On the next day, Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao keenly noticed that Zhou Ji didn’t come over as soon as the after class bell rang.
This was quite strange.
They were already used to going to the cafeteria together as a group of four. If they were lucky, they could even join Jiang Yumo and her friends to share a table for breakfast. What’s happening today? One minute, two minutes, three minutes have passed, and Zhou Ji still hasn’t come. Did he want to play it cool and make them come over to invite him?
Duan Ye could guess the reason for Zhou Ji’s quietness and disdainfully shook his head.
Zhao Zheng had a good relationship with Zhou Ji, so he walked over in a carefree manner, leaned over, and put his hand on the back of the chair, “Did you eat this morning? Why didn’t you say so earlier, keeping us waiting.”
Zhou Ji sighed.
“I didn’t eat.”
Zhao Zheng said, “If you’re not going to the cafeteria, we’ll leave first. If we go later, there won’t be any seats left.”
“I’m going!” Zhou Ji suddenly stood up.
You can avoid it for a moment, but not for a lifetime. Besides, he wasn’t the type of person who couldn’t accept losing.
“It’s getting colder now.” Guo Shichao yawned, “I’ve never felt studying was so tough before. It’s only this last semester of high school that really got to me.”
The four boys were now quite close.
Even Zhao Zheng, who had the most unremarkable appearance, was tall and sturdy. As they walked through the corridor, their group attracted a lot of attention.
Zhao Zheng felt very proud of this and turned to Duan Ye and Zhou Ji, saying, “Brother Duan, Zhou Ji, Xiao Guozi, what do you think? The four of us, are we the F4 of Fifth High School?”
Guo Shichao responded, “Who do you think you are?”
Duan Ye seemed as if he hadn’t fully woken up, apparently not paying much attention to their conversation.
Zhou Ji remained silent, not saying anything.
Not able to tolerate Zhao Zheng’s overly romantic behavior more than himself, Zhou Ji spoke up to gain some presence, “Whether you’re cool or not, we’re still the F4 of Fifth High School.”
Zhao Zheng said, “Alright, F3. You’re expelled.”
Zhou Ji raised an eyebrow, “Thank you for not giving me the chance to be associated with an idiot.”
Zhao Zheng replied, “I… damn it.”
Guo Shichao sneered, “Boring, so boring. Just go ahead and expel me too. You and Brother Duan can be F2.”
“Damn it,” Zhao Zheng clicked his tongue, “Are you forcing me to expel myself? How could I dare to compare myself to Brother Duan as F2? Fine, I quit too. Brother Duan is F1.”
Finally, Duan Ye spoke, but he wasn’t talking to Zhao Zheng. Instead, he said to Zhou Ji, “Shall we start today?”
Zhou Ji was speechless, completely speechless.
He gritted his teeth and bargained with Duan Ye, “I accept my defeat, just one condition. Let’s discuss it, leave me some face. In front of the girls, I mean, in front of Ning Zhiyu, give me some face.”
“…”
In the end, Duan Ye naturally agreed.
But when Zhou Ji shouted, “Brother Duan,” both Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao were stunned.
“Damn, did you guys have a fight?” Zhao Zheng was very interested in this matter and followed Zhou Ji, asking continuously, “It must be like that. You lost, so you called him brother Duan, and now you’re convinced, right?”
Zhou Ji wanted to curse, ‘You f*ck*r,’ but just as the words were about to come out, he noticed Ning Zhiyu and decisively held back, “I’m your father.”
Zhao Zheng shouted and rushed up to wrestle with Zhou Ji.
Such scenes happened every day, and students playfully fought everywhere, including both girls and boys.
After the break between classes, several people heard Zhou Ji calling Duan Ye ‘Brother Duan.’ Although he did it reluctantly, he did call the word after all. The news spread rapidly. Surprisingly, someone revived a long-silent post on the school’s online forum:
[Big or small bet! Who will be the boss of Fifth High School, Duan Ye or Zhou Ji??]
—[Today! Finally, we have an answer to this question. I announce that since Zhou Ji called Duan Ye ‘Brother Duan,’ the boss of Fifth High School remains Duan Ye!]
—[Of course, I knew it. Brother Duan is much stronger than Zhou Ji at first sight.]
—[Wait a minute, when did they have a fight?? Why haven’t I heard about it? And aren’t they all friends now?]
—[Even if they are friends, it doesn’t mean they can’t fight. But Brother Duan is indeed amazing! Fifth High is still my Brother Duan’s territory! (Shouting with all my might)]
Zhao Zheng deliberately “accidentally” shared the link to this post to Zhou Ji.
