Don’t Pretend to be Poor with Me - Chapter 9

Song Yan was too fucking awesome

No matter which school or which person this situation landed on, it couldn’t be considered a small matter. It was enough to attract the attention of both the melon eaters, as well as the teachers of the dean’s office.

But contrary to everyone’s expectations, the person involved had no reaction.

Dragging his leg covered in plaster, he walked in a straight line towards the dean’s office, with a cold and tranquil expression, he remained quiet.

Liu deqing didn’t know what to say.

He wanted to scold the other, but when made to recite, he found the other could not only recite the poems from freshman year, but could also completely and accurately recite the works that second years were expected to memorize. From the start he didn’t lack the two sentences from that ancient poem.

To say that this was cheating would be too humiliating to the public’s IQ, and wouldn’t be able to convince the public.

But someone making false charges, if this were investigated and the situation made bigger, it would be even worse than if someone were found cheating. Coincidentally, the biggest suspect in this case was his own nephew.

One after another, the matter became difficult for Liu Deqing to solve.

Fortunately, Song Yan seemed reasonable and understanding. One, he didn’t cry. Two, he didn’t make a fuss. Three, he didn’t take a rope and hang it around his neck. If he was comforted properly, he might even want to silence the matter entirely.

So even when the other party blatantly placed his cellphone into the pocket of his school uniform, he pretended he didn’t see, and only said: “Teacher has already investigated this matter clearly, and it truly was a misunderstanding. Later I’ll issue a notice to the whole school to clarify the situation, is that okay?”

Song Yan hummed in agreement: “Okay.”

After that there was nothing else.

There was no accusation that Liu Yue may have framed him, nor did he cry aggrievedly about his grades, instead, he had placed Liu Deqing in an awkward situation: “You…… don’t have anything else to say?”

“Nope. Just confirming that this situation was Liu Yue’s problem is fine.”

Liu Deqing slapped the table: “It’s definitely Liu Yue’s problem! Later I’ll give him disciplinary action, and even make him apologize at the flag raising ceremony. Later, he must stop this willful and harmful behavior of disturbing the order of the exam room!”

Disturbing the order of the exam room sounded much worse than falsely accusing another student of cheating.

“Director Liu is working hard.” Song Yan said not without sarcasm.

Liu Deqing entirely missed it, and waved his hand: “How is this hard. A kid like you is too sensible, don’t even know to cry when you’ve been wronged.”

As he said this, he picked up a glass and drank a sip of tea, then spat out a mouthful of tea leaves: “But don’t worry. Teacher will definitely make this matter clear. You just have to take the next few tests without worry, got it?”

“Mm. But……”

When he heard that one word of ‘but,’ Liu Deqing’s heart immediately grew alert.

“But before, Liu Yue and I made a bet regarding the test this time. And our jokes may have gone too far, and I hope at that time, Director Liu won’t blame Liu Yue.”

Song Yan said this calmly, much like a wise and logical good student.

To the extent that after he finished speaking, Liu Deqing who had just been on edge immediately felt at ease in both body and mind.

Haah, children these days are full of youth and vigor. Making bets is quite normal.

“What’s wrong with that? Teacher isn’t some boomer, how could I get mad at you guys for this kind of thing? Don’t worry, you should play when you should play, just as long as you don’t disturb your studies.” Liu Deqing displayed a particularly sensible expression.

Song Yan also felt that he said everything he needed to: “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll go back and study first. There’s still a math test this afternoon.”

“Go, go. Teacher won’t waste your time. Good luck on your test this afternoon, teacher believes in you.”

His tone was so enthusiastic it was as if Song Yan was his actual nephew.

Meanwhile with regards to the actual nephew who had been waiting outside the Educational Administration office, he yelled out in a tone of ‘hating iron for not becoming steel1’: “Liu Yue! Get in here!”

The real and fake nephews had a brief encounter at the entrance of the Educational Administration office.

Liu Yue was still ignorant as to the entire situation, and arrogantly and snidely glanced at Song Yan.

Song Yan was too lazy to bother, after all he didn’t care for people who were bound to die, and only lowered his head to upload the recording he just took on his phone onto his cloud storage.

He rashly argued about for this matter yet didn’t obtain any worthwhile result.

