Chapter 25: Even a Trip to the Restroom Is a Trap...

“This…” Gao Zixi suddenly realized that the pit she had dug for Li Sicheng hadn’t buried him at all; instead, it had become her own trap. She wanted to go back on her word, but the promise had been given in front of the whole class. If she reneged now, her authority would plummet. At that point, she’d become the living proof of the saying, “When the hearts are scattered, the team is impossible to lead.”

Yet, to accept defeat left her feeling more than a little indignant.

After a moment’s hesitation, Gao Zixi thought of a compromise. “Of course, a teacher’s word is her bond. From today on, in my class, you may daydream or sleep as you like, as long as you don’t disturb the other students. However, on one condition: for every exam, you must score full marks. The moment you fail to achieve a perfect score, you’ll have to sit up and listen to my class attentively!”

As she spoke, Gao Zixi’s cheeks flushed slightly. What she’d promised before was that if Li Sicheng could solve the Olympiad problem, he’d earn the privilege of not having to listen in class. Now, she’d added all these restrictions and conditions. Strictly speaking, she was already bending the rules.

Fortunately, Li Sicheng didn’t pick a fight about it; he simply nodded and agreed to Gao Zixi’s new terms.

This only raised her opinion of him further: “Seems this boy has a good head on his shoulders…”

The little episode in math class soon drew to a close. However, the shock it brought to both Class Three of Grade Ten and Gao Zixi herself would surely linger for a long time.

At the very least, after this incident, everyone remembered the handsome transfer student. Some girls, just awakening to love, even set Li Sicheng as their new idol.

Of course, not everyone was pleased with this episode.

Take Lin Siyu and Tan Xiaoxiao, for example.

“Damn it, I really thought that liar would make a fool of himself in front of everyone. Who’d have guessed he’d come out of it even more dazzling! Siyu, how does that liar even know linear algebra? It’s unbelievable!”

Having twice failed to see Li Sicheng embarrassed, Tan Xiaoxiao was both vexed and amazed by his luck and ability.

“I know, right? I didn’t expect him to be so skilled at math either…” Lin Siyu sighed softly, puzzled as well—if Li Sicheng was so talented in mathematics, why on earth would he choose to be a con artist, and why try to trick her sister?

Seeing Lin Siyu fall silent, Tan Xiaoxiao thought she was frustrated at failing to prank Li Sicheng and quietly consoled her, “Don’t be upset, Siyu. This is only the beginning. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to torment that liar!”

Lin Siyu nodded, clearly agreeing.

Soon, the two periods of math class came to an end. As the bell rang, a stirring tune played from the loudspeakers—it was time for the morning exercise.

Li Sicheng followed the students of Class Three down the stairs, lined up on the field, and began the exercises with the music. Since it was his first time, his movements were a bit stiff, but with Zeng Yi demonstrating next to him, he quickly got the hang of it.

A few minutes later, the exercises finished and the students swarmed back toward the building like a tide. At this moment, Li Sicheng turned to Zeng Yi and asked, “Hey, where’s the restroom?”

He’d wandered through the teaching building before, but his attention had all been on checking the classroom layout and feng shui, not on the restroom locations. If not for his sudden urgency, he wouldn’t have needed to ask.

“There’s a restroom on every floor, at the end of the hallway. The left side is for the boys, the right for the girls—don’t mix them up,” Zeng Yi said, gesturing as he spoke.

“Thanks, man.”

After clarifying the location, Li Sicheng thanked him and hurried toward the building. Unfortunately, it was the peak time for students returning from exercise; the corridors were packed tight, and even if he tried the first-floor restroom, he wouldn’t be able to squeeze in anytime soon.

As he fretted, a voice sounded beside his ear: “In a hurry? If you try to squeeze in with the crowd, who knows when you’ll get in. And even if you do, it’ll be packed inside too—who knows how long you’ll have to wait. See that building over there? That’s the teachers’ office building. If you’re desperate, just go use the restroom there.”

Li Sicheng turned and saw that, though he didn’t know the speaker, the face was familiar—likely a fellow student from Class Three.

“Thanks, buddy.” Without wasting time, Li Sicheng dashed toward the office building.

He didn’t notice that, just as he left, Lin Siyu and Tan Xiaoxiao approached the ‘helpful’ classmate. In a low voice, they asked, “Well, Sun Lei? Did it work?”

Sun Lei was thin, wore glasses, and looked a bit like the interpreter in old war movies.

Hearing the question, he grinned ingratiatingly, eager for praise. “Of course it worked, Xiaoxiao. Didn’t you see that guy run off toward the office building?”

“Come on, Siyu, let’s follow him and catch on camera the scene where that liar gets kicked out of the ladies’ restroom. Ha! I bet the photos and video will go viral on social media! Actually, that’s not enough—I’ll send them to every student in the school!” Tan Xiaoxiao pulled Lin Siyu along, stealthily following Li Sicheng.

Her excitement was even greater than Lin Siyu’s.

“Are you so sure he’ll go into the girls’ restroom?” Lin Siyu asked.

Tan Xiaoxiao giggled confidently, “In the office building, the odd-numbered floors have the ladies’ room, the even-numbered the men’s. That liar’s obviously desperate and doesn’t know the rules, so he’ll just go into the nearest one. He’s almost certain to barge into the ladies’ room! I just wonder if he’ll run into a female teacher in there.”

In academics, she couldn’t outdo Lin Siyu. But when it came to tricks and pranks, her ideas were endless.

And, as it turned out, Tan Xiaoxiao’s guess was spot on.

Li Sicheng, upon reaching the office building, did not take the stairs to the second floor but headed straight to the restroom on the left side of the corridor.

“Haha, he fell for it!”

Seeing this, Lin Siyu and Tan Xiaoxiao perked up and broke into delighted laughter.

“Let’s see how you get out of this one!”

Their laughter brimmed with triumph and anticipation.

“Hurry, let’s not miss this show!”

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