DMMB Chapter 22

Was she really that fond of Sheng Yan? Not particularly. After all, they had never been in the same class and had barely spoken to each other. They knew very little about each other and had hardly interacted at all.

The only reason she had thought she liked Sheng Yan was that her heart had suddenly skipped a beat one afternoon in late spring, just as summer was approaching.

It had actually been an entirely ordinary afternoon. She had been walking along the back street with a friend when they accidentally bumped into a man walking in the wrong direction.

And this man was no ordinary guy. He was a big, burly man, probably as wide as Lin Qian and her friend combined. He also had a nasty temper. He immediately flew into a rage and started yelling at the two girls, leaving them stunned and bringing tears to their eyes.

Just as the man was about to grab them and force them to pay compensation, Sheng Yan appeared as if he had suddenly descended from the heavens.

He reached out, grabbed their wrists through the long sleeves of their school uniforms, and pulled them behind him.

Then he quickly released their wrists, making sure not to overstep any boundaries or maintain any unnecessary physical contact. He simply raised a hand, placed it against the broad shoulder of the tall, muscular man, and gave him a gentle push backward.

His tone was casual and nonchalant.

“Hey, big guy. Take a good look. Are you sure you’re the one walking on the wrong side?”

The young man was slender but tall. Through the fabric of his white T-shirt, the sharp contours of his shoulder bones were clearly visible. The corners of his eyes and eyebrows lifted lazily, and his entire being radiated a natural, carefree arrogance and unrestrained confidence.

As a result, Lin Qian had been completely mesmerized at the time. She could barely remember how that big guy had eventually slunk away in embarrassment. The only thing she remembered clearly was that, after the man left, Sheng Yan turned around and smiled at the two girls, his eyes curving into crescents.

“Alright, it’s fine now. Next time you run into someone like that, remember to be a little fiercer.”

Sheng Yan had exceptionally beautiful features. When he smiled, his eyes curved slightly, and his striking good looks and flamboyant charm seemed utterly unrestrained. Just then, the late-spring sunlight seemed to favor him, casting a dazzling glow over his figure. The roses blooming nearby were also at their best.

And so, at that very moment, Lin Qian’s girlish heart gave a sudden, fluttering leap.

Two or three months later, when Sheng Yan’s birthday came around, she confessed her feelings to him at her friends’ urging.

Then she was rejected.

And that was the end of it.

Once the initial rush of excitement and adrenaline from that heart-stopping moment had faded, Lin Qian realized that she didn’t actually like Sheng Yan in the true sense of the word. What she had experienced was mostly a sudden awakening of her tendency to fall for handsome faces, combined with the sense of trust and affection that came from being protected during the confusing years of adolescence.

After that realization, those romantic feelings disappeared completely.

But even though she no longer had a crush on him, Sheng Yan still occupied a place in her heart similar to that of a male idol.

In fact, the reason Sheng Yan could have such terrible grades and still attract so many girls throughout the entire high school division was that most people saw him as a mature, domineering school-bully type: arrogant, carefree, fearless, and flamboyant, yet full of a sense of justice—and ridiculously, unbelievably handsome.

At least, that was how Lin Qian had viewed him until yesterday.

But how had this mature, arrogant school-bully type suddenly become a completely different person in front of Qin Zigui?

It wasn’t necessarily a good or bad change. It was just that Sheng Yan would constantly bicker and argue with Qin Zigui like an elementary school kid. Yet, at the same time, he listened to Qin Zigui surprisingly well.

His entire demeanor seemed to radiate a childish innocence, as though he had dropped every last bit of his guard. And the legendary cold, heartless, untouchable Qin Zigui actually indulged him at every turn.

The way the two of them interacted was uniquely their own, leaving absolutely no room for anyone else to intrude. It was completely different from what Lin Qian remembered: the two of them constantly butting heads, each unable to stand the other, refusing to acknowledge one another, and ready to explode at the slightest provocation.

So how on earth had they suddenly become so close?

Lin Qian recalled everything she had overheard outside the restroom just now:

“Brother Zigui.”

“Was I not enthusiastic enough when I called you?”

“Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”

“The man with the longest legs, the best butt, and who’s absolutely perfect.”

“Anyone who doesn’t like you must be blind.”