After all, Liu Yue wasn’t an idiot. The handwriting on the cheat sheet definitely wasn’t his. Even if they investigated to the end, it would probably only end as a silly complaint.

Also Liu Yue had Liu Deqing’s biased support. Song Yan didn’t have any parents to protect him, so rather than make a fuss and make himself appear shameful while not necessarily obtaining a satisfactory result, it would be better to use his own methods to make Liu Yue lose even more embarrassingly.

Anyway, it was just a one time diagnostic exam that wouldn’t be recorded in his grades, and had no effect on his admissions or the files for studying abroad. If one were to say it was of any use, it would probably only be used to show that the world was unfair.

It’s hard to say whether Song Yan was ‘unlucky,’ but in any case, Liu Yue was definitely ‘inferior.’

No one knew what Liu Deqing and Liu Yue discussed.

Regarding Liu Yue reporting Song Yan as cheating, other than a single notice that it was purely a misunderstanding, there was no other news.

The rumor mill secretly surged, riding the last few traces of the summer heat to swell and ferment in places unknown to all.

Song Yan was unbothered, and because he was able to complete the last difficult problem in the Math and Physics exam, and even felt that the test this time was easy, to the point that his mood seemed incompatible when compared with the graveyard of the rest of the second years.

In the words of Xia Zhiye, it was like a group of completely disheartened zombies had been disintegrated by Anduin’s2 holy light, ridiculing them through and through.

After saying this, the little fatty in front was already worried to death: “Ye ge, you still have the heart to play Hearthstone? You haven’t seen how much our Yan ge has been ridiculed?”

The first glimmers of light arose, and early study hadn’t started yet. His Yan ge was slumped on his desk catching up on sleep.

One hand was placed on the desk, while the other covered the back of his head. Hearing the sound of talking, the slim and pale fingers irritatedly curled up twice, and his jet-black short hair slipped through the seams of his fingers, and his exhaustion could be seen to the naked eye.

Xia Zhiye glanced over: “Your voice is too loud, your Yan ge can directly pull you into the morgue, do you believe it?”

He believed it.

The little fatty very tactfully changed his tone: “Did — — he — — steal — — a — — cow — — yesterday — —3”

Xia Zhiye calmly looked at him: “Lowering your voice doesn’t mean you have to speak like a dead man, got it?”

“Mm.” The little fatty knew to quit while he was ahead and agreed with a terrified hum, “But really, how come he’s like this everyday. What do you guys do in the dorms all night?”

This question sounded quite lively and fragrant.

But Xia Zhiye also didn’t know the answer.

Although it couldn’t be considered that they slept early, but they generally turned off the lights before midnight. As for what Song Yan goes off to do after lights out, he also wasn’t clear. Anyways, he never heard anything weird.

It’s just that he found Song Yan laying blankly on the bed once, and it seemed as if it were……insomnia?

It just so happened to be at the age where no amount of sleep could be considered enough, how could he have developed insomnia without any reason.

Xia Zhiye’s fingers unconsciously tapped against the desk twice.

The little fatty however seemed more concerned about another matter: “Let’s set that aside for now. The most important thing is that the scores are coming out today, what is Yan ge going to do?”

Xia Zhiye: “What do you mean, what is he going to do.”

“The bet.” The little fatty turned his phone over to Xia Zhiye, “Look, the entire No.3 Middle High is waiting to watch him make a fool of himself.”

Tieba again.

Xia Zhiye didn’t know why this group of people were interested in this matter. Was it that games weren’t fun anymore, or dramas weren’t interesting? This group of ‘looking down but not looking up4’ insisted on using a sockpuppet5 to talk drivel and gossip about, what’s the point of it all.

If there was anything to say, then just say it in front of the other.

But with the dazzling two characters of ‘Song Yan’ written in the title, he couldn’t help but open up the post.

The topic was still the trivial matter between Song Yan and Liu Yue.

[OP]: Extra, extra! The entrance examination has already been graded! The year group6 is adding up the scores! The grades should be out today! Is there anyone who wants to vote last minute about who’s winning and who’s losing!

[1L]: Is there any point to voting, didn’t Song Yan lose out on a subject because he cheated?

[2L]: ^Speak clearly. Song Yan didn’t cheat, he was ‘framed by Liu Yue as cheating,’ OK7? The Educational Administration office already issued a statement to clear it up.

