Chapter 49: The Clown's Zhou Xiaoli

Lin Tian walked into the security room, took a deep breath, and mustered the courage to say to the security guard who was leisurely playing with his mobile phone nearby, "Big Brother Security, I won't fight you for odd jobs anymore. You can keep all those bottles and cans for yourself."

The security guard looked at him in surprise, his eyes full of incomprehension. "Xiaotian, what's wrong with you? Is there something wrong with your life?"

Although the two of them used to be in a "competitive relationship," he still felt a pang of reluctance when Lin Tian said something like this today.

In contrast, Lin Tian just smiled slightly without answering, then turned and walked toward the classroom.

Entering the classroom, as soon as Lin Tian sat down in his seat, he subconsciously cast a cold gaze at Zhou Xiaoli.

Zhou Xiaoli was chatting with her desk mate, talking and laughing with a smiling face, completely unaware of Lin Tian's gaze.

Lin Tian harbored secret hatred in his heart; it was this Zhou Xiaoli who had called people over the weekend to teach him a lesson. How could he possibly let this grudge go unavenged!

Just as Lin Tian was sinking into his hatred toward Zhou Xiaoli, Long Yuqing, who sat in front of him, suddenly turned around and looked at him with her clear eyes.

"Xiaotian, why didn't you message me this weekend?"

Lin Tian scratched his head awkwardly. "I forgot."

Long Yuqing blinked speechlessly, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly to reveal a helpless smile, and then she turned back around.

At this moment, the classroom was already bustling with activity, and the students were discussing the upcoming entrance examination.

The first exam of the second semester of senior high school was of vital importance to everyone. It was not only a test to see whether the students' grades had regressed during the winter vacation, but also a major test of everyone's learning attitude.

As liberal arts students, they had to take several subjects in a single day, and everyone's nerves were taut, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

The first exam was Chinese, and Lin Tian felt a bit apprehensive as he looked at the questions on the test paper.

During the winter vacation, he had hardly read any books, and the only reading he did consisted of casual books like novels. His review of basic Chinese knowledge was practically zero.

He bit the bullet and began answering the questions. The multiple-choice questions were okay; relying on some luck and the knowledge he had accumulated usually, he could barely pick out the answers.

However, as soon as it came to reading comprehension and composition, Lin Tian found himself in a difficult spot.

For reading comprehension questions, he always failed to grasp the main points, and his answers were ambiguous; composition gave him even more of a headache. He racked his brains but couldn't come up with a novel conception, so he could only scribble down some cliches haphazardly.

After the exam ended, Lin Tian felt a wave of frustration as he looked at his messy test paper.

He raised his head and saw Zhou Xiaoli excitedly discussing the exam questions with the classmate next to her, her face beaming with a confident smile.

"Yo, judging by your expression, you must have done very well, right?"

Zhou Xiaoli suddenly turned to Lin Tian in a sarcastic and mocking tone, saying, "A freak with well-developed limbs and a simple mind will only ever be a vulgar person in this lifetime!"

These remarks added fuel to the fire in Lin Tian's heart, and he secretly swore that he would surpass Zhou Xiaoli in this exam and make her pay the price for her arrogance and conceit.

For the subsequent math exam, Lin Tian was equally lacking in confidence.

Math had always been his weak point, and during the winter vacation, he hadn't even glanced at it once.

Looking at those complex formulas and problems, Lin Tian's mind went completely blank.

After writing down some random answers, he handed in his paper.

Walking out of the examination room, Lin Tian saw Long Yuqing standing gracefully at the door, craning her neck in anticipation as she waited for him.

Seeing Lin Tian's dejected look, Long Yuqing asked softly, "How did the exam go?"

Lin Tian smiled bitterly and shook his head. "A complete mess."

Long Yuqing didn't say much, just gently patted Lin Tian's shoulder and gave him an encouraging look.

During the afternoon English exam, Lin Tian managed to regain a little bit of confidence.

This was his worst subject, and there was no room left for it to drop any lower.

During the exam, he tried his best to keep calm, reading the questions carefully and answering them meticulously. Surprisingly, he felt very little pressure.

For the listening section, he concentrated with all his might, trying not to miss a single detail; for reading comprehension, he could also pick out some relatively accurate answers by relying on his linguistic intuition and the knowledge he usually accumulated.

As for the composition section, Lin Tian wrote about a topic he was quite familiar with. Although there were no highlights, it was at least coherent.

After the exam, Lin Tian let out a long sigh of relief, feeling that it had gone a bit better than the morning exam.

