Chapter 97: “You Are a Rare Gem in This World (IV)”

The Secondary CP Extra
Chapter 97: “You Are a Rare Gem in This World (IV)”

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When Wen Bin took out his student ID, a few young girls gathered around, chattering as they stared at the expressionless photo of the boy on the card.

“So it really is Wen Bin.”

“So he’s the one, huh? He’s nothing like I imagined. Didn’t think he’d look so unremarkable.”

“Pfft, as if you know him so well.”

“Well… I kinda do. You guys don’t know this, but our homeroom teacher is always talking about this upperclassman who’s amazing at everything. Top marks in math, physics, chemistry, and biology—he even gets perfect scores all the time. The teacher keeps saying we don’t have to aim to be like him, but if just one of us could excel in one subject, they’d be less stressed.”

“Right, right, our homeroom teacher keeps mentioning him too. Says he’s a once-in-a-decade prodigy at our school, but also someone who doesn’t follow the teachers’ instructions much. I thought he’d look like he had three heads and six arms or something.”

“I heard he’s not even that hardworking. Never answers questions in class. He’s nothing like those studious top scorers who are always cramming, practicing, and actively participating in lectures. I don’t get how his brain works!”

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“Omynvzu…”

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Jwv qsa rlsrzl zkjl Eld Jkd—vawl “ynyelxkn tsep”—vblu olal y ekqqlaldv calle. Eblvbla vsr pnsalap sa wdelaynbklhlap, xspv pvweldvp sdzu qlzv sdl vbkdt vsoyae pwnb kdekhkewyzp: yexkayvksd, zsdtkdt, yde rlabyrp y bkdv sq flyzswpu.

Eld Jkd oyp nzlyazu kd vbyv nyvltsau.

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Qsppkr kp bwxyd dyvwal, yde xupvlau kp yd kaalpkpvkczl xytdlv—Nwyd Ckysikdt yde bla qakldep olal ds lmnlrvksd.

Gqvla ekpnwppkdt Eld Jkd’p ynnsxrzkpbxldvp, vbl tkazp zssjle yv Nwyd Ckysikdt okvb lhld xsal yexkayvksd kd vblka lulp.

“Zsw’al yxygkdt, Ckys Ckys-fkl. Zsw’al ps nzspl okvb Eld Jkd? R blyae bl eslpd’v byhl y pkdtzl qaklde yv pnbssz yde yzoyup jllrp vs bkxplzq.”

“Really?” Luan Qiaoqing was halfway through a dazzling smile when she hesitated and turned to look at Wen Bin.

“You’re so good at studying. Yesterday, when I heard about your grades, I was totally shocked… How could you not have any friends?”

“…”

Wen Bin stayed silent.

He finally understood why Luan Qiaoqing had suddenly approached him today. This girl clearly hadn’t heard of his reputation at school until yesterday, when she must have accidentally connected the dots and realized who he was. So today, she couldn’t wait to drag him out and show him off to her friends.

Just as he’d guessed—foolish and childish.

And yet, the two of them were strangely similar in a way.

In a sense, they were both quite “famous” at school, almost universally known among the students. But before meeting each other, neither had heard a thing about the other.

So even after knowing each other for days, they’d only just begun to learn about one another recently.

When Wen Bin didn’t respond, Luan Qiaoqing didn’t mind at all. She even patted his shoulder and said, “Forget it, forget it. Seeing how quiet you are, making a friend might just kill you from stress. It’s fine. From now on, I’m your friend, and my friends are your friends too. Look—you just got a whole bunch of new sisters. Aren’t you happy?”

With a grand gesture, Luan Qiaoqing waved her hand like a ruler surveying the kingdom she’d claimed on his behalf.

Wen Bin pressed his lips together but ultimately held back and said nothing.

**

Wen Bin never expected that he would actually end up becoming “friends” with this naive, childish, and not-so-bright girl.

