Chi Han noticed that most of the teachers who taught in this class, aside from the class teacher, had an attitude of indifference. No matter how chaotic the classroom was, they wouldn’t bother to look up.
Just like at this moment, even though Rong Xu had been late for the entire morning, no one seemed to care.
“Why is this disabled guy back again? I thought he had dropped out.”
“Who knows… I heard that the old man from the Rong family has been wanting to send him to another school to fend for himself, but it seems his dad insisted on keeping him here…”
“Don’t even get me started. That new guy, Chi Han, who transferred here today, seems like his dad pulled some strings to get him in. I overheard the headmaster at the administrative office talking about Chi Han’s terrible grades!”
“Is that true? Then why was he acting all high and mighty sitting next to the teacher’s podium this morning? I actually thought he was some sort of academic genius!”
“Academic genius? Him? Back in No.10 High School, he was consistently at the bottom. It’s probably just because his dad has money, and I bet he had a word with the principal.”
“…”
Rong Xu rolled his wheelchair slowly past those hushed whispers. When he passed Chi Han, he didn’t lift his head or show any recognition, as if the two had never met before.
The joy in Chi Han’s eyes slowly dissipated.
It seemed that, for Rong Xu, seeing him again was more likely to evoke aversion.
Chi Han still didn’t know what Jiang Yaoning had said to Rong Xu that night. He couldn’t recall what grievances the original owner might have had with Rong Xu, and the novel mainly focused on the complex relationships between them and Fang Jingluo.
After all, this scum protagonist was the true male lead.
Chi Han kept his gaze on Rong Xu until he took a seat in the far corner of the last row. Only then did he finally avert his eyes.
It was alright; he had plenty of time to repair their relationship.
Chi Han’s current attitude towards Rong Xu was like that of someone handling a fragile treasure. He knew that even if he didn’t interfere, this person would shine brightly in the future and become a legend in the business world.
However, upon seeing Rong Xu’s tragic fate and his wasted youth, Chi Han couldn’t suppress the urge to pull Rong Xu out of this quagmire.
Because when Chi Han was young, he had also struggled step by step in this muddy water, covered in scars. What he most wished for at that time was probably to see someone extending a helping hand to him.
Rong Xu was completely shrouded in the shadow beyond the sunlight. His icy fingertips gripped the pen handle and moved swiftly across the white paper, leaving behind a string of cryptic numbers.
That pen was the tool he used to kill.
The surroundings were bathed in sunlight, but he was trapped in his own personal hell.
***
Chi Han felt that approaching Rong Xu recklessly now would likely have a counterproductive effect, so he returned to his original seat.
It was in the third-to-last row, with a clear view of Rong Xu.
Chi Han noticed that Rong Xu was constantly writing something, and he did it at a very fast pace as if he didn’t need to think much.
The novel had mentioned that he was a very intelligent person and that financial issues were a piece of cake for him.
So… Rong Xu’s grades should be excellent!
Curious, Chi Han went to the past semesters’ report cards posted on the bulletin board. Since No.1 High School was a prestigious school, they had frequent exams, and each time, the academic affairs director would print and post the top nineteen rankings in each classroom. They kept the old report cards for comparison.
Thanks to this, Chi Han could easily see the entire year’s rankings since the beginning of the first year.
At first glance, he spotted Fang Jingluo, who was ranked first in the year.
Chi Han: “…”
He felt like throwing up.
How could someone like him get first place? Chi Han began to doubt No.1 High School’s academic standards.
However, leaving his biases aside, Fang Jingluo’s grades were indeed impressive. He could score full marks in math, physics, and chemistry, which was not too astonishing, but the surprising part was that he only lost five points in both Chinese and English.
Although Chi Han had been away from the campus for many years, he could still recall the fear of being dominated by essays and discussions.
It had to be said that Fang Jingluo, as a male lead, had some redeeming qualities, but that was about it.
Chi Han’s eyes scanned the report card, line by line, and he couldn’t find Rong Xu’s name.
…Did he miss it?
Just as his patience was wearing thin, he finally found that familiar name on the last page in the fourth-to-last row.
Out of 1,210 students, Rong Xu ranked fourth from the bottom?!
