Six test papers were placed on the table, and Xie Yu thought that Old Tang was going to focus on discussing the monthly exam with them.

But Tang Sen asked, "Do you guys like playing games?"

In order to maintain his act, even if he didn't really like playing games, he had to nod.

Xie Yu: "Mm."

He Chao: "I like it, especially like it."

"I also tried to get into it, that popular little game. He Chao, I heard you've been playing that game all the time," Tang Sen didn't mention the test papers, but took out his phone, "I didn't expect your taste to be so...innocent."

"Innocent?" 

Xie Yu didn't quite understand how Old Tang came up with this strange conclusion. 

While Old Tang was busy pulling out his phone, He Chao nudged Xie Yu with his arm and asked, "Is he saying I'm childish?"

"I don't know, and don't want to know."

"Well, then what else can 'innocent' mean? Someone like Old Tang, a middle-aged man, probably only has hobbies like playing chess, making tea, and raising birds," He Chao thought more and more about it. "He definitely can't play games like King of Guns or Terror Battlefield."

As Tang Sen opened the game, he said, "I don't think games are bad. Everything has two sides. On the positive side, it can help people relax and entertain themselves, while also training their self-control."

He Chao nodded in agreement without hesitation, "Yes, I also think so. You make a lot of sense."

Xie Yu caught a glimpse of a very familiar pink color on Tang Sen's phone screen, which flashed before his eyes. 

But it was just a quick flash, Tang Sen got excited from lecturing, putting his phone away and continued his lecture with enthusiasm. "Having the ability to control oneself and one's willpower is extremely important. There are many temptations in the world, so let me give you a few examples..."

He Chao was getting sleepy from listening, and secretly reached his hand over to Xie Yu's side.

Xie Yu lowered his head and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Pinch me," He Chao said. "I'm not very awake right now."

Before Xie Yu could even pinch him, Tang Sen shifted the topic from self-control to studying, and then combined studying with gaming. He pushed his phone over and showed them a pink gaming interface. Suddenly, He Chao became alert again. "..."

They talked for half an hour before the bell rang for class, and only then did Tang Sen let them go.

When He Chao walked out, he had forgotten his manners and didn't even say "goodbye" to the teacher. 

Xie Yu wanted to laugh, but he held it in the whole time.

He Chao walked quickly, stopping a few steps later and reminding him, "Don't laugh, I'm fucking exploding right now."

Their first class in the afternoon was history, and when they returned, the history teacher was already in the classroom.

"Hurry up and come in, class has started. Why are you still dawdling?" The history teacher said while flipping through the book. "When the bell rings, you should quickly return to your seat and be ready."

Just now in the office, Tang Sen showed them his level in the dress-up game, as well as his insights from playing it during this period of time. Finally, he combined the game with learning, hoping to arouse their interest in studying. 

"This game changes its theme for every level, and players have to think...If you look at this modern comprehension question, you'll realize that answering questions is the same...Why doesn't this dress work? Why is this answer wrong? You have to think and solve the problem."

Tang Sen's intention was to show He Chao that learning can also be turned into an interesting "game."

But the form was too horrifying.

In front of the class, the history teacher began to lecture on a new topic.

Even though Xie Yu had originally planned to lie down and sleep, the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but shake his shoulders and cover his face with one hand, his shoulders trembling. 

He Chao's mind was filled with Tang Sen's words about "this dress and that dress." He turned his head to ask Xie Yu if Tang Sen was crazy, only to find Xie Yu laughing with his face covered. 

"...If you're my brother, don't laugh at me at a time like this," He Chao paused and said.

Xie Yu clearly chose not to be his brother.

He Chao could only turn his head away. This heartless guy, out of sight, out of mind.

After a few minutes, He Chao couldn't help but lean over to the heartless guy and say, "Actually, I have another question."

"?"

"Why is Old Tang's level higher than mine? I'm a player who spends real money..." He Chao couldn't finish his sentence, "Old Xie, you're going too far, that's enough, stop laughing."

He Chao really wanted to go to the bathroom and smoke a cigarette, but in reality, he could only pull out a piece of candy from his pocket.

"I bet fifty cents, it's definitely that bastard Wan Da," He Chao scanned the class, "Besides him, who else would have spilled the beans, that guy can't keep his mouth shut even if he tried." 

Wan Da was inexplicably blamed for something, and he had no idea.

The monthly exams were graded quickly, and the next morning as everyone entered the school gates, the ranking list was already posted on the bulletin board. It was a dense board full of names, with black letters on a white background.

The boarding students were still not used to the patriotic wake-up call and the twenty-minute morning speech by radio host Head Teacher Jiang: "We must strive, give it our all, and not regret it in the future!"

Xie Yu was awakened by the noise outside, there were even some hot-blooded boarding students doing their morning exercises outside.

There was also a text message from He Chao next door, probably just awakened, with only one word: "Morning."

A few minutes later, another text came.

- Little friend, are you up?

- No.

