Don’t Try To Corrupt Me

Chapter 19

Zheng Zilu stared into Yu Zuojin’s pitch-black eyes, his teeth chattering, and his soul shrieking in agony.

‘Ahhh!

Save me, ahhh!

Someone, please save me!

Anyone! Will! Do!!!’

This impending return to the starting point of his life almost brought tears to Zheng Zilu’s eyes.

There were students returning to their dormitories all around, bustling back and forth. So Yu Zoujin wouldn’t do anything to him… right?

Zheng Zilu stood up on trembling legs, his whole body resembling a crumbling building, swaying and trembling.

His legs involuntarily broke into a jittery dance.

Zheng Zilu gritted his teeth and said, “Classmate Yu, I apologize for not paying attention and bumping into you. Are you alright?”

When they collided, the only one who ended up sprawled on the ground was Zheng Zilu himself.

If it weren’t for looking up and seeing Yu Zuojin, he would have thought he had crashed into a steel plate.

But…

Regret washed over Zheng Zilu and he closed his eyes.

A steel plate would have been better.

Yu Zuojin lowered his gaze and looked at him.

Seconds turned into minutes, yet no words were spoken.

With his self-taught dance of embarrassment, Zheng Zilu took two steps and forced a smile. “Haha, Classmate Yu, you see, I was so careless that I dropped my books. Such clumsiness.”

Bending down with trembling hands resembling those of a Parkinson’s patient, he picked up the books from the ground.

One by one, he held them in his hands and stood up straight.

Yu Zuojin looked at him, still showing no intention of letting him go.

Zheng Zilu gritted his teeth and thought, ‘Damn it! Isn’t it just dying, what’s the big deal!’

Was he really going to submit to the forces of darkness?!

What’s so great about being a delinquent?!

He would never submit!

Straightening his chest, Zheng Zilu took a step forward, summoning his courage. “Classmate Yu!”

Yu Zuojin looked up, and their gazes met.

Zheng Zilu stuttered, “It’s good for your health to sleep early. I hope you have a good night’s sleep~”

Yu Zuojin finally moved, and Zheng Zilu felt like crying but had no tears.

He was finally leaving.

But in the next moment, Yu Zuojin raised his hand and directly knocked the books out of Zheng Zilu’s hand.

The books fell to the ground, and Zheng Zilu’s body went weak. He collapsed on the ground like a withered willow in the wind.

‘Ah!!! School violence!!’

The whole person looked like a pitiful white flower, miserable and sorrowful.

Helpless and unable to fend for himself.

Zheng Zilu lay on the ground, sobbing, “Wuuu, I’ve experienced school violence, it’s so terrifying! From now on, I will become Yu Zuojin’s punching bag, a sacrifice to school violence. I’m so miserable. I used to love studying so much, but I’ve been bullied. This day is gloomy, and my future will never brighten again. My life will be gray from now on, wuuuu. Mother, I love you, wuuuu, you don’t need to prepare meals for me anymore, wuuu, I’ll eat their leftovers at school…”

While Zheng Zilu was wallowing in his delusional thoughts on the ground, Guo Gang approached. “Why aren’t you getting up?”

Zheng Zilu pointed to the sky outside, “Look, it’s dark now.”

Guo Gang: “…”

‘It’s 10 PM at night, how can it not be dark…’

“The sun isn’t shining anymore.”

“No, it’s still shining in the Western Hemisphere.”

Zheng Zilu: “…”

‘Why is this person so heartless?’

“Hurry up and get up. Aren’t you going back to eat instant noodles?”

Zheng Zilu shook his head pitifully, “I can’t. I can only eat leftovers from now on.”

“Eat whose leftovers?”

“Him.”

Zheng Zilu pointed, but there was no one there.

Zheng Zilu:?

‘Where did he go?’

The spot where Yu Zuojin was standing was now empty.

