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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 132: The Unsettled Campus
"What does this ancient poem mean?"
As soon as Wei Yuan said this, Lan Xue felt that he must be joking. After all, Wei Yuan's language grades were definitely among the top ten in the class, and he wrote very well.
How well did he write?
This guy could turn every essay into a short story within the limit of one thousand words, much like the style of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
Not that he wrote ghost stories like Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio; he wouldn't dare to write an essay as a ghost story, no matter how bold he was.
Instead, his essays were all rewritten into short stories according to the topic requirements. When you looked through all his essays, you would find that they were all interconnected.
And now this guy was actually asking her about ancient poetry, which immediately put Lan Xue on alert: "Your language grades are better than mine; don't mess around."
Lan Xue said this, but she couldn't help her curiosity and leaned over to take a look. She saw that the part he was pointing to was clearly something Wei Yuan had added himself.
It was a popular poem from the Qing Dynasty: "Beauty does not confuse people; it is people who are confused. In a lover's eyes, she is like Xi Shi. Fate brings us together from thousands of miles away; three smiles are merely foolishness."
Although it sounded rather common, it was precisely this kind of simplicity that could express the feelings between men and women vividly, avoiding the obscure and difficult-to-understand subtle poetry that might leave the other party at a loss, which also did not fit the characteristics of the times.
Lan Xue's face turned red, and she forced herself to remain calm: "Isn't this poem quite simple? You can't possibly not understand it."
"I can read it, but I'm afraid you won't understand my intentions."
When Wei Yuan said this, he looked at Lan Xue with deep affection, as if he could express all the feelings in his heart through his eyes.
It seemed that Lan Xue really received the message, as she shyly replied, "Can we wait until after the college entrance examination to discuss everything?"
Although Wei Yuan wanted to confirm their relationship with Lan Xue as soon as possible, he understood her feelings well enough. He felt he couldn't be weak any longer; was he supposed to just lie there and wait for Lan Xue to make the first move?
However, this was precisely the time when they were facing the college entrance examination, a very sensitive period for most high school students. After all, most of them hoped to get into an ideal university.
Having worked so hard up to this point, Lan Xue naturally didn't want to be distracted. Wei Yuan thought that if he pressed too hard during this sensitive time, it might backfire. Their relationship was only a thin layer of glass away from being broken through.
It was precisely because of Wei Yuan's innocence that he felt so nervous about confirming their relationship. In reality, if they were happy together, whether or not they confirmed their relationship didn't really matter.
The two of them had mutual feelings for each other. Even in the classroom, they appeared overly intimate, and anyone with keen eyes could tell their relationship was not simple. For instance, Chang Wei, who had just been arguing with Wei Yuan, now looked at him with increasingly resentful and venomous eyes.
"Okay, I promise I'll study hard," Lan Xue said.
As Wei Yuan spoke these words, he naturally placed his hand on Lan Xue's waist. This was considered a relatively intimate gesture between them. He knew that Lan Xue's body was quite sensitive; when his hand rested on her waist, she initially froze in surprise.
Seeing her body tremble slightly and feeling the smoothness of her waist, Wei Yuan also noticed that Lan Xue was warning him with a sidelong glance. That look seemed to say: "This is the classroom; can you not do this?"
Moreover, the expression in Lan Xue's eyes did not convey a sense of grievance or anger from being inappropriately touched; it was merely a mix of shyness and tension from being overly intimate in public as lovers.
Wei Yuan was not the type of man who rushed things. He acted this way because Chang Wei had been staring at them both. The look in Chang Wei's eyes made Wei Yuan feel very uncomfortable. He knew that Chang Wei liked Lan Xue and had a possessive kind of affection, believing that only he and Lan Xue were truly meant for each other in the entire school.
Wei Yuan clearly understood his gaze; the sense of grievance and anger was unmistakably that of someone whose most precious possession had been taken away. This made Wei Yuan very uncomfortable.
