Chapter 38: Top Hundred in the Grade

Chapter 38: Top Hundred in the Grade

Xu Lang: "…"

Xu Lang: "?"

Upon closer inspection, he finally met the pale gray eyes beneath the cap brim, realizing something.

Thus, the person originally heading towards the car parked by the roadside abruptly changed direction, walking toward the Jianbing Guozi stall instead.

The Jianbing Guozi stall owner, thinking he had a customer, was about to stand up but then realized the person wasn't coming for him and squatted back down to continue his conversation.

As Xu Lang approached, he could faintly hear words like "market conditions" and "the batter needs to be spread evenly."

...It's hard to imagine what these two were discussing.

Noticing his approach, the hat-wearing man said his goodbyes to the owner, got up, and patted his shoulder, saying, "Let's go."

With the weight on his shoulder, Xu Lang straightened his back and called out, "Brother Bai."

Walking from the Jianbing Guozi stall to the car parked by the roadside, the high school student's steps became notably lighter.

In the car, he sat in the backseat on his own accord, even shifting further inside to make room for someone next to him.

Erbai did him the honor of following suit and sitting in the backseat.

With no one left in the front passenger seat, only the driver remained. Xu, the great actor turned chauffeur, glanced at the obedient high schooler in the rearview mirror, looking much like a little chick, and decided against commenting, returning his gaze to the road.

The vehicle started, slowly merging into traffic.

Holding his backpack, Xu Lang turned to ask the person beside him, "Why did Brother Bai come today?"

An ordinary Friday suddenly became radiant.

If his brother had given him a heads-up, he wouldn't have waited until now to come out.

"Just happened to have some free time, so I thought I'd drop by."

Chen Erbai removed the cap from his head, revealing messy strands of hair, and said with a smile, "I'll be filming near your school soon, so you could say I'm doing a site visit."

"?"

Xu Lang instantly perked up, reflexively asking, "When?"

The person with a head of messy hair said, "Summer vacation, that's when you guys are off, right?"

Indeed they were, and they had missed it perfectly.

His heart that had just lifted cooled down instantly, Xu Lang then calmly thought, before seriously pulling out his phone.

Chen Erbai asked him what he was doing.

He said, "I'm checking where I ranked in the last monthly exam."

To perform well and earn the chance to play games with Erbai, he had indeed put in a considerable amount of effort for quite some time.

He had worked hard, but later learned that Second Brother Bai had already joined a film set, no longer living in the residential building, and didn't have much time to play with him, so he hadn't bothered to check his grades.

This was the first time for a certain high school student, who wished to remain unnamed, to experience the thrill of checking his scores.

Not knowing what total score constituted a high score meant he didn't need to worry about it; he took a deep breath and then directly scrolled down, heading straight for the ranking.

"Rank (Science): 273"

This was the first time Xu Lang faced his own grades directly.

It was somewhat unexpected. His previous grades had always been hovering around five or six hundred, entering the office every time the results came out. This was the first time he saw a ranking that didn't start with a 5 or a 6.

"..."

Xu Lang took another couple of looks at the grade on the ranking, unconsciously wiping his face.

...Was it the top one hundred in the entire grade, or the top one hundred in both liberal arts and science?

The person in the driver's seat asked him, "Did you do poorly on the test?"

Good grades gave one confidence in speech, and Xu Lang immediately sat up straight, saying, "I advanced by three or four hundred places!"

His brother simply commented that it was impressive.

Master Chen gave a small round of applause and raised his thumb, providing ample emotional support and perfectly setting the mood.

Xu Lang smiled, a hint of barely perceptible guilt lurking in his grin.

Knowing that gaming together for an extended period was out of the question in the short term, he had let himself slack off last month. With this month's exam results out, if everything went as expected, his ranking would slide once again.

Deciding to shift the conversation away from this topic, the high school student put his phone away and turned to look at the person sitting beside him, choosing to broach a new subject. He asked curiously, "What was Brother Bai like in high school?"

Brother Bai pondered for a moment, stroking his chin, and said, "Me."

The man in the driver's seat glanced over.

