Chapter 44: You Know What C+ Is, Right?

Setting aside the telegram from *People's Literature*, Li Heng began to check the second one.

The second telegram came from the *Harvest* magazine in Shanghai. Its contents were almost identical to the one from *People's Literature*.

It simply informed him in advance that *Harvest* was also sending an editor over.

Comparing the timestamps of the two telegrams, Li Heng burst out laughing. Ha! Great minds think alike, sending messages and dispatching editors at the exact same time.

It seemed his estimation was quite accurate. When he played such a high-value trump card as *To Live*, both *People's Literature* and *Harvest* had discerning people in charge who took it very seriously.

He hoped they would run into each other and get into a massive brawl! Fight hard! Don't be polite to each other on his account. Whichever side won, he would reward them with a bottle of soda.

Ugh... though if Chen Xiaomi happened to win, then damn it, forget about the soda.

Never mind any reward; if not for the sake of Chen Zijin and Chen Gaoyuan, he would have lost his temper long ago and jumped into the fray himself.

The head teacher was not around at the moment, leaving just the two of them in the office.

The English teacher tossed her long hair and said, "I didn't expect them to value you so much."

Li Heng waved the two telegrams in his hand, feeling rather pleased with himself. "Look at who wrote it! And look at what was written! At the time, someone practically broke down my door in tears, begging to resign just so she could marry me. This is what we call hoarding rare commodities for a high price..."

Before the word "price" had even faded, a sudden disturbance erupted in the office. A long, slender leg appeared out of nowhere and landed a heavy kick squarely on Li Heng's backside.

The effect was simply textbook!

Li Heng, who had been strutting just a moment before, lurched sharply forward and made intimate contact with the off-white wall.

"Ouch! Damn it, that hurts like hell!"

Clutching his throbbing forehead, Li Heng spun around in disbelief. "No way! Teacher, are you playing for keeps? Did you have to hit so hard? Do you even know how much you weigh?!"

Hearing this, Wang Runwen—whose safety zone had already been breached—narrowed her eyes half-mast, turning even more dangerous!

She gritted out each word, "Height 165 centimeters, weight 54 kilograms. Is that heavy???"

Li Heng glanced furtively at her chest. Damn it, who was talking to you about height and weight?

C! C! C-plus, you know what I mean?!

Noticing his wandering gaze, Wang Runwen, with her arms crossed over her chest, narrowed her eyes into mere slits and spoke with an icy chill:

"I see you've grown tired of living. Do you believe I'll gouge those eyeballs out and feed them to the dogs?!"

I believe! The hell if I don't believe you!

Damn it, women raised in violent households were truly unrestrained, and she was so damn merciless.

Bound by her status and adhering to the noble principle that a gentleman doesn't fight with women, Li Heng decisively retreated to avoid further conflict and decided it was time for lunch.

Seeing him about to leave, the English teacher called out from behind, "Those editors are coming over. Do you want me to accompany you to buy some clothes?"

Li Heng stopped in his tracks, looked himself up and down, and asked, "Are my clothes really that bad?"

The English teacher sneered, delivering a merciless blow, "Even Sun Manning's dog wears finer fabric than you do."

He had seen that white dog from the Sun family; it was plump, and the material on its back was genuinely superior to his own clothes.

Li Heng was utterly depressed. Having lived two lives, he was still living less comfortably than a dog.

Turning his pockets inside out, he put on a carefree front and asked, "I have no money. Can I live off a woman?"

Wang Runwen crossed her arms, walked over, circled him with an amused look, and mocked with a chuckle, "You're too thin. Slaughtering you wouldn't yield as much meat as a sheep. Not interested."

With that, she walked away with the proud, unyielding posture of a victor, without ever looking back.

Li Heng touched his own ribcage, which did indeed look rather pathetic. He sighed, stepped out, and followed after her.

"Teacher, today is the Lantern Festival. I'm giving you the privilege of treating me to dinner."

Wang Runwen brushed a lock of hair behind her ear with her right hand. "I'm old enough to be your mother. Go keep Song Yu company instead."

It was right around lunchtime, and not a single ghost could be seen in the hallway. The two of them bickered back and forth like old friends, quickly descending from the third floor to the first.

"Really not treating me?"

"Not treating you."

"I'm going to be a great writer soon. In the future, countless people will be lining up just to have a meal with me. By then, Teacher, even if you want to treat me, you'll have to make an appointment in advance. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Heh!"

"Teacher, you should smile. Smiling like that is just too heartless."

"Heh!"

"Fine, I'm heading to the cafeteria."

"Get lost."

The two parted ways near the basketball court. Wang Runwen was intercepted by a friendly female teacher, and they walked off toward the school gates, laughing and chatting.

