The Slacker Academic Always Gets Caught (SLACKER)
This competition offered only prestige, no prize money, and the certificate was only useful for applying to specific schools.
Not only did he not care for it in this lifetime—he wouldn’t have bothered with it in his past life either.
Polite excuses wouldn’t work; he had to appeal to reason and emotion to refuse.
"Teacher, I know you mean well, but I really don’t want to do competitions anymore."
Wang Quan looked as if he’d been struck by lightning.
Chi Ning spoke earnestly. "The certificates and grades I have now are already enough to get me into a good university. I’d rather just pick from the schools I’m interested in."
He thought for a moment and picked the wealthiest option. "How about the University of Hong Kong? The admissions office is very enthusiastic, and they offer generous scholarships. It’s a local school with a liberal atmosphere, and it’s convenient to go home."
Wang Quan was baffled.
Since when has Chi Ning become so fixated on money?
Was the Chi family’s conglomerate going bankrupt?
He hadn’t heard anything about that.
Stammering, he said, "Uh... have you discussed this with your parents? If you really don’t want to compete, you could still take the college entrance exam. With your level, you could easily test into the top two universities. Hong Kong South is good, but... it’s not the highest-ranked institution."
Chi Ning shook his head. "This is fine."
Wang Quan was completely lost.
He had originally intended to help someone reinstall the opened window, but with just a few careless words from this kid, the entire house had been demolished.
Chi Ning suppressed the faint twinge of guilt rising in his heart and put on an uncharacteristically ingratiating smile. "You can call my parents to discuss this further. Once we've talked it over in detail, we can fill out the recommendation form."
Wang Quan opened his mouth but couldn't immediately find any words to persuade Chi Ning.
Ten days ago, he had thought Chi Ning was just temporarily exhausted and would still participate in the competition after some rest.
But now, not only had he skipped the competition, this top-ranked student didn't even seem interested in attending school anymore.
Why?!
Teacher Wang waved his hand weakly, his tone deflated. "Go to class first."
"Alright."
As soon as Chi Ning reached his seat, he noticed half the class staring at him, with his deskmate's gaze being particularly blatant.
The bespectacled boy craned his neck, looking Chi Ning up and down with undisguised curiosity. "God Chi, when did you get connected with Class 18? Why did that Zhang Qiuwen come to bring you water?"
Bring water?
Chi Ning's gaze swept across the table and landed on the bayberry juice placed at the corner. Only then did he remember that he had ordered a month's supply from Qin Heng some time ago.
"We happened to run into each other and chatted for a bit." Chi Ning glanced at the test paper pinned under his deskmate’s elbow, spotting the name at the top. He attempted some awkward small talk. "Li Qiuhe, what’s going on with Class 18?"
Li Qiuhe’s mouth fell open in shock. "Y-you actually responded to me... I-I..."
After all, just ten days ago, Chi Ning had been practically deaf to the world, completely absorbed in his own bubble.
Suddenly, a gossipy gleam flashed in Li Qiuhe’s eyes. Lowering his voice excitedly, he asked, "You know those two notorious troublemakers in our school, right?"
Chi Ning raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"You don’t know?" Li Qiuhe’s voice cracked in disbelief. "The ones surnamed Qin and Yue! Zhang Qiuwen, who brought you water earlier, is that Qin guy’s lackey."
A flicker of interest sparked in Chi Ning. He twisted open the bottle of bayberry juice and took a small sip. "And then?"
"Well, yesterday, the two of them got into a fight. The Yue guy got a tooth knocked out. Rumor has it it was over money—probably something like loan sharking."
Li Qiuhe grimaced as if he were the one who’d lost a tooth. "They don’t play by the rules. You’d better stay away from them."
Chi Ning’s brow twitched.
Loan sharking?
His gut told him Qin Heng wouldn’t borrow money like that, but what if...
What if Qin Heng was the one lending or collecting debts? Then knocking out someone’s tooth during a collection wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable.
Seeing Chi Ning frown, Li Qiuhe suddenly felt the weight of his classmates’ disapproving stares.
