——

CHAPTER 5

[One appreciated the simpler times, the other remained oblivious to their joys]

——

Fu Xin smiled to himself as he wrote and solved the mathematical equation on the backboard in chalk. He relished his time as a student, enjoying the security of the school and classroom that lay separate from the realities of the adult world of responsibilities. He only had one job, one expectation as per the societal norm— that was to study diligently. He didn't have to participate in the workforce, pay rent and utilities, save and invest his money, pay taxes, build his professional career, or pursue and plan for a family.

He could do his one job without any other stress. So, he did just that. He studied his heart out during the lessons— taking down notes, answering questions, asking his doubts, and participating in full. Before, it was to emulate the original's behavior and performance, whereas now it was because of self-gratification.

What about his fate as a villain and the presence of the hero, Lin Tian, who could lead Fu Xin's second dig at life to an end, as announced to him by a supernatural system?

"That is correct," the mathematics teacher said as he looked over Fu Xin's solution. He turned over to the class and said, "Everyone, please note this down, this type of question tends to appear in the examination, and this solution will be quite useful to you." He looked at Fu Xin approvingly before sending him back to his seat.

Fu Xin was diligently studying, so he wasn't worried about losing out in a competition for marks and grades. 'Well, if he possesses some cheat, then I might need to take care of it,' he thought. Fu Xin wasn't worried about getting rid of the possible cheat right away; he needed to figure it out first, then he had until the time of the mock exam to get rid of it.

As Fu Xin sat down, Lin Tian stood up from his chair. "Teacher, Fu Xin's solution is inefficient and wastes time, which is vital in the exams. I have a better way to solve this type of equation."

The mock test bet between Fu Xin and Lin Tian was still fresh in the minds of the class. When Lin Tian spoke, the class turned to look at Fu Xin for his reaction and found a curious look on his face.

The teacher called Lin Tian to the blackboard and asked him to show his solution. Lin Tian confidently walked to the front, and under everyone's eyes, he wrote down a solution beside Fu Xin's answer. When Lin Tian stepped aside, everyone saw that his explanation was only half as long as Fu Xin's.

"...It is indeed a shorter method of solving," the mathematics teacher said after considering Lin Tian's solution. "Would you like to explain it to your classmates?"

Lin Tian smiled, turned to the class, and began explaining his solution. His delivery was clear and audible, and Fu Xin honestly thought Lin Tian's explanation was much better than the teacher's.

"...and that's how you can solve this type of equation faster," Lin Tian finished.

The teacher caressed his chin as he studied the writing on the board. "This is indeed a faster solution... Class, note this solution down. Good work, Lin Tian. I'm happy to see you turning serious about your studies."

Lin Tian smiled. "It was high time I did, teacher." He then looked at Fu Xin, and seeing that, so did the rest of the class. Lin Tian, who had challenged Fu Xin in academics, had solved the same question much faster than the latter.

At the moment, Fu Xin noted Lin Tian's solution in his notebook. It was indeed a quicker method than his. He had thought he had till the test to figure out the reason behind Lin Tian's confidence; however, after seeing this performance, his thoughts had changed a little. 'If he has something like perfect recall or instant comprehension, then aren't I screwed already?' There was a real chance he could lose the bet— and even though he couldn't see how losing an academic bet would risk his life, he never knew what the causal-effect domino would end up dumping him.

Fu Xin tapped the back of his pen on his notebook once before raising his hand.

"Yes, Fu Xin?" asked the teacher.

"Teacher, I disapprove of Lin Tian's solution," Fu Xin said.

Lin Tian sneered in response. "Why, because it's better than yours, and you can't accept it?"

Fu Xin shrugged. "It's indeed faster than mine, but that's only because it's a shortcut method. Without understanding how to solve the problem without the shortcut, the way I solved the problem, one can't utilize the shortcut method." He told the teacher, "Now that Lin Tian has introduced the shortcut method, everyone in the class will prefer it. But what happens if the examination adds a twist to the problem? Those who don't have a firm grasp on the basics won't be able to adapt the shortcut to the twisted problem and will inversely waste more time. I see the utility of Lin Tian's solution but implore everyone here to familiarize themselves with the basic method before moving on to the shortcut... That was all I had to say," after saying that, he sat down.

