Extra Chapter
9: High School
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Lin Nan and Chen Yao had similar grades, with just a few points separating them in the entrance exam, which happily landed them in the same high school.
Though Lin Nan’s athletic skills were a bit lacking, he managed to pass the P.E. test. He looked weak and scrawny, but his physical fitness was still on par with your average teenage boy.
Their high school class teacher was a bald, somewhat greasy middle-aged man. He was the kind of teacher who was both funny and charismatic during class, but could also easily mingle with students outside of class.
After the first afternoon class, Lin Nan, now towering at a majestic height of 165 cm, still sat in the front row.
The atmosphere of high school was clearly better than that of middle school. Unlike the problem kids from middle school, the high school students appeared to be at least a tad more mature. Even Chen Yao had ditched his rowdy friends and stopped running off to fight with others.
So, while Lin Nan felt a little lost in this new environment, he was actually getting along with his high school classmates quite well.
Next to him was a short, chubby kid. He never bothered to ask the little fatty’s name, but he did remember it for class discussions: Zhu Yong Wen.
Zhu was pretty adorable, with a round face and a chubby physique. While many kids with extra weight might get riled up being called names like “fatso” or “pig,” Zhu Yong Wen just took it all in stride with a cheerful grin.
“Move aside, fatty.” Just a moment after class ended, Chen Yao approached Lin Nan’s desk, giving Zhu Yong Wen a friendly shoulder pat, signaling him to get lost.
Zhu Yong Wen dutifully complied and shuffled out of the way. Chen Yao plopped himself down, throwing an arm around Lin Nan’s shoulders, leaning in with excitement, “Wanna go online?”
“Uh?” Lin Nan, still buried in homework, looked up in confusion. “But there are still two classes until we’re done.”
“Done? What the heck! We finish at six and then have study hall at six-thirty. By the time we’re done, we won’t even have had a chance to play!” Chen Yao muttered, clearly having a bit of an addiction to gaming. “What kind of school has evening study for first-years?”
“But…”
“No buts! We’re just two games away from the Diamond ranking!” Chen Yao urged, shaking Lin Nan’s shoulders. “Come on! I heard there’s a place where you can jump over the wall with ease!”
Dragged from his seat, Lin Nan usually not one to argue against Chen Yao’s whims, found himself at a loss for words and weakly murmured, “What if your parents find out…”
“Eh, what’s the worst that can happen? A good smack?” Chen Yao shrugged nonchalantly.
After years of being smacked around, he’d developed quite the thick skin. Plus, his parents were getting old, and their smacking prowess was declining by the year.
Arriving at a corner of the school with a tall wall, Lin Nan looked up and saw it was about two meters high.
What stood out compared to other places was a massive rock that served as a stepping stone, perhaps left there by some notorious truant.
“You go up first, I’ll pull you up.”
“Alright…”
Lin Nan hopped on the stone, reached for the top of the wall, but he was still a bit too short. Feeling a bit anxious, he jumped a little and barely managed to grip the edge.
His arms trembled as he realized his situation, and before he knew it, he felt a pair of big hands grab hold of his b*tt and thighs, lifting him.
“Hang on tight! Don’t fall!” Chen Yao shouted from below. “Put in some effort! How do you eat so much and still be this weak?”
“I’m not even a hundred pounds, okay?” Lin Nan shot back, feeling provoked. He mustered up his strength and managed to hook his forearms over the wall, barely pulling himself up.
Once on the top of the wall, he turned back and teased, “If you think I’m heavy, forget about ever lifting your girlfriend!”
“Shut it! If you were a girl, I could carry you a whole kilometer!”
Seeing Lin Nan perched on the wall, Chen Yao jumped up effortlessly and landed beside him. The two meters was no challenge for him; he glanced down, then leaped off, stumbling a little before regaining his balance.
But when he turned back, he saw Lin Nan’s face going pale.
“What’s wrong? Jump!”
“It’s kind of high…” Lin Nan had a fear of heights, and the initial excitement of climbing the wall quickly turned into dread as he realized the altitude.
