Transmigrated as the School Hunk's Arch-Nemesis [Book Transmigration] - Chapter 4

“Deskmate, that breakfast was such a hassle. Man, my butt still really hurts.”

Back in the classroom, Zhao Ci slumped over his desk, listless. Recalling his umbrella being tossed on the floor, he cursed Ruan Ming and Xia Wen a thousand times over in his heart.

The next two periods were math classes with Jin Gang. Shen Yixing dug a math textbook out from the corner of his drawer and placed it on the desk.

He flipped to the frontispiece of the math book. The name “Shen Yixing” was scrawled crookedly across the page, and beneath it, his class, Grade 12 Class 1, was written out.

Tucked into the second page of the math book was a practice workbook.

The cover of the workbook featured a grand blueprint of the school, and the school’s name was printed on it in elegant, small regular script. The glazed, golden letters made Shen Yixing’s eyes ache.

“Affiliated Middle School of Tongnan International Music Conservatory,” Shen Yixing murmured, his thin lips parted, reading the name on the workbook in a voice only he could hear.

After reading it, he closed the math book.

In this world, Tongnan National Music Conservatory was one of the top music schools in the country, and its affiliated high school served as a springboard for students with talent. For someone like the original owner, who was tone-deaf, it was a mystery how he had managed to get into this school.

Zhao Ci suddenly shook his arm, pointing toward the classroom door. “Wang Fusheng is here! It looks like he’s looking for you!”

Shen Yixing frowned. The man at the door had his eyes wide open, his sharp gaze behind his glasses seemingly trying to burn a hole through him.

“Shen Yixing, Jiang Baiyi, come with me to the office!” Wang Fusheng’s roar frightened the rest of the class into silence.

Shen Yixing kept his expression calm. He took the apology letter he had written last night from his drawer and walked out of the classroom.

Jiang Baiyi and Tang Yuan had arrived late after breakfast and were caught by Wang Fusheng before they had even stepped into the classroom.

Inside the office, Wang Fusheng rambled on, covering everything from the start-of-term placement exam to the end-of-month exam, all the way to the college entrance exam in the future.

“Fighting again!” Wang Fusheng stared with wide eyes, nearly angered to death by these two troublemakers first thing in the morning.

“The moment I arrive at school, I hear from Teacher Jin that you two were involved in a fight. You’re already in your third year, how can you still be like this!”

Wang Fusheng couldn’t do much to Jiang Baiyi, so he vented all his anger on Shen Yixing.

“Shen Yixing, with your current state, how are you going to prepare for the college entrance exam? We are art students, after all!” Wang Fusheng didn’t mince words. He slapped the table and said bluntly, “Can you even find the right key when you sing? If I asked you to practice a score, would you know which notes to play?”

Seeing that Shen Yixing didn’t speak, Wang Fusheng took a sip of tea, squinted his eyes, and said, “And the apology letter, did you not write it again?”

“I wrote it.” Wang Fusheng snatched the letter Shen Yixing handed over.

Wang Fusheng raised his chin and asked Jiang Baiyi, “Where is yours?”

Jiang Baiyi hadn’t written it, but he was very candid about it. “Too lazy to write it.”

Wang Fusheng rolled his eyes at Jiang Baiyi, adjusted his glasses, and after carefully reading Shen Yixing’s apology letter, asked, “Did you write this apology letter yourself?”

He glanced at Shen Yixing, trying to catch a lie on the face of this problem student.

To his surprise, Shen Yixing’s expression was indifferent. “I wrote it.”

“This… did you actually write these characters?!”

Wang Fusheng was very surprised, but Shen Yixing hadn’t submitted any homework for two semesters, and even he himself had forgotten what Shen Yixing’s handwriting looked like. He had simply assumed that Shen Yixing couldn’t possibly write such neat characters. Having worn colored glasses for too long, Wang Fusheng felt a bit awkward.

After the harsh scolding, it was time for some softer words. He said earnestly, “Shen Yixing, stop fooling around with students from other classes when you have nothing to do. If you rein in your playful heart, you can still put in some effort before the college entrance exam!”