According to Luan Qiaoqing, their friendship had to be the best in the world—the kind where they were closer than anyone else.

But, of course, there was a reason behind her declaration.

As the midterm exams approached, Luan Qiaoqing’s parents—who, judging by her personality, Wen Bin suspected had a pretty laissez-faire attitude—must have finally realized that if their daughter kept going like this, she might not even graduate middle school. They laid down a strict requirement for her academic performance: if she didn’t rank in the top 66.7% of her class in the next exam, her allowance would be cut off.

That was as good as taking her lifeline.

Crying miserably, Luan Qiaoqing complained to her friends. After a few of them chimed in with similar stories about how their parents were starting to panic over the looming high school entrance exams, one clever girl suddenly had an idea.

“Qiao Qiao-jie, aren’t you close with Wen Bin? Have him tutor you! He’s been ranked first in the entire school since the end of his first semester in junior high. He’s never dropped to second place—if he tutors you, your problem’s solved!”

“…!” Luan Qiaoqing’s eyes lit up, clutching at this newfound hope like a lifeline.

But someone quickly doused her excitement. “I heard Wen Bin never helps anyone with questions or tutoring. That’s why his classmates don’t like him at all.”

“That depends on the person, right? Qiao Qiao-jie is his friend! Isn’t that right, Qiao Qiao-jie?”

Snapping back to reality, Luan Qiaoqing nodded vigorously. “Of course! I’ll go find him right now!”

Luan Qiaoqing might not think things through, but when it came to action, she was unmatched. That very evening, during self-study, she dashed straight to the classroom of Class 1, Grade 9.

She’d been hanging around the door of this classroom so much lately that the moment someone spotted her, the first student to walk out chuckled. “You’re here for Wen Bin again, aren’t you?”

“Ah,” Luan Qiaoqing, who had been peeking around, nodded when she heard the question. “Can you help me call him out?”
“Sure.”

The boy agreed readily. He went back into the quiet classroom, which had just finished its evening session, and called out loudly, “Wen Bin, your girlfriend’s here to see you!”

“…”

The classroom fell into stunned silence for a moment, followed by a burst of laughter. Ever since Wen Bin had somehow “gotten a girlfriend” in the form of Luan Qiaoqing, most of the boys in the class had stopped picking on or teasing him. Instead, they seemed to enjoy watching the dynamic between the two of them.

Staring out at the dark night sky from his desk, Wen Bin snapped out of his thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, he closed the book in front of him, stood up, and walked toward the door.

As soon as he left, two girls sitting behind him began whispering.

“I swear, Wen Bin listens to everything Luan Qiaoqing says. He never even responded to us before—could she really be his girlfriend?”

“Probably. Otherwise, why would she show up this often?”

“What is Wen Bin thinking? Luan Qiaoqing might only be in Grade 8, but I heard she’s better at fighting than most of the boys in our year. She acts all carefree and casual, but who knows what she’s really like?”

“I mean, it’s kind of strange. Luan Qiaoqing could have any kind of boyfriend, and it wouldn’t be surprising, but Wen Bin? He’s so dull and weird…”

“Still, you can’t beat his grades—if she’s actually his girlfriend, her results are bound to skyrocket. Maybe not to second place, but definitely way better than now.”

“True…”

Discussions like these were everywhere, but Wen Bin never paid attention to them. Expressionless, he walked from his desk to the front of the classroom.

When he stepped outside, Luan Qiaoqing turned to face him with an exaggeratedly pitiful expression, her eyes brimming with mock tears.

“…”

He froze for two seconds, then slowly frowned.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Luan Qiaoqing asked, “Wen Bin, would you say we’re good friends?”

Wen Bin was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly.

Luan Qiaoqing pressed on, “And you don’t have many friends, so I’d say our friendship is probably the best in the world, right? Like, we’re so close we wouldn’t hold anything against each other—closer than anyone else, wouldn’t you say?”

