Xu Zifan spent a week compiling review materials for all junior high school subjects. These were far more detailed than the notes he had lent to his classmates, as he had put his heart into them and intended to sell them. This time, instead of selling them privately, he used his father's connections to obtain an official publication number and had them printed in large quantities.
He taught Ji Yaru how to open a Taobao shop. Since he was extremely busy with his studies, he left the shop to Ji Yaru, and they split the profits. Ji Yaru had an exceptional grasp of the material, so she barely needed to study outside of class, leaving her with a lot of free time. She had previously learned how to run a company from the Yan couple, and now, lacking both capital and time, she simply treated the Taobao shop like a company. She handled everything from procurement and promotion to advertising, even using their faces for advertising – it was practically perfect.
After the Taobao store name was added to the live stream description, the business became incredibly popular. High school classmates all knew about their earnings, and many asked Xu Zifan when she would release high school review materials. What they wanted wasn't materials that matched Xu Zifan's study pace, but rather a complete summary of all the key points of high school knowledge. With a female academic genius involved, who wouldn't want their materials?
However, Xu Zifan wouldn't budge, saying that midterms were coming up soon and he didn't have time; he wanted to learn everything first. Many people were furious but helpless, so they could only wait anxiously, hoping he would learn quickly. But seeing that his eyes never left his books even when he was drinking water, they had no reason to urge him anymore; all that was left was admiration.
Xu Zifan's intense studying wasn't solely driven by his desire to join Class One and be with Ji Yaru; he himself genuinely wanted to get there as soon as possible. That's just his personality—he either doesn't do anything, or he does it to the best of his ability, almost like an obsessive-compulsive. He didn't want to be a poor student; he wanted to get into the best class as quickly as possible. Since he only had less than a year left at this school, he wanted to leave a lasting impression, making his education worthwhile.
Another month passed, and even Xu's parents wanted to persuade him to stop working so hard. No matter how much they wanted their son to do well in his studies, they were genuinely worried about his current state. Then, Xu Zifan finally announced that he had finished studying all of high school physics, chemistry, and biology!
Biology involves a lot of memorization, which he learned easily. Physics was a bit difficult for him, but once he got into it, it became quite interesting, and he learned it much more quickly and happily. Chemistry was the only subject he didn't like as much, but once he memorized many of the key points, it wasn't actually that difficult. He studied tirelessly every day and finally finished learning the exam scope for all three subjects.
The midterm exams arrived as scheduled. This time, Xu Zifan scored 145 in math, 140 in Chinese, 150 in English, 86 in physics, 75 in chemistry, and 96 in biology, for a total of 692 points. This score placed him in the top 30 of his class! The homeroom teacher asked Xu Zifan what his decision was, and Xu Zifan answered without hesitation that he wanted to be assigned to Class One. That very day, he carried his desk to Class One, where the homeroom teacher was very happy to introduce him to the other students.
"Everyone knows Xu Zifan, right? He improved his score by over 100 points this time, which shows that his study methods are worth learning from, and his perseverance is admirable. Now that he's a member of our class, I hope everyone can help him integrate into our class as soon as possible, make progress together, and achieve even better results, okay?"
"Great!" the students shouted with laughter, clapping enthusiastically.
Before Xu Zifan arrived, he had already told the homeroom teacher about his relationships with Ji Yaru, Yan Yuxin, and Li Xudong. The homeroom teacher didn't particularly like Yan Yuxin and Li Xudong, so she directly assigned him to sit next to Ji Yaru. Anyway, Ji Yaru's grades were stable, and she hadn't been affected by such a big incident, so it was best for her to help Xu Zifan integrate into the class.
Actually, Xu Zifan didn't need anyone's help. He had already learned everything he needed to learn, and the rest was just normal reinforcement. There was no need to spend so much time studying anymore, so as soon as class was over, he would ask a few boys in the class to play basketball. He used to play basketball with Meng Qi, so they were naturally very familiar with each other. Boys get closer after playing a couple of games, and when the homeroom teacher observed him for a few days, he found that he had already become one of the classmates.
People are inherently drawn to optimistic, cheerful, and ambitious individuals. Xu Zifan, being very smooth and charming, easily managed to entertain a group of teenagers, which annoyed Li Xudong, the class's worst student. His classmates weren't so obsessed with rich kids; they preferred academically gifted classmates. Now, Xu Zifan had overshadowed him, not only academically but also in terms of looks. Yan Yuxin was constantly nagging him about how great Xu Zifan used to be, implying he wasn't actually that impressive, which only fueled Li Xudong's anger. Why was his woman always looking at other men? His childhood sweetheart, his ex-fiancé, was practically a black mark on his past!
Li Xudong stared at Xu Zifan with a gloomy expression for several days, and one weekend after school, he called more than a dozen thugs to teach him a lesson.
Xu Zifan and Ji Yaru rode their bicycles away from the school, talking about things other than what they were supposed to say during their live stream. They were on duty that day, so they left a little late, and there weren't many students left on the road. As they rode to the entrance of an alley, suddenly more than a dozen people rushed out and tried to grab them.