Zhou Ji who clicked on it : “??”
At this moment, he couldn’t help but feel fortunate that Ning Zhuyu didn’t have a phone and wasn’t interested in the school’s online forum. Otherwise, Zhou Ji wouldn’t let it go with something as simple as just a few question marks.
Before evening self-study, the eight of them sat together at a table to have dinner again.
Zhou Ji noticed that no matter how much food he bought, he couldn’t stop Zhao Zheng’s big mouth. Sure enough, Zhao Zheng proudly said, “Have you guys seen the online forum? It seems that the teachers haven’t given us enough homework, they must be so free to bring up an old post like that.”
Zhou Ji forcefully snatched his bought milk tea and coldly replied, “They are not as free as you are. You are the one with the most free time.”
Jiang Yumo also didn’t look at the online forum.
Not all that many days left until the final exams. She promised her homeroom teacher that she would stabilize her grades, so recently she has been using her phone less and less at school, completely withdrawing from gossip.
“What, what?” Jiang Yumo became interested and quickly asked for more details.
Yan Qing is addicted to her phone, and no matter what fresh gossip Zhao Zheng learns, he always tells her first. So Yan Qing knows more than the average gossip enthusiasts. “It’s nothing much. Previously, everyone was guessing who the boss at Fifth High is. Some said it’s Brother Duan, others said it’s… Zhou Ji. Anyway, it’s been quite some time, and now someone has replied to the post with the answer.”
This is how Zhao Zheng and Yan Qing perfectly coordinate with each other.
If it were Zhao Zheng alone, Zhou Ji would never be polite to him and would find ways to shut him up. But now, it’s Yan Qing speaking, and Zhou Ji can’t do anything. He’s like being paralyzed and unable to move.
Ning Zhiyu seems uninterested in this kind of thing and continues to concentrate on eating her soup.
Zhou Ji breathed a sigh of relief but couldn’t help opening his mouth when Jiang Yumo kept asking how they got the answer, “I have a team of lawyers at home.”
Everyone looked at him, even Ning Zhiyu raised her head.
“Anyone spreading rumors, just wait for my lawyer’s letter.” Zhou Ji smiled slightly and handed Ning Zhiyu a tissue. “Also, I’m a man of culture, and so is Brother Duan. We’re not resorting to violence; that’s something I want to emphasize. It’s not a brawl, not a brawl.”
“Huh?” Jiang Yumo asked humbly, “If it’s not a brawl, then what is it?”
After she asked, she looked towards Duan Ye, who was sitting opposite.
Duan Ye had a faint smile on his face. When he noticed her gaze, he shook his head and then pulled the disposable bowl in front of her, helping her pick out the chopped green onions.
Zhou Ji cleared his throat lightly, “Battle of wits.”
Ning Zhiyu replied, “Hmm?”
Yan Qing almost burst out laughing, “What? Battle of wits, you and Brother Duan had a battle of wits?”
Two students with the worst grades, two people who never study, having a battle of wits?
Even saying it out loud makes people want to laugh.
Zhou Ji showed a hint of displeasure, “What’s the matter? Are you saying something about me, or that Lao Duan doesn’t look like an educated person?”
“No, no, no,” Yan Qing forcefully held back her laughter, “Alright, how did you two have a battle of wits?”
Jiang Yumo was also very curious.
Battle of wits?
Battle of wits!!
Zhou Ji cleared his throat again, “Well, it’s about our monthly exam scores. Lao Duan’s ranking was higher than mine, so naturally, he won the battle of wits.”
Jiang Yumo: “…”
She had seen the ranking list of this month’s exam, too.
These two people are really suitable to be friends. One is ranked forty-fifth, and the other is ranked forty-eighth.
Ning Zhiyu couldn’t help but laugh.
Zhou Ji felt relieved when he saw her smile. “I was actually worrying about something. Let me announce it to you both. From now on, Lao Duan and I will have a monthly competition in exam scores. Whoever ranks higher will be the leader. What do you think? Isn’t this method civilized and very much like model students?”
Jiang Yumo curiously asked Duan Ye, “Really?”
She couldn’t imagine Duan Ye doing such a boring thing.
Zhou Ji looked at Duan Ye and said, “Lao Duan, did we agree on this?”
Duan Ye : “…”
To be honest, if he had known Zhou Ji would come up with this battle of wits idea, he wouldn’t have mentioned what happened yesterday. But now, it’s not easy to reject Zhou Ji’s proposal.