“…”

Wen Bin’s silence stretched even longer this time, but under the hopeful, puppy-like gaze of the girl in front of him, he eventually gave a reluctant nod.

Luan Qiaoqing’s eyes lit up instantly. Raising both hands, she grabbed Wen Bin’s and clasped them tightly. “You said it yourself! So now that we’re such close friends, you can’t just sit back and watch when I’m in trouble!”

“…”

Under the curious gazes of passing students from other classes, Wen Bin awkwardly pulled his hands away. “What trouble?”

“My grades, of course! My dad says I have to rank in the top two-thirds of my class this midterm, or he’ll cut off my allowance!” Luan Qiaoqing looked utterly devastated. “You know all my friends—our grades are about the same, so I can’t count on them. You’re my only hope! Tutor me, and if I make it, I’ll treat you to a feast!”

Wen Bin frowned. “I’m not good at teaching.”

Luan Qiaoqing immediately replied, “That’s okay! We can take it slow—I don’t need you to be perfect, really!”

“…”

Seeing Wen Bin still hesitating, Luan Qiaoqing wrinkled her nose and gave him an exaggeratedly pitiful look. “You’re not really going to leave me in the lurch, are you? We’re supposed to be closer than anyone else—friends in trouble have to help each other, right?”

“…”

The truth was, Wen Bin had already decided to agree the moment Luan Qiaoqing started talking.

But he also knew that if he didn’t immediately give in, she would cling to him until he did. And maybe it was because that evening self-study session had been so dull, or maybe it was because he had never seen this loud, carefree girl act so over-the-top pitiful in front of him—it was oddly novel to him.

Wen Bin only knew one thing: though he had been willing from the start, he still let her grab his hand and beg for ages before finally nodding.

Years later, when he thought back to this otherwise ordinary evening, it would remain vividly etched in his memory.

Not for any particular reason.

But because, much later, he realized that the subtle scheming buried deep in his nature had first surfaced in that moment—all because of this girl.

After all, people only start scheming when there’s something they long for.

He didn’t have it before, but that day—or perhaps even earlier—he already did.

**

It must be said that, as a “study god” who only casually flipped through books and never bothered to summarize key points, difficult concepts, or scoring strategies, teaching a group of students barely clinging to the bottom of the academic ladder from nearly zero was a truly torturous process.

As for why it was a group—

“Wen Bin, can we discuss something?”

“?”

“Well, since you’re already going to tutor me, one person or two people—it’s all the same, right? How about you include a few of my friends as well? Some of them are under a lot of pressure from their parents to improve their grades too. They’re just as pitiful as I am.”

“… Their grades are as bad as yours?”

“Yeah!”

“…”

“Why are you asking that?”

“…”

“Wait, are you looking down on us because we’re bad at studying? You forgot that we’re close enough to share a pair of pants, didn’t you? QAQ”

“… I’m not looking down on you.”

“So, you’re agreeing?!”

“…”

“Say something!”

“… Mm.”

“Hahaha, I knew you were the most dependable! Before the weekend, I’ll come find you to figure out the time and place for our tutoring sessions!”

“…”

And so, the tragic scenario of a study god tutoring struggling students multiplied exponentially.

**

Saturday morning.

Wen Bin once again stood in front of the familiar door of the upscale apartment building. After hesitating for a few seconds, he raised his hand and knocked.

It didn’t take long before the door opened from the inside, revealing a bright smile on a young girl’s face.

“Good morning, Teacher Wen!”

Wen Bin was momentarily stunned before nodding silently. He then followed the girl, who had already turned and walked back inside.

“We’ll have our lesson in the study today. I already told my dad,” Luan Qiaoqing said cheerfully as she walked through the door.

Wen Bin hesitated for a moment and then, unusually, asked, “Did your dad agree?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Luan Qiaoqing turned back with a puzzled expression.

