Living Only For Myself: Make Those Who Hate Me Regret It-Chapter 101: She Thinks She Can

As expected, the class assignment list showed Huang Feng in Class 1. Xu Su and Qian Jia had both chosen the science track, so they didn’t need to move classrooms and remained in their old Rocket Class.

After saying their goodbyes at the end of the hall, Xu Su and Qian Jia headed into the classroom together.

The room was already bustling with activity. Xi Zirong had arranged for a few boys to carry the textbooks into the classroom, and the students were in the process of collecting their copies.

When he saw them walk in, Xi Zirong’s gaze lingered on Xu Su for a few seconds before he spoke. "I already put your books on your desk. You just need to come sign for them."

Many of the new students in the Rocket Class had never witnessed such blatant favoritism and were, for a moment, rather shocked.

They were just about to start teasing, but a single glance from Xi Zirong silenced them all.

Xu Su: "..."

’This guy’s authority as class monitor is pretty impressive.’

Xu Su walked up to the teacher’s desk, picked up a pen, and signed her name on the roster.

Qian Jia, who had already collected her books, came over to sign as well.

Huang Feng had been moved to Class 1, leaving her old seat empty. Since Teacher Wu hadn’t reassigned seats yet, Qian Jia plopped right down in Huang Feng’s spot without a second thought.

She grinned and said, "I’ve been wanting to be your deskmate forever! I hope Old Wu puts us together when he rearranges the seating."

Shortly after Xu Su sat down, the classroom was packed. Every seat was taken, and some students who didn’t even have desks had to haul new ones in from who-knows-where.

The Rocket Class, which originally had fifty-eight students, now had sixty-five after the new assignments.

A lot of familiar faces were gone, replaced by even more unfamiliar ones.

Teacher Wu finally sauntered in just as the bell for second period was ringing.

The first order of business was assigning seats. Teacher Wu was very familiar with the class roster; most of the new students were ones he had taught in other classes, so he knew them inside and out.

Contrary to Qian Jia’s hopes, Xu Su’s seat was moved. The two of them still weren’t deskmates, but their new seats were very close to each other.

After the seating was settled, the new semester schedules were handed out. "Everyone, hold onto your schedules," Teacher Wu announced. "The new semester has begun. You’re all sophomores now, and the college entrance exams are right around the corner. It’s time to put aside all the fun you had over the summer break and focus completely on your studies."

"Every single student in this class is here with my personal approval. You may not have the best grades in your year, but your test scores are consistently stable, and you have good attitudes toward your studies. Maintain that, and strive to get into the schools of your choice."

This kind of routine lecture happened at the start of every school year. Xu Su was used to it by now.

Teacher Wu probably didn’t enjoy giving the speech either. After a few brief remarks, he officially began the lesson.

Last semester, many students with lopsided grades—those who considered themselves exceptionally good in one particular subject—were already planning to use competition results to earn bonus points on the college entrance exam, or even get recruited directly by a university.

Back then, however, the main topic of conversation was still the division into arts and science tracks.

During the first week of their sophomore year, talk of the major science competitions began to spread.

Xu Su was once again called into Teacher Wu’s office. He got straight to the point.

Teacher Wu said, "I signed you up for the math competition. Get ready for the preliminary round in September."

!!!

Xu Su’s eyes went wide as saucers. "A competition?"

’She had absolutely no idea about this beforehand.’

Teacher Wu smiled reassuringly. "It’s not just you. There are eleven students from our class participating, including you. Xu Su, you’re my math representative, and your grades are steady and always improving. What’s to be afraid of? I chose you because I believe you have the skill to give it a shot."

"..." What else could Xu Su say? She left the teacher’s office, crestfallen.

Back in the classroom, Qian Jia leaned over. "What did Old Wu want with you?"

Xu Su said, frustrated, "He told me he signed me up for the math competition. The preliminary round is in September, and I’m completely unprepared!"

When she remembered the teacher saying ten other students from their class were also participating, Xu Su’s eyes lit up.

’She quickly glanced toward Xi Zirong’s seat. He’s the class monitor, isn’t he? He must be more in the loop than I am.’

Xi Zirong’s desk was very close to Xu Su’s. He was surrounded by several boys, all of whom had excellent math grades.

They must have been the other students Teacher Wu selected for the competition. Several of them looked thrilled as they crowded around Xi Zirong, talking animatedly.

It seemed that being personally chosen by Teacher Wu was a huge confidence boost for them.

In stark contrast, the news had struck Xu Su like a bolt from the blue.

"..." Influenced by the atmosphere over there, Xu Su started to wonder if she was just being insecure.

’Just like Teacher Wu said, my grades really are improving. I placed in the top three of our year on both final exams, and last semester I was even number two.’

’I’m the math representative and one of Teacher Wu’s star pupils. What’s the big deal about entering a math competition?’

As she thought about it, Xu Su’s confidence began to swell.

’I can do this!’

It wasn’t long after Xu Su glanced toward Xi Zirong that he met her gaze. Their seats were closer now, not on opposite sides of the classroom like last semester.

Xi Zirong walked over, his expression gentle. He leaned down and asked, "What’s wrong?"

His voice had that clean, clear quality unique to teenage boys.

’He’s the class monitor, so he should have the list of everyone participating, right?’

With that in mind, Xu Su asked, "Teacher Wu just told me he signed me up for the math competition and that the preliminary round is in September. He also said ten other students from our class are going. Do you know who they are?"

Xi Zirong smiled. "I do. You’ll meet all of them tonight. Teacher Wu said that for the time being, the students in the competition can skip evening self-study. We’ll all be going to a separate classroom to prepare."

He leaned in a little closer. "Xu Su, want to try being my deskmate?"

Xu Su: "..."

’So, after all that, was I the last one to find out?’

’And Teacher Wu... he told me last and didn’t even mention that we’d be using the evening self-study time to prepare.’

She pressed her lips together, clearly unhappy, and didn’t say a word.

By now, Xi Zirong understood Xu Su quite well. Seeing her expression, he quickly added, "Teacher Wu only just told me, too. I was about to go notify everyone else who’s participating. Xu Su, you’re not the last one to know."

Xu Su glanced up at him. He seemed to have gotten even taller over the summer. She pursed her lips. "Fine, I get it. You can go back to your seat."

That evening, before self-study began, Teacher Wu came to the classroom to gather the students.

Besides Xi Zirong, Fu Jun, Qiu Kai, and Wan Youping, the other six students from the Rocket Class participating in the math competition were all new faces to Xu Su, transferred in from other classes during the reshuffle.

Teacher Wu called them out of the room and led them to an empty classroom. There were only about thirty desks inside, and a dozen or so students were already seated.

They were presumably the participants from the other sophomore classes.