Chapter 110: Autumn and Summer Solve Problems Together at the Blackboard

As soon as the words fell, everyone’s brows furrowed with worry.

Normally, goofing around in public wasn’t a big deal—after all, in those moments, you’d be caught up in the excitement, and not everyone was always watching.

But this time, it was a formal speech, in front of the teacher and classmates—how embarrassing!

Lu Yuanqiu, however, didn’t mind. A speech was a speech; he’d done it before his rebirth. He’d spoken in front of not just fifty people, but hundreds.

Liu Wei raised her hand, pointing at Gao Qiang. “Qiangzi, you’re up first tomorrow. From now on, no more following the seating order—totally random.”

The bell rang immediately after, and Gao Qiang let out a long howl, a wail of despair.

Lu Yuanqiu turned to look beside him and saw Bai Qingxia clutching a pen tightly with both hands against her chest.

Whenever she was nervous, anxious, or shy, she had many small fidgety habits, like grasping a pen with both hands.

Her hands were so small... she couldn’t even fully hold a single pen with both hands.

“Nervous?” Lu Yuanqiu asked.

Bai Qingxia lowered her head, remaining silent.

For someone with social anxiety, stepping onto a stage to speak was nothing short of an epic disaster.

Especially for Bai Qingxia, who was like a fighter jet among those with social phobia.

Lu Yuanqiu said, “Actually, I quite agree with the teacher’s approach. It has its benefits.”

“I know, but I just can’t speak…” Bai Qingxia still kept her head down.

“Why can’t you speak? Your little mouth is so pretty; shouldn’t you be talking more?” he teased.

Then Lu Yuanqiu reached over and pinched her cheek. Her small lips puckered and then relaxed again. The girl seemed too worried about the speech to swat his hand away, letting him pinch her.

At that moment, Lu Yuanqiu glanced at her school uniform and suddenly recalled something from that morning.

During the morning reading session, he accidentally touched Bai Qingxia’s uniform jacket and noticed it was damp.

He hadn’t said anything then, but he guessed she must have washed her uniform yesterday.

It was already autumn, and the weather had turned cool. Bai Qingxia didn’t have many clothes, but because she was so clean, she always washed them on time—even if she had to wear them damp.

Lu Yuanqiu withdrew his hand and said, “I’m going to the mall this weekend to buy clothes. You should come with me and get a few too. You’ve got money now, why be so thrifty?”

The girl shook her head.

“No shaking your head!” Lu Yuanqiu glared at her, scolding loudly.

His voice attracted the attention of the front row, but Lu Yuanqiu waved them off. “Just disciplining her. Kids, don’t watch.”

Once the front row turned back, Bai Qingxia glanced up at him, a shy, annoyed expression on her face, then looked away again.

“It's settled then. If I don’t see you there, you’re expelled!” Lu Yuanqiu declared, flicking her pink hairpin.

Bai Qingxia’s chest rose and fell, her expression a mix of complaint and resignation.

The class bell rang.

Zheng Yifeng, who had yet to fully wake during the break, dropped his head onto the desk again.

It was math class.

The math teacher, Ren Qingtian, was a middle-aged man with thick glasses for severe nearsightedness. He always wore a dark striped short-sleeve shirt, tucked neatly into pants held by a black belt.

He had a peculiar trait: a persistent smell of smoke clung to him. When he entered the classroom, white smoke often drifted from his mouth and nostrils.

Sure enough, Ren Qingtian came in, exhaling smoke as usual.

He waved his hand in front of his face to disperse the smoke, placed his textbook on the podium, said nothing, and turned to face the blackboard with one hand on his hip as he began writing problems.

The students’ expressions shifted immediately. Problems right in their faces—damn, this was going to be rough!

Everyone lowered their heads silently, focusing on their desks. Bai Qingxia was no exception; the whole class moved in unison.

Lu Yuanqiu instinctively followed suit, unable to shake the fear of being called to the board to solve problems.

After writing four problems, Ren Qingtian frowned, tossed the chalk on the podium, and said solemnly:

“I reviewed your monthly test papers and found that this class still struggles with trigonometric functions. I’ve written four problems; who wants to come up and solve them?”

The entire class kept their heads down, as if collectively mourning.

“Anyone volunteer?”

Not a chance.

“Then I’ll call names directly,” Ren Qingtian warned.

The tension rose.

Suddenly, he noticed a boy in the back row slowly lift his head. Zheng Yifeng met his gaze.

With that glance, Ren Qingtian smiled and pointed at him. “Come on, you in the back row, you’re first.”

Zheng Yifeng stood up bewildered and walked forward.

Ren Qingtian then moved aside the blackboard eraser on the podium, revealing a long-forgotten seating chart taped there. Scanning the list, he continued:

“Number two, Bai Qingxia.”

“Number three, Lu Yuanqiu. Hey, interesting names—you’re autumn and you’re summer.”

Despite having taught this class for a year, Ren Qingtian still hadn’t memorized all the students.

“Ah?” Lu Yuanqiu looked up.

Bai Qingxia clenched her small fists nervously, stood up, and walked toward the podium. Lu Yuanqiu scratched his head and followed.

Ren Qingtian said, “Number four, Zhou Hui.”

He then took his water cup, sipped near the door, and discreetly spat out tea leaves into the cup.

Standing before his problem, Lu Yuanqiu’s mind went blank.

What kind of terrible problem was this?

Well, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t solve it.

Ren Qingtian’s voice came from behind: “If you can’t solve it, you have to stand for the entire class.”

Lu Yuanqiu was speechless.

Whatever. Zheng Yifeng definitely couldn’t solve it, so they’d suffer together.

He chuckled to himself, but when he turned his head, his smile froze. Zheng Yifeng was intently writing out the solution.

Wait, seriously? You’re good at this!

Bai Qingxia didn’t work on her own problem but kept glancing at Lu Yuanqiu’s. After a moment, she lightly tapped the blackboard three times with her chalk.

Lu Yuanqiu looked over and saw Bai Qingxia beginning to write out the solution process—for his problem!

Huh? Quick, quick! Lu Yuanqiu felt like he’d found a savior. She wrote one line, he copied one line.

Next to them, Zheng Yifeng finished first, threw down his chalk, and slumped down.

Finally, Bai Qingxia completed writing out the solution and quickly raised her hand to erase it.

Hey, you... use the eraser! Lu Yuanqiu thought—but then realized that Bai Qingxia, with her social anxiety, probably didn’t even have the courage to turn around and grab the eraser.

After erasing, she quickly returned to her own problem. Lu Yuanqiu loyally waited beside her.

Bai Qingxia moved swiftly, and within seconds, she began writing the solution for her own problem.

Together, they stepped down from the podium, while Zhou Hui stayed behind finishing the fourth problem.

Lu Yuanqiu swaggered behind Bai Qingxia, wearing a “so easy” expression.

(The end of this chapter)