Returning to the Shamate Era to Seduce the Top Student - Chapter 9

The school’s grand auditorium, where the air conditioning had been running for several hours, was already cool and pleasant.

As soon as Yin Xu walked in, the majority of the summer heat dissipated from his body, and his mood inexplicably relaxed along with it.

He followed the class line up the red-carpeted steps toward the rear seating area.

Because generations of principals at Luhe No. 3 High School had pursued face, the construction of various infrastructure projects was far ahead of others in the city, leading to it being jokingly called the “parvenu school.”

Even the school auditorium was built like an old-fashioned movie theater. The space was enormous, easily capable of accommodating more than two thousand students from the entire school.

The seating order for the meeting was arranged by grade level. Yin Xu’s Grade 11 happened to be located in several rows near the center of the venue.

He specifically swapped places with Pan Zheshuai at the end of the line to sit by the aisle.

This was Yin Xu’s favorite spot. Whether watching a movie or taking a bus, he habitually chose aisle seats because they made moving around very convenient.

Seeing that Grade 10 was still entering and there was still some time before the assembly started, Yin Xu planned to find Tang Xiaotong to hand over his finished self-reflection letter.

However, after looking around, he didn’t see Tang Xiaotong anywhere. He just happened to notice Zhou Jilin standing not far away by the rostrum, so he thought he’d ask her.

“Zhou—”

Before Yin Xu could finish his greeting, he saw someone step up to Zhou Jilin ahead of him to start a conversation.

It was Shen Que.

The distance was a bit far, and there was constant noisy chatter in the venue, so Yin Xu couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying.

He only saw that Shen Que’s brow was slightly furrowed as he spoke, his gaze fixed entirely on the side of Zhou Jilin’s ponytail.

In the time it took for about two sentences, Shen Que turned and left, brushing past the approaching Yin Xu. The faint glance he cast over was slightly displeased.

Yin Xu just thought the guy was being bizarre. Ignoring him, he walked straight to Zhou Jilin: “Zhou Jilin, do you know where Old Tang is?”

“She went to the office building to find Director Ji. She’ll be back in a bit. Do you have something for her?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll wait until she gets back.”

Just as Yin Xu was about to leave, Zhou Jilin called him back and pointed to the butterfly hairpin on her head: “This hairpin… maybe I should give it back to you?”

Yin Xu was puzzled: “Why? It looks fine on you.”

After asking, he remembered Shen Que talking to her just now and realized what happened: “Did Shen Que say something to you?”

“He didn’t say much. He just asked where the hairpin on my head came from, and I said you gave it to me.”

Zhou Jilin answered truthfully, looking a bit dejected.

“I was thinking, does he think it’s not good for you to give away something he gave you to someone else?”

Yin Xu didn’t think it mattered: “It’s none of his business. Something given to me is mine. I can give it to whoever I want. Don’t mind him.”

Zhou Jilin nodded and thoughtfully touched the hairpin on her head, saying no more.

Failing to find Tang Xiaotong, Yin Xu had no choice but to return to his seat and wait for her. Upon returning, he found that his seat had been taken by someone at some point.

Looking closer, it was Shen Que again.

Yin Xu was suddenly speechless.

He had forgotten that Shen Que was the tallest in the class and the one at the end of the line. This seat was originally his.

Yin Xu hesitated for a moment but eventually stepped forward to try and negotiate: “Hey, there’s an empty seat inside. Move over one.”

Shen Que looked up at him: “Why?”

Yin Xu: “Because I like sitting in the outermost seat.”

Shen Que sat still, showing no intention of yielding: “I like it too.”

Yin Xu: “……”

Am I supposed to say “what a coincidence” to you, big brother?

He was too lazy to argue further with Shen Que and figured that since Shen Que would definitely have to go on stage to speak later, it would be a hassle for him to climb out from an inside seat.

Thus, Yin Xu compromised and reluctantly gave up his beloved throne.

“Fine, then get up and let me sit inside, alright?”

Shen Que stood up and let Yin Xu sit in the empty seat one space in.

Though the auditorium was large, the gaps between individual seats were small. Once seated, it was a squeeze, and any slight movement would bump the arm of the person next to you.

By the third time Yin Xu accidentally brushed against Shen Que’s exposed left forearm, he suddenly regretted swapping seats with Pan Zheshuai.

Shen Que kept his head down the whole time and didn’t look at him. Using the motion of flipping through the notebook in his hand, he quietly pulled back his arm.

Yin Xu stole a glance at the notebook. It seemed to be the manuscript for the speech he was about to give.

Although he couldn’t see the specific content clearly, the handwriting was visibly clear and neat. Even the two spaces for the first-line indent of the paragraphs looked as tidy as if they had been measured with a ruler—it was exactly the kind of divine exam paper look that grading teachers favored most.

This guy is probably a Virgo with OCD.

Yin Xu grumbled inwardly, his gaze unconsciously landing on the hand resting lightly beside the paper.

It was slender and fair with well-defined knuckles. The section of black bandage wrapped around the webbing of his thumb added an air of mystery.

However, what Yin Xu was most curious about was the red string Shen Que wore on his wrist.

Recalling how Shen Que had fought to the death to defend that thing at the two-yuan shop, Yin Xu really didn’t understand why he treasured it so much.

If he remembered correctly, the words carved on that bracelet were ‘Pass Every Exam’?

Could it be that this thing had been blessed by some master and was actually effective?

So this fellow relies on this bracelet to get first place every time?

That’s a bit too supernatural…

“Bzzzt—”

A piercing burst of static suddenly came from the venue’s broadcast system, cutting off Yin Xu’s drifting thoughts.