[5L]: Haha, you believe whatever the Educational Administration office says? Then whose cheat sheet is it?

[6L]: Liu Yue is the actual nephew of the educational office’s director, and you still think the Educational Administration Office would help Song Yan? Don’t make me laugh.

[11L]: You’re the joke. Song Yan really didn’t cheat, but they found a cheat sheet, you think the person who reported it is innocent?

[12L]: That’s enough, that’s enough. One has imperial power, the other’s rich af. What are we, the proletariat, fighting about. I just wanna know if I can still win the 5 bags of latiao8 if Song Yan wins.

[13L]: Of course not. The proctors of the later tests were super strict. Song Yan had no chance of cheating.

[15L]: What do you mean, that our Yan ge can’t win against that dumbass Liu Yue if he didn’t cheat?

[17L]: You’re all saying Yan ge, but who are you? Song Yan’s dog? Let me say it straight. What can Song Yan be fighting for if he doesn’t have a score for Chinese lit. He might as well directly admit half a defeat, and be a son instead of a grandson.

……

Liu Yue couldn’t do much else, but was quite good at gathering a clique.

A group of big boys attacking others, talking like a group of toothless old ladies, and if it were any other time, Xia Zhiye wouldn’t even have the desire to take a glance.

But the person they were attacking was his table mate.

The person he served everyday, from inside and out, and beginning to end. There was no reason for him to be yelled at by others.

Xia Zhiye’s fingers paused by the ID’s of the people who were speaking garbage, and then unhurriedly memorized it. Then he glanced at the clock, 7:18am.

12 minutes until the flag raising ceremony.

Enough time for a literary giant like him to mess around.

But should he go for ‘promoting the school,’ or ‘attacking the school?’

The literary giant fell into the bottleneck of producing creative work.

He then heard the jingling of a bell, and a horizontal banner scrolled across the screen of his cellphone.

[Nan Wu’s No.3 Middle High’s Communications: The grades of the school’s annual entrance examination for 2020 is as follows……]

No.3 Middle High’s Communications included the school, the parents, and the students. Everytime they would immediately announce the grades of the exams, to ensure that students who tested poorly didn’t lose the opportunity to get beat up by their parents. So every time they heard this sound, it was as if they were going to fight for their lives.

But today, it had a different meaning.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! The scores are out! What do I do! I only scored a 505, I’m done for, it’s the end for me, wu wu wu wu.” The little fatty in front held his phone and covered his head and cried bitterly.

The sound of wailing victims filled the classroom, and after overcoming their grief, they extended their melon eating feeders one by one: “Yue ge, how’d you do?”

“Not bad, over 500.”

Liu Yue’s ‘not bad,’ was lofty but could mean anything.

The melon eaters had no patience: “You saying that is like not telling us anything. 501 and 599 are all above 500, exactly how much did you score?”

After saying this, the audience pushed their heads together.

Then they saw the dazzling score report on the screen of his phone.

[Name]: Liu Yue

[Grades]: Chinese Literature: 101, Math: 125, English: 119, Sciences, comprehensive: 219, Total: 564

[Class Ranking]: 22 (↑5)

[Grade Ranking]: 190 (↑62)

[Ranking amongst the 5 schools]: 2891

[Minimum Grade for first Tier Undergraduate Schools]: 546

“Not bad, Yue ge, 564, you’re in the first tier.”

“You haven’t seen that person’s grades, how do you know Yue ge’s safe?”

“Nonsense, that person doesn’t have a Chinese lit score, how could he win. It’s not like he can go knock on Tsinghua or Beijing University’s doors.”

“You’re right, but who wants to go over and ask……”

Everyone was talking at once, and chattering on and on, as if one were dropped into a duck raising pen.

Song Yan irritatedly scratched at his hair, and then reluctantly supported himself against the desk to sit up, then expended much energy to lean against the chair.

His two long legs stretched out, his phoenix eyes were half lidded, and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, a faint expression of ‘anyone who disturbs my sleep will be killed.’

The students who were just now eager to ask about his grades immediately grew terrified, with this aura like the King of Hell, who would dare violate his rest.

But naturally, there was another King of Hell.

Xia Zhiye pushed over a bottle of cooled water: “The grades came out.”

