Hearing that, Lu Jingcheng lowered his head and glanced at him, thinking, With that fragile little heart of yours, how could you possibly not care?
Lu Jingcheng felt he understood Ye Qingyang far too well.
There was no way Ye Qingyang had such strong psychological resilience. He must be saying that just to make Lu Jingcheng feel better.
Clearly he was the one who had been hurt, yet he was still trying to comfort him. It was practically swallowing his grievances, forcing a smile, pretending not to mind.
Sigh. Even at a time like this, he was still thinking about Lu Jingcheng.
Couldn’t he think about himself for once?
The more Lu Jingcheng thought about it, the more he wanted to punch Ma Tianrui again.
So what if he had good grades? Did that mean he could casually insult others? Trample on someone else’s dignity?
Right in front of so many people, mocking Ye Qingyang so openly—did Ye Qingyang not care about his pride?
It had been rare for Ye Qingyang to perform so well during this military training, standing out among everyone. Couldn’t they just let him enjoy, for a little while longer, the happiness of being trusted by classmates and appreciated by the instructor?
It was only seven days, after all!
And that bastard Ma Tianrui just had to ruin it.
He deserved to be beaten—honestly, he should’ve been beaten a few more times.
Lu Jingcheng felt the urge to hit someone again.
“It’s fine,” he said instead. “But you—don’t take his words seriously. Those so-called good students only know how to talk about grades. Just ignore them.”
Ye Qingyang thought to himself, What kind of good student is he? He’s just from a key class, not even the rocket class.
Even if the top student from the rocket class came, they might not necessarily beat him.
“Yeah,” Ye Qingyang said. “I didn’t care.”
Hearing that, Lu Jingcheng thought for a moment, then couldn’t help adding, “But your grades really are a bit bad. You should put a bit more effort into studying—try to improve them.”
Spend more time on studying, less time thinking about me.
If you had even half the enthusiasm for studying that you have for me, how would you be failing every subject?
Lu Jingcheng felt almost heartbroken.
“We’re students, after all. Our main task is studying. Everything else outside of studying is secondary.”
Especially puppy love! That was strictly forbidden, you know?!
Lu Jingcheng spoke earnestly.
Ye Qingyang looked at him and thought, Brother, do you really have the right to lecture me about that?
How much better are your own grades than mine?
You know the main task of students is studying—so why don’t you study harder yourself?
Ah—but Ye Qingyang quickly realized the answer.
It was for the sake of the female lead.
If Lu Jingcheng suddenly improved his grades and soared ahead, then how would the female lead get the chance to tutor him and build their relationship?
Ye Qingyang understood now.
So he nodded seriously.
“Don’t worry, Brother Lu. Since you said that, I’ll definitely study hard. Once I get back, I’ll start working diligently.”
Anyway, he had already planned to improve a little in every monthly exam and then, by the time senior year arrived, smoothly rise to first place in the grade.
Perfect timing, actually.
Since he had promised Lu Jingcheng this now, when his grades improved later and people asked why he suddenly started studying seriously, he could just shift the blame to this moment—say it was an agreement between him and Lu Jingcheng.
Lu Jingcheng hadn’t expected him to agree so quickly. For a moment, he didn’t even know what to say.
What else could he say?
Ye Qingyang was basically doing whatever he told him to do.
If he was willing to work hard at studying just because Lu Jingcheng suggested it, then what else was there left to say?
This kind of devotion was just too sincere.
Studying for love, improving for love…
Lu Jingcheng had only seen that sort of thing in novels and television dramas.
It wasn’t easy at all!
“I’ll help you,” Lu Jingcheng said. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me anytime.”
Ye Qingyang: …
Looking at Lu Jingcheng’s sincere expression, Ye Qingyang had to struggle not to laugh.
He thought this little peacock was simply too adorable.
The tenth-from-last student offering to tutor the last-place student—honestly, when you have dreams, anything is possible! The bigger the dream, the bigger the stage!
Still, he cooperatively nodded.
“Thank you, Brother Lu!”
Lu Jingcheng waved his hand. “No need to thank me. Helping others is a traditional virtue in our country.”
Truly, one dared to help and the other dared to accept; one dared to cooperate and the other dared to believe.
A perfect match.
About half an hour later, Instructor Xu finally walked over to where Lu Jingcheng and Ye Qingyang were standing.
“Very impressive, Student Lu Jingcheng,” he said. “Your instructor is standing right there and you still dared to hit someone.”
Lu Jingcheng wasn’t afraid of him at all. “Didn’t he deserve it?”
“Even if he did, it shouldn’t have been you hitting him.”
“Those who deserve a beating may be beaten by anyone,” Lu Jingcheng declared confidently.
Instructor Xu: …
Instructor Xu placed his hands on his hips. “Are you especially good at Chinese? Showing off that you’ve read books all day long?”
Lu Jingcheng, hearing that, answered without the slightest modesty.
“Of course. My Chinese grade is first in our class—ranked pretty high in the whole grade too.”
Instructor Xu: …
Instructor Xu was speechless. “Was I praising you? With your level of reading comprehension, you can still get first in Chinese?”
“Not just once. Plenty of times.”
Instructor Xu: …
He felt it was better to just keep punishing him by standing there.
Turning to Ye Qingyang, he said, “And you. Did I punish you? Why are you standing here?”
“This matter originally involved me,” Ye Qingyang replied. “Without me, Lu Jingcheng wouldn’t have acted. I’m the root cause, so naturally I should stand here with him.”
“You really have a heart that beats entirely for him,” Instructor Xu said. “Always speaking up for him.”
Of course, Lu Jingcheng thought. Should his heart beat for you instead?
The one he likes is me, not you.
Ye Qingyang smiled slightly. “I’m just telling the truth.”
Instructor Xu sighed helplessly.
The more he liked Ye Qingyang, the more helpless he felt about this particular trait of his.
Normally Ye Qingyang was great—but the moment Lu Jingcheng got involved, he immediately started defending him unconditionally.
Instructor Xu didn’t even know what to say anymore.
Then again, kids this age valued brotherhood and loyalty above everything else.
“Alright, go back,” Instructor Xu said, turning a blind eye.
“But Lu Jingcheng, I’m warning you—no more fighting next time. This is a military camp. You’re here for training. Restrain yourself.”
“If he doesn’t provoke me, I won’t hit him,” Lu Jingcheng replied. “But if he does, then he’s just asking for it.”
Instructor Xu: …
Ye Qingyang quickly added, “Don’t worry, Instructor. He just values loyalty and can’t stand seeing his classmates bullied. You might not know this, but our class is a regular class. The students from the advanced classes always look down on us. So Brother Lu really hit him to protect us.”
“My dear class monitor,” Instructor Xu sighed, “don’t you get tired of defending him like this every day?”
Ye Qingyang smiled. “Not at all.”
Hearing that, Lu Jingcheng couldn’t help smiling too, the hostility in his eyes fading slightly.
“Alright, I got it. I’ll try not to fight anymore, okay?” he said to Instructor Xu.
Instructor Xu looked at the two of them—like the sun and a sunflower—and felt like he was the Queen Mother of the West, separating a pair deeply devoted to each other.
They understood each other perfectly, standing up for one another…
And here he was, breaking them apart like some villain.
“Go back,” Instructor Xu said wearily.
He felt exhausted.
One against two—he simply couldn’t win the argument.