Step by Step
"I'm done. Are you even pretending anymore? Open-book cheating right to my face?"
Zhao Minghui exhaled a plume of smoke, his features all displaced as he stared at a certain someone with a twisted expression.
...
Behind the cafeteria backdoor.
A group of people had gathered to smoke, chat, and laugh as usual—just living the life.
Until a traitor emerged among them—
Xie Buchen leaned against the wall, his head lowered, holding a cigarette in one hand and his phone in the other to review practice problems.
Ten minutes had passed, and the cigarette was still only half-burned.
He'd seen people hold drinks while raising fish, but never someone who slacked off while smoking.
"Brother Chen, Brother Chen, pay attention to me! Is studying really that addictive?"
Zhao Minghui scratched his ears and tore at his hair like a monkey at the zoo.
Zhang Bing laughed out loud, saying that Xie Buchen had always been a top student and was simply reverting to his true nature rather than suddenly mutating.
No one took Zhang Bing's words seriously.
Ever since enrollment, Xie Buchen's grades had been solidly at the bottom.
Zhang Bing, on the other hand, occasionally had a burst of extraordinary performance and managed to crawl out of the bottom hundred.
Xie Buchen said, "...Shut up and go back to chatting about your video game."
"Brother Chen, how are we supposed to chat with you acting like this?"
"Exactly! What's the difference between this and doing homework inside a KTV? Bro, stop fronting, you're freaking me out."
"You guys don't get it. This is the power of love."
"The hell is the power of love? Even if Liu Yifei agreed to date me, I wouldn't be able to absorb a single shred of knowledge. Studying is pure torture."
"As if you'd even need Liu Yifei to step in! If Yaoyao was willing to spare you a second glance, I bet you could write a whole workbook of 5-in-3."
"Damn it, you guys just stripped away every last shred of my dignity."
...
Xie Buchen continued flipping pages at a steady pace.
His gaze didn't even waver.
Steady as an old dog.
...
At this point, it wasn't just Zhao Minghui; everyone else suffered a genuine mental breakdown. They gave awkward, hollow laughs and exchanged embarrassed glances.
...
Physical Education class.
After finishing the warm-ups and basic exercises, it was time for free play.
Xie Buchen finally stopped studying.
Yet right after class ended, he suddenly blurted out the standard form of a quadratic function: vertex coordinates, axis of symmetry...
The person shooting the basketball froze in place.
The basketball went *thud, thud, thud* bouncing back, striking a male classmate squarely in the crotch.
Zhang Bing wore a "See, what did I tell you" smile.
Look at that.
Xie Buchen was a top student, and the ruthless kind who could plunge into total immersion in a short time once he set his mind to it.
While other people required considerable intelligence, endless practice, and the right mood to study, for him, studying was purely like playing a game and grinding quests—no cheap tricks, just the merciless dedication of a hardcore gamer.
...
"No wait, it's one thing that Xie Buchen doesn't even use scratch paper, but how come he doesn't even use a textbook?"
Zhao Minghui asked in bewilderment.
This guy was practically cultivating through heretical Dao!
The others felt something was off too. Xie Buchen didn't look like he was studying; he looked like a robot inputting data.
They suspected he didn't understand the formulas at all and was simply rote-memorizing the questions!
That kind of tactic might work for junior high basics, but it was guaranteed to experience severe culture shock when applied to high school.
This was also the reason why so many people had decent grades in junior high only to steadily plummet once they entered high school—there was simply far too much content requiring comprehension and adaptation compared to middle school, and you could no longer coast to good grades through blind memorization alone.
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, gossiping about Xie Buchen right to his face.
Zhang Bing said, "So, let's take a look at Brother Chen's grade report to verify the results."
One minute later.
Everyone wore the flat-lipped "Dragon Map" meme expression.
For no other reason than—
Because their grades sucked, none of them ever saved their own report cards; it was a way to protect their own fragile emotions and spare their parents' feelings too.
"So, none of us actually have the midterm report card?"
Zhang Bing rubbed his nose and shamelessly asked Jiang Xinyi for it.
As if Jiang Xinyi would have it.
She even cursed him out for looking for trouble over nothing.
So fierce...
With no other choice, Zhang Bing had to ask the class monitor. The monitor was an honest fellow and, upon hearing that they wanted the grade report, forwarded every single one from the start of the semester.
The few of them crowded around Zhang Bing's phone.
They didn't see Xie Buchen down at the bottom, and scrolling one by one was too slow, so they simply opened the search function.
They wouldn't have looked if they didn't search.
One search gave them a major scare.