"Look at you, what does it matter to you if I hug my girlfriend? What are you staring at?"
Wei Yuan was also in a bad mood, and the more he saw himself getting close to Lan Xue, the angrier he became. The more annoyed he felt, the closer he wanted to get to Lan Xue. He was declaring his ownership: this is my woman, and our matters are none of your business.
At this moment, the observant Lan Xue sensed the subtle tension between them. It was a silent competition through their gazes. She knew that as a woman, she needed to support Wei Yuan at this time; it was also a good opportunity to make Chang Wei give up.
Indeed, she disliked Chang Wei as well, resenting his arrogance even more. She hated that before they had any real interaction, he treated her like a prized possession, being enthusiastic yet treating her like a decorative vase.
This reflects a contradiction in a woman's heart; they want to be cherished like antiques by a man, but only if that man is someone they like. If it’s just some man with whom they have no connection treating them this way, it would only make them feel disgusted.
The two of them didn’t speak; their simple exchange of glances already conveyed their feelings. Lan Xue cooperated very well; while explaining a math problem to Wei Yuan, she naturally leaned closer to him, appearing particularly intimate.
However, those around them knew that Lan Xue had been specifically assigned by the teacher to help Wei Yuan catch up on his studies. So while they were unsure whether feelings were developing between them over time, they chose to understand by simply ignoring it.
Yet one person could not ignore it—Chang Wei. Watching Lan Xue not only tolerate Wei Yuan's advances but also actively lean towards him made it clear that as a man who had long regarded Lan Xue as his own possession, he felt his heart bleeding.
He even felt an impulse—a desire to rush over and give Wei Yuan a good beating.
But gradually he realized his situation; he thought Wei Yuan was trying to provoke him. If he publicly fought in the classroom in front of the teacher, the only one who would suffer would be himself.
"Trying to set me up? No way. With your intelligence, you’re not worthy."
Clearly, Classmate Chang Wei was destined to be unable to concentrate. He was constantly entangled in various emotions in his mind, which were clashing and nearly driving him to madness.
However, at that moment, seeing Chang Wei's troubled expression, Wei Yuan couldn't help but smile slyly. It brought him comfort to see that Chang Wei was not doing well.
Lan Xue leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Don't keep provoking him; focus on your studies."
Lan Xue was a very smart woman. She understood that in the current situation, she should cooperate with Wei Yuan rather than appear hesitant, as that would only embarrass Wei Yuan and please Chang Wei, which was certainly not what she wanted to see.
So she chose to cooperate with Wei Yuan at that moment, but her heart was clear. She did not want Wei Yuan to be distracted by competing with Chang Wei; she hoped instead that Wei Yuan would work hard so they could both get into college, preferably the same one.
"Okay, let's study and review."
Wei Yuan felt that Lan Xue was very supportive of him, and he was quite satisfied. He decided to ignore Chang Wei completely. The best way to deal with an annoying person is to live better than them and then ignore them; that is enough to make them feel conflicted and envious.
It seemed that Wei Yuan was indeed happier than every other guy in the class. The most beautiful girl in their class sat right next to him, and the two of them were very close, with Lan Xue showing great concern for Wei Yuan.
Of course, the arrangement made by their homeroom teacher Wu Yongsheng for Lan Xue to tutor Wei Yuan was not because of his poor grades. Although Wei Yuan had been away from school for a month, his scores in Language and History were still outstanding in the grade; it was just Math and English where he struggled.
Coincidentally, those two subjects were Lan Xue's strengths, while she also had difficulties in Language and History. Therefore, considering their complementary skills, Wu Yongsheng naturally thought of having them sit together.
At that time, Wu Yongsheng actually already knew that Lan Xue had actively sought out Wei Yuan. She even felt that their relationship was not so simple. Whether this open-minded and innovative homeroom teacher intended to bring the two together remained a mystery.
"How do you solve this problem?"
