Chapter Six: Gossip

"I see. But you two looked so intimate just now!"

"That's right! Anyone who didn't know better would have thought you were hugging each other~"

After Zhou Ziyang's explanation, the two female classmates suddenly understood. They exchanged a few more jokes before tactfully taking their leave. As for Zhou Ziyang and Xia Wei, the interruption had naturally shattered the previous atmosphere.

With the facade of Xia Wei's cold, aloof persona stripped away, she was revealed to be nothing more than a girl under eighteen, albeit one with excellent grades. At this moment, she didn't even dare to speak loudly to Zhou Ziyang. She merely remarked that if Zhou Ziyang didn't show up for the evening study session, the subject teachers would surely ask why his seat was empty.

Zhou Ziyang chuckled, telling her that was for her, the class study monitor, to handle. The three evening study sessions were for Geography and Politics. With the college entrance examination approaching, teachers of these minor subjects rarely bothered to meddle in student affairs; at most, they would ask a casual question. As long as Xia Wei helped cover for him, there would certainly be no problems.

However, Xia Wei was unwilling to take such a risk for Zhou Ziyang. She was a model student in the eyes of the teachers, and if the head teacher discovered this, it would severely damage her reputation. She wanted to protest but didn't dare to be as arrogant as she had been before.

"Zhou Ziyang, are you really going to skip class for Li Dongfeng?" she asked. "He doesn't have to take the entrance exam, so the teachers don't care about him, but you’re different. You have to take the exam. If the teachers find out you're skipping..."

"Then they'll call my parents. Either way, I won't let my mother come to school," Zhou Ziyang replied as if it were only natural.

In his previous life, his mother had sacrificed too much for him. After his rebirth, looking back at the situation with the perspective of someone who had lived through it, he realized that talk of "pride" and "ambition" was all empty rhetoric; only tangible benefits mattered. Holding a grudge against his own biological father had been a joke all along.

When a twenty-seven-year-old Zhou Ziyang had returned to his hometown and been assigned to a government department, his leader had pulled him aside for a talk on his first day. It wasn't about working hard as a young person, but rather: "I knew your father many years ago. Your dad was more capable than me. We took the prosecutor's office exam together; he got first place, while I was slow-witted and didn't pass. I ended up in the countryside, and it took me a long time to achieve what I have today."

They had talked for an entire afternoon. For twenty-five years, Zhou Ziyang had lived with his mother, who always insisted on having integrity and not relying on his father's connections. But in reality? People on the outside didn't care about that at all. In their eyes, you were his son, regardless of whether you used his influence or not. Having been reborn, Zhou Ziyang saw things clearly now. If he were truly capable in this life, he would treat people differently—taking care of his mother while ignoring his father. If he weren't capable, he might as well squeeze some benefits out of his father before the old man lost his wits.

"You!" Xia Wei felt cornered. Wasn't Zhou Ziyang's implication that he would let Zhou Guowei come to school? If Zhou Guowei showed up, her relationship with Zhou Ziyang would be exposed. Everyone knew her mother had divorced and remarried Zhou Ziyang's father. Wasn't Zhou Ziyang afraid of that at all?

Of course, Zhou Ziyang wasn't afraid. Why should he be? Xia Wei stood there stiffly for a long time, unable to find the words. Finally, she softened her tone.

"Zhou Ziyang, the college entrance exam is almost here," she said. "We don't have much time left. Are you really going to waste your future for Li Dongfeng?"

Xia Wei spoke with earnest concern, delicately pointing out that Zhou Ziyang’s grades were unstable. If he were lucky, he might barely make it into a second-tier university; if he were unlucky, only a third-tier one. Third-tier schools lacked good majors and were expensive, costing at least ten thousand yuan a year.

"If you won't think of yourself, you should at least consider your mother..."

