Chapter 6

“Look, I’m too fat, but my mom keeps stuffing me with food. It’s not healthy to keep getting fatter, but I can’t not eat these buns when I get home, my mom will be sad. And you… you need to grow too, right? If you’re full, you’ll have the strength to fight back when Li Yuanhang picks on you, right? We’re both getting what we need, everyone’s happy.”

Qu Yun persuaded him kindly, he felt that his logic was sound, and he had also given Ling Mo a way out.

He pushed the buns closer to his arm, but Ling Mo pushed the lunch box back with a wave of his hand.

“I don’t need it.”

Although Qu Yun’s brain reacted, his arm couldn’t keep up. The lunch box flipped over and fell to the ground, and the buns fell out.

It made quite a loud noise.

The classmates who were reading and napping in the classroom all looked over.

Qu Yun stood there for two seconds.

He hated it most when people wasted food.

Once, during a mission, his supplies accidentally fell, and he had eaten fruits, bugs, and roots in the forest, his stomach was so sour it made his heart ache. Finally, he caught a snake, he couldn’t make a fire, so he had to eat it raw, he even dreamed of biting into a bun.

Qu Yun couldn’t stand Ling Mo’s attitude.

“You can doubt my good intentions, you can refuse them. But these buns were made by my mom, she kneaded the dough at night, rolled it out, and chopped the filling. It’s okay if you don’t eat them, but don’t waste them.”

Qu Yun’s eyes were red, and even his voice was trembling slightly.

He squatted down, picked up a bun, and put it back in the lunch box.

Another bun rolled to Ling Mo’s feet.

Qu Yun was about to reach out to pick it up, but Ling Mo bent down and picked up the bun, biting into it.

Qu Yun was stunned, but Ling Mo didn’t turn his head to look at him.

He calmly finished the bun and said softly, “Go back, there’s going to be a show soon.”

Qu Yun stood up and saw that Ling Mo’s face was still expressionless, making it impossible to tell what was going on in his mind. Happiness or disappointment seemed to be concealed.

What did he mean by “there’s going to be a show soon”?

But on closer reflection, he felt that Ling Mo’s words, although cold, had a hint of softness.

Until the end of the afternoon class, the head teacher and Ding, the math teacher, walked into the classroom with grim expressions.

The head teacher’s gaze swept over every student in the classroom, then he spoke coldly.

“Today, something very interesting happened in our grade’s office.”

Everyone looked up at the head teacher, the “very interesting” he mentioned was definitely not a compliment.

“That is, six students in our class turned in math homework that was completely wrong!”

The students couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.

What does completely wrong mean? That means even the first three questions, which were basically done by plugging in formulas, were wrong!

Li Yuanhang, not far away, raised his chin and looked smug.

He definitely wasn’t one of those six!

Teacher Ding cleared his throat and read out the names, “Chen Qiao! Lin Binsheng! Wang Yu! Kong Jie! Meng Fei!”

When these five names were read out, Li Yuanhang’s shoulders trembled, a bad feeling crept into his heart.

Even Qu Yun realized that these five people were the ones who copied Li Yuanhang’s math homework this morning.

“Li Yuanhang!”

When this name was read out, Teacher Ding slammed the homework on the podium.

“I really need you to explain why your math homework is not only completely wrong, but even the details of the mistakes, the formulas you used wrong, the wrong way of thinking, are all exactly the same!”

Teacher Ding was young, but he was very responsible. The homework he assigned was gradually increasing in difficulty, but Li Yuanhang and the others got even the basic questions wrong.

This was simply copying without using your brain. Even Qu Yun, who thought he was brainless, was shocked. Was his IQ actually higher than these six people?

The six people stood up, and five of them glared fiercely at Li Yuanhang.

The head teacher, who had been teaching for many years, immediately noticed this detail.

“Li Yuanhang, you tell me, what’s going on with your homework!”