And then there had been that last sentence:

“Since that’s what you like.”

Lin Qian felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

Forget it. Forget it. I can’t think about this. I mustn’t think about it. If I figure it all out, something terrible might happen.

After all, in novels, the villainous female side characters usually met miserable endings because they knew too much. She would be better off being a beautiful woman who quietly minded her own business.

All she could do was hope those two troublemaking men would tone it down and stop making such shocking remarks. If they made her poor little pink water bottle fall two more times, she might actually start shipping them for real.

Thinking this, Lin Qian maintained her stiff, fake smile, picked up her innocent little water bottle, and awkwardly returned to her seat. Then she stiffly shifted her chair a little farther to the left, away from Sheng Yan.

Sheng Yan found her smile a little creepy and frowned slightly.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“No, no!” Lin Qian hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands, wearing an extremely kind and gentle smile.

“I just think that when a prodigal son turns over a new leaf, it’s worth more than gold. It’s a good thing that you’re finally willing to study, too! So keep it up! Big Sis believes in you. I hope you soon discover the joys of learning!”

“???”

Wait, people actually find studying enjoyable?!

Sheng Yan turned his head toward Qin Zigui.

“Are all the people in Class One this abnormal?!”

Qin Zigui: “…”

Are all you straight guys this oblivious?

He could more or less guess what Lin Qian was thinking, but he didn’t see any need to explain things so abruptly. After all, Sheng Yan was so hopelessly straight that even if Lin Qian misunderstood something, she probably wouldn’t get very far with that misunderstanding.

So Qin Zigui simply ignored the subject and continued marking things in the notebook with his pen.

“Start by studying this section. Once you’ve finished reading it, work through the example problems in this workbook. When you’re done, give it to me and I’ll correct your answers. After that, I’ll explain each problem to you one by one. Once we’ve finished this book, we’ll move on to the next one.”

Sheng Yan’s attention shifted quickly. After hearing Qin Zigui’s instructions, he stopped wondering why Lin Qian was acting so strangely and accepted the workbook, flipping through a few pages at random.

Then he saw the dense clusters of f, x, and y scattered across the pages, and suddenly felt as though he couldn’t breathe.

“Brother Qin, do you think it’s still too late for me to go to Huang Shuliang and admit I was wrong?”

Whenever Sheng Yan called him “Brother Qin,” there was usually some mischief behind it.

Qin Zigui rejected the idea without mercy.

“Brother Qin is here to tell you that it’s too late.”

Indeed, it was too late. At this point, the issue was no longer simply about writing a ten-thousand-word self-criticism and copying the test paper ten times. Qin Zigui and Huang Shuliang had fundamentally different views on how Sheng Yan should be educated, and they urgently needed to prove which of them was right.

After all, Qin Zigui was his guy. He had to give him some face.

Fine. Who can blame me? Big Brother just loves you too much.

Holding the several books that gave him a headache just by looking at them, Sheng Yan slowly turned back around, lazily sprawled across his desk, and prepared to begin studying.

But the moment he leaned forward, someone gently patted him on the back.

“Sit up straight. Don’t lie on the desk, or you won’t grow any taller.”

Sheng Yan had no choice but to slowly straighten his back, thoroughly unwilling.

“God, you’re so annoying! It’s not like I didn’t drink milk this morning.”

“Mm. There’s another carton. Drink it during the long break,” Qin Zigui replied as he took out his own competition workbook.

Sheng Yan turned around again.

“Then did you bring the little bread rolls?”

“I did.”

“What flavor?”

“Blueberry filling.”

“Then I want one.”

“Finish your work first, and I’ll give you one.”

“Fine. Then explain this problem to me.”

“Stop chewing on your pen.”

Lin Qian, who had been silently watching this entire exchange, was speechless.

“…”

Was this really how a cool, arrogant school bully and a cold, aloof academic genius were supposed to talk to each other?

Why did it feel like she had somehow traveled back to kindergarten?

·

Fortunately, Sheng Yan’s foundations were genuinely terrible, and there was an enormous amount of material on functions that he needed to catch up on. As a result, the two of them spent most of their time explaining and solving problems rather than excessively flirting with each other.

At least for the time being, Lin Qian’s imagination hadn’t completely run wild.