Wei Yuan's attention couldn't fully focus on the book, but Lan Xue had already entered a deep review phase, although the situation had changed a bit as she was holding a history book.
Originally, Lan Xue was prepared to help Wei Yuan review, but now it had turned into her asking Wei Yuan about history exam questions. Wei Yuan understood that she was trying to get herself into the right mindset and not focus on Chang Wei anymore, so she chose history questions to let herself express a bit.
"What kind of question is this? How could these possibly be on the college entrance exam?"
Wei Yuan saw that the material for the question Lan Xue pointed to in the guidebook read: During the Qin Dynasty End period, peasant uprisings broke out everywhere, among which Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were the most powerful. In the end, Liu Bang emerged victorious and established his empire, while Xiang Yu committed suicide at Wujiang. The success and failure of the two were largely determined by Liu Bang having an invincible general, Han Xin, by his side. However, Liu Bang eventually worried that Han Xin's achievements would overshadow him and killed him.
The final question was: Please analyze the strengths of each of the three individuals and the decisive factors leading to their ultimate failure.
"Dog Day's, where did you buy this guidebook?" Wei Yuan looked defeated.
Lan Xue picked up the book and looked at him seriously, "What's wrong?"
Wei Yuan smiled and said, "I have to admit this question is very clever, but obviously under normal thinking, it's impossible for the college entrance exam to ask such a question. There is simply no standard answer for this type of question; how can the examiners grade it?"
"Whoever answers reasonably gets high marks."
Wei Yuan suddenly realized, "No wonder your language and history grades are not good."
Hearing Wei Yuan's teasing, Lan Xue couldn't help but retort, "Your math and English aren't any better."
It was common for couples to bicker. Wei Yuan just smiled and said, "That's because most math and English questions have standard answers. Although subjects like history and language also have some standard answers, the range of responses is relatively broader."
Wei Yuan first summarized the reasons for the differences in performance between the two individuals and then continued, "However, this question clearly has too broad a scope, and there is basically no content in historical texts regarding the Chu-Han Contention, so generally speaking, it is unlikely to appear on the college entrance examination."
Lan Xue, after being rebutted by him, argued in a playful tone, "Maybe the examiner just thought of this question at the last minute? You don't have to worry about whether it could appear on the exam; can you just answer me first?"
Wei Yuan knew that she mainly wanted to use a topic he was good at to attract his attention and get him into a study mode. Moreover, seeing her act cute was quite charming; having such playful behavior occasionally was rather nice.
So Wei Yuan said, "Using Li Zongwu's Thick Black Theory to analyze, Liu Bang's success lies in having a thick skin and a dark heart. He may not understand how to lead troops, but he knows how to choose generals, gaining capable ministers like Xiao He, talented individuals like Zhang Liang, and military talents like Han Xin."
Seeing her listen attentively made Wei Yuan feel a surge of desire to perform: "As for Xiang Yu, I personally really like him. He possesses extraordinary strength and charisma; unfortunately, he lacks a thick enough skin and a dark enough heart. To quote Han Xin from the Records of the Grand Historian: this person has the bravery of a common man and the compassion of a woman, which is why he ultimately failed."
Upon hearing Wei Yuan analyze using the concept of Thick Black Theory, Lan Xue felt it was very refreshing and urged Wei Yuan, "Then what about Han Xin?"
Wei Yuan continued, "Han Xin can be considered a talented general. Earlier in his career, he endured humiliation but eventually made a remarkable rise to become a great general who was undefeated in battle."
Wei Yuan was quite interested in Han Xin, so he first highlighted his achievements before discussing his failures: "Unfortunately, he is a talented general but completely clueless about politics. He helped Liu Bang drive Xiang Yu into a corner where he faced songs from all directions; in fact, he was also pushing himself into a dead end. If he had ambition, he could have taken the opportunity to rise up independently and potentially establish a tripartite balance of power."
