Fake Dating the Amnesiac School Prince

Chapter 23

Proofreader: Akimi

Shi Bufan’s heart skipped a beat as well.

He originally thought that it would be very exciting to kiss Zhen Yuanbai in the movie theater, but the latter’s response shocked him, causing him to sit back down.

There were people joking in the theater and it was unknown whether they were mocking Zhen Yuanbai’s lack of knowledge or laughing at how silly he was being.

Zhen Yuanbai looked down and secretly glanced at Shi Bufan. He wasn’t sure what happened to the latter, but he was silent and kept his head down.

“I want to sit in the center.” Zhen Yuanbai suggested in a soft voice. There were many empty seats in the theater and Zhen Yuanbai had exposed the two of them. When people sat in those seats, it usually meant that they were doing bad things. He saw people shooting glances at them from time to time.

Shi Bufan closed his eyes for a second before he opened them, picked up his bag and stood up. Zhen Yuanbai hurried to follow him and the two shifted towards the center. Someone immediately looked at them and talked in a low voice towards their companion.

Thankfully, the movie was officially going to begin and Zhen Yuanbai wore his 3D glasses, focusing on the screen.

Yet, Shi Bufan was not interested in the movie at all. He turned around to look at Zhen Yuanbai. Under the dim light, Zhen Yuanbai became the center of his attention and this made Shi Bufan’s heart pound quickly.

He shifted his gaze away and wore the glasses, but his mind was still on Zhen Yuanbai. He had been repeatedly recalling the times when Zhen Yuanbai ‘turned in his homework’ to him. When he remembered how Zhen Yuanbai’s faint red lips could possibly turn deep red, he began to feel thirsty and his heart felt clenched.

When the movie was over, Zhen Yuanbai carried his backpack over his shoulder, not wishing for it to end. “Are we going home now?”

Shi Bufan was dissatisfied and unhappy, grabbing a cigarette from his pocket and slowly walking towards the bathroom. Zhen Yuanbai hesitated and followed along, saying, “Didn’t you say you’re not going to smoke anymore?”

“You said you would turn in your homework on time in the future too. Did you ever turn it in?”

Indeed, Zhen Yuanbai hadn’t been turning in his homework for a few days, so he said without confidence, “Um, there are people around.”

Shi Bufan stopped by the bathroom and turned around to look at him, saying, “Do you not want to hand in your homework?”

The people going in and out of the bathroom stared at the two. For a second, it felt like Shi Bufan was the one who did his homework while Zhen Yuanbai hadn’t, acting like a bad kid. He even seemed shocked.

Zhen Yuanbai moved to the side and what Shi Bufan said was true. But, Shi Bufan seemed to be very angry, so Zhen Yuanbai said, “Didn’t I come and watch the movie with you?”

Shi Bufan glanced at him and said, “Shouldn’t you watch a movie with me too?”

Actually, he didn’t have to.

Zhen Yuanbai reached over and pulled on Shi Bufan, saying, “I should. Tell me, where do you want to go? I’ll accompany you.”

Shi Bufan coldly shook Zhen Yuanbai’s hand off and he said, “If you want to go home, you can.”

Zhen Yuanbai couldn’t tell if it was words of impulse or anger, but from his expression, it seemed to be impulsive. Zhen Yuanbai was ill at ease and said, “Before going home, I will definitely hand in my homework, ok?”

Shi Bufan was more and more displeased, asking, “Why does it seem like I forced you to do so? Did I force you?”

Zhen Yuanbai obediently said, “I want to go home before 6:30 pm, please?”

When he asked for Shi Bufan’s answer, it was difficult for the latter to reject him. Shi Bufan felt as if he was going to lose to Zhen Yuanbai, so he said, “In order to thank you for watching the movie with me, I’ll go to the library with you.”

Zhen Yuanbai nodded, feeling at ease since he believed Shi Bufan wasn’t angry at him anymore.

“We have a monthly exam next Monday. How do you feel about it?”

“Do you want me to buy a prep book and do some problems for Teacher Zhen to check?”

Zhen Yuanbai was happy at Shi Bufan’s awareness but also felt very shy when Shi Bufan called him Teacher Zhen. “I’ll try my best to help.”

When Shi Bufan mentioned going to a theater, it felt as though a knife was placed to Zhen Yuanbai’s throat. But when Shi Bufan mentioned doing practice exams, Zhen Yuanbai was so happy as if they were going to a carnival, making Shi Bufan extremely confused by Zhen Yuanbai.