Li Heng, who had hoped for a free meal, had wasted a mountain of words for nothing and could only trudge bitterly toward the cafeteria.

...

There were 15 classes in this year's senior grade, with over 900 students, split roughly evenly between arts and sciences.

In fact, back when students chose their tracks in the second year of high school, his science scores were much stronger. In physics, he never scored below 95 points on any exam.

Yet, it seemed he was fundamentally incompatible with chemistry. It wasn't that he felt the subject was particularly difficult; rather, from middle school all the way through high school, he had never once gotten the final comprehensive calculation question right.

Absurd, right? Not even once!

It wasn't that he didn't know how to solve the final problem, nor that he didn't know how to write out the chemical equations; he simply could never calculate the correct final answer.

During the final exams of the second semester of his first year in high school, he finished the last problem early. Seeing that he had plenty of time left, he eagerly began checking his work.

That was when his chronic affliction completely flared up.

For that final question, he calculated the answer nine times in succession, and through some cruel twist of fate, arrived at nine completely different answers.

Looking at the repeatedly modified answers, the temper he had suppressed for so long finally boiled over. In a fit of rage, he crumpled the test paper into a ball with his right hand, nearly losing his mind from frustration.

Right then and there, he swore a secret oath: If I calculate this one last time and the tenth result is still wrong, I will never touch chemistry again for the rest of my life.

The outcome went without saying; he chose the arts track.

Even though his freshman head teacher spent four hours earnestly trying to talk him out of it, and even went so far as to arbitrarily change his track back to science on the registration form, it still failed to shake his determination.

The funny thing was, seeing him choose the arts track, Zhang Zhiyong and Zou Aiming—who had arrived at the school alongside him—both switched from science to arts right along with him.

Zhang Zhiyong's justification was: Old man me is just here to pad the numbers anyway. As long as I get into some college in the future, it doesn't matter whether it's arts or science. The crucial thing is that brothers stick together.

Li Heng asked Zou Aiming, "And you? Why did you switch?"

Zou Aiming's reason was even more outrageous: All the pretty girls in the grade went to the arts track. Arts students are easier on the eyes.

Nowadays, the senior grade at the First High School was segregated from the freshman and sophomore classes, located in a completely different area.

Even so, with over 900 seniors gathering at the exact same time to grab food, the massive cafeteria simply couldn't contain them all.

Stepping into the cafeteria, Li Heng took one look and saw a sea of bobbing black heads.

Fortunately, their little group had a customary spot for eating, usually located in the left-hand corner of the cafeteria.

When he found Zhang Zhiyong, he was sitting together with Liu Li, Chen Lijun, and Mai Sui.

These two guys had gotten pretty bold today, actually daring to sit at the same table with them. It was truly bizarre and somewhat surprising to Li Heng.

Beside Zhang Zhiyong sat an extra lunchbox filled with food, saved specifically for Li Heng.

Li Heng plopped down into a seat, naturally pulled his own lunchbox over, and asked with mild curiosity, "Hey, blockhead, how come you guys had the guts to eat with the campus belles today?"

"Damn it! How many times do I have to tell you, once we're out of the village, you're not allowed to call me by that nickname!"

Deeply dissatisfied, Zhang Zhiyong snatched the lunchbox right back out of Li Heng's hands, clutched it to his chest, and muttered, "No food for you! Starve you to death, you son of a bitch."

Seeing this, Li Heng wasn't flustered in the least. He turned his attention to the two female companions instead. "How come it's just the two of you today? Where are Sun Manning and Song Yu?"

Chen Lijun's eyes curved into crescent moons as she looked up with a teasing smile. "Tell us, Li Heng, who is it you're really trying to ask about?"

Seeing Mai Sui, Blockhead, and Liu Li all staring at him, Li Heng didn't panic at all. "Then let's ask about Song Yu first."

"Pfft~ I knew you were worried about Song Yu. Her parents came by at noon." Chen Lijun wore a look that said she saw right through him.

Li Heng wasn't surprised that Chen Lijun knew about his affairs.

Before Chen Zijin left, she, Song Yu, and Sun Manning practically ate and slept together, remaining inseparable.

Back then, Mai Sui's regular dining companion was Chen Lijun, though the two girls would also frequently join Chen Zijin's trio.

After Chen Zijin left, the girls who were already familiar with one another grew even closer, and the two factions seemed to be merging into one.

Therefore, a lot of information was shared among them.

Besides, Li Heng's behavior when changing seats a few days ago had been far too obvious; it was impossible to hide from Mai Sui and Chen Lijun.

Liu Li and Zhang Zhiyong, however, looked completely dumbfounded.

Especially Zhang Zhiyong, who was never very sensitive to matters between men and women—his bewildered face was plastered with a massive question mark!