He thumped his chest loudly. "Why aren’t you saying anything? Scared? Don’t worry, you’re Class 1’s golden nugget—we’ve all got your back!"
Chi Ning smiled faintly but didn’t respond.
Ever perceptive, Li Qiuhe swiftly changed the subject. "Didn’t you throw away your notes a while back? After I picked them up, I organized copies for anyone who wanted them. But some of the problems in there are way over our heads. I compiled them—could you go over them with us during self-study later?"
So Li Qiuhe was the vice class monitor.
Chi Ning glanced up and saw the hopeful looks on his classmates’ faces and was instantly reminded of the graduate students he used to mentor.
He reached out a hand. "Sure. Give me the problems—I’ll take a look first."
Kids with earnest hearts. In his past life, he’d had no time for this. Now that he was slacking off, he had nothing but time. Might as well lend a hand.
Over a dozen students in Class 1 had already secured early admissions. Most stopped attending school after that, but those still sticking around were unsatisfied with their offers and aiming for better ones through competitions.
Li Qiuhe was one of them. Thrilled by Chi Ning’s agreement, he flashed a triumphant "yes" at the class, grinning from ear to ear.
—
As Chi Ning reviewed the problems, he finally recalled his high school note-taking habits.
He liked to create his own problems after mastering a concept, then revisit them later. The questions he came up with were notoriously tricky—the epitome of self-sabotage.
Fortunately, he rarely forgot what he’d learned, and the knowledge was still there.
Once he figured out how to explain the problems, the idea of sitting through class felt unbearably dull. Propping his chin on his hand, he zoned out.
By the time noon arrived, the Bayberry juice he had been sipping sparingly was finally empty.
Chi Ning held the bottle and sighed, catching sight of black marker writing at the bottom in his peripheral vision.
A single character, "Ning," written elegantly with bold, forceful strokes.
Chi Ning traced the character with his fingertip and chuckled softly.
The only thing resembling the Qin Heng of his past life was the handwriting of the current Qin Heng.
And even this similarity was something he had only recently practiced.
Knock knock.
The side window was tapped.
Chi Ning turned his head and met Qin Heng's complicated gaze.
Qin Heng stared into Chi Ning's eyes, digesting the scene he had accidentally witnessed moments ago.
The pampered young master with one hand loosely gripping the glass bottle while the other gently caressed the writing at the bottom and lost in thought—even smiling faintly.
Sure, he had deliberately practiced writing that character twenty-seven or twenty-eight times just to make it look presentable, all to swindle the young master into becoming a long-term client and earn an extra 300 yuan per month.
But he had only intended to fish for money.
Not to fish for a person.
Ten days ago, when Mo Yuanzhou asked Chi Ning if he was his boyfriend, Chi Ning had only denied the "boyfriend" part—not the possibility of liking men.
Could Chi Ning actually develop feelings over a single character?
Qin Heng swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing as turbulent thoughts churned in his mind. Yet his expression remained utterly indifferent. "I came to get the bottle. From now on, I'll use this one for you."
Chi Ning gave an "Oh," before fully opening the window facing the hallway and handing the bottle over.
If words could be written on one's face, Qin Heng's left cheek would bear the radical for "hand," and his right cheek the character "drag"—together forming the word "arrogant."
The entire Class 1 held their breath and their eyes kept darting toward them.
Li Qiuhe tensed up, terrified that Qin Heng's unpredictable temper might flare into violence at any moment.
Qin Heng glanced at Li Qiuhe in amusement. "Brother Yuanzhou said he wants to talk to you in person. Meet at the gym tonight?"
Chi Ning: "Sure."
Hadn't it just been a short while ago when he was still calling Mo Yuanzhou "Teacher Mo"? Now Qin Heng was already calling him "Brother Yuanzhou."
Truly a master of social finesse.
No wonder he became a self-made CEO.
Qin Heng took the bottle and, before leaving, thoughtfully closed the window.
"Whew—" Li Qiuhe exhaled heavily, his face dotted with fine sweat. "That scared me to death. I can't believe you dare to interact with him."