"I guess my high school life should be divided starting from the second year."

Chen Bai chuckled and said, "Before the second year, I was quite the jerk; it wasn't until after that I started acting more human."

He didn't elaborate on why the second year was the dividing line or how exactly he was a jerk; that sentence served as a conclusion.

Xu Lang turned to look at him a couple more times but still couldn't imagine this perpetually smiling individual being the kind of jerk he described.

The school was close to Yulin Road, and they arrived there within a ten-minute drive.

Upon arrival, Xu Lang was unexpectedly informed that he would have to do his homework alone at home, with his brother dropping him off at their doorstep before leaving.

He vehemently protested, arguing that no one would just abandon their brother they had just picked up.

His brother explained that he was going to help someone move.

Helping Erbai move, to be precise, to a place just downstairs, accessible by taking the elevator down one floor.

Xu Lang bowed slightly, saying, "Have a safe trip, and please hurry up with the move."

He then took another glance at his brother's expression, adding a term of endearment, "Brother."

His brother nodded once and walked away. Another person emerged from behind his brother, waved, and said with a smile, "If we move quickly today and you finish your homework, we can play for a bit afterward."

The high school student gripped his backpack straps tightly, as if seizing onto a glimmer of hope, and vigorously nodded, watching as the front door closed.

With the door shut, the only person left inside the house was the high school student standing in the entranceway. Between pulling out his phone and going to bed, he chose to open his backpack and take out his homework.

Having seen his brother safely home, the two of them got back in the car and headed straight for the old part of town.

Erbai didn't have much stuff; the only major item of importance was his computer, which had already been moved out. All that remained were daily necessities and various kitchen items.

When added together, all his belongings could easily fit into one large cardboard box and a few smaller ones.

Packing was quick; what took the most time was the final cleaning phase.

There were no plans to hire someone for the task. Chen Moubai had initially intended to let his kind neighbor, who had already helped with the move, take a break next door. However, the neighbor insisted on staying to help clean up, so Chen Moubai allowed him to do so.

It was apparent that the other party wasn't well-versed in such tasks, only managing to clumsily wear the mask and cap just enough to keep the dust at bay.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of Mr. Chen, who had kept his belongings minimal and regularly cleaned during his stay, the moving and cleaning were completed within an afternoon.

The landlord came by for a cursory inspection of the place, during which Mr. Chen returned the key to the locksmith shop downstairs.

As the landlord accepted the key, he let out a sigh. "I had planned on introducing you to Little Yang, but he's been asleep all day, impossible to rouse no matter how much I tried."

Mr. Chen echoed his regret with a sigh of his own, drawing a glance from those around him.

With the house handover complete and all their belongings moved in, the two set off back to the city before darkness fell.

On the way back, the kind neighbor asked, "Who is Little Yang?"

"The landlord's grandson," Chen Bai said with a smile. "He's so adorable and clings to you tightly. Once I picked him up, he wouldn't let go at all."

Mr. Xu, the neighbor at the wheel, subtly shifted his hand on the steering wheel and, casting a sidelong glance, inquired softly, "Do you have a liking for him?"

"Absolutely," he/she/they said with a fondness evident in their tone.

Erbai nodded, smiling. "He's very comfortable to hold. It's just that he's growing too fast, and I can hardly hold him now."

Xu Sinian: "Growing too fast?"

Chen Bai nodded. "He's in his growth spurt, gaining six pounds in a month."

"..."

Though it was somewhat presumptuous, neighbor Xu still asked, "This Little Yang, is he a person?"

Chen Erbai was taken aback at first, then he laughed so hard he nearly fell over.

His laughter caused him to slide down, but he propped himself back up, saying, "No, that's the landlord's daughter's dog, it's still a puppy."

The landlord's daughter treats the puppy like her child. Since a child's son is a grandson, the landlord also treats Little Yang like his eldest grandson, and loves to show him off. Every day, he takes Little Yang out for a walk, telling everyone he meets that this is his eldest grandson. He especially likes to bring him downstairs to the residential building, where other store owners can admire him.

"…"

The good neighbor fell silent for a moment, then replied with an affirmative.

