After the Zheng Ji’guo incident, Ji Chenai’s life remained peaceful for quite some time.

Thanks to Wang Zhixiu’s efforts and Yu Zhixue’s assistance, Ji Chenai’s school enrollment was finally settled. His first day would be right after the National Day holiday.

Before he started school, Wang Zhixiu bought him a full set of textbooks, along with stationery and a new backpack. Holding these fresh supplies in his hands, Ji Chenai felt a surge of happiness. He had once believed he would never have the chance to return to school, yet fate had given him an unexpected second chance.

Concerned about his safety on the way to and from school, Wang Zhixiu and Zhou Yumian initially planned to hire someone to escort him. However, Ji Chenai firmly refused. Though he still relied on a crutch, he could manage stairs and walk independently. Besides, if he ever found himself in a difficult situation, he could always rely on his “Invincible Fly-Fly-Fly Kick.”

Despite her lingering worries, Wang Zhixiu relented in the end. However, she repeatedly reminded Ji Chenai to tell her if anything happened at school—an implicit concern that he might be bullied.

And so, after the National Day holiday, Ji Chenai officially started school. On the first day, Wang Zhixiu personally drove him there. She only left after watching him enter the classroom and introduce himself to his new classmates.

At first, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Li, was concerned that Ji Chenai might feel nervous. But seeing how he calmly introduced himself and then walked to his seat with steady composure, Mr. Li felt reassured.

The other students were naturally curious about their new classmate, but academic pressure took priority—after all, this was a prestigious high school. After whispering among themselves for a moment, they quickly refocused once the teacher began the lesson, and the classroom returned to its usual quiet atmosphere.

Ji Chenai’s deskmate was a girl with glasses. As he approached, she thoughtfully pulled out his chair for him. Though curiosity flickered in her eyes, she didn’t ask any questions since class had already begun.

It wasn’t until the lesson ended that she leaned over and whispered, “Hi, I’m Lu Yuyu.”

“I’m Zhou Yaoqin,” Ji Chenai replied.

Lu Yuyu hesitated for a moment before asking, “Did you transfer here? Or are you repeating a grade?”

Ji Chenai paused briefly before answering, “Hmm… I’ve never been to school before.” He knew this would surprise her, but he had no intention of lying about it.

As expected, Lu Yuyu was stunned. “You’ve never been to school…? What do you mean?”

Ji Chenai glanced at her, then, after a brief silence, put on a pained expression and said, “My family was really poor… and my leg was injured… so I…”

Though he didn’t finish his sentence, the meaning was clear enough.

Lu Yuyu’s eyes immediately filled with sympathy—and a hint of guilt. She realized she probably shouldn’t have asked such a personal question right away. Feeling a little awkward, she quickly said, “If you ever need help with anything, just ask me. I’m not exactly a top student, but I’ll do my best.”

Ji Chenai nodded and thanked her.

Somehow, Lu Yuyu and Ji Chenai’s conversation was overheard by a girl sitting in front of Lu Yuyu. She turned around with a smirk, laced with a hint of malice, and teased, “Well, well, looks like our ‘Miss Barely-Passing’ is offering to tutor the new kid. You sure you can handle that?”

Lu Yuyu’s face immediately flushed red with anger. She struggled for a moment before managing to squeeze out just one word: “Zhang Xiao!”

The girl, Zhang Xiao, grinned. “What? Why are you calling me like that?”

Lu Yuyu huffed. “Can you not talk like that?”

Zhang Xiao let out a scoff. “Oh? And how exactly should I talk? What, got yourself a new deskmate and now you’ve suddenly grown a backbone?”

Lu Yuyu opened her mouth to argue, but before she could respond, the bell rang, signaling the start of the next class. With no choice but to drop the matter, she sighed and muttered under her breath, “That’s just how Zhang Xiao is. Don’t take it to heart, Zhou Yaoqin.”

Ji Chenai glanced between the two girls, nodding thoughtfully.

The second period was math. Right before the break, the class had just finished their monthly exams, and now their math teacher entered the room with a stack of test papers in hand, his expression dark.

With a loud thud, he slammed the papers onto the desk and said, “Well done, everyone!”

The entire class instantly fell silent, like a group of frightened rabbits.

The teacher continued, “Do you know how much your class’s average score fell behind the grade average this time? Five points. A whole five points! Do you understand what that means? In the college entrance exam, five points could mean an entire extra year of retaking the test!”

The teacher continued lecturing the class for a while before finally handing out the test papers. When he reached Lu Yuyu’s name, he raised his voice sharply.

“Lu Yuyu, do you even want to continue studying?!”

Lu Yuyu lowered her head as she walked up to collect her test paper. As she reached the teacher’s desk, he tapped on it heavily. “Come to my office after school!”