Of course, the most important thing is that Jiang Yumo across the table seems very interested in this matter and finds it quite amusing.
After a few seconds of silence, he stiffly nodded, “Okay, let’s do it.”
Zhou Ji thought to himself, “Lao Duan is indeed Lao Duan.“
He said again with a ‘troublesome’ tone, “Actually, you know, I and Lao Duan really want to engage in a friendly contest, to change the bad atmosphere at Fifth High School. It’s outdated to rely on fighting to determine the boss; there’s no meaning in that. Evaluating the boss based on exam results would be more meaningful. How about it, ‘someone’?”
Jiang Yumo snorted lightly.
She didn’t want to deal with Zhou Ji.
Every time, he either called her ‘Big Sister’ or ‘someone.’
What kind of cheesy romance novel male lead was he!
“Do you want Lao Duan to call me Brother Zhou next month? That would be cheap, right…” Zhou Ji leaned closer to her, having a discussion, “What about you? Make sure you encourage Lao Duan to study well, at least secure the position of the boss, right?”
Jiang Yumo : “Your grades are terrible, and he doesn’t need to study to outperform you.”
Zhou Ji : “?”
“That’s not necessarily true.” Zhou Ji glanced secretly at Ning Zhiyu, “I have a tutor who will give me extra classes, and my tutor’s level is much better than yours.”
Originally, he was just talking big, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a particularly good idea—a golden opportunity that would be missed if he didn’t seize it. “So, if I perform better than Lao Duan in the final exam, I’ll treat all of you to dinner and a movie. Oh, right, I’ll give each of you a red envelope, choose an auspicious amount, two hundred and fifty each.”
Two hundred and fifty… Who was he mocking?
But if those two hundred and fifty turned into red envelopes, turned into money…
Even Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao fell silent among those present.
Jiang Yumo : “You’re such a dimwit! Who wants your filthy money!”
Zhou Ji raised an eyebrow, “Two hundred fifty not enough? Then five hundred each.”
Jiang Yumo : “…The money does seem quite tempting…”
No, wait!! Let Duan Ye call Zhou Ji ‘Brother Zhou,’ five hundred bucks won’t do!
Yan Qing coughed, “Ahem, good! It’s settled then!”
Zhao Zheng, afraid Zhou Ji might change his mind, said, “That’s great, I support this battle of wits! Physical fights are indeed outdated!”
It’s not about the money; the main point is that they are all students, and fighting is rather boring and tiresome.
“If Duan Ye scores better than me in the final exams, then at that time…” He paused for a moment, “Alright, I’ll still give each person five hundred bucks as red packets, but Duan Ye will be in charge of arranging the meals and movies. Any objections?”
He just wanted to find a way to give Ning Zhiyu a red packet, regardless of whether he wins or loses, he intends to give it.
The last sentence is directed at Duan Ye, asking for his opinion.
Duan Ye looked at Jiang Yumo with a gentle tone and asked, “Do you want to play?”
Jiang Yumo hesitated for a moment, feeling conflicted.
Comparing exam rankings between two students with bad grades seemed really interesting…
Seeing through Jiang Yumo’s thoughts, Duan Ye glanced at Zhou Ji and said, “Sure.”
“Great, that settles it then!” Zhou Ji couldn’t contain her excitement as she looked at Ning Zhiyu. “Teacher Ning, will you teach me? I don’t ask for much, just to score higher than Lao Duan.”
Ning Zhiyu had completely integrated into this small group by now.
Seeing everyone so enthusiastic, she couldn’t spoil the mood, so she reluctantly nodded, saying, “Alright, but I don’t have much time.”
Zhou Ji exclaimed, “Your grades are way better than anyone else’s. Even if you teach me for just ten minutes a day, it’s enough to outperform Lao Duan!”
Jiang Yumo was furious.
She skillfully played the tattletale, saying, “Duan Ye, look at him. He’s mocking me!”
“Zhiyu, he’s mocking me!”
Duan Ye looked displeasedly at Zhou Ji and said, “This month, I am still your boss.”
Duan Ye’s implication was that Zhou Ji should respect the girl his leader liked; it was the most basic etiquette.
Zhou Ji gritted his teeth.
Fine! It’s been a long time since he felt this competitive spirit!
During the final exams, he must score a few more points to defeat Duan Ye’s arrogance.
battle of wits for 2 competitors with the worst grades HAHAHAHAHA HELPP THEY’RE SO FUNNY
This was accidentally genius idea!!