Chapter 30: Bullying Part 2

Li Ran wanted to go and had cleared it with Bai Qingqing, but with the monthly exam looming, he needed to review. He felt a bit anxious.

Li Ang replied immediately, “Focus on your exam first. Don’t pressure yourself too much—whether you do well or not, stay happy.”

The monthly exam spanned three days. By past experience, Li Ran’s first one each semester was always his worst.

He didn’t like studying; summer was filled with part-time jobs, subway rides to parents’, observing subway life, eating, sleeping—pure daily grind. Daydreams weren’t deep philosophies like “who am I,” but blank zoning. No time for studies.

Opening school, heart still restless, first exam bombed.

Gradually adapting settled him, scores rose slowly—but from his high school sophomore finals at 380, you could see the “rise” was negligible.

Still, spiraling upward.

Li Ran just prayed not to score 250 this time.

He really had once… Ban Wei tallied totals, submitted to the system, stared disgustedly at the 250, unwilling to claim him.

Finally, mercifully, he bumped Li Ran to 251.

Exam over, Li Ran went home avoiding Chi Mo’s eyes. Afraid of a 250.

Ashamed of his bro’s teachings.

Chi Mo said, “If you score better than last time, remember what you promised to do?”

Li Ran’s mind raced: “Don’t score 250, don’t score 250. I tried my best, those familiar questions didn’t backstab me, I got them right? Won’t really be 250, right?”

250.

He scrunched his face, pouted dejectedly, and blurted, “I’m a 250.”

Chi Mo: “…”

Chi Mo silently reflected: Had he given too much pressure, making the kid silly? He quickly called Shen Shu to organize a company team-building hike.

Same activities weren’t repeated; they’d switch to rock climbing, surfing, skydiving. But considering Li Ran’s current ditzy state, he might not appreciate new ones—better not let him regret missing fun later.

After six or seven hours of hiking, out-of-shape Li Ran ached everywhere, forgetting all about 250. Feeling refreshed, he wanted to yell, “Screw exams!”

He didn’t actually yell—too dumb.

Back at the hotel, showered and flopped on the bed, he buried his face in the pillow and whined to Chi Mo, “Bro, my legs are so sore and painful… Tomorrow I’ll be limping for sure.”

Chi Mo said, “This time, I won’t let you limp. I’ll make you cry and call out the whole way.”

Chi Mo gripped Li Ran’s legs firmly, kneading the sore spots with strong hands. From last time, Li Ran knew it was for his good. He endured a bit, then choked up and kicked when he couldn’t—kicks ineffective, he whined toward tears.

“Bro, stop… Let go… Help, I can’t take it…”

In the top-suite Mr. Chi stayed in, soundproofed excellently—no one heard but Chi Mo, whose temple vein throbbed.

“Li Ran, don’t say nonsense.” Finally, even he couldn’t stand it, voice low and husky.

Monday, back to school, scores released—hiking-dispersed tension spiked right back up.

From childhood to now, Li Ran had never experienced this kind of feeling. Even if he were giving birth to his own child, his heart probably wouldn’t race this high, stuck right in his throat, neither up nor down.

Li Ran, who had never scored above 70 in math before, got an 88 this time.

The class, which had been buzzing and not taking the monthly exam seriously at first, suddenly fell silent when Ban Wei, fully revived, passionately read out Li Ran’s score.

“Holy shit?” someone exclaimed—no one knew who.

Li Ran felt the same way.

In English class, Li Ran, who used to get only 30 points even when guessing blindly, scored 70 this time.

“Holy shit!”

Li Ran still felt the same.

One subject scoring high by luck, another at normal level scoring poorly—that was the usual pattern. The total score would definitely still be around the same.

The classmates in High School Class 3-10 thought there wouldn’t be more surprises, but after all the scores were announced, Li Ran’s total came out to 460.

Far exceeding the 80 from the end of sophomore year.

Compared to the top students, this score wasn’t much, but Li Ran was in High School Class 3-10. Their high school ranked dead last in the eight-school joint exam, and their class ranked dead last in the high school!

This time, Li Ran ranked second in the class.

The year-level first was Qi Zhi, who had gotten first in the whole school.

“Holy shit?!” Zhang Si shouted.

These past two days, curse words had spread like a contagion. Li Ran looked at his total score—he had added and subtracted it back and forth ten times; he really hadn’t miscalculated.

He looked at his ranking again and muttered in shock, though softly: “…Holy shit.”

It was the first time Li Ran had scored this high.