Li Yuanhang swallowed, thought for a while, and explained, “This morning… Chen Qiao and the others asked me if I had finished my math homework… I said I had finished it… They said they had some problems they didn’t understand and wanted to borrow it to look at, so I lent it to them…”

This was completely shifting the blame to others.

Anyway, the only thing he, Li Yuanhang, did wrong was that his math homework was “completely wrong.”

Chen Qiao, standing behind Li Yuanhang, glanced at him, gritted his teeth, and rolled his eyes to the sky.

“Borrowed it from you? You’re not good at math either! And those few of them copied it word for word without using their brains? They trust you so much!” The head teacher stood with his hands behind his back, walked behind Chen Qiao, and tapped his desk with his teaching stick. The few sounds made the whole classroom tremble.

“Chen Qiao! Tell me! Li Yuanhang said he let you look at his homework, you guys are amazing! You copied it and not a single question was right, what a talent, you can’t even catch up!”

Being pricked by the head teacher like this, Chen Qiao was already angry in his heart. Anyway, he had already copied the homework, and Li Yuanhang clearly hadn’t copied Ling Mo’s homework, but he had to brag and say he had copied it. It’s one thing to brag, but not a single question was right, wasn’t that hurting people? He wanted to get rid of me, no way!

“Because Li Yuanhang said he copied Ling Mo’s homework! So we believed him without even thinking! We actually got the first few questions right, but because we believed it was Ling Mo’s answer, we changed all the questions we got right to wrong!”

“You’re lying! I didn’t copy!” Li Yuanhang turned his head and glared.

Teacher Ding also nodded, “Ling Mo’s homework was all correct, not a single question was wrong. If he copied it, it would have been all right. And with Ling Mo’s personality, he wouldn’t let other classmates copy his homework.”

When Li Yuanhang heard that Ling Mo’s homework was all correct, he couldn’t help but be surprised for a moment, then he understood.

The homework he took was prepared by Ling Mo long ago, he was framing him!

Okay, Ling Mo! I’ve put up with you for so long, this time I’m going to break every bone in your body!

“Ling Mo, did Li Yuanhang copy your homework?” The head teacher’s authoritative voice rang out again.

“No.” Ling Mo’s answer was concise, but he was looking down.

The head teacher narrowed his eyes.

“It was Li Yuanhang who said he copied Ling Mo’s homework!” Chen Qiao shouted indignantly, he was going to drag Li Yuanhang down with him.

Qu Yun touched his stomach… Oh, Mom, so this is the big show! This big show is childish, but it’s still quite interesting, but at this point, his body is hungry!

When will it be over, so I can go home and eat!

“Have you ever seen Ling Mo let anyone copy his homework?” Li Yuanhang immediately defended himself.

“Because you said Ling Mo lives at your house, eats yours, drinks yours, and you punched him because he wouldn’t let you copy his homework, and you didn’t even give him breakfast this morning!” Chen Qiao shouted.

For a moment, everyone looked in Ling Mo’s direction.

Although Ling Mo always had a cold and aloof air, it turned out that Li Yuanhang’s family treated him like this!

Teacher Ding’s heart softened immediately, and he looked at Ling Mo, “Ling Mo, is what Chen Qiao said true?”

“No.” Ling Mo replied, looking down.

Although Ling Mo didn’t smile, and he didn’t have the youthful vitality of being a little childish at this age, he was very polite. When he spoke to any teacher, he would look them in the eye.

But today, he had never looked up.

Qu Yun looked at Ling Mo, his eyes narrowed. This wasn’t simply about letting the teacher know that Li Yuanhang copied the homework.

Li Yuanhang curled his lips and glanced at Chen Qiao, as if to say: Say it, say it, anyway, Ling Mo won’t admit to being beaten by me!

Qu Yun watched Li Yuanhang’s smugness, and he couldn’t help but sweat in his heart – kid, are you really sure you want to do this?