Shi Bufan didn’t dislike the library, but he didn’t like it either. However, Zhen Yuanbai was completely adjusted and comfortable in his environment, skillfully picking out a practice exam for him to do. He flipped to a part and said, “If you can get everything right, you will make it into at least the top 5.”

Shi Bufan looked at him and said, “Of the class or the grade?”

“Obviously the class.” Class 1 and 2 were elite classes and there were countless top students there. If Shi Bufan could get into the top 5 within the class, then he would be making a vast improvement within the grade, making the others admire him. Zhen Yuanbai gave Shi Bufan the new pencil and said, “The seat arrangement must be decided based on the monthly exam’s grades again. If you can get 2nd place, we can sit together then.”

Shi Bufan took the pencil and said unresigned, “I think that the last place should sit with the first place, so it can balance the class’s ability.”

Stupid logic.

Zhen Yuanbai focused on completing his own exam, refusing to acknowledge him.

After spending a while together, Shi Bufan was really able to complete a few questions and he was quick, completing the easy ones first. He left the difficult ones empty and then went to ask Zhen Yuanbai about those questions. When the latter saw it, he said, “Do you want to try it first?”

“It’s a waste of time. Just explain it to me right away.”

Since the student refuses to think, Teacher Zhen worked hard without complaint and took out his pencil and paper to explain.

Happiness was only temporary and to Zhen Yuanbai, it became 6:30pm in the blink of an eye. He glanced at the 2 questions that he hadn’t finished explaining and took out his phone to shoot his mother a message, before continuing.

If they were doing something else, Zhen Yuanbai would have complained about going home. Shi Bufan glanced at Zhen Yuanbai’s profile and had a plan in mind.

After Zhen Yuanbai explained each question to Shi Bufan, he found a few questions from each type of question on the exam for Shi Bufan to complete. The latter was quite smart, so he mastered the different types of questions in little time.

Quickly, it was 7:30pm and Zhen Yuanbai’s stomach rumbled while Shi Bufan’s phone rang. He stopped writing and called out to Zhen Yuanbai before going out to answer the call. When he came back, Zhen Yuanbai then realized and said, “You ordered takeout?”

“Our Teacher Congming has been hard at work today, so I obviously have to treat you.”

Fine. Zhen Yuanbai’s dinner time was taken by Shi Bufan as well.

After Qin Ying called a third time, the two finally left the library. Shi Family’s driver had been waiting for a long time and in order to prevent Shi Bufan from dragging him back home and forcing him to wear an animal onesie, Zhen Yuanbai got in the car and told the driver his address immediately. Meanwhile, Shi Bufan was observing Zhen Yuanbai and laughing.

Because of the driver, Zhen Yuanbai didn’t hand in his ‘dating homework’ again.

After all, he owed Shi Bufan many times, so he stopped placing it in his heart.

Zhen Family’s parents knew that Zhen Yuanbai had been working hard and since he went to the library, they had said nothing. However, Zhen Youxiu had a strange look and when Zhen Yuanbai walked out of the bathroom after he finished showering, he heard Zhen Youxiu asking, “Did you go to the library by yourself?”

“I went with a friend.” Zhen Yuanbai replied vaguely and then scolded, “Kids shouldn’t mind so much.”

On Monday, Zhen Yuanbai led the class to criticize their own faults during the flag-raising ceremony. With Shi Bufan’s reminder, Zhen Yuanbai ended up sharing the study plan of the class during the second half of the self-criticism and this led to a series of applause and great comments. Ji Yanping nodded pleasingly and after all the classes were done with their self-criticism, the white-haired principal walked over and expressed his attitude against creating a competitive atmosphere in the school. Then, he softened his tone and praised the classes for admitting their mistakes and ended the ceremony in a very rigid tone.

The monthly exam that Zhen Yuanbai had been talking about arrived and like usual, Ji Yanping had everyone get up from their seats. Then, she passed the exams down each row and once the students each received a test, she said meaningfully, “Seat arrangements are still decided by this month’s grades and if some students want the best seats in class, they would have to rely on their abilities...” She recalled what Shi Bufan had done last time and paused, before continuing, “Your grades determine your place! Don’t think about threatening students into accepting unfair conditions!”

She was rather considerate and in order to prevent Shi Bufan from threatening the class in advance to leave the seat next to Zhen Yuanbai empty, she specifically added, “From today, the first and second place will always sit together. If you guys want to sit with the first place, then get second place!”

