Chapter 100

Jiang Zhihuo: “………”

The room was in great disorder; pieces of tissues, rags, and worn-out objects were all scattered on the floor, dimly revealing a long strip form joined together with beads.

Jiang Zhihuo hesitated for ten seconds, then had to recompose himself and couldn’t help but remember the scene from last night.

Mhm…… Calm my ass! It was wild like that! How can I be calm!

He whipped off the blanket at once and was about to jump off the bed, but Yan Mu embraced him behind.

“Dress up before you leave your bed.” His voice was a trifle hoarse just because he had woken up.

What clothing is there to wear! Let me go die for a bit, thanks!!” His estrus was not yet over, and Jiang Zhihuo was not in the least bit strong at present, and could only grope in the dark. “Yan-ge, let go, don’t stop me…… I am pleading with you, I am sick and tired of living!”

Yan Mu allowed him to go on a tantrum, pressing the side of his face against the back of Jiang Zhihuo, and didn’t let go.

After Jiang Zhihuo had exhausted himself by yelling and had calmed down, Yan Mu gave a weak laugh.

It was pleasurable, and Jiang Zhihuo turned his head over his shoulder and raised his voice again, frowning. “…. What are you laughing at?”

His voice was hoarse. He had screamed, cried, panted, and begged last night. Now he was simply talking, and it ached him in the throat.

However, nothing could stop Jiang Zhihuo’s shame.”Huh? What are you laughing at! Is it that funny? Who permitted you to laugh!!”

“My fault, Xiao Zhou.” Yan Mu backed down quickly, coaxing in a low voice, “Don’t move yet, it might hurt. Let me apply some ointment for you, then clean up the room, okay?”

Jiang Zhihuo: “No! Not okay! Don’t touch me! Touch me again, and we’re done!!”

That’s what he said, but his whole body hurt, especially his rear, so in the end, he obediently turned over and let Yan Mu apply the ointment.

As the fingers swept over him, Jiang Zhihuo recalled last night again and buried himself into the pillow, muttering gloomily, “Yan-ge, we’re not talking for a day.”

Yan Mu focused on applying the ointment and said flatly, “No.”

Jiang Zhihuo said, “At least be reasonable.”

Yan Mu replied, “Fine. Then what’s the reason for cutting ties?”

Jiang Zhihuo: “……”

He lifted his head and glanced at Yan Mu, wanting to speak, but hesitating. In the end, he gloomily buried himself again.

It was him. It was him. It was all him!!!

He was the one who shoved that thing inside!

He was the one who bit the hem and asked Yan Mu to pull it out!

And when everything spiraled out of control in the end, it was all because he kept asking for it!!

Only after realizing how good it felt did he belatedly decide to cut ties. Honestly, it really made no sense!!

A muffled voice came from beneath the pillow. “Don’t overthink it. I didn’t buy it on purpose; it’s just… it helps get through the estrus period. I had no choice but to use it. I can’t exactly pass out in the bathroom again, can I?!”

Yan Mu said, “Mhm. Then we’re not cutting ties.”

“No!” Jiang Zhihuo declared, determined to protect his last shred of stubborn pride. “I’m cutting ties unilaterally!”

After the quality inspection ended, they had one day off.

While eating breakfast, Jiang Zhihuo opened the newest episode of Pick U 101. This episode revealed the rankings after the second public performance. The mentors called out the trainees one by one to announce their results; some cried, some smiled. A few of them were especially close, and the show openly edited in a brotherhood storyline. When several boys advanced together, the moment they stepped onto the ranking stage, they hugged each other and burst into tears.

Yun Xiaoxu’s name was called just over an hour into the episode.

Jiang Zhihuo paused the show, hugged his tablet, moved over to the sofa, and resumed playback.

When the episode was filmed, the ‘theft incident’ hadn’t happened yet. Yun Xiaoxu shut his eyes and waited nervously for the mentor’s announcement. The moment he heard his placement, his eyes flew wide open. “What?”

The mentor said, “Your rank is twelfth. Congratulations, you’ve entered the debut lineup!”

“Impossible!” Yun Xiaoxu waved his hand decisively. In the previous episode, he had already been close to the debut cutoff, but he’d been kept inside the production team and didn’t know about it. In his mind, his ranking was still stuck at the thirty-something range announced last time. He’d been estimating that this round, he’d either get stuck at the cutoff or barely scrape by. “How could I make the debut lineup? This is just for show, right? There’s going to be a twist later, isn’t there? I’m not falling for this! Mentor, just tell me the truth. I can handle it.”