Immediately afterward, taking advantage of the time when the students were discussing the exam, he went straight to find the head teacher to apply for day-student status.

"Are you sure you want to become a day student?" Jiang Qingqing furrowed her pretty brow and looked at him in disbelief.

After all, for more than a year, she had long since thoroughly figured out what kind of family background Lin Tian had.

"Could it be...?"

Thinking of this, a dark glint flashed across her beautiful eyes, and she became thoughtful, then nodded and said, "Alright then!"

Seeing that the other party agreed, Lin Tian turned around and left.

Returning home that night, he thought long and hard and still chose to make a last-minute effort to review the lessons for the exams the next day.

The night passed quietly and quickly.

The next day, the history and politics exams followed one after another.

As a liberal arts student, these two subjects were crucial for Lin Tian.

In the history exam, relying on his memory and understanding of historical events, Lin Tian managed to complete the test paper fairly smoothly.

In the politics exam, he found it somewhat strenuous.

The theoretical knowledge of politics was relatively abstract, and Lin Tian always failed to grasp the key points when answering questions.

However, he still did his best and wrote down all the answers he could think of on the test paper.

For the final geography exam, Lin Tian exerted almost every ounce of his strength.

The chart analysis and regional geography knowledge in geography gave him a splitting headache.

Looking at the questions on the test paper, his mind was in complete chaos, and he had no idea where to start.

He could only scribble down some random answers and hand in the paper.

Walking out of the exam room, Lin Tian felt a wave of exhaustion; this exam was undoubtedly a huge challenge for him.

After the exam, Lin Tian returned to the classroom and saw the students heatedly discussing the exam questions.

Zhou Xiaoli still wore a confident expression, chatting happily with her classmates.

Lin Tian felt somewhat bitter inside, but knowing that the other party had excellent grades, he could only walk over to his seat and silently pack his schoolbag.

Seeing Lin Tian's appearance, Long Yuqing walked over, stood beside him, coughed lightly, and said, "Don't be discouraged. This exam is just to test our learning situation and doesn't mean anything. As long as you work hard, you'll definitely do well next time."

Lin Tian raised his head, looked into Long Yuqing's sincere eyes, and a warm current surged in his heart. "Thank you, best friend. I'll work hard next time."

"Next time, for sure?" Long Yuqing rolled her eyes.

How could she not know Lin Tian's personality? He simply wasn't cut out for studying.

However, to her surprise, in the days that followed, Lin Tian actually began to throw himself into his studies seriously.

He woke up early every day to recite Chinese and English texts, used his noon break to do math and physics exercises, and reviewed history, politics, and geography at night.

He was no longer as playful as before, but instead poured all his energy into his studies.

Seeing Lin Tian's transformation, Long Yuqing was secretly delighted. She knew that Lin Tian was a man of ambition, and as long as he worked hard, he would definitely achieve good results.

Zhou Xiaoli felt a bit uneasy when she saw Lin Tian's transformation.

She had originally thought that Lin Tian was no different from any other underachieving student; she hadn't expected him to be able to study this resolutely and hard.

She began to worry that once he achieved certain results, he would gloat and look down on her, so she decided to take some measures to stop Lin Tian's progress.

A week later, while eating lunch, Zhou Xiaoli found Lin Tian and said to him with a sneer:

"Lin Tian, do you think you're something special? With just those pathetic grades of yours, you still want to compete with me? Keep dreaming!"

Looking at Zhou Xiaoli's arrogant demeanor, a wave of anger surged in Lin Tian's heart, but he didn't act impulsively. Instead, he said calmly:

"Zhou Xiaoli, I admit my grades weren't good in the past, but I'm working hard now. I won't give up just because of a word from you. I will prove myself with my grades, and at the same time prove that you are just a pathetic bug that can only rely on others."

"You..." Seeing that Lin Tian was unmoved, Zhou Xiaoli was so angry that she turned and walked away, not forgetting to leave a harsh threat, "Just you wait!"

"Wait? Hehe... I'll accompany you anytime, whether inside or outside the school!"

At this moment, Lin Tian looked completely as if victory was in his hands and didn't take the other person seriously at all, radiating an inexplicable sense of confidence.

That afternoon, the petty Zhou Xiaoli began spreading rumors about Lin Tian in the class, claiming that he copied other people's homework and cheated during quizzes.

Hearing these rumors, the classmates began to doubt Lin Tian. After all, the other person's transformation over the past week was indeed quite drastic.

