The next day, Yu Shao reached school before 7:30, managing not to miss morning self-study and barely preserving his crumbling conduct points.
At Jiangling No. 1 High School, 7:30 to 8:00 was morning self-study time. While no teacher supervised, missing it would get you marked down by the study committee and cost ten conduct points.
Once conduct points dropped below sixty, you'd get the "call your parents in" package, possibly with a belt-and-meat combo as a bonus.
Yu Shao currently had exactly sixty conduct points—living life on the edge with total commitment.
As a key high school, Jiangling No. 1 High School had its share of slackers, but half the students were still earnestly memorizing vocabulary.
Yu Shao had just walked into the classroom with his bag when he noticed Cheng Mengjie in the second row staring at him intently.
Cheng Mengjie looked like she hadn't slept well—her face was somewhat haggard, but those bright fox eyes still sparkled, giving men an impulse to protect her.
These fox eyes were one of the main reasons his predecessor had been so infatuated with Cheng Mengjie.
But when Yu Shao looked toward Cheng Mengjie, she immediately turned away coldly—clearly meaning "I'm angry."
This wasn't an act.
Yesterday, Cheng Mengjie had noticed that Yu Shao, who used to send her goodnight messages every day, had stopped for several days running.
Thinking she might have been too cold to him lately and should give him some hope, Cheng Mengjie had taken the initiative to message Yu Shao.
She'd expected Yu Shao to react like before—she'd throw out a simple line and he'd eagerly play all his cards.
But Yu Shao had only replied "eating"!
Fine, eating is eating, but couldn't you add "what about you?" after "eating"? Anyone who'd watched short videos knew how to chat with girls!
She'd thought Yu Shao was just being dense, so she sent a sunset photo with the caption "today's sunset is beautiful."
A girl sharing her life with you—what did that mean? Plus she said the sunset was beautiful—the topic was right there. You should at least reply "yes, how nice it would be to watch it with you," right?
But Yu Shao didn't reply!
Even when the somewhat frustrated Cheng Mengjie proactively asked what he'd eaten, he replied "rice"!
Could I not know you ate rice?!
Cheng Mengjie was genuinely angry and felt wronged, because she wasn't stupid—she could see the coldness and dismissiveness in Yu Shao's messages.
Although she had indeed rejected Yu Shao's confession, she didn't dislike his pursuit and even felt some joy, hoping he'd continue.
Having someone like her while being unable to get her gave Cheng Mengjie an indescribable sense of superiority and satisfaction.
Teenage girls were sensitive and proud—being treated this way by someone who used to pursue her desperately was a blow to her self-esteem.
So she'd tossed and turned all night.
She'd already decided that even if Yu Shao came crawling back with apologies today, she'd be cold at best, and what happened after that... would depend on Yu Shao's performance.
But Yu Shao paid no attention to Cheng Mengjie's mood and had no intention of apologizing. After glancing away, he quickly went to his seat.
Just as Yu Shao sat down, another boy with dark circles rushed into the classroom with his bag.
After sitting in the seat next to Yu Shao, he looked up at the clock on the wall.
"Phew... made it."
He sighed in relief.
Seeing his prominent dark circles, Yu Shao was startled and couldn't help asking: "Zhou De, did you cosplay as a panda last night?"
"Old Zhang dragged me to ranked games yesterday. We kept losing and I wanted to win it back, so I pulled an all-nighter," Zhou De said regretfully.
"Yikes."
Yu Shao gasped—high school students' bodies were really tough, pulling gaming all-nighters.
Old Zhang was the one who'd invited Yu Shao to the internet cafe yesterday. Yu Shao felt lucky he hadn't gone, or he'd have been losing rank too.
Yu Shao suddenly felt that maybe it was because he'd crossed over as a high school student that his mindset had become younger—in his previous life, he wouldn't have cared about game rankings.
But thinking about it, in his previous life Yu Shao hadn't had time for games, only occasionally playing party games with friends, staying in bronze rank.
Oh, never mind then.
Can't drop what you don't have—no wonder he didn't care.
Yu Shao thought about it and asked: "So did you win it back?"
"I've dropped out of gold now."
Yu Shao nearly lost it.
"You should've come yesterday when Old Zhang called you!" Zhou De beat his chest dramatically, not even bothering to hide his twisted thoughts.
"Aren't you tired now?" Yu Shao asked.
"Obviously I'm tired. My eyelids are fighting each other. I'll have to catch up on sleep during class."
Zhou De rolled his eyes and said: "Quick, did you do the homework? Let me copy it, then I'll sleep after copying."
"Seriously?"
Yu Shao handed over his homework, somewhat skeptical: "First period is math class—you dare sleep?"
"Of course I dare! Li Kang means nothing to me!" Zhou De looked defiant.
Yu Shao didn't believe a word of it.
He knew Zhou De too well—all talk, no action. When first period came, Zhou De would definitely have his eyes wide open like headlights, sharp as lightning.
But Yu Shao didn't call him out, since Zhou De would just argue anyway. He just glanced at him and said: "Really? You're so brave."
Zhou De patted his chest proudly: "I'm super brave, okay!"
"Isn't there anyone you wouldn't dare sleep through?"
Zhou De thought seriously, then answered: "The chemistry teacher? She's too old—I can't bring myself to do it. I may be desperate, but I still have some standards."
Hearing this answer, Yu Shao nearly choked on his saliva and almost missed the logic.
"No wonder your parents named you Zhou De," Yu Shao said after catching his breath. "Real foresight."
"Hm? Why?"
Zhou De was puzzled.
"Need to flush it out."
Zhou De didn't react at first, but when he did, he flew into a rage, rolling up his sleeves to settle things with Yu Shao once and for all.
Morning self-study ended and first period began. Li Kang walked into the classroom with his signature thermos.
As Yu Shao expected, Zhou De, who'd been boasting "Li Kang means nothing," was now exhausted but had his eyes wide open despite being ready to fall asleep the moment he sat down.
Ring ring ring.
One class period passed quickly as the bell rang for the end of class.
Li Kang's lecture stopped, but he didn't leave immediately—the students immediately knew he probably had something to announce.
Although Li Kang was strict, he had one good point: he never extended class. If he stayed after the bell, it meant he had news.
"Next week, our school has invited your alumnus—now professional Go player Wu Shuheng 3-dan—to hold a Go lecture at our school to promote the game," Li Kang announced.
As soon as Li Kang finished speaking, the students below immediately got excited.
Not for any other reason, but simply because school events meant at least a morning or afternoon—no classes!
The four words "no classes" held tremendous magic for students, comparable to adults hearing "I forgot my house keys."
"Quiet!"
Li Kang frowned. After the classroom quieted down, he continued:
"At that time, your alumnus will also have a simultaneous exhibition match with our school's students. You'll have the chance to play against a professional Go player—a rare opportunity."
"So any students who can play Go can sign up with me."