Chapter 34 Guessing

the suffocating family environment that almost left them gasping for air."Weiwei, that kid... he seems to be one of those skilled ballplayers!" Lin Zouwu, nicknamed "Little Wu" and a slightly overwei...Chapter 34: Guessing

The mid-term exams were approaching quickly. Recently, during the exam days, Xiao Rihua was in the grade office, listening to various class advisors subtly boasting about their outstanding students, which made him feel uncomfortable and frown. However, due to his relatively young tenure, he often felt excluded from the core discussions within the grade group, a situation that wasn't unusual.

The competition among teachers at No. 1 High School was equally fierce, with seniority playing an invisible but significant role in such a dynamic environment. After all, just like governmental administrative levels, tenure and rank were directly linked to personal benefits and welfare. As a result, older, more experienced teachers often treated young educators like Xiao Rihua as rivals.

To make matters worse, Xiao Rihua had conflicts with the head of studies, Tian Feng in the past, leaving him with few close colleagues among other class advisors.

After supervising the morning Chinese exam, Xiao Rihua entered the office and nodded to everyone before sitting down to organize his lesson plans. The conversation that was happening earlier among the teachers stopped as he sat down.

A short while later, two young teachers walked in, including English teacher Yin Xiaotian. Speaking softly but clearly without concealment, he said, "I heard that recently there was a conflict between Wang Haoran from the second-year grade group and us in the first year... This was told to me by Mr. Wang himself..."

Yin Xiaotian also had some youthful vigor and frowned upon hearing this, "It's Wang Haoran again. That kid is quite arrogant; any teacher would find him a hot potato. Who got into trouble with him this time"

"It seems to be Xiao Rihua’s class. The student’s name is Su Can, and he had a fight outside school. Hmm, you teach the same class too, so you should know about this kid; in first year already challenging students from second grade... But I doubt he knows who Wang Haoran is..."

Yin Xiaotian wasn't going to take his colleague's gossip seriously but was surprised to hear Su Can’s name. He involuntarily thought of Tang Wu and felt a tinge of bitterness, yet he couldn’t help worrying about Su Can.

The other class advisors in the grade office coughed lightly. Xiao Rihua’s desk was against one end of the wall, piled high with files. Moreover, being short, Xiao Rihua wasn't immediately noticed by Yin Xiaotian and his colleague until they were startled by the coughing. Upon seeing Xiao Rihua, they quickly closed their mouths and returned to their desks.

Xiao Rihua maintained a calm expression, sipping his tea as if he hadn't heard anything. However, the way the class advisors around him coughed to interrupt the free-flowing conversation between Yin Xiaotian and two other young teachers revealed that they were aware of the situation. Moreover, upon his arrival, their conversations had ceased, which likely involved this very topic!

Who was Wang Haoran A student who required the principal, Ding Juntao, to personally intervene on his behalf when faced with trouble.

And Su Can His admission form listed both parents as ordinary workers; he had average performance across all subjects and was suspected of early romance with Tang Wu. He was precisely the person that Tian Feng had set up like a time bomb for himself!

Sensing the oppressive atmosphere in the office, it seemed that even those highly experienced teachers who usually didn't pay him much mind were secretly smirking, eagerly waiting to see his embarrassment.

Xiao Rihua felt a tightness in his chest. Gripping his pen too forcefully while writing教案 (lesson plans), he vented his frustration by tearing through the paper he had always handled smoothly before.

...

"How did you do on yesterday's math exam The second question of the multiple-choice section was quite difficult, wasn't it What were your answers" On the basketball court, a man holding a ball hurriedly exchanged answers with others. Mid-term exams had concluded yesterday, making this the current hot topic among everyone in No. 1 High School, including those on the court.

Mao Xiaoshi and several male classmates from his basketball team were busy comparing their answers. Since most students left school directly after finishing the exam yesterday, such blatant gatherings to discuss it openly weren't common. Today, however, there was an outbreak of it, focusing particularly on questions that had left a lasting impression during the midterm period. The boys' moods fluctuated nervously, even affecting their basketball game.