When they returned to Yulin Road, it was already completely dark.

The new house had already been cleaned once before, and it was quite clean. This time, there wasn't much additional cleaning needed. After moving their things into the house, today's tasks were temporarily done.

The high school student, who had stayed at home all afternoon, finally got to have dinner in the evening.

Erbai cooked personally, the food was fiery hot, but incredibly delicious.

The high school student held chopsticks in one hand and a glass of water in the other, eating while drinking.

In the midst of drinking, his gaze drifted to the side, landing on DouDou's eyes and the white water cup. He then looked down at his own transparent glass, swallowed the cool water, and asked his brother, "Why is Brother Bai's cup different?"

Then he watched as his brother glanced at him, picked up his phone and tapped a few times.

When his brother put down his phone, the high school student's phone rang.

He put down his water cup temporarily to check his phone, finding a transfer message.

"Wanted to buy it himself"

"…"

So that's what a real brother does.

The high school student, knowing when to accept reality, chose to receive the transfer.

After dinner, the high school student, after a long time, rejoiced in receiving another exclusive one-on-one tutoring session from Chen Erbai.

They didn't go to the study room. The two of them stayed in the living room, where the table and sofa were large enough to spread out textbooks, tutoring books, several test papers, and notebooks full of mistakes.

Xu Lang was true to his word when he said he would do his homework in the afternoon; he didn't waver, turning down invitations from friends to play and instead squeezed two days' worth of assignments into a single afternoon.

He finished, but not entirely so. The parts he couldn't grasp, he left blank, intending for Master Chen to explain them, after which they could indulge in some leisure.

Master Chen's method of explaining problems wasn't stern; he sat casually on the carpet, a pen in one hand and the other propping him up, deconstructing formulas as if they were casual conversation topics.

His mind seemed naturally adept at untangling complex knots, shifting formulas without confusion, his train of thought clear and unobstructed.

Good-hearted Comrade Old Xu poured two glasses of milk for the pair and took a seat by their side.

A single problem consumed four pages of scratch paper, with numerous function graphs drawn. Xu Lang followed the lead, sketching diagrams himself, working through the problem once more.

Equation after equation, three determining a range, until another function graph was plotted, leading to the minimum value. It was only when he glanced at the question, wondering what to do next, that he realized the very thing sought was the minimum value.

This was the final sub-question of the last major math problem, usually the part where some students, knowing they couldn't solve it, would give up and stop listening during lectures.

He solved it. Although it filled four pages of scratch paper, once he had the approach, it didn't seem as daunting as he'd imagined.

The person beside him casually perched the pen on his ear, cradling the water cup to take a sip of milk, smilingly commenting, "Actually, it wasn't too difficult, right?"

He remarked, "With this type of question, you naturally develop an approach if you do enough of them."

Compared to their last meeting, his good younger brother had visibly improved. This major problem was relatively simple, but the previous good younger brother likely wouldn't have been able to solve it.

Xu Lang ruffled his somewhat neat yet disheveled hair, hesitantly nodding slowly.

He felt it wasn't as challenging as he thought, but he didn't think it was particularly easy either.

Regardless, the problem was done, and countless sheets of scrap paper had been used.

Gathering the books and homework on the table, Xu Lang turned to look at his brother sitting beside him.

His brother looked over to Chen Erbai.

Cup in hand, Chen Erbai met the gaze of his good neighbor, saying, "I made plans with your little brother to play some games after finishing our homework. Is that alright?"

The good neighbor asked, "Wouldn't that disturb your rest?"

Chen Bai waved his hand with a smile.

Xu Sinian looked at the high schooler beside him and nodded in agreement.

Although Xu Lang didn't quite understand, he could tell that Chen Erbai seemed to be the one with the most say here.

With the approval granted, he quickly stood up and dashed toward the study, shouting as he ran, "Bro, can I borrow your computer for a bit?"

As he spoke, he had already darted into the study.

Within two seconds, footsteps sounded again. The people in the living room watched as the high schooler poked his head out from the hallway, his voice several octaves lower than before as he asked, "Bro, what's the password for the computer?"

