Who Told You To Fool My First Love? - Chapter 3

The sunlight on the windowsill moved inward inch by inch. Students arrived at the classroom one after another in the dawn light, preparing for morning self-study.

However, most people were a bit absent-minded. According to Third High’s historically god-like paper-grading speed, the exam results were likely out today, making it hard not to care.

Every time results were released, Du Jingfei was the most active in going to the office to fish for info, and this time was no exception.

But within two minutes, he came sprinting back to the classroom, his hair a mess from running. He leaned against the window and waved excitedly toward the back row: “Lu Zhen! Old Wan wants you to go to his office right now! Fast, fast, fast!”

Lu Zhen, who had been napping on his desk, raised his head from his arms at the sound. After squinting his eyes to wake up a bit, he stood up and went to the office without asking a single question.

Many people in the classroom vaguely caught the scent of gossip and looked curiously at Du Jingfei.

Xu Rongcan put down the breakfast milk in his hand and was the first to lean in to investigate: “Didn’t you go to check the grades? Why are you back so soon?”

“You called it! A dark—dark horse! 707!” Du Jingfei climbed directly through the window into the classroom, so excited he could barely speak clearly, “Lu Zhen scored 707 points!”

This sentence was like a sudden bolt of lightning that instantly sent Class 1 into a frenzy. For a moment, the sound of “Holy crap!” echoed everywhere.

“Damn!”

“How much?”

“Real or fake? You didn’t misread it, did you!”

“Of course it’s impossible that I misread it!” Du Jingfei emphasized loudly, “Several teachers are in the office discussing this. I heard it with my own ears! It’s written clearly in black and white on the transcript, his total score is 707! Ranked first in the grade!”

One second, Qiao Muyu still felt that the number 707 was unrealistic, just feeling it was too far-fetched.

But the next second, the words “Ranked first in the grade” hit his forehead like a lightning strike. His pen tip shook, leaving an untimely black scratch on his exercise book.

No one noticed his loss of composure. Everyone was excitedly discussing the dark horse newcomer who had appeared out of nowhere, listening to Du Jingfei proclaim Lu Zhen’s god-tier scores for every subject over and over again.

A few minutes later, Lu Zhen returned from the office.

As if welcoming a returning hero, the students immediately crowded around his seat until it was completely blocked.

Qiao Muyu, in the front seat, became an innocent victim, nearly squeezed into a meat patty. Hearing the non-stop flattery coming from behind him, he couldn’t help but complain silently in his heart.

“Brother Lu, you’re truly awesome! You got first in our class as soon as you arrived!” We’ve only known each other for two days and you’re already calling him ‘Brother.’

“Be more precise, it’s first in the whole grade!” Do you have to mention those four words again? Can’t you hear the sound of my heart shattering all over the floor!

“Brother Lu, I knew you didn’t just fill in that 700 points randomly. You definitely could do it!” Right, that’s being wise after the event.

“Academic God Lu, how did you get such a high score? I wouldn’t even dare to dream of it!”

Hearing this, Qiao Muyu also pricked up his ears, only to hear Lu Zhen behind him ask back with absolute nonchalance: “Is this score hard to get? The questions weren’t difficult.”

Everyone: “……”

Qiao Muyu: “……”

Although the purpose of the back-to-school exam was just to let students quickly transition from holiday laziness back into a learning state—and thus the difficulty was never high—Lu Zhen’s answer was truly uncomfortable. That one sentence equally strafed everyone present, maxing out his aggro.

For a moment, no one knew how to respond. They could only laugh awkwardly and dispersed dejectedly under the urging of the class bell.

This was the first time Qiao Muyu had been so absent-minded during morning self-study. His mouth was reciting ancient poetry, but it didn’t register in his brain at all; he couldn’t stop thinking about the exam results.

After class was morning exercise time. Standing at the end of the line, Du Jingfei noticed Qiao Muyu beside him swinging his limbs perfunctorily to the music, like a listless fish.

Once the line dismissed, Du Jingfei habitually put his arm around Qiao Muyu’s shoulder: “Handsome, why is your face dragging so low? In a bad mood?”

