Chapter 8 Well Done, Big Brother Likes It

Chapter 8: Nice Job, Bro

The classmate immediately looked embarrassed. "Sorry, Jiang Ruotang. I shouldn’t have believed those things."

"Why apologize to me? Apologize to him," Jiang Ruotang said, casually pointing behind him.

The classmate awkwardly was sweating bullets. "...Uh, Zhao Changfeng, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have believed those rumors."

This was the first time Zhao Changfeng had ever received an apology. He muttered a quiet "It's fine," then glanced up at the back of Jiang Ruotang’s head, his gaze landing on the crown of Jiang Ruotang’s head.

Bai Yingchuan, sitting beside Lin Lu, propped his chin on his hand and leaned slightly forward, his eyes skimming right past Lin Lu to land squarely on Jiang Ruotang’s face.

Jiang Ruotang had his math textbook open in front of him, intently studying the draft paper Lu Guifan had left behind. The morning sunlight filtered through his eyelashes, casting a soft glow on his face.

Lin Lu noticed Bai Yingchuan’s stare, his brow furrowing slightly before smoothing out again.

He put on a bright smile and turned to Bai Yingchuan. "Ying Chuan, this is Jiang Ruotang—Director Jiang’s son."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Teacher Song Qinghe entered the classroom, his face stern, gaze intimidating.

The first thing he mentioned was how many students hadn’t turned in their summer homework, leaving him in the dark about their progress or identifying their weak points. He demanded that everyone submit their assignments after class.

The atmosphere in the classroom remained tense until Song Qinghe turned his back, at which point everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Then, Song Qinghe began explaining the problems.

Unfortunately, Bai Yingchuan’s presence had the class buzzing with excitement. His every move was more interesting than the lesson.

Whether it was Bai Yingchuan clicking his pen or brushing a stray lock behind his ear, all eyes were drawn to him.

Halfway through the lesson, Song Qinghe realized that the class was completely distracted. He sighed, then looked up—only to lock eyes with Jiang Ruotang.

Song Qinghe had heard about Jiang Ruotang’s admiration for Bai Yingchuan. In the past, Jiang Ruotang’s mind would wander during math class, but today, he was like a sunflower, his gaze following Song Qinghe wherever he moved.

Having taught Jiang Ruotang for two years, this was the first time Song Qinghe felt like the center of his universe. It was strangely gratifying.

"Jiang Ruotang, come solve this on the board. It’s fairly basic."

The question was already written on the board. Song Qinghe didn’t let Jiang Ruotang bring his own paper up, and Lin Lu once again looked concerned.

"Ruo Tang… if you don’t know how, just tell Teacher Song."

*Yeah right, like you ever believed in me?*

Jiang Ruotang ignored Lin Lu, took a deep breath, and stepped up to the board. He accepted the chalk from Song Qinghe and slowly wrote the first line.

Song Qinghe was stunned. If this had been last semester, Jiang Ruotang would’ve thrown the chalk down and said, "Teacher, I don’t know. Just explain it."

He wouldn’t have stood there working through the problem like this.

Jiang Ruotang gripped the chalk, recalling the formulas from Lu Guifan’s draft paper. He wrote a few more lines, hesitantly, but Song Qinghe nodded encouragingly. "That’s right, Jiang Ruotang. These three steps are correct. Take your time, keep going!"

Jiang Ruotang gave a wry smile. He could imagine how he must look in Song Qinghe’s eyes—like the prodigal son's return or an iron tree blossoming.

*Scritch, scratch.* Jiang Ruotang continued writing until he reached the final answer.

He looked at Song Qinghe, who adjusted his glasses, paused for three seconds, and then—broke into applause. "Jiang Ruotang got it right! This proves he didn’t slack off over the summer and actually put in effort! Everyone, give him a round of applause!"

Jiang Ruotang’s ears burned red. *This is so embarrassing!*

*It’s just a basic problem, Teacher Song! Just basic stuff! And I* did *slack off all summer—I only studied seriously for three days!*

*Having the whole class applaud for me just makes me feel like an idiot!*

From across the aisle, English class representative Jian Sha gave a low whistle. Song Qinghe immediately coughed. "No whistling in class."

Jiang Ruotang, turned red to the tips of his ears, stepped down from the podium. When he looked up, his eyes met Lu Guifan’s.

Lu Guifan was clapping along with the others, his lips set in a straight line, showing neither amusement nor approval.

But Jiang Ruotang felt a strange sense of expectation—like he had proven something to Lu Guifan. That anticipation fueled him, pushing him forward until he could stand before Lu Guifan again and earn his approval once more.

Jiang Ruotang returned to his seat, and Lin Lu immediately leaned in. "Ruo Tang, you’re amazing! Did you hire a tutor over the summer? Or attend some summer school?"

"Nope. The class president just taught me this problem earlier," Jiang Ruotang replied.

"In less than ten minutes?" Lin Lu smirked, tilting his head. "Were you studying in secret?"

"If we're real friends, I wouldn’t *need* to study in secret," Jiang Ruotang said with a smile.