"…Cough."

Chen Erbai, who was drinking milk, couldn't hold back a laugh, which made him choke. He lowered his head and coughed a few times.

Once he caught his breath, he took a hearty sip of milk, bid farewell to his good neighbor with the water cup in hand, and left for downstairs.

Upon returning home, he posted the announcement for tonight's broadcast right away. Then, he put his phone away and picked up the cardboard box he had brought down this morning when he went downstairs, moving it to the master bedroom.

His good neighbor didn't play games regularly, so it would take time for Brother Xu to download them. This gave him the perfect opportunity to assemble his own computer.

After assembling the components and finding a feng shui-friendly spot for his main unit, he connected the monitor and the network cable. The process was familiar to him, and he completed it much faster than the last time he assembled equipment in a hotel.

Next, he hooked up his streaming gear and leaned back in his chair, sending messages to his friends to explain the situation and informing them that he wouldn't be teaming up today.

Xu Little Brother knew from the first day they met that he was a streamer, and he didn't mind being included in the live stream duration when they played together.

Logging onto WeChat on his computer, he called Xu Little Brother. Then, he opened the streaming software and began adjusting the streaming equipment against the keyboard. Finally, he launched the game and casually added his good little brother as a friend.

For some reason, Good Little Brother seemed strangely nervous when mentioning his gaming account.

He didn't know why, nor did he think too deeply about it. He typed in the string of numbers recited by the high schooler and searched.

The search speed was impressive; with a press of enter, the page redirected, revealing Xu Little Brother's account.

Xu Little Brother's username was "xlll," which objectively felt somewhat familiar.

There was someone like that in his live stream, occasionally appearing but never speaking, only sending gifts.

Chen Erbai tried to ponder it over and concluded that it probably wasn't just a coincidence.

—but it wasn't entirely impossible.

As Chen Bai pondered, the person on the other end, after a brief silence, respectfully called out, "Second Brother Bai."

"..."

There was no need to think further.

Second Brother Bai rubbed his face.

It turned out that the good little brother his good neighbor mentioned, who would watch game streams after school, was none other than himself.

During the short silence in the headphones, the high school student wisely and obediently kept quiet.

The silence didn't last long; there was chatting to be done. With Chen Erbai, silent periods never exceeded a few seconds.

Having added his gaming friend, it was just the right time for the scheduled stream. He briefly returned to the main menu and clicked to start broadcasting.

Qingzhou went live first, and the fans, who had long learned to check in on the side that started streaming earlier for updates, already knew that a certain Bai had made plans with others. They'd likely play a few rounds before joining Qingzhou for a duo queue. Upon entering, they weren't surprised not to see another familiar pink figure.

"Hahaha, next door, Qingzhu is playing solo, his teammates in a quad. He's all alone, Second Bai, please give him some attention. He's about to shatter (not really)."

"Hahaha, over there they said without Second Bai, their ears feel off."

"Wait, this ID, 3XL?"

"Is this the same 3XL that was competing for the top spot? Goodness, while your buddies are still fighting for the top spot, you sneakily made it to shore to play with Second Bai!"

"I want to play with Second Bai too, wailing!"

Regulars of the stream recognized the ID. They had seen the person with this ID numerous times, vying for the top spot with Yu Jia Ri Qing and others.

"He's my friend's younger brother."

Chen Bai glanced at the swiftly scrolling barrage comments, saying, "He just happened to drop by, so we're playing a couple of rounds together."

The good little brother timely called out, "Second Brother Bai."

"Yes, yes, yes. I thought 3XL bought his way into being friends, turns out he's an insider!!"

"In-game connections, but in the gaming edition."

"Second Brother Bai! I'm calling you brother now! I want a friend slot too!"

"It's painful not being able to play with Erbai, but the success of 3XL is even more heart-wrenching."

"Can't Erbai really spend money to buy a friend slot? QAQ"

No matter how many crying emojis he sends, Chen Erbai's friend slot, who abides by the rules and doesn't accept gains without labor, cannot be bought with money.

Other viewers lost because they didn't have a brother who happened to know Chen Erbai.

