Chapter 39 - Weighing a Bet
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林知落 update:2022-08-15 16:53
YangZong Jie and Li Gao were known not to get along. But with Li Gao having Guo DangLi as support, Yang ZongJie couldn’t afford to mess with Li Gao even if he hated him to the bone. He even actively avoided him. But recently, Class 7 and Class 8 had explicitly gone through some huge changes.
All the teachers in their grade publicized the changes in the two classes. Recently, they’ve even been focusing on how the problematic Guo DangLi had changed his ways. The teachers encouraged everyone to learn from this. Yang ZongJie was so mad he almost skipped class; when did the teachers’ expectations become so low? Do you really believe that these sorts of people are deserving of praise?
Yang ZongJie had personally witnessed Guo DangLi and his lackeys harass honest students after school for money to buy cigarettes. They steal money while ridiculing them and their efforts to study.
But all the teachers were beginning to speak more and more of these ‘reformed’ students. As soon as anyone causes a ruckus in class, the teacher would talk about how great Class7 and Class 8 was. Nowadays, the whites of Yang ZongJie’s eyes were slowly disappearing during class. It was really beginning to strain his eyes.
And now, with the monthly test tomorrow, the teachers have started mentioning Class 7 and Class 8 to an unprecedented degree. They started dropping all sorts of crazy hints and because of this, all the students were now afraid of the underachieving classes overtaking them. The atmosphere in their classrooms was wrought with tension.
But Yang ZhongJie hadn’t been affected by the overwhelming tension in the air. Instead, he thought it funny. Only a ghost would believe that Guo DangLi and his gang actually changed their ways. Li Gao had once proclaimed that he thought those who read all day were fools.
So he took advantage of their break time and pulled his friend Zhang QianJian along to Class 7. He wanted to take a look at the situation and prove to everyone that he was right. But unexpectedly, he ran into Li Gao handing a bag of seafood to Lin Qian. He couldn’t help but mock Li Gao.
Originally, the usual flow of this situation would be Li Gao spouting barbs right back at him after Yang ZongJie started mocking him. They would devolve into shouting verbal abuse at each other. It was practically routine. But Yang ZongJie didn’t expect Lin Qian to stop Li Gao in only a few words. Moreover, with the sudden appearance of Class 8’s Zheng PingQing, the situation had become even more strange.
Yang ZongJie didn’t want to provoke Zheng PingQing, so after looking at him, he said: “Still arguing? It’s become so noisy, so I’m leaving.”
Li Gao still had a belly full of fire, but he didn’t know whether he could still shout it all out. The two big Bosses were still discussing on how to distribute the seafood. Anxious, Li Gao asked: “Boss, Second Brother, should I scold back?”
Zheng PingQing gave him the side-eye and smiled a smile that wasn’t really a smile. “Still surreptitiously trying to look good in front of the higher-ups, eh?”
Li Gao: “.……” His finger suddenly started to hurt again.
Li Gao had to sneakily glance at Lin Qian for help. Lin Qian put a hand on Zheng PingQing’s shoulder and with a peaceful expression, said: “Fighting others is boring and a waste of time. Moreover, it damages our image of a civilized person.”
Yang ZongJie looked at Lin Qian with a complicated expression. He couldn’t help but remind him: “Classmate Lin, I’d like to advise you not to waste time on these people. They won’t change. I also heard that your own grades got affected. They’re really not worth it.”
In the past, whenever people would say such things about him, Li Gao didn’t care. But today, he felt uncomfortable for some odd reason. He couldn’t help but bite back: “How much free time do you have that you feel the need to poke your nose on things that have nothing to do with you?”
Yang ZongJie sneered. “Oh, and you’re not like that?”
Lin Qian once again stopped the red-faced Li Gao from stepping forward. Instead, it was Lin Qian who took a step towards Yang ZongJie. Still with his ordinary expression, Lin Qian lightly said: “Classmate, I think you’ve got it wrong.”
