Chapter 343 - 238: New Classmate
Monday, a school day—
Just like any other day, Su Zhi headed to school. But the moment he entered the classroom, he was swarmed by his enthusiastic classmates, who hoisted him into the air without a word.
"God Su is incredible! Long live God Su!"
"We’re the champions!"
"URA!"
"Su Zhi, I want to be your dog so bad, hnggg, ahhh!"
"Get lost! Only I get to be God Su’s dog!"
"Fine, you guys can be God Su’s dogs. I’ll be the class president’s dog..."
"Damn you! Draw your sword!"
The scene was pure chaos. Shao Ya peeked her head out from the doorway, gloating. She was glad she’d walked a little slower and escaped the same fate.
"Alright, alright, thank you for the warm welcome, but could you please put me down now?"
After being tossed up and down several times, Su Zhi finally found a chance to deftly land on his feet, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Could you let me through? I’d like to get back to my seat... uh..."
The answer, it seemed, was no. His classmates’ eyes sparkled as they all stared at him like he was their favorite idol.
"God Su! Can I get your autograph?"
"Sign for me first! Sign my body!"
"Why are you taking off your pants? You pervert!"
"Brother Shu! Please have a match with me! I want to feel the suffocating sensation of being utterly crushed by you!"
"You scheming bottom! Only I get to be crushed by Brother Shu!"
"I’m a Su-stan! God Su, please lay an egg for me to eat!"
"Xiaohanzi, bring your God Su to court with you!"
The classroom was in an uproar.
Meanwhile, the girls with sharp eyes spotted Shao Ya furtively hiding by the door. With a cry of "URA!", they swarmed her, clinging to her like koalas.
Shao Ya could only offer a resigned, motherly smile, patting them on the head one by one to soothe them.
Even Liu Yuhang, who had always been seen as a "respectable loser," had a power fantasy moment this time. After powerfully securing the first round, he had barely stepped into the Class 10 classroom before being surrounded by his classmates as well.
The trio, having returned triumphantly from the team competition, had become objects of worship for everyone in Class 10.
It was no exaggeration to say that all the students of Huai City First Middle School, and even all of Huai City, were Su-stans, Shao-stans, or Liu-stans.
In recent years, the trend of Pet Beast resources and prospective Beast Tamers concentrating in big cities had become more and more pronounced. Small cities like Huai City were finding it increasingly difficult to get by.
The top schools, represented by Shanda University Affiliated School, scooped up all the meat. Second-tier schools could only drink the soup. And for a school like Huai City First Middle School, which didn’t even rank provincially, it was hard to even get a sip of soup; most of the time, they could only eat dust.
This was especially true for team competitions, which tested overall strength and were even harder to qualify for than the one-on-one individual matches.
The last time Huai City First Middle School had a stellar performance in the team competition was back in the era of Peng Kai.
That year, Peng Kai was a sophomore. He led the Huai City Team into the qualifier finals against Shanda University Affiliated School, ultimately losing and taking second place.
Even so, Peng Kai and the students who competed in that tournament were regarded as legends.
But now, nearly a decade later... Su Zhi had led the Huai City Team to sweep Shanda University Affiliated School in the qualifier finals and seize the championship!
And what’s more, three members of this team were from their very own Class 10!!
For the past two days, the students of Class 10 had been walking on air. Even when taking a dump in the stalls, they were itching to tell the person in the next one, "You know Su Zhi? He’s in my class! We’ve eaten together!"
And today, the heroes of all of Huai City had truly returned to their side. It was easy to understand the students’ excitement.
Enthusiasm was contagious. Su Zhi and Shao Ya alternated between signing autographs and taking photos with everyone... they agreed to any request that wasn’t too outrageous.
A joyful atmosphere filled Class 10, making Liu Yuhang, who was looking at his phone by himself, seem a bit lonely.
"Academic Rep, is this your first crush?"
Su Zhi sidled up to Liu Yuhang with a goofy look on his face and nudged him with his elbow.
"Go away, go away." Liu Yuhang covered his phone, putting on an expression that said, ’I have no emotions, I only want to study.’
A moment later, he added distractedly, "Did we leave in too much of a hurry that day? We didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye to her."
Su Zhi raised an eyebrow. "’Her’?"
Liu Yuhang pouted. "You know, *her*."
Su Zhi said, "You’re being so vague. How am I supposed to know who ’her’ is?"
Liu Yuhang retorted, "Who else could it be! It’s who you think it is!"
Su Zhi said, "Oh, I get it~ I always felt there was something going on between you and Cao Mingyu. So it’s true~"
"Katie! It’s Katie! Happy now?!"
Liu Yuhang snapped. Then, as if worried about attracting attention, he pressed his lips together and rested his head on his desk.
Su Zhi gave him a teasing, all-knowing smile and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Don’t get too hung up on it, Academic Rep. There are plenty of fish in the sea, why lose sleep over it?"
"I never said I was thinking about her!"
Liu Yuhang shot upright. "It’s just that our Pet Beasts are both Hao Waterfowl, and they evolved at the same time, so you could say it’s fate! Besides, she really pulled her weight during the team competition. We trained together a lot those few days, and I think she’s a pretty good teammate and easy to get along with..."
Su Zhi crossed his arms. "Just tell me if you miss her or not."
"I..." Liu Yuhang started, but trailed off. Finally, he lowered his proud head and nodded.
"Quack~" "Chirp~"
Xue Li and Shan Bao also nodded knowingly. Then they both paused for a moment, blinking as they looked at each other.
"Quack?" "Chirp?"
’You’re just a kid, what do you know about this? / Auntie Xue Li, you’re a shipper too?’
Then, the two Pet Beasts put on their most innocent faces in unison.
They looked the very picture of, ’We’re just Pet Beasts, how could we possibly understand human affairs?’
Su Zhi, for his part, patted Liu Yuhang’s shoulder, genuinely pleased. "That’s the spirit, Academic Rep. Having the courage to say what’s on your mind is a sign of growth."
"What’s the use? She can’t hear me anyway," Liu Yuhang mumbled under his breath.
Su Zhi’s smile suddenly turned mischievous. "I wouldn’t be so sure about that."