Orange Storm chapter 44
Smarter Than You
On the other end, Qi Xiang was probably dumbfounded by Fang Xing’s words, momentarily speechless. Fang Xing stood on the balcony, looking down; across the street was a night market with red and green parasols crowded together, offering fried rice, barbecue, milk tea, and more. It was quite lively.
The wind on the balcony was strong and a bit chilly. Fang Xing pulled up the zipper of his jacket and made a clicking sound.
“Speak. If you’re not talking, I’ll hang up.”
“It’s not… I don’t know what to say.” Qi Xiang recovered, “I’m wondering if there’s something wrong with my ears, or if your brain is malfunctioning… Oh, the brain of the top student in our grade shouldn’t have problems… Are you saying you want to date someone?”
“Yeah.” Fang Xing was inexplicably amused by Qi Xiang’s words. He laughed for a while before answering, “I seem to… really like someone.”
“… I never expected that.” Qi Xiang sighed. “I always thought your personality would be devoted to academics for a lifetime. Who is it, someone from your school?”
“No.” Fang Xing hesitated for a moment. “They’re working.”
“Mature big sister.” Qi Xiang was a bit silly. “Well, my experience seems useless. When I was dating, we just ate together, did homework, and the last time I tried to hold hands on the playground, Lao Yang led the security guards for a night patrol, scared the hell out of me.”
Fang Xing laughed for a while, and finally sighed, “Forget it.”
In fact, he didn’t necessarily need Qi Xiang to impart any experience. He just wanted to talk to someone casually. After all, this was the first time he had liked someone, and he was confused besides liking—scared that Jiang Zhijin would notice his feelings, yet afraid that the other party wouldn’t know.
“I think,” Qi Xiang whispered, “this mature lady who’s already working probably has a lot of dating experience. In her heart, we’re probably still little brothers.”
No, he’s her son.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Zhijin’s dating experience… There was a former boyfriend, and Li Xingyan was pursuing him. Fang Xing sighed.
“Let it go.”
Qi Xiang originally came to ask a question, but unexpectedly heard such big news. He forgot what he wanted to say and couldn’t help but remind before hanging up, “Although with your grades, you certainly don’t need me to say this, but I still want to say, don’t let it affect your studies. Handle other matters yourself.”
Fang Xing smiled and felt a bit moved in his heart. “Got it.”
Excluding the first and last days of their departure and return, the provincial competition started on the 9th and ended on the 14th. The 9th was the opening ceremony, where they distributed the competition rules and procedures. In the afternoon, students registered, received their preliminary exam admission cards and numbers, and then went to see the examination rooms.
Although the exam room layout had been sent out, many candidates were still wandering around the examination building, confirming the location of their examination room. Fang Xing found it quite meaningless, so he decided to go back to the hotel after collecting the materials.
He should be among the first batch of people to return to the hotel. In the lobby, there was no one except for a waiter. Fang Xing entered the elevator and pressed the sixth floor directly.
When the elevator doors were about to close, someone outside suddenly rushed towards the elevator. Fang Xing didn’t see clearly who it was, but reflexively pressed the door open button.
The elevator doors opened again, and Fang Xing took a glance; unexpectedly, it was Tan Zhuo.
Tan Zhuo probably didn’t expect Fang Xing to be in the elevator. He suddenly froze at the door, his gaze fixed on Fang Xing. One foot was placed on the position of the elevator door, and he refused to move. Until the elevator beeped twice as a warning, Fang Xing restrained his impulse to scold him and looked at him expressionlessly, “Are you getting in or not?”
In the end, Tan Zhuo got in, standing in the corner of the elevator, trying to distance himself from Fang Xing as much as possible. It seemed as if Fang Xing was some kind of virus, but Tan Zhuo’s gaze never left him.
The elevator ascended, and no one else entered. Tan Zhuo’s gaze remained fixed on Fang Xing throughout.
His gaze was always accompanied by a chilly air and a hint of resentment when directed at Fang Xing, as if he wished he could dig a few pieces of flesh from him. Fang Xing found him annoying and turned to look at him.
“What are you looking at?” Fang Xing asked, suppressing his anger.
“Are you pleased with yourself?” After a few seconds, Tan Zhuo suddenly asked.
“With everyone revolving around you, good grades, and a wealthy family, those girls like Chen Yao treat you like they’ve never seen a man before. Do you think you’re pretty awesome?”
Alright, he can still use the term “awesome.” Fang Xing had always thought that when Tan Zhuo argued, he would only repeat words like a parrot.
“Pretentious. In reality, you can only hang out with worthless rich second generations like Xu Hang. You think you’re impressive just because people praise you. After ranking first in the grade once, you really think highly of yourself—”
Fang Xing sighed and took a step toward Tan Zhuo.
Tan Zhuo took a small step back and immediately stood still again.
“What are you going to do?”
“I told you last time that if you act crazy again, I’ll hit you.” Fang Xing said.
Ding—The elevator had reached the sixth floor, and the door opened automatically. But neither of them moved. Tan Zhuo happened to retreat to the elevator entrance, and he yelled loudly with his neck stretched out, “What are you going to do?”
“No need to speak so loudly. You’ve got the timing wrong; now there’s probably just the two of us on this floor.” Fang Xing said.
Tan Zhuo’s expression noticeably panicked, and Fang Xing stared at him with a smile.
“Unfortunately, there are cameras in the elevator, and there are also cameras outside. If I hit you, both surveillance cameras will catch me in the act. Don’t worry; the competition is about to start. I definitely won’t pick this time to hit you. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”
Tan Zhuo’s face turned red, and Fang Xing felt that he might faint from his rapid breathing. He stared at Fang Xing, asking, “You think that getting first place once—”
“I did only get first place once, but rest assured, even if I’m not the first next time, I’ll definitely be ahead of you. If you don’t believe it, try it in this competition.” Fang Xing looked at him and smiled.
“Because I am indeed much smarter than you.”
When he returned to the room, Fang Xing still remembered Tan Zhuo’s last face, which was trembling with rage, and his extremely expressive expression.
It was truly… satisfying.
Arguing with such a person felt refreshing, especially when they were left speechless, Fang Xing finally understood why Jiang Zhijin’s mouth was always so unrestrained—
Jiang Zhijin, Jiang Zhijin, Jiang Zhijin…
Jiang Zhijin still hadn’t sent him a message today.
Fang Xing’s originally high spirits dropped slightly again. He lay on the bed, picked up the physics textbook beside him, covered his face, and sighed silently.