Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 265 - 265 262 Scholarship (Three Updates)

Chapter 265: Chapter 262: Scholarship (Three Updates) Chapter 265: Chapter 262: Scholarship (Three Updates) At two in the afternoon the day before school started, almost every class held a class meeting.

As soon as Mu Jiawen walked into the classroom, she noticed that her seat looked different from before; her desk was piled high with items, all of which were food.

“Local specialties, specialties from our hometowns.”

Xue Weisong and Shen Mengfei were up to something in the back row. Upon seeing her enter, Shen Mengfei pointed at her desk and said, “These are the specialties everyone brought for you from their hometowns. Try them and see if they taste good.”

Now, Mu Jiawen had shown three major characteristics in their class: high intelligence, excellent drawing skills, and a hearty appetite!

So everyone, when returning from their hometowns, had naturally brought her some local specialties.

Some boys were good at being thoughtful, not only bringing her gifts but also leaving some on Xia Shi’s desk. However, it was obvious that Mu Jiawen received more.

Mu Jiawen, much interested, started to organize the specialties one by one and packed them into a big bag, which might have been prepared by Xue Weisong—it was large enough to hold all the items on her desk.

She tore open the interesting ones immediately to have a taste—most were vacuum-packed in plastic bags—until she came across a bag of winter dates packed in red plastic.

Mu Jiawen let out a “huh,” untied the knot of the bag, and found inside two bags of dates, one with large, round dried dates, and the other with long dates, slightly pointy at both ends and less red in color.

She wiped two with a paper napkin and tasted one, her eyes lighting up at the sweetness.

As she was crunching on the dates up front, she didn’t notice a gaze from behind that sighed in relief upon seeing her eat.

It was Zhong Liangang, the most inconspicuous boy in their class.

Last semester, Shen Mengfei and Xue Weisong had applied for a financial aid scholarship for him, but, unfortunately, he was not approved.

The school acknowledged that his family was not well-off, but it did not qualify for an aid scholarship. The school mentioned that there were many students worse off than him, and there were only so many scholarships available… Thus, the final decision was to reject his application.

By the end of this term, Zhong Liangang had quietly scored second place in the whole grade. As for who was first, was there any need to ask?

Xue Weisong was surprised when he got the news from Tang An, knowing that Zhong Liangang’s academic performance was good, but he thought that he would be the one in second place, with Zhong Liangang at most third.

He wondered whether it was his own carelessness or if the other person actually had the talent.

The Physics College was always generous with students who had good grades, offering scholarships to the top three in the year: eight thousand for first place, five thousand for second, and three thousand for third.

This year, Tang An was particularly proud because the top three students were all from his class.

Xue Weisong returned to his seat and started discussing the scholarship matter with Mu Jiawen.

Mu Jiawen had heard a bit about Zhong Liangang’s family situation before but didn’t know the details thoroughly. Still, she knew that his family wasn’t well-off, and he also worked part-time at the school library—a good way to earn while learning.

After some thought, Mu Jiawen said, “Later, ask Teacher Tang if I can give up the scholarship so it can go to the next person.”

Xue Weisong raised an eyebrow, knowing she wanted to give her eight thousand yuan scholarship to Zhong Liangang.

He nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll ask later. If it’s possible, I will also give up my scholarship. The fourth and fifth places belong to students from Class 2 and Class 3. As far as I know, their family situations are quite ordinary; the scholarships will be more meaningful in their hands than in ours.”

That would mean Zhong Liangang’s scholarship would then be eight thousand, with the fourth and fifth places receiving five thousand and three thousand respectively.

Tang An didn’t make a big deal out of this; he didn’t even mention it in class. It wasn’t until Zhong Liangang received the eight thousand yuan scholarship and, after being momentarily stunned, hurriedly asked the counselor about it.

He thought there had been a mistake by Teacher Tang.

Tang An smiled and said, “No mistake, it’s really eight thousand for you. Mu Jiawen and Xue Weisong both gave up their scholarships, so it rolled down to you, and that’s the amount you get.”

Walking out from Tang An’s office, it took a while for Zhong Liangang to regain his composure.