As for Sheng Yan studying mathematics during Chinese class, English class, and even physics class, none of the subject teachers had much of a problem with it.

They had already entered the review stage of their final year of high school, so most classes consisted of solving problems, going over answers, and independent study. The students in Class One generally followed their own study schedules, and their approaches were never particularly uniform to begin with.

Besides, everyone knew why this young master, who had been transferred from Class Six, had ended up in Class One. It was simply because of his mother’s connections. The school wanted to place him in a better learning environment, and as long as he didn’t cause trouble with his behavior or violate school rules, that was good enough.

After all, someone from a wealthy family like his could live a better life than most people even if he never achieved much academically, provided he didn’t grow up to be a terrible person. There was no need for them to play the villain. They just had to take proper care of the students they were actually responsible for teaching.

Just as Huang Shuliang had said, you couldn’t turn a lump of mud into something useful.

The wording was crude, but the reasoning wasn’t entirely wrong.

Most people also assumed that Sheng Yan’s sudden enthusiasm for studying would last no more than three minutes. He would probably give up after trying it for a little while.

But only Qin Zigui and Sheng Yan knew that Sheng Yan had been stubborn since childhood. If he didn’t want to do something, he wouldn’t even bother pretending to try. But once he decided to do something, he would take it seriously and do his very best.

So, although he genuinely disliked mathematics, he had promised Qin Zigui that he would study properly. He stopped playing games and browsing his phone, spending almost all his time bent over the notes and workbooks Qin Zigui had given him.

Whenever he didn’t understand something, he would turn around and ask Qin Zigui. Once Qin Zigui explained it in a way that suited his thought process, he would understand, write down the explanation, and continue studying.

He didn’t play on his phone or sneak in a nap even once.

By the time school let out on Friday afternoon and they went to have dinner, he had basically finished reviewing all the first-round concepts and basic example problems.

However, the questions written by their school’s foreign language school were never going to be that basic. If he wanted to guarantee a passing grade, he still had a lot more to learn.

Sheng Yan lay sprawled across a table at the fried chicken shop on the back street, holding a pen and lazily scribbling on his test paper. In a weak, lifeless voice, he said, “Qin Zigui, look at the top of my head.”

Qin Zigui reached over and ruffled his fluffy hair a couple of times.

“Mm, I’ve looked. What’s wrong?”

Sheng Yan sounded as though he were taking his final breath.

“Is my hair still all there?”

Qin Zigui: “…”

After a brief pause, he deliberately answered, “Seems like there’s a little less of it.”

“See?! I knew it! Handsome guys just aren’t meant to study mathematics!” Sheng Yan slapped the table and sat upright, his face full of indignation.

Qin Zigui glanced at him.

“Are you saying I’m not handsome?”

Sheng Yan looked at Qin Zigui’s thick, jet-black hair.

“…”

Okay, he’s handsome.

This makes no scientific sense.

Sheng Yan pursed his lips.

“You birds naturally have more feathers than we humans. It’s not the same thing.”

With that, he sprawled back across the table and resumed calculating the trigonometric function problem that looked like an ancient, incomprehensible text to him.

Seeing how exhausted he was, Qin Zigui couldn’t bring himself to remind him to sit up straight again. He simply suppressed a smile and asked softly, “There’s a newly opened Heytea next door. What would you like? I’ll go queue up and buy it for you.”

“Strawberry cheese tea. Double cheese. Don’t separate anything into different cups.”

“Okay.”

Summer dinner breaks were long, and the air conditioning in the fried chicken shop was much more powerful than the one in their classroom. So quite a few students liked to come over and sit for a while after dinner.

When Qin Zigui pushed open the door and walked out, he happened to brush past Zhu Peng and Gou You.

Ever since Sheng Yan had transferred to Class One, Zhu Peng and Gou You hadn’t seen him for two whole days. He had even firmly rejected their invitations to play games.

Now, the moment they entered the shop, they saw Sheng Yan lazily sprawled across a table, chewing on his pen while working on a test paper.

Both of them froze in shock, not daring to move an inch.

“Gou You, am I seeing things?”

“If you’re not seeing things, then neither am I.”

“That’s our Brother Yan, right?”

“With a face that handsome, it can only be our Brother Yan.”

