Old Wu finished writing the problem and drew a diagram on the side to simplify the difficulty and make it easier for them to understand. He had already drawn the auxiliary lines in advance.

Xie Yu looked up at the blackboard and finally understood the third solution that He Chao had mentioned. Although this method was feasible, it involved a lot of unnecessary data and required several rounds of mutual deduction to arrive at the final conclusion.

[XY]: The calculation is too complicated.

[Handsome He]: It's not that bad. I can solve it in three minutes with mental arithmetic.

[XY]: You're too arrogant.

On the phone screen, the two game characters were surrounded by cool skills. After Xie Yu finished typing, he quickly launched a wave of attacks from the skill bar with lightning-fast speed.

Handsome He broke through the encirclement and went straight for the big boss behind.

The boss had thick skin and was hard to beat. After a long struggle, He Chao caught a glimpse of three words that popped up in the upper right corner of the team channel.

[XY]: What's your plan?

Xie Yu didn't directly ask "how much longer are you going to pretend".

Plan.

He Chao stared at the word "plan". Suddenly, his hand stopped just as he was about to launch the final blow, and he inexplicably pressed the healing button.

Then, the game character he was controlling stopped all actions and took a bottle of medicine on the spot.

In just a few seconds, the situation changed dramatically.

Handsome He stood foolishly on the side, drinking medicine as his health dropped rapidly.

When his health was completely depleted, his character also fell down. At that very moment, He Chao finished editing his sentence and sent it out.

[Handsome He]: I think I've figured out the answer.

He Chao continued typing, but before he could finish, a message box popped up in the center of the screen: Your friend Shen Jie has requested to join the team.

As Wu Zheng tackled the difficult problem on the blackboard, the sound of reciting ancient poetry from the neighboring class drifted in through the window.

"Take advantage of your clear morning minds, and let me explain this problem to you," Wu Zheng said, using up two blackboards. He ran out of chalk halfway through and, while looking for a new piece, noticed two people in the back with their heads down, not doing anything: "..."

This time, Wu Zheng didn't throw the chalk. Instead, he made a "shh" gesture to the audience, indicating that they should remain quiet. Then, he calmly walked over with his teaching ruler.

Liu Cunhao held back his laughter, clenching his fist and pressing it against his mouth as he said to Wan Da, "I bet fifty cents that those two are done for today."

"Maybe not," Wan Da leaned in, "With Brother Chao's skills, I believe he can come back from the dead."

As it turned out, Wan Da was overthinking things.

Holding his phone, He Chao was caught by Wu Zheng, who also saw the game interface on his screen. The evidence was clear and damning.

Wu Zheng leaned in to take a closer look. "You two certainly have a rich life," he remarked.

Xie Yu quickly left the group and covered up the chat history.

He Chao did the same.

All Wu Zheng could see were two poorly dressed game characters in the game lobby and the constant system messages popping up on He Chao's screen: Your friend Shen Jie has requested to join the team.

Your friend Shen Jie has requested to join the team.

"..."

When Shen Jie was called to the office by the homeroom teacher, he was completely bewildered.

As he pushed open the office door, he saw his Brother Chao and Xie Yu inside.

His homeroom teacher sat with a relaxed posture, one arm draped over the back of his chair, a red pen between his fingers as he casually asked, "So, tell me, what were you doing during morning self-study?"

Shen Jie trembled as he replied, "Studying seriously."

He Chao had a good attitude and stood on the side, as if he was being specially praised by the teacher. He smiled and prompted, "Shen Jie, be honest. Look into my eyes and try to remember."

Shen Jie: "..."

Xie Yu leaned against the wall, feeling a bit tired after not getting enough sleep last night and not catching up on it during morning self-study. He quietly shifted his weight.

Inside the office, representatives from various subjects came in and out, carrying homework.

Everyone was reporting on their class's homework status, with a few people not turning it in and others still missing. Some had even forgotten their test papers at home.

The most out of place were the three of them, who were standing here getting scolded right after morning self-study on Monday.

"Teacher, I really know I was wrong. I shouldn't have given in to the temptation of games," Shen Jie said, even though he never thought he would be unlucky enough to end up like this. "I will definitely turn over a new leaf and become a better person. I will quit playing games and focus on studying in the future..."

While Shen Jie was bowing his head and admitting his mistake, Xie Yu secretly touched He Chao's hand and asked him with half-closed eyes, "What answer have you figured out?"

He Chao turned his head to look at him when he heard this.

He always liked the way his little friend looked in a school uniform, even though the uniforms at No. 2 were plain and unremarkable. When they were first distributed, everyone despised them and would feel a surge of confidence on days they could avoid wearing them, walking with a sense of pride.

But Xie Yu was different. Despite his rebellious demeanor and cold, irritable expression, he obediently wore the uniform every day and was always ready to throw down with anyone who crossed him.

"The answer you gave me," He Chao whispered, "at the movie theater. That answer."

At first, He Chao didn't think much of being a good student and earning the teachers' favour.

He wasn't the type to bury his nose in books and would play whenever he could. He was always up for the latest popular game and was often involved in mischief in class.

Although it was a headache for them, all the teachers had mostly praised him: "It's pretty good, he has character. He's just a boy, still young and a bit wild..."

But nothing had really changed.

Lowering his grades had turned him into the high school homeroom teacher's "ringleader in buying answers," and into Xu Xia's "someone like you."