As soon as Wang Fusheng’s voice trailed off, Shen Yixing replied coolly, “Understood.”

“Huh?” Wang Fusheng was stunned by Shen Yixing’s response, unable to speak. Usually, at this point, Shen Yixing would have already started cussing and throwing a tantrum in the office.

He looked at Jiang Baiyi again and said, “And you, same goes for you. Don’t think that relying on your family background will carry you for many years if you don’t study well.”

“Learning can’t be done by fishing for three days and drying nets for two. You need to be clear that you are studying for yourselves, not for me. Don’t act well-behaved now, only to reveal your true colors in a few days!”

Seeing that Shen Yixing and Jiang Baiyi didn’t speak again, Wang Fusheng had finished his scolding and his advice. Finally, he remembered something important.

It took him a long time to build up to it before he asked Shen Yixing, “Qiao Meng told me you want to sign up for the performance?”

Shen Yixing looked up and corrected him, “She’s the one who asked me to sign up.”

Wang Fusheng began to size Shen Yixing up. He had been a homeroom teacher for two years, and he knew the level of the students in his class better than anyone.

Especially the one standing in front of him, who led the disruption every day and whose exam scores had never reached double digits in any subject. If he went to perform in the school-wide showcase, he would be embarrassing the entire class.

Wang Fusheng pressed his temples in despair and said, “The performance activity is about participation. If you don’t have an instrument you’d like to sign up for, you can withdraw. You should focus on your current coursework first!”

Seeing Shen Yixing nod, Wang Fusheng had nothing more to say. After giving a few more instructions about his studies, he waved them off to return to the classroom.

The office door was gently closed by Shen Yixing. Jiang Baiyi was standing behind him, showing no intention of leaving.

Shen Yixing turned around and saw Jiang Baiyi looking at him with lowered eyes.

The deep black pupils were like a pool of spring water under the moonlight, reflecting Shen Yixing’s face. His long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and his slender eyes were half-closed, blocking his line of sight from meeting Shen Yixing’s.

Remembering the breakfast incident, Shen Yixing hesitated for a moment and said, “About this morning…”

“Don’t mention it, I’m just returning the favor,” Jiang Baiyi said.

“Mm, thank you.” Shen Yixing thought about it and felt it was better to thank him, as his attitude toward Jiang Baiyi yesterday hadn’t been good either.

Jiang Baiyi looked at Shen Yixing. This person was much shorter than him. When he looked up to say thank you, his eyes were clear and bright, a flush of red bloomed on his fair face, and his lips were slightly pursed, inadvertently revealing his embarrassment.

Shen Yixing was indeed different. Whether it was his appearance or his personality, they were completely different from before.

Jiang Baiyi stared for a moment and asked, “Not acting cool and cold anymore?”

Shen Yixing returned to his previous indifference. “I wasn’t acting cool.” He was just in a bad mood. Suddenly arriving in this world, no one would be happy about it.

“Mm.” Jiang Baiyi responded with feigned profundity. He circled his gaze around Shen Yixing, didn’t say another word, and shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked toward the bathroom.

Students came and went in the hallway. As Shen Yixing passed the Class 2 classroom, someone ran out and called him to a stop.

“Student Shen Yixing,” Ruan Ming ran up to Shen Yixing in a few steps, pulled out two tickets for the school-wide performance next week, and handed them to him. “Can you help me pass these to Jiang Baiyi?”

Shen Yixing looked at the tickets but didn’t take them. He didn’t want to get tangled up with Jiang Baiyi again, and he especially didn’t want to have too much contact with Ruan Ming.

Ruan Ming smiled when he saw this, withdrew his hand, and asked, “I heard you’re participating in the performance, too. Have you decided on an instrument?”

“I don’t plan on participating in the performance,” Shen Yixing said in a detached tone, without a hint of fluctuation.

“Why?” Ruan Ming saw Shen Yixing’s eyes deepening, like tea leaves settling to the bottom of a cup, with a deep darkness that kept his thoughts hidden.