Three thousand yuan may not mean much to others, but to him, it was of paramount importance. Every month, he kept his food expenses under control, trying not to spend more than three hundred yuan. His part-time job at the library earned him two hundred and eighty yuan a month. He didn’t dare to look for another job outside of school, as the coursework and homework for the physics department were overwhelming. He knew he couldn’t get things backward—his studies were not to be neglected. Moreover, he wasn’t gifted in the traditional sense; it was only through hard work and perseverance that he had gotten this far.

Three thousand, that was nearly enough for a year’s worth of food expenses.

Alas…

Zhong Liangang sighed silently and noticed she really liked red dates; maybe he should bring more next time.

…

Meanwhile, the Computer Science department also concluded their scholarship evaluations and distributions.

Jiang Yan came in third, with Qi Lihong from his class taking first place, followed by Dai Lei in second.

Both also from low-income families, Wan Yuan, however, had failed two courses.

Their class could have been first, if not for Wan Yuan dragging them down to second.

Jiang Yan didn’t do much but cast a glance over, and to his surprise, Wan Yuan shuddered. He conveyed Chi Zuo’s words. “There’s a make-up exam in two weeks. If you fail again, you’ll be held back after the summer break. Understand?”

Wan Yuan nodded repeatedly, daring not to admit otherwise.

That evening at the dinner gathering, Liu Wenhui led the charge, and several boys drank to excess. Then they noticed something odd about their class president; he wasn’t competing with anyone in drinking. He just sat there, accepting toasts from everyone, but even by the end, he looked the same as he had at the start, his face normal and his mind clear.

Not showing the slightest sign of drunkenness.

Could his drinking capacity be this unusually good?

Later on, no one tried to drink with Jiang Yan anymore, fearing they’d get drunk first before they could ever affect him.

As the gathering was wrapping up, Jiang Yan decided to leave early. He was worried that Mu Jiawen might be drinking and wanted to take her away from there.

But just as he stepped out of the restaurant, someone grabbed his arm.

Jiang Yan looked back, nonchalantly pulling his arm free from Weng Minhong’s grasp.

The brat had a nose like a dog, and Weng Minhong liked to spray perfume; she’d surely comment on him if she caught a whiff.

“Jiang Yan…”

Weng Minhong had also drunk a bit too much, her delicately made-up cheeks slightly flushed, her eyes glazed, a touch of drunkenness in them.

Jiang Yan stepped back half a foot, frowning as he watched her stand unsteadily. He glanced back into the restaurant and noticed no girls from his class had followed him out.

“Go back and have Zhang Ting and the others take you to the dorm,” he said.

“Can’t you take me?”

Having had some drinks, Weng Minhong’s courage was bolstered. She looked up at the boy who was keeping his distance and staggered forward a big step.

Jiang Yan stood off to the left side of the restaurant entrance. As Weng Minhong moved forward, he stepped back once more, retreating into the shadows where the streetlights didn’t reach.

Jiang Yan was clearly impatient. “I’m going to pick up my girlfriend. If you’re drunk, go back and call your roommate to accompany you.”

After he spoke, he turned to leave, but Weng Minhong suddenly lunged at him again, gripping his arm and beseeching, “Jiang Yan, take me home just this once, please, just once?”

Jiang Yan was taken aback; he hadn’t expected her to lunge at him or to make such a request.

He looked at her with a skeptical gaze for two seconds and then said coldly, “Let go.”

“I won’t let go. If I do, you’ll definitely leave,” she said.

As she spoke, she not only grabbed onto his arm but also moved closer and clung to him tightly.

Jiang Yan felt a surge of anger but remembered they were at the entrance of the restaurant, and people were constantly walking by on the street in front; even though they were in the shadows, it wouldn’t take much for people to notice them if they started talking.

He used his free hand to grab Weng Minhong’s wrist and exerted a bit of force. She immediately cried out in pain as her whole arm went limp, and she released him.

Jiang Yan quickly stepped back to maintain a safe distance, his expression turning cold. “Considering you’re drunk, I’ll pretend this never happened today,” he said.