Seeing his dazed expression, Shen Moyu knew that his impulsiveness would definitely upset him, but he was more reluctant to let them separate than to see him angry for a moment.
"You should listen to the lesson first. We can talk about it after class." Shen Moyu squeezed his wrist, speaking in a consultative tone.
Su Jinning lowered her eyes, took a deep breath, turned around and opened the book.
Fortunately, Shen Moyu pursed her lips, not so angry that she didn't want to listen to what he was saying.
"Okay, then we'll skip this question. I think you all know it by now." Liu Chunyan turned to the next page without hesitation.
There was a murmur of disapproval from the audience, mostly discussing how Liu Chunyan had gone too far in her explanations, having only covered less than five out of ten questions.
As Su Jinning listened, he felt a little helpless. He finally understood why Yan Sheng, such an unpopular teacher, was assigned to Class A.
At least Yan Sheng has always been conscientious in his lectures and never does things perfunctorily.
Suddenly, he really missed Yan Sheng's old cadre water cup and his inspirational quotes.
He turned to look at Shen Moyu, who remained unaffected and answered fluently, and fell silent.
It turns out the gap between them was already so obvious.
After finishing a word problem, Shen Moyu turned to look at the person who had been staring at him intently: "Which problem?"
Su Jinning was taken aback when his thoughts were seen through, but considering his impulsive decision, he turned his head away defiantly: "No."
"Bonus question?" Shen Moyu grabbed his textbook, read the question, wrote down a bunch of formulas, and then pushed it in front of him without saying anything more: "Use them yourself."
Shen Moyu turned her head and buried herself in her textbook, her calm expression as if nothing had happened.
"Damn it." Su Jinning was angry but couldn't vent her anger, so she grabbed her textbook and continued doing her problems, ignoring him.
As the bell rang, Su Jinning couldn't contain herself and closed her textbook, about to turn around and say something.
"Hey, top student, what's going on? Why are you back again?" Yu Boyan, the short-haired guy sitting in front of them, turned around and asked with a gossipy look on his face.
His voice was loud, attracting the attention of a large crowd. Within ten seconds, a large group of people surrounded him, asking him all sorts of questions about why he had done such a feat.
Yu Boyan leaned closer, his head almost touching hers: "Did something happen?"
"Yeah, you're number one on the list, how come you just came back like that?"
A barrage of questions swirled around Shen Moyu, and he frowned in annoyance, but his eyes remained fixed on the exercise book: "Class A is too cold, the heating is inadequate."
The students: "..."
The reason he gave for lying to the child clearly showed that he didn't want to tell everyone, and asking further would only bring trouble. After a wave of sighs, the crowd that had been tightly surrounding them dispersed.
Only Yu Boyan stared blankly, his eyes wide: "Really?"
Su Jinning, who was engrossed in writing her homework, finally looked up and suddenly slammed down her pen: "Turn around."
"Okay, sure."
Su Jinning turned his head and looked at Shen Moyu, who was silently writing his homework. Suddenly, a surge of anger rushed to his chest. He grabbed Shen Moyu's shoulder and glared at him: "Do you think you're doing the right thing?"
Faced with Su Jinning's questioning, Shen Moyu simply looked at him calmly and said, "That's not right."
"Why did you do that? Can you not be so impulsive?" Su Jinning frowned slightly.
Shen Moyu understood his feelings, so she could only try to comfort him: "I wasn't impulsive. Isn't it great that we're in the same class?"
"What a load of rubbish." Su Jinning was genuinely angry. She remained completely unmoved by his gentle words, her anger clouding her judgment. "Can you please stop making decisions on your own? Did you even consult me?"
"I just don't want to leave my boyfriend, is there a problem with that?" Shen Moyu looked at him with her arms crossed, as if he were the one who was in the most reasonable position.
These words completely shut down the words Su Jinning was about to say. He glared at him, but couldn't get angry: "Can you please stop making a scene?"
"I didn't make a scene."
"Fine." Su Jinning rubbed her temples helplessly, closed her eyes and stopped looking at him: "Then I'll make a scene. You pack your things and go back right now."
"No." Shen Moyu's tone was resolute. She didn't even glance at him before turning around and starting to work on her problems.
"You fucking..." Su Jinning was so angry that she jumped up and down. She looked at Shen Moyu, who was sitting there as steady as a mountain, and was about to explode several times, but she still tried her best to restrain herself: "Do you know what you are doing? You worked so hard to get into Class A, why did you come back for me? Don't you think it's ridiculous?"
Shen Moyu sighed, looking at him as if he were a persistent child: "First of all, I didn't 'hard-won' get into Class A; I could have easily gone back. Second, it doesn't matter where I study. Third, I'm willing to come back for you. Finally," he looked at him firmly, "I don't think it's absurd."
He spoke quickly and decisively, as if he had already prepared his response in his mind, giving Su Jinning no chance to retaliate and leaving her speechless.
At that moment, anger and helplessness intertwined wildly in Su Jinning's heart, gradually brewing into a bitter feeling, leaving her unsure of how to respond.
He didn't know how to describe his feelings, let alone how to face Shen Moyu in the present moment.
He felt he had become a stumbling block in Shen Moyu's path. He could imagine the many teachers trying their best to keep him in Class A, and he could also imagine Shen Moyu rushing into Class 8 without hesitation for his sake.
He felt ashamed.
“But I think it’s absurd.” Su Jinning lowered her head helplessly and rubbed her temples.
Shen Moyu rubbed his shoulder and leaned closer: "Don't worry, it's the same for me wherever I am. Class A has the same few teachers. Besides, Class A is so tiring, I don't like it either."
Everything he said was true, but when it came to Su Jinning, he heard Shen Moyu's lies to comfort his feelings of shame.
"Do whatever you want." Su Jinning dodged his hand from her shoulder, as if avoiding his kindness, and buried herself in his arms.
Shen Moyu wanted to say that he himself didn't feel anything was wrong, so why should he care so much?
But he knew that Su Jinning was just afraid that he would implicate him, afraid that his mistakes would harm him instead.
But Su Jinning didn't know what it meant to give up a small Class A. For Shen Moyu, as long as the end was him, he was even prepared to give up university and study at a vocational college with him.
——
The two barely spoke to each other all morning, like a young couple having a cold war after an argument, neither willing to give in.
Even during the long break between classes, Su Jinning intentionally or unintentionally avoided him. Just now, she was sitting on the flower bed in the middle of the playground, lost in thought.
"Hey Ning-ge!" Chen Hang came out of the restroom and excitedly went over to him when he saw him, with Song Wenmiao following beside him.