“With so many people coming…”

“Oh, come on, you’re coming too, aren’t you?” Luan Qiaoqing’s eyes curved into crescents as she laughed. “When my dad heard that the top-ranked student in the grade was tutoring me, he couldn’t be happier.”

Wen Bin was silent for a few seconds. “Didn’t he hire a private tutor for you?”

The girl, who had already turned to walk further inside, replied without looking back, “How did you know he hired one? Of course, he did. But unfortunately, I don’t get along with those tutors. The moment they start explaining something, I feel sleepy. And they’re all so strict and never smile. Why would I want them to tutor me?”

“…”

The two of them walked into the study one after the other. Luan Qiaoqing pushed the door open and suddenly remembered something. She turned around with a bright smile, grabbed Wen Bin’s wrist, and dragged him inside.

“Look! My dad had this teaching whiteboard delivered yesterday, along with these colorful markers. Over here are magnets and an eraser—doesn’t it feel like a real classroom?”

“…”

Wen Bin didn’t say a word, letting Luan Qiaoqing pull him around the study while enthusiastically introducing the “teaching tools.”

It wasn’t until one of Luan Qiaoqing’s girlfriends came knocking at the door that she finally left to answer it.

Listening to the lively sounds coming from the entrance a couple of rooms away, Wen Bin quietly gazed at the whiteboard.

After a few seconds, he raised his wrist and silently looked at the spot where the girl had unconsciously grabbed him earlier. He slowly ran his other hand over it.

The cheerful voices outside grew closer, and the rare genuine emotion in Wen Bin’s eyes gradually faded. He lifted his gaze back to the whiteboard.

At that moment, a tinge of regret crossed his mind—

If he had known earlier… he wouldn’t have agreed to tutor the others along with her.

**

After the midterm exam results were released, something remarkable happened at school—several teachers and students were amazed to find that Luan Qiaoqing and her friends, who usually showed no interest in academics, had made significant progress in their midterms.

Luan Qiaoqing’s improvement was particularly notable. Previously vying for the bottom spot, she had unexpectedly climbed to the top 50% of her class rankings.

Had the seating arrangements for the exams not been randomized, the teachers might have suspected them of cheating together.

Even without that suspicion, the homeroom teachers of their respective classes specifically called Luan Qiaoqing and her friends in for questioning. When they learned that it was Wen Bin—the top student in his grade—who had been tutoring them over weekends for half the semester, the teachers couldn’t help but marvel.

Some even went out of their way to thank the homeroom teacher of Class 1, Grade 9.

Wen Bin’s homeroom teacher, who had been teaching his class since Grade 7, knew the boy’s personality and habits well.

Upon hearing the news, he deliberately approached Wen Bin during an evening self-study session, his expression serious.
When Wen Bin stepped out of the classroom into the corridor, he saw his homeroom teacher standing by the window with his hands behind his back.

Wen Bin walked over quietly and stopped. “Teacher.”

The homeroom teacher turned around. “Wen Bin, you took first place in the grade again on the midterm. Very impressive.”

“Thank you, Teacher,” the boy replied calmly.

“…”

The teacher glanced at the boy with mild surprise.

He hadn’t paid much attention to this student—someone who required no additional supervision. But now, he noticed that Wen Bin had grown taller, his shoulders straighter, and there was a faint sharpness about him, a far cry from the low-profile presence he used to have.

Even his personality seemed slightly different—previously, if the teacher had spoken like this, Wen Bin would have ignored him entirely.

The most striking difference? Wen Bin seemed… more alive.

The teacher almost chuckled at his own thoughts. Clearing his throat, he straightened up slightly. “However, I heard you’ve been tutoring some classmates before the midterms. Are you sure that hasn’t affected your own studies?”

The boy seemed unfazed by the question, replying evenly, “It’s fine.”

“…” Seeing that subtle persuasion wasn’t working, the teacher decided to be blunt. “You’ve been spending time with a Grade 8 student named Luan Qiaoqing, haven’t you? I heard from some of the teachers that you’ve been tutoring her and her friends?”

