CH 061

TL: Moonlit

Li Yuan’s incident quickly spread throughout the school, and his premonition was correct – he indeed became the biggest joke among the students.

Everyone knew that he had tried to bully the less fortunate students but ended up being taught a lesson himself. The students with modest backgrounds felt relieved, as if a breath of foul air had been expelled. Meanwhile, the wealthy students took pleasure in his embarrassment. Li Yuan was so ashamed that he didn’t come to school for several days.

Because of this incident, the less fortunate students, led by Lin Hanchuan, united, while the wealthy students, though laughing at Li Yuan, didn’t like Lin Hanchuan for challenging their authority.

As the person involved, Lin Hanchuan remained oblivious to it all and continued living his life as he did before – attending classes and studying, but now with Wan Li Shuang by his side.

On the day of the exam results, everyone eagerly awaited the final outcome.

Wan Li Shuang didn’t have any expectations for his grades and was extremely calm about it, “It doesn’t matter; I probably didn’t do well.”

Lin Hanchuan was equally composed, not showing too much surprise or excitement after learning that he was ranked first in the grade.

“I heard you beat the second-place student by more than 20 points…” Wan Li Shuang said with amazement.

Wan Li Shuang’s grades weren’t exceptional; he barely passed all subjects and ranked in the middle and lower part of the class. He didn’t care much about his own grades, but he was extremely proud of Lin Hanchuan’s performance, as if he himself had achieved that score.

“You still have room for improvement,” Lin Hanchuan glanced briefly at Wan Li Shuang’s score and said.

“Oh, are you going to tutor me?” Wan Li Shuang was in a good mood and casually responded.

Just as he spoke, he noticed Lin Hanchuan’s expression, and he froze in place.

The second-place student was the same one who was manipulated by Li Yuan and lured Lin Hanchuan to the rooftop. He had been stealing glances at Lin Hanchuan for an entire class and gathered the courage to approach him after class, “Jiang Tian, hello. I heard you solved the last math problem correctly. Can you explain it to me?”

His voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible, and he kept his head lowered, appearing timid and easy to bully.

Wan Li Shuang didn’t like him and bluntly replied, “If you don’t understand, just study the textbook. Why bother asking him? He’s not a teacher, and he’s not obligated to answer your questions.”

The student turned pale after being rebuked and felt even more embarrassed. He hurriedly bowed deeply, “I’m sorry to disturb you.”

He felt extremely ashamed of himself; after all, he had been Li Yuan’s accomplice a few days ago, and now he dared to ask for help… He knew that in the college entrance exam, one point could make a significant difference. As Wan Li Shuang had said, top students had no obligation to teach other students.

In his deep shame, the student was about to leave when he heard Lin Hanchuan’s voice, “This problem is beyond the syllabus, especially the last sub-question. You can solve it using calculus. Remember the formula (a*a) + (b*b) ≥ 2ab; it makes it simple…”

Lin Hanchuan’s voice was always calm, with no significant emotional fluctuations, which made everyone who listened to him quiet down involuntarily.

After explaining the problem, the second-place student suddenly realized, and other students who had gathered around him also showed delight, “I feel like we can use this formula for many other problems…”

“It’s much simpler than those complex algorithms!”

The second-place student gratefully looked at Lin Hanchuan and thanked him, “Thank you.”

Lin Hanchuan responded with a simple “mm” and didn’t take this minor effort to heart. He then turned to Wan Li Shuang and said, “Although your score isn’t high, your performance is quite balanced in all subjects. Your English is good enough, so no need for extra tutoring in that. I’ll tutor you for half an hour every day in the other subjects. Use the time you’d spend gaming to study.”

Wan Li Shuang: “…” Can I still have time for gaming if it’s only half an hour for each subject?

Wan Li Shuang didn’t want to study; he just wanted to play games. However, for some reason, he didn’t dare to refuse, and he could only reluctantly accept.

The other top students looked at Wan Li Shuang with envy, wishing they were the ones receiving tutoring from the academic genius.

“It’s just basic calculus; there’s nothing to be proud of,” someone who didn’t like Lin Hanchuan sneered coldly. “My family tutor taught me this in sophomore year.”

Although Nanping High School had admitted many academically talented students from humble backgrounds, most of the top students were still from wealthier families. They had better educational environments, superior resources, and highly qualified teachers who charged four figures for an hour of tutoring. Naturally, their academic performances were outstanding.

The reason why Nanping High School had a fair mix of top students from different backgrounds was due to its attraction of the city’s brightest students from humble backgrounds. This diversity and competition were also the reasons why the wealthy students disliked the less fortunate ones.

“You started studying in sophomore year, but why are you only ranked ninth in the grade? Shouldn’t you be the first?” Wan Li Shuang, unlike the others, didn’t hold back and said without hesitation.

The person turned red instantly. Although he had learned it before, he had forgotten it. It was only when Lin Hanchuan explained that he recalled the method.

“Yeah, even if he can’t get tutoring, his exam scores still prove how capable he is.”

“There’s a barrier between top students and academic geniuses. You should stop struggling.”

Amidst the buzzing discussions, the wealthy student who ranked ninth became infuriated and said, “Who knows if he got the exam questions in advance and cheated.”

His words were truly excessive, and everyone else was taken aback.

“Don’t speak in such a nasty manner. Even if he got the questions in advance, Wan Li Shuang should be the one performing well.”

“That’s right. Jiang Tian was an academic genius at his previous school. If it weren’t for his outstanding performance, why would the principal recruit him? Do you think the principal is doing charity?”

Seeing the atmosphere becoming tense, Lin Hanchuan tapped the table with his pen, and immediately, everyone on his side quieted down. He calmly looked at the person who was slandering him, “Instead of spending your time being jealous of others, you should use it for studying, or else you won’t be ranked ninth.”