“Alright, stop sitting on the ground.” Guo Gang helped him up. “Let’s go, next time remember to pay attention to where you’re going. I got scared when you bumped into Yu Zuojin.”

Zheng Zilu looked up at the sky.

‘Who isn’t?

This thrilling youth.’

Since Yu Zuojin had gone, Zheng Zilu straightened his back. “Let’s go, let’s go back and eat instant noodles. I want to add two sausages.”

No.1 Middle School had a strong teaching staff. The subjects they took the exam for in the morning had their scores released by the afternoon.

Scoring the papers for the science subjects was much simpler than for the humanities, especially the long questions. A glance was enough to determine right from wrong.

Students who didn’t know the answers left the questions blank. However, this time, the math teacher noticed the struggle of some students on their answer sheets.

In the blank spaces, solutions were written, as if hoping for even one point.

“Wow, this paper is beautifully answered. Whose is it? Come and take a look, everyone.”

The handwriting of excellent students was almost recognizable to the teachers. They could tell who wrote the paper just by looking at it.

The scores on this one was quite high, but the handwriting didn’t seem like it belonged to his class, and the first-year teacher called over the other teachers.

“Whose paper is this? The score is really high.”

147 points.

It was quite high indeed.

“Teacher Qian, isn’t it from our class?”

Their class has always been ahead in math scores.

“No, it’s not. If it were, I wouldn’t have trouble recognizing the handwriting. No one in our class writes like this.”

The math teacher from Class 6 brought his little water bottle over and took a glance.

“…”

No way.

The math teacher from Class 6 ran his hand through his thinning hair. “I’m not sure, but it looks like…”

“Like whom?”

“Like Sheng Yuan from our class.”

Sheng Yuan?

A name that was never mentioned when teachers gathered for chat sessions.

“The handwriting is beautiful.” Teacher Qian said, “Your class’s newly emerged excellent student?”

The math teacher from Class 6 replied, “Our class’s newly emerged delinquent.”

Teacher Qian: “…”

Everyone: “…”

“How is this child during regular classes?”

“Not very good before, but recently quite good.”

Several teachers had some suspicions in their minds. It’s not because of their dark thoughts; but when a delinquent student suddenly achieves high scores, suspicions arise. They also hoped for the students’ success, or else who would put their heart and soul into teaching and getting angry with them during class?

“Which exam room was Sheng Yuan in?”

“Class 1.”

Teacher Qian: “Then cheating is impossible. I was the invigilator, and no one can escape my eyes!”

The math teacher from Class 6 looked at Sheng Yuan’s answer sheet, remaining silent for a long time.

The students he taught had never scored this high before.

147 points.

Although there have been perfect scores in Class 1 before, this time, other than Sheng Yuan, the highest math score is 145.

While others had good students everywhere, he only needed one.

The next day, the high school third-year math scores were posted in front of the teaching building, on the math score display board under the camphor tree, and in order of ranking.

Students peered through the glass covering the display board, searching for their own scores.

For those who hadn’t fully woken up in the morning, a glance at their scores would wake them up, as searching for their own names would stimulate their brains with nervous anticipation.

Zheng Zilu held a bag of steamed buns from the cafeteria, took a deep breath, and rushed into the crowd, searching for his math score. He was quite confident In himself and headed straight for the display board showing the top fifty in the school.

He quickly found his name.

Zheng Zilu, 143 points, ranked third in the school for math.

He looked up to see the top two.

Second place, Guo Gang.

First place is…

“Ah!”

Zheng Zilu exclaimed before he was pushed aside abruptly.

“Fuck! Brother Sheng is first!” Xia Zhiqi shouted with his mouth full of buns, “Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome!”

Sheng Yuan leisurely walked over and looked at the rankings.

In a quick glance, he saw Zheng Zilu sitting on the ground.

Sheng Yuan’s lips curled into a smile. “What an elegant posture.”

Zheng Zilu: “…”

Sheng Yuan reached out his hand to him, but Zheng Zilu, furious, refused to take it and stood up stubbornly.