Wen Bin’s expression didn’t change. “Yes.”

The teacher’s tone turned stern. “Helping classmates is a good thing, but I recall you didn’t like explaining problems to others before. Why make an exception now?”

Wen Bin hesitated briefly. “We’re friends.”

“Friends?” The teacher frowned. “What kind of friends?”

“…”

“Wen Bin, you’re in one of the most critical stages of your life right now. In just over a semester, you’ll be taking the high school entrance exams. You can’t afford to lose focus now. Romantic relationships are strictly prohibited in school. I can’t control other students, but you’re my student, and I must intervene.”

Wen Bin raised his eyes. “Teacher, we’re not in a relationship.”

“Then what’s your relationship with her? Just ordinary friends? And yet you’ve gone out of your way to tutor her and her friends so diligently?”

“…” The boy fell silent again.

As the silence lingered, the teacher’s expression darkened.

“Wen Bin, you’re a smart kid. Don’t make foolish mistakes over something like this. That girl, Luan Qiaoqing, can afford to play around, but can you? Yes, your grades haven’t been affected yet, but are you certain they won’t be in the future? If you mess up your high school entrance exam, her parents can send her to another school to repeat Grades 8 and 9. Can your parents do the same?”

Wen Bin’s expression finally shifted. Something in the teacher’s words seemed to have struck a nerve. He frowned slightly and said seriously, “I won’t let my grades be affected.”

“Even if your grades aren’t affected, it’s still unacceptable! Why can’t you understand that?” The teacher finally lost his temper. “Romantic relationships at this stage, at best, require a meeting with your parents. At worst, they could lead to expulsion! Are you trying to ruin your future?”

“…”

“From now on, you must stay far away from Luan Qiaoqing. If I hear about anything between you two again or see you walking together, I’ll report it to the disciplinary office. The school has a zero-tolerance policy for these situations!”

“…”

After the teacher’s stern warning, the corridor fell into a long, suffocating silence.

Just as the teacher began to relax, thinking that no matter how good Wen Bin’s grades were or how clever he might be, he was still just a 16- or 17-year-old boy—surely frozen in fear by now—the boy suddenly spoke, his head still lowered:
“Six months.”

The teacher was taken aback. “What?”

“Six months until the high school entrance exam, Teacher,” Wen Bin said, his voice calm and unhurried.

When he lifted his head, the teacher realized there was none of the fear or panic he had expected on that young face.

In fact, Wen Bin’s overly composed gaze sent a chill down the teacher’s spine—how could a mere teenager be so calm, without even a hint of weakness or fear?

What unsettled the teacher even more were the boy’s next words.

The teacher clenched his teeth. “So what if there are six months until the exam?”

Wen Bin replied, “Six months until the exam, and my grades have been consistent for the past four years. So as long as I don’t make any major mistakes, even if I were to have a romantic relationship, the disciplinary office would at most issue a warning—they wouldn’t expel me.”

The teacher froze, then let out a bitter laugh, his anger tinged with uncertainty. “Who’s the teacher here, you or me? Do you think good grades mean you can do whatever you want?”

“Of course not. I know exactly where the line is when it comes to using grades as a safeguard,” Wen Bin said, his tone and expression still devoid of emotion. “But at the very least, a so-called ‘relationship’ is well within that line.”

The teacher was finally furious. “Let me tell you something—there’s no way I’ll tolerate this! You—”

“I can guarantee the school a city-wide top scorer for the high school entrance exam in six months,” Wen Bin interrupted. “After that, beyond just your performance evaluation, there’s the prestige of being the teacher of the top scorer. If my score is exceptional enough to break historical records, perhaps even the local news will interview both you and me. I can tell them how diligent and inspiring a mentor you’ve been. You might even become a candidate for the City’s Outstanding Teacher award. And in the years to come, promising students may choose to join your next class—or the one after that…”

He paused, then raised his head, his expression calm as he asked, “Teacher, compared to all of that, is it really so difficult to overlook the ordinary friendships of an ordinary student?”

