Yesterday, during the evening self-study session, Su Qingyan had witnessed firsthand how Lin Ran easily breezed through various subject tests, even effortlessly solving competition-level problems.

So now, Su Qingyan understood better than anyone just how high her deskmate’s academic abilities had reached.

Hearing Zhou Hua openly slander Lin Ran in front of everyone, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger.

But when Su Qingyan took the initiative to defend Lin Ran, Zhou Hua’s eyes flashed with a glint of jealousy, though his face quickly twisted into a sarcastic smile.

“Su, please don’t speak up for Lin Ran,” he sneered.

“I know you two are deskmates, and you’re probably helping him with his studies, but assignments are assignments, and rules are rules.”

“Lin Ran is just a bottom-of-the-class student, and suddenly he manages to get near full marks on such a difficult English exam?”

“That’s not something you can achieve with a little tutoring one night, is it?”

His words, although laced with suspicion, seemed somewhat reasonable.

The students around them nodded, some even showing signs of agreement.

Seeing the approving gazes from his classmates, Zhou Hua stood even taller, putting on a self-righteous expression.

“As the English class representative, I have to be responsible for my role, for the teacher, and for all the students in the class!”

“Everyone else works so hard on their own assignments.”

“Yet Lin Ran just cheats his way to full marks.”

“That’s not fair to the rest of the class!”

His words were becoming more and more persuasive. Zhou Hua’s confidence grew, and he looked at Lin Ran with a triumphant smirk.

“Lin Ran, tell me, is there something wrong with what I just said?”

“Everyone’s watching. I’m just the class rep, surely I wouldn’t target you for no reason?”

At the end, Zhou Hua's tone carried an almost mocking note, as if he thought he had Lin Ran cornered.

He was setting up a public embarrassment.

And yet, the person being targeted seemed completely unaware.

Lin Ran didn’t show any sign of anger or indignation.

Instead, as if genuinely considering Zhou Hua’s question, Lin Ran suddenly looked at him and spoke up with a casual tone:

“I heard you have a crush on Su Qingyan and got rejected?”

“And now you’re jealous of me sitting next to her?”

“Is that why you’re picking on me?”

It was blunt, almost brutal.

No attempts at delicacy, just a straightforward bombshell.

The whole atmosphere in the classroom instantly froze into a dead silence.

…

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Zhou Hua’s smug, mocking smile also froze on his face:

(He… he just said what!?)

The entire class was stunned into silence.

As they processed what had just been said, the room erupted into a loud buzz of gossip!

The moment Zhou Hua realized what had just happened, his face turned beet red, almost as if it were about to bleed.

“You… what are you talking about!?”

Lin Ran, with a look of righteous sincerity, repeated:

“I said you like Su Qingyan…”

Before he could finish, Zhou Hua was so shocked that he nearly jumped out of his skin, rushing forward as though to cover Lin Ran’s mouth.

“Shut up!”

“I don’t! I didn’t! Don’t say nonsense!!”

At that moment, Zhou Hua looked as if he might completely lose his mind.

Damn it!

How could Lin Ran be playing this so differently than expected!?

A moment ago, he had been the shadowy mastermind, calculating and in control.

Now, with just one sentence, Lin Ran had pulled away the curtain and exposed everything in front of everyone!

Yes, he liked Su Qingyan!

Yes, he was jealous of Lin Ran and was picking on him because of that!

But could he just say that out loud like this!?

High school relationships were supposed to be delicate, a subtle and unspoken thing.

You couldn’t just throw it out into the open like that!

It was practically social suicide!

At this moment, the entire classroom’s atmosphere shifted.

No one cared anymore whether Lin Ran had copied Su Qingyan’s homework or not.

All eyes were on Zhou Hua, now filled with ambiguous, knowing glances—

So that’s it...

Zhou Hua secretly likes Su Qingyan?

And got rejected?

Big news, big gossip!

Seeing Zhou Hua’s flustered, mortified expression, Lin Ran remained cool and unbothered.

To him, this sort of teenage jealousy was easy to read—he was, after all, an old soul in the body of a high school student.

And dealing with it was equally simple.

Once you expose someone’s little thoughts, they’re left scrambling, losing all composure.

Shaking his head at Zhou Hua’s flustered reaction, Lin Ran couldn’t help but think:

Look at this…

It’s just liking a girl.

