Returning to the Shamate Era to Seduce the Top Student - Chapter 16

Pan Zheshuai was the first to snap out of it, suddenly feeling like the fried chicken strips in his mouth had lost their flavor:

“You want us to teach you? Are you sure about this?”

“What’s not to be sure about? You guys spend the most time with me every day, so communication is easy, and I trust you guys a lot!”

Yin Xu began his “Grand Review of Troops.”

“I’ve already thought of the division of labor. Old Pan, you teach me English. Zhou Jilin is in charge of Chinese; and Tao Mingzhao is in charge of Math, Physics, and Chemistry.”

Tao Mingzhao raised his hand: “Wait a second, I have a question. Why do I have to teach three subjects by myself?”

Yin Xu: “Oh, with great power comes great responsibility.”

Song Xingyun also raised his hand: “Brother Yin, did you forget about me? I can take you under my wing too!”

“You?”

Yin Xu glanced at him.

“Forget it. With your measly scores, you want to take me under your wing? Get your own act together first. Honestly, Yun-zi, if you drop one rank in the next monthly exam, that would be the biggest help you could give me.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you rank 51st from the bottom this time? If you drop a rank, I’ll have one less competitor to worry about.”

Yin Xu’s mental calculator was clicking away.

“In short, your job is to stand on the sidelines, clap for me, and act as a mascot.”

Song Xingyun buried his head back into his skewers: “…… Pretend I didn’t ask.”

Yin Xu turned to the other three: “So, I want to hear your thoughts. Are you willing to do me this favor?”

The three of them looked at each other, all hesitating and stammering. They didn’t even feel comfortable eating the skewers anymore.

There was a lingering sense of guilt—the kind that comes from the saying, “having eaten someone’s food, one’s mouth is soft. Having taken someone’s gift, one’s hand is short.”

Tao Mingzhao was the first to speak up: “I don’t think it’s a matter of willingness. Brother, I truly have the heart but not the strength.”

Yin Xu: “Why?”

“You know, the curriculum in our Rocket Class is different from yours. We’re roughly half a semester ahead of the regular classes. The schedule is tight and the workload is heavy. I have hundreds of papers waiting for me every day. I’m extremely busy. Plus, the people in my class are like freaks; everyone is fighting tooth and nail, dreaming of stepping over each other’s rankings! So, I’m doing well just to look after myself and not fall behind. I really can’t take care of anyone else.”

Hearing this, Yin Xu understood: “Right, I get it, I get it. It’s fine, I don’t blame you. Comrade Tao Xiaoming, keeping your current rank steady is the biggest encouragement for me. After all, I’m still hoping to surpass you once before graduation.”

Tao Mingzhao laughed and scolded: “Heh, dream on.”

The Rocket Class was originally the most competitive place in the school, and Yin Xu didn’t want to create more pressure for Tao Mingzhao.

He immediately turned his gaze toward the second candidate: “What about you, Old Pan?”

“No, no, no.”

Pan Zheshuai shook his head like a rattle.

As soon as he thought about the thirty minutes of torture Yin Xu put him through during the last English morning reading, he broke into a cold sweat.

If he really became Yin Xu’s English tutor, he’d probably have to drink three hundred bottles of Wife’s Calming Oral Liquid a day just to suppress the urge to strangle this annoying pest.

He simply threw a tantrum and begged for mercy: “Old Yin, I’m really afraid you’ll drag me down with you. Next time, I might not even be able to protect my status in the five-hundredths! Let me go, leave your buddy a way to survive, alright?”

Yin Xu gritted his teeth and nodded: “…… Fine.”

If the person wasn’t willing, could he really use force?

Helpless, Yin Xu looked pitifully at the final seed contestant, Zhou Jilin: “Xiao Zhou, Sister Zhou, Great School Beauty Zhou.”

Everything was understood without being said.

Zhou Jilin looked quite troubled. After hesitating for a long while, she spoke softly: “I probably can’t help much either…”

“Why?”

“Actually, my grades have been fluctuating a lot lately. My parents are worried I won’t keep up, and they’re pushing me very hard. They don’t even want me to continue being the class monitor, saying it affects my studies.”

Yin Xu fell silent.

He knew that when the tracks were split into Liberal Arts and Sciences last semester, Zhou Jilin followed her parents’ advice and chose Sciences—a track that would be better for finding a job in the future but wasn’t her strong suit. Since then, her exam scores had begun to slide. Her current pressure was likely quite high.

Yin Xu sighed: “You only dropped from the top 60 to the top 80 in the grade. You call that a slide?”

Zhou Jilin gave a bitter smile and shook her head: “Do you think everyone is like Shen Que, consistently ranking first in the grade every single time?”

As soon as that name was mentioned, a subtle silence fell over the small square table.

