Chapter Twenty Do Your Best

  I'm so sorry for the late update, I just woke up at 11 pm and was sweating all over, recently I've been writing two books a day, it's really tiring. After waking up, I realized it's Mid-Autumn Festival, happy holidays to all my friends! Go back home and spend some quality time with your family on this reunion festival. And also, please vote for me again, haha.

  An Qi.

  At night, the cold wind howls, after 9 pm, in the high school campus, with a bell ringing for dismissal, the originally peaceful scene around the teaching building suddenly turned into a bustling vegetable market, with people's voices and scattered figures everywhere, chatting and laughing as they walked from the teaching building to the dormitory area.

  Especially for third-year high school students, this moment is probably the most relaxing moment of the day.

  In such a joyful and lively environment, Guo Zhengyang's mood was more relaxed than ever before. Even his usual cold and detached attitude towards the surroundings had softened somewhat. Tonight's test results gave him quite a boost, proving that his hard work over the past week hadn't been in vain. Although only two subjects' tests were released tonight, Chinese and comprehensive subjects haven't been graded yet, but he should have made progress nonetheless.

  This progress made Guo Zhengyang's face, which was usually as cold as a block of ice, also reveal a hint of a smile.

  School's out, going downstairs to clear his mind. He was still preparing to come back and fight again, but before that, Guo Zhengyang quickly found a figure in the distant crowd and stepped forward to greet him.

  It was time to get off school, and the fifty yuan he owed couldn't be dragged on forever. With a light sigh, he walked over with quick steps, and Zhang Hang, who had been walking alongside Guo Zhengyang, also paused for a moment, staring blankly at Guo Zhengyang before following him blankly.

  The two figures walking in front suddenly stopped and turned around, after which the quiet and elegant figure smiled silently at them. Another girl standing beside her looked at Guo Zhengyang with a puzzled expression, then looked at her companion, but as she looked, the puzzlement in her eyes suddenly changed to excitement and anticipation, even sparking a hint of gossip.

  "Thanks for this afternoon, I'll return your money."

  Kuang Zhengyang also walked up at this time, took out a 50-yuan bill and handed it over.

  "Cut, didn't get it wrong, right?" Guo Zhengyang handed back the banknote, and An Jing's quiet shadow naturally took it over, even laughing and saying "don't be polite". But it was the girl beside her who suddenly rolled her eyes, excitement and expectation directly turning into speechlessness. "We've been in the same class for several years and have never seen you two talk before, I thought you were going to confess or chase our school beauty An Da Mei, how did it turn out to be about returning money? It's really disappointing."

  "Yeah, Old Guo, you're so rich, how can you still owe An Xi money? This doesn't make sense, I thought you were going to confess. With that girl's words, Zhang Hang was also stunned for a moment before laughing and speaking up, "You wouldn't be using this as an excuse to hit on her, would you? But you're too cliché, we're all classmates in the same class, who doesn't know your family is rich, everything you wear and use is something we can't afford, even borrowing a eraser from you would be more believable than this."

  With just a few words, Guo Zhengyang suddenly rolled his eyes and then glared at Zhang Hang before turning around to smile and say, "Thanks anyway, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

  "Goodbye." Anqi also covered her mouth and giggled, nodding her head, seemingly amused by the words.

  It was just a nod, when the girl beside An Xi suddenly spoke up again, "Hey, Guo Zhengyang, although you are our class flower, but we An Xi is also the grade's top beauty, don't you think of pursuing her? If you do, there's a good opportunity next week, us girls plan to celebrate An Xi's birthday, want to join in?"

  "Pshaw, what nonsense are you talking about?" The girl spoke with a smile to Guo Zhengyang, her eyebrows raised in amusement, but her words made An Xi jump in surprise, and she immediately glared at the girl, tugging on her sleeve.

  "Hey, this guy is our school's most famous and hardest to get male god. Many girls have been rejected by him over the years. If he takes the initiative to pursue you, that would be so impressive." The girl whispered excitedly in Anzi's ear, "And besides, don't think I didn't notice, his eyes are different when looking at you, and his behavior is also different when you're around. I bet he definitely has a crush on you."

  The girl's whisper fell into Anqi's ears, making her face red again, and she glared at the other person fiercely.