The girl actually understood everything. Zhou Ziyang's mother was a woman raising a son alone; life couldn't be easy. While they weren't struggling for food or clothing, they certainly didn't have much in the way of assets. Zhou Guowei wouldn't have discussed these matters with Xia Wei, which meant it must have been her stepmother—the woman he rarely saw—who had surely gossiped about him and his mother in front of her.

Zhou Ziyang shot her a look of annoyance. Xia Wei immediately and wisely shut her mouth.

"That's not something for you to worry about," Zhou Ziyang said. "I'm his biological son anyway. If I really can't get into college, I'll just sponge off your family and make your mother cook for me every day!"

"You!" Xia Wei felt both angry and stifled. She hadn't realized before that Zhou Ziyang could be such a rogue.

Zhou Ziyang didn't care. He continued, "If I end up with no degree, no job, and no wife, I'll just cling to your mom until she marries me off to you! The old man only has one son; let's see if he's willing to let his lineage end."

Xia Wei was on the verge of tears. She didn't want to marry a scoundrel like Zhou Ziyang. Thinking about his grades—if he failed to get into college and spent his days rotting at home, expecting her to work and support him—she felt as though the sky were falling. She had lived through hard times. Before her mother married Zhou Guowei, she had lived in an urban village with her grandmother, in a place where she had to grope in the dark to find the outdoor latrine meters away from their door. She never wanted to live like that again. Zhou Ziyang couldn't do this to her!

But Zhou Ziyang didn't care. As a man reborn, school rules held no sway over him. The idea that one couldn't survive without a college degree was a lie told to children. After starting work in his past life, he'd seen that out of seven people in his office, only three had actually passed the exam. The other four had all taken shortcuts, some even finishing middle school and going straight into five-year programs, then paying to secure a bachelor's degree. These rich kids spent their school days skipping classes, playing games, and dating, yet easily landed plush jobs after graduation, sipping tea and chatting in the office all day. They received high-temperature subsidies while sitting in air conditioning during the summer and heating allowances while keeping the radiators on in the winter.

Back then, Zhou Ziyang had felt like a fool for worrying so much in high school. Screw the psychological burden!

Zhou Ziyang walked away, leaving Xia Wei standing there, wanting to cry but unable to. She wanted to chase after him and grab his arm, saying, "You can't do this to me." But the students who had finished their dinner were already heading back to the classroom, and making a scene now would be inappropriate. She had to return to the classroom, trembling with fear that the teacher would notice Zhou Ziyang's empty seat. If a teacher were to ask, "Oh? Why is this seat empty? Is he on leave?" then Xia Wei, as the study monitor, would have to lie through her teeth. And if the head teacher found out, it would all be over.

Fortunately, throughout the three evening study sessions, the teachers turned a blind eye to the empty seat. With only 100 days until the college entrance exam, no one had the energy to care whether someone was on leave or skipping class. The final year of high school was agonizing; students were exhausted, but teachers were even more so. They had already complained when sessions ended at 8:50 PM; now that they were extended to 10:30 PM, who could stand it? If they had a choice, who would want to teach a graduating class?

Poor Xia Wei spent the entire evening in a state of terror, fearing a teacher would suddenly take notice or the head teacher would appear at the window. For three hours, she felt as though she were walking on thin ice, unable to complete a single test paper or even focus on a single set of problems.

The two girls from earlier whispered in the back of the classroom.

"Hey, do you think something is actually going on between Zhou Ziyang and Xia Wei?"

"You actually believe that? I saw it clearly just now; they were almost kissing!"

"Really?"

"I'd be a dog if I were lying."

"They're definitely dating!"

"I never would have guessed. Xia Wei usually acts so high and mighty, who knew she'd get together with Zhou Ziyang?"

"Me neither. I really thought she was cold-hearted and uninterested in romance!"

"Hey, but honestly, I think Zhou Ziyang is quite handsome. He’s probably the best-looking guy in our class."

"What good does looks do? He comes from a divorced family. Last semester, he even applied for financial aid!"

"Oh?"