Chapter 100: The Study Group Expands
During evening self-study, Chen Mo did something rather surprising. After a quick word with the teacher, he actually invited Lin Yu’an to join his four-person study group.
The other three members were relative strangers to Lin Yu’an.
Even though they were classmates, Lin Yu’an always wore an expression that warned everyone to keep their distance, so naturally, they hadn’t had much contact with him.
In fact, Huang Mao was even a little averse to him.
As a straightforward and outgoing person, he really disliked sullen, withdrawn types.
But since Chen Mo was mediating, he didn’t say anything more.
Being so suddenly invited by Chen Mo, Lin Yu’an was clearly in a state of flattered surprise.
Physically, he was a little hesitant to approach, but mentally, he wanted to go.
Besides, this was an invitation initiated by Chen Mo himself.
There was no way he could refuse and make Chen Mo lose face.
Watching Lin Yu’an actually carry over his stool, books, and notes to sit between Chen Mo and Huang Mao, a few of the guys in the back row who couldn’t stand Lin Yu’an started muttering among themselves.
"I really don’t get it. A guy like Chen Mo, why would he waste his time on someone like that?"
"He’s just a classic do-gooder. Remember when Ah Wen got cornered by guys from another class and almost beaten to a pulp? Chen Mo stepped in to help then, too. Obviously, he just has a habit of helping out classmates."
Although these guys were gossiping about Chen Mo, almost none of them were secretly cursing him or being passive-aggressive. That was because Chen Mo had once helped one of them, or one of their friends.
They still remembered some of the kindness he’d shown them.
So, their deference to Chen Mo wasn’t just because they were intimidated by Zhou Hao backing him.
But respecting Chen Mo was one thing; hating Lin Yu’an was another entirely.
After all, even Chen Mo’s good friend, Huang Mao, didn’t exactly look thrilled about Lin Yu’an.
Among them were guys who couldn’t stand being ignored, so seeing Lin Yu’an walk around all day as if no one else existed naturally made their blood boil.
But the real reason for Lin Yu’an’s "arrogance" was purely due to his childhood experiences, which had led him to stop seeing the people around him as being like him.
Naturally, he wanted no involvement or contact with them whatsoever.
From a young age, he had developed a flawed belief.
Namely, that people hated and bullied him because they noticed him.
’If I can just make people not notice me, maybe I won’t get beaten up.’
So, he learned to ignore others first, to not pay attention to them first.
But as a result, the more he did this, the more he was bullied.
It got to the point where every time it happened, he would just think, ’I’m still not ignoring them enough.’
And so he became more and more withdrawn, showing less and less emotion or reaction in front of people.
Whenever he saw anyone, he would avoid them if he could. If he couldn’t, he would just freeze on the spot and wait for the other person to pass first.
Even when he was being beaten, he would basically never look at his attacker.
Eventually, they would get bored of beating him and leave.
This was his way of survival.
It was true that many people got annoyed and wanted to beat him up when they saw his expressionless face, but when they actually did, his complete lack of reaction would make them feel like it was pointless.
This would lead to one of two outcomes. Their behavior would either escalate into more intense violence, or they would give up on physical torment altogether. Instead, they’d turn to pranks to provoke a reaction from Lin Yu’an, allowing them to enjoy the thrill of "hurting" him in a different way.
Take, for instance, them pouring water on his stool today.
In a physical sense, they hadn’t actually caused Lin Yu’an any real harm.
But in terms of effect, it was immediately successful, getting a big reaction out of Lin Yu’an as he leaped away from his stool.
Rather than beating him up and getting no reaction, this group of bullies much preferred playing these kinds of pranks to mess with Lin Yu’an and elicit a strong response.
But now that Chen Mo was clearly protecting Lin Yu’an, they had no choice but to rein themselves in for the time being.
At first, Lin Yu’an assumed Chen Mo had asked him to move up simply because of what happened during the day. He thought Chen Mo just wanted to send a message to the others so they would stop bullying him.
But he never expected that after calling him over, Chen Mo would actually start seriously teaching.
In the study group, he could answer any question from any member.
This completely threw Lin Yu’an for a loop.
Although he rarely spoke in front of others—and even spoke very little in front of Chen Mo—the rare opportunity to be personally tutored by Chen Mo made Lin Yu’an push himself internally, managing a small breakthrough.
He finally dared to ask Chen Mo some questions he had about his studies.
These were questions he normally had no one to ask.
Ask his classmates? No one around him would give him the time of day.
Ask a teacher? Ever since a teacher hurt him during his childhood, he had lost all faith in them.
Ask Ling Yudie? With her current grades, she could barely manage her own studies, let alone tutor him.
So, even when Lin Yu’an knew there were concepts he hadn’t mastered, it was incredibly difficult for him to fill those gaps in his knowledge.
But now, things were different.
With Chen Mo’s patient and meticulous explanations, Lin Yu’an suddenly felt he had discovered the joy of learning.
Especially when Chen Mo used simple examples to explain complex concepts in a way that was easy to grasp, Lin Yu’an would often feel a flash of insight, a moment of sudden enlightenment.
Many things he had missed or failed to understand before were suddenly all filled in.
He had always found evening self-study sessions to be rather boring.
But tonight’s session was filled with excitement.
So much so that when the final bell rang, he was still left wanting more.
"Let’s stop here for today," Chen Mo said with a smile, patting Lin Yu’an’s shoulder while glancing at the other three. "There’s still half a semester to catch up, so don’t worry. I’ll definitely help you bring your grades up."
After tonight’s session, Huang Mao and the other two members saw Lin Yu’an in a new light for the first time.
This guy wasn’t as gloomy as he usually seemed. The way he looked at Chen Mo, his eyes held a certain light; he was someone who longed to learn, longed to improve, and longed for friends.
And since he rarely ever spoke, they never knew that Lin Yu’an’s voice was actually surprisingly soft and pleasant to listen to.
"Yu’an," Chen Mo said, taking his pen again to circle some key points in the several full pages of notes Lin Yu’an had taken. "From now on, don’t just wait for evening study. If you have any questions during the day, you can come ask me anytime, okay? For tonight, go home and review these points I went over."
Lin Yu’an looked at Chen Mo, his heart filled with gratitude, but on the surface, he forced himself not to show too much emotion. He just gave a soft "mhm" and nodded.