Proactively Attracted chapter 22
The Loyal Dog and the Lamb
In the days that followed, Lu Xingjia tried following Qin Mudong’s advice: temporarily setting aside the more advanced problems and focusing solely on the basics. He also took the time to reread the textbook thoroughly.
Regardless of the actual results, his previously agitated mood miraculously calmed down—his feet, once treading on cotton, now felt firmly planted on the ground.
When you focus, time flies. In the blink of an eye, it was time for the midterm exams.
Under the solemn atmosphere, Lu Xingjia’s anxiety crept up again.
The first subject was Chinese. When the exam paper was just handed out, his fingers trembled so much he could barely hold the pen.
“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered to himself, “all this effort won’t be for nothing.”
More importantly, he wasn’t alone anymore—Qin Mudong was behind him.
The sharp ringing of the bell signaled the start of the test.
Lu Xingjia took a deep breath, leaned over his desk, carefully filled in his exam number, and started answering questions.
Multiple choice, fill-ins, long questions, composition…
Time ticked by. When the final bell rang, Lu Xingjia had just finished the last word of his essay.
He drew a round period with his pen, capped it, and stood up.
While waiting for the teacher to collect the papers, he flipped his test sheet face-up and looked at the densely packed black characters. A sense of accomplishment welled up inside him.
Across all his lives, past and present, after taking so many exams—this was the first time he had such a strong premonition:
This time, he might actually do well.
…..
The three-day midterms wrapped up quickly. The teachers at No. 1 High were impressively efficient—by the night after the last subject, scores for the earlier ones were already being released.
Friday night, while students were still stuck in the post-exam daze, Zhang Chuchu had already sent someone to cut up the score slips.
No. 1 High valued students’ privacy and dignity. Instead of publicly posting everyone’s scores and rankings, each student received a thin strip about half a centimeter wide, showing only their own subject scores, total score, and ranking.
When the top two students were called to follow Zhang Chuchu to the office, the classroom instantly erupted.
“We’re doomed, it’s over!”
“That was so fast! I wasn’t ready!”
“Forget it, let’s just get it over with. I’m ready to die!”
…
Qiu Ruifeng also joined in the whining: “Are the teachers robots or what? Don’t they eat or sleep? This is insane!”
In the chaos, Ji Angran straightened up nervously, fiddling with his pen and asking Qiu Ruifeng beside him, “Are you nervous? I suddenly feel kinda anxious.”
“Of course I’m nervous!” Qiu Ruifeng replied. “But you’ll be fine. You always work so hard—if you didn’t do well, no one in this class did.”
“…Thanks,” Ji Angran said softly, still unable to hide his worried expression.
“Don’t doubt it!” Qiu Ruifeng said, seeing Ji Angran still looking like a bundle of nerves. He teased, “Wanna make a bet?”
“Bet on what?” Ji Angran asked.
“I remember you were in the top ten before, right? Let’s bet on whether you’re still in the top ten this time.”
Qiu Ruifeng slapped his thigh. “If you are, you call me ‘Dad.’ Deal?”
Ji Angran burst out laughing, having never heard a bet like that before. He shot back, “Didn’t you also make top ten last time? If you’re in again, you call me ‘Dad,’ too?”
“Sure,” Qiu Ruifeng agreed readily.
Ji Angran: “…?”
Something about this didn’t feel quite right.
Why was doing well in the exam being treated like a punishment?
Still, thanks to that bit of silliness, Ji Angran’s nerves eased a little.
Lu Xingjia was nervous too.
He had felt good about the test papers this time—especially physics.
Following Qin Mudong’s method, he had double-checked all the questions he was confident about. For the final long-answer question, he only completed the first part.
But whether it actually went well would only be known once the scores were out.
After much anxious waiting, the score slips were finally ready.
Two students came back carrying large sheets of cut-up score slips, the strips hanging down like bunches of willow branches.
Those bundles were quickly divided and distributed to everyone like scattered leaves in the wind.
The one on top—the widest one—belonged to Qin Mudong. The student handing out the slips practically strutted as he gave it to him, as if it were a tremendous honor.
“Thanks.”