Xu Zifan's expression hardened. He grabbed Ji Yaru's hand and pulled her into his arms, being shoved into an alley by the group. He shielded Ji Yaru, pushing them aside and leaning against a corner against the wall, before pulling her behind him and coldly staring at them. "Who sent you?"
The blond-haired leader, arms crossed and toes pointed, said, "Don't you know who you've offended? No need for nonsense, I'm here to teach you a lesson today!"
Xu Zifan shifted his body slightly, his fingers twitching. Ji Yaru, noticing his signal, quietly took out her phone behind him and dialed 110. Xu Zifan said, "You dozen or so people are really bold. This is outside No. 1 Middle School, only two streets away from the main gate. Did you think no one would see us just because this alley is hidden?"
The thugs roared with laughter, "Someone saw it outside, but will anyone care? Good students are just good students, so naive. I heard you're pretty cool at school, huh? If we cripple your right hand, will you still be so cocky? Guys, let's go!"
As they rushed towards him, Xu Zifan pulled out his keys, slipped them onto his finger, and punched the nearest thug in the eye. While the thug cried out in pain, he kicked him hard in the groin. The first one was done for. Without even glancing at him, he simultaneously struck the second man's ears with both fists from either side. The man spun around for a moment, then Xu Zifan slammed his head down onto his knee. The second man also collapsed to the ground, clutching his head. The others stopped laughing, no longer daring to underestimate him.
They were thugs, but Xu Zifan was once the leader of a thug gang in the slums. He had been trained since he was a child, and he knew exactly how to hit someone to hurt them the most and how to hit someone to kill them. In particular, when he fought, he was expressionless and had sharp eyes. He was as fierce as a hungry wolf, and anyone who faced him would feel their scalp tingle!
One after another, some had swollen eyes, some had sprained ankles, some had dislocated arms, some had their throats pounded... By the end, even the blond guy was so scared that he wanted to run away, but Xu Zifan grabbed him and kicked him in the back of the knee, making him kneel on the ground and bringing tears to his eyes from the pain!
Ji Yaru looked at Xu Zifan, who stood firmly in front of her, protecting her from the brunt of her attack, and a chord in her heart was gently touched. Her heart was pounding, her mind went blank, and the feeling of excitement and agitation felt completely unfamiliar, leaving her only able to stare at Xu Zifan.
Police sirens blared, and soon two police cars pulled up at the alley entrance. Six officers rushed in, and were momentarily stunned to see the thugs groaning and begging for mercy on the ground. Xu Zifan relaxed and regained his composure, shrugging at them as he said, "We just called the police, but there are so many of them, I could only defend myself. It's not just me here; I also have to make sure they don't run into my friends."
The group's gazes shifted to Ji Yaru. Sure enough, they hadn't touched her, not even the edge. This kid was really something. One of the police officers coughed twice and said, "Come back to the station with us to give your statements. We need to investigate this. Please cooperate and call your parents too."
Xu Zifan nodded, turned around and walked to Ji Yaru, looking down at her, "What's wrong? Were you scared?"
Ji Yaru took a deep breath and shook her head at him, "I'm fine."
"Then let's go to the police station and go home later."
"Um."
Ji Yaru followed behind Xu Zifan, looking at his broad, sturdy back, and suddenly felt an immense sense of security. It seemed that ever since her birthday party, he had always been by her side; the sun-drenched jar he gave her had been a ray of sunshine in her darkness. He had helped her earn money to solve his predicament, he had helped ease the tension between her and her family, and he had patiently taught her to ride a bicycle, standing in front of her to shield her from danger…
Ji Yaru didn't know why she suddenly thought of these things. She just felt a sore and swollen feeling in her heart, along with a hint of joy. She thought she was probably terrified and needed to go home and get some sleep. But when she looked down and saw Xu Zifan's hand, all the feelings vanished instantly. She stepped forward, grabbed his hand, and said urgently, "You're hurt! We need to go to the hospital!"
When Xu Zifan hit someone with the key, he also injured his own hand. In fact, it was just a few scrapes and bruises, which was commonplace for Xu Zifan. He had never even frowned when he had his ribs broken before. So he clenched his fist without caring and laughed, "It's okay, I'll put some medicine on it when I get home and it'll be fine in a couple of days."
"No, we need to go to the hospital now to disinfect and treat the wound, and check if the bone is broken. They just said they'd cripple your right hand, so we have to get it checked properly." After saying that, Ji Yaru grabbed his wrist and went to find the police, insisting that they check the injury before taking a statement.
Xu Zifan paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "It's just a superficial injury."
Ji Yaru glared at him. "A superficial injury is still an injury."
Xu Zifan looked down at her hand holding his wrist. It was slender and fair, yet strong. Perhaps she was startled, as her hand was a little cold, but strangely, it gave him a sense of warmth. He had been in countless fights, and no one had ever worried about or cared for him because of such a minor injury. Although he was past the age of needing someone to take care of him, he had to admit that this feeling wasn't bad.
He raised an eyebrow at Ji Yaru, curled the corners of his lips, and said softly, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Ji Yaru didn't know why her ears suddenly turned red. She forced herself to remain calm and looked away, feeling his smile was rather wicked. Although she didn't really know what "wicked" meant, it was probably... not so proper...