Qiao Muyu touched his face blankly: “Am I?”

“You are! Didn’t you see? The little sun above your head has turned into a dark cloud.” Du Jingfei teased. “It’s just one time not getting first place, is it really that serious?”

Qiao Muyu froze for a second, then quickly hid the strange emotions in his eyes, laughing lightly: “You’re overthinking. It’s not because of that. I was just thinking about a math problem I couldn’t solve.”

Du Jingfei obviously didn’t believe this. He patted his shoulder and whispered: “Actually, you don’t need to care about this. When I was in Old Wan’s office just now, I heard him say Lu Zhen transferred from a key high school in Beishan City. You know, schools over there always have better educational resources than a crummy place like ours. So, it’s not unusual to produce a top student who can score 700. Isn’t it just smashed out with money?”

Qiao Muyu knew he was trying to comfort him. He raised an eyebrow: “But didn’t you just praise him for being awesome?”

“Those are two different things.” Du Jingfei said. “I admit he’s great because it’s a fact. But don’t you think he’s a bit too arrogant? He’s indifferent to everyone, he’s clearly not our kind of person. I don’t like him. No matter how good his grades are, this guy isn’t half as likable as our Monitor Little Fish!”

“Get out, get out, get out! My teeth are going to fall out from your cringy sweetness!”

Qiao Muyu was amused and pushed him away with a laugh. After thinking for a moment, he suppressed the corners of his mouth and feigned seriousness: “Cough, it’s fine to say that in front of me, but don’t say it to others. People who don’t know might think our Class 1 is ostracizing the new student. The impact would be bad.”

Inwardly, he gave him a thumbs up: Brother, you’re right. This ‘Strong Brother’ truly has no emotional intelligence.

Du Jingfei nodded: “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

Du Jingfei’s jokes made Qiao Muyu’s originally gloomy mood relax a lot.

After returning to the classroom, he just pulled out a set of English practice papers to do some problems when his shoulder was lightly tapped.

Qiao Muyu looked back to see Yu Liang pointing at a spot in his exercise book: “Monitor, can you teach me how to solve this problem?”

Qiao Muyu looked, it was a math geometry problem.

He glanced at the back of the head currently sleeping peacefully on the desk next to them and said with a smile: “Why didn’t you ask your deskmate to teach you? He got a perfect score in math.”

Yu Liang scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed: “Actually, Brother Lu just explained it to me once, but I couldn’t follow his logic. How did he solve it in just two or three steps? It was too fast…”

Qiao Muyu understood. In this world, some top students are only good at solving problems themselves but aren’t necessarily good at teaching others.

So he took the exercise book and comforted him: “It’s normal. Some methods don’t suit everyone. There’s more than one way to solve this. I’ll tell you one that’s easier to understand.”

Yu Liang: “Great, thanks Monitor!”

Qiao Muyu leaned over to Yu Liang’s desk and started drawing a diagram on the scratch paper.

To avoid disturbing Lu Zhen who was resting beside them, he intentionally lowered his voice, explaining in a gentle and soft tone.

Lu Zhen had his eyes closed, half his face buried in his arms. In his half-awake state, he vaguely heard a fragmented voice nearby, the tone gentle and pleasant to the ear.

With his dream disturbed, he frowned slightly. His eyelids lifted shallowly, and against the morning light from the window, he saw a bright, handsome, and soft profile.

The boy’s slender eyelashes were cast down, half-covering his amber pupils. His soft hair had a warm chestnut tint under the sunlight. He spoke without haste, his whole being exuding a bright, moist earnestness.

Moving his gaze down, it landed on the hand holding the pen—thin, fair, with distinct knuckles. The skin on the back of his hand looked very thin, with a few faint blue veins showing through.

Lu Zhen stared for a moment before suddenly realizing something was off—this was his left hand.

Qiao Muyu habitually twirled his pen after finishing the explanation. When he turned his head, he suddenly locked eyes with Lu Zhen.

The other was staring at him, brow slightly furrowed, eyes deep.