Qin Mudong accepted it, glanced at it casually, then tossed it aside like it didn’t matter.
Around him, whispers started buzzing:
“Wow, worthy of the study god—he even pulls off the ‘too cool to care’ act perfectly.”
“Pfft, if I were ranked first every time, I wouldn’t bother looking at my scores either.”
“I peeked at the scores in Mr. Chu’s office—Qin Mudong nearly aced every subject!”
“So strong! Freakishly strong!”
…
Lu Xingjia sneaked glances from the corner of his eye, occasionally peeking at Qin Mudong’s score slip.
Chinese: 135. Math: 149. English: 145. Physics: 100. Chemistry: 98. Biology: 100…
Each subject was followed by two little “1”s, representing his grade and class rank.
Lu Xingjia nearly cried.
This was the true power of Qin Mudong.
He was born to be the most dazzling presence in any crowd.
After a while, Lu Xingjia’s own score slip was handed to him.
Clutching the thin slip of paper—so delicate it seemed like it could tear at any moment—Lu Xingjia took a deep breath before finally moving his fingers away.
The students in the Physics Competition Class had a slightly different exam setup than the regular classes. During the midterms, they had an extra physics test at competition level. So in addition to the regular subject scores and total score, their slip also included a separate column for the physics competition score, placed before the total.
Lu Xingjia’s eyes dropped down the slip, and the first thing he saw was his physics competition result.
53 points.
No—53rd place.
There were 62 students in the class in total. Three of them had already decided to transfer to the regular class and didn’t even take the competition test, leaving 59 participants.
While it looked like he had only moved up six ranks, every student who remained was fighting tooth and nail to climb up. Many of them had to give it their all just to avoid slipping backward.
Lu Xingjia used to lag far behind even the second-to-last student in the class, but now, he was already beginning to catch up with the main pack.
That was progress! Something worth celebrating!
Lu Xingjia let out a sigh of relief and began checking the scores for his other subjects.
The content might differ from subject to subject, but learning methods were universal. Aside from the physics competition, his overall score had improved significantly. While it still couldn’t compare to Qin Mudong’s, he had leapt across a chasm that once felt insurmountable.
He flipped the score slip back and forth, unable to stop himself from smiling.
Once all the score slips were handed out, Zhang Chuchu stepped up to the podium to summarize the overall performance in the midterms. Although he didn’t announce the full rankings, he did share the names of the top ten students in the class so others could learn from them.
Both Ji Angran and Qiu Ruifeng made the list.
Ji Angran clearly hadn’t forgotten the bet. He poked Qiu Ruifeng in the arm and said, “We both made it into the top ten—so how are we settling this? Do we call each other ‘dad’ now?”
Qiu Ruifeng choked a little.
He had just been trying to lighten Ji Angran’s nerves. He hadn’t expected the guy to actually take it seriously.
Qiu Ruifeng muttered under his breath, “You that eager to be my kid?”
“What?” Ji Angran blinked innocently, like a soft little lamb, clearly having no idea what that meant.
“Nothing, nothing!” Qiu Ruifeng shook his head quickly. Ji Angran was way too pure—he didn’t even dare make a dirty joke around him for fear of corrupting the guy.
“How about this,” Qiu Ruifeng offered. “Calling each other ‘dad’ is lame. Let’s treat each other to a meal instead—whatever the other person wants, cafeteria or outside, you choose.”
“Alright.”
Ji Angran nodded. He didn’t really understand the point of it, but a bet was a bet, so he agreed obediently.
Sitting behind the two of them, Lu Xingjia couldn’t help but feel the whole scene was oddly familiar.
Then it hit him—he slapped his forehead.
Wasn’t this the same method his coworker used in his past life to pursue girls?
Make a bet, treat each other to meals—it was all just an excuse to get closer!
A flash of insight lit up in Lu Xingjia’s mind, and he finally remembered why Ji Angran’s name had always seemed vaguely familiar.
In his past life after entering the workforce, Qiu Ruifeng had been one of the few high school classmates he still kept in touch with. Lu Xingjia had often seen his WeChat Moments filled with things like:
“Fried chicken with Xiao Ran today! So happy!”
“Xiao Ran said I looked handsome this morning—super happy!”