Sister Qing, who happened to be walking over with a fresh batch of hot fried skewers, paused at the sound: “Shen Que?”

Tao Mingzhao noticed Sister Qing’s reaction and made casual conversation: “Auntie, you know Shen Que?”

Sister Qing snapped back to reality and explained: “Oh, I’ve occasionally heard students from your school mention the name. He seems to be quite famous?”

Zhou Jilin answered her, her tone laced with faint admiration:

“Yes, he’s a famous top student in our school. He’s never once dropped from the top spot in the grade.”

“Damn, I really don’t know how that guy’s brain is wired!”

Pan Zheshuai bit into a chicken wing resentfully.

“Do you think he was kidnapped by aliens as a kid and underwent some kind of genetic modification?”

“You’ve watched too much ‘Approaching Science’,” Tao Mingzhao said. “Why don’t you just say his mom gave him good genes?”

“So it’s hereditary?”

“How would I know? You’d have to go interview his mom.”

The group chatted back and forth. Sister Qing listened happily, placed the fresh skewers on their table, and turned back to the fryer to resume her work.

“Hey, Old Yin, why don’t you go find Shen Que?” Pan Zheshuai suddenly said half-jokingly.

Yin Xu was still stuck in the gloom of being rejected three times in a row and didn’t react immediately: “Find him for what?”

“For what else? Find him to be your tutor!”

Yin Xu, who was chewing on a purple sweet potato ball, froze slightly: “Him?”

“Ahey, Pan Zheshuai, now that you mention it, I also think he’s the most suitable candidate!”

Tao Mingzhao chimed in from the side.

“Let me analyze it for you, Old Yin. In the end, aren’t you just looking for a private tutor who has good grades, has free time, and can ideally stay with you from morning to night?”

Yin Xu: “Yeah.”

“With those requirements, I was going to say that even if you went on ‘If You Are the One,’ you wouldn’t be able to pick out a heart-throbbing male guest from the crowd. But look at Shen Que—he perfectly fits all your needs!”

Tao Mingzhao pushed up his glasses and began to talk serious nonsense.

“First, he’s your classmate. You’re in the same classroom for about three hundred days a year. It’s practically zero-distance communication with no barriers.”

“Second, he definitely has the free time to tutor you, because I heard he already self-studied the entire high school curriculum. He’s so bored he spends every day reading university textbooks and extracurricular books!”

“Most, most, most importantly, he’s a top scorer in every subject. One person can meet all your subject needs. Isn’t this guy Shen Que a Nanfu battery? One cell is stronger than six! Even the three of us ‘smelly shoemakers’ can’t beat one Zhuge Liang like him! Who else would you find if not him?”

The Nanfu battery description almost made Pan Zheshuai fall off his stool laughing.

Zhou Jilin and Song Xingyun weren’t doing much better, doubled over with laughter.

Only Yin Xu slapped his thigh, his eyes shining:

“That’s right! How did I forget about that kid! Tao Xiaoming, you are truly my strongest strategist. Right now, I feel like Shen Que was freaking born for me! His mom is so great! Thank you, his mom!”

Hearing Yin Xu’s words—which sounded like a curse but weren’t—the group laughed and gave perfunctory agreements: “Yes, yes, yes, his mother is indeed great.”

Before everyone could stop laughing, Yin Xu stood up and pulled several red hundred-yuan bills from his wallet, placing them on Sister Qing’s glass counter.

“Sister Qing, I’ll pay for this now. If it’s not enough, I’ll come back tomorrow to make up the difference. I have something to do, I’m heading back first!”

He left Pan Zheshuai and the others in a daze: “Hey! What’s the rush?”

Yin Xu’s retreating figure on the bike dashed into the night:

“To invite Master Zhuge out of his seclusion!”

The next morning, the streak of deep blue on the horizon faded completely, revealing a characteristic transparent watery blue under the morning light. Accompanied by the rising dawn, it was boundlessly brilliant.

Shen Que, wearing earphones, rode his bicycle through the school gate without looking left or right.

In the gaps covered by the music in his ears, he seemed to hear a call:

“Shen Que!”

Before he could discern if the sound was a hallucination, a figure suddenly swung gracefully from behind him, bike and all.

It brought a warm summer breeze to his side, fluttering the corners of his clothes.

“Ring-ring-ring!”

The sound arrived before the person.

Yin Xu rang his bicycle bell loudly to announce his arrival.

Yin Xu rode side-by-side with Shen Que.

His eye-catching red hair sparkled under the sunlight, flying freely in the breeze like a dazzling little butterfly suddenly entering Shen Que’s field of vision.

He tilted his head and smiled at Shen Que: “Good morning, Student Shen!”

Shen Que was slightly startled. He glanced at him from the corner of his eye and continued forward without a word.

With a slight twist of the handlebars, they reached the simple bike shed at the school gate.

