Chapter 86: Everyone Knows Now
Watching the bickering couple speak in unison, Chen Mo just smiled, not saying a word. He shot them a glance that practically dared them to deny how well they matched.
His cheeky grin made them both blush and fall silent.
The news about Chen Mo and Su Yuqing living together didn’t just spread through their own class.
It had reached the surrounding classes and even circulated among the teachers.
He Xiaoyun was sitting in the staff room sipping her tea when another teacher came over to gossip, "Xiaoyun, I heard two students in your class are living together. Is it true? Are high schoolers these days really that wild?"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard that too. Quick, tell us about it."
Don’t be fooled by how serious the teachers seemed during class; in private, they were all just normal people.
They got curious and enjoyed a bit of juicy gossip just like anyone else.
He Xiaoyun gave a helpless smile. "Who’s spreading this? How have you all heard about it already?"
"I just overheard some students discussing it in the hallway this morning."
"Well, it’s a bit complicated. It’s definitely not the kind of ’living together’ you’re thinking of," He Xiaoyun explained, trying to clear the air for Chen Mo and Su Yuqing.
"So you already knew, huh? It’s not a big deal if it doesn’t spread, but now that it has, the impact could be huge. If this reaches the principal’s ears, they’ll probably be made an example of."
"Don’t worry, I know exactly what’s going on. Even if the principal asks, it won’t be a big problem," He Xiaoyun replied with a smile. "As for you all, you should gossip less about students. It’s unbecoming of a teacher."
"It’s just that they’re both good-looking kids. It makes you want to ship them as a couple."
He Xiaoyun looked at her colleague—a high school teacher on the outside, but with the heart of a fangirl on the inside—and shook her head with another resigned smile.
The rumors about Chen Mo and Su Yuqing living together were causing quite a stir, and of course, Zhou Hao had heard them too.
Before, Zhou Hao had only known that Su Yuqing had visited Chen Mo’s home.
But he never imagined that Chen Mo would actually be living with Su Yuqing.
He was stunned by the news, and his admiration for Chen Mo couldn’t help but rise another level.
He subconsciously began to fantasize about reaching that stage with Qu Danwan himself.
But that was as far as it went—he only dared to dream about it.
As the bell for the first morning class rang, the discussions about Chen Mo and Su Yuqing in the classroom finally died down.
Chen Mo didn’t feel the need to intervene in the situation. He couldn’t stop them anyway, and the students’ appetite for gossip would likely fade in a day or two.
However, the thin-skinned Su Yuqing was probably in for a tough couple of days.
Soon, the math teacher walked in, holding a stack of test papers.
The scores from yesterday’s exam were out.
Most of the students’ scores were what he had expected.
The topics where students made the most mistakes were also largely in line with his predictions.
But out of all the students, the one who truly surprised the math teacher was Chen Mo.
Chen Mo had actually scored a perfect 150 on his math exam.
He found this absolutely incredible.
After all, Chen Mo’s previous test scores were usually around the 120-point mark.
Moreover, his handwriting had always been rather sloppy when answering questions.
But this time, his handwriting on the test paper was neat, and he had answered all the difficult problems correctly and with ease.
This was an incredible turn of events.
A student’s score might improve suddenly, but it was nearly impossible to jump from 120 to a perfect score all at once.
Even the student who normally ranked first in math had only scored a 138 on this practice exam, losing 12 points.
People weren’t precision instruments; even the most exceptional person was bound to make a few mistakes.
That was why Chen Mo’s ability to complete the exam so flawlessly came as a complete shock to the math teacher.
First, to improve one’s handwriting from sloppy to so neat required a great deal of effort. Furthermore, a student accustomed to messy writing who suddenly tried to write neatly would inevitably divert some of their mental energy and focus just to make their writing look better.
And yet, under those circumstances, he had still managed to get a perfect score.
The math teacher found it truly hard to believe.
But this was just a practice exam; Chen Mo had no reason or need to cheat.
He could only choose to believe that his student had suddenly resolved to apply himself, leading to this transformation.
When handing out the exams, he passed them down each row as usual, but he delivered Chen Mo’s paper back to him by hand.
"Chen Mo, your score on this exam is excellent, and your handwriting is getting much better too. Keep up this style and quality, you hear? If you maintain this level for the midterm on Friday, you have a very good chance of getting a high score."
Hearing the teacher’s praise, Chen Mo just smiled and took his exam paper.
"Holy crap, Old Mo, you’re a beast! 150 points?" Just a moment ago, Huang Mao had been wondering what kind of score Chen Mo got to deserve the math teacher walking over to personally hand him his exam and offer words of encouragement.
But a quick glance at Chen Mo’s exam showed that he had gotten a perfect score.
This discovery left Huang Mao completely floored.
He was well aware of what his deskmate was capable of.
He was especially aware of what his deskmate’s usual chicken scratch looked like.
This time, Chen Mo’s exam paper was clean and neat, and he’d gotten a perfect score on top of that. His performance was like he’d been replaced by a different person.
Huang Mao said dramatically, "You haven’t been possessed, have you? Who are you? Get the hell out of Old Mo’s body!"
Chen Mo speechlessly gave Huang Mao a flick on the forehead. "Get lost. I told you to lay off the fantasy novels. This is your Brother Mo’s true strength. Just watch and learn!"
"You’re telling me you were hiding your true strength all along?" Huang Mao asked in disbelief.
"Naturally. Just wait and see how I do on the midterms," Chen Mo replied with a grin.
"Damn, you get lucky with one perfect score and it’s already gone to your head," Huang Mao said disdainfully.
While the two were bantering, Su Yuqing and Zhao Yuanyuan also turned around.
When they saw the 150 on Chen Mo’s exam paper, both of them had looks of utter disbelief on their faces.
Even though Su Yuqing knew beforehand that Chen Mo was more capable than he let on, she never expected him to get a perfect score.
"Wow, Brother Mo, you’re so good!"
"Let’s be low-key about it," Chen Mo said with a placid smile, gesturing with his hand.
"Brother Mo, when are you going to tutor me in math? Look, I only scored 100," Zhao Yuanyuan said woefully, holding up her exam to show Chen Mo her score.
At this, Chen Mo’s expression turned a bit more serious. He looked at Huang Mao and Zhao Yuanyuan and said, "The college entrance exams are coming up. We really should get serious about improving our grades. I’ll tutor you during evening self-study from now on to help pull up your scores. On the weekends, you two can come to my house, and I’ll give you some extra tutoring."