The attention shifted from Fu Xin to the teacher and Lin Tian. The mathematics teacher said, "Fu Xin brought up a great point here. The examinations will always hide a twist in the questions, and Lin Tian's shortcut solution will only work there when you know the basics. Having a calculator in hand doesn't do any good when you don't know how to use it. Everyone, make a note of this; solve this type of equation through Fu Xin's method until you're sure you understand the essence of it."

Fu Xin leaned back in his chair and stared at Lin Tian as he stood awkwardly in front of the class. Calling Lin Tian's method a shortcut was a choice; in truth, it was an advanced solution— but 'shortcut' had a cheaper feel to it.

"You can return to your seat, Lin Tian," said the teacher. "Good job."

Lin Tian's tight smile twitched as he walked back to his seat. He looked towards Fu Xin, and they met eyes. Fu Xin shrugged with a light smile. Lin Tian's hand curled into a fist hard enough that his fingers dug into his palm. The situation wasn't a big deal, but Lin Tian had deliberately escalated it, and Fu Xin had simply continued the trend.

After the class ended, Fu Xin was talking with his neighbor when he saw someone arrive at his desk from his periphery. He turned to find Xue Lanfen there with a notebook in her hand. "Fu Xin, can you explain the equation you solved on the board to me again. I got confused between what you and Lin Tian explained," Xue Lanfen said.

Fu Xin was tempted to look at Lin Tian but deciding it would be rude, he forwent that thought and gave his attention to Xue Lanfen. "The method isn't that difficult. Sit down. It won't take me long to explain," he said.

Xue Lanfen spoke to the person sitting in front of Fu Xin, and the boy agreed and got out of his seat quicker than the bell at the end of the school day. 'As expected of the heroine,' Fu Xin thought. He had labeled Xue Lanfen as the heroine the moment he had identified Lin Tian as the hero. The boy pined after the girl harder than someone desperately trying to get out of the friend zone for years.

Fu Xin did nothing but explain the solution when Xue Lanfen presented her notebook to him. It was a simple interaction where he taught and she listened. As he was describing the mathematics, Fu Xin heard the classroom door rattle open; knowing that it was close to the end of lunch, his eyes instinctively went to the door— there he saw Lin Tian enter the classroom. He immediately looked away before Lin Tian could notice and leaned forward a bit as he continued his explanation.

Fu Xin then counted to five.

One... two... three... four... five.

"What are you doing?"

It was just as he had thought would happen; Fu Xin smiled in his mind. He looked up and saw Lin Tian right next to his table, looking down at him and Xue Lanfen. There was a faint frown between Lin Tian's brow that he had hidden quite well, but Fu Xin, who was anticipating the reaction, could clearly see it.

"Oh, Lin Tian, what great timing," Fu Xin said. "It seems our discussion in the mathematics lesson caused confusion for Classmate Xue here, so I was explaining my portion to her. Why don't you explain your solution to her as well. Come on, take a seat."

He didn't wait for a response and turned to Xue Lanfen. "I think you know enough to learn Lin Tian's shortcut. The problem I said in the lesson won't apply to you, you're smart enough, smarter than me probably... I think you've been ahead of me in rankings more than I have been ahead of you."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Xue Lanfen looked embarrassed at Fu Xin's compliment. There were people who were good with compliments, while others were not. Fu Xin would've thought Xue Lanfen would be good at taking compliments, but apparently, he would be wrong.

"Lanfen, let's go back to your seat; I will explain it to you there," Lin Tian said.

Fu Xin noticed that Xue Lanfen frowned when she heard Lin Tian. 'She doesn't like his way of addressing her so casually. That's... great!' He was delighted that she hadn't blushed in embarrassment as one would expect from a heroine when called intimately by a hero.

Maybe there was hope for him after all, thought Fu Xin.

"Lin Tian, can you explain it here? I'm sure Fu Xin would also like to listen to your explanation," Xue Lanfen said and looked at Fu Xin.

"I would appreciate that very much actually," Fu Xin smiled at Lin Tian.

