My Underachieving Seatmate Doesn't Need Any Comforting

Chapter 33

Qiao Shao took a long time to find his voice: “No. 1 in the city? He Shen????”

The rising tone in his question was so high, it could practically materialize, grow wings and take flight.

Chen Su was surprised, “You didn’t know?”

Qiao Shao’s face clearly spelled out, “How could I have known!”

Chen Su asked, puzzled, “But didn’t you ask me before?”

He even comforted Qiao Shao because he was afraid that he would be dealt with some psychological blow.

Qiao Shao also remembered it very clearly: “But you said at the time that I shouldn’t learn from his example ...”

Chen Su realized the ambiguity of the statement. “I meant, you shouldn’t compare yourself with him. Not everyone can go to school, sleep all day and still get a perfect score.”

Qiao Shao: “............”

So that how it was! He was so vexed he couldn’t even speak!

Chen Su now knew that they weren’t on the same frequency when they had their conversation before, so he quickly clarified, “He Shen is different from us. What he’s seen, he never forgets. He only needs look over something once. Don’t look at how all he does is sleep in class. Actually, all the knowledge he’s absorbed has already surpassed that of high school student’s. When high school just started, there were already universities inviting him ...”

Qiao Shao looked as if he was listening to some fantasy story.

I understand all these words, but taken all together it didn’t seem to make any sense!

His seatmate, his no good slacker of a seatmate, turned out to be a one in a million type of genius?

“He’s totally capable to skipping grades but I don’t know why he hasn’t.”

Chen Su just dealt Qiao Shao a heavy blow.

After a long while, Qiao Shao finally regained his voice, “I ... I really didn’t notice.”

Chen Su also felt that he now had a good grasp of the situation. He was ashamed and said, “It’s my fault. I didn’t tell you clearly.”

When seen from Qiao Shao’s point of view, it was understandable why he’d misunderstand.

At the beginning, no one believed that He Shen was the god of learning who had entered their school with the best scores in the city.

After all, his daily activities comprised of sleeping and even more sleeping.

During the few occasions he’s awake, he would hang out with the bad student from the international class. They heard that he even came to blows with some layabouts outside the school...

Later, his good looks managed to scramble some girl’s brain and she confessed to him.

He Shen was crueler and more ruthless than Lou Xiao was now, and his completely flat reply of “Not interested” made the girl want to hide from embarrassment.

But another even more unstable situation cropped up.

There was a student in the senior special abilities class for art. She had a good family background, was beautiful, and had a bold personality.

At that time, He Shen’s “unfriendly and unreasonable” reputation had already spread, not that this made him any less handsome.

They say girls can’t resist a bad boy, this senior sister insisted on challenging this “thorn”.

After she tried to entangle with him twice, He Shen threw down two words. “Get lost.”

The senior sister was shamed into anger by his impatient tone. This also infuriated the former school tyrant for whom their very presence was offensive.

For the sake of a pretty face, the former school tyrant came looking for a fight. He wanted nothing more than to deal with this freshman who was fool enough to reject a face-saving offer.

And so......

Lou Xiao, who brought down five people without getting a single hair out of place, proved that he well and truly deserved to be the new school tyrant.

As for He Shen, he stood by the side and hadn’t even lifted a finger save to stifle a yawn.

It was also from that time that the banner of He Lou He was hoisted and it remained standing tall ever since.

Chen Su spoke steadily and his reasoning was clear. The more he spoke, the more stupefied Qiao Shao got.

“H-how does this make him seem like a good student?” Qiao Shao frowned.

This was obviously a school tyrant among school tyrants!

Chen Su continued, “We also thought that his ‘first in the whole city’ matter was a misunderstanding. Not only the students, but even the teachers thought that there was something wrong.”

The entire thing was so fantastical that normal people couldn’t help but have some doubts.

Qiao Shao vaguely guessed what happened next. “Then, he took an exam?”

All guesses were no match against actual results from the exams.

Chen Su shook his head and said, “No ...”

Qiao Shao asked curiously, “Then how?”

Chen Su said, “He went to win glory for the school. In that year’s youth math competition, he won first place in the entire country.

Qiao Shao: “&#k2026;&#k2026;&#k2026;&#k2026;”

“Then it was the monthly exam, the physics contest, the chemistry contest, the midterm exam &#k2026; and then the end of term exam &#k2026;” Chen Su sighed. “As long as he participates, he’s sure to get first place.”

Qiao Shao’s lips twitched.

Chen Su said, “Since then, he has become the legend of East High.”

The person was still around and yet he already became a legend. This was simply in defiance of the natural order!

Qiao Shao said to himself, “Every word he said was true.”