Qiao Muyu apologized subconsciously: “Sorry, did we wake you up?”

Lu Zhen didn’t answer the question. Instead, he dropped his gaze back to Qiao Muyu’s left hand holding the pen and asked: “You’re a lefty?”

Qiao Muyu froze for a second. This habit was indeed different from most people, and being asked about it was common.

“Oh, this. When I was little, no adults watched over me, so this ‘defect’ wasn’t corrected in time.”

Seeing Lu Zhen still staring at his left hand in a daze with a strange expression, Qiao Muyu tentatively asked again: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Lu Zhen withdrew his gaze and turned his face away, his voice very light, as if talking to himself: “Being a lefty is pretty good.”

Qiao Muyu looked at the side of his neck, feeling quite bewildered.

What does ‘pretty good’ mean? Is he praising me for being ‘disabled but determined’?

According to Nanjian Third High’s regulations, there were half-day classes scheduled every Saturday morning.

But this Saturday was a bit special. At 9:30 AM, all teachers and students gathered in the school auditorium to attend this semester’s opening ceremony and awards assembly.

The venue was well air-conditioned and pleasant. The seats were softer and more comfortable than the classroom benches. Many students, listening to the lullaby-like speeches from the school leaders, yawned incessantly, their minds wandering.

Du Jingfei was even more blatant, tilting his neck against the back of his chair to catch up on sleep. Before sleeping, he didn’t forget to remind Qiao Muyu to wake him up when it was time for the award ceremony.

Qiao Muyu didn’t sleep, but he wasn’t listening seriously either. He took a sketchbook and a pencil out of his backpack and started sketching out of boredom.

After finishing a drawing of the balding principal on the stage, he started sketching Du Jingfei next to him, who was sleeping soundly and drooling.

Suddenly, a harsh microphone feedback noise came through the speakers. Many students subconsciously covered their ears, and Du Jingfei was startled awake from his dream.

He lurched forward slightly in his seat, regained his senses, and upon turning his head, saw the nearly finished sketch in Qiao Muyu’s hand.

“Damn, you’re secretly drawing me again! And you deliberately drew me so ugly!” Du Jingfei whispered angrily.

Qiao Muyu’s pencil didn’t stop shading as he said leisurely: “I really didn’t intentionally uglify you. That’s exactly how you were sleeping just now.”

“Nonsense, your Father Jing’s sleeping face is handsome! Quickly erase it, erase it!”

Du Jingfei was excited, and his voice got a bit louder, immediately drawing a glaring warning from Wan Qianghai in the front row.

He could only shut his mouth sheepishly.

Qiao Muyu, afraid he would actually tear his sketchbook, closed it and put it in his backpack.

Du Jingfei couldn’t be bothered to argue further. Looking at the Dean of Students who was still rambling on stage, he let out a yawn and asked: “Where are we at? Why isn’t it over yet?”

“Only halfway through.”

“Tsk, this old man talks way too much.” Du Jingfei had a second thought, “Hey, isn’t it your turn to go on stage as the outstanding student representative next?”

“Yeah, I should be in the next segment.”

Thinking of this, Qiao Muyu stood up to leave his seat.

“Where are you going?” Du Jingfei asked.

“To the restroom.”

The restrooms were at the very back of the auditorium, separated from the main hall by a few steps and a bright long corridor. Not many people were moving around at this time. It was quiet, with only the distant sound of cicadas coming from outside.

As Qiao Muyu was washing his hands at the sink after using the restroom, he vaguely heard a few sounds of an argument coming from the corridor outside.

“Student, bringing a phone to school is a serious violation of discipline. It must be confiscated!” A girl spoke with righteous indignation, “Which class are you from? I’m going to your homeroom teacher right now to clarify things!”

Two seconds later, the male voice answering her was low and calm: “Grade 12, Class 1.”

Qiao Muyu froze. Wait, this voice—

He peeked his head out and saw two familiar figures, a boy and a girl, in the corridor.

The girl was the current Student Union President, Chen Qian, and the tall boy standing opposite her was the new grade-wide number one of their senior year, Lu Zhen.