Yun Xiaoxu’s reaction was so funny that even the mentors couldn’t help laughing.

The live comments were flooded with “hahahaha,” and among them were several messages mentioning Yun Xiaoxu’s parents.

[Who would’ve thought that my adorable Yun Xiaoxu actually comes from a scholarly family, with both parents being professors at X University?]

[Those two professors are incredibly open-minded. Honestly speaking, the idol industry is still pretty misunderstood, and it’s a youth-driven career. Yet they were willing to let their son take part in a survival show, that’s amazing!]

[And Yun Xiaoxu has mentioned before that his grades weren’t good. Clearly, his professor parents didn’t force him to study, and instead let him find a path that suited him. I’m so jealous, really jealous. My parents are extremely controlling. I envy Yun Xiaoxu’s freedom.]

Jiang Zhihuo caught sight of those few live comments and smiled.

The emotions from a few days ago had really only flared up for a moment. Once he’d said it out loud to Yan Mu, they’d already faded away.

Yes, there was jealousy, but there was happiness too.

Those two professors hadn’t ruined the family they were supposed to have because of him.

They still got along peacefully with Yun Xiaoxu.

That was what Jiang Zhihuo had wanted to see.

A sofa is meant for lounging. Jiang Zhihuo leaned back out of habit, settling against Yan Mu. Yan Mu was in the middle of sending a message when he felt the weight press in at his side. He turned his head and kissed Jiang Zhihuo’s hair.

Jiang Zhihuo: “!”

He’d let his guard down!

Just an hour ago, he’d sworn he was going to unilaterally cut ties!

Jiang Zhihuo tried to straighten up again.

But Yan Mu wouldn’t let him. He hooked an arm around his waist, taking full advantage of how weak Jiang Zhihuo still was after estrus, and tugged him closer. Then he shifted a little, guiding Jiang Zhihuo until he was sitting completely in his lap. Yan Mu’s arms circled his waist, the phone held right in front of Jiang Zhihuo’s eyes, as he kept him close and replied to messages.

Yan Mu casually checked the warmth at the back of his neck, too. “Not burning anymore. Is your cold feeling better?”

Jiang Zhihuo gave a soft snort, chin lifted in pride. “It’s better.”

It was basically because the estrus symptoms had been mixed in that his cold dragged on and refused to get better.

He’d sweated a lot all through last night. The moment the estrus period ended, the cold eased along with it. Now, other than feeling weak all over, there wasn’t anything else unusual.

With a warm human cushion behind him, it was obviously more comfortable than sitting alone. Jiang Zhihuo turned on the tablet just to listen, and started playing on his phone too.

Yesterday, he’d left early, and his face had looked off the entire day. Quite a few people messaged him on WeChat to ask how he was doing.

Jiang Zhihuo was about to reply to them one by one when he suddenly paused, as something had just occurred to him. He turned to Yan Mu and made his position clear. “You’re the one who leaned over, okay? I’m still unilaterally cutting ties.”

When Huo-ge got childish, he was even more childish than an actual grade-school kid.

“Mhm.” Yan Mu rested his chin on Jiang Zhihuo’s shoulder. “I’m the one who leaned over.”

Jiang Zhihuo nodded, satisfied, replied to his WeChat messages, and then, having nothing better to do, tapped into the forum.

The forum was in a fight.

Long Hui, clearly so bored he had to pick trouble, posted several threads in a row, line after line full of provocation.

The exams were already over. Who cared about ‘mentality’ now? The top students piled on, trading shots with him, holding back on outright swearing, but still tearing into him.

Eternal Second Place: Why are you showing off this early? Are the results out yet? Or are you already sure you’ll be number one? What if you’re not? You’ve talked big; if it blows up in your face, then what are you going to do?

Long Hui: Heh. How could that be possible? Where’d you get the nerve to think you’d score better than me? Just because you ranked lower than me last time?! If you actually fucking beat me, I’ll run ten laps doing a handstand!!

Eternal Second Place: Ten handstand laps? No need for that. How about you run while barking like a dog?

Long Hui: If number one isn’t me, you think it’ll be you?

Eternal Second Place: If it’s me, then it’s me!

Long Hui: Fine. We’ll wait for the results. Next Sunday—Third High School track. Don’t be late!

“Yan-ge.” Jiang Zhihuo instantly forgot about cutting ties. He turned the screen toward Yan Mu and poked at the post with a finger, grinning with pure schadenfreude. “You free next Sunday? Let’s go watch the spectacle together!”