"Ah… right…" Lin Lu hesitated.

Given Lin Lu’s nature, he was likely dissecting every word for hidden meaning.

*But it's not that deep—it means exactly what it says.*

"So, the class president just explains things well. I understood it right away," Jiang Ruotang continued, still smiling.

Right now, he was enjoying watching Lin Lu speculate and overthink.

The first class finally ended, and Jiang Ruotang immediately face-planted onto his desk. Forty minutes of intense focus had fried his brain.

*Who the fuck decided classes should be this long? No one can stay focused for an entire day… That's torture.*

On the other side of Lin Lu, Bai Yingchuan was surrounded by classmates. Everyone wanted a closer look at his flawless, picture-perfect face. Just speaking to him was enough to make them lose their minds—even students from other classes had come to see him.

Lin Lu was getting shoved around uncomfortably, and at one point, a heavyset boy almost plopped right on top of him, startling him badly.

"Ruo Tang, Ruo Tang, look at them… They’re treating Bai Yingchuan like he’s working through break too! Don’t they know celebrities deserve rest? They’re his classmates—don’t they understand respecting his personal time?"

In the past, Jiang Ruotang would’ve stood up and sarcastically shooed them away.

But now, Jiang Ruotang stayed detached, was out like a light on his desk in seconds.

*Three days of cramming homework, plus forty minutes of intense focus—if I had to join the Bai Yingchuan protection detail now, I’d die on the spot.*

Jiang Ruotang was basically dead to the world.

Lin Lu shook him again. Jiang Ruotang slurred, "You go tell them… I believe in you…"

Lin Lu opened his mouth but was at a loss for words.

Behind them, Zhao Changfeng’s cold voice cut through. "Even machine guns need to cool down. Why do you always push Jiang Ruotang out to do the shooting?"

"You—" Lin Lu turned, then looked back at Jiang Ruotang. "Ruo Tang, I didn’t mean it like that. Zhao Changfeng, he—"

Jiang Ruotang played dead, hearing nothing—but inside, he was cracking up.

*As expected of Zhao Changfeng. Well done—I like it!*

Although Bai Yingchuan was surrounded by classmates asking all sorts of questions, he was far more patient and composed than Lin Lu had imagined.

He described trivial incidents from the film set in such an amusing way that everyone around him burst into laughter.

Yet Bai Yingchuan remained calm and collected throughout.

When the class bell rang, everyone hurried back to their seats, creating a stampede that rivaled an African wildebeest migration.

Zhao Zhangfeng, who had just returned from a quick trip to the convenience store, walked in munching on some bread. He saw a chubby boy from the neighboring class rushing out, only to be jostled by the crowd and nearly topple over. The boy’s elbow was about to slam right onto Jiang Ruotang’s head.

“Whoa—” Zhao Zhangfeng stretched out his long arm, his hand covering Jiang Ruotang’s head at the last second.

“Sorry! Sorry!” the chubby boy quickly apologized.

Jiang Ruotang finally came to and, seeing what had happened, immediately stood up.

Zhao Zhangfeng shook his wrist, frowning at Jiang Ruotang. “You sleep like a rock, huh? Even an earthquake wouldn’t wake you?”

“Is your wrist okay?” Jiang Ruotang’s heart jumped to his throat as he recalled the moment the boy’s elbow struck Zhao Zhangfeng’s hand.

Zhao Zhangfeng sat down in the back row, wolfing down the rest of his bread. “Oh? If my wrist were hurt, would that upset you?”

“Don’t you still want to play basketball in the future? A wrist injury is a big deal.” Jiang Ruotang turned around, looking at him seriously.

Zhao Zhangfeng pushed his head back. “Not your problem. Wang Fuzi’s here.”

Their Chinese teacher, Teacher Wang, was nicknamed “Wang Fuzi” due to his old-school teaching style.

They had just been punished by Teacher Wang during the Morning Study Period, so it was best to behave and not provoke him further.

Jiang Ruotang still turned back to Zhao Zhangfeng and threw out a quick “Thanks” before swiftly facing forward again, as if nothing had happened.

Zhao Zhangfeng stared at the back of Jiang Ruotang’s head, more and more sure that this young master had something wrong with his brain.

Was he coming down with something? Did Uncle Jiang know?

Jiang Ruotang’s day passed quickly, and soon it was time for dismissal. The school allowed them to go home as usual, but starting the next day, evening study sessions would be held from seven to nine. However, students like Jiang Ruotang could skip the evening study and go paint in the studio instead.

Lin Lu threw an arm around Jiang Ruotang’s shoulder. “Ruo Tang, let’s invite Bai Yingchuan to dinner together!”

“Huh?” Jiang Ruotang looked utterly confused. “Why? Bai Yingchuan probably just wants to go home and rest.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Lin Lu’s eyes. Just a few days ago, Jiang Ruotang had been crazy about Bai Yingchuan—normally, he wouldn’t need Lin Lu to organize anything. He should’ve been thrilled to invite Bai Yingchuan to dinner, dying to be around him.

You can't just stop liking someone because you texted it, can you?