Chapter 23: Sleeping in the Homeroom Teacher’s Class?

"Stop pretending with me!" Gao Zixi didn't believe a word he said.

"I'm telling the truth, my ankle really is broken. If you don't believe me, just look." Zhao Yuan felt more wronged than Dou E. Not only had his foot been trampled and injured, resulting in punishment and scolding, but now even when he spoke honestly, no one would believe him.

To prove he wasn't lying, he hurriedly removed his shoes and socks, revealing his ankle.

Though it wasn't clear from the outside if the ankle was truly broken, it was visibly swollen—quite badly, in fact.

Wincing in pain, Zhao Yuan groaned, "See? I wasn't lying, was I?"

Li Sicheng leaned in to take a look as well, then said, "Judging by the looks of it, the injury is pretty serious. How about this, Miss Gao—let me take him to the infirmary. After all, his injury is because of me."

"No! I don't want you to take me to the infirmary!" Zhao Yuan's face changed dramatically and he refused again and again.

Was he joking? Injured as he was, if Li Sicheng decided to take revenge for what happened earlier on the way to the infirmary, there was no way Zhao Yuan could escape.

"Scheming—absolutely too scheming." In Zhao Yuan's mind, Li Sicheng was just looking for an opportunity to get back at him.

Gao Zixi, however, didn't see it that way. In her eyes, Li Sicheng simply felt guilty and wanted to make amends. Compared to him, Zhao Yuan seemed hopeless—like mud that couldn't stick to a wall.

"Oh, Zhao Yuan, why do you always cause trouble for me? In the future, you ought to learn more from Li Sicheng!"

Hearing these words, Zhao Yuan's mouth hung open in disbelief.

Did I hear that right? You're telling me to learn from him? Come on, I'm the victim here—he trampled my foot and broke it, and you want me to learn from him? Is there no justice left in this world?

Tears streamed down Zhao Yuan's cheeks.

He was so wronged that he actually broke down and cried.

The only consolation was that Gao Zixi didn't agree to let Li Sicheng take him to the infirmary, but instead arranged for two other boys to help him.

Yet just before he left for the infirmary, Li Sicheng still managed to annoy him one last time.

Pointing at the stack of books piled high on Zhao Yuan's desk, Li Sicheng suggested, "Zhao, let me give you a piece of advice. From now on, you'd better not keep so many books on your desk. Judging by your face, you and books just don't get along. Piling so many here—aren't you just asking for trouble?"

"You’re the one who doesn’t get along with books!" Zhao Yuan was infuriated. He felt Li Sicheng was just too mean—he not only broke his foot but could even insult people without using a single dirty word.

"I'm just telling the truth. Believe it or not, it's up to you," Li Sicheng replied, spreading his hands in mock helplessness.

As Zhao Yuan was escorted out of the classroom, Lin Siyu shook her head with a bitter laugh. "That liar's luck is simply unbelievable!"

"If you ask me, the problem is that Zhao Yuan is just a useless teammate," Tan Xiaoxiao said, glancing back at Li Sicheng with a snort. "Looks like we'll have to think of other ways to deal with him!"

After Zhao Yuan left, Gao Zixi returned to the podium, and Li Sicheng headed back to his seat. As he passed, he winked at Zhang Xiaoling and mouthed a silent 'thank you.'

So he noticed my warning before? Does that mean he stepped on Zhao Yuan’s foot on purpose? For some reason, Zhang Xiaoling felt a sudden surge of happiness.

As soon as Li Sicheng sat down, the chubby boy next to him stuck out his hand. "Hey, let's get to know each other. I'm Zeng Yi."

"Nice to meet you," Li Sicheng replied, shaking his hand.

Zeng Yi, who seemed naturally friendly, lowered his voice to ask, "So, what did you do to offend Zhao Yuan? Why is he targeting you?"

"I have no idea," Li Sicheng replied, though his eyes flickered toward Lin Siyu sitting in front of him. Smiling slightly, he added, "Maybe he's just jealous that I'm better looking than he is."

Zeng Yi scrutinized Li Sicheng's face for a few seconds, then nodded seriously. "Hmm… honestly, you are pretty handsome—almost as good-looking as me."

After a few lighthearted exchanges, Zeng Yi fell silent as the bell rang for class. It was their homeroom teacher, Gao Zixi's, math lesson, and he had no intention of getting scolded for chatting during class.

First-year math was dull for Li Sicheng. After listening for a bit, he soon laid his head on the desk and dozed off. He was still in his recovery phase and needed plenty of rest.

"Look, that liar is sleeping in class!" Tan Xiaoxiao, who had been watching Li Sicheng out of the corner of her eye, nudged Lin Siyu urgently.

"Daring to sleep during Miss Gao's lesson? That liar is really digging his own grave," Lin Siyu said with a cold laugh as she glanced back, ready to watch the drama unfold.

Sure enough, Li Sicheng was soon discovered by Gao Zixi.

It would have been hard not to notice—everyone else was listening attentively, or at least pretending to, but Li Sicheng was sprawled out sleeping, just short of snoring.

"Li Sicheng!" Gao Zixi's brows shot up as she called out sharply.

Startled awake, Li Sicheng blinked sleepily at her and asked in confusion, "What is it?"

"What is it? You’re asking me? What were you doing while I was teaching?" Gao Zixi interrogated.

"I was listening," Li Sicheng replied.

"Listening? With your eyes closed?" Gao Zixi was genuinely angry now.

She could accept students making mistakes, but lying about them was something she couldn't tolerate.

"That's because your lesson was so good, I was completely absorbed," Li Sicheng replied with a perfectly serious expression, making it impossible to tell whether he was lying or not.

For a moment, Gao Zixi was thrown off balance, unable to discern the truth.

But she had her ways to find out. Turning, she wrote a math problem on the blackboard and beckoned Li Sicheng. "Come up here and solve this problem. If you were really listening, this should be no trouble for you."

"Ha! That liar is about to be humiliated!" Tan Xiaoxiao couldn't help laughing.

She had seen clearly that Li Sicheng had been napping, not listening. There was no way he could solve the problem!

"Miss Gao hates nothing more than lying—this liar is in trouble now!" Lin Siyu whispered, joining Tan Xiaoxiao in her anticipation for the show, eager to see Li Sicheng fail and get scolded.

"No need to go to the board—it's not necessary. The answer is x equals one-fifth," Li Sicheng said, glancing at the problem and giving the answer without even pausing to think.