“O-okay, teacher,” Lu Yuyu mumbled weakly before trudging back to her seat, looking even more dejected.

Ji Chenai glanced at her paper and immediately understood why the teacher had reacted so strongly. Written in bold red ink at the top was a glaring “32”.

No wonder the teacher was furious.

For the rest of the class, the math teacher went over the exam. Since Ji Chenai had just transferred in, Lu Yuyu reluctantly offered up her own paper as reference. Having just become seatmates, Ji Chenai wasn’t sure how to comfort her, so they simply sat in silence, listening to the teacher’s explanations. Every now and then, Lu Yuyu scribbled down notes with a gloomy expression.

Ji Chenai skimmed through the exam questions and realized that he could solve most of them. There were a few parts he didn’t remember too clearly, but after doing some mental calculations, he estimated that if he took the test right now, he could probably score around 100.

At that moment, Xiao Qi suddenly popped up.

“School? What’s the point of school? If I were you, I’d just go collect scrap instead…”

Ji Chenai raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you the one who kept telling me not to pick up trash before?”

“Yeah, well, even that’s better than sitting here listening to this boring lecture.” Xiao Qi scoffed, then added slyly, “How about this—we make a deal. You ditch school, and when the college entrance exam comes around, I’ll help you cheat…”

Ji Chenai blinked. “…Full marks?”

“A perfect score might be tricky,” Xiao Qi admitted. “Gotta make the essay look realistic, so I’ll have to dock a few points. But don’t worry, I guarantee no more than seven or eight points off!”

For a moment, Ji Chenai felt like all of life’s struggles had become meaningless. The most important thing he could do in this lifetime was to stay on good terms with Xiao Qi. With that, his future would be nothing but smooth sailing.

Still, for now, he was actually enjoying the experience of being in school, so there was no need to use his personal cheating device just yet.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuyu was still staring down at her test paper, looking utterly defeated. Even Ji Chenai felt a twinge of sympathy just watching her.

However, while Ji Chenai held back, others clearly didn’t.

Zhang Xiao, the girl sitting in front of Lu Yuyu, clearly wasn’t a fan of Ji Chenai’s new seatmate. The moment class ended, she turned around and smirked. “Weren’t you supposed to be tutoring the new kid, Lu Yuyu? If I were you, I’d go straight to the teacher and request a seat change—no need to drag him down with you.”

“What’s your problem?!” Lu Yuyu snapped, her face flushing with anger.

Zhang Xiao shrugged dramatically. “Geez, lighten up. Can’t even take a joke?”

Lu Yuyu glared at her, too furious to form a response.

Just then, Xiao Qi popped up again and remarked, “You know, I think school might actually suit you…”

Ji Chenai raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Operation ‘Reform the Failing Student’—commencing now! Eliminate Zhang Xiao and help Lu Yuyu rise to the top of the academic food chain!” Xiao Qi declared with dramatic enthusiasm.

Ji Chenai: “…”

Despite Xiao Qi’s theatrics, Ji Chenai had only just started school and didn’t know Lu Yuyu well enough to say much. He offered a few words of encouragement, but she remained downcast for the rest of the day.

After school, Lu Yuyu grabbed her test paper and headed straight to the teacher’s office.

Ji Chenai was packing up his things, preparing to leave, when Zhang Xiao—seeing that Lu Yuyu was gone—turned around and said, “Your name’s Zhou Yaoqin, right? Want me to talk to the teacher about moving you to a different seat?”

Ji Chenai raised an eyebrow. “You really don’t like Lu Yuyu, huh?”

Zhang Xiao shrugged. “Not really. I’m just worried she’ll drag down your grades. She’s the class weirdo—always dead last in every test. No one even knows how she got into this school.”

Ji Chenai replied calmly, “I didn’t get in through the entrance exam either.”

Zhang Xiao scoffed. “Yeah, well, she’s a normal person. It’s not the same.”

Now that rubbed Ji Chenai the wrong way. If Zhang Xiao’s earlier comments could be brushed off as bluntness, this was outright antagonistic. His voice cooled. “Thanks, but I think she’s just fine.”

Zhang Xiao was momentarily stunned by Ji Chenai’s response, then simply shrugged. “Suit yourself.” With that, she turned back to her homework.

That evening, the class had a scheduled self-study session, but Ji Chenai had already arranged with the homeroom teacher to do his studying at home instead. So, after lazily packing up his books and slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he headed toward the school gates.

As he passed by the teacher’s office, he ran into Lu Yuyu, who was walking out with her head down, looking utterly dejected.

Noticing Ji Chenai’s backpack, she perked up slightly. “You’re heading home? I’ll walk you to the school gate!”

Ji Chenai waved her off. “No need.”