“…”

The boy’s composed, deliberate words left the teacher frozen, his expression stiff.

He couldn’t fathom how such a statement could come from a middle school student. Every point Wen Bin made was so precise, so perfectly aligned with his own ambitions and concerns.

The teacher suddenly realized his greatest mistake: despite having taught Wen Bin for nearly four years and thinking he understood him, the truth was the complete opposite. He knew nothing about the boy’s true nature, while Wen Bin had been quietly observing him all along, pinpointing every desire and weakness with unnerving accuracy.

Coming to this realization, the teacher felt something far beyond unease—it was outright fear.

Seeing the teacher’s wavering resolve, Wen Bin slowly nodded before bending his body into a 90-degree bow.

With the same calm tone he had when stepping into the corridor, he said, “I’ve received your answer, Teacher. Thank you. I’ll make sure to deliver the city’s top score for the high school entrance exam next semester. I’ll return to class now. Goodbye, Teacher.”

“…”

Straightening up, Wen Bin turned and walked back into the classroom.

It wasn’t until he had returned to his seat and no one was looking at him that his perfectly composed expression finally softened and crumbled.

He lowered his gaze to his palm—it was slick with a thin layer of sweat.

He was just a middle school student, after all. Naturally, he wasn’t as calm or emotionally controlled as he had seemed. But tonight, he had no choice but to attempt it for the first time.

Thankfully, it worked.

At that moment, Wen Bin didn’t realize that this skill—seemingly a natural talent forged from his upbringing—would grow more practiced and instinctive over time.

This ability, honed through necessity and ambition, would transform him into someone entirely different from the boy he once was.

All because of one desire.

**

Under Wen Bin’s careful efforts to shield it, his “strong friendship” with Luan Qiaoqing remained intact into the new semester—the final semester before his high school entrance exams.

Two significant events occurred around the start of the semester.

First, Wen Bin’s mother, unable to bear the strain of their difficult circumstances, remarried before the Lunar New Year. Her new husband, a divorced man from the Chu family with a daughter and a comfortable financial situation, became Wen Bin’s stepfather, finally lifting him out of hardship.

Second, a new student transferred into Class 1, Grade 9. He was a tall, athletic, and handsome boy, quickly winning the admiration of many girls in the school.

At first, the second event had nothing to do with Wen Bin. Whether the new student was male or female, attractive or not—such things that fascinated most of his peers never interested him.

However, this event would soon have a profound impact on Wen Bin and leave a lasting impression on him for years to come.

The reason, of course, was Luan Qiaoqing.

Wen Bin noticed something unusual when her visits to Class 1, Grade 9 to see him suddenly became more frequent.

During their conversations, her gaze occasionally drifted to a particular corner of his classroom, and Wen Bin finally pieced it together.

For the first time, he hated his own sharp intuition.

But he chose not to confront her, pretending not to notice. It was a form of denial that offered little comfort, but it was all he had.

Unfortunately, this façade didn’t last long.

A month into the semester, Luan Qiaoqing stood in the corridor outside Class 1, Grade 9, beaming as she casually draped an arm around Wen Bin’s shoulder.

With a carefree smile, she asked, “Hey, what do you think about me going after that new transfer student in your class?”

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Sansukini: This novel is all about childhood sweetheart-separation-reunion. I actually like Qiaoqing and Wen Bin’s Extras. We only have 3 chapters left. So this novel will end next Saturday. I’m still not sure what novel should follow after this. Maybe a period rebirth.

Thanks for visiting. If you like this story, then I’m shamelessly asking you to visit NovelUpdates and give a 5⭐ review. (人❛ᴗ❛)♪тнайк　чоц♪(❛ᴗ❛*人)

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