Totally like a loyal golden retriever, practically wagging his tail.
Whenever someone commented asking if “Xiao Ran” was his girlfriend, he never replied.
Now that he thought about it, this “Xiao Ran” had to be Ji Angran.
Lu Xingjia clicked his tongue inwardly, marveling at how early Qiu Ruifeng’s crush had begun.
Back at the podium, Zhang Chuchu continued summarizing the exam results.
“Besides the top ten, there are a few students who made tremendous progress this time, and I want to give them special recognition.”
“Bai Xun, Xing Shanyu, Lu Cenli, and… Lu Xingjia.”
Lu Xingjia blinked in surprise. When he looked up, he found himself meeting Zhang Chuchu’s smiling gaze.
He said warmly, “I’ve seen everyone’s hard work. Some of you may still feel your scores aren’t ideal right now, but as long as you keep working hard, results will follow. There are still two years until the college entrance exam, and over half a year until the competition prelims—it’s definitely not too late to push forward.”
No one dislikes being praised and encouraged. Lu Xingjia was so happy, his imaginary tail could’ve wagged straight into the sky. His bright eyes kept sneaking glances at Qin Mudong, practically begging for a head pat with an expression that screamed, “Please praise me!”
Qin Mudong’s dark eyes deepened slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“You did well.”
“Thank you!”
Lu Xingjia couldn’t hide the joy in his eyes. His smile sparkled like scattered stars in a galaxy.
Qin Mudong frowned slightly and instinctively looked away.
His heart skipped two beats.
…..
Friday was spent going over the exams. After a month of pressure, tHe Xiavy atmosphere finally began to lift with the end of this big test.
During evening study hall, Zhang Chuchu sat at the podium while the class reps tried to keep order, though students still whispered here and there.
“Alright, quiet down,” Zhang Chuchu clapped his hands and folded them on the desk, smiling like a sly fox. “Since everyone’s so energetic today, I’ve got another piece of ‘good news’ to announce.”
His tone was clearly loaded with meaning, and the class quickly went silent.
Someone asked cautiously, “Chu Ge, is it really good news or fake good news?”
“I think it’s good news,” Zhang Chuchu said with a smile. “Your grades have already been sent to your parents via text message. According to school policy, we’ll be holding a parent-teacher meeting this Sunday evening.”
The whole class erupted in wails. Many students exaggeratedly groaned and joked around:
“That’s brutal—sending our grades directly to our parents?!”
“I feel like I’m gonna get a bamboo stick stir-fry when I get home.”
“Guys, if I’m not in class on Monday, it’s definitely because I got combo-beaten by both my mom and dad!”
…
Zhang Chuchu couldn’t help but laugh. “Aren’t you happy you get to skip three study sessions?”
Even though the official weekend was two days, the school required Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon self-study sessions, plus an evening self-study. But with the parent-teacher meeting happening, Sunday afternoon’s study session would naturally be canceled.
“Self-study is great! I love self-study!”
As soon as Zhang Chuchu finished speaking, a boy shouted, “As long as there’s no parent-teacher meeting, I’ll do anything!”
Zhang Chuchu gave him a glance. “Good. If you used that kind of motivation normally, you wouldn’t have to worry about your grades.”
Of course, the boy continued to groan in mock agony.
But whether students liked it or not, the parent-teacher meeting was going to happen.
Especially for students in the competition class—it wasn’t just about total grades, but also various matters related to competition prep, which required parents to attend and confirm.
This time, Lu Xingjia had done well in the exams, so he wasn’t nervous at all about the meeting. When he told He Xi at home, she was overjoyed and immediately agreed to go, as if she couldn’t wait to show up at the meeting right that second.
That evening, while sitting at his desk, Lu Xingjia took out his grade sheet again and looked it over repeatedly, looking forward to the parent-teacher meeting.
But just as he was full of anticipation, an image of a cold and stern face suddenly flashed through his mind.
It was Qin Mudong’s father.
Lu Xingjia’s heart skipped a beat.
At the parent-teacher meeting… Qin Mudong’s family would probably come too… right?
He couldn’t help but feel an ominous sense of foreboding.