Chapter 66: Evening Self-Study
After the New Year's holiday ended, the final exams for the semester were getting closer and closer.
Although Li Nuo did not consider himself an outstanding student, he also did not want to fail every subject.
Because of that, he was now studying twice as hard as before.
Even though he knew that last-minute cramming would not help very much, it was still better than doing nothing.
Besides, if he really got a chance to study abroad in the future, his academic grades could not be too poor.
With that in mind, he decided to seriously focus on studying from now on.
Since he did not consider himself a very self-disciplined person, he felt that he needed a good environment to force himself to study.
Other than daytime classes, the best place for that was naturally the school's evening self-study sessions.
At Nanqin Middle School, boarding students were required to attend evening self-study.
Day students, however, could choose whether to attend or not.
Only third-year students were usually required to come.
So tonight, Li Nuo planned to attend by himself.
He had invited An Ran'er to come along, but she refused.
Her reason was simple. She had already learned everything she needed during regular classes.
She also believed that blindly memorizing things was not an effective way to learn.
When it came to studying, she preferred balancing work and rest.
Li Nuo had a different opinion.
He believed that "balancing work and rest" was a privilege only smart and talented students could enjoy.
For an ordinary student like him, who remained average even after working hard, he felt that he had to put in extra effort just to keep up.
However, at this moment, he was beginning to think that coming to evening self-study had been a huge mistake.
Because the classroom was nothing like the quiet environment he had imagined.
Instead, it was incredibly noisy.
Some students were watching TV dramas on their phones.
Some were chatting while eating sunflower seeds.
Others were playing mobile games.
The number of students actually studying could be counted on one hand.
Most of those few serious students were wearing headphones, completely ignoring everything happening around them.
As for the dormitory supervisors who managed the evening study sessions, they were either preparing lessons for the next day or chatting on the phone.
Hardly anyone paid attention to what the students were doing.
Even when they occasionally came to inspect the classroom, the students only quieted down briefly.
As soon as the supervisors left, the noise started all over again.
Fortunately, the building used by first- and second-year students was separate from the third-year building.
That meant the students preparing for university entrance exams would not be disturbed.
Unfortunately, Li Nuo was not so lucky.
He had never expected things to be like this.
The noise made it impossible for him to focus on his books.
The worst offenders were the students sitting behind him.
At that moment, Zhou Qikuan was playing on a handheld game console while excitedly shouting.
"One slash! Two slashes! Die already, you little thing!"
"Damn! That's awesome!"
"Brother Zhou Qikuan is amazing!"
"That combo was so cool!"
The two boys watching him play were even more excited than Zhou Qikuan himself.
The game's sound effects and their loud cheering made it impossible for Li Nuo to concentrate.
Finally, he turned around.
"Can you guys keep it down a little?"
"Huh? Sorry, sorry."
After hearing the complaint, Zhou Qikuan quickly apologized.
He lowered the game's volume and stopped shouting.
However, he continued pressing buttons and moving the joystick nonstop.
Li Nuo never would have imagined that Zhou Qikuan attended evening self-study too.
The difference was that Zhou Qikuan was not there to study.
He was there to play games.
And judging from his behavior, this was clearly not his first time doing it.
The two boys beside him were boarding students from the same class, and the three of them seemed to have known each other for a long time.
After defeating the boss in the game, Zhou Qikuan handed the console to one of his classmates.
Then he moved to the seat next to Li Nuo.
"So what made you suddenly decide to come to evening self-study?" he asked.
"To study, obviously. What else?" Li Nuo replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Tsk tsk. I never knew you were such a hardworking student."
"Fool. Do you even understand the power of last-minute cramming?"
Li Nuo kept his eyes on the textbook.
"Besides, why come all the way to school just to play games? Isn't playing at home more comfortable?"
"Playing alone at home is boring."
Zhou Qikuan rested both hands behind his head.
"Do you know how painful it is to pull off an amazing combo and have nobody around to show it to?"
"Sure, sure. I understand."
Li Nuo answered absentmindedly.
"If I had known evening self-study was like this, I'd have just stayed home and studied."
"You'll get used to it."
Then Zhou Qikuan suddenly asked:
"By the way, do you have any sisters?"
"O-Of course not. Why are you asking?"
Li Nuo immediately felt nervous.
"No reason. Just asking."
After a moment, Zhou Qikuan continued.
"Do you want to hear what happened when I went to Baishen Snow Mountain a few days ago?"
"W-What happened?" Li Nuo asked while pretending to be curious.
"Let me tell you."
Zhou Qikuan then enthusiastically told him everything that had happened during the trip.
That included his heroic attempt to catch the "ghost" and how he had made up with Ye Feilu.
Finally, he leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"You know, I met someone there that you'd never expect."
"W-Who?"
Li Nuo's heart skipped a beat.
"The lead singer of The Girls—Lino."
"I-Is that so?"
Sweat immediately appeared on Li Nuo's forehead, but he pretended not to know anything.
"That sounds... pretty nice."
"It was."
Zhou Qikuan nodded.
"But there's one thing about that girl that still feels unbelievable to me."
"What thing?"
Li Nuo swallowed nervously.
Of course he already knew what Zhou Qikuan was about to say.
Zhou Qikuan suddenly moved closer and carefully examined Li Nuo's face.
"She looks exactly like you."
"The only differences are the hair and the voice."
After thinking for a moment, he added:
"Well... the personality is different too."
"I-Is that so?"
Li Nuo pretended to be shocked.
"Really? It must just be a coincidence. Haha..."
"One hundred percent true."
Zhou Qikuan laughed.
"If she wasn't the lead singer of The Girls and such a cute girl, I would've thought you were dressing up as her."
"T-That's impossible, haha."
Li Nuo laughed too, though his smile was extremely stiff.
"Since An Ran'er is part of The Girls, you can ask her about it sometime. They really look exactly alike."
Then Zhou Qikuan suddenly asked:
"By the way, were you at home during the entire New Year's holiday?"
"O-Of course I was. Why?"
Li Nuo nearly jumped.
"Are you feeling hot or something? Why are you sweating so much?"
"N-Not really..."
Li Nuo quickly changed the subject.
"Alright, enough talking. I need to study. Stop distracting me."
He was genuinely worried that if the conversation continued, Zhou Qikuan might actually discover the truth.
"Fine, fine."
Zhou Qikuan waved his hand.
"You study. I'm going to take a nap."
"When self-study ends, remember to wake me up."
With that, he immediately laid down and fell asleep.
Unfortunately for Li Nuo, things only became worse after Zhou Qikuan fell asleep.
Not only did he snore, but he also ground his teeth.
The two sounds alternated nonstop, making it impossible to focus.
By the end of the evening study session, Li Nuo realized he had learned almost nothing.
At that moment, he silently swore to himself:
This was the first and last time he would ever come to this school's evening self-study session.