That afternoon, in the third year of senior high school office at No. 1 High School.

The citywide quality-inspection results came out fast.

All the city’s senior year three teachers were graded online and uploaded directly. The system then automatically compiled the scores and rankings—Saturday’s exam, and by Sunday, you could already see the results.

So the senior year three teachers at No. 1 High School showed up at the office that afternoon to wait for the release, making it easier to quickly go over students’ weak spots.

The system still hadn’t pushed out the score sheet yet, so the teachers gathered and chatted first.

“Have you guys been on the forum? No. 1 High School and No. 3 High School have been going at it hard lately!”

“And that Long Hui from No. 3 High School really is getting a bit full of himself. Last time he was only, what, 1.5 points ahead of us?”

“Wonder which school got first place this time?”

“If Yan Mu’s in the mix, there’s not much to worry about, right? Teacher Li, how did Yan Mu do on the recommendation exam?”

“He didn’t say. Sigh. Before the results come out, don’t ask too many details—superstition, you know. Superstition.”

“True. Sometimes exams really do come down to luck. And 1.5 points can be made up in a lot of places; it’s not something you can’t recover.”

“Old Ding, why have you been so quiet all afternoon?”

Ding Jianhui: “……Haha. I think… this time, first place is probably in our class… maybe?”

“That confident?!”

Ding Jianhui waved a hand, smiling—saying nothing.

As they were in the middle of talking, the office computer went ding. The system had automatically uploaded the score rankings, and the teachers hurried to click into it.

“Reporting in.” Eternal Second Place was so obsessed with studying that he even came to school on Sunday to do self-study. He’d originally come to the office to grab a fresh set of papers, but he happened to catch the results being released and immediately squeezed in with the teachers.

The internet was painfully slow. One spreadsheet froze halfway through downloading.

One teacher said, “I’m suddenly kind of nervous. This time, let’s not lose to No. 3 High School again.”

“Teacher, don’t worry!” Eternal Second Place was brimming with confidence. “I did pretty well this time. Beating Long Hui is definitely not a problem!”

“Good! Xu Er’s feeling confident!”

—Xu Er was Eternal Second Place’s real name.

“Not bad! Even if you’re not confident, you’ve still gotta act confident!”

The words had barely left his mouth when the spreadsheet finished downloading. The teacher moved the mouse and clicked it open.

Eternal Second Place held his breath, nerves taut.

It was the score data for every senior year three student in the entire city, layered and packed so densely that it made your eyes hurt. The teacher zoomed in.

Xu Er clenched both fists, so tense he was almost sweating.

But the moment they finally saw the rankings clearly, the entire office went dead silent.

On the ranking sheet—

First place—Lincheng No. 1 High School, Jiang Zhihuo, 743.

Second place—Lincheng No. 1 High School, Xu Er, 685.5.

Third place—Lincheng No. 3 High School, Long Hui: 685.

Everyone: “……”

There was no way the system’s automatically calculated rankings were wrong. So the only possibility was that they’d read it wrong with their own eyes!

Xu Er blinked, then rubbed his eyes hard.

Huh? What?

First place… who?

The teachers were all collectively dumbstruck.

How much? 743? Jiang Zhihuo???

That school bully Jiang, who was always dead last on every exam, never studied, never listened in class, and spent years writing self-criticisms under the national flag??

Sure, he’d ‘turned over a new leaf’ this semester, but last semester’s end-of-term city quality inspection, didn’t he only score in the five-hundreds?!

All the teachers turned to Ding Jianhui.

Ding Jianhui calmly took a sip of goji berry tea. Right now, he was the only one in the office who actually knew what was going on.

Last time, the quiz scores hadn’t been released to the whole grade, and Ding Jianhui hadn’t told any teachers outside of Class 1, either.

The other teachers, especially the physics teacher, still hadn’t let go of their suspicion that Jiang Zhihuo had cheated, so they hadn’t told anyone else about it.

However, there was absolutely no way anyone could cheat on the citywide quality examination.

“OldDing?!”One of the teachers exclaimed in disbelief. “What on earth is going on with your class?!”

The goji berry tea was hot, with white steam curling upward. Ding Jianhui calmly blew the steam aside, completely at ease.

He’d promised Jiang Zhihuo not to tell anyone the real reason, so he just smiled and said, “There’s something I never mentioned to you all. Our student Zhihuo, he got hit by a car some time ago, and it cleared his meridians.”