Lin Tian looked like he wanted to say something but pursed his lips to stop it from coming out. He turned back and pulled out the empty chair behind him to sit. He began the explanation, and all the time, he only looked at and talked to Xue Lanfem, as if pretending that Fu Xin didn't exist. Fu Xin didn't mind. He craned his neck to peek at the notebook and listened to Lin Tian— and just like before, the explanation was great.

"That was great," Fu Xin said. "Thank you, Lin Tian." Lin Tian didn't look happy at all when Fu Xin said that. Whereas when Xue Lanfen did the same, Lin Tian was merry and charming. However, Xue Lanfen looked uncomfortable with Lin Tian's intensity. Lin Tian, however, didn't notice Xue Lanfen's reaction.

"Classmate Xue, I have something regarding class representative work; I was wondering if we could talk alone about it," Fu Xin said.

Lin Tian immediately interjected. "Does it have to be now? The break is about to end. You can do it later. It's not like that it matters."

Fu Xin hadn't thought the conversation would take this turn. He was planning to separate Lin Tian and Xue Lanfen and then capitalize on her discomfort to gain her favor and attempt to establish a mental relationship between discomfort and Lin Tian. But he hadn't expected Lin Tian to throw in the last statement as he had done.

Xue Lanfen frowned. "What do you mean, Lin Tian? What does not matter?"

"The so-called class representative work," said Lin Tian. "It serves no purpose in college entrance examinations; instead, it wastes your time and decreases your chance to get into a good college. What it truly is unpaid labor that the teacher uses when they don't want to do the work on their own. Worthless."

'Wow, he went hard,' Fu Xin thought in surprise. Though now it was his turn to swoop in and confront Lin Tian about his words. But, he didn't get the chance as Xue Lanfen spoke up first.

She turned to Fu Xin and said, "Lin Tian is right; the break is about to end. We shouldn't talk now,” so she said, but then dropped an unexpected bomb. “Let's talk after school, we will go to the library together." Xue Lanfen got up and walked back to her chair without sparing a look at the bewildered Lin Tian.

Fu Xin followed Xue Lanfen with his eyes before looking at the stunned Lin Tian, who was still sitting in the chair looking at Xue Lanfen. "Lin Tian, return to your seat. The break is about to end, and I would like to revise the material before the lesson starts. Also, my neighbor wants her chair back, so get up now."

Lin Tian looked behind and saw the owner of the chair he was borrowing, standing beside him, frowning. He glared at Lin Tian and asked, "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I know you like Xue Lanfen. But know that you're not going to get her. She's mine."

Fu Xin raised his hands. "I have no idea where that's coming from. Also, Xue Lanfen is no one's but her own. Respect her a little bit, will you? Now, go away, shoo-shoo."

"You!" Lin Tian turned red in fury.

"Lin Tian, get the hell out of my seat!" Fu Xin's neighbor, who had been waiting for her chair to be vacated, kicked the leg of the chair. "Do it now, or don't blame me when I register a complaint with Teacher Hao!"

Lin Tian grabbed Fu Xin's desk to stop himself from falling out of the chair because of the well-placed kick. He immediately jumped up from the chair and scowled at the neighbor who was already pulling her chair back to her desk as though if she didn't hurry, Lin Tian would again sit down. When Lin Tian turned to look at Fu Xin, he had already taken out his study material and was flipping through it. In the end, Lin Tian stomped his way to the back of the classroom to his desk and laid down with his head between his arms.

Looking at Xue Lanfen sitting in front of him, Fu Xin went through his actions of the day and contemplated if she should've done something differently to not be in the library studying with Xue Lanfen. The 'heroine' sitting together with the 'villain' was an unnatural situation that wasn't supposed to happen if not strictly necessary, such as two class representatives working together on some task— but today, it was Xue Lanfen who had set up this meeting, even though it was him that prompted it in the first place.

'But I wasn't planning anything like this,' Fu Xin thought. All he wanted was to one-up Lin Tian whenever he tried to quarrel with him. 'This can't hurt, I suppose.'

The wording of the mission from the system was to stop the protagonist from growing and gaining hegemony. However, the problem that pricked Fu Xin at night was that he didn't know exactly what he needed to do to complete said mission.