Chen Qiao was challenged by Li Yuanhang’s gaze, and he went all out, shouting, “Ling Mo’s eye is still bruised! Did he punch himself in the eye?”

As soon as these words came out, the whole classroom was in an uproar.

They had all been watching Ling Mo prop up his forehead with one hand all day, so it turned out he was covering the bruise on his eye!

The head teacher was experienced, she knew that in this situation, it was impossible for a child who lived with others to admit to being bullied, after all, he still lived with Li Yuanhang’s family.

Teacher Ding was about to go down and see if Ling Mo’s eye was really injured, but the head teacher coughed.

“Okay, that’s all for today. The six of you come with me to the office, call your parents and ask them to come and pick you up! It’s okay to get the questions wrong, if you could do every question, what would teachers be for! But attitude is the most important thing! If you don’t understand your own learning attitude, then even the best teachers can’t teach you!”

After the head teacher finished speaking, the other students began to pack their bags and go home.

Li Yuanhang looked at Ling Mo with a look of resentment. To be honest, the more resentful he was, the more comfortable Qu Yun felt watching silently.

You little brat, you picked up a rock and hit your own foot.

He’s not a scholar, he’s a scientist who will stand at the top of the pyramid in the future, the savior of mankind, such a great halo, can you, Li Yuanhang, a little brat, trip him up?

But thinking of Ling Mo’s experience, Qu Yun felt a pang of sympathy for him. As he walked past Ling Mo’s desk, Ling Mo was just putting on his backpack, and as he turned around, Qu Yun saw a faint smile.

Arrogant, sharp, and unrestrained.

His pace was the same as usual, he walked out of the classroom unhurriedly.

And in that moment, Qu Yun realized that everything was within Ling Mo’s expectations, including writing a completely wrong homework, he knew that Li Yuanhang would show off by copying the copied homework to others, and even the bruise on his face might have been deliberately inflicted by Li Yuanhang. His goal was to have Li Yuanhang proudly tell other students about it, and then have other students expose that Li Yuanhang’s family wasn’t kind to Ling Mo.

But… how is that possible?

Ling Mo was only fourteen years old, was this a teenage version of “Palace Schemes”?

That smile of his just now must have been mocking Li Yuanhang for getting what he deserved.

Never mind… I’m so hungry.

Qu Yun took his lunch box out of his schoolbag, it still had the leftover bun from this morning. Although there was some dust on the bun, what did it matter? Anyway, Qu Yun wasn’t that particular in reality, and this world wasn’t real either, including the bun he ate.

Qu Yun picked up one of them and took a bite.

Although it was cold, he still thought it tasted good.

He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but he felt like Ling Mo was walking slower than usual today.

When they reached the first intersection of the school, Ling Mo stopped, Qu Yun was still angry with him, and didn’t want to get close to him, so he stood at the back of a bunch of students, quietly eating his bun.

As he crossed the road, Ling Mo stopped in the middle of the road.

As Qu Yun, who was ignoring him, walked past him, Ling Mo’s voice reached Qu Yun’s ears.

Very soft, but very clear.

“I’m sorry, I dirtied the bun your mom made for you.”

After saying that, Ling Mo’s long legs took a step, immediately putting distance between them.

Qu Yun looked up, and all he saw was Ling Mo’s back.

“Damn it, the cold and aloof, world-centered Professor Ling actually said sorry?”

Qu Yun looked like he had been blinded by a flashbang.

Then he realized that Ling Mo must miss his deceased mother very much, so when Qu Yun mentioned that the bun was made by his mom, Ling Mo was touched.

Plus, he had just eaten the bun that fell on the ground without a care, making Ling Mo think that he really cherished his mom’s heart, right?

… Was this a case of hitting the jackpot? Did I accidentally gain some favor with Ling Mo?

Qu Yun was happy.

It was like blowing up a bunker, he was crawling forward, and he was about to get close to the bottom of the bunker!

He quickly walked to Ling Mo’s side and asked with a smile, “You ate my bun today, you said there was going to be a show. Where’s the show?”