But Lu Yuyu ignored him, casually taking his backpack off his shoulder and carrying it herself as she walked with him toward the exit. She only turned back after watching him board the bus and settle into his seat.

At that moment, Ji Chenai suddenly understood why the homeroom teacher had paired him with Lu Yuyu. She might not have the best grades, but she had a kind heart.

He mused aloud, “Xiao Qi, do you have any skills that can boost someone’s intelligence?”

“Of course not! If I did, don’t you think I’d have used it on you by now?” Xiao Qi scoffed.

Ji Chenai: “…”

Xiao Qi continued, “But hey, who cares? You’ve got me as your cheat code—don’t worry, the world is yours!”

Sitting on the bus, Ji Chenai listened as Xiao Qi enthusiastically proposed a plan: he should tutor Lu Yuyu, and if all went well, Xiao Qi might even try acquiring a set of next year’s college entrance exam questions…

Ji Chenai had a strong suspicion that everything Xiao Qi had said earlier was just a setup for that last sentence…

After arriving home, he went straight to the study and started memorizing his lessons. Seeing this, Xiao Qi immediately began chattering away, trying to distract him.

“Can you shut up for once?!”

Xiao Qi pouted. “What’s the point of studying all this? It’s just for exams, right? And with me around, you don’t even need to worry about exams! So why are you working so hard?”

Ji Chenai responded without hesitation, “Because I want to.”

Xiao Qi: “…You’re so stubborn.”

Although Ji Chenai had brushed off Xiao Qi’s words, he had to admit there was some truth to them. Most of what he was studying in high school was just to pass exams. Unless his future university major required this knowledge, he’d probably forget 80% of it anyway.

Despite being annoyed by Xiao Qi’s interference, Ji Chenai still sat quietly and finished his homework.

Later, Wang Zhixiu came home and called him out for dinner. As they ate, she asked about his first day at school.

Ji Chenai told her everything was going well—the classmates were friendly, and the teachers were looking after him. Hearing this, Wang Zhixiu finally relaxed.

She reminded him again, “If you make any good friends, feel free to bring them home to hang out.”

After dinner, Ji Chenai continued reading until nine o’clock. During that time, he engaged in yet another battle of wits with Xiao Qi. In the end, they reached a compromise—Ji Chenai could only study until nine, and the rest of his time had to be spent earning positive energy.

After taking a shower, he lay in bed and suddenly felt that, with Xiao Qi around, life had lost all sense of challenge… well, except for the part about collecting positive energy. That was still a worthy pursuit.

The next morning, Ji Chenai finally received a letter from Zhou Yaoyun, who had been missing in action for the past few dozen days.

As usual, Zhou Yaoyun began the letter by expressing how much he missed Ji Chenai. But then, his tone abruptly changed as he demanded to know why Ji Chenai hadn’t told him he could walk again—let alone that he had started attending school.

Ji Chenai’s return to school had only been decided in the past month or two, and he honestly couldn’t be bothered to figure out how Zhou Yaoyun had found out. Instead, he lazily replied:

“If you don’t hurry back soon, I’ll be sending you an invitation for my child’s full-month celebration.”

Zhou Yaoyun was silent for a long, long time before finally replying to Ji Chenai with six simple dots: “……”

Of course, after sending his response, Ji Chenai asked Xiao Qi to spy on what Zhou Yaoyun was up to. When Xiao Qi returned, it immediately started wailing in exaggerated misery again.

This time, Ji Chenai coldly shot back, “Using the same joke twice makes it lose its charm.”

Only then did Xiao Qi, feeling thoroughly wronged, begrudgingly reveal the truth—Zhou Yaoyun was lying in a hospital bed, and judging by the extent of his injuries, he wasn’t in great shape.

Ji Chenai’s heart tightened at the news. He quickly asked for details, and Xiao Qi projected an image in front of him.

What Ji Chenai saw was Zhou Yaoyun, wrapped up like a mummy, bound tightly in bandages. He was lying on the hospital bed, completely expressionless, busy writing something on a tablet.

Ji Chenai frowned. “What’s he writing?”

Xiao Qi: “He’s researching how to tie you up and bring you over…”

Ji Chenai: “???”

Xiao Qi: “Oh, I’m just joking.”

Ji Chenai: “…”

Seeing Zhou Yaoyun in such a pitiful state, Ji Chenai couldn’t help but send him another email. In the message, he expressed concern for Zhou Yaoyun’s situation and promised that if anything happened at home in the future, he would be sure to let him know.

When Zhou Yaoyun saw the email, his previously emotionless expression finally softened. He gave a small smile and sent back a simple “Mm.”

Ji Chenai looked at the “Mm” and couldn’t help but chuckle.

=^_^=