“But would our Brother Yan actually study in a fried chicken shop?”

“No way. Unless his family went bankrupt.”

“Then has Brother Yan been possessed by some otherworldly spirit?!”

“…”

After a brief silence, Zhu Peng seemed to arrive at the correct answer. He immediately brandished the hot dog skewer in his hand like the Golden Cudgel from Journey to the West, spinning it around several times before balancing on one leg and pointing it at Sheng Yan.

“Ha! Demon! Prepare to die!”

The demon, Sheng Yan, remained sprawled across the table. He lifted his eyelids disdainfully and glanced at Zhu Peng.

“Is something wrong with your brain?”

“…”

Zhu Peng froze in place, still holding the hot dog skewer.

That tone, that expression—it was definitely his beloved Brother Yan.

But how could his Brother Yan possibly be studying?!

If someone studied, could they still be his Brother Yan?!

As if guessing what they were thinking, Sheng Yan lowered his eyelashes and continued working on the problem.

“Haven’t you heard about the bet between Qin Zigui and Huang Shuliang?”

“We heard about it. But what does Qin Zigui betting against that old fox have to do with you?” Gou You asked as he set his schoolbag down and sat beside Sheng Yan.

Zhu Peng also sat opposite him.

“Exactly! Didn’t they say that if you failed the exam, Qin Zigui would have to copy the test paper ten times and write a ten-thousand-word self-criticism? That’s great news for us!”

Two days ago, that really would have sounded like great news.

But things were different now.

Sheng Yan didn’t know how to explain to Zhu Peng and Gou You that he and Qin Zigui had temporarily reconciled. He couldn’t be bothered to explain, either.

Instead, he pointed at a problem on his test paper and asked, “This one. Why is this equal to that? What’s the logic behind it?”

“Huh?” Gou You had actually been doing reasonably well academically in Class Six. Although Sheng Yan had never asked him a question before, he leaned over to look at the problem and began gesturing as he explained.

“Oh, this is just the most basic trigonometric reduction formula. You do this, then this, then this, and after that, you do this and this one more time. That’s it!”

Gou You thought his explanation was perfectly clear.

Sheng Yan, however, raised his head and stared at him with a gaze that could practically kill.

Gou You: “…”

“Wait, Brother Yan! I’m not trying to brush you off! You really just have to do this, this, and this, then this and this, and you’re done!” Gou You tried desperately to defend himself.

Sheng Yan stared at him coldly for three seconds before lowering his head again.

“Forget it. You’re no help. I’ll just ask Qin Zigui later.”

Gou You, who had suddenly found himself completely useless: “…”

Fine. He supposed he just wasn’t good enough anymore.

As expected, feelings really did fade with distance.

Still, Sheng Yan’s progress was much faster than he had expected. The problem he had just asked about was already an advanced-level question. To have caught up this much in just two days showed that Sheng Yan was actually pretty sharp.

“So, Brother Yan, it’s not that you can’t study, right? Then why didn’t you take it seriously before? If you had, you wouldn’t have driven that old fox Huang so crazy.” Although Gou You often hung out with Sheng Yan, he had never neglected his studies. He usually scored thirty or forty points above the first-tier university admission cutoff, so he genuinely didn’t understand Sheng Yan’s reasoning.

Sheng Yan lowered his head and continued scribbling on his test paper, answering absentmindedly, “I wasn’t deliberately trying to piss him off. I just genuinely think the stuff we’re learning is useless.”

He wasn’t planning to become a research scientist, study medicine, or work in architecture. So whether it was trigonometric functions, Newton’s three laws of motion, gene mutations, or genetic recombination, he couldn’t imagine ever needing any of it in the future.

If he wasn’t going to use it and didn’t even like it, why should he waste his time and energy on it?

Gou You, whose grades were usually pretty good, was unexpectedly left speechless. In the end, he could only fall back on the classic line:

“Maybe it’s because knowledge changes your destiny.”

“But I think my destiny is already pretty good. Why bother changing it?”

Sheng Yan answered as naturally as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Zhu Peng and Gou You fell silent on the spot.

To be fair, most students who attended an elite private school like Shiwai were already relatively good students from fairly well-off families. They were lucky in their own right.

