Chapter 55: Don’t Ask About Grown-Up Business
Seeing that his teacher was focusing on the wrong thing, Chen Mo immediately tried to laugh it off. "We’re just living in the same house. That word ’cohabitation’ has a pretty broad meaning, Teacher. You shouldn’t just throw it around."
"You little rascal, you’re not up to no good, are you?" He Xiaoyun looked at Chen Mo suspiciously.
"I swear to God, I’m only supporting Yuqing with the purest of intentions. If you don’t believe me, you can ask her. I’m known far and wide as a fine young man," Chen Mo said with a smile.
"You’re certainly a smooth talker." He Xiaoyun rolled her eyes at Chen Mo. "Since that’s how it is, you can head back for now. I’ll think more about how to communicate with Yuqing’s parents."
"Thanks for your hard work, Teacher." Chen Mo left with a smile.
When he returned to the classroom, he saw many people whispering and occasionally glancing in Su Yuqing’s direction.
Meanwhile, Su Yuqing was resting her head on her desk, lost in thought.
Only Zhao Yuanyuan was there, gently patting her back and speaking to her in a comforting tone.
When they saw Chen Mo return, the students’ gossiping suddenly grew much quieter.
After all, everyone knew he was close with Zhou Hao.
Although Chen Mo didn’t usually bully his classmates, they were afraid that if Zhou Hao found out they were speaking carelessly about Chen Mo, there would be serious trouble.
So, Chen Mo’s appearance carried a bit of Zhou Hao’s deterrent power by association.
Besides, Chen Mo was generally nice to people. Those he had helped before felt too embarrassed to gossip about him right to his face now that he was here.
This was the ultimate form of the so-called carrot and stick approach.
Naturally, the classroom instantly became half as quiet, and the other half gradually fell silent as their conversation partners stopped talking.
Entering the classroom, Chen Mo glanced at his classmates but didn’t say anything.
Sensing the sudden silence in the classroom, Su Yuqing, who had been resting her head on her desk, slowly looked up.
Seeing that Chen Mo was back, her previously troubled heart suddenly calmed down.
The two simply looked at each other and smiled, a gesture that said more than a thousand words.
Returning to his seat, Chen Mo looked at Su Yuqing’s back and felt that her spine seemed a little straighter. She didn’t seem as fragile as before.
So, he didn’t say anything unnecessary.
Instead, it was Zhao Yuanyuan who looked at Chen Mo with a gossipy expression and asked, "Brother Mo, what did the teacher call you two over for?"
"This is adult business; kids shouldn’t ask." Chen Mo smiled and poked Zhao Yuanyuan’s small head as she leaned over.
"I was just worried about you guys," Zhao Yuanyuan said with a pout.
Seeing her like this, Chen Mo changed his usual teasing pat to a gentle one, smiling warmly as he stroked her head. "Such a good kid, knowing to care about adult matters. Relax, everything’s fine. Don’t worry."
"Really?" Zhao Yuanyuan’s large, lively eyes sparkled as she looked at Chen Mo.
"Really," Chen Mo replied with a smile.
Hearing him confirm that everything was really okay, Zhao Yuanyuan returned to her usual self. She immediately slapped his hand away and said, "Pfft! You’re the kid. I’m your auntie!"
Chen Mo just smiled and didn’t say any more.
Huang Mao laughed from the side. "See, I told you Old Mo could handle it. You silly girl, worrying for nothing."
RING~ RING~ RING~ RING, RING~ RING~ RING~ RING!
Soon, the bell for the first afternoon class rang.
The math teacher walked in, carrying a stack of test papers.
"The midterm exam is this Friday. First, we’re going to have a mock exam to gauge everyone’s current level. Then, over the next two days, we’ll focus on reviewing the concepts with the highest error rates. So, no one should cheat. If you don’t know an answer, just leave it blank. Don’t just guess or fill in random answers.
Answer based on your true abilities. That’s the only way I can get a clear picture of what you’ve mastered, what you’re still shaky on, and what you haven’t grasped at all. Understand?"
"Understood!"
The teacher nodded with a smile and began handing the test papers to the first desk in each row, to be passed back from there.
Faced with a sudden exam, Chen Mo actually felt a little excited.
Back in the day, he had studied like a madman, engraving the knowledge into his very soul. He had become the provincial top scorer, turned down direct offers from the country’s two most prestigious universities, and insisted on choosing the People’s Public Security University. But so many years had passed, after all.
Whether he could still apply all that learned knowledge as well as he once did was hard to say.
He would only know for sure after taking the test.
The bet with He Xiaoyun was just a way to give himself some motivation to study.
As the test papers were handed out, Chen Mo opened his and scanned it. A flood of relevant problem-solving memories immediately surfaced in his mind.
He had drilled math problems over and over again in the past.
Everything was as clear as if it were yesterday.
He immediately picked up his pen and began.
Beside him, Huang Mao got his paper, had just finished writing his name, and was now spinning his pen and staring blankly at the questions. When he glanced over a moment later, he saw that Chen Mo had already completed more than ten multiple-choice questions.
"Holy shit," he whispered in astonishment. "The teacher just said she wanted to see our real scores, and you’re already randomly filling it in."
"Who said I’m filling it in randomly?" Chen Mo gave Huang Mao a speechless smile and rolled his eyes.
"If you’re not, how are you going so fast?" Huang Mao looked at Chen Mo suspiciously.
"Can’t a guy put in some secret effort? You should learn a thing or two, kid." Chen Mo smiled, glanced at Huang Mao’s paper, and added, "How come you haven’t done a single question? Your real skill level can’t be this bad, can it?"
Huang Mao, who had been slacking off, immediately perked up at his words. "Of course not! How could your Brother Mao be bad?!"
Huang Mao’s personality was the complete opposite of Zhao Yuanyuan’s. He loved being praised; the moment he got a compliment, his ego would swell to the heavens.
Of course, he wouldn’t listen to any unrealistic praise.
But he very much enjoyed compliments that he felt he, on some level, actually deserved.
Hearing Chen Mo praise his skills as being not bad, he naturally had to put on a good show.
While working on the problems, Su Yuqing remembered how fast Chen Mo had been at math before, and she subconsciously turned her head to sneak a peek.
She saw that Chen Mo’s pen was truly flying across the paper; he had already completed far more questions than she had.
Just as Su Yuqing was looking at Chen Mo’s test paper, her cheek was suddenly poked by a finger.
"No copying on this exam," Chen Mo said, grinning at her.
Su Yuqing immediately puffed out her cheeks and turned her head back around.
Soon, two class periods had passed.
Chen Mo had long since finished all the problems and had even checked his work over once.
After confirming there were no mistakes, he finally rested his head on his desk to relax.
’This feeling—of being able to sleep peacefully on my desk during class without a single worry—is something I haven’t experienced in a very, very long time.’