“Mm.” Song Yan dispiritedly responded.

He took the cup, then slowly drank a sip of water while fishing out his cellphone from the inside of the table.

The moment the screen lit up, everyone in the classroom attentively looked at Song Yan, and felt resentful that they could not directly pull out their eyeballs and place it onto his face, as if they were afraid they would miss out on any changes in his expression.

But Song Yan had no expression.

From beginning to end, he had no expression.

He took out his phone, opened the screen, glanced at it, then closed his phone, stuffed it into desk, and sat there unmoving.

Not even his eyelashes trembled.

The audience: “……”

Was this fucking facial paralysis.

Only the little fatty who could be considered close to him, gathered his resolve, and shivered while asking: “Yan ge……how’d you do?”

Song Yan: “Only okay.”

Liu Yue sighed in relief.

Song Yan: “Just above 500.”

Liu Yue choked on his breath.

Don’t even mention Liu Yue, other than Song Yan and Xia Zhiye, the others in the classroom widened their eyes in disbelief.

Those who were bad at math already began using theirs and their deskmate’s hands to count, and after counting for a while, their disbelief turned into indescribable dread.

“Fuck, he can still score above 500 without a Chinese Literature score?! Then if he had that score wouldn’t he be able to go to heaven?!”

Song Yan had no interest in going to heaven, and with a lazy look, glanced at Xia Zhiye: “Did you bring mints?”

“Yeah.” Xia Zhiye smoothly peeled open a mint.

Song Yan took it, tossed it into his mouth, then remained silent.

Audience: “……”

Is it the time to eat candy?!

Also what kind of fierce man would eat candy!

Grades! Your grades!

The audience was torn with anxiety.

The little fatty had no choice but to strengthen his resolve again, and with an attitude of receiving a thousand lashes, shuddered and asked: “Then, Yan ge, how much was your math score?”

“148.”

“……”

“English?”

“146.”

“……”

“Sc-sciences?”

“2……”

Everyone held their breaths, and even dared not let out any big noises.

Right now, Song Yan’s scores totalled up to 294, and as long as his comprehensive science score was over 270, then his total score would be greater than Liu Yue.

That would be too fucking awesome.

Sitting diagonally across from Song Yan, was Liu Yue whose face appeared motionless, while in reality, he tightly clutched the pen in his hand, and the veins on the back of his hand popped out fiercely.

He originally thought Song Yan was a rich second generation whose grades were poor, but he never would have believed Song Yan’s grades were this good.

Originally there were many people who found it strange that he reported Song Yan as cheating, but if Song Yan’s total scores were higher, then wouldn’t it be indirectly saying he deliberately framed him.

After all, with grades as good as that, why would he want to cheat?

Up to now, he suffered cuts and bruises to his reputation and personality, and those wallflowers would take the opportunity to kick him while he’s down.

So Song Yan definitely must not win.

Also how could getting above 270 in science be easy? In a single grade, no, even throughout all five schools, how many could get a score above 270? Why would Song Yan transfer to No.3 Middle High if he had this kind of ability?

Liu Yue thought this, and grasped the pen in his hand even more tightly, embedding his fingernails into the palm of his hand, but couldn’t even feel the pain of the impression.

He could only silently mouth the words ‘can’t be over 270, can’t be over 270, can’t be over 2……’

“2.”

His breath stopped.

“7.”

His heart skipped a beat.

“1.”

Boom — —

The carelessly said numbers passed through the frigid and strained atmosphere, and when it landed on Liu Yue’s eardrum, it was as if the entire world had collapsed and disintegrated along with his vanity and self respect.

1. 恨铁不成钢, lit. hate iron for not being steel. An idiom used when one feels resentful towards someone for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement.

2. A hero in the game Hearthstone. He’s a paladin, and wields light to defeat monsters.

3. Asking if someone stole a cow at night is asking what someone was doing yesterday night.

4. Looking down but not looking up (抬头不见低头见) refers to people who often meet (ie: students in the same class).

5. Sockpuppet = an online identity used to disguise activity of the person

6. Year group is an administrative management organization in the school. Generally includes the deputy director, the grade level faculty, and teachers.

7. Originally written in English.

8. Latiao is a popular snack. It’s fried gluten strips seasoned with chili oil.