Chapter 116

Chapter 116 – The Painful First Place

After bidding farewell to Lin You Xi, Xia Yuan and Mei Fang pushed their cart home together.

Due to the exhaustion from the exams, Xia Yuan and Mei Fang didn’t exchange many words on the way back. However, when they passed by the pavilion, Mei Fang subconsciously stopped, while Xia Yuan continued walking with her head down.

“Yuan Yuan?”

“Oh…”

Xia Yuan turned to look at Mei Fang, “What’s wrong?”

“Why didn’t you ask me for energy today?” Mei Fang shrugged.

“Oh…” Xia Yuan was quite surprised, “When did you become so proactive… You always seem reluctant, but you actually enjoy this, right?”

“Of course.”

Mei Fang stretched out his hand to Xia Yuan.

“Ugh, I can’t deal with you anymore, acting all proud… Come on, come on!”

Xia Yuan held onto Mei Fang’s hand and they sat down in the pavilion. “Today, since you’ve already given me super energy during the day, let me give you some super energy tonight.”

While hugging Mei Fang, Xia Yuan gently stroked his head, like a mother caring for her child.

The spring breeze gently brushed against their faces, as gentle as water.

“Hmm… Every time we do this, it feels like we’re back to our childhood days.”

Xia Yuan greedily inhaled the scent of Mei Fang’s body, “If only we could really go back to those times… I’d be the mom, you’d be the dad, and You Xi would be our daughter.”

“We’d be a happy family, living peacefully and joyfully, playing with toys and games at the kindergarten every day…”

Xia Yuan kept talking to herself. Mei Fang gently patted Xia Yuan’s back, “The future is also beautiful. It’s just that studying is tough now, but we have to find joy in the struggle and look forward.”

“Mm… I’ve always been looking forward.”

Xia Yuan loosened her embrace and rubbed her eyes, “My performance today was much stronger than before… Although I didn’t write the entire problem, at least I didn’t cry.”

“Woah, amazing!”

Mei Fang gently patted Xia Yuan’s head, “Our Yuan Yuan has grown up.”

“Why do you have to praise me in such a mocking tone!”

Xia Yuan punched Mei Fang’s chest lightly, then calmed down, “But, luckily, the last two problems were difficult, and no one solved them, so I shouldn’t stand out too much, hehe…”

“Mm… That’s true.”

Mei Fang nodded, “Those two questions couldn’t be solved in less than half an hour, and no one had enough time to write them, so don’t worry about it.”

“How about you, Fang? Did you solve them?”

“I… barely… I think I made a mistake.”

Xia Yuan immediately got annoyed, “I’ll check your test tomorrow, so don’t try to lie to me to please me.”

Mei Fang scratched his head and smiled, “I did solve them, but it was mostly luck.”

“Luck?”

“Mm… Because I happened to practice similar problems with You Xi the day before, and she helped me.”

“You practiced with You Xi?”

Xia Yuan looked surprised, and Mei Fang was a bit confused, “Yeah… What’s wrong?”

“Mm… Nothing, nothing.”

Xia Yuan quickly smiled and waved her hand, “I was just thinking if I had practiced that problem today, it would have been better. But you tricked me with a fake problem type, you stinky Fang.”

“It’s my fault, my fault, my fault…”

Mei Fang apologized while holding Xia Yuan and spinning around in the pavilion.

“Ah-huh…”

Xia Yuan hugged Mei Fang happily and laughed, “In the future, we should go to a real amusement park with a Ferris wheel!”

“Mm-m, I promise!”

Although Mei Fang was always worried about Xia Yuan’s attitude, he found that when they were alone, the cheerful Yuan Yuan wasn’t as fragile as everyone thought.

She might cry, but she would stand up strong.

But that was probably because I and You Xi have always supported her behind her…

Ah ah ah!

Even such a strong Yuan Yuan was being tortured by physics.

Physics, why do you make people so anxious!

