My desk mate couldn't afford lunch, so I said: "I'll treat you!" My desk mate couldn't afford medicine, so I said: "I'll buy it for you!" I single-handedly raised him from a skinny little monkey into a strapping, 6'2" handsome guy. After graduating high school, we went our separate ways. I heard he was found by his billionaire father, while my family fell into ruin. To save up for living expenses, I became a sales associate at a luxury store, and my desk mate became my customer. The tables turned. This time, it was his turn to say: "Pick whatever you want." Later, he pinned me against the wall, taking off his glasses: "Give me one more thing." "What?" "You." 1 My homeroom teacher, Mr. Thompson, had a sudden whim. He decided to let the top 20 students in the class pair up freely with the bottom 20 as desk mates, hoping to achieve academic prosperity for all. Tyler approached me proactively: "Bella, sit with me. I guarantee I'll teach you everything." I shook my head, my gaze falling on Liam, who was standing alone at the edge of the crowd. He was first in the class, tenth in the grade. If I was going to pick someone, I naturally wanted the best. "Liam, can I sit with you?" I smiled at him ingratiatingly, but his expression remained bland. "Whatever." Regardless of the attitude, not refusing was the first step to success. I took the initiative to grab his hand and shake it: "Since you agreed, don't despise me for being dumb later." He looked at me in astonishment, withdrew his hand, his face flushing slightly, and turned his head away without speaking. Tyler followed me over at some point, saying indignantly: "Bella, you want to sit with him? He looks like a scholarship student!" Hearing this, Liam lowered his head even more. I retorted: "I'll sit with whoever I want. Anyway, I won't sit with you." 2 Our school was an elite private school. Every year, for charity, they selected some outstanding students from ordinary schools with poor family backgrounds to enroll for free. Although there was no concrete proof, everyone in the class guessed Liam was a scholarship student. Consequently, they were prejudiced against him and unwilling to talk to him. Probably because his clothes were quite plain, and due to malnutrition, he was skinny as a monkey, about the same height as the girls. My dad was a wealthy but uncultured man who admired smart people the most. Influenced by him, I did too. Plus, since I wasn't smart, I wouldn't look down on Liam, who was smarter than me. On the first day sitting with Liam, he was very silent. Being a chatterbox, I couldn't help but try to talk to him during evening self-study. At first, he turned a deaf ear and ignored me. Later, he realized I had stubbornly performed a monologue until the end of the session. "Liam, which way are you going? Maybe we're going the same way." He packed his books into his worn-out backpack, frowning at me: "Bella, did you finish your questions?" I froze: "No." "Can you do the questions seriously tomorrow?" I was delighted. Was he preparing to help me improve my grades starting tomorrow? "Yes!" I vowed. The next evening self-study, I asked him while doing questions: "Liam, do you think the noodles at the first stall in the cafeteria are good?" "I feel like it's simply pig swill." He suddenly turned his head, his gaze sharp. "Can you be a bit more serious when doing questions?" I realized then that he found me noisy. So I tactfully shut my mouth. Sigh, failing to improve and affecting others' studies. I stared at the test paper for a long time and finally focused. Question one... don't know how to do it. I glanced at Liam several times and pushed the paper over. "Liam..." "What now?" He replied impatiently, not even taking his eyes off his own paper. "Nothing... just don't know how to do one question. It's okay, I'll study it more, won't disturb you." I silently pulled back the paper. A few seconds later, he sighed. "Which question?" There's hope! I pushed the paper back again: "Question one." He pursed his lips: "Maybe you should study it yourself." "Oh come on, just help me." Finally, he softened and compromised. 3 I didn't see Liam in the cafeteria for several days in a row, thinking he brought his own lunch. Then one day, my stomach felt uncomfortable and I didn't want to eat, so I slept on the desk. Waking up, I happened to see Liam eating cabbage from a battered tin lunch box. There wasn't even a speck of meat in the dish. I realized belatedly that he might not even afford the cafeteria, let alone tasted what I called pig swill. From that day on, I also joined the bring-your-own-lunch party. When the nanny was cooking, I nagged beside her: "Auntie, make two portions, put more meat, I'm growing!" At lunch time, I took the lunch box out of my bag, feigning surprise: "Oh, Auntie is really confused, how come she packed me two portions." "Liam, do you want to eat?" He froze for half a second, then shook his head. "If you don't eat, I'll throw it away. Sigh, what a waste." Holding the lunch box, just as I was about to get up, Liam suddenly stopped me. "Never mind, give it to me. Thanks." I thought he would open the lunch box and eat with me, but