But compared with Sheng Yan, whose maternal grandparents were both retired senior government officials, whose mother was an honorary trustee of Shiwai, whose family ran a large and stable business, and who was doted on by practically every elder in his family—with their only expectations being that he grow up kind, honest, strong, and happy—it was hard for anyone else to confidently claim that they had been blessed with such good fortune.

In that case, it was probably perfectly understandable that he didn’t want to change his destiny.

For a moment, Zhu Peng and Gou You felt as though Sheng Yan had actually convinced them.

They couldn’t even think of a reason why Sheng Yan should force himself to study in the first place.

The fried chicken shop fell into a silence filled with the kind of humblebragging that made ordinary people feel as though their lives had been downgraded by comparison.

Then someone in the corner let out a scornful chuckle.

“So being born into the right family really is a skill. We have to fight tooth and nail just to get into Shiwai through the high school entrance examination, but some people can get in effortlessly through family connections. They can score just over 300 points and still end up in Class One. I guess that’s just fate.”

The remark might as well have included Sheng Yan’s ID number.

Zhu Peng and Gou You couldn’t help turning toward the corner.

“Fu Yun, what are you being so sarcastic for?”

“Since when did telling the truth become sarcasm?” Fu Yun retorted.

He was still holding a grudge over the time Sheng Yan had grabbed him by the collar in the restroom. And with so many people around now, he figured Sheng Yan wouldn’t dare actually do anything to him. So he deliberately made his words as unpleasant as possible.

Sheng Yan, however, didn’t even consider him worth his attention. He continued working through the trigonometric identities without bothering to raise his head.

“You’re right. Being born into the right family really is a talent. If you’re jealous, just say so. I’ll ask my mom later whether she’d mind having another grandson.”

“Sheng Yan, you—”

Fu Yun was the kind of person who loved provoking others but couldn’t stand being provoked himself. He immediately slapped the table and stood up, ready to fire back with something nasty.

But then a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Remembering something, he sat back down and smiled.

“I wasn’t even talking about anyone in particular. Why are you all so eager to identify yourselves with my remarks? Besides, our Brother Yan was officially recruited through his National Level Two Athlete certificate. It’s not as if he got into the school through connections.”

Sheng Yan’s fingers tightened slightly around his pen.

The thin calluses at the base of his thumb and along his index finger stood out clearly against the metallic pen barrel.

Fu Yun noticed the subtle change and felt a surge of satisfaction. He continued with a smile.

“Speaking of which, Brother Yi won second place in the exchange competition against the neighboring province a few days ago. He said he’d treat everyone to dinner tonight when he gets back. Sheng Yan, are you coming?”

The moment Sheng Yan heard the words “Brother Yi,” the tip of his pen pressed down hard against the test paper, leaving a dark dot.

Only then did Fu Yun put on an expression of sudden realization.

“Oh, I see. Looks like Brother Yi didn’t invite you. Maybe he was worried you’d feel bad reminiscing about the past. After all, back in junior high, the two of you were known as Shiwai’s Twin Stars on the school team. But now Brother Yi has won silver in an exchange competition, while our Brother Yan is busy trying to scrape together a passing grade in mathematics. Anyone looking at this wouldn’t be able to help saying what a disappointment it is.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a wave of laughter rose from the people around Fu Yun. There wasn’t much goodwill behind it.

“That’s how it is,” Fu Yun sneered. “Everyone has something they’re good at. But some people can’t seem to do anything right. I guess they used up all their talent getting born into the right family.”

“Besides, he’s got a powerful mom and Qin Zigui to clean up his messes for him. What does he have to worry about?”

“Exactly. It’s not like we can compete with that kind of privilege. At least Brother Yi has made something of himself and earned his place on the city team through his own efforts.”

The remarks were undeniably vicious.

Even Gou You couldn’t stand listening anymore. He let out a cold laugh.

“Isn’t it just a second-place finish in a high school exchange competition? If you didn’t know better, you’d think he had won Olympic gold. Back in junior high, our Brother Yan used to win championships in competitions at this level. Wasn’t Xue Yi struggling just to hold on to third place and fight for second back then? And you have the nerve to bring up Shiwai’s Twin Stars? Is he even worthy of being compared to our Brother Yan?”