Early the next morning, Mei Fang and the others cycled to school as usual. Since it was the day of the heavy midterm exam results, they didn’t talk much on the way. When they stopped their bikes, Xia Yuan suddenly patted Mei Fang’s shoulder.

“Fang, can you go to the classroom first? I need to talk to You Xi.”

“Uh, sure… Can’t you say anything in front of me?”

“Of course, it’s a girl’s secret. Go on.”

Xia Yuan pushed Mei Fang forward, who glanced at Lin You Xi and shook his head, reminding her not to mention leaving the science experimental class. They exchanged a meaningful look, and Lin You Xi nodded in agreement.

Mei Fang went to the classroom. It wasn’t time for formal morning reading yet, but Li Shibing was already there. Despite not having distributed all the test papers, the homeroom teacher, Li Shibing, eagerly posted the midterm ranking on the wall, and everyone gathered around to see the rankings.

What fun could be so exciting…

Mei Fang’s anger towards physics didn’t stop him from getting a score of 76 in physics, making him the top student in the class.

Although the questions were hard, a score of 76 was still enough to be the first place, though it seemed somewhat inadequate in a class where Lin You Xi existed.

“Am I the overall first place in the class or the grade?”

Mei Fang was stunned when Zhang Ming informed him of this news.

He ran up to check his midterm scores: Math 117, Chinese 112, English 116, Physics 76—three points higher than the second place!

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say “exactly.”

Because the second place, Lin You Xi, scored 120 in math, 114 in Chinese, and 119 in English, though she only scored 65 in physics, which was quite low.

With this improvement, Mei Fang finally secured the first place in the class.

“Great, Brother Fang has brought honor to us boys!”

“Brother Fang is invincible!”

“I want to have monkeys with Brother Fang!”

Before fourth grade, Mei Fang had always been the top student in the class and even the whole school. However, after fourth grade, his position became unstable, and in middle school, he was often beaten by Lin You Xi, always coming in second. This time, winning the first place felt like an unexpected comeback for Mei Fang.

However, Mei Fang didn’t show excessive joy, because You Xi’s physics score was truly strange. Given that the most troublesome problems were similar to what they had practiced, even with You Xi’s level, it shouldn’t have resulted in such a low score.

Looking at the empty seat in front of him, Mei Fang felt a bit worried.

Why is You Xi chatting with Yuan Yuan for so long? It’s almost time for morning reading, and she hasn’t come up yet…

Lin You Xi entered the classroom just as the morning bell rang. Everyone’s attention was on her as she walked to her seat and began reading her book.

Yu Xinyi approached her to inquire about her condition, but she ignored her; Mei Fang gently prodded her back, but she showed no reaction.

By the end of morning reading, Lin You Xi lay on her desk, covering her head and resting, unresponsive to anyone.

“The impact of this exam on the class monitor is huge…”

Yu Xinyi dared not provoke Lin You Xi, so she moved to another side.

“Do you want me to bring you breakfast, You Xi?”

Lin You Xi remained unresponsive.

Yu Xinyi helplessly looked at Mei Fang, indicating that everything was now in his hands.

The classmates discussed the class monitor’s state, believing it was due to the exam results.

“The class monitor’s first place title… has been taken away by Fang for the first time!”

“Fang, you deserve it!”

“One failed exam doesn’t mean much, the class monitor can’t handle losing.”

“Do you think the class monitor is like you, failing every day and still smiling?”

Everyone was enthusiastically discussing.

They believed that the class monitor, Lin You Xi, would soon recover, challenge Mei Fang, kick him, and return to her throne as the top student in the grade.

But only Mei Fang, who had known her since childhood, understood her well enough to know how she felt.

No academic difficulty could defeat Lin You Xi.

She had become so depressed and withdrawn because—

She had an argument with Yuan Yuan.

This was indeed a painful first place.

Originally, I wanted to post the next few chapters together, but I didn’t save the draft and I don’t have the ability to do that… I estimate it will be difficult to finish all at once today. I’m still working overtime to write, and when I feel better later, I’ll write it all in one go. I won’t update unless I finish the next chapter.

End of Chapter 116.