A week before the monthly exams, a tense atmosphere settled over the entire school.

The recent mock exams for the seniors hadn’t gone well; when ranked statewide, fewer than five students were among the top two percent.

The grade head teacher was so anxious he couldn’t sleep, holding meetings every day to pressure the homeroom teachers, and this sense of urgency spilled over to the second-year students.

Class 3 of the second year, being the last in the grade, had become the main focus.

Ms. Yang Liu repeatedly urged her students to focus a bit more since the exams were just around the corner, reminding them that the entire class ranking at the bottom of the grade wasn’t a good look.

Of course, few really paid attention.

Pang Cai still hadn’t been transferred out of the class, despite Director Cai’s efforts. He didn’t want to leave himself.

No other class in the grade could be as relaxed as Class 3; they had more relaxed days than study-focused ones.

After Ms. Yang left the room, Pang Cai swaggered up to the front to find a few of his buddies.

“Hey, did you manage to get the basketball court back?”

“Nope, who’s got the time to watch it all day? Plus, there’s a lot of people from the vocational school there.”

Pang Cai looked surprised. “No way, are we really losing it? That’s Huainan’s No.1 High basketball court!”

Huainan No.1 High used to have an old campus less than a kilometer from the current one—more remote, less lively.

Later, Jiang She’s dad contributed a lot of money to help Huainan No.1 High build a new buildings, so the school moved to this new location. The old teaching buildings were leased to a research institute and part of it rented out for tutoring classes.

Although that place was more rundown compared to the current campus, it still had decent basketball and soccer fields.

When the current sports fields got too crowded, they would go play at the old campus.

Recently, though, the vocational school had taken to claiming the court there. Sometimes they’d arrive too late, and the others would already be playing, leading to frequent conflicts.

Pang Cai, feeling bored, was about to rally a few people to go play basketball in the afternoon. But when he heard they hadn’t regained the court yet, he felt a bit hesitant.

Xu Bo Xue, who was up front getting water, overheard Pang Cai and responded disapprovingly, “Who are you calling useless? The whole school’s been focusing on studying lately, and each class is keeping a close eye. Of course, there are fewer people playing basketball. With fewer people, it’s harder to compete with those vocational school guys—lucky them they don’t have to study.”

Pang Cai laughed, standing casually with his hands in his pockets. “Come on, we’re Class 3; do we really need help from other classes?”

Dai Wenjian, itching for some action, chimed in, “Exactly! Even if we don’t need to use that place, we can’t let them have it. If they keep taking it, we might never get it back.”

Xu Bo Xue, after filling his cup, ran back to his seat and asked Xu Yuan, “Hey, Yuan-ge, what’s going on? Are we just letting this slide?”

Xu Yuan hadn’t played much basketball lately, mainly because the rainy spring weather in Huai City left the ground wet and muddy, including the basketball court. The last thing he wanted was to get splashed with mud, so he hadn’t really paid attention to the issue.

Now that Xu Bo Xue mentioned it, Xu Yuan looked up, frowning slightly. “Who said we’re letting it go? I just haven’t had time.”

Xu Bo Xue set his cup down and slapped his thigh. “We have P.E. class this afternoon—let’s teach them a lesson!”

Xu Yuan leaned lazily against his chair before finally standing up, saying casually, “I’ll mention it to Ah She.”

Xu Bo Xue quickly agreed, “Yeah, with She-ge there, they won’t even have to fight—they’ll just run off.”

After all, the incident in the alleyway was still fresh in everyone’s mind. Although it wasn’t Jiang She who’d fought, he was the one who bailed them out from the police station. That kind of connection wasn’t something any ordinary troublemaker could boast.

Xu Yuan, playing with his phone, strolled up to Jiang She.

Jiang She was hunched over, busy writing something.

“Ah She,” Xu Yuan called out casually.

Jiang She didn’t respond.

Xu Yuan tried again, stepping closer. “Ah—”

He noticed that Jiang She had a test paper in front of him—a genuine high school chemistry test paper.

The title read, “Huainan No. 12 School’s Joint Chemistry Exam.”

Xu Yuan rubbed his eyes, double-checking to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

Jiang She had already completed most of the paper but was stuck on a short-answer question.

Grumbling, he muttered to the class president with a hint of frustration, “What kind of question is this? Who could even answer it?”

He fiddled with his pen, spinning it rapidly between his long, agile fingers—a habit he only fell into when focused but unsure how to proceed.

Fang Sheng, who was leaning his entire face on the paper, groaned, “Bro, give me a break! None of this is my fault!”

Ever since the class president had forced Jiang She to start studying, Fang Sheng, as Jiang She’s buddy and desk mate, had been dragged into it too. Jiang She couldn’t stand studying while Fang Sheng was on his phone, so he’d been forcing Fang Sheng to study alongside him. This torturous routine had been going on for a week now.