The goals weren't SMART. They weren't 'Specific' enough— what did growth and hegemony mean here? How was he going to 'Measure' his progress because the system didn't provide him any status bar— in fact, it didn't give him zilch. He didn't know if the goal was 'Attainable'— was he even capable of stopping Lin Tian; even if Fu Xin thought he was capable, there was nothing tangible backing up his claim, except for maybe the system which hadn't been seen again after the first and only appearance. The goal wasn't 'Relevant'... well, it was relevant— if he didn't attain them, he was going to die, and Fu Xin didn't want to die; yet again, the specifics of his death were vague at best. And finally, they were 'Time-bound'— until when did he have to keep an eye on Lin Tian, was Fu Xin expected to interfere throughout his life?

'I'm in desperate need of more information,' Fu Xin thought.

"How do you pronounce this?" Xue Lanfen, sitting opposite him across the library table, pointed to an English word in the foreign language book.

Fu Xin leaned forward to look at the word next to her finger. "Ah, leisure... that's an interesting word. It can be pronounced two ways— Leh-szuhr and Lee-szuhr. I say it as Lee-szuhr." He guessed that hanging out with the heroine after school hours could be perceived as some sort of actionable progress.

Xue Lanfen repeated the word after Fu Xin. She made a mistake, and Fu Xin repeated the word. Both ended up speaking the word half a dozen times before Xue Lanfen reached an acceptable level.

"Your accent sounds like one of the actors in the English movies," Xue Lanfen said. "How did you get so good at English?"

"I was taught to speak it with that accent. My parents hired an English tutor for us when we were young, and I guess we ended up copying her accent," Fu Xin said; however, most of it was false. The original's parents did hire an English tutor, but she was from the country, so the mother tongue heavily influenced her accent, which was what the original had learned. But the current Fu Xin, who spoke English daily in his past life, was naturally more comfortable with his way of speech than the original's. "There are plenty of foreigners who come into the country as English teachers; you can hire one of them part-time if you want someone to practice with."

He then shrugged and spoke in English, "We both can exclusively speak in English to each other. That'll be great practice if we both make an effort." In truth, he just wanted someone to speak to him in English.

"Let's do that!" Xue Lanfen said.

Fu Xin was taken aback by the enthusiasm. He said, "Are you sure? I mean, I offered without thinking, but if you're serious about it, sure, let's do it." Fu Xin was all in for it. He genuinely thought he was getting more out of this than she was. "Let's do it. From now on, only English between us. I won't reply back to you if you don't speak to me in English; you do the same to me."

"We will get a lot of strange looks when we talk."

"Who cares. And, after a while, they will get used to it."

"Thank you for today," Xue Lanfen said.

Fu Xin was about to not reply, but when he noticed her tone, he understood she was talking about the situation in the break. "I just helped you with an answer that's not worth mentioning," Fu Xin said as he read through the prose in his textbook.

"I wasn't talking about that. I meant about Lin Tian."

Fu Xin looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"He made me uncomfortable, and you noticed it. That's why you made up the class representative excuse," Xue Lanfen said. "Don't try to deny it."

Fu Xin shrugged with a smile. "I wasn't confrontational in the classroom because I wasn't sure how you prefer to deal with it," there were people who disliked confrontations and were comfortable using other means, "but if you think he's crossing a line, confront him strongly. Of course, I'm always there if you need some help." Any man hearing harsh words from his crush would receive great damage, and Fu Xin hoped Lin Tian would be no different. And if the villain was there along with the heroine confronting the hero, it would definitely go towards the mission.

'But, I'm surprised he isn't here....' Fu Xin surveyed the library and couldn't see Lin Tian's shadow anywhere, which was strange when Lin Tian knew they were coming to the library after school. Fu Xin couldn't imagine Lin Tian watching them from hiding. Lin Tian had barged between their conversation during the break; the library was no different.

"Fu Xin?"

Hearing Xue Lanfen, Fu Xin dumped his thoughts about Lin Tian's absence on the back burner and smiled as he opened his mouth to happily converse with the heroine in English.