Chapter 9: The Brilliant Shining Light of Zhuge Kongming

  Zhuge fanned himself with the feather fan, looking at me with a bewildered soul, and asked kindly but condescendingly: "What are you thinking about? You've been absent-minded for two days now. This state of mind won't do, Comrade Xuande."

  Listen, what a familiar tone it is. Our respected Zhuge Xiaoliang can always successfully disguise himself as a leader who comes down to inspect the people's livelihood.

  So I replied very respectfully: "No, I just... occasionally... uh... that that..."

  "Which one?" Zhuge Xiaoliang grasped tightly, "I heard from Professor Chen of Higher Mathematics that you got a single digit score in the last small test?"

  I was stunned for a moment, and then I asked shamelessly with a straight face: "Excuse me, Lord Zhuge, I clearly destroyed that scroll on the spot and didn't even leave any ashes behind. Even if Yunchang and Yide were present, they wouldn't have noticed anything. How did you know?"

  Zhuge Xiaoliang "hahaha" laughed three times towards the sky, his feather fan gently swaying as he began to expound and enlighten. With a self-satisfied smile, he replied: "Can't I just ask Master Chen Gong and know?"

  I took a deep breath, feeling that this matter was unbelievable, and with wide eyes, I asked in an adorable tone: "As far as I know, Teacher Chen is a loner who doesn't like to talk, and people usually keep their distance from him. How did you, Zhuge, manage to get along with him?"

  Zhuge Xiaoliang coughed and said with a profound gaze, "Comrade Xuande, mind your words. In fact, it was Teacher Chen who appreciated my talent in mathematics. He had a deep impression of me from the last National Olympiad - he told me himself. So, he just wants to win me over. Let's not mention that you can't even get a good grade in math, even if you tried to cheat and got caught red-handed."

  I didn't care about politeness, I took a step forward and covered his mouth, pulling him into the darkness with all my might.

  "Hmm... " He groaned, his large frame seemingly unable to resist me, and yet he was sending me spinach with sparkling eyes. It made my heart beat faster, making me feel like a wicked demon about to do something bad.

  I couldn't bear the reproach of my conscience, feeling that bullying such a beautiful man was truly sinful. So I reluctantly let go and begged with a humble expression: "Lord Zhuge, please have mercy, this matter must not be told to others! Otherwise, I'll lose face!"

  "That's easy to say," he flicked a stray hair from his temple with his feather fan, looking at me and saying with a hint of disappointment: "But Xuande, I thought you were going to drag me into some dark scheme or other - is that it? Nothing's going to happen?"

  The face of the extraordinary genius showed a very disappointed expression.

  "Ah......" My eyes widened, and after taking a deep breath, I spoke solemnly, "Brother Zhuge, please don't speak nonsense. Let me continue - I remember that last time Teacher Chen Gong participated in that competition, he kept muttering something about 'Heavenly gifted talent, unparalleled' and 'Kongming's brilliance, shining brightly for thousands of miles'. He seemed like he had a stroke... Now thinking back... Could it be... Is it possible... or maybe?"

  I scratched my ears and cheeks, gazing at him with deep affection in my eyes.

  Zhuge Xiaoliang was inspired, and he nodded frequently like a chick pecking at rice: "It was that game, Teacher Chen indeed lived up to his reputation as a master of the world, leaving a deep impression on me and showing great appreciation. So I just asked about your score, and he immediately shook his head, saying things like 'children cannot be taught' and 'rotten wood cannot be carved'."

  My heart is so broad and I am so kind, I treat his words as farting in my ear, instantly turning around, rummaging through the desk drawer, pulling out a finely bound hardcover notebook and a brush pen, placing them in front of Zhuge Xiaoliang: "Sign."

  Zhuge Xiaoliang looked at the pen and showed a somewhat awkward expression on his face, then seriously looked at me with a tone that directly pointed to my heart: "Comrade Xuande, shouldn't you be showing some anxiety, unease or shame at this moment?"

  I coughed and replied seriously, "Brother Zhuge is right, what he said is not wrong. In fact, I am uneasy, anxious, ashamed and have no place to hide in my heart, but I'm a introverted person, so it's not visible on the surface. You don't need to sympathize with me, absolutely not... Ah, that, hurry up and sign!"

  I pointed to the correct position on the book, urging Zhuge Xiaoliang to sign his name on the book. Then, he quickly picked up the book and disappeared without a trace while blowing air onto the wet ink mark.

  Behind him, the sound of Zhuge Xiao Liang's sigh seemed to rise, and that voice was so pleasant to hear, just like a gentle breeze blowing up the fallen leaves on the ground, lightly spinning twice in the air before landing with an extremely poetic and beautiful posture.

  I was struck by my own imagination and ran wildly.

  It won't be long before I'm back, but I won't be fighting alone anymore, I won't be one person.

  Behind me were Guan Xiaoyu and Zhang Xiaofei.

  Those two people surrounded Zhuge Xiaoliang like they were gawking at a monster, while I stood beside them with a calm smile, as if I was the seller of a rare treasure, or the ticket collector at a zoo.

  "What... is this?" Zhuge Xiaoliang covered his face with a fan, slightly lowering his head. This former champion of the National Debate Competition and Olympic Math Competition, who had won first prize in both events, was now feeling uneasy under our intense gaze. The half of his face not hidden by the fan revealed a shy expression, like a water lily flower that couldn't withstand the cool breeze.

  "Master Zhuge, be our teacher." The three of us said in unison with great respect.