Chapter 42: Gu Mang, Don’t Be Rash
All the teachers sitting in the staffroom frowned. This was humiliation. The last place in Cla.s.s One could probably score higher than the entirety of Cla.s.s Twenty. Luo Songhua was practically digging a hole for Xi Yan and her students to jump into. Chu Yao and Fatty were also silent, not daring to speak.
If this were a fight, they would join in without a second thought but this was an academic compet.i.tion. They didn’t even understand the material. How were they to beat Cla.s.s One? Were they supposed to cheat? It would be even more humiliating if they were caught doing so.
Meng Jinyang clenched her fists tightly and looked at Gu Mang, asking a question with her eyes.
Gu Mang shook her head at her.
“How about that, Lu Yang? Don’t you want me to apologize to Gu Mang? I’ll give you this chance. Does Cla.s.s Twenty dare?” Luo Songhua said, her expression arrogant.
Lu Yang’s jaw was clenched extremely tightly. Xi Yan said nothing but her eyebrows were furrowed.
Luo Songhua smiled disdainfully. “Even Ms. Xi doesn’t have any confidence in you. Why do you think you have the right to call the shots here as a bunch of failed students?”
Anger suddenly flashed in Gu Mang’s cool eyes and the corners of her eyes flooded with a wicked redness.
She turned around slowly, looking at the teacher haughtily with her dark and bright eyes. In a nonchalant tone, she said, “Sure, I’ll accept this bet.”
Luo Songhua was stunned.
Xi Yan looked at Gu Mang in disbelief. Snapping back to reality, she said hurriedly, “Gu Mang, don’t be rash…”
Gu Mang smirked. She looked extremely sinister. “Teacher, I’ll be going back to study now.”
Xi Yan was speechless.
Gu Mang led the students out of the office towards cla.s.s.
The staffroom quietened down completely.
Luo Songhua sneered, “What overconfidence. I’ll wait for Cla.s.s Twenty to humiliate themselves.”
Xi Yan looked worried. Since the matter had already been decided, she decided that she needed to think of a way to raise their grades in a short time so that they wouldn’t look as bad when they lost.
This news spread through the Year Three cohort like wildfire. Even the Year One and Two members of the Student Union heard of it.
“The result is obvious. Cla.s.s One is going to win.”
“I heard that Ms. Xi wasn’t even the one who agreed to it. I heard it was Gu Mang who accepted the challenge.”
“How dumb. Is this what they call having good looks but no brains? Competing with Cla.s.s One over academics? They shouldn’t have done it, even if they were seeking death.”
“Cla.s.s Twenty is going to be thoroughly humiliated.”
The entire school was abuzz with discussion.
…
In Cla.s.s Twenty.
Discontent was voiced by all.
In the end everyone swallowed their anger and began to study.
“Let me tell you, we can’t give up! Or do you want to be looked down upon by everyone else as failed students?!” Lu Yang’s voice was powerful and resounding. “We have to love studying!”
Chu Yao couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Could anything be funnier than failed students starting a studying campaign?
Lu Yang glared at him fiercely.
Chu Yao sobered up in a second. “Brother Yang is right. I love studying! The difficulty of the Shu Road is as difficult as climbing to the blue sky! [1. Chu Yao is quoting “The Difficulty of the Shu Road”, a poem by famous poet Li Bai.] What a trying journey! Such a trying journey! So full of forked paths before; where can I rest? [2. Chu Yao is quoting a Trying Journey, another poem by Li Bai.] Difficulty upon difficult presents!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The entire cla.s.s erupted in uproarious laughter. “Brother Yao, you’re really talented.”
Lu Yang was speechless.
Gu Mang observed the helpless Lu Yang standing at the lectern and smiled. She took up her pen and began working on questions. Lu Yang felt that he had lost this time and went back to his seat, a little defeated. The sight of Gu Mang studying gave him a little comfort.
When he neared her, he saw that she was drawing a fox in her exercise book. His legs grew numb and he almost fell down. Forget it, he’d ask Lu Yi to tutor him.
He still had to rely on her.