The class wasn’t stupid and it was clear who she was talking about. After what happened last time, even if they picked seats according to grades, no one would dare to sit next to Zhen Yuanbai. In the end, Shi Bufan would definitely sit next to him.

Everyone glanced at Shi Bufan while the latter’s eyelids twitched. People would always find a loophole around the rules. Shi Bufan had seen through this and he raised his hands, trying to argue, “I think this is unfair.”

Unbelievable how he, Shi Bufan, was arguing about how it was unfair.

Ji Yanping asked, “You want to talk about fairness? Sure. You guys can leave the elite class and go back to an ordinary class. Come back to the elite class based on your final grade.”

In other words, she wanted to kick these underachievers out of class already. It was the bottom line for her when Shi Bufan was hell-bent on sitting next to Zhen Yuanbai since the latter was her treasure. A child with such good grades could score first in the college entrance examination and she would feel guilty if the kid was dragged down by Shi Bufan.

Qiu Jing, Ming Mai, and Ye Lian felt their faces hurting.

Shi Bufan thought about it and felt as if he was quite shameless talking about fairness with the teacher in charge as well. He glanced at Zhen Yuanbai and believed even more that he had lost face in front of his boyfriend, so he tried to explain. “If the first place sits next to the last place, they can help one another.”

“Help one another” In order to protect Zhen Yuanbai and Song, Ji Yanping said rudely, “Zhen Yuanbai helps you to study, but what have you helped him with? Help him fight? Or help him stand outside of class? Or help him read the self-criticism letter during today’s flag raising ceremony?”

Everyone’s hearts thumped rapidly and it felt like Ji Yanping knew what was the deal with the perfume from last time.

Shi Bufan immediately looked at the other students, but Ji Yanping pointed behind him and said, “There’s a security camera there. We normally don’t use it, so you guys must’ve forgotten about it, right?”

The students all sighed and Shi Bufan looked at his ‘little boyfriend’ again, while the latter quietly kept his head down. It was clear that he was embarrassed and he was wondering how the principal had known about the competition. As it turned out, the principal had kept quiet to protect Zhen Yuanbai.

Since the old principal had helped his little friend to this point, if he kept on being rude, there would be gossip about Zhen Yuanbai eating dumplings in class. Shi Bufan rubbed his nose in embarrassment while Ji Yanping continued, “If you sit next to Zhen Yuanbai, you guys won’t be helping one another. To you, you would be soaring through your classes and earning top grades. But to Zhen Yuanbai, he would be carrying a burden!”

The whole class wanted to laugh but felt as if Teacher Ji had been too harsh. Would Shi Bufan beat her?

In the end, Shi Bufan actually didn’t have a bad temper, smiling instead and said, “Teacher Ji knows quite a lot.”

Ji Yanping glanced at him and said, “Fine, stop arguing with me. The test starts now, so stop talking.”

The class became silent and Song Mo took out his pencil, glancing secretly at Shi Bufan and feeling strange in his heart.

If it were in the past and Ji Yanping picked a quarrel with Shi Bufan, he would’ve flipped the table over and left the class. Yet, Shi Bufan wasn’t angry and even started to do his test.

Did Shi Bufan change?

Qiu Jing and Ming Mai started to murmur as well, while Ye Lian lied on his desk and choked with laughter.

Soaring through the classes and earning top grades while the other carries a burden. Teacher Li’s description was very accurate. But what was most hilarious was not the demeaning words against Shi Bufan, but his attitude. If Teacher Ji wasn’t comparing him to Zhen Yuanbai, Shi Bufan definitely would’ve dragged her out and beat her up. In addition, Ji Yanping would never have the guts to say that to him.

But that person was Zhen Yuanbai.

Shi Bufan was disdained but not only was he not angry, but he felt a sense of glory.

F*ck.

Ye Lian banged on the table in laughter.

Shi Bufan who had his ears on the conversation suddenly turned around and kicked the table.

Ji Yanping immediately looked up and said, “Ye Lian, quiet.”

Ye Lian hurriedly became quiet while Qiu Jing and Ming Mai each bit on a pencil, scratching their ears as they looked at the test. Shi Bufan concentrated on the test and began to answer the questions.

After the test was over, Zhen Yuanbai asked Shi Bufan, “How do you think you did?”

“I answered everything that I knew how to do.”

“Did you know most of the questions?”

“Eh.” Shi Bufan pinched his earlobes and pondered before saying, “I think I got everything right.”

Zhen Yuanbai was stunned and he stared at Shi Bufan’s calm face as if feeling like the latter had threatened his position as first place.

This...shouldn’t be true.