With a gentle smile and eyes as still as calm water, Lin Qian said: “I think they will change.”
His voice wasn’t overly loud, but it was undeniably firm. Yang ZongJie was so shocked he forgot to reply.
And then, the school bell rang. The students who were hanging around the hallway started walking back to their classrooms and before long, the corridor was silent.
Zhang QianJian, who had been quiet all this time, pulled at Yang ZongJie. “ZongJie, we need to get to class.”
Yang ZongJie finally recovered. A little embarrassed at his gaffe, he waved his hand. “You’ll be sorry.” Then he turned around to leave.
“Wait.” Lin Qian stopped him. With a smile, he said: “Why don’t we make a bet?”
Yang ZongJie turned back and looked at Lin Qian strangely. “Bet?”
Lin Qian replied: “We’ll bet on the test tomorrow. Whether Li Gao does better than you on the test.”
“No way.”
“Could that even still be considered a wager?”
Li Gao and Yang ZongJie spoke up at the same time. Yang ZongJie looked insulted and said: “If by some miracle Li Gao does better than me, I’ll do a broadcast like those people in Class 8 and concede to Li Gao while the entire school listens.”
Lin Qian readily accepted the terms. “Whatever you say.”
Yang ZongJie: “.……” He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt like he agreed on things way too quickly.
The bell rang a second time, prompting Lin Qian to urge: “With that all sorted, let’s quickly go back to our classes.”
The dazed Yang ZongJie almost followed Lin Qian’s words, but fortunately, he managed to sober up and stopped his moving feet. He asked: “Wait, what happens when I beat Li Gao? What is he going to do?”
Lin Qian gave him a blinding smile. “He’s going to continue to work hard and redouble his efforts, of course!”
Yang ZongJie thought he heard wrong. Stunned, he waited for two seconds to make sure that Lin Qian wasn’t going to add anything more. He then incredulously asked: “That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” Lin Qian nodded without blinking an eye.
This time, Zhang QianJian couldn’t help but speak: “But that’s not fair. What kind of bet is this?”
“What?” Lin Qian looked at Yang ZongJie and tilted his head. “It’s obvious that Li Gao will lose the bet, aren’t we the ones at a disadvantage?”
At Lin Qian’s sincere eyes, Yang ZongJie almost blurted out a ‘yes.’ Fortunately, he managed to swallow the words back down at the last second. But he still couldn’t find the words to refute Lin Qian.
It was Yang ZongJie’s own fault. He was the one who said too much in the first place.
Sounding very generous, Lin Qian continued: “But since we are all fellow classmates, we don’t need to calculate things so precisely. We’ll gladly bear this small loss.”
The school bell had rung twice already, and the hallway was empty. They were the only ones still standing around. Zheng PingQing, who was very relaxed at the sidelines, made the final statement: “Alright, we aren’t the kind of people who are fussy about such things, you don’t have to feel embarrassed on our behalf. Let’s just all go to class.”
Yang ZongJie and Zhang QianJie failed to find the flaws in their logic. In the end, they were forced to leave and return to their classrooms. In a daze, Zhang QianJian asked Yang ZongJie: “Why do I feel like there’s something wrong with this bet you’re doing, ah?”
“Lin Qian led us down a pit.” Yang ZongJie beat himself on his thigh, finally reacting to the situation. However, it was already too late for regrets. Moreover, this wager was a pit he dug all by himself.
Meanwhile, when Yang ZongJie and his friend left, Li Gao immediately turned towards Lin Qian with a pained expression. “Boss, what am I gonna do? I can’t win against him.”
Lin Qian’s posture remained relaxed. “If you don’t win, then you don’t win.”
Li Gao felt ashamed. “But then you’ll lose the bet……”
Lin Qian looked at him weirdly. “If you lose, you lose. No skin off my back.”