In any case, Xu Lang, who has a good brother, has already started preparing for a happy duo queue with others.

His brother's keyboard isn't the kind used for gaming, it feels awkward to type on, and the mouse is different from what he usually uses, but he's already grateful for being able to borrow them and doesn't dare to ask for more.

Some games feel completely different when you play them yourself compared to watching others play.

Although Xu Lang hasn't touched games for some time, he played a lot before, mostly with friends, and his skills are still decent enough to hold his own, at least within this student community.

Every time Erbai duo queues with Qingzhou, it looks easy, chatting while collecting kills, only getting serious when they encounter professional players.

But when he actually plays, he can feel the pressure of high-level matches right from the start.

Chen Erbai streams while climbing ranks, and his rank is now very high. When two people duo queue, the algorithm calculates based on the higher-ranked player's matches, so they can only enter high-level matches.

They parachute down, enter houses to loot, and the person next to him, using a pink skin, chats with him as usual, looting quickly to the point where it's almost hard to keep up.

It's the first time he feels that his brain isn't fast enough outside of studying. Xu Lang tries to keep up with the other person and moves to the next house for another round of looting.

As long as the location is chosen well, there will be plenty of people. This ordinary, small place unexpectedly has a lot of people this time. It's still early in the game, but they've already encountered three groups of people on their way to search a house.

Xu Lang finally understands why so many people in his friend list chose to play with Erbai despite knowing that their fate was likely to be bait.

In short, it's a strong sense of security. Even though they're being used as bait, the risk is much lower than moving alone. Having enemies targeting them means the other person has already started targeting the enemies, and in mountainous areas, it's always the enemy who falls first in a sniper duel.

It's the first time he truly experiences the smoothness of a nearby player's headshot.

He can experience the tension and excitement of high-level matches while being safe, do what he wants to do, and make mistakes without being scolded because someone will always help cover up for him in the end, laughing it off and continuing to chat throughout.

Perhaps the best gaming experience was something like this, entirely different from when he played alone before.

Xu Lang sincerely thanked his past self for studying hard to play games together, believing that effort indeed bore fruit.

The game was enjoyable, but reality was cruel.

He didn't know how many rounds had passed; when the settlement screen popped up, before the next round began, Chen Erbai kindly reminded him: "Brother, it's been about two hours."

He stated matter-of-factly: "If you don't leave the room soon, your brother will probably come in."

"Hahaha, success and failure both lie with my brother! 3XL has had enough (so is it my turn now?"

"Has 3XL had enough, so is it my turn to play now? [CryingCatHead.jpg]"

"I've never looked forward to a friend's appearance so much, dear friend, please take this person away!"

"The one above is too naive, Qingzhou is still waiting in line with a token of love."

The barrage of comments flew by, all gloating, while the other half of the high schooler felt for the first time how fast two hours could be, and made a life-or-death decision. After pondering back and forth, he decided to remove his headphones.

To ensure they could play again another time, he decided not to risk playing any longer.

—His decision turned out to be correct, and Erbai's reminder was truly timely.

As he removed his headphones and exited the game, there came a knock on the study door.

Two neither light nor heavy knocks, more of a reminder than an intention to enter, reminding him that it was time to go out.

He couldn't play on the computer, but he could still use his phone. After shutting down the computer, Xu Lang stood up, pulled out his phone while opening the streaming platform, and walked towards the study door. After fumbling for a while, he finally found the doorknob and opened the door.

Indeed, those two knocks were merely a reminder; his brother was no longer at the door, having returned to the living room early to read quietly on the sofa.

Setting his phone down at the dining table, he drank some water from his ordinary glass cup, then turned around and headed to the living room, intending to search for his headphones which should have been in his schoolbag.

The person sitting on the sofa put down his book and asked him: "He didn't play either?"

It was clear who "he" referred to. Xu Lang, finding his headphones, said: "No, he should already be playing with Qingzhou now."

The other party's gaze fell upon him: "Qingzhou?"

The high school student nodded, "They've always played together and have a better relationship than anyone else."

Author's Note:

"Xu Didi, an unremarkable message relay device."