Chapter 42 Bai Zimo Is Also the Guy You Can’t Get

“What are you all doing? Has the bell not rung yet?”

“You guys are the worst class I’ve ever taught!”

Classic.

The moment the math teacher walked in, he dropped a timeless line from the education world. Every generation of students is worse than the last. Somehow, even after all these years, the bottom has yet to be found.

Bai Zimo smirked.

As a senior in high school, he’d heard this kind of old talk too many times—nobody cared anymore.

“Some people come to school, and I don’t even know what for!”

Old Xu tapped the lectern and fixed his gaze on Bai Zimo and his group.

“You mess around all day and even dare to talk back to the director? You’re seniors!”

Well, great.

The morning face-off with the discipline director at the school gate had already reached Old Xu’s ears!

“Bai Zimo, can you try a little harder this semester? Don’t fail everything again.”

“Lighting up every subject red really brightens my future—I think it’s great.”

“You… You’re a lost cause!”

Old Xu was completely stumped.

Hua Zi next to him let out a loud honking laugh.

“You too! Xia Fenghua, you’re a girl—can’t you stop fooling around every day?”

“If you’re not spacing out, you’re eating snacks. You’re in your final year—this is crunch time, you get that?”

“I get it! I’ve decided to start cramming!”

“Really?”

Old Xu looked surprised, swallowing back the lecture he’d prepared.

“Of course. I’ll have Bai Zimo tutor me.”

“Good, then study hard… Wait—who did you say is tutoring you?”

“Bai Zimo!”

“What! Are you seriously planning to study? He doesn’t even understand it himself!”

Bai Zimo argued.

“Teacher, now that’s not fair!”

“Fair or not! Stop skipping and leaving early—I’m praying for you every day!”

_____

“Hua Zi wants to improve, and I want to improve too. You’ve got to give me some time!”

“Time? Haven’t I given you enough? Want me to sing you all 360 verses of the Five Blessings?”

The class burst into laughter.

Even the air felt livelier.

“What are you laughing at? Laughing… You’re all even worse than Bai Zimo! How do you have the nerve to laugh?”

The room fell silent.

Damn.

That boomeranged right back at them.

It hit hard.

“Why are you all looking at him? Is Bai Zimo that good-looking?”

Bai Zimo looked confused.

Was Old Xu calling him out?

Or was he complimenting him?

Hua Zi piped up.

“He is good-looking!”

“I admit, he’s pretty handsome, but so what!”

“If you don’t study hard, Bai Zimo is still a guy you’ll never get!”

“Why?” Xia Fenghua asked.

“Why do you think? Without an education, what do you have to offer?”

Xia Fenghua went quiet.

At that moment, she became more determined than ever—she had to get into college.

“Stop staring! Look at your books.”

Old Xu scribbled a few math problems on the board.

“What are you all looking at? Look at the board!”

“This class is still on sequences—decreasing and increasing patterns!”

“Why are you all spacing out! Look over here!”

“Mr. Xu, one minute you want us to look at the book, then the board, then at you—our eyes aren’t enough!”

“Not enough eyes? Then use your brain! I’ve told you—brand-new brains are still cheap these days!”

The class fell silent.

Old Xu was on fire today.

If they weren’t careful, they might get burned alive!

Old Xu was blunt, but he wasn’t a bad guy.

Of course, how much you learned that was purely up to luck.

______

“So, if an an+1, what kind of sequence is that? Decreasing. Now if an ≥ an–1, what does that mean?”

“Increasing!”

“Right. Monotonically increasing!”

Just as he finished his sentence, he flung a piece of chalk like a dart. This time, the target wasn’t Bai Zimo. It was Xie Wanghe, who was staring out the window.

But Xie Wanghe was a seasoned veteran. Eyes watching in all directions, ears sharp—he caught the chalk mid-air in a flash.

“What’s so interesting out there, Xie Wanghe? Tell me.”

“The outside world is dazzling. And full of helplessness.”

“If you find the outside world so dazzling, I’ll stay here and sincerely wish you well!”

“Whoa! Mr. Xu, that was kind of poetic.”

“You think I haven’t listened to Chyi Chin?”

Whoa!

The class erupted again.

Who would’ve thought Old Xu used to be a poetic youth!

“You’re seniors now—don’t act like zombies. Especially you, Xie Wanghe!”

“Come on, let’s keep going!”

But Xie Wanghe pulled out a handful of chalk pieces from his drawer and started hurling them like bullets.

“Ooohhh…”

The whole class cheered again.

“Nice reflexes! All those years of me throwing chalk have trained you well!”

Xie Wanghe stood up and gave a small bow, “Humbled! Truly humbled!”

Then Shao Xingchi stood up too, brushing off his undershirt.

Sure enough, he was part of the hype crew!

Across his shirt, big words read.

[Too Cool!].

A dynamic duo, truly the dragon and phoenix of the class!