This perspective from Wei Yuan was evidently more novel. Lan Xue felt very excited upon hearing this and listened as Wei Yuan sighed, "When the birds are gone, good bows are hidden; when the cunning rabbit dies, the hound is cooked. By driving Xiang Yu into a dead end and forcing him to take his own life at Wu River, it undoubtedly meant that his own value had been completely exhausted."
Wei Yuan paused for a moment before continuing, "Having achievements that overshadow your lord is definitely taboo. Unfortunately, Han Xin did not understand politics; thus, once stability was achieved, he naturally lost his value. At that moment, it was Liu Bang's time to kill him."
After listening to his words, Lan Xue said, "Your viewpoint sounds similar to Grandpa's."
"My views are similar to Blue Old Man's?"
Wei Yuan looked a bit confused, only to hear Lan Xue explain, "When I couldn't sleep, my grandfather would tell me stories, but he didn't know how to tell fairy tales, so they were all historical stories."
Wei Yuan knew that Lan Xue's parents had died in a car accident when she was very young, so she had been raised by the Blue Old Man. Perhaps the Blue Old Man had told her these stories countless times.
"You liked listening to this when you were little?"
Wei Yuan found it hard to imagine an old man telling his granddaughter such stories. After all, these kinds of stories were usually more common for boys, especially in those comic books.
"I didn't like it at first, but after hearing it for a long time, I thought it was quite good," Lan Xue said with a smile.
Taking advantage of this topic, Wei Yuan was genuinely drawn in by Lan Xue. The two began discussing the issues in their tutoring books. They started with Wei Yuan's strengths in Language and History, and gradually, Lan Xue began guiding Wei Yuan to memorize English lines and taught him her unique memorization techniques.
The two seemed particularly close and completely ignored Chang Wei, which made him grit his teeth. Seeing how well they got along, how could he sit there calmly?
Under Lan Xue's supervision, Wei Yuan was very serious during class, and he felt that time passed quite quickly; before he knew it, four classes had ended.
At this point, Wei Yuan naturally sat there waiting for Lan Xue to pack her bag. Studying seriously was not an easy task; just like Lan Xue, after a few classes, there was already a large pile of things on the desk. Wei Yuan could only sit beside her and wait for her to finish packing.
When he turned around to look, Chang Wei had already disappeared. After waiting for Lan Xue to finish packing, the two naturally walked out together. Their classroom was on the third floor, and as they reached the stairs, Wei Yuan suddenly saw a chubby boy running toward him.
"Wei Yuan, it's good that you're here."
"Is there something you need?"
Wei Yuan's attitude towards the fat guy was not very polite. He used to be one of his few good friends in school, and the four of them even seriously considered becoming sworn brothers at one point.
This is a thought many young people have, especially those immersed in the world of martial arts. However, that close brotherly bond was shattered by an incident that made Wei Yuan detest this fat guy.
At that time, the four of them were basically united, often hanging out together, and whenever one of them was bullied, the other three would definitely come to help.
But once, this fat guy and another person got into a fight with a classmate from school. After they beat him up, the classmate stubbornly said, "If you have guts, don't leave after school. I'll find someone to deal with you."
Such lines could be heard in any movie about school violence. In that environment, the two of them naturally responded defiantly, "Who’s afraid of whom?"
As a result, that classmate went to grab someone and brought Hammer back to school. When they saw Hammer's fierce expression, the two bullies immediately shrank back and hid in a corner, not daring to show themselves. Meanwhile, Liu Lei, who went to help, almost got beaten up.
Liu Lei was also part of their group. Hearing that his brother was being bullied, he naturally went to help. However, those two just watched Liu Lei get beaten without daring to intervene.
It was during that incident that Wei Yuan used his arm to take a hit for Liu Lei; otherwise, that Hammer would have smashed down on his head. But facing those two cowards made them feel extremely annoyed.
"Hammer is here," the fat guy said to Wei Yuan.
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