“If you haven’t seen enough, do you want me to promote you to the male lead?” Ling Mo’s voice was cold, but softer than before.

“… I don’t want to.” Qu Yun thought about Li Yuanhang’s appearance, the male lead in Ling Mo’s script didn’t have a good ending!

“That’s right, you can’t remember your lines.”

Ling Mo stopped, and Qu Yun saw that smile on Ling Mo’s lips again, although it was only for a moment, but Qu Yun knew that Ling Mo was a very outstanding actor, especially good at playing a little lamb as a wild wolf.

At this time, the head teacher rode his bicycle to his side, “Ling Mo, the teacher wants to chat with you, how about we go to the dumpling restaurant over there and have some dumplings?”

Ling Mo took a step back and said in his usual tone, “Teacher, I have to go home, my aunt doesn’t know, she’ll be worried.”

“Your aunt is Li Yuanhang’s mother, right? She should be on her way to the office to pick up Li Yuanhang. Let’s just chat over a meal of dumplings, and when we’re done, I’ll take you home on my bike.”

Ling Mo was still looking down, but the head teacher leaned closer and gently lifted his face. Sure enough, she saw the bruise on Ling Mo’s eye.

“Let’s go, let’s have dumplings. The teacher also wants to ask you, since you’re so good at studying, do you have any tips?”

Qu Yun was a little envious, “Wow, the head teacher is treating you to dumplings!”

“Go back and do your homework, you idiot with 35 in math.”

Ling Mo nodded and followed the head teacher into the Northeast Dumpling Restaurant across the street.

Qu Yun’s eyes lit up again – hey, he didn’t call me “moron,” he called me “idiot”! In Qu Yun’s mind, moron was a higher level of stupidity than idiot!

The head teacher ordered twenty dumplings, ten cabbage and pork, and ten wild vegetable and shrimp.

While waiting for the dumplings, the head teacher asked Ling Mo how he felt about the difficulty of the current curriculum. When the dumplings came, Ling Mo sat there motionless.

The head teacher pushed the plate closer to Ling Mo and said, “You eat first, these are all for you.”

Ling Mo was still looking down, he swallowed, and after a few seconds, he put a dumpling in his mouth. He ate slowly, as if he didn’t want to finish all the dumplings at once, but his way of eating seemed very well-mannered.

“Ling Mo, how did you get the bruise on your eye socket?” The head teacher asked.

“I fell and hit it.” Ling Mo suddenly stopped his chopsticks and sat there.

The head teacher narrowed her eyes, then sighed, “Ling Mo, you’re a smart student, you should know that the teacher won’t believe that you fell and hit your eye socket. Don’t worry, the teacher knows, you live at Li Yuanhang’s house…”

“It’s my house, not their house.” Ling Mo’s voice was not loud, but it was very firm and clear.

The head teacher realized something, nodded, and continued, “Right, it’s your house, they’re just temporarily staying at your house to take care of you. So, was the bruise on your eye socket caused by Li Yuanhang?”

Ling Mo hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

“Did Li Yuanhang copy your homework?”

Ling Mo nodded.

“Then why was his homework all wrong? Did you do it on purpose?”

Ling Mo took a breath and nodded again.

“You knew Li Yuanhang would steal your homework, so you deliberately wrote it wrong?”

“He tore up my homework and threw it in the trash can. I knew he would take my book and wouldn’t give it back to me, so I just wrote a wrong one.”

“Does his mother know about this?”

“She knows… She said Li Yuanhang is my younger brother, I should let him have his way.”

The head teacher understood, and said, “Finish your dumplings, and I’ll take you home when you’re done.”

Ling Mo didn’t move.

The head teacher smiled, “You’re so big, do you still need the teacher to feed you?”

Ling Mo finally picked up his chopsticks and ate the dumplings.

Then the head teacher asked Ling Mo to sit behind her bike and took him home.