Chapter 258: Not Mature Enough ③
The two looked at each other, and without waiting for Nie Qiu’s agreement, they walked onto the lectern. Each picked up a piece of chalk from the desk on the lectern and began to solve the two problems at the back.
Bai Ya and Peng Yu Yang put down their workbooks and walked onto the lectern. They took the chalk handed to them by Nie Qiu and also began to solve problems on the blackboard.
The classmates in the classroom watched Li Kai and Ye Haifei, who were standing on the stage solving problems, with faces full of curiosity and a desire to watch the show. As soon as they arrived this morning, they noticed that Li Kai and Zhang Haiyang had obvious injuries on their bodies and faces, and they knew that Li Kai and the others must have gone to fight again. Fighting was a common occurrence before; as long as someone provoked them, or they took a dislike to someone, they would go and have a fight to relieve their boredom. At that time, because there were many people, the possibility of getting injured was smaller, but it wasn’t that they never got injured. Occasionally, they could still see Li Kai and the others getting injured after a fight. However, since last semester, not to mention the other classmates, even Li Kai and the others rarely fought. The only time was because Nie Qiu was beaten by someone from Class 5, and everyone in their class swarmed to cause trouble for the people from Class 5, resulting in a group fight.
But since then, their class had never fought again. So when they saw Li Kai and Zhang Haiyang with injuries on their bodies this morning, they knew that Li Kai and the others must have gone to fight again! Who did they fight? They all thought of Ye Haifei from Class 5. The fact that Ye Haifei vowed to pursue Nie Qiu was no longer a secret to anyone in the third grade. But Nie Qiu was Li Kai’s girlfriend, so how could Li Kai allow another boy to pursue his girlfriend like this? Regardless of whether Li Kai truly liked Nie Qiu, it was a matter of male pride, and fighting was inevitable.
When they saw Ye Haifei walk into their classroom, the injuries on his face and head clearly indicated that he had been in a fight, and they felt their guess was correct! Li Kai and Ye Haifei had fought! And it was a group fight!
But Ye Haifei was truly daring. He had just fought yesterday and came to their classroom alone today. Wasn’t he afraid of being ganged up on by their entire class?
Now that Li Kai and Ye Haifei were standing on the lectern, doing problems on the blackboard, they felt it was a competition. They even felt that if this were in an anime, fire would be erupting behind these two.
Nie Qiu glanced at the four people doing problems on the blackboard, then turned and said to the classmates with a smile, “During this time, I hope everyone will copy these four problems into their notebooks and do them again.”
The crowd who had been watching the show quickly took out their notebooks and began to copy and solve the problems.
Li Kai glanced at Ye Haifei, who was writing furiously next to him, then continued to diligently work on his own problem. He was determined to win! He absolutely could not lose! He remembered this problem; the physics teacher had specifically mentioned it during evening self-study yesterday, and he had gotten it wrong then, but he definitely wouldn’t get it wrong today.
Ye Haifei frowned halfway through his writing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, tightened his grip on the chalk, and began writing on the blackboard again.
Bai Ya finished her problem, glanced at Li Kai and Ye Haifei, put down her chalk, and walked off the lectern.
After Bai Ya, Peng Yu Yang also finished the problem he was supposed to do. He checked it and, feeling there were no errors, put down his chalk, gave Nie Qiu a faint glance, and returned to his seat.
Li Kai and Ye Haifei finished at the same time. They put down their chalks but did not leave the lectern, instead looking intently at Nie Qiu.
Nie Qiu, holding a red piece of chalk, put a checkmark on Bai Ya’s problem and a half-checkmark on Peng Yu Yang’s. Ye Haifei became nervous, staring intently at the problem he had solved.
Nie Qiu put a cross on the problem Ye Haifei had done and a checkmark on Li Kai’s. As soon as this checkmark was made, the classmates in the classroom let out a scream. Amidst the laughter, there was mockery and ridicule directed at Ye Haifei.
Ye Haifei stared at Nie Qiu and forced a smile, “Where is this problem wrong? Nie Qiu, you…”
“I will tell you exactly where this problem is wrong.” Nie Qiu didn’t even look at Ye Haifei. Instead, she looked at Li Kai, whose eyes were full of joy, and then pointed to the problems on the blackboard and said to the classmates, “These four problems are actually all the same type, and the mistakes are all in just one place…”
Ye Haifei had to admit that whether it was Nie Qiu on television or Nie Qiu now standing on the lectern and speaking eloquently, she seemed to radiate light. It was confidence, and it was her unique temperament. To be honest, she wasn’t beautiful; she couldn’t compare to any of the girls he had dated. Yet, he just found her attractive, and he felt that if this girl were with him for a lifetime, he wouldn’t feel lonely.
Li Kai’s eyes shone with the same light as Ye Haifei’s. They were both captivated by this girl in front of them, and even if they were lost in it, they wouldn’t regret it.
Peng Yu Yang listened to Nie Qiu lecture and slowly lowered his head, forcing a smile at the corner of his mouth, and finally let out a helpless bitter smile. How could he dare to hope that Nie Qiu would like him? In the past, when he, Huang Yan, and Nie Qiu were good friends, he felt that although Nie Qiu was academically brilliant, being in close proximity, he always had an advantage over others. He thought that as long as he treated her sincerely, she would feel it. But… she didn’t understand; she only treated him as a friend.
He thought… Looking at the two outstanding boys standing on the lectern, their eyes seeming to hold only Nie Qiu, he knew he wasn’t the only one who had discovered her beauty.
This is for the best. Although he had thought of giving up before, feelings are not something that can be given up just like that. He didn’t know where feelings came from or where they went. But this time, he truly knew; he should give up. Whether Nie Qiu knew or not, whether Nie Qiu saw it or not, he would just be a friend.
Tears… fell without warning. The writing on the workbook, done with a pen, blurred. He was a man; how could he cry? But… his heart ached so much! What should he do?
An Su, after listening to a problem, habitually looked towards Peng Yu Yang’s seat. Upon seeing it, An Su was stunned. She looked at Nie Qiu on the lectern and suddenly understood something. She smiled slightly, a smile of helplessness and resignation, and picked up her pen to listen to the lecture diligently.
A man doesn’t shed tears easily, only when his heart is broken. Unrequited love… first love… is always the most beautiful, and the most painful, it is the most memorable part of a lifetime.