With the weight of Er Lei's situation pressing down on him, he felt like he was endlessly falling, unable to see the bottom.

He even felt like he was truly terrible.

That day, although Xie Yu didn't say it directly, his cold and ruthless boyfriend clearly gave him a gentle push.

It wasn't that he had successfully untangled any knots in his heart, but he felt like he had gained a lot of courage.

Courage to face these things and cross over them.

Shen Jie's confession lasted for three minutes, but it didn't move the homeroom teacher of Class 8. Their homeroom teacher was also a hot-tempered guy who said after listening, "Your emotions are not sincere enough. Go back and write a three-thousand-word self-reflection. Not even one word less."

Shen Jie responded painfully, "Okay, Brother Qiang."

Then the homeroom teacher of Class 8 waved his hand and said, "Alright, go back to class for now. I'll deal with you next time."

Old Tang didn't say these clichés. After finishing his work, he took the two of them to the balcony and pondered for a moment before saying, "Have you thought about what you want to do? It's not necessary to just focus on studying. Some people study hard because they don't know what they want to do in the future. So, do your best in what you're doing now, prepare well, and wait for the things you like to appear in the future.

"Some people know what they want to do, so they work hard to move towards the future.

"What about the both of you? Where do you want to go?

"No matter where you want to go, you can't just lie on the ground and stagnate because you don't know."

The wind was strong on the balcony, and several pots of flowers were placed on the side to bask in the sun, including Old Tang's succulent named Xiao Cui. He had probably been holding back these words for a while, as he couldn't bear to see the two of them idle all day.

"Alright, I won't make you write a self-reflection," Old Tang sighed and said, "Go back to class."

Xie Yu walked in front.

He was followed by Shen Jie who trailed behind He Chao. As soon as they stepped out of the office, Shen Jie shook his head and thought to himself, this was really unlucky.

"Brother Chao, won't you explain?" Shen Jie jumped up and wanted to grab He Chao's neck, gritting his teeth and threatening, "Aren't you sorry for what you did to your brother, me..."

He Chao smiled and let him make a scene. He didn't expect that playing a game would drag him down either. What's more, at that time, Old Wu went directly to the homeroom teacher of Class 8 and said, "Do you have a student named Shen Jie in your class? Tell him not to spend all his class time playing games with our students He Chao and Xie Yu."

The homeroom teacher of Class 8 protected his students, "What are you saying? How can you say that? I think it's your two students who seduced our Shen Jie."

Wu Zheng said, "Nonsense, just look at this. He requested to join their team four or five times. Can you even recognize words?"

The two of them started arguing like this.

He Chao spoke while dodging, "What's there to explain? There's nothing to explain. You're just unlucky."

Shen Jie was almost a head shorter than He Chao. He was about to jump up and grab him when he noticed that Xie Yu, who had his hands in his pockets and had stopped halfway, leaning against the wall and staring coldly at him.

His eyes clearly said, try touching him again and see what happens?

Shen Jie: "..."

Shen Jie silently put his hands down and said, "Count me as unlucky. I'm going back to class. Goodbye."

He Chao waved his hand and said, "Goodbye."

After he finished speaking, he walked up to Xie Yu and asked, "Why did you stop?"

Xie Yu was silent for a moment before saying, "Old Tang."

"Ah." He Chao was stunned for two seconds before reacting and not saying anything.

After Old Tang became the homeroom teacher of Class 3, the whole atmosphere of the class changed. When Xu Xia was there, she clearly suppressed them, but now they could say whatever they wanted in the class group.

On the dream bulletin board, although most people's dreams are nonsense, Old Tang still put in effort to help each of them find information about different industries, hoping they could have a goal.

Xie Yu wanted to say that everyone is different, Old Tang is not Xu Xia.

But then he thought, He Chao would definitely know.

In the end, Xie Yu only said, "Go back to class, boyfriend."

In the classroom, the Unbeatable Most Handsome Squad was pulled by Xu Jing to start rehearsing again. Xie Yu hadn't even entered the classroom yet when he heard them counting beats. Luo Wenqiang twisted his waist in a charming and graceful manner, and everyone watching was laughing.

"Have you guys decided what to wear on stage? Sports committee representative, why don't you wear the outfit from the sports meet, it'll definitely be explosive. It's such a waste to only wear it once."

Luo Wenqiang: "...Shut up, don't let Jingjing hear, what if she comes up with some new ideas."

The day of the school anniversary performance was getting closer and closer. Banners had already been hung up at the entrance in advance. Besides practicing their own dance, these people were most curious about what kind of performances the other classes would have, wanting to know their opponents' strength.

Wan Da went around the entire year's classes for this purpose and within three days, came up with a list that was even more detailed than the school's program.

"Class 7 is also dancing, and their clothes are especially cool," during break time, a few people gathered around in the back row with the list in hand. Xie Yu was trying to sleep on his arms, while Liu Cunhao sat in the empty seat opposite him and made fun of them, "Wearing suits, they look like animals in clothes."

Xie Yu couldn't sleep, so he lay on his stomach with his eyes half-open. He secretly reached out and held He Chao's hand.

He Chao calmly held his hand back, holding the little friend's slender fingers. His knuckles pressed against his palm, and a certain thought stirred in his mind: "I think we need to be a little more creative."

Xu Jing was also looking at the list, and asked with her head down, "What kind of creative idea do you have?"

"For example," He Chao paused and then laughed, "...black nail polish."