Technically, the break was already over once Sunday's evening study session began.
However, to maintain the students' motivation, teachers usually didn't lecture during the Sunday evening session.
Besides, senior year had only just started a week ago.
While the honors class was already starting its first round of review, it was still a gradual process.
Old Zhou strolled around the classroom and nodded in satisfaction when he saw Shen Yuan working on math problems.
'It's such a great feeling, seeing your own students studying hard.'
It's just that...
'How can this dumbass kid get something so simple wrong?'
Shen Yuan was working on his math when a shadow fell over him. He looked up and met Old Zhou's gaze.
'Perfect timing. I was just wondering who could help me.'
Shen Yuan immediately picked up the paper and asked, "Sir, how do you solve this?"
As a teacher, Old Zhou was quite responsible.
Old Zhou leaned right against Ah Jie's desk, propping one hand on a stack of books, and started helping Shen Yuan.
Zhou Shaojie heard the two of them muttering above his head, so he craned his neck to look at the problem Shen Yuan was working on.
'A handwritten problem again.'
Looking at the familiar handwriting, Zhou Shaojie's breath hitched.
'This is a goddamn problem from Li Zhi!'
'You've got to be kidding me. Is this their new thing?'
A fit of jealousy washed over Ah Jie.
"Seriously? Yuan, you can't even solve a problem this easy?"
Before Shen Yuan could say a word, Old Zhou smacked Ah Jie on the head.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
At Old Zhou's words, Ah Jie pointed an accusatory finger. "Hey! That's corporal punishment, I'm warning you!"
Old Zhou lost his composure.
'What the hell, 'corporal punishment warning'?'
The crackdown on teachers using corporal punishment was indeed strict these days. And the most frustrating part was that there was no goddamn standard for what even qualified.
When a teacher used corporal punishment, it was always considered the teacher's fault, no matter what the student had done.
The school almost always sided with the students.
Keep the peace at all costs. That was the school's attitude.
This led many teachers to treat their profession as nothing more than a job to be done.
Just do the bare minimum of your job, and that's it.
Why bother actually nurturing students? It's exhausting, and all you get in the end is criticism. It just leaves you drained. What's the point?
For the truly hopeless kids, you just had to let them go.
For some kids, their bad grades were the least of their problems.
The ones who could be saved would save themselves.
And the ones who didn't need saving were a given.
The new philosophy was basically to let students sink or swim on their own.
Old Zhou slapped a hand on Zhou Shaojie's shoulder. "Ah, Zhou Shaojie, I heard the school has a new one-on-one tutoring program. How about I nominate you for the English section?"
Ah Jie was dumbfounded.
"Old Zhou, I've been so loyal to you! How could you throw me to Sister Shuishui?"
Old Zhou was speechless. He squeezed Zhou Shaojie's shoulder, making Ah Jie grimace in pain.
"I'm kidding. Even if I nominated you, you wouldn't improve anyway."
At that, the whole class erupted in cheerful laughter.
Only Ah Jie was left blushing.
A boy's blush says more than any curse word ever could.
When the evening study session ended, the students of Class 15 didn't leave right away. Instead, they began to move their desks.
It was time to change seats.
In Class 15, they changed seats by shifting entire columns.
This time, Li Zhi would move from his original column by the window to the column by the aisle.
Even though both spots were against a wall, he was moving from one side of the classroom to the other.
Meanwhile, Shen Yuan would be moving from a middle column to one against the wall.
For a high school student, a seat against the wall was prime real estate.
After all, being able to lean against the wall was an amazing feeling.
The only unfortunate part was that after this seat change, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi would be separated.
"Young Master Li! How will I ever live without you!"
Though Shen Yuan said this, his hands moved with lightning speed, pulling Li Zhi's desk right out of its spot.
"Then go die," Li Zhi said, completely exasperated.
Hearing this, Shen Yuan's face became resolute.
"Well then, Zhizhi, this is my final ripple! Take it!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yuan pushed Li Zhi's desk all the way to the other side of the classroom.
The corner of Li Zhi's mouth twitched. He was overcome with a sense of helplessness, not even knowing where to begin his retort.
"Ah! I feel so fired up!"
Zhou Shaojie looked at the two desks in front of him and struck a pose. "Great Wilderness Heaven-Imprisoning Finger!"
"Now, let me show you the Will of Fire burning within my heart!"
Zhou Shaojie placed both hands on the desks and pushed with all his might.
And... they didn't budge.
There were just too many books in senior year.
Plus, with books piled up around the desk legs, it was even harder to move.
"Move, dammit!!"
Just as Zhou Shaojie's face was turning red from straining, a pair of hands pressed onto the desks.
Ah Jie looked up and saw it was Yang Ze.
"Ah Ze!"
"Ah Jie!"
They locked eyes, gave a sharp nod, and shouted in unison:
"Witness! Our bond!"
The next moment, the two desks shot forward, sliding all the way to the wall.
At this, several boys next to them stood up and applauded.
"That was so hype!"
"Now that's friendship!"
'Wait, how did this suddenly turn into a shonen anime?'
Shen Yuan found that he still couldn't quite keep up with Ah Jie's train of thought.
'Are all people who are good at math like this?'
'But, I don't think Ah Jie has ever been in a competition, has he?'
'Whatever, who cares.'
'He probably couldn't hack it in the competitions, so he came back to study for the college entrance exam like a normal person.'
Shen Yuan didn't dwell on it. After helping Li Zhi move his desk, he packed up his things to go home.
Changing the seats had already taken a while, and it would get very late if they delayed any longer.
As for his new deskmate, Shen Yuan vaguely remembered it was a girl, but he hadn't paid much attention.
The two of them walked out of the school gates, still following the main road.
As they walked, Shen Yuan suddenly sidled up to a nearby flowerbed. "You know, I'm really going to miss you."
Li Zhi raised an eyebrow. 'Is this guy having another one of his fits?' he thought.
"Think about how happy those times we spent together were, and now we have to suffer the pain of separation."
"Bro, don't be so cringey. It's just a seat change. You'll be moving over next week anyway."
Li Zhi couldn't take it anymore.
'I feel like I'm gonna puke, guys.'
Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi strangely. "What are you talking about?"
"It's just a seat change, do you have to act so crazy?"
"Was I talking about the seats?"
Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan, and his heart sank.
'Oh no.'
Years of verbal sparring with Shen Yuan had taught Li Zhi to recognize when the guy was about to pull a fast one.
Sure enough, the next moment Shen Yuan made his move.
The guy reached into the flowerbed, then straightened up with a triumphant look on his face.
"Oh! I get it now!"
Shen Yuan leaned in close to Li Zhi and said with a shit-eating grin, "You thought I was talking about changing seats, didn't you?"
"TA-DA!"
Shen Yuan opened his palm. A small stone lay in its center.
'It all came back to him. All of it.'
'Shen Yuan had hidden a rock right here yesterday!'
"Hehe, admit it. You're the one who's going to miss me, aren't you?"
Li Zhi let out a frustrated laugh.
He'd been had, plain and simple. You walk by the riverside long enough, and you're bound to get your shoes wet.
'Fucking high school boys are all dumbasses!'
'And Shen Yuan is the worst of them all!'
"Get away from me, you fucking idiot!"
Li Zhi shoved Shen Yuan away, striding forward quickly with his long legs, his head down.
"Hey, wait for me! I have your backpack!"
Li Zhi's steps faltered.
'I really want to kill someone right now.'