What ‘first in the city’, what ‘first in the school’, what ‘highly retentive memory’, and what ‘certain victory’...

Just which of those were boasts?

Obviously, he was being very humble!

The more Qiao Shao thought about it, the more his face hurt.

Not only did the other party’s cows not blow up from all the hot air, they even became giant palms.

How can his face not hurt?

Immediately after, Qiao Shao remembered their bet.

Ah......

He’s dead, done for. There’s no saving him!

Chen Su was still trying to comfort him. “I was too careless. We’re all so used to He Shen, that we forgot you didn’t know.”

The face-slapped students and teachers of East High had long regarded He Shen as beyond human.

He Shen was He SHEN. What use was there to argue with a god?

Everything a celestial being does is right!

It’s too bad that Qiao Shao was a newcomer. How could he have known that there was someone so fantastical and divorced from reality that he could have come straight out of a book!

After Chen Su caught him up to speed on the general situation, Qiao Shao could now look at He Shen’s scores with relative calm.

What was 725?

Based on what Chen Su said, this anomalous being was even known to score above 750!

Ah, truly an anomaly!

Chen Su laughed, and said warmly, “No matter, it’s just a little misunderstanding. I think you two have been getting along pretty well for a while, and I don’t think he’s the kind of unreasonable person who’d care about something like this.”

Especially, without He Shen’s help, it would have been difficult to clarify Chen Su’s previous matter.

Qiao Shao nodded, and stammered as he said, “En, he-he’s a good guy.”

But, but...

Ah, Qiao Shao can’t live anymore; he’s dying!

This is really too embarrassing!

The most terrible thing about it was that He Shen, from the very start, never tried to hide anything from him. He made it clear every time, without hiding anything.

But ... It was Qiao Shao himself who didn’t believe it!

He thought about what he said versus what was actually the truth. He Shen must have been dying trying to stifle his laughter.

Dead! Dead! He can’t go on living!

Young Master Qiao has never been so ashamed in his life!

This entire time, he’d been calling a learning god a slacker. He’d also forced the other to study with him, even checking his homework, criticizing him for not being serious, and...

This past half month, Qiao Shao spent ninety-nine percent of his time with He Shen.

There were so many things and thinking about them one by one...

Sorry, Master Qiao needs a coffin, the type that can be sealed shut!

Actually, Chen Su was more concerned about Qiao Shao’s performance in the exam, but seeing that he was in a good spirit, he felt relieved.

“I’ll send you the score list.” Chen Su sent the picture to Qiao Shao’s WeChat.

Qiao Shao didn’t want to accept it at all–

The first in the class was He Shen.

The first from the bottom was Qiao Shao.

They were truly worthy of being seatmates.

They were even both ‘first’.

Chen Su gauged his expression and said, “I think this score of yours ...”

In contrast, Qiao Shao was very calm. “It’s okay, I already knew.”

Chen Su paused and said, “That can’t be right. I’ve seen you do your homework ...”

Although his accuracy rate was average, Qiao Shao was very serious and hardworking. Whenever he gets the question wrong, he will do it again and again, and he never makes the same mistake twice.

This month’s monthly exam didn’t have too many high-level questions. It stands to reason that Qiao Shao shouldn’t have gotten such a result.

Qiao Shao had already mentally steeled himself earlier on. He said, “Actually, I’ve only been in high school for a few days. My enrollment into the second semester was a bit sudden. There’s a lot I’ve missed so I’ve been taking it one step at a time this past half month.”

Chen Su was surprised: “Then, last semester you ...”

Qiao Shao wasn’t exactly lying, “My health was bad so I’ve been out of school for a while.”

“So that’s it.” Chen Su looked at his thin body and didn’t doubt him, “are you all right now?”

Qiao Shao laughed. “I’ve been fine for a long time! It’s just that I’ve missed a lot of lessons, so I need to make up for it.”

Chen Su readily volunteered, “I’ll help you!”

Qiao Shao said, “Okay, will you let me borrow your textbooks and notes from last semester?”

Chen Su immediately said, “No problem, I’ll sort them for you.”

While they were talking, dinner time came.

Qiao Shao was too lazy to put away his things, and so the two went to the cafeteria for food first.

They chatted along the way, and Chen Su kept paying attention to Qiao Shao’s expressions. Seeing that he wasn’t bothered by his score, Chen Su felt was relieved and admired him all the more.

Qiao Shao was really different from him.

Don’t look at his thin and small built, in fact he had great inner strength.

Being able to face poverty and disparity so fearlessly; his positive attitude towards life was really impressive.

Chen Su felt very lucky to be have been able to make such a positive friend!