Chu Tao leaned over, studying Jiang She’s paper in silence for a moment, and finally said, “The reaction equation for potassium superoxide and carbon dioxide isn’t that hard. If you don’t know it, it means you haven’t mastered this type of problem. Teacher Nian covered it.”

Jiang She took a deep breath, his pen pausing.

In the past, if anyone had tried to make him do something or forced him to stay in his seat, he’d have exploded by now.

But seeing it was Chu Tao, his anger dissipated. Instead, he smiled good-naturedly. “Alright, explain it to me one more time.”

Chu Tao leaned in a bit closer, taking the pen from Jiang She’s hand. He glanced at Fang Sheng and said, “You listen too. First, you need to know their oxidation states and what they’ll form. You should have a rough idea in your head.”

Xu Yuan stood there in shock, watching as Jiang She and Fang Sheng followed Chu Tao’s explanation, balancing the chemical equation as he instructed.

Swallowing nervously, Xu Yuan patted Jiang She on the shoulder, “Ah She, what’s going on? If you’ve got something on your mind, talk to your brother here—don’t keep it bottled up. Haven’t seen you for a day, and you’re already driving yourself crazy?”

Fang Sheng rolled his eyes, sighing, “A day? We’ve been going crazy for a whole week. Meanwhile, you’ve been chilling in the back, living the good life!”

Jiang She shot him a sharp look, his gaze cold, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Fang Sheng forced an exaggerated grin, showing eight teeth, and then shifted his tone, “Pfft, Xu Yuan, you’re gonna regret it. Ah She and I have found our guiding light and set our sights on our ideal goal. We’re following the class monitor’s shining example, steering clear of aimless wandering and moving toward a bright, promising future, swimming in the sea of knowledge.”

“Our happiness is beyond what mere mortals like you can understand. Someday, when Ah She and I make the top honors list, our class monitor will be like a second parent to us!”

Chu Tao: “…”

Jiang She gave him a light smack on the head, scolding, “Get lost. If you want to claim another parent, do it yourself.”

Xu Yuan’s mouth twitched as he pointed to the test papers on their desk, “You’re not actually planning to ‘study hard every day,’ are you?”

Chu Tao looked up seriously and asked, “Would you like to join?”

Xu Yuan shook his head like a drum, terrified Chu Tao might suddenly make him join Jiang She.

Good friends stick together for life, but some struggles Jiang She would just have to face alone.

Jiang She straightened up, leaning back in his chair as he massaged his sore shoulders. “What did you need?”

He’d been working for ages; he’d never done this much homework in his life, and his body was exhausted.

He had to hand it to Chu Tao—he’d studied like this his whole life and somehow survived.

Xu Yuan scratched his head and gestured behind him with his thumb, “Xu Bo Xue mentioned the basketball court situation. The vocational school guys took over the court in the old campus area. He thought we could reclaim it this afternoon during P.E.”

Jiang She raised his eyelids slightly, his expression tired, “They still have the guts to cause trouble?”

Xu Yuan sneered, “Just a bunch who never learn. As soon as we’re not around, they think they can take over.”

Jiang She’s mouth twisted in a faint smile, a cold glint in his eyes. “Fine. This afternoon, let’s go pay them a visit.”

Xu Yuan: “Got it.”

Chu Tao: “No, you don’t.”

Xu Yuan: “…”

Chu Tao lowered his gaze, his long lashes softly fluttering like hibiscus petals, lips slightly pursed as he pointed to Jiang She’s test paper.

“You need to go over this mistake this afternoon, and review last week’s errors as well. One P.E. class might not be enough. You don’t have time to go reclaim a court. If they want to use it, let them. It’s not like you live on the basketball court. Why do you care?”

His collar was neatly pressed, exuding a faint, fresh pine scent. His tone was steady and calm, leaving no room for negotiation.

He lifted his eyes, gazing at Jiang She, his bright eyes warm and gentle, with a beautiful arc at the corner.

Jiang She met his gaze for a few moments, pressing his fingers to his temple.

Xu Yuan blinked and gave Jiang She a shove, “Bro, snap out of it. We can’t just let them walk all over us. Where’s our pride?”

Jiang She raised an eyebrow, taking a deep breath. “Forget it. Let them do what they want. Can’t you see I’m busy studying? No time.”

Xu Yuan: “Huh?”

Fang Sheng waved a hand at him, making faces, “Do you even know how hard it is for Ah She to go over his mistakes? He got half a paper wrong. It’s a massive task—can’t you be a little understanding?”

Xu Yuan: “…” Understand, my foot. Who’s going to understand me?

What kind of world is this?

Jiang She lowered his head, then looked up at Chu Tao with a helpless smile. “Is that good enough?”

Chu Tao’s eyelids quivered slightly, his lips curving almost imperceptibly as he replied softly, “hmm.”