Chapter 449 - 448: IF Line: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 17

Chapter 449: Chapter 448: IF Line: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 17

Jiang Xia returned to his seat and sneezed as well.

He and Mu Tangfeng were both seated by the windows. The classroom’s air conditioner had broken the day before and hadn’t been fixed, so chilly gusts of wind kept blowing in.

On the rooftop, they’d been ready to fight over the cat. The adrenaline had kept them from feeling the cold, but now they were actually starting to shiver.

Shi Lan peeked out from the denim jacket, but Jiang Xia gently tucked her back in. He then pulled out his own school uniform jacket and softly stroked the cat’s head. "It’s cold today, Onyx. I don’t want you to get chilly."

As he spoke, he placed the jacket, cat and all, onto his lap. A boy’s body heat was searing, and his lap was softer, which would be more comfortable for Onyx.

Shi Lan glanced at him, her gaze softening slightly.

Capital First Middle School had always required students to wear their uniforms, but Class 11 was a special case. Even if the students here couldn’t get into college, their parents had already arranged for their futures. As a rule, everyone had only one expectation for Class 11: just don’t cause trouble.

Jiang Xia and Mu Tangfeng, however, were exceptions. The two fought constantly, but their families donated immense sums of money to the school. The Jiang and Mu families provided the lion’s share of funding for many school activities. The principal and teachers couldn’t bear to part with these golden geese, so they simply decided to treat them like revered deities for their three years of high school.

Now, with the college entrance exams just around the corner, the teachers were surprised to find that the two had changed a lot.

It wasn’t just the teachers; their classmates felt it, too.

At that moment, seeing that the two resident school bullies, who never wore their uniforms, had actually put them on, the other students thought some major school-wide crackdown was happening. Stunned, they all scrambled to dig out their own uniforms and put them on.

Most students in Class 11 had brand-new uniforms. Only a few—like the class president and the academic representative—actually wore them, and only to set a good example and abide by school regulations.

This period was math. In the office just moments before, the math teacher had overheard students saying Jiang Xia and Mu Tangfeng were about to fight. She came to class feeling completely on edge. ’I just hope those two don’t accidentally start fighting during class,’ she thought.

But when she entered the classroom, she found them sitting quietly in their seats. In fact, the entire class was uniformly dressed in their school uniforms.

"Huh?"

She thought she’d walked into the wrong classroom. Turning, she glanced back at the sign on the door. It definitely said ’Class 11’ in big letters.

The math teacher rubbed her eyes in confusion. She stepped back into the classroom and stared at the two boys—one on the left, one on the right—whom she hadn’t seen wear their uniforms more than a handful of times in three years. ’The sun must have risen in the west,’ she thought.

She pushed aside her stray thoughts, composed herself, and started the class.

Shi Lan had always hated physics, but she was quite interested in math.

Her ears perked up unconsciously. She hadn’t listened to a high school lecture in years, and she was surprised to find she’d forgotten the answers to most of the teacher’s simple questions.

Shi Lan jumped onto the desk. Jiang Xia thought she was going to run off somewhere, so he watched her curiously, not reaching out to stop her.

He knew Onyx was smart and must have its own reasons.

But it turned out Onyx was just finding a better spot. It settled down obediently in a corner of the desk, its large green eyes occasionally stealing glances at the blackboard.

Jiang Xia muttered in amazement, "Onyx, you can understand math? You’re that smart?"

’Even I can barely understand it.’

Now that they suspected she was more than just a cat, Shi Lan was starting to do as she pleased. However, she was still mindful of the other students in the class and didn’t stare openly at the blackboard. Instead, she watched from the corner of her eye, occasionally shifting her position as she lay on the desk.

Jiang Xia usually got drowsy the moment class started, but with the cat right beside him, he couldn’t even think about sleeping. His attention was completely focused on her. Now, seeing the cat "studying," a thought suddenly popped into his head: ’I can’t let Onyx look down on me. What if it thinks I’m a complete dunce?’

’What if it asks me a question someday and I can’t answer?’