Get your little crush exposed, and you turn into a blushing mess. How could you ever win her over like this?

Just then, a chair scraped across the floor, and Lin Ran turned to see his deskmate, Su Qingyan, stand up. Her expression was as calm and composed as ever as she scanned the class.

“I need to clarify something,” she said.

Was Lin Ran in trouble for dragging her into this?

He had that fleeting thought in his mind.

But Zhou Hua was the one who was practically in tears with relief, thinking: Yes, yes! Su Qingyan is going to clear my name. She’s my goddess, I was right about her!

But the next moment, Su Qingyan’s voice rang out, completely devoid of any warmth:

“Lin Ran said there’s a rumor that Zhou Hua likes me and that I rejected him.”

“I’m here to clarify.”

“This isn’t a rumor.”

…

The room went completely still for a moment.

Then—

The classroom erupted into chaos!

“Wow!!!——”

Amidst the uproar, Zhou Hua’s world seemed to crumble as he nearly fainted on the spot.

Su Qingyan casually returned to her seat, her expression still cool and indifferent.

But as she did, it almost seemed like she nonchalantly turned her head.

Her eyes met Lin Ran’s.

And for a fleeting moment, Lin Ran could have sworn he saw her raise an eyebrow slightly, her cold gaze betraying a hint of a smile.

That move—

Was a perfect tag team.

A fatal blow to the scheming, jealous boy.

And just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. The door opened, and their forty-something English teacher walked in holding a stack of textbooks.

Noticing the commotion in the classroom, the teacher curiously asked:

“What’s going on here?”

Zhou Hua, as if grabbing onto a lifeline, suddenly cried out with frantic joy, “Teacher!”

“I have to report a complaint!”

The English teacher for Class 10 was a man in his early forties named Cai.

He was affectionately nicknamed "Old Cai" by the students.

Though his personality was generally easygoing, he had a slightly effeminate, delicate manner, occasionally making a gesture with his pinky.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

However, his professional teaching skills were impressive. Having studied abroad in Europe for several years, he spoke English with a genuine London accent, much more authentic than the other teachers, and when he read aloud, it was quite captivating.

At this moment, Old Cai’s arrival turned out to be Zhou Hua’s lifeline.

Seeing him as a savior, Zhou Hua almost teared up in his excitement and immediately raised his voice, “Teacher! Lin Ran got every objective question right on the English test! With his level of ability, that’s impossible, so he must have copied Su Qingyan’s homework!”

“I pointed it out to him, and he’s still denying it!”

In his frustration, Zhou Hua couldn’t help but harbor resentment toward Su Qingyan as well, no longer calling her "Su" but referring to her by her full name.

Old Cai looked confused and glanced at Lin Ran and Su Qingyan.

“What’s going on?”

Lin Ran stood up, his expression earnest as he pointed at Zhou Hua:

“Oh, he likes Su Qingyan but got rejected—”

Zhou Hua nearly lost his mind, his face turning red with fury.

“I don’t! I didn’t!!”

“What are you talking about! The teacher didn’t ask you that!!”

If it weren’t for the fact that it was illegal to kill, Zhou Hua would have rushed up to strangle Lin Ran in that moment.

Meanwhile, Su Qingyan turned her gaze toward the teacher at the podium, her expression still calm and indifferent as she spoke:

“Teacher, that’s not the case.”

“Zhou Hua is the one talking nonsense.”

“Lin Ran completed his own exam and homework. He didn’t cheat.”

“I can vouch for him.”

Zhou Hua sneered in anger:

“He copied your homework! What’s the use of you vouching for him? Do you really think the teacher will believe you—”

Before he could finish,

Old Cai’s face suddenly lit up, and he clapped his hands together.

“I see! Now I understand!”

“Well, since Su Qingyan has vouched for him, it must be true!”

As he spoke, Old Cai happily made a gesture with his pinky, and his gaze toward Lin Ran became filled with admiration:

“Yesterday’s test was pretty tough.”

“To get all the objective questions right, it looks like we have a bright student in our class!”

“Lin Ran, right? You’ve made great progress. Keep up the good work!”

Lin Ran smiled modestly:

“Thank you, teacher. I’ll keep working hard.”

