Ha, you really know how to joke.

After confirming that Tang Manman hadn’t been bullied, Lin Yu felt relieved. Glancing at Gu Yue, whose expression was somewhat complicated, he casually asked,

"How’d you do on the exam?"

"Wait a sec, let me check."

Gu Yue responded before rummaging through her backpack.

After searching left and right, she looked up at Lin Yu and blinked, saying,

"I think I threw my report card away."

"Then what’s your rough ranking?"

"You can’t possibly not remember even that, can you?"

Lin Yu pressed, unconvinced.

Gu Yue rolled her dark, bright eyes upward in thought and replied,

"Somewhere around eight or nine hundred."

"I think it was almost in the four digits."

"Oh."

Lin Yu nodded. It was just a passing question, so he didn’t press further.

"What about you, Long Ge?"

"How’d you do?"

Just like how the phrases "How are you," "I’m fine," "Thank you," and "And you?" always go together in middle school English readings, Gu Yue naturally fired back after Lin Yu asked about her results.

"Two hundred and seventieth," Lin Yu said nonchalantly.

Gu Yue stared at him, hesitated for a moment, then cautiously probed,

"Class ranking of two hundred and seventieth?"

"Get lost!"

"Who the hell has 270 people in one class?"

Lin Yu shot her a glare and retorted irritably.

"Then you must’ve missed a ‘1’ in front."

Gu Yue said, this time with a hint of certainty in her tone.

Lin Yu turned to look at her and asked,

"Are there even 1,270 people in our senior year?"

"There should be, right? Otherwise, did you actually rank two hundred and seventieth?"

Gu Yue laughed it off, as if she knew Lin Yu better than he knew himself.

Lin Yu gave her a deadpan look, too lazy to argue further. He pulled out his report card from his single-strap bag, waved it in front of her face, and said,

"Open your blind eyes and take a good look—am I 1,270th or 270th?"

Gu Yue didn’t look at the report card. Instead, she blinked at Lin Yu, as if asking, "Is there even a need to check something like this?"

Lin Yu pressed the thin sheet of paper directly onto her face and said coldly,

"Look."

Gu Yue peeled the report card off her face and skimmed it. When she saw "Lin Yu" in the first place, she frowned and instinctively turned the paper upside down.

Realizing the words flipped along with the sheet, her frown deepened.

After turning it back around, she glanced at the report card, then up at Lin Yu, and asked,

"Is there another Lin Yu in your class?"

Without wasting words, Lin Yu flicked her smooth forehead and said with a frosty smile,

"How about you look again?"

"See if there’s a second Lin Yu on that report card."

Watching Gu Yue actually start searching the paper in earnest, Lin Yu rolled his eyes in frustration.

How had he never noticed before how infuriating this little brat could be?

Finally, after scrutinizing the report card multiple times—even flipping it over to check the blank back—Gu Yue reluctantly accepted that the Lin Yu ranked first in the class was indeed the Lin Yu standing before her.

She looked up at him, down at the report card, then back up again, her dark eyes filled with shock and indignation as she said,

"No way."

"Long Ge, you actually study?!"

"No shit!"

Lin Yu snatched the report card back and stuffed it into his bag.

"What else are you supposed to do in school if not study?"

"Then… then with grades like this, you’ll actually get into college, won’t you?"

"I was counting on going to the same vocational school as you, or just following you around after graduation."

Gu Yue pouted, her voice dripping with grievance.

"Vocational school?"

"Does your total score even break 150?"

Lin Yu turned and asked.

"Uh… isn’t 100 enough?"

Gu Yue hesitated before timidly countering.

"Tch."

Lin Yu smirked coldly.

"Then you’d better start thinking of another plan."

"I’m off to college—no time to play with you."

"Come on, Long Ge!"

"Without you, I’ll get bullied to death!"

Gu Yue grabbed Lin Yu’s hand, looking up at him with pitiful eyes.

"Long Ge, you’re so good at studying—can’t you teach me?"

"No."

Lin Yu refused without hesitation.

His own grades were barely enough to keep himself afloat—how could he spare time to tutor someone else?

"Find someone else to teach you."

He shook off her hand and strode ahead.

After a few steps, Lin Yu suddenly remembered something. He turned back to Gu Yue, who was still standing there looking dejected, and asked curiously,

"Where do you live, anyway?"

"J-Just nearby."

"Why?"

A flicker of panic flashed across Gu Yue’s sulky face as she stammered.

"Specific location."

Lin Yu pressed, leaving no room for evasion.

"Um…"

"Uh…"

"Just up ahead—Qinghe Residential Area!"

After a long pause, Gu Yue suddenly pointed at the Qinghe Residential Area not far away.

Lin Yu followed her finger and, confirming it was on his way home, nodded and dropped the subject.

"Why’d you suddenly ask about that?"

Relieved that Lin Yu didn’t push further, Gu Yue jogged to catch up and asked.

"Nothing much."

Lin Yu replied.

"Just found it a bit weird. I don’t think I ever saw you around before."

"But for the past month or so, I’ve been running into you almost every day on my way to and from school. Doesn’t add up."

As he spoke, his scrutinizing gaze settled on her again.

"That’s because I moved."

Gu Yue met his eyes with an earnest expression.

"Oh, that explains it."

Lin Yu nodded in sudden understanding.

The two walked together for a while longer. Gu Yue’s face was still downcast, and just before they parted ways, she couldn’t resist asking one last time,

"Long Ge, can’t you really teach me?"

"I want to get into a decent college too."

"It’s not that I won’t—it’s that I’m barely scraping by myself."

Lin Yu sighed.

"Besides, I’m swamped right now. No time to tutor you."

"Find someone who’s free and more reliable."

"Don’t pin your hopes on me."

He patted Gu Yue’s shoulder, then strode off toward the Xinyue Residential Area where Xia Muzhu lived.

Gu Yue opened her mouth as she watched his retreating figure, but in the end, she said nothing. She just deflated like a poorly inflated balloon, her whole body slumping in defeat.