"What's there to be afraid of? No matter how fierce he is, he doesn't eat people." Chi Ning found the bespectacled boy rather endearing. Rolling up the practice sheets he had prepared into a paper tube, he lightly tapped the other's head. "Alright, focus on what matters. Before lunch arrives, let me go over these problems with everyone."
He stepped up to the blackboard, resting both hands on the wooden podium's edge, and began without preamble: "First, look at Problem 1. This is a question related to mechanical dynamics, a derivative of mechanics. Those preparing for the physics competition should pay extra attention."
Chi Ning picked up a piece of chalk, habitually snapping it in two, then turned and swiftly outlined the solution on the blackboard. The students below stared in a daze.
God Chi was truly God Chi—how did he look even more natural standing at the podium than Old Wang?
With his hands resting like that and the chalk snapping, who would believe he'd never taught before?
Chi Ning's explanations were rapid-fire, and in no time, he had covered three different approaches to the problem, filling nearly half the blackboard with key steps.
"Any questions?"
"If not, let's move to the next one?" Chi Ning scanned the room. Seeing no objections, he immediately proceeded.
After explaining the three problems, the classroom was left with only the soft rustling of pens against paper.
Li Qiuhe, finally grasping the concepts, was so overwhelmed he nearly knelt before Chi Ning, blurting out, "God Chi, why don’t you teach us instead? Your approach is so flexible, and the solutions are so simple—I feel like my conception and governor vessels have been unblocked!"
Before he could finish, Wang Quan stepped into the room. "What are you all doing? The food’s been delivered outside—why aren’t you getting it? The lunchbox collectors will be here soon—"
His words cut off abruptly.
Wang Quan gaped at the blackboard that was now completely covered in writing, then turned to Chi Ning, whose fingers were still dusted with chalk.
Wait, didn’t you say you weren’t joining the competition? How are you this good at competition-level problems?
The two stared at each other until Chi Ning guiltily averted his gaze first.
Li Qiuhe, too excited to notice the awkward tension, bounded up to Wang Quan and pointed at the physics problem. "Teacher, look! That physics problem you said might have issues—Chi Ning just taught us how to solve it!"
Wag Quan: "..."
Exhausting. I think you might be the one with issues.
Since when do students expose their teacher’s shortcomings like this?
Wang Quan glanced at the board once, then again, before suddenly slapping his belly. "Oh-ho, not bad! I missed a condition and fell right into the question-setter’s trap. Chi Ning, you—"
He turned, but Chi Ning was no longer standing there.
Chi Ning took his lunch and sat in the school’s most secluded bamboo grove to eat.
Thoughts kept bubbling up in his mind:
Morning classes were so boring he’d already flipped through the textbook like it was leisure reading.
Qin Heng was such a little brat when he was younger—what a liar, that little cheat!
What exactly did Mo Yuanzhou want to talk about? Why did it have to be in person?
Chi Ning picked up a piece of braised pork with preserved vegetables and bit into it as if it were Qin Heng, grumpily finishing his meal.
By evening, he finally learned what Mo Yuanzhou wanted to discuss.
The well-dressed teacher lounged on the sofa in the pool hall’s rest area with his gaze flickering between Chi Ning and Qin Heng before nodding in satisfaction.
Chi Ning, unnerved by the scrutiny, whispered, "So… what’s this about?"
"The team was very satisfied with the last set of photos, but we felt they lacked some impact. After thinking it over, I realized it might be missing contrast."
Mo Yuanzhou smiled like a fox. "A couple of days ago, I talked to Qin Heng and asked if he’d be interested in modeling for a small fee. He agreed. I’d like to try shooting the two of you together."
Chi Ning wasn’t keen on extra work—their original "apprenticeship payment" agreement hadn’t included this.
Qin Heng was getting paid. He wasn’t.
Chi Ning’s reluctance was evident even before he could voice his refusal, his lips already pursing.
Mo Yuanzhou chuckled. This student really wore his heart on his sleeve.
Leaning closer, he murmured, "I’ll pay extra."
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