Chapter 80: Chapter 80: What You Wrote Isn’t Sweet at All

Seeing Tong Churou come looking for him, Shen Yuan scratched his head in annoyance.

"Come on out!"

With that, Shen Yuan walked to the back door of the classroom.

The crowd of onlookers at the back door quickly scattered.

Shen Yuan led Tong Churou to the other end of the hallway.

Without any pleasantries, Shen Yuan got straight to the point.

"Forgot the English vocabulary again?"

Tong Churou pursed her lips, then nodded firmly.

"Yeah, I was hoping..."

Before she could finish, Tong Churou heard Shen Yuan cut her off.

"Don’t even think about it. I’m not telling you. You should be asking the English teacher about this, not me. I’m just a student who happens to be good at English by a fluke."

"But, I just..."

Shen Yuan interrupted her. "There are no ’buts.’ I’ve helped you before."

Tong Churou put on a pitiful expression. "Can’t you just help me one more time? I can trade you my physics notes for it. Teacher Guo’s physics study method."

To be honest, Shen Yuan was tempted.

But the moment he thought about the past, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He just couldn’t get past it!

Seeing Shen Yuan remain silent, Tong Churou upped the ante. "I can give you the physics notes first. If they’re useful to you, you can choose to help me or not. Just consider it compensation for tricking you before!"

"Why would I want your compensation?"

Shen Yuan’s brow furrowed. "You think I can’t improve without these physics notes? If I do more problems and ask more questions, you think I’ll just stay stagnant?"

Tong Churou fell silent.

Shen Yuan snorted. "Stop playing pitiful."

Tong Churou dropped the hurt expression from her face, her tone turning cold. "Then you name it. What kind of good study materials do you need? Physics, math, chemistry, biology—I can get them for you."

"Shen Yuan, not all problems are created equal. Sometimes, doing a hundred problems won’t enlighten you as much as a single good one!"

Shen Yuan looked at Tong Churou’s cold expression and chuckled. "This is much better. Who were you trying to fool just now? I’ve been tricked by you once, you think I’ll let it happen a second time?"

"You just keep studying your way. For me, studying is simple. Just do more, learn more."

"You like striving for perfection, and that’s fine. You have your methods, I have mine. Everyone’s different. I’ve accepted my tedious life of grinding problems."

Having said his piece, Shen Yuan prepared to leave.

"Shen Yuan!" Tong Churou called out. "You can’t beat me."

Shen Yuan stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "Then let’s see at the next monthly exam. We’ll see who does better, you or me."

Under the night sky, Shen Yuan’s calm gaze seemed to state it as a simple fact.

Tong Churou didn’t back down, tilting her head up. "My estimated score is 625. Do you think you can score higher than me?"

"Heh."

Shen Yuan let out a laugh and turned back toward the classroom.

Behind him, Tong Churou called out, "If you score higher than me, I’ll give you the physics materials!"

Shen Yuan said nothing.

In the hallway outside Class 15, the onlookers scattered in a flash.

"Yuan, Brother Yuan, I was wrong. I didn’t know you had a thing going on with that girl in the black stockings! I was purely blinded by beauty, that wasn’t the real me just now!"

Sun Xiansheng quickly explained.

Shen Yuan clapped Sun Xiansheng on the shoulder. "It’s fine, Teacher Hou. As a historian, who doesn’t get a little ’history’ on them?"

The corner of Sun Xiansheng’s mouth twitched.

Hearing this, Ah Jie, who was standing nearby, started laughing like a honking goose.

Ah Jie pointed at Shen Yuan. "HONK HONK HONK, the historian’s ultimate ’history’-staining battle!"

"You little—!"

Shen Yuan grabbed him in a headlock. "What did you call me?"

Ah Jie instantly groveled. "Godfather! Godfather!! Your son was wrong! I was wrong!!"

After returning to his seat, Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi and stated the outcome, "I refused her."

Li Zhi said nonchalantly, "Why are you telling me?"

"Just letting you know."

The beautiful girl looked up at Shen Yuan and replied flatly, "Oh."

At that moment, He Zhiyu in the front row was blatantly observing the two of them.

’The little author’s brain had already turned to fluff.’

’[The schemer tried to make a move on our male lead, but he shut her down like a total boss! Then, he went right back to his childhood sweetheart to report on his victory.]’

’[The jealous childhood sweetheart throws a little tantrum and decides to give the male lead the cold shoulder. But alas, the cold war only lasts for a moment before the sweetness once again blossoms between the young couple.]’

He Zhiyu already had the plot for next week’s Chapter of *Defend and Steal* figured out!

And behind her, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi had already gone back to doing their own things.

A cold war?

No, a cold war never existed between them.

Only various forms of lethal verbal sparring.

Right now could only be described as a ceasefire.

The main theme of the weekend evening self-study session was changing seats.

As the bell for the end of the third period of evening self-study drew closer, the class was clearly getting restless.

The students in the row by the window had already started packing up their books.

As the bell rang, the sound of desks and chairs scraping across the floor soon filled Class 15.

This time, with the seat change, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi were about to get a heavyweight joining them.

The head of the Kissing Association, author of *Love in the Era of Lecterns*, proofreader and editor for *Defend and Steal*, owner of the campus confession page account, the hidden hand behind Jiyang Middle School’s public opinion, and public enemy number one of the Early Love Prohibition Association—

Zhuo Peipei!

"Hello there! Shen Yuan, we’re desk mates again!"

Shen Yuan looked at the person he once thought was a Sweet Sister, his heart filled with regret!

’She was sweet, alright, but nobody said it was *this* kind of sweet!’

Back before *Defend and Steal* had even appeared, Zhuo Peipei had already set her sights on the childhood sweethearts, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi.

And now?

’The damn head of the Kissing Association and the Sugar Text author are now staking out the "male and female leads" at the same time!’

Shen Yuan felt like his life was under surveillance.

"I feel like I’m being watched."

Zhuo Peipei flashed her signature Sweet Sister smile. "The Kissing Association is everywhere!"

"Are you guys goblins from the sewer or something?"

Zhuo Peipei’s expression immediately turned to disgust. "Get lost! *You’re* the goblin! Don’t think I don’t know you’re reading *Defend and Steal*!"

Shen Yuan didn’t deny it and admitted it outright.

"So what if I’m reading it? I am!"

Shen Yuan looked directly at Zhuo Peipei. "I’m reading it with a critical eye! This so-called Sugar Text of yours, I can’t taste any sugar at all!"

Hearing this, Zhuo Peipei got fired up.

"That’s probably because you have someone even sweeter right next to you, so you can’t feel it!"

"How did you know my little kitten is so fragrant and soft?"

Zhuo Peipei laughed drily.

"Changing the subject, are we? Feeling guilty."

"Guilty my ass! Tell the author of *Defend and Steal* that I’m onto her. Tell her not to let me find any clues in her little Sugar Text, or I definitely won’t let her off the hook!"

Hearing Shen Yuan’s words, He Zhiyu shrank back and couldn’t help but ask her best friend, who was still packing her things.

"Zhizhi, are you reading *Defend and Steal* too?"

Upon hearing the question, Li Zhi shook her head without any hesitation.

"It’s so-so. I don’t like it."

The little author was wounded.

He Zhiyu asked cautiously, "Then if you knew who the author of *Defend and Steal* was, what would you want to say?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "I’d tell her it’s not sweet at all."

The little author silently shattered into pieces.