unexpectedly, he stuffed the lunch box into his backpack and ate his own. Did he want to save it for dinner? I was curious but didn't know how to ask, afraid of hurting him. "I'll wash the lunch box and bring it back to you tomorrow," he said. The next day, I repeated yesterday's operation. Thinking he would accept again, who knew he exposed me directly. "Bella, why are you helping me?" My brain spun: "Not helping you. I want you to teach me, so I'm flattering you. You don't know how annoying my parents are nagging about grades all day." "I bring you good food, you teach me. How about an equal exchange?" Seeing him hesitate, I quickly added: "Hey, alright alright, it's settled. Thanks, desk mate." 4 After that, I occasionally pulled out things Liam needed from my bag like Doraemon. He always refused, and I always forced them on him. Back and forth, our desk mate relationship warmed up a lot. He started actively helping me check questions and explain them, though he still complained about me talking too much. The monthly exam arrived. After studying during this period, I felt I could break through 50 points in each subject no matter what. But during the exam, I found Liam was different from previous desk mates; he didn't cover his paper at all. When I poked my head over, he even moved the hand that was accidentally blocking the view. So generous! I copied frantically with tears in my eyes. After the results came out, I had tears in my eyes again. This exam was exceptionally difficult, plus Liam miraculously scored first in the grade. So even though I deliberately wrote some wrong, I still jumped from over 300th to top 50 in the grade. Undoubtedly, parents were called. I stood outside the office listening to my dad arguing with Mr. Thompson inside: "My daughter finally did so well, on what basis do you say she copied? Show the evidence!" "What, the surveillance camera just happened to be broken? That means no evidence. You have to apologize to my daughter, otherwise if it affects her physical and mental development, I won't let it go!" Mr. Thompson: "Don't get excited yet. How about we let Bella take the test again?" "Test what test? Testing becomes self-proving. You can't produce evidence, why should we prove ourselves?" I was ashamed, but dared not admit it as things had escalated to this level. Liam was the math class representative. After delivering papers, he came out and leaned next to me. "Next time, restrain your copying." I wanted to cry but had no tears: "I won't dare to copy next time." "If you don't copy, it'll be set in stone." I suddenly grabbed his arm: "Then teach me, I'll take the test myself." He looked troubled: "Might be a bit difficult." The voices in the office got closer. Mr. Thompson and my dad walked towards us. "Liam, you're here too. Tell us, did Bella copy off you?" Her voice was loud. Our classroom was right next to the office. I thought all the students must have heard. At this moment, I regretted my impulsive copying during the exam immensely. I could have improved on my own. I didn't expect Liam to lie for me, so I clenched my fists and waited quietly for the verdict. "I don't know." A faint voice sounded from the side. "Don't know? Can you not know if the person next to you copied your paper? Liam, don't forget how you got into this school. I advise you not to lie. If found out, you will be expelled." My heart skipped a beat. The teacher actually blurted out Liam's status directly. I lowered my head and saw him clenching his hands too. "Don't know," he repeated. "You." Mr. Thompson wanted to say more, but my dad interrupted her. "Don't make things difficult for the young man. Is it because my wife talked back to you a couple of times at the last parent-teacher meeting, so you're picking on my daughter now?" I suddenly remembered at the last meeting, Mr. Thompson said that with bad grades, even if the family had money, it would be squandered, resulting in social dregs. My mom wasn't convinced and retorted a couple of sentences. Guess she held a grudge. Besides, many students copied in the monthly exam, but she only targeted me. My dad left the teacher speechless, and she had to let us return to the classroom first. I was dejected all day, couldn't even eat. During evening self-study, Liam suddenly leaned close and said: "Bella, do you trust me? I'm very accurate at predicting exam questions." I turned my head to look at him. His eyelashes cast a shadow on his eyelids under the light, hiding the emotions in his eyes. I sighed: "I trust you, but I don't trust myself." He wanted to say something more, but Mr. Thompson's majestic voice sounded at the door. "Bella, no talking during evening self-study! One bad apple spoils the whole barrel." Before I could get angry. Liam suddenly spoke: "Teacher, I initiated the conversation with Bella about studies. I'm sorry." Mr. Thompson rolled her eyes at him, hmphed, and left. After evening self-study, Liam walked out of the classroom with me. He actively asked if I was free on the weekend, saying he could help me with tutoring.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "388514", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel