Chapter Forty-Eight: The First Place

Wei Xiaofan watched the scene unfold and thought to himself, what’s going on? Li Chaoqian and Li Bufan actually paid to resolve this issue. They didn’t even ask me; they just took it upon themselves to pay and settle the matter! And they handed over ten yuan! Ten yuan! The woman had just said she’d take whatever was in my pocket. I only had three yuan, and if I’d given her that, she probably wouldn’t have said another word, since she was the one who bumped into me in the first place.

But Li Chaoqian and Li Bufan didn’t even consult me. They simply decided and gave her ten yuan! Now how am I supposed to repay them? Is this good or bad?

At that moment, Li Bufan and Li Chaoqian walked over.

“Xiaofan, are you alright?” Li Bufan asked, his face showing a hint of pride.

“I’m fine, Li Bufan,” Wei Xiaofan replied, a little embarrassed.

“You’re Wei Xiaofan, aren’t you?” Li Chaoqian looked at him and asked.

“Yes, this is our class’s top student—Wei Xiaofan,” Li Bufan interjected eagerly. “Wei Xiaofan, this is Li Chaoqian, the academic star from Ninth Grade, Class Six. You’ve probably seen him before.”

“I saw you once at the restaurant entrance last Sunday,” Wei Xiaofan said. “Li Chaoqian, you paid ten yuan for me to that woman. I don’t think I’ll have the money to repay you so quickly!”

“Xiaofan, I gave her the ten yuan willingly; you don’t need to pay me back!” Li Chaoqian replied. “Just now, Li Bufan and I watched what happened and listened to the other students nearby. We realized the woman was the one who collided with you, and that you didn’t have much money. She’s clearly one of those shrewd rural women from nearby—if you didn’t give her the money quickly, she’d drag it out for ages. The more people gathered, the worse it would look for your reputation, so I decided to settle it for you!”

“Thank you, Li Chaoqian! I’ll definitely pay you back, though—not now. I can’t use someone else’s money for nothing!” Wei Xiaofan said. Yet inwardly, he thought, what could have been solved with just three yuan now costs ten, thanks to Li Chaoqian and Li Bufan. Meddlers! Up to no good! Anyone who hangs out with Li Bufan is probably just as bad as him.

“There’s really no need to pay me back, Xiaofan! Your five brilliant articles—our Chinese teacher discussed them in class, and they’re truly outstanding!” Li Chaoqian gave him a thumbs-up and continued, “I admire you a lot, and I’d like to be friends with someone like you. Is that alright?” He reached out his hand to Wei Xiaofan.

Seeing Li Chaoqian’s gesture, Wei Xiaofan felt conflicted; to shake hands or not? In the end, he did, thinking that although he didn’t like Li Chaoqian, the latter had helped him first, and he did praise his writing.

Wei Xiaofan said, “Thank you, but it’s nothing really. We all learn from and appreciate one another!”

“Then it’s settled, Xiaofan—we’re friends now! Since we’re friends, you don’t need to pay me back the ten yuan. If you insist, I’ll be upset!” Li Chaoqian said, and walked off with Li Bufan.

Wei Xiaofan watched Li Chaoqian and Li Bufan walk away, vowing to himself, I’ll definitely repay you the ten yuan. Whether or not we’re friends, I won’t use someone else’s money for nothing!

With this thought, he turned toward the campus shop, bought white paper for himself and Wei Xiaoping, then headed back to the school gate.

“Xiaofan, scores are out!” Wei Xiaoping called out cheerfully from the dormitory as Wei Xiaofan returned.

“What scores? The competition scores?” Wei Xiaofan asked gloomily, as if the exam results didn’t matter much to him.

“Of course—they’re the competition scores! What’s wrong? Why so glum?” Wei Xiaoping noticed Xiaofan’s mood wasn’t right.

“It’s nothing. Where did you hear about the scores?”

“Zhang Liying just came and told me. They’ve posted them on the junior section’s bulletin board.”

“Oh,” Wei Xiaofan responded indifferently, pulling out his pocket knife to cut paper.

“Xiaofan, what’s up? Aren’t you going to check your score? You don’t seem to care.”

“So—what’s my total?” Wei Xiaofan asked, not looking up as he sliced the paper.

Wei Xiaoping walked over and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the door. “Let’s go look together!”

Wei Xiaofan let himself be led toward the bulletin board in the junior section.

The board was just below the teachers’ office building. Even before they reached it, they saw a crowd of students and teachers gathered around.

As they approached, they heard the voices of teachers and students reciting names, including Wei Xiaofan’s and others’.

Soon, they arrived at the bulletin board. It was crowded, with taller boys pressed right up front. Wei Xiaofan and Wei Xiaoping squeezed in behind others, standing on tiptoe to look.

“His writing is so good, and his subject scores are amazing too? We don’t stand a chance!” some students grumbled.

“Look at Wei Xiaofan’s score—he’s left the second place far behind! Impressive!”

“Who’s second? Which class?”

“Which grade do you mean? Ninth grade? The second place in ninth grade is Zhang Liying—a girl, and she’s in the same class as Wei Xiaofan!”

“What? Both first and second place went to Class One?”

“Yeah! Seems unfair, haha!”

“How is it unfair? The answer sheets were exchanged between classes, and all names and class numbers were covered up before grading!”

“Seems the scores between third and second are pretty close—only two points apart!”

“Really? Who is it?”

“It’s Li Chaoqian from our class!”

Hearing the students’ chatter, although Wei Xiaofan couldn’t see his score yet, he already knew the outcome.

“Let’s go back to the dorm and cut paper for the draft notebooks,” he said, pulling Wei Xiaoping along.

“Aren’t you going to see your score in person? I still don’t know mine!” Wei Xiaoping protested.

Wei Xiaofan considered and agreed, so they squeezed further in.

Finally, they managed to get a better view. On the bulletin board, Wei Xiaofan’s name was indeed listed as the top scorer for ninth grade, followed by Zhang Liying, and then Li Chaoqian of Class Six.

Wei Xiaoping ranked sixth in their class.

“It’s pretty close to what I estimated!” Wei Xiaoping remarked, resting his hand on Wei Xiaofan’s shoulder and whispering, “Congrats, Xiaofan! I knew your score would be higher than ours, but I didn’t expect you to top the entire grade. Amazing!”

“We know the scores now, so let’s head back and cut the draft paper, finish up, and prepare for lunch break,” Wei Xiaofan replied, still feeling somewhat downcast.

Seeing that Wei Xiaofan’s mood was so different from usual—even after such a good result, he showed no sign of happiness—Wei Xiaoping guessed something must have happened. He followed Wei Xiaofan back to the dorm, wondering all the while what could have troubled him.