The person ranked ninth was furious and turned red in the face.

With one sentence, Lin Hanchuan smoothed things over. The people around him laughed happily again and eagerly asked Lin Hanchuan about problems they didn’t understand.

Wan Li Shuang didn’t understand what Lin Hanchuan was talking about, but as he looked at Lin Hanchuan’s confident and composed face, he became entranced. He suddenly heard the noisy chatter around him come to a halt, and an eerie silence filled the air.

He looked up and saw a familiar figure. Wan Li Shuang greeted with a radiant smile, “Oh, Li Yuan, hasn’t your family gone bankrupt yet?”

Before Li Yuan could speak, Wan Li Shuang continued nonchalantly, “Well, it’s about to happen. Why did you come to school? To withdraw from studies?”

Nanping High School was renowned for its exorbitant fees, and Li Yuan’s grades weren’t exceptional enough to warrant any special treatment. If he couldn’t afford the tuition, he would have no choice but to drop out.

“Already paid this semester’s tuition,” someone reminded Wan Li Shuang.

Wan Li Shuang responded with an “oh.” “I forgot. Then why are you here?”

Li Yuan’s face turned pale, but he hesitated and didn’t say anything. Just then, a middle-aged man with a big belly walked in. He slapped Li Yuan’s face and said, “Apologize to Young Master Wan immediately!”

A clear palm print appeared on Li Yuan’s face. He lowered his head submissively and said, “Young Master Wan, I’m sorry, I was wrong. Can you please…”

“Can you please spare our company?” The middle-aged man, carrying a briefcase, nodded and bowed to Wan Li Shuang.

Sitting at his seat, Wan Li Shuang was slender, fair-skinned, and full of youthful vigor. On the other hand, the middle-aged man appeared greasy and worldly-wise, towering over Wan Li Shuang by half a body’s height. However, he was fawning over Wan Li Shuang in an exaggerated manner, creating a comical scene.

But no one found it funny.

Wan Li Shuang glanced at the two of them and said, “You shouldn’t apologize to me.”

The middle-aged man quickly took out a car key and a bank card from his briefcase. He placed the car key in front of Wan Li Shuang and the bank card in front of Lin Hanchuan. “Young Master Wan, Young Master Jiang, my son has made a mistake. This is the latest sports car, and there’s five million in the bank card. I hope you can forgive him.”

He didn’t feel ashamed to please people much younger than him, even addressing the backgroundless Lin Hanchuan as “Young Master.” He was quite discerning and shameless at the same time.

If Li Yuan had offended him, the matter might have ended there. However, it was Lin Hanchuan whom Li Yuan had offended. Wan Li Shuang raised an eyebrow and said, “Is it you who made the mistake, or is it your son? Why are you apologizing on his behalf?”

Li Yuan’s face flushed red. He watched his imposing father fawning over someone he looked down upon, and all his classmates witnessed this scene. At this moment, he wished he could die on the spot.

But he didn’t die, and he could only apologize as his father wished, stammering, “I’m sorry…”

“Speak louder,” Wan Li Shuang said lightly. Unconsciously, he had a hint of Lin Hanchuan’s calm and composure between his brows.

“I’m sorry!” Li Yuan gritted his teeth and shouted loudly.

Finally, Lin Hanchuan gave him a disdainful look. Just when everyone thought he would accept the five million and let the matter go, Lin Hanchuan used his pen to sweep the bank card to the ground. “I won’t accept it.”

Humiliation! Blatant humiliation! Li Yuan’s eyes turned red with anger, and his father, standing beside him, also froze with his smile.

A few days ago, Li Yuan overheard a phone call between Wan Li Shuang and his mother, and he was somewhat anxious. But then, Zhou Yuntang also called his big brother in the Zhou family, and he knew that the Zhou family was not inferior to the Wan family, so he let go of his worries.

However, to his surprise, after he took a few days off from school, his father became more and more restless. From his parents’ conversations, he learned that the Wan family was targeting the Li family.

Upon discovering the truth, Li Yuan’s father brought valuable gifts to the Wan family to apologize, but was turned away by Mrs. Wan, who said it was a matter concerning the children and asked him to discuss it with them.

Hastily, Li Yuan’s father brought Li Yuan to the school, anxiously pleading with Wan Li Shuang to forgive them.

Originally, Lin Hanchuan was not someone Li Yuan’s father cared about. Although Lin Hanchuan was the instigator of the incident, he believed that Wan Li Shuang was the key. Therefore, he spent over ten million on a sports car to gift to Wan Li Shuang and, after some consideration, prepared a bank card for Lin Hanchuan as well.

Five million was an amount that an ordinary family couldn’t earn in a lifetime, and he didn’t think the other party would refuse it.

When Wan Li Shuang refused, Li Yuan’s father felt relieved that he only needed to persuade Li Yuan to apologize to Lin Hanchuan, and this matter would come to an end. However, he never expected that Lin Hanchuan would not care about the five million at all.

“He won’t accept it,” Wan Li Shuang shrugged and casually threw the car key to the ground as well. “Let’s forget about it.”

Li Yuan’s father struggled to maintain his smile. “Young Master Wan, we sincerely apologize…”

Just as Zhou Yuntang, who had been out of the classroom, walked in, he happened to see Wan Li Shuang rudely tossing the car key to the ground. He learned about the situation from Li Yuan, and now he was also angry. “Wan Li Shuang, Li Yuan has already apologized. What more do you want?”

“How can you be so insulting!” Zhou Yuntang’s fair little face was filled with righteous indignation. “Just because your family is wealthy and influential, it doesn’t give you the right to bully others like this.”