Financial genius? Business prodigy?
Chi Han was speechless.
However, as he carefully examined the subject scores, he understood why Rong Xu’s grades were shockingly low.
Rong Xu had taken only one subject, math, and scored 80 out of 150. He was just a hair’s breadth away from writing “perfunctory” on his exam paper.
Suddenly, a loud splashing sound interrupted Chi Han’s thoughts. He instinctively turned to see a boy holding a constantly dripping cup, engaged in a scuffle with another boy. Water splashed around as they tussled.
To be precise, it was on Rong Xu’s desk.
The water rapidly spread on the white paper, blurring the dark ink numbers. Soon, they were all gone. Chi Han’s smile faded as he remembered that Rong Xu had spent the entire class writing on that paper.
“Crack!”
The boy’s hand swung the cup around, but someone knocked it out of his hand, and it fell to the ground with a loud, crisp sound, leaving a dent in the cup’s rim.
The boy’s eyes widened, and he immediately shouted in distress, “Damn it! My 3,000 yuan water bottle!”
He picked up the cup, and it was now covered in dents and clearly unusable.
“Are you an idiot?” The boy’s eyes turned red from anger. This was his favorite brand endorsed by a famous basketball star. He had begged his dad for a long time before getting it. It had been only a few days, and it was already ruined. He was breathing heavily and wished he could strangle Chi Han.
Chi Han glanced at Rong Xu, who had put down his pen and taken out a new sheet of paper to recalculate. He sighed in relief but then looked at the boy with a mocking expression.
“Idiot?” He tilted his head and sneered, “Are you blind? Or do you want to donate your eyes to charity if you don’t need them?”
The boy was furious and wanted to fight but remembered the few who had been scolded by Chi Han in the morning. He had to reluctantly withdraw his hand and said, “Just you wait.”
Chi Han: “…”
Talking to a fool was useless. Sometimes, fists were more effective.
Throughout, Rong Xu seemed like an empty shell, detached from the world, unable to be moved by anything.
Chi Han knew that there was hatred inside him. But he had gathered it slowly, waiting for the day when it would surge out and drown everyone who had hurt him.
Including himself.
Chi Han sometimes wondered. If the ending hadn’t been orchestrated by Fang Jingluo to bring down Rong Xu, would Rong Xu’s ending be any better?
After thinking it over, he came up with a negative answer.
It was because Rong Xu’s inner world was too dark, devoid of any light.
The ultimate ending would only lead Rong Xu further into the darkness.
Chi Han sighed in his heart and returned to his seat before the self-study bell rang.
***
After the self-study period, there was an hour and a half of lunch break, and almost everyone left. Chi Han went to the cafeteria and ordered a simple meal, then returned to continue his studies.
He was in a financially tight situation now, and once the jade carving machine returned, it would undoubtedly consume a lot of his time. So he cherished every moment now to make up for the foundation he had missed in his first year of high school.
Warm sunlight streamed in from the window, casting numerous tiny specks of dust into the air.
Chi Han stretched lazily and looked at the desk in the corner, where Rong Xu was huddled, isolated and cold.
After a few seconds, he stood up and walked over.
…
Rong Xu arrived in the late afternoon as usual, still half-bowing his head. He pretended not to see Chi Han, attempting to fade him out of his world.
People who had spent too long in the darkness often ended up fearing the light.
Before falling in love with that ray of light, he would have extinguished it with his own hands.
Rong Xu coldly returned to his seat, mechanically picking up the sheet of paper he had been working on.
Suddenly, his gaze landed on the neatly stacked sheets of calculation paper in his drawer. The unevenness of the paper’s surface told him that this was the stack of papers that had gotten wet in the morning.
The paper, already in a sorry state, had been carefully smoothed out, dried, and the missing parts meticulously patched up with tape.
Rong Xu’s heart seemed to have been squeezed momentarily, and he stared at the stack of paper in silence, his breathing slightly erratic.
After a moment, Rong Xu reached out and smoothed them out. Just as he was about to throw them in the trash, he hesitated and withdrew his hand as if having second thoughts.
In the end, he hurriedly straightened them and pressed them into his book, never taking them out again.