- Me neither. Endure for twenty minutes and then go back to sleep. 

- You're not going for class this morning?

- The first period's Old Tang's class, let me have a break.

During the first period, He Chao was absent from class, but his test papers began circulating around the classroom.

"If we were to bind all of Brother Chao's Chinese test papers into a book, it would be a source of joy," said Liu Cunhao. "I have never seen anyone with such brilliant problem-solving skills, and he even argues with the test makers...I'm impressed."

"Have you read his essay? He wrote about his own back view, starting with 'I think my back is particularly handsome,' and then went on to write eight hundred words about it."

"Hahaha, this is hilarious! Brother Yu, have you read it? Come over and read it together."

Xie Yu suddenly realized that his life had become completely different from before in just one short month of school.

Suddenly, there were many different voices around him. 

These voices pushed their way in aggressively, bit by bit.

It was very noisy and chaotic.

He Chao seized the opportunity to slip into the classroom once Chinese class ended.

Xu Qingqing was handing out English test papers and reminded him, "You haven't turned in your English homework yet."

He Chao had just arrived at the door, "What English homework?"

"Copying the words from the vocabulary list, four times each," Xu Qingqing finished and then stuffed the English test paper into He Chao's arms, "This is yours and your desk mate's. You got a 30 and your desk mate got a 25."

Although the two of them had similar grades, the teachers preferred to grade Xie Yu's papers over He Chao's. After all, Xie Yu had neat handwriting and they wouldn't have to stare at the paper for half an hour trying to decipher what was written. 

He Chao didn't care about his score or mistakes. He rolled up the two papers and walked over to Xie Yu's desk, leaning in and tapping it. "What are you looking at?"

Xie Yu didn't even lift his head. "Your essay."

He Chao: "..."

"It's been passed around for a whole class period, it just got back from Class 8," Xie Yu said. "Oh, and you have a new nickname now, 'Back View Brother'."

Shen Jie purposely used the bathroom as an excuse to slip out of class halfway through and crouched in the hallway of Class 3, asking Wan Da and the others to pass He Chao's test paper to him through the window, saying that their Class 8 classmates were very interested in a zero-point essay.

He Chao didn't need to ask who the culprit was for it being passed to Class 8. "What a joke, it sounds so ugly and doesn't match my talent at all." 

He Chao suggested that they should give him a grandiose title like "Great Literary Master". 

Just then, Wan Da burst in from the door. Every time he went to the bathroom during class, he couldn't resist eavesdropping at the office door and always came back with some half-true, half-false strange news. "Breaking news! Brother Chao, it's bad news."

He Chao threw the test paper in his hand onto the desk, not taking it too seriously, but still playing along with the act. "What's wrong? Don't rush, take your time."

"The class representative took the test paper to find Old Tang and said that in order to improve the class average, he wants to give individual coaching to you two," Wan Da summarized the news he heard in the office, "He also said he wants to shoulder the responsibility of the class committee. Old Tang is still considering it."

"He's serious?" 

The rumor that Xue Xisheng never sleeps and only focuses on studying was debunked a few days ago by Ding Lianghua, who put out the fire of dormitory rumors and panda rumors with a fire extinguisher.

While it's true that Xue Xisheng loves studying, he's not so extreme as to risk his life. It's just that this is his first time away from home, and he's having trouble sleeping due to unfamiliar surroundings and lack of sleep. However, because his attitude towards studying is so serious, he gives off a feeling of being out of place.

When Xue Xisheng returned from the office, he didn't say anything, so it seems that Old Tang probably didn't agree to his request.

In the morning, almost every class was analyzing test papers. There were two math classes in a row, and after finishing the test papers, the math teacher asked, "Did you all understand?"

He Chao chimed in, "I understood."

The math teacher directly grabbed the chalk that he hadn't even put down yet and threw it towards the back row, saying, "Don't think you understand just because you think you do, student in the back row." 

Recently, He Chao had been behaving well in class and not playing games as much. It was probably because he had some psychological trauma from the last time he was bullied by Old Tang. 

However, when he wasn't playing games, he became particularly annoying. He had learned palm reading skills from Wan Da and insisted on reading Xie Yu's palm, claiming that he had become very accurate. 

During evening self-study, Xie Yu finally couldn't take it anymore and asked, "Wat about your stinky man? Aren't you playing anymore?" 

He Chao was taken aback. 

He leaned back and said after a while, "Oh, that...I'm not playing anymore." Who knew which part of the words 'stinky man' had taken him by surprise. 

He didn't bother Xie Yu to read his palm for the rest of the evening self-study. 

After the evening self-study ended and they were walking on the road, He Chao suddenly said, "I can't play that stinky man anymore." 

Xie Yu didn't quite understand what he meant and asked, "What do you mean?" 

Despite the streetlights shining, the surroundings were still somewhat dark.

"My sister changed the password," He Chao took two steps forward and spoke in a calm tone, "...Actually, the game account was stolen by me."