Following an announcement over the microphone from the Deputy Dean of Students, Hu Yi, the Luhe No. 3 High School 2011 Opening Assembly finally began.

A burst of warm applause immediately echoed through the auditorium.

Yin Xu clapped along, but he soon discovered that no matter how many years had passed, the boring and dry meeting in his memory was still just as unoriginal and sleep-inducing.

After one leader finished speaking, another director would talk, and then it was the principal’s turn to brag and spout chicken soup for the soul. The tone was slow with no point, making it more sleep-inducing than the 7 PM Network News…

Whether it was because the air conditioning temperature was too comfortable, or because he had consumed too much energy fighting and running today, or because he was busy writing his self-reflection at noon and hadn’t rested at all—plus the constant hypnotic speech being infinitely amplified by the microphone—Yin Xu was now so sleepy his consciousness was blurry.

Uncontrollably, he slowly closed his heavy eyelids, and his head began to nod lower and lower…

Until it landed on a solid support beside him.

Ah, finally comfortable.

Yin Xu slept soundly.

After an unknown amount of time, Yin Xu vaguely felt someone gently patting his head: “Hey.”

“……Mhm?”

Half-awake and half-asleep, Yin Xu thought it was the cat he had raised in his previous life bothering him again, so he furrowed his brows and muttered:

“Stop it.”

The cat seemed quite speechless.

In the next second, Yin Xu’s head suddenly lost its support. He lurched forward, which scared him into waking up instantly.

Before his waking-up grumpiness could flare up, Hu Yi’s powerful scolding echoed through the entire auditorium, instantly pulling him back to reality:

“Some people really treat this place like their own home! I’ve worked so hard talking up here on stage, yet he’s sleeping soundly down there. Since you love sleeping so much, next time I’ll move a bed for you so you can sleep on the stage!”

Immediately afterward, his voice miraculously became unusually gentle: “Alright, Student Shen Que, you may now come on stage to speak.”

Amidst a wave of applause and laughter from the surroundings, Yin Xu finally realized what had just happened.

He had actually fallen asleep leaning on Shen Que’s shoulder!

It wasn’t until Shen Que, as the student representative, had to go on stage to speak and everyone turned their gaze toward him that they discovered he was being used as a pillow and couldn’t move.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Shen Que had no choice but to wake him up.

The now-conscious Yin Xu looked at the teasing gazes from the people around him. His ears turned bright red, and he wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

He glared at Shen Que in shame and annoyance, wanting to demand why he hadn’t woken him up sooner, but Shen Que had already stood up, cast a brief glance at him, and walked toward the rostrum.

“Hahaha, Old Yin, how embarrassing!” Pan Zheshuai mocked him loudly from the side. “So, is the shoulder of the top student comfortable to sleep on?”

“Shut up!” Yin Xu glared at him. “You saw me leaning toward him, why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I saw you sleeping so soundly I couldn’t bear to. And I thought Shen Que would push you away, but he acted like nothing was wrong and just let you sleep. I couldn’t exactly tell him, ‘Hey classmate, sorry about that, this is my family’s little sleepyhead, please hand him over to me’.”

At this point, Pan Zheshuai gave himself a shiver.

“Yikes, our relationship hasn’t reached that level of ambiguity yet, has it?”

Yin Xu: “……Ambiguity my ass.”

He was too lazy to deal with Pan Zheshuai anymore. He looked at Shen Que’s back in front and silently drew circles in his heart to curse him into tripping over his words at least ten times during the speech.

Unfortunately, Shen Que did not fulfill his wish.

His performance was flawless, leaving no room for anyone to find fault.

Standing alone on the rostrum, Shen Que wore a clean white school uniform. His figure was upright and elegant, and his face was handsome and refined. The lights on both sides of the stage cast a faint glow around him, making him look like a clear, bright moon.

His speaking speed was neither fast nor slow, and his clear voice spread through the auditorium via the microphone, very captivating to the ear.

For a moment, everyone in the auditorium was quietly listening to his speech.

But more people were focused not on the content of his speech, but on the person himself.

Yin Xu faintly heard small exclamations of admiration from the students around him; those sighs seemed to be saying: “How can someone be this incredible?”

Even Pan Zheshuai, sitting beside him, couldn’t help but comment indignantly after watching for a while: “Damn, he’s managed to act cool again.”

Yin Xu glanced at him and whispered: “What, are you envious?”

Pan Zheshuai let out a cold snort and used the most arrogant expression to say the most cowardly words: “Heh, this isn’t envy, it’s jealousy.”

Yin Xu chuckled: “Then if it were you up there, how would you act cool?”

“Forget it, I’d still rather sit down here properly.”

“Why? Aren’t you envious?”

“Envy is one thing, but once I think about having to give such an important speech in front of so many people, I feel like my mouth would start tripping. It’s possible I’d have an epileptic seizure on the spot.”

Pan Zheshuai sighed as he spoke.

“Some things in this world just have to be done by those specific people. I can’t do it; I’m only suited for sitting down here and clapping.”

Yin Xu didn’t respond after hearing this.

He quietly gazed at the boy on the stage, and an unknown emotion gradually welled up in his heart.

Before long, Shen Que’s speech concluded perfectly, and a burst of warm applause immediately rang out in the venue to see him off.

Yin Xu clapped along half-heartedly with the crowd when he suddenly heard Hu Yi take the microphone and announce without warning:

“The outstanding student representative has finished speaking. Next, it’s the turn of the ‘underachieving student representative.’ Coincidentally, this student representative is also from Class 7. Let us welcome Student Yin Xu from Class 11-7 to the stage to read his self-reflection!”