The pre-class bell rang right on cue. Shen Yixing reminded him, “Class is about to start.”

Ruan Ming bit his lower lip and stared at Shen Yixing’s retreating back. “Why won’t you participate? Haven’t you participated in many competitions and won many awards before!”

Shen Yixing stopped in his tracks. He turned around stiffly, and after calming his inner emotions, he looked at Ruan Ming with a grave expression.

“I… did I say something wrong?” Ruan Ming was startled by Shen Yixing’s sudden turn, but this was within his expectations. He was deliberately testing whether Shen Yixing was still the little cannon fodder he thought he was.

“I sing out of tune, I play out of tune, I’ve never participated in any competitions. You must have remembered the wrong person.”

The darkness in Shen Yixing’s eyes gradually dissolved, and Ruan Ming’s tense nerves finally relaxed at that moment. The Shen Yixing in front of him was indeed the little cannon fodder described in the book, not the Shen Yixing he knew.

It was just two similar faces, that was all.

The Shen Yixing he knew, that arrogant, cold youth who often stood in the spotlight, surrounded by flowers and applause, how could he possibly belittle himself like this?

“Ah… then I must have remembered wrong.”

“Mm.”

At the corner of the hallway, Jin Gang was carrying a book to class, seeing Shen Yixing bullying a classmate from afar.

“What are you doing? The pre-class bell has rung and you’re still loitering in the hallway!” Jin Gang waved his hand, signaling Shen Yixing to hurry back to class and prepare for the lesson.

During the math class, Shen Yixing spun his pen cap, head down, lost in thought.

The Class 1 and Class 2 classrooms were separated by only one wall. Everyone seemed to know that the original owner’s grades were poor, so why would Ruan Ming ask such a strange question?

It was as if he was speaking to his original self through the original owner’s body. Only his original self had participated in many competitions, and only his original self had won many awards. But Ruan Ming was a character in a book; he shouldn’t have known any of this.

The autumn wind after the rain carried the scent of osmanthus into the classroom, and the fan hanging from the ceiling whirred loudly. Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the podium, waking the sleepy students in the front row.

“Shen Yixing! Why are you spacing out in class! Stand up!”

“Answer the question I just asked. If you can’t answer it, keep standing until the end of the class!”

On the podium, Jin Gang was tapping a wooden triangle ruler and scolding him with spit flying everywhere. In the upper right corner of the blackboard, a few sum-to-product formulas were written sparsely, and complex solution steps occupied more than half of the blackboard.

Some classmates turned around and snickered at him, while others cast pitying looks his way. Only his deskmate, Zhao Ci, tugged his clothes lightly to remind him which question he needed to answer.

Shen Yixing came back to his senses, swept his eyes over the question on the blackboard, and answered without changing his expression, “Using the law of sines, we can get SinC equals one-half, so the answer is B.”

The students waiting to see a joke didn’t expect Shen Yixing to answer the question. They were all academic underachievers, and they didn’t know if Shen Yixing was right or wrong, so they could only cast their gaze back to the teacher.

Jin Gang glanced at the solution steps on the blackboard that were only half-written. He had been fully prepared to scold Shen Yixing, but he hadn’t expected this kid to actually answer the question, and, unexpectedly… he got it right.

“Mm…” Jin Gang swallowed his scolding words whole, gave a dry cough, and said, “Barely acceptable. Sit down, and don’t block the students behind you from seeing the questions. Everyone else, take out your ‘Five-Three’ practice books and continue with the next problems. Do as many as you can, try to write up to page ninety-five!”

After sitting down, Zhao Ci leaned over and whispered, “Deskmate, isn’t this question very difficult? How did you prove the answer?”

Shen Yixing paused his hand flipping through the book and quickly pretended to be nonchalant. “I guessed.”

“Sigh, so it was a guess. I thought you had secretly been taking extra lessons at home!”

Thinking about it, that made sense. Such a difficult question—Shen Yixing usually didn’t even open his practice book, so how could he possibly know the answer?

Zhao Ci sighed in relief and continued to bury his head, sneakily reading a novel.

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