshan's eyes.
"Lin Yi, you actually know Yu Shanshan?"
Wu Zheng wore a look of utter astonishment.
"What's there to make such a big fuss about?"
"Stop putting on an act. That's Yu Shanshan we're talking about. How do you two know each other?"
"Just from standing in the hallway being punished this morning."
"Can things even work like that?"
Wu Zheng was dumbfounded.
After two math classes came two English classes, and Lin Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had already made up his mind to put a lot more effort into math over the coming month.
As long as he made up for his shortcomings in math and broke through in the other subjects, getting into university shouldn't be too difficult.
After all, having been through the college entrance exam once, he had no psychological issues whatsoever. Besides, this year's composition topic... he just hoped nothing went wrong.
His phone flashed, and to Lin Yi's surprise, the message was actually from Yu Shanshan.
Yu Shanshan's profile picture on WeChat was Pikachu wearing Ash's hat and holding a Poké Ball.
"Forgot to bring money, treat me to lunch, hehe~"
Lin Yi stood up and walked toward the classroom door. Regardless of Yu Shanshan's motive, he still needed to thank her for earlier.
"Wait for me! How can you go hogging all the food to yourself?"
Wu Zheng hurriedly called out.
"Hurry up, I'm starving."
Yu Shanshan stood at the classroom door waving at Lin Yi, not a hint of embarrassment visible on her face.
"I can treat you, but you're not allowed to call me a human tool anymore."
Lin Yi smiled slightly.
"Alrighty~"
Yu Shanshan smiled too.
Watching their retreating backs, Wu Zheng wore a bewildered look. With that familiar and cozy tone, you two really just met?
"What do you want to eat?"
Though the cafeteria food was decent, Lin Yi didn't feel like standing in line.
"Anything is fine."
Yu Shanshan's gaze flickered. She wasn't actually all that hungry; the reason she asked Lin Yi to treat her was to put on a show for Jiang Manni.
"Buy whatever you want, my treat."
Lin Yi led Yu Shanshan to the school's small convenience store. If Yu Shanshan hadn't told him that those two were dating, heaven knows how much longer he would have been kept in the dark.
Yu Shanshan didn't hold back either; bread, yogurt, melon seeds... she picked out a whole bag of various snacks.
"You ignore your friends for a pretty girl," Wu Zheng muttered quietly to himself. Why didn't anyone ask what *he* wanted to eat? Lin Yi was such a jerk.
The three of them found a random table in the dining hall. The moment Lin Yi sat down, his arm was nudged by Yu Shanshan.
"Look over there, didn't I tell you?"
Yu Shanshan gestured with her eyes toward a spot not far away. Lin Yi followed her gaze and saw Jiang Manni and Qiyue.
The two of them were sitting side by side, and Jiang Manni picked up a chicken leg with her chopsticks, placing it onto Qiyue's plate.
"Oh."
Lin Yi looked entirely unimpressed.
What he didn't know was that the moment he looked away, Jiang Manni glanced directly in his direction.
Seeing Lin Yi and Yu Shanshan sitting together, Jiang Manni's expression instantly darkened.
Why was Lin Yi sitting with Yu Shanshan?
Jiang Manni suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Jiang Manni is looking at you."
Yu Shanshan smiled like a little fox.
"I'm this handsome, why would I be afraid of her looking?"
Lin Yi didn't care in the least. Once the filter of childhood sweethearts shatters, the consequences are fatal. Although Jiang Manni looked quite nice, she was completely incomparable to Yu Shanshan.
It wasn't that he harbored any romantic thoughts toward Yu Shanshan, he was just stating facts.
"So narcissistic~"
Yu Shanshan naturally gave Lin Yi's arm a light slap. Since Lin Yi didn't care, she cared even less.
She could sense the heavy, low pressure radiating from Jiang Manni. It seemed this tactic hit the right spot; given the history between Lin Yi and Jiang Manni, it would be a miracle if Jiang Manni *didn't* get angry.
Her relationship with Jiang Manni had never been good anyway. Putting herself in the other's shoes, if her own close friend got together with Jiang Manni, she'd be furious too.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing that Jiang Manni hadn't touched her food for a long time, Qiyue asked.
"Nothing."
Jiang Manni put on a nonchalant front, but her hand hidden beneath the table clenched tightly.
She just couldn't stand Yu Shanshan. Clearly her grades were terrible, so why did so many boys still hover around her?
Even when Qiyue had just transferred over, he had treated Yu Shanshan a bit differently. Was this shameless bitch now trying to hook up with Lin Yi too?
Heh, she couldn't possibly think *he* actually cared, could she?
The more Jiang Manni thought about it, the angrier she got. She had to make Lin Yi stay away from Yu Shanshan. Lin Yi would definitely listen to her; she still had plenty of confidence in that.
"What is going on with you two?"
Wu Zheng ultimately couldn't hold it in any longer. Had he known it would turn out like this, he wouldn't have tagged along. Flirting right in front of him—didn't you two just meet?
"Just eat your food."
Even Lin Yi felt that Yu Shanshan's actions were a bit too intimate. Was she just naturally outgoing, or did she have an ulterior motive?
"Want to go play basketball?"
With a piece of bread and a bottle of yogurt, Lin Yi finished his meal quickly.
Out on the playground outside the cafeteria, some boys were playing basketball, and his hands were itching to join in.
"Sure~"
Before Wu Zheng could say anything, Yu Shanshan agreed first. She didn't mind twisting the knife a little more for Jiang Manni.