After three more days in the hospital, for a total of ten, Huang Yifan was finally discharged.
He wasn't fully recovered yet, still weak, especially in his arms, which ached now and then, but he was well enough to leave.
"Mom, I'm heading to school. Why are you following me?"
After breakfast, Huang Yifan set off for school, only to find his mother trailing behind him.
"Your father said we need to keep a closer eye on you these days. Who knows if you'll snap again and vanish for another ten days?"
"Mom, I swear I'm done disappearing."
Tears nearly filled Huang Yifan's eyes as he begged his mother to turn back.
But Li Shuhua wouldn't budge. In the end, he had no choice but to let her tag along.
Only after watching him pass through the school gates did she finally head home.
"Sigh… Guess I can't be so reckless anymore."
Shaking his head in resignation, Huang Yifan dragged his weak body into the classroom.
"Whoa, Huang Yifan! You're finally back!"
His classmates erupted the moment he reappeared after nearly 20 days.
"You nearly gave our homeroom teacher a heart attack."
"Yeah, we've all heard of skipping class, but skipping class while the teacher's still teaching? That's next-level. I respect that."
"And the way you pulled it off, so damn cool. I'm seriously impressed."
"Crazy, flashy, god-tier levels of cool, Brother Fan, I want to be your disciple!"
Amid the commotion, Huang Yifan remained calm. "Don't fall for me, I'm just a legend."
A line that had once taken the internet by storm in his past life instantly silenced the crowd.
With a faint smile, Huang Yifan ignored the stunned expressions and sat down at his desk.
But just as he did, three voices called out at once.
"Huang Yifan."
"Huang Yifan."
"Huang Yifan."
One was from his deskmate Zhang Huiping, another from Jiang Weiwei in front of him, and the third… unfamiliar, but oddly recognizable.
He turned around and saw Li Luozhi from Class 3 sitting behind him.
So that third voice had been hers.
"You guys…"
Three girls, all staring at him and saying his name in unison, even with two lifetimes under his belt, Huang Yifan felt a bit embarrassed.
"Um…"
Jiang Weiwei cleared her throat. "Let the new classmate go first."
"Huang Yifan, I need your help."
Without hesitation, Li Luozhi pulled out a test paper.
"Uh…"
Huang Yifan's head throbbed. "Li Luozhi, wait a second, how did you even end up in our class? Weren't you in Class 3?"
"I requested a transfer."
"Well, okay then. But I'm sorry, I'm not really interested in challenges."
She claimed it was just a question, but Huang Yifan could clearly see the competitive glint in her eyes.
Challenge or not, he wasn't interested either way.
"You…"
Li Luozhi looked frustrated, but Zhang Huiping jumped in to ease the tension. "Let it go for today. Huang Yifan just got out of the hospital, and he's still recovering."
"Fine…"
Hearing that, Li Luozhi backed down and tucked away her test paper without another word.
"Class Rep Jiang, what did you want?"
Now that he'd dealt with Li Luozhi, Huang Yifan turned to Jiang Weiwei.
"N-nothing."
Her face flushed. "I just wanted to ask if you're feeling better."
"I'll live."
"That's good, that's good. I'll let you rest. I need to get back to studying."
Feeling the awkward tension, she quickly fled back to her seat.
"What's up with her today? Did she eat something weird?"
Huang Yifan was baffled. She'd done a complete 180 from her usual self.
He'd only been gone for a few days, but how had she changed this much?
"Huang Yifan."
Now that he was finally free, Zhang Huiping leaned over and spoke softly.
"Yeah?"
He turned to her.
"Where did you go last time? Was it something I said?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
He was confused by her question.
"Didn't you ditch school because of what I said?"
"Come on, Zhang Huiping. Don't overthink it. It had nothing to do with you."
Seeing how guilty she looked, Huang Yifan felt a bit bad.
"Really. That day, I just needed to take care of something. It had nothing to do with you at all."
But of course, it did have something to do with her.
If not for her words, he never would've rushed out of the classroom.
Still, deep down, he was truly grateful.
Without her, he might've carried that regret for the rest of his life.
He just didn't want her to blame herself. His ten-day absence had caused quite a stir at school, and even more at home. If she thought it was her fault, she'd feel endlessly guilty.
"Really?"
She still looked unsure.
"Of course."
He nodded. "Do you think a genius like me would run off impulsively for no reason?"
"Hm, okay. I believe you. But you still haven't told me where you went."
"Well…"
Huang Yifan winced. "That's a long story. Anyway, the entrance exams are coming up. How's your review going?"
Trying to change the subject, he brought up the upcoming exams.
He'd finished writing 'How a Bad Guy Is Made' on May 15th, then spent ten days in the hospital. Today was May 25th.
The high school entrance exams were usually held around June 30th.
That left only one month.
"Pretty well."
The moment he mentioned exams, Zhang Huiping, with her straightforward nature, immediately took the bait.
"Haha, sounds like your studying's been going great."
"It's thanks to your help earlier, I haven't even thanked you yet."
"No need. We're desk mates, after all. I hope you do well and get into No. 1 High School."
"Thanks! What about you? Which school do you want to go to? No. 1? Gan No. 3? Or Linchuan High?"
"Gan No. 3? Linchuan High? What kind of weird schools are those? Can we even apply to them?"
Entrance exams were generally handled at the county level. You could only apply to a few local high schools, No. 1, No. 2, and maybe the high school divisions of schools like No. 6, No. 7, or No. 8.
Gan No. 3 was a city school, one of the best in the whole city. As for Linchuan High, that was famous nationwide, not just in Xijiang Province.
"Well, that's because you ranked first in the county's academic competition last time. Some schools might try to recruit you specially."
"Wait, competition? How do you know about that?"
"Come on, Huang Yifan. You can't lie your way out of this one. The school posted the results, you're at the top of the list."
As if exposing a little secret, Zhang Huiping clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
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