“You won’t take it?”

“No, I won’t.”

“Alright.”

Sheng Yuan extended his hand again, pushing him back on the ground.

Zheng Zilu: “…”

‘This bastard.’

Zheng Zilu stood up and looked at Sheng Yuan’s first place ranking in mathematics.

The shock in his heart lingered.

Previously, Sheng Yuan had been low-key, but Zheng Zilu never expected his grades to be so high.

Although he felt unwilling, Zheng Zilu still complimented Sheng Yuan, “You’re good at math.”

Sheng Yuan looked at his conflicted face. “Why are you upset?”

Zheng Zilu held the squashed bun in his hand. “Your brother bumped into me and squashed my bun!”

Sheng Yuan looked at the unrecognizable object. “I’ll treat you to lunch at noon.”

“You said it.”

One shouldn’t easily take advantage of a good deal unless it’s delivered right in front of them.

Sheng Yuan and Xia Zhiqi left. “Let’s meet at the school gate at eleven.”

‘Doesn’t that mean I have to submit my test paper early?’ Zheng Zilu hesitated, but he had confidence in himself.

However, things didn’t go as planned. The comprehensive science exam took up a lot of time.

At 11:15, Zheng Zilu rushed to the school gate, where Sheng Yuan was leaning on his bicycle, waiting for him.

Occasionally, a few girls in school uniforms passed by, glancing at him and shyly running away.

Zheng Zilu:?

‘Why do they all like this bastard?’

“Hey, let’s go.”

Seeing him arrive, Sheng Yuan pointed behind him. “Get on.”

Zheng Zilu: “You ride safely.”

“Well, it’s safe and law-abiding.”

Zheng Zilu got on the bicycle, swayed a bit, and was carried away by Sheng Yuan.

A cool breeze brushed past his ears.

“What should we eat?”

“A free meal.”

“…”

‘To hell with your “law-abiding” talk!’

Zheng Zilu roared from the back seat, “I’m not going!!”

The loud voice caught the attention of Qi Sheng, who was standing by the road, and he watched the two figures pass by.

“Isn’t that Sheng Yuan?”

Yu Zuojin, who was standing under the tree, looked up.

At the noodle shop, Sheng Yuan ordered two servings of signature noodle soup, a plate of soy sauce duck, and wanted to order more, but Zheng Zilu stopped him.

“We won’t finish it if we order too much, and it’ll be a waste of money.”

Sheng Yuan didn’t even raise his head. “It’s free.”

Zheng Zilu:!

‘Damn it! He really wasn’t going to pay!

What if Sheng Yuan runs away later? Will I have to wash dishes?’

Sheng Yuan ordered two glasses of soy milk.

Zheng Zilu: “That’s enough.”

When the noodles arrived, Zheng Zilu didn’t eat.

Sheng Yuan asked, “Why aren’t you eating?”

Zheng Zilu swallowed his saliva, smelling the delicious aroma. “I’ll pay later, only for myself.”

He slapped the money on the table. He wouldn’t eat a “free” meal.

Sheng Yuan said, “Then just give it to me.”

Zheng Zilu asked, “Why?”

“This noodle shop is owned by my family.”

“…”

Zheng Zilu silently pocketed the money and picked up his chopsticks, taking a big bite of noodles. He stretched his neck and said, “Boss, another serving of spare ribs, please.”

After finishing lunch, Sheng Yuan took him back again.

Zheng Zilu said, “Just wait, I’ll surpass you in the upcoming subjects.”

Sheng Yuan didn’t mind. “We’ll see.”

He locked the bike, took his key, and walked away.

After the exams ended for the day, Sheng Yuan walked out of the teaching building with his backpack and arrived at the parking lot.

He stood in front of his bicycle, silently staring at the empty back seat that had been violently removed.

[System:…]

[System: You’re having a taste of your own medicine.]

[System: Don’t doubt it. It’s probably retribution.]