Half a semester flew by for first-year students like this. However, in terms of difficulty level, the mid-term exams weren't too high. For Su Can, some problems that might have been challenging to him based on his future knowledge felt quite manageable at present. When he would solve these high school-level questions later on, there were instances where it could take several hours and still stump him. That wasn't impossible.

But in yesterday's exam, the most difficult problem only stumped him for fifteen minutes before he found a breakthrough. This natural ease couldn’t be achieved through any set rules or methods but rather stemmed from his extensive absorption and mastery of current problems. With enough accumulated quantity, there comes a qualitative leap naturally, leading to the effortless overcoming of challenging questions.

The basketball game, which was previously lackluster due to the exchange of answers among the players, suddenly became lively. Lin Luoran's appearance in her sports attire無形中注入了男生們另一層活力。

"Hey, come on! Let’s continue today!" Standing in the middle of the court, Lin Luoran bounced the ball. With her presence, the atmosphere on the court instantly livened up.

The same day that Lin Luoran started participating, Ma Maoxiao quickly befriended her and invited her to help Su Can practice basketball. Anyone present who wasn’t a dimwit could tell how familiar Su Can was with this beautiful girl, leading everyone to believe there must be an unclear relationship between them. No one harbored unrealistic fantasies about her, as Lin Luoran was the kind of girl that immediately made admirers realize their chances were slim.

Her eyes were bright and always looked towards Shiyuzhong School, even beyond what ordinary people in this inland city could see.

Everyone who saw her could only look up to her. Therefore, Lin Luoran was seen as a type of person like Tang Wu in Class 7—aloof and out of reach, making life somewhat dull and leading some to doubt the value of attending this school. Who would have thought that she happened to meet Su Can by chance and also found basketball interesting, thus agreeing to help.

When everyone routinely asked about her mid-term exam results, they only received a white eye in response: "Why ask so much"

The tone made the asking boys feel as if they had committed a major blunder.

If she didn’t want to answer, everyone assumed she must have done poorly and was therefore upset. Only Lin Luoran knew that discussing such simple test results was unnecessary. In her family’s educational environment, these were basic skills knowledge that one must master, so she couldn’t understand why others would be proud of achieving what seemed like a deserved high score to her.

A girl with an upbringing and family values vastly different from the common people wouldn't just differ in thinking patterns within this small coastal city but also compared to ordinary people nationwide.

The only similarity might be that, under somewhat sunny conditions on the playground, she moved around and sweated alongside everyone else, energetically participating in basketball activities.

Sitting on the rest platform in the audience seats, Lin Luoran pulled out a delicate light purple Nike sports shoulder bag she was carrying beside her and took out a water bottle, sucking through a straw with small sips. After drinking slowly, she wiped her sweat with a light green towel and gave Su Can, who had been watching all this intently, a slight smile.

The people on the field looked at the couple enviously. Due to Su Can's brick-throwing incident, they had an inner admiration for him, so they supported his pursuit of Tang Wu wholeheartedly. Although they knew that Su Can already had someone in mind, seeing him sitting next to Lin Luoran still couldn't help but make them feel jealous.

"I really don't like their looks," thought Lin Luoran, who appeared pure and innocent, but actually had a straightforward nature underneath her exterior.

Su Can had been holding onto a question for some time: "How can you be sure that I practice basketball because of a girl"

Although Su Can had prepared himself mentally for various responses from Lin Luoran, such as the rumor already spreading widely and even she, a new student, knew all about it, he still did not expect her answer to leave him speechless.

"Guesswork."

"Then why were you so sure back then! It was like you had set your mind on something!" Su Can didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed. Was there really someone who could be that confident

But he felt somewhat relieved, because the tumultuous high school life and formulating a plan to pursue Tang Wu caused his heart, which should have remained calm and neutral, to start beating with the same vigor as his age.

This was the damn youth that made one want to shed tears.

"Heh..." Lin Luoran laughed for the first time ever, got up, walked towards the basketball court with her unique fragrance, leaving Su Can a warm-toned silhouette with her sports bra accentuating her graceful figure and an expressionless face.white Yamaha motorcycle sped towards them from down the road, stopping in front of the duo. He smiled at them and said, "Oh, you're waiting for a bus together Well, I'll head off then." His demeanor w...