With this exchange,

Zhou Hua, who was standing in the back, was utterly stunned.

This… wasn’t what he had expected!

Teacher, I’m your English class representative! Shouldn’t you be supporting me?

Why is Su Qingyan’s word enough for you to believe her without question?

A dispute that seemed like it would never end had been solved so easily. Old Cai, satisfied with his decisive handling, waved his textbook in the air:

“Alright, alright, let’s start class.”

“Everyone, take out your textbooks. Today, we’ll review the next unit.”

The sound of textbooks being flipped opened filled the room.

But Zhou Hua was still standing, rooted in place, unable to accept what had just happened.

As Lin Ran sat back down, he turned to Zhou Hua and gave him a kind piece of advice:

“Better get back to your seat.”

“Or else Batman might come after you.”

Zhou Hua: “???”

...

As the English teacher for Class 10, Old Cai had his own teaching methods.

In addition to the basics—reviewing vocabulary, analyzing word types, and grammar—his lessons always had one more element: listening to the audio recording of the text and having the students read along.

“Not only do you need to know how to write, but you also need to know how to read.”

“Although this is review time for exams, I still want you to remember—”

“English is a practical skill. It can’t just stay on paper.”

Old Cai spoke confidently.

After the first round of reading, his eyes scanned the classroom, and he habitually made a flamboyant gesture with his pinky.

“Next, I’ll have a student come up and read for us.”

As soon as the words left his mouth,

Most of the students immediately lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact.

Especially those who were poor at English or had bad speaking skills, they practically wished they could bury their heads in their textbooks or hide under the desks.

Old Cai noticed and was a bit dissatisfied, so he called out,

“Class rep, you go first.”

Zhou Hua, being the class representative, was confident and stood up without hesitation.

His spoken English was one of the best in the class.

He had prepared for this moment, expecting to show off today.

So, standing in front of the whole class, Zhou Hua confidently opened his textbook and began reading aloud.

Objectively speaking,

He read fluently, his accent clearly influenced by British English, showing the effort he’d put in. While it might have sounded a little forced to a native ear, it was definitely above average compared to most students.

Once he finished reading, Zhou Hua sat down, his face full of smug satisfaction, clearly proud of his performance.

Old Cai nodded approvingly:

“Not bad.”

Then he scanned the room again,

“Next, who else would like to give it a try?”

The room fell into complete silence.

Since the class rep had already gone, no one felt they could do any better, and no one wanted to embarrass themselves.

At this moment,

A voice suddenly rang out:

“Teacher, I suggest Lin Ran should go next!”

...

The students were stunned and turned to look. The speaker was none other than Zhou Hua.

He was glaring coldly at Lin Ran’s seat, a sinister gleam in his eyes as he sneered,

“If he can breeze through such a difficult English exam,

he should have no problem reading a text, right?”

Old Cai, listening, thought it made sense and nodded eagerly:

“Alright.”

“Lin Ran, you go ahead.”

Lin Ran, called on in front of the class, stood up calmly.

Zhou Hua, on the other hand, was practically giddy with excitement, eagerly waiting for Lin Ran to make a fool of himself. He added,

“Lin Ran, you better not just read it casually.”

“If you could get a perfect score on such a difficult exam, then your spoken English must be top-notch, with a perfect British accent, right?”

Lin Ran gave Zhou Hua a look and kindly said,

“British or American accents really don’t matter that much. As long as it’s fluent and understandable, that’s what counts.”

Do you think I need advice from a worthless guy like you?

Zhou Hua smirked:

“Stop making excuses for yourself!”

“Let me guess, you probably can’t even read a full sentence, huh? Hahahaha—”

He couldn’t stop laughing at his own mockery.

Lin Ran chuckled lightly.

Then,

He picked up the textbook and began reading the passage slowly and steadily.

The moment the first few words left his mouth,

Old Cai’s eyes immediately lit up with excitement and admiration!

When Lin Ran finished the first sentence,

Su Qingyan, who had been sitting nearby, turned to look at him, her face filled with shock, her usual calm expression replaced with surprise as her mouth opened slightly.

When Lin Ran read through the entire text, his fluent, flawless London accent sending each word clearly and smoothly through the air,

Zhou Hua’s laughter abruptly stopped.

And the entire classroom—

Exploded into a wave of excitement!