“Jump! Otherwise, the security will catch us!” Chen Yao pleaded, looking at Lin Nan, who was still hesitating. Finally, he stepped to the bottom of the wall, turned his back, and raised his hands, “Why don’t you step on my hands to come down?”
This was starting to look like a circus act!
Lin Nan felt even more nervous.
“Don’t worry, you won’t fall!” Chen Yao impatiently urged.
“Okay…”
Trusting Chen Yao, Lin Nan carefully shuffled his b*tt to the edge of the wall and let his legs dangle down. He gently placed his left foot on Chen Yao’s palm and warned, “I’m coming down!”
“Quickly!”
Carefully, he reached down with his right foot, but just as his shoe touched Chen Yao’s hand, a shout came from within the school.
“Lin Nan, what are you doing?!”
“What the heck?! Old Class?” Chen Yao jumped, startled.
Lin Nan, even more panicked, lost his balance and fell straight down. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for pain, but instead felt himself caught in a warm embrace.
“Run! Run! The Old Class is coming!” Chen Yao quickly set Lin Nan down and dashed off.
Lin Nan was still dazed, looking back at the wall just in time to see their teacher’s head pop over the top.
cr*p!
Suddenly alert, he jumped up and sprinted, “Chen Yao, wait for me! If I get caught, you’re going to be in big trouble!”
“Are you trying to sell me out?!”
“Of course! The teacher clearly saw you!”
They bolted like the wind and, after a few minutes of heavy breathing, collapsed at a nearby bus stop.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Chen Yao grumbled, “What the heck, is the teacher that bored? Isn’t his next class ours? What’s he doing out here?”
“Wait? His next class is our teacher’s?”
Lin Nan was even more confused now.
Not only was it their class teacher, but also the head of the school’s administration. If they got caught skipping class, it wouldn’t be just a phone call to the parents.
He was starting to feel incredibly guilty.
“Don’t worry! We’ll deal with the Diamond rankings before thinking about tomorrow!” Chen Yao waved it off, “It’s been a month since high school! I haven’t even touched my computer! This school must be cursed!”
Evening study sessions usually went until nine, and by then, Chen Yao’s parents’ restaurant would have closed. If he didn’t head home, his only culinary adventure awaited at the dinner table—stir-fried bamboo shoots and pork.
As for Lin Nan, any thoughts of hitting the internet cafe late at night weren’t appealing. The safest time at cafes in the county was during the afternoon when they were filled with students. Late at night, however, bizarre figures started to show up.
Last time, Lin Nan had ventured online alone in the evening and got swindled out of fifty bucks by some guy who hadn’t left the cafe in half a month.
So scary.
Comfortably settled in a booth at the internet cafe with Chen Yao, Lin Nan opened the game, gearing up for their ranked matches.
However, the first time skipping class to game filled him with anxiety. He kept imagining his teacher going on a rampage the next day.
Naturally, they lost the first ranked match.
“Lin Nan, you’re playing like total trash!” Chen Yao frowned.
Being young, he still cared about winning or losing, but seeing Lin Nan’s worried expression made him suppress his own rising temper.
“Don’t worry! The last two classes are with the teacher; he’ll have no time to bother us!”
“Since we’re already skipping, just play freely!”
“Fine…” Lin Nan mumbled, still uneasy.
But just then, they both heard hurried footsteps, and the next thing they knew, the booth door swung open. They looked up to find their teacher fuming at them from the entrance.
“???”
They were both utterly confused. Their teacher grabbed Chen Yao by the ear and Lin Nan’s arm, pulling them both out, “Get back to class!”
“Wait! Old Class, don’t you have a class this afternoon?” Chen Yao yelped, “Don’t pull my ear!”
“Lin Nan, don’t hang out with Chen Yao from now on!”
Without hesitation, Lin Nan pointed fingers, “It was all Chen Yao’s idea to skip class and come online!”
Their teacher marched them out of the booth, “Get back to class! Write a 600-word reflection for tomorrow! Otherwise, I’ll call your parents!”
Chen Yao slumped, regretting ever skipping class and picking a cafe right by the school.
Not only had they lost their ranked match, but now he had to write a reflection as well.
Next time, they’d pick a farther internet cafe!