In elementary school, he hadn’t gotten double hundreds even in the simplest language and math subjects all at once, but he also never got zeros. His performance was extremely stable. Every parent-teacher conference, Li Ran was always solidly average.

Bai Qingqing would look enviously at the parents of kids who got double hundreds, asking them for tips on how to teach their children. What could they say? They’d humbly claim they didn’t do much; the kids were just smart. Bai Qingqing considered her own IQ above average—at least in kindergarten and elementary school, her grades had been top-notch. It was only in junior high, when she started hating math, that she slipped. Having a dumb son was pretty heartbreaking.

At parent-teacher conferences, the teacher praised every child. Even the most mischievous one got, “This kid is smart, just naughty and doesn’t like studying.” When it came to Li Ran, the teacher just sighed. This child was exceptionally well-behaved in every class, the most obedient to classroom discipline.

But he really wasn’t smart. Other kids grasped things after one explanation; he needed two.

These days, teachers willing to put in extra effort were rare. If luck was bad, one might study hard for twenty years until graduation without meeting a good mentor.

But Li Ran was likable.

Teachers liked Li Ran not because he was a dumb kid they pitied.

It was because he was good-looking.

So at almost every parent-teacher conference, the teachers told Bai Qingqing: “Little friend Li Ran is especially obedient in class, with a personality so sweet and endearing, and he’s particularly pretty… just like you, Li Ran’s mom.”

At school, when they skipped studies and talked about looks, the teachers spouted nonsense that went on forever. Bai Qingqing, with her fiery temper, wanted to demand right there: Besides looks and personality, did her son have no strengths in academics?

Hearing the teacher say Li Ran looked like her, that damn vanity made her lips twitch upward uncontrollably, and soon her eyes curved into satisfied arcs.

Everyone loved compliments.

And so Li Ran stayed at the bottom from age three to seventeen. Teachers saw no drive for learning in him, just a bone-deep laziness. Guiding him was exhausting and uncertain, with too much sunk cost, so they let him do whatever.

Whenever Bai Qingqing mentioned scores, she got anxious. Without cursing, her dissatisfied tone alone could shatter Li Ran’s confidence.

He wanted his mom’s encouragement, but he knew he was dumb. She wouldn’t praise him half a word without good scores.

The more he wanted to do well, the worse he did. The more he told himself he was dumb, the dumber he got.

Li Ang was more laid-back about his scores, taking them in stride. He knew Bai Qingqing had already pressured Li Ran, so he figured he should provide comfort and companionship.

In-person companionship was blocked by Bai Qingqing’s fierce resistance, so Li Ang settled for second best: frequently sending Li Ran chicken soup for the soul and philosophical wisdom via phone, advising him to prioritize happiness in life. But Li Ran got no real academic support.

Because Li Ang had graduated years ago and returned all his high school knowledge intact to his alma mater.

After self-study that evening, ignoring the fifty-nine pairs of increasingly scorching, resentful stares, Li Ran bolted out with his report card before the dismissal bell even rang, hopping down three steps at a time.

Qi Zhi saw his lively deskmate and felt his heart skip. Something felt different. Leaning on the railing, he shouted down: “Be careful not to twist your ankle!”

Li Ran had been talking back more lately. He kept hopping down the stairs without looking back: “Don’t jinx it.”

The Moran Technology car was discreetly parked in the usual streetlamp blind spot where it had stopped many times before. Chi Mo finished work and still played chauffeur.

Diligent and complaining not a bit.

Li Ran yanked open the passenger door excitedly, practically jumping in.

“Bro, totals are out!” He held the report card up to Chi Mo’s face. The streetlamp that had been behind him seemed drawn along, flickering deep in Li Ran’s eyes. Chi Mo suddenly felt invited into that light.

Li Ran cheered: “460 points! I got it! Second in class!”

Chi Mo savored the moments when Li Ran looked at him wholeheartedly.

He’d even die for it.

He spaced out for a moment, saying nothing.

It was only two seconds, but even 0.1 seconds of silence pricked Li Ran’s sensitive nerves.

Just 460? Barely enough for a junior college. What’s he so excited about?

Li Ran inwardly berated himself, with a deeper pang of embarrassment. He didn’t want to lose face in front of Chi Mo.

Didn’t want to… in front of his bro.

“Good job, kid.” Chi Mo said.

Chi Mo took the report card from Li Ran’s hand, scrutinizing each subject’s score with genuine sincerity spilling out unstintingly: “Who taught this kid?”

He shamelessly took credit: “Me.”

He ruffled Li Ran’s hair, then his face: “But no matter how well I teach, it wouldn’t work without your cooperation. I’m just support. You’re the key.”