Lin Tian was speechless about this. He patted his front-row desk mate Long Yuqing on the back and complained to her about his helplessness.

Long Yuqing comforted Lin Tian, "Oh come on, don't pay attention to these rumors. As long as your own conscience is clear, you don't need to mind them. Just keep studying hard and prove yourself with your grades!"

Hearing Long Yuqing's words, Lin Tian knew that she was sincerely advising him to study well, and his conviction solidified in his heart.

He was completely unaffected by the rumors, picked up his book again to read, and thought to himself, "Regardless of the future, I at least need to learn some things!"

Otherwise, wouldn't his three-year high school career be completely wasted?

After that, he spent late hours immersed in the library every day, reading all kinds of books and broadening his horizons.

During this period, he seemed to have forgotten to chat with Jiang Qingqing on WeChat.

As time passed, Lin Tian's grades began to improve gradually.

He achieved good results in the monthly exam; although he hadn't surpassed Zhou Xiaoli yet, it had already made his classmates look at him with new eyes.

Seeing Lin Tian's grade improvement, Zhou Xiaoli felt even more uneasy. She began to spread rumors even more frantically, and even openly accused Lin Tian in class, becoming somewhat obsessed.

Eventually, even the classmates and teachers could feel her malice toward Lin Tian.

Zhou Xiaoli shouted loudly in class, "Teacher, Lin Tian's grades were obtained through plagiarism! All his homework is copied from mine!"

Jiang Qingqing, who was preparing to start class, heard Zhou Xiaoli's words, frowned, and asked Lin Tian, "Lin Tian, what is this all about?"

A surge of joy rose in Lin Tian's heart, thinking that this was a great opportunity to counterattack. He deliberately put on an aggrieved expression, acting somewhat flustered and urgent as he said:

"Teacher, I didn't copy. My grades were achieved through my own hard work. If Zhou Xiaoli doesn't believe it, let her bring out the evidence."

Zhou Xiaoli was choked by Lin Tian's words, stammering and unable to say a word.

Seeing Zhou Xiaoli's appearance, Jiang Qingqing said, "Zhou Xiaoli, if you have no evidence, do not frame your classmates casually. Lin Tian's academic progress is something everyone has witnessed. We should be happy for him instead of making groundless accusations."

The teacher's words made Zhou Xiaoli feel so ashamed that she could find nowhere to hide, and she slinked back to her seat in disgrace.

Seeing Zhou Xiaoli's state, Lin Tian felt a wave of joy, taking a bit of schadenfreude in it.

He realized that the reason Zhou Xiaoli acted this way was probably due to her deep-seated inferiority complex and insecurity, which was why she tried to belittle others to satisfy her own petty sense of existence.

He decided not to bicker with such a clown for the time being, but to focus his energy on other matters.

After school, Lin Tian walked briskly on his way home, the afterglow of the setting sun spilling over his thin shoulders and casting a long shadow.

Although he was an orphan, his life today was not bleak because of it.

The small apartment where he lived alone was simple yet tidy; this was a cozy nest he had built with his own hardworking hands.

Pushing open the door, Lin Tian skillfully changed into slippers and casually tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa.

He walked straight to the kitchen and took a bag of frozen dumplings from the refrigerator; this was one of his favorite dinners.

Turning on the gas stove, the water in the pot happily started to sing. Before the water boiled, he took a canned beverage out of the cabinet, which he had bought at a supermarket outside the school today.

When the water boiled, Lin Tian poured the dumplings into the pot, and the dumplings tumbled in the water like they were dancing.

He leaned against the kitchen doorway, holding the beverage in his hand, a satisfied smile blooming on his face.

Without financial pressure, he could freely choose the food he liked. This simple and pure happiness made him feel that life was full of hope everywhere.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from outside the house. Lin Tian put down the beverage alertly and walked over to the window to look out.

He saw a dark figure moving around in the yard. His heart tightened, but he quickly calmed down. He tiptoed to the door, picked up a wooden stick, and cautiously opened the door.

In the yard, a wounded little cat was curled up in the corner, its leg wrapped in bandages, its eyes full of terror and helplessness.

Filled with pity, Lin Tian squatted down and softly coaxed the little cat. The cat seemed to sense his kindness and gradually relaxed its vigilance.

Lin Tian carefully picked it up and found that its wound was still bleeding.

He hurried back inside, fetched the medical kit, cleaned the little cat's wound, and re-bandaged it.

The little cat lay quietly in his arms, occasionally letting out weak meows.