You Like The Smart Ones? You Should Have Said So Sooner! - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Very Last One

The monthly exams were just two days away, and the atmosphere in the class grew increasingly heavy. Since this was their first major examination since starting their repeat year, everyone planned to compare these results with their original Gaokao scores to see if their month of study had resulted in progress or regression.

Anxiety was inevitable.

During self-study, everyone was buried in a sea of practice problems. The only sound in the classroom was the rustling of pens scratching against paper—except, of course, for the two “bosses” in the back row.

Although the two of them were also doing problems, the vibe was different.

Qin Mian had a lazy posture, sitting without any semblance of proper form. His eyes were half-losed, one foot resting on the crossbar beneath the desk, as he rocked his chair back and forth precariously. Song Ying wasn’t quite as exaggerated, but his calm and peaceful face clearly showed not a hint of exam anxiety. The fluidity of his writing made it look like the two of them were merely practicing writing their own names.

What was even more terrifying was that Song Ying actually looked at his math paper and smiled.

Yu Canxing: “……”

What are you smiling at, brother?

He lifted a face that looked like it had been sucked dry of all life energy and turned toward the two of them, issuing a heartfelt question: “Why do the two of you look so relaxed? Are we not taking the same exam tomorrow?”

According to Teacher Ding Zi, the difficulty of this monthly exam would be very high, specifically intended to give the Grade 12 students a reality check.

Qin Mian lifted his eyelids and replied, disregarding the survival of his classmate: “Maybe because I haven’t run into a difficult problem yet?”

Song Ying heard this and curled his lips. He didn’t even want to imagine how suffocated Yu Canxing would feel after hearing that.

Sure enough, Yu Canxing felt like he had just received a blow beyond what a human life could sustain. He clutched his chest in pain and accused: “Listen to that. Are those words even human?”

Why is it that every problem I run into is a difficult one? Does difficulty have a crush on me?

“How are they not human?” Qin Mian opened his eyes and poked the front-desk mate who was definitely on the same battlefront as him. “What do you think, Song Ying?”

Under Yu Canxing’s hopeful gaze, Song Ying curled his lips and nodded without a shred of hesitation.

The light in Yu Canxing’s eyes was completely extinguished. He stared at his former comrade in disbelief. “Song Ying… even you… how could you collude with Brother Mian!?”

In his eyes, Song Ying was still that fellow “academic scrub” who listened to Qin Mian explain problems alongside him.

Qin Mian glanced at him and gave a kind reminder: “Don’t think too much. He’s even more fierce than I am.”

Song Ying raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. Yu Canxing didn’t catch the kindness in Qin Mian’s reminder; he only assumed Song Ying had been corrupted by Qin Mian. He pointed a trembling hand, crying out at the injustice: “You… you two… you’re like jackals from the same lair!”

At this point, Ye Jun couldn’t watch any longer. He reached out and manually turned Yu Canxing’s despairing head back to the front. “Stop humiliating yourself.”

Although he didn’t know the full story behind Song Ying, based on his observations over the past few days, Song Ying was definitely a hidden expert. Whenever Qin Mian got stuck, he would go to Song Ying for guidance. Just based on the fact that Song Ying could spot Qin Mian’s mistakes in two or three moves, there was no way he was weaker than Qin Mian.

Qin Mian was already top 100 in the province. As for Song Ying… well, he certainly wasn’t someone a “sweet summer child” like Yu Canxing could afford to mess with.

Just then, Lin Zhixia from the front row lifted a face that looked just as lifeless as Yu Canxing’s and hissed a “shhh” at them. Qin Mian took the hint and mimed zipping his lips. The group fell silent and continued studying.

Regardless of whether two days felt fast or slow to some, the monthly exams inevitably arrived. Ding Zi posted the printed seating chart on the front blackboard. The seating was arranged based on previous rankings, mixing the repeaters with the regular graduating students.

For the repeaters, their Gaokao scores were used; for the regular students, it was their final grades from the end of Grade 11. Everyone swarmed forward, crowding around the podium to find their seats.

Seeing too many people, Qin Mian couldn’t be bothered to squeeze in with them. He was certain he would be in the first exam room anyway. Noticing Song Ying hadn’t moved either, he poked him. “Aren’t you going to look?”

Song Ying twirled his pen and replied with total composure, “No need. I know where I’m sitting.”

“That confident?” Qin Mian raised an eyebrow playfully. “What are you, first or second?”

Qin Mian subconsciously felt that even if Song Ying had messed up his Gaokao, he would at most be slightly behind him, or perhaps even better than him—just not quite “top 100” status. He would still be more than enough to blow everyone else at Dong’an No. 2 out of the water.

Instead, the person in front of him said airily: “Last.”

Qin Mian blinked, not processing it. Huh? What was that? What did I just hear?

“The very last?” Qin Mian questioned suspiciously. “……For real!?”

Looking at Song Ying’s peaceful face, he suddenly narrowed his eyes. “You’re playing me again, aren’t you?”

“I’m not playing you.” Song Ying gave a helpless smile, correcting the error in the other’s words. “I wasn’t playing you last time, either.”

How is that possible?” Qin Mian was still half-doubting. He was just about to head to the front to check the chart when Yu Canxing returned excitedly from the front lines.

“Brother Mian, you’re the very first person in the first exam room! As expected of a provincial top 100!” Yu Canxing giggled like an idiot.

Qin Mian asked: “What about Song Ying?”

Yu Canxing’s eyes lit up, and he said happily to Song Ying, “Oh! Song Ying! The two of us are in the same exam room!”

Song Ying gave a kind smile.

Qin Mian, sensing something was wrong with this picture of friendly classmates, slowly asked Yu Canxing: “Which exam room are you in?”

“Eighteenth!” Yu Canxing said lightheartedly. “It’s great, I don’t even have to change classrooms. I can just take the test right here in our own class!”

Qin Mian fell silent.

There were only eighteen exam rooms in total. Song Ying looked at him and blinked innocently, as if saying: Do you believe me now?

Qin Mian looked at him with disgust. “And you’re proud of that?”

Song Ying shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s nothing. It’s just sitting in the back.” It wouldn’t affect his “Rank 1” level of performance.

Yu Canxing was completely lost, his face blank. “What are you guys talking about? Believe what?”

Qin Mian didn’t have the heart to explain. He patted Yu Canxing’s head. “Nothing, go play.”

Yu Canxing looked wooden. “Brother Mian, I reasonably suspect you are mocking me.”

Qin Mian acted surprised. “How could that be?”

Yu Canxing just started to feel a bit of comfort when he heard Qin Mian say seriously: “How can you call it a suspicion? I am mocking you.”

.The love is gone, Brother Mian.” Yu Canxing, clutching a heart that had suffered 10,086 points of damage, went crying to his own front-desk mate for comfort.

Song Ying pitied Yu Canxing for exactly one second. Qin Mian then turned back to the person who didn’t care about his seat and asked seriously: “What happened to you? Did you miss two of the exams?”

“One subject…” Song Ying replied.

Qin Mian frowned, confused. Given Song Ying’s level, missing one subject shouldn’t have put him at the very bottom.

Then, Song Ying slowly finished his sentence: “…of all of them. I didn’t take any.”