Hearing is Believing, but I've Heard the Truth

In the afternoon, the seating chart for the second mock exam was posted.

His "Luck +5" buff had worn off. Shen Nian was assigned to a classroom on the sixth floor, completely severing his destiny with the cafeteria's five-spice giant chicken drumsticks.

"I'm actually on the second floor!" Xia Yanchun said happily after finding her assigned seat.

"You wouldn't want to see me eating all alone in the cafeteria, right?" Shen Nian bared his teeth in a grin.

"I know, I know... I'll wait for you on the first floor, okay?"

"Lord Class Monitor, I really love you."

"...!" Xia Yanchun pursed her lips. Talking about love in broad daylight, doesn't he have any shame!

Fortunately, Shen Nian's tone was relatively light, and coupled with the "Lord Class Monitor" title, anyone could tell it was a joke.

If he had changed Lord Class Monitor to Chunbao, people would definitely start teasing them.

Xia Yanchun kicked Shen Nian.

Shen Nian just bent down to pat his pant leg and ignored her.

During the evening self-study session, the desks were already arranged like an exam room. The extra desks and chairs were piled up at the back or in the hallway. There was even less space to store books, so many students had to move them back to their dormitories, keeping only a couple in the classroom for revision.

The study atmosphere was only at its peak when exams were approaching. Even students who usually didn't take studying seriously would flip through their materials and memorize some commonly tested ancient poems.

Even if they got full marks on the poetry dictation, their total score would still be in the same tier, but at least it gave them some psychological comfort.

Normally, they would be chatting nonsense or playing Gomoku, but Ma Mingfan was taking this second mock exam exceptionally seriously, burying his head in his studies for half the evening session.

His willpower had scored big points again.

Chen Dong was sitting too far away, so they couldn't chat either.

After class, Liang Jing quietly walked over. She poked Ma Mingfan's shoulder from behind, holding a test paper that covered half her face.

"Do you know how to solve the final physics question?"

"I can definitely solve it, but I might not get full marks on the last part." Ma Mingfan initially wanted to say she could ask Shen Nian about the final physics question, but after thinking about it, he swallowed his words.

"Come teach me!" Liang Jing spread the paper on his desk, even bringing a pencil.

Shen Nian stroked his chin from behind.

Liang Jing was just like the old Ma Mingfan, an average student with middling grades. But now, Ma Mingfan could actually tutor Liang Jing.

Ma Mingfan had worked hard to climb from the middle of the pack to the upper-middle. This mock exam, he might even reach the top tier.

Could watching Super Sweet Candy really improve your grades?

Unorthodox cultivators really do improve fast. Others could stay up late grinding practice questions for half a year and still not raise their score by twenty points, but Ma Mingfan had gone from a 550 to a 600 in that same timeframe.

To be fair, Ma Mingfan had been studying very seriously lately. He even uninstalled the games he loved so much, so he deserved this.

Ma Mingfan sat in his seat while Liang Jing stood next to him, leaning one hand on the desk and bending over slightly to listen to him explain the problem.

It was a very youthful scene. Shen Nian felt a bit jealous watching them, so he got up, walked over to Xia Yanchun, and brushed his hair back.

"?" Xia Yanchun pouted, a visible question mark popping up over her head.

She was reading perfectly fine, so why did a dog come sniffing around?

"Nothing, just had an itchy hand." Shen Nian scratched his head.

"My hand is itchy too." Xia Yanchun raised a small fist.

Shen Nian shifted back. If Xia Yanchun wanted to hit him, she would have to stand up. Since she was sitting so comfortably, getting up just to punch Shen Nian wasn't worth it.

"Get lost," she muttered. "If you don't score higher than me tomorrow, I'll laugh at you for the rest of your life."

"For the rest of my life?"

Suddenly realizing the phrase the rest of your life sounded a bit intimate, Xia Yanchun straightened her back.

"Anyway, I'll laugh at you for a very long time!"