Zhu Peng chimed in angrily.

“Exactly! Our Brother Yan simply has bigger ambitions. When it comes to talent, Xue Yi isn’t even worthy of carrying our Brother Yan’s shoes!”

“That’s a good joke. Does he really have bigger ambitions, or did he simply fail to impress the selectors for the city team? Doesn’t a certain someone know the answer in his heart? If he’s got the guts, let’s arrange a match this weekend and see who’s better!”

Fu Yun had originally said it offhandedly.

But the moment those words fell, Sheng Yan, who hadn’t raised his head once throughout the exchange, snapped his pen shut with a click.

Then he lifted his eyes and looked at Fu Yun.

“Mm. Fine. Let’s compete. As long as Xue Yi dares to show up.”

Fu Yun froze slightly.

Sheng Yan leaned lazily back against his chair, holding his pen and tapping it against the tabletop.

“If he doesn’t dare, then forget it. It’s not as if he ever beat me before.”

Back when Sheng Yan was still training in shooting, Xue Yi had indeed never beaten him.

But Xue Yi had since made it onto the city team.

Nanwu was a municipality directly under the central government, so its city team was essentially equivalent to a provincial-level training team. Once an athlete made it onto this team, they had a chance to advance even further.

Back then, everyone had placed enormous hopes on Sheng Yan. He had shown exceptional talent from a young age, beginning shooting training in elementary school, joining Shiwai’s school team in junior high, and eventually advancing to the district team. He had practically swept up every championship available in competitions for his age group.

It was just that during the provincial selection trials in his third year of junior high, he had inexplicably performed poorly. Xue Yi, who had always been inferior to him, took the spot on the city team and went to a sports school.

As for Sheng Yan, he had already passed the ideal age for pursuing shooting professionally, and Madam Xu didn’t want him to continue down that path anyway. So he simply withdrew from the district team as well, remaining only on the school team. Even though he frequently paid out of his own pocket to train at the shooting range and had a private coach, he shouldn’t have been better than Xue Yi anymore.

Fu Yun wanted to say, “What would he be afraid of?” But after thinking it over, he realized this was ultimately Xue Yi’s business, so he simply took out his phone. “Of course he’d dare, but Brother Yi might not have the time. I’ll call and ask.”

With that, he walked over to a corner.

Gou You, who had just been aggressively defending Sheng Yan, grabbed him anxiously. “Brother Yan, you’re really going through with this?”

“Yeah. Xue Yi is on the city team now, after all. What’s the point of competing against him head-on?” Zhu Peng had only backed Sheng Yan up earlier without thinking things through, but now that he realized Sheng Yan was serious about competing, he grew anxious too.

Sheng Yan merely tapped his pen against the desk. Looking at the calluses on his right hand, worn into his skin by years of training and no longer able to fade away, he lowered his eyelashes and said quietly, “There’s no particular reason. I just want to see whether I really am a completely useless piece of trash.”

The usually carefree and straightforward boy, who never took anything to heart, now had an inscrutable expression in his eyes.

Zhu Peng and Gou You fell silent for a moment.

They had never seen Sheng Yan like this before. For some reason, seeing him this way made them feel strangely uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Fu Yun returned with a smug expression and handed Sheng Yan his phone. “Brother Yi said he’s willing to do it, but first, he wants to know why you blocked him. He also wants to know if you’re willing to have lunch alone with him tomorrow.”

Sheng Yan frowned slightly.

When had he ever blocked Xue Yi?

He took the phone, about to ask, when he suddenly heard someone call, “A-Yan.”

Before he could react, a long, pale hand suddenly swept past his cheek and snatched the phone away.

Sheng Yan looked up in confusion.

He saw Qin Zigui standing against the light, his lips pressed into a straight line. Holding the phone, he wore an unusually hostile expression, and his tone was icily indifferent.

“It’s me, Qin Zigui. Yes, I’ll arrange the shooting range for the competition. There’s no need for a private lunch. I can make that decision on his behalf. There’s no particular reason, and one more thing.”

He paused briefly.

“Don’t call him A-Yan. It makes me sick on his behalf.”

His completely unrestrained remark left everyone in the fried chicken shop momentarily stunned.

Had Qin Zigui suddenly gone berserk or something?

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