From Slacking Off To Becoming A Top Student - Chapter 5 - Chapter 5 – There’s Another Expert!

When Yan Xiaoxi saw the homeroom teacher standing at the door, it finally hit her—she’d been set up. She’d become the scapegoat for the sleeping dragon desk mate sitting beside her.

In that moment, the transferred top student was so furious her fists clenched tight, and she nearly ground her teeth to dust.

Just a moment ago, she had thought he was a pretty good person—that having a desk mate like him was a rare stroke of luck.

But now? He turned around and threw her under the bus.

And he’s still pretending?

What a performance!

Just you wait—I’m going to rip off that fake mask of yours!

The homeroom teacher was already walking over, his face full of concern. After all, if the daughter of an important official didn’t go to the cafeteria and instead stayed in the classroom eating takeout, it could spark serious misunderstandings

What if her father thought the school’s food was terrible? That could land him in serious trouble.

“Teacher—actually, this takeout…”

Before Yan Xiaoxi could explain, Chen Xiaoxin cut her off.

“Teacher Tian!”

“Please don’t misunderstand—this takeout was actually mine,” Chen Xiaoxin said calmly.

Yan Xiaoxi was suddenly stunned, with an incredible look on her face, and even a little at a loss. He… he just made me the scapegoat, so why is he suddenly taking the blame now?

Could it be…

Could it be his conscience kicking in?

“You ordered it?”

Teacher Tian looked at him, puzzled.

“Yeah, I ordered it,” Chen Xiaoxin nodded.

He glanced at his stunned desk mate and then explained seriously: “Here’s what happened: I noticed Yan Xiaoxi didn’t go to lunch, so I asked her why, but she wouldn’t say.”

“I figured maybe she didn’t have a lunch buddy. After all, she’s in a new environment—it takes time to adjust. So… I ordered her some takeout.”

“In any case—no matter what, I couldn’t let her go hungry,” he added.

Then he lowered his head in guilt, voice full of self-blame: “I’m sorry, Teacher Tian. I’ve let you down. As the class rep, I’ve violated school rules.”

You…
You freaking—!!

Even a top-tier straight-A student like Yan Xiaoxi couldn’t help but want to swear out loud. She was absolutely stunned by Chen Xiaoxin’s slick maneuver.

She’d suspected a plot twist might be coming, but never imagined this guy—who was in a passive position just seconds ago—would instantly flip the script and seize the moral high ground in one sentence!

Meanwhile, Teacher Tian, hearing this heartfelt explanation, was secretly delighted.

Assigning Yan Xiaoxi to sit next to Chen Xiaoxin? What a brilliant and wise decision!

“Since your intention was to help a classmate, it’s understandable,” he said. “Besides, I bear some responsibility too. I forgot today was Yan Xiaoxi’s first day at school.”

He turned to Yan Xiaoxi and added warmly: “Student Xiaoxi, come with me—I’ll take you to lunch and help you get a meal card.”

“But… I…”

Yan Xiaoxi had just started to speak—and Chen Xiaoxin interrupted again.

“Go on, go on.”

“The food in our school cafeteria is actually pretty good—tastes just as good as takeout, and it’s a lot safer too,” Chen Xiaoxin said. Then he turned to the homeroom teacher: “Teacher Tian, you should hurry and take her. As for the takeout… I’ll take care of it later.”

“Alright.”

“Have you eaten yet?” the teacher asked.

Chen Xiaoxin shook his head and replied seriously, “There are too many people in the cafeteria right now. I’m going to review some English words first, and then go over once the crowd dies down. After all, you always tell us to make the most of every moment to study.”

The homeroom teacher smiled in relief, then took the indignant Yan Xiaoxi to the cafeteria.

As they were leaving the classroom, Yan Xiaoxi looked back at him—and coincidentally, Chen Xiaoxin was looking at her too. Their eyes met for a brief moment. While his gaze held some apology, Yan Xiaoxi’s eyes were brimming with fury.

A grudge was definitely formed.

And she had no intention of switching seats now.

She swore to herself: I’ll definitely expose his ugly true face to the light of justice!

“Student Xiaoxi, did you feel the academic atmosphere of our class? It’s quite intense, right?” While leading Yan Xiaoxi to the cafeteria, Teacher Tian smiled and said, “Especially your deskmate—Chen Xiaoxin may not have great grades, but he’s incredibly diligent and a really kind person.”

At those words, Yan Xiaoxi nearly broke down. Her brain buzzed like it was short-circuiting.

Diligent in studying?
A kind person?

Are we talking about the same person?!

When Yan Xiaoxi returned to the classroom, she ignored her “sleeping dragon” deskmate, and Chen Xiaoxin didn’t say anything to her either. They each focused on their own work.

But while Chen Xiaoxin was completely at ease, Yan Xiaoxi stayed on high alert. She swore she would never fall into his trap again.

Absolutely never!!

Meanwhile, on the third floor of the administrative building, in the senior-year Chinese department office—Teacher Zhang was grading papers while chatting with colleagues.

“I heard we’ve got a new super scholar in the school—what’s her name… Yan Xiaoxi?”

“Yeah, that’s her! She was offered early admission to Tsinghua and Peking University, but she turned it down, insisting on taking the national college entrance exam—guess she wants to grab that top-scorer title and give her résumé a nice bold highlight.”

“Which class is she in?”

“I think Class Two.”

“Class Two? Old Zhang! Didn’t you give Class Two a pop quiz this morning? Quick—check out Yan Xiaoxi’s paper!”

In an instant, all the teachers crowded around Teacher Zhang. Under their eager urging, he found Yan Xiaoxi’s exam paper, and the group began correcting it together.

Well, not so much correcting—more like nitpicking every tiny flaw.

Even so, excluding the essay, she scored 87 out of 100 on the objective questions alone.

“Incredible! Just amazing!”

“And that’s after we picked it apart. If we were a bit more lenient, she could’ve gotten a perfect 90+!”

“A top student through and through. I’m seriously impressed.”

“Alright, alright, let’s check out her essay.”

When Teacher Zhang flipped the paper over—everyone froze in shock.

“Wha…?”
“Classical Chinese?”
“She actually wrote her essay in Classical Chinese?!”

After the brief moment of disbelief, they all leaned in to read seriously. Occasionally, debates broke out over particular phrases and sentence structures.

After rounds of careful analysis and discussion, they agreed to give the essay a score of 58 out of 60—an absolutely outstanding grade.

“There’s a tiny flaw in the central theme—it could be better.”
“Yeah, and maybe a bit of showing off. But considering it’s Yan Xiaoxi, it kinda makes sense.”

While the teachers were still savoring this stunning piece of classical writing, another teacher casually picked up a different exam paper and flipped to the essay.

The next second—he froze like he’d been electrocuted, dazed and wide-eyed.

“Holy crap!”

“There’s another expert!!”