"Are you saying you look down on everyone who scores lower than you? Wow, Xia Yanchun, you're actually doing academic discrimination. You look down on the whole class, huh!"

"Y-you stop talking nonsense!"

Xia Yanchun was furious. She jumped up and chased Shen Nian all over the classroom, determined to land a kick on him.

After failing to catch him for a while, Xia Yanchun got angrier the more she thought about it, feeling completely out of sorts.

She hated Shen Nian so much!

...

Xia Yanchun, who had initially been angry and planned to make Shen Nian coax her, found her anger dissipating on its own after one evening self-study session.

She happily trotted out of the classroom with her backpack. It was chilly outside, and the cool breeze made her shrink her neck.

The weather during this period was just like this, unpredictable. It was warm during the day, but could easily turn cold at night.

However, this temperature was still within Xia Yanchun's acceptable range.

The closer the college entrance exam got, the bolder she became. As they neared the school gate, Xia Yanchun leaned directly against Shen Nian.

"La la la... In my heart lives an old child..." Xia Yanchun hummed a little tune, stepping on Shen Nian's shadow with every step.

Shen Nian glanced at her, reaching out a large hand to pull her close to his side.

Even if a school official saw them, he wouldn't let go. If they dared to catch the first and second ranked students in the grade, weren't they afraid it would ruin their moods and cause their grades to plummet?

Xia Yanchun was also very bold, though the assessing glances from a few unfamiliar students around them still made her feel a bit shy.

Thinking of those secret couples who dared to hold hands directly in school, Xia Yanchun really admired them. Even though she and Shen Nian were so close, they only dared to lean against each other and walk slowly like this.

As for holding hands...

Blinking her almond-shaped eyes, Xia Yanchun pursed her lips and quietly, gently extended her pinky finger to Shen Nian's hand, poking and rubbing against it.

Shen Nian didn't make a sound, but he had already hooked the girl's pinky finger, and then her ring finger, middle finger...

Three fingers were enough.

Xia Yanchun shook her little head, and the hair by her ear quickly fell down, covering half her face.

When Shen Nian reached over to brush it aside, she tilted her head away, not letting him succeed.

"So bold?" Shen Nian said softly.

"So what? If you have a problem with it, tell the principal to come catch me!"

"How could we run into the prin... Holy crap, the homeroom teacher!"

"!"

Xia Yanchun anxiously tried to pull her hand back, but no matter how hard she pulled, her fingers were held tightly by Shen Nian.

There wasn't a single teacher around, let alone their homeroom teacher, Su Kexi!

"Hehehe, I thought you really weren't afraid. Turns out you're just all talk."

Well, actually her mouth was quite soft too, Shen Nian was certain of that.

Angry and embarrassed, Xia Yanchun delivered a rocket headbutt, shoving Shen Nian until one of his feet stepped into the grass by the road.

"I was wrong, I was wrong! Stop shoving, my shoes are getting dirty!"

"Apologize!"

"I was wrong, sis!"

Calling her sis was still calling her sis. Xia Yanchun's mood improved greatly. "Hmph, just this once."

After leaving the school gates and sitting on the back seat of the electric scooter, Xia Yanchun grabbed onto Shen Nian's shoulders with her two small hands and started humming a pleasant tune again.

"Laughing joyfully, crying frankly... Why should our expressions be arranged by this world..."

"Hey, how is it? Does it sound good? Give me a sharp critique."

Shen Nian looked at the beautiful girl in the rearview mirror and pondered, "I'm afraid telling the truth will hurt you."

"It's okay, I won't get mad."

"That means you will get mad."

"Hurry up and say it. If you don't tell the truth, you're not allowed on the bed tonight."

Shen Nian sweatdropped. There was no greater deadly trap in life than this.

Whatever, Shen Nian had always been an honest person.

"They say hearing is deceiving, but listening to you sing, I feel like my ears have heard the absolute truth."

·

This is the last time this year I'll ask for updates and small gifts. The Little Demon King is here to wish everyone a Happy New Year in advance!