Li Gao was stunned. After thinking about the bet, he belatedly reacted and became happy. “Boss is so wise!”
Lin Qian: “.……”
Lin Qian couldn’t help but put a hand on his forehead. “I made a set of question-type summary notes and gave it to Class 8. Zheng PingQing will give you a copy later, so go do them tonight.”
Li Gao nodded as if he was pounding garlic. “Yes!”
After Li Gao rushed back into his classroom, the two old foxes ignored the class bell and continued to leisurely chat.
“Do you really believe that they’ll change?” Zheng PingQing looked towards the little gangsters in Class 7, most of which were sneaking glances towards them. Zheng PingQing remained in contact with some of these people in his last life. He didn’t dare hold much hope for them.
“It doesn’t matter.” Lin Qian waved a hand. “Even if there isn’t much of a change, they’ve still already changed.”
Zheng PingQing thought about it. “You’re right. And anyway, I can just beat them up if they resist.”
“Of course.” Lin Qian lifted his chin. “You were the same.”
“No.” Zheng PingQing gave him a serious look. “I was conquered by love.”
Lin Qian: “.……well, you’re not wrong.”
With a ‘hehe,’ Zheng PingQing smiled and asked: “By the way, how are you going to be with the test tomorrow?”
Lin Qian laughed. “Getting into the top five isn’t going to be an issue.” He followed his review plans to the letter, and his self-assessment hadn’t been miscalculated.
“Un.” Zheng PingQing nodded, his eyes full of tenderness. “You don’t need to take this test too seriously. In any case, you still have plenty of leeway.”
Lin Qian nodded, then asked: “How about you? How are your studies coming along?”
Zheng PingQing was also quite confident. “Top 500 isn’t going to be a problem.”
Lin Qian: “.……” There were only around 400 of them in the entire grade.
Lin Qian had no choice but to give him some tough love. “If you’re not careful, you’ll be singing ‘Waiting for you to finish class’ for the next couple of years.”
——Three years of high school why, why, why didn’t I study hard enough to get into the same university as you.
“If I bomb the exam, I can just buy a house right next to your university. We can just live together right away.” Zheng PingQing fearlessly replied.
After he said this, Zheng PingQing let his imagination run wild. “I’ll buy two houses. One in front of the university, and another at the back of the university. We can live according to your schedule.”
“So you don’t want to experience a free, beautiful, and youthful campus romance?” Lin Qian asked with a raised brow.
Zheng PingQing blinked, then gave him a profound look. “I just decided that I’m going to do problems all night tonight.”
The two looked at each other with meaningful smiled. Just then, Lin YaZhi, who was walking to Class 7, saw the two standing outside the classroom. Surprised, he said: “Ah Qian, Student Zheng, you two aren’t in class yet?”
Zheng PingQing sincerely replied: “We got too caught up with our discussion that we forgot the time.”
Lin Qian nodded and echoed: “The sea of knowledge really is endless.”
Lin YaZhi was delighted. “It’s a great pleasure to see Student Zheng take an interest in learning. After the test, why don’t you come to our house? I’ll give you and Ah Qian some remedial lessons?”
Lin Qian: “.……”
Zheng PingQing’s face didn’t change one bit as he replied: “We’ll see.”
Lin YaZhi didn’t mind, and after smiling at the two, sent them off to their respective classrooms.
Meanwhile, in Class 7, Guo DangLi, Li Gao, and several others saw the harmonious scene just outside their classroom. They couldn’t help but sigh: “What a wonderful family scene.”
A little brother couldn’t help but ask: “Does that mean that Teacher Lin is our grandfather?”
Others: “.……”
Guo DangLi smacked the little brother on the head. “Get lost!”
The author has something to say:
Lin YaZhi: ???????????????
I found the ‘waiting for you in class’ bit hilarious. The author even provided a line of the song
Here’s another fan art from discord! Drawn by !ColdToTheBone! thank you so muchhh