For a rare change, Jiang Xia felt a sudden urgency to learn. And so, for the entire class period, he stayed awake and listened attentively to the lecture. ℴℴ𝘮

Whenever drowsiness threatened to overcome him, he would glance at the ever-alert Onyx. Bolstered by the cat’s presence, he managed to make it through the entire period. He was only half-clear on the material, but it felt like he had actually learned something.

’Spatial geometry, for example... that seems kind of interesting.’

Mu Tangfeng wasn’t sleeping either. He had been watching the cat the whole time, and like Jiang Xia, he had also noticed Onyx’s small movements.

If he had only just met Onyx, he wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But now, suspecting Onyx was a Cat Demon with human-like intelligence, he had to agree: Onyx was studying math.

’Math? Hah. He’d always said that even a dog wouldn’t be caught dead studying, especially not math. To him, it sounded like a bunch of numerical nonsense.’

The mere sight of the blackboard made Mu Tangfeng’s head spin. But a sideways glance at the attentively listening Onyx and the suddenly studious Jiang Xia put the pressure on. He didn’t dare slack off.

As the lecture went on, Mu Tangfeng managed to solve two problems on his own. He discovered that math might not be so difficult after all, and his interest was gradually piqued.

With those two taking the lead, the math teacher conducted the most academically-charged class in the history of Class 11.

Whenever Jiang Xia didn’t understand something, he would immediately raise his hand. He felt no shame about his ignorance, asking about anything that came to mind. The math teacher was slightly annoyed—his simple questions proved he’d never paid a lick of attention before—but seeing him so earnest for once, she felt more gratified and happy than anything else.

The math teacher finished her lesson feeling both satisfied and a little dazed. Back in the teacher’s office, she couldn’t help but boast about her experience to her colleagues. They all just stared at her with expressions of concern. "Are you sure you don’t have a fever? Maybe you should go see the school nurse."

The math teacher shook her head, a cryptic look on her face. She turned to the physics teacher, who had the next class. "Don’t believe me? Go see for yourself."

Then she added with a sigh, "It’s really true. Those two kids, Jiang Xia and Mu Tangfeng, have completely changed."

"Yeah, yeah. They’re raising that cat well."

The teachers all knew their transformation was related to the cat. Even their parents, who had been worried sick, had come to the school to see for themselves. It wasn’t just the senior year teachers; everyone down to the first and second-year teachers knew the whole story.

The physics teacher, now full of motivation, clutched his textbook and stood up right as the bell was about to ring. "Alright, alright, I’ll go take a look."

When the physics teacher entered, he too was dazzled by the sea of identical school uniforms. Forget the two boys studying—this sight alone was enough to shock him.

He stood stunned for a moment before finally starting his lecture.

The moment Shi Lan realized it was physics class, her enthusiasm vanished. A moment ago, she had been reveling in the simple joy of learning, but now her cat ears drooped and she plopped down on the desk.

’Other subjects were fine, but she truly hated physics.’

The physics teacher had barely begun his lecture when Shi Lan couldn’t stifle a yawn and closed her eyes.

At first, Jiang Xia also tried to pay attention. But one glance at the sleeping Onyx, and he couldn’t resist the urge to slack off himself.

’He wasn’t an eager student to begin with. After years of ignoring his schoolwork, trying to pick it all back up at once was genuinely hard.’

Jiang Xia yawned and lowered his head, ready to follow the cat’s lead and take a nap.

Shi Lan’s eyes snapped open. She glared at him and nudged his hand with her paw.

’She was a cat; it was perfectly natural for her not to study. What was Jiang Xia thinking, comparing himself to her?’

Jiang Xia jolted. Noticing her stern, insistent gaze, he immediately sat up straight and timidly reopened his textbook.

Mu Tangfeng, who had lost possession of Onyx to Jiang Xia for this period as compensation for being late this morning, was still staring intently in their direction.

Sensing his gaze, Shi Lan shot him a warning look from across the desk—no slacking off.

Mu Tangfeng gulped. He stared at the dense formulas on the blackboard and resignedly picked up his own book.