There weren’t many people in the cafeteria. After all, they have just returned to school, and most of the students who live on campus have brought a lot of delicious food with them.

But Chen Su and Qiao Shao, one did not have anything to bring, the other was inexperienced, so like good students they went to the cafeteria to eat.

There wasn’t much of a line so they were able to order quickly. Just as he was about to eat, Qiao Shao felt his phone buzz.

He lowered his chopsticks and took out his mobile phone.

Without Friday: “Are you at the dormitory?”

Qiao Shao smacked his lips in alarm. He put the phone face down on the table.

He didn’t have the face to see He Shen so soon!

Chen Su looked at him and Qiao Shao said, “My dad’s asking if I already arrived.”

Chen Su nodded and didn’t ask much.

Stepping out of the school building, He Shen frowned slightly.

He was in the middle of work, when he received the score list.

He had no interest in this kind of thing. After all, he was sure to get first. There was no suspense.

But this time he deliberately set a reminder for the WeChat group and waited to see the results.

Of course, he wasn’t interested in his own results but rather his seatmate’s.

He Shen opened the score list and took a looks starting from the top. He hadn’t expected to look through 20 or 30 people still without seeing Qiao Shao’s name.

According to reason, even if the little shorty didn’t do so well, he’d still be able to reach about this level.

It wasn’t until he’d reached the bottom that he saw Qiao Shao’s name.

He Shen stood up and went to school. He hadn’t even bothered to save his work.

Old Tang was extremely flattered by He Shen’s sudden visit, and he immediately asked what he needed.

He Shen asked Qiao Shao’s papers and looked through them from top to bottom.

There were no errors in the checking, and the scores were correct, but he shouldn’t have gotten this kind of grade.

Other subjects aside, English was Qiao Shao’s strength. However, except for the questions for the listening portion and the preceding multiple choice questions, the others were simply unbearable to look at.

How could this be?

So many thoughts were going around He Shen’s head. He came out of the school building and sent a message to Qiao Shao.

After five or six minutes, Qiao Shao still hadn’t replied to him.

He Shen went directly to 516.

He knocked on the door but no one responded. He had the key and simply opened the door but the room was empty.

He Shen took out his mobile phone and took a look. Qiao Shao still hadn’t replied to him.

Could it be that he hadn’t returned to school yet?

Can’t be......

He Shen saw Qiao Shao’s schoolbag on the bed.

Since he’s already arrived at school, he probably went to the cafeteria.

He Shen went downstairs.

Coincidentally, Qiao Shao and Chen Su were making their way slowly back to the dorm just as He Shen headed to the canteen.

So once again, He Shen came up empty handed.

“What are you doing here at this hour?” Lou Xiao was surprised when he saw him. “Don’t you have a new job?”

Lou Xiao and his pack of miscreants had been drinking and eating the entire day and now he was feeling a bit sick of the rich food. He came to the cafeteria to look for something light to eat. He wasn’t expecting to run into He Shen.

He Shen didn’t answer. He looked around, trying to find the little shorty in the crowd.

Lou Xiao saw through him with a single glance. “I just saw Qiao Shao.”

As soon as the words came out, He Shen asked, “Where is he?”

Lou Xiao raised an eyebrow. “Are you two quarreling?”

Looking at how keyed up He Shen was...

‘Oh’, the school tyrant remembered, ‘the results must have come out...’

He Shen said, “I sent him a WeChat message. He didn’t reply and I didn’t see him in the dorm either.”

Lou Xiao said, “I just saw him eating with Four-eyes. They should be headed back to the room.”

He Shen made to leave.

Lou Xiao told him, “Maybe you shouldn’t go up after him for now.”

He Shen stopped and looked at him. “Why?”

Lou Xiao said, “He must have seen the results. He lost so badly, won’t he be angry?”

Although Lou Xiao didn’t know Qiao Shao’s score, but looking at East High, well, looking at all high school students, not many could compare with He Shen.

He Shen: “...”

Lou Xiao said again, “Give him some time. Don’t rush him.”

He Shen thought about Qiao Shao’s score and he indeed felt impatient.

He didn’t chase after him to the dormitory. He stayed instead and said, “Are you ordering?”

Lou Xiao nodded and answered, “Let’s eat.”

When He Shen was upset, he would resort to monosyllabic answers. “En.”

If Qiao Shao saw this ‘no strangers may enter’ kind of manner of his, he would understand how every word of what Chen Su told him about the “legend” was true.

Lou Xiao glanced at He Shen and thought to himself—serves you right for acting worse than a beast.

You even tried to make him go along with what you wanted?

Now look at the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.