  It's true, Guo Zhengyang used to deliberately play cool and handsome in front of her, although he thought he was being subtle, but over time it's hard not to be noticed by someone with a keen mind.

  Although these words were just whispers among the girls, they still fell clearly into Guo Zhengyang's ears, making him smile suddenly. He smiled and looked at An Xiang, "So next week is your birthday, happy birthday in advance, but I'm quite busy recently, might not have time, sorry."

  Many things from his youth are worth a smile when he thinks about them now, but for him, the beauty in front of him is only worth fifty bucks.

  She helped him once, and if she has anything in the future, Guo Zhengyang will definitely not hesitate to lend a hand, but other meanings have long been worn away by the passage of decades.

  "Ah~"

  The crisp answer surprised the girl opposite, who stared in surprise, but An Xi smiled and said "thank you".

  She nodded her head in thanks before turning around and looking sideways, somewhat helplessly.

  "Lao Guo, you really just came to return the money."

  It was also at this time that Zhang Hang, who was standing beside Guo Zhengyang, suddenly spoke out in surprise. He was a relatively carefree guy and had never paid attention to Guo Zhengyang's deliberate attempts to show off in front of girls. So when he saw Guo Zhengyang so bluntly reject such a good opportunity, he realized he had misunderstood things from the start. After speaking, Zhang Hang suddenly looked at the girl across from him and laughed, "Hey, beautiful, Old Guo doesn't have time but I do! Count me in, okay? He's really busy now, studying hard every day."

  "Really? You have a girlfriend now?" Zhang Hang's words made the girl who was stunned again change her expression, looking both angry and amused as she glared over at him. However, as she glared, she suddenly looked shocked, as if she had heard something unbelievable, "What did you say? He's studying hard?"

  We're all old classmates now, what kind of people are in our class and roughly what kind of grades they get, who wouldn't know.

  "Hey, you guys don't know this, but my bro has been stimulated lately. He's been working hard every day, making those bookworms look bad. Every day, he sleeps right in the classroom. Haven't you noticed that he's almost always in the classroom? During the day, when we're having class, his attitude is so serious it makes me cringe. And at night, it's even more exaggerated! One night, I didn't believe it, so I snuck out to take a look. It was past midnight, and I stood outside the window for over 10 minutes. He was still studying seriously, completely unaware of my presence. This attitude... although it's a bit late, but I dare say that no one in the entire school can compare to our old Guo. If he had more time, getting into Tsinghua or Peking University wouldn't be a problem at all. If you don't believe me, come try visiting the teaching building at midnight, and he'll definitely be studying in the classroom." Zhang Hang got excited after hearing this, talking non-stop to the two girls across from him, who looked at each other in confusion, then back at Zhang Hang, and finally at Guo Zhengyang, their eyes filled with puzzlement and doubt.

  It was these words that made Guo Zhengyang feel a bit helpless, Zhang Hang this kid was obviously taking the opportunity to get close to the two girls, he had already walked to the side of one of them, almost wanting to stick together, fortunately this guy just walked his girlfriend's first kiss in the afternoon.

  "Zhang Hang, your girlfriend is here." With a helpless smile, he spoke up and Zhang Hang, who was enthusiastically chatting with An Qi, suddenly startled, turned his head around and looked around, "Where? Where? Ah, Old Guo, you scared me..."

  Kuang Zhengyang then laughed and nodded at An Xiang and the two girls before turning around and leaving.

  Because of the progress in his grades, he saw the result of his hard work and saw that he was one step closer to achieving his dream. Guo Zhengyang's mentality had indeed been stirred up a bit, no longer as cold as before, otherwise he wouldn't have said such joking words.

  But after settling the debt, Guo Zhengyang hid in the toilet and secretly smoked a few more cigarettes before walking back into the classroom with renewed energy. The progress he had made through hard work did not make him relax at all, but instead further ignited his fighting spirit.

  In the previous life, he had gone through all sorts of crises and dangers in the spiritual realm, but now, in a stable environment, he was just learning. Even if he hadn't yet ignited his spiritual sea, he couldn't rely solely on his spiritual awareness to succeed, but even with just his normal brainpower, he was becoming more and more confident that he could do his best.