During the first monthly exam, Xie Buchen had already escaped the bottom hundred; by the second, he had jumped straight to the middle tier. And holy crap, on the midterms that had just passed, he had leaped right into the top hundred of the entire grade.
Was this even normal?
...
Even though they were all human beings, some people were just beasts wearing human skin.
The few of them turned their heads simultaneously, eyes splitting in fury. If looks could kill, Xie Buchen would have already been pierced by ten thousand arrows.
Xie Buchen continued tapping his phone screen and said casually in between, "Want to learn? It's very simple. I'll send you the app. It has past exam papers from top schools across every province. The annual subscription is running a special right now—only 168. You can save enough just by buying one fewer video game."
Huh?
Was a mere 168 what they were lacking?
Was there a single human word coming out of this guy's mouth?
The group swarmed toward the back row in a mob—putting him in a chokehold, twisting his arms, grabbing his legs, and seizing the opportunity to wipe the dirt off their hands onto Xie Buchen's clothes... In short, each showed their special prowess like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea.
"I'm begging you, Godfather, please stop! Quit studying! If you keep going like this, and my mom finds out, she's going to develop unrealistic expectations of me!"
"Exactly! If you keep studying, you're going to break away from the last row. You're abandoning your bros! Shameful!"
"Brother Chen, how on earth do you study? I want to flex big too. Please, my dad said if I can score 300 points, he'll buy me a car when I graduate."
...
Xie Buchen hooked Zhao Minghui by the neck. "Want to try wiping your hands on my clothes again?"
"Stingy."
Zhao Minghui muttered, retracting his claws.
Xie Buchen explained that as long as you were willing to look at the questions, textbooks weren't that important.
In test-oriented education, everything centers around exam questions. Having a knowledge system is better, but it's not the end of the world without one. If you're willing to put in the effort, you'll make progress no matter what.
At this moment, one hardworking little boy (Ah Bing) quietly shattered.
(´･ω･)ﾉ(._.`)
...
Jiang Xinyi withdrew her gaze and looked down at her textbook—crammed full of detailed notes—and her test papers, which still consistently failed to clear the passing mark. A tangible question mark slowly formed on her forehead.
?
No wonder the head teacher hadn't been cracking down on Xie Buchen and his gang for skipping evening self-study lately.
It really is more comfortable being a good student.
Jiang Xinyi pulled out her rhinestone-encrusted phone and messaged Xie Buchen: What app?
Xie Buchen immediately sent a link.
Before the sweetness in the bottom of her heart could even well up—
Xie Buchen: Remember to fill in the referral code. Recruiting new users gets me gems.
Jiang Xinyi: ...
Xie Buchen: Did you fill it in?
Jiang Xinyi: Filled.
Xie Buchen: [Arms-crossed.jpg]
...
Damn it!
Was he about to ask her to slash prices for him on Pinduoduo next?
...
Night.
The spring breeze was intoxicatingly warm.
Outside the window, the bare tree branches instantly turned lush and green, while stray flying insects constantly slammed against the glass pane.
Thud!
Dead.
Thud—flutter flutter.
Not dead. Half-dead, maybe.
During evening self-study, Xie Buchen unlocked his phone inside his desk compartment.
Xie Buchen: Got the bubble tea?
Lin Shu: Why did you buy it for us again?
Xie Buchen: The coupon was expiring today.
Lin Shu: :)
Xie Buchen: How does it taste?
Lin Shu: Let me taste... Mhm, delicious. The tapioca pearls are super soft and chewy.
Xie Buchen: What event are you signing up for at the sports meeting?
Lin Shu: The 800-meter.
Xie Buchen: Have a death wish?
Lin Shu: Ahhhhh, who's to say?! I am so, so, so done for!
Xie Buchen: Figures. Trash dogs are bound to be like this.
Lin Shu: What is the idiot dog signing up for?
Xie Buchen: The class basketball tournament, of course. I'm a starter.
Lin Shu: I'm so jealous of you guys. Basketball is fun and lets you run around showing off. Who knows how many gazes and screams you're going to rake in.
Xie Buchen: There's a girls' tournament too.
Lin Shu: I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening! This world is too cruel to me! The fact that human evolution still hasn't liberated our physical bodies is a disgrace to technology, a regression of history, and a corruption of morality!
Xie Buchen: Oh, remember to bring me water.
Lin Shu: ...Huh? Isn't that a bit much, out in the open like that?
Xie Buchen: Why do you think I bought bubble tea for you and Zhou Ya tonight?
...
...
...
Holy crap!
(°Д°)?!