Shen Que parked his bike inside. Yin Xu also hurried over and parked his bike right next to Shen Que’s.

Shen Que stepped toward the classroom. Yin Xu followed close behind, maintaining the same pace.

Arriving at Class 7, Grade 11, Shen Que placed his bag on his seat. Yin Xu—

He took off his bag and placed it on the seat of Shen Que’s deskmate.

Shen Que finally couldn’t bear it and reminded him: “You’re sitting in the wrong place.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention.”

Yin Xu said with complete nonchalance.

“Last night on Q.Q, I already cleared it with your previous deskmate, Li Ran. I’m switching seats with him. So, starting today, I am your new deskmate. Please look after me, Student Shen.”

Shen Que looked at him with some surprise: “Why?”

“No reason. I like sitting next to you; it’s comfortable. Oh, right.”

As Yin Xu spoke, he opened his bulging schoolbag and a huge pile of snacks poured out.

Potato chips, popping candy, spicy strips, bear cookies, crispy noodles, bubble gum…

There was a wide variety and a riot of colors—quite a sight. Spread out, it could rival the small shop at the school gate.

Yin Xu piled them all onto Shen Que’s desk: “These are all for you.”

“For me?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know which brand or flavor of chips you like, so I just bought a random selection. Or you can tell me now and I’ll remember it and bring them for you tomorrow.”

Shen Que’s brow twitched. He truly found this person’s behavior difficult to understand.

If it were anyone else, they would probably find it hard not to suspect whether Yin Xu had poisoned them.

“Thanks, but I don’t like snacks.”

Shen Que declined calmly.

“Also, the matter of being deskmates isn’t something you can settle just by discussing it privately with someone. You still need to obtain Teacher Tang’s consent.”

Yin Xu didn’t look surprised at all: “So you mean you refuse to be my deskmate?”

Shen Que: “Yes.”

“Heh, I don’t believe it.”

Yin Xu, however, revealed a mysteriously confident smile.

“You can refuse me, but can you refuse this man?”

It was time to use his ultimate secret weapon!

Yin Xu carefully pulled a brand-new album—one that seemed to carry its own holy light—from a compartment in his bag and placed it solemnly on Shen Que’s desk.

“No one in this world can refuse Jay Chou.”

Shen Que: “……”

A trace of struggle finally appeared in his calm, ripple-less eyes.

He stared at the limited-edition collector’s album in silence, hesitating for a moment before pushing it away: “I don’t want it.”

“Why?”

Yin Xu was puzzled.

“Don’t tell me you prefer David Tao? Or JJ Lin? Or some female singer, Cyndi Wang or Stefanie Sun?”

Shen Que didn’t answer. He looked at Yin Xu and asked, “What exactly do you want?”

“Nothing, I just want to make friends with you.”

Yin Xu’s tone sounded incredibly sincere. After Shen Que stared at him for a moment, he spoke again, indifferently: “Is that so? Well, I have no interest in being friends with you.”

Yin Xu’s eyes widened: “But I’m so handsome, rich, good-looking, humorous, and generous. I’m also the son of the richest man in the city. You have no interest even in that?”

“What the hell does that have to do with me?”

Shen Que went back to tidying his desk, stuffing the pile of snacks and the album back into Yin Xu’s schoolbag one by one, clearly showing he wanted his guest to leave.

This time, Yin Xu was completely silenced.

He had expected Shen Que would refuse his final request, but he hadn’t expected him to be so resolute and decisive right from the start, without even blinking.

If he couldn’t even achieve the simple small step of being a friend, how was he supposed to voice his even more outrageous request for apprenticeship later?

Yin Xu sat stubbornly and didn’t move, beginning to analyze on his own:

“I get it. Is it because of what happened before that you have some misunderstanding about my character?”

“I really didn’t mean to talk behind your back last time. I’ll apologize to you, okay?”

“Actually, I’m super easy to get along with. Really, everyone fights to be my friend! If you don’t believe me, go ask around about my character. I guarantee I’m the real deal.”

Seeing Shen Que remain unmoved, Yin Xu continued to chatter incessantly:

“And that time at the two-yuan shop, I asked you for help and you didn’t help me. I haven’t even held that against you. See how magnanimous I am?”

“And there were so many people in the shop back then, yet I didn’t grab anyone else, I just happened to grab you. Doesn’t that just prove we are fated to be together! As the saying goes, ‘no conflict, no friendship’.”

Shen Que corrected him: “Student Yin, we’ve known each other for a long time.”

“Then ‘no conflict, no—'”

Yin Xu was at a loss for words for a moment and blurted out:

“—Love?”

Shen Que’s movements froze: “……”

He gave Yin Xu a deep look, then with a dark face, picked up his water bottle and stood up to go get some water.

Yin Xu reached out like the meme: “Hey, don’t go! I haven’t finished talking yet!”