Chapter 27: Keep up the good work, and next year I’ll find you a sister-in-law!

"Look, this is a piano. I'll play something for you one of these days."

"Cousin, you know how to play the piano?"

"Of course. Back when I was a kid, I used to argue with your aunt about the piano all the time. As for these bookshelves, many students come to read during lunch, and you're welcome to as well. Over there are the soccer club, the dance club..."

Fang Yifan was showing his cousin, Lin Lei'er, who had just arrived from out of town, around the school building.

For a private elite school with an annual tuition of 150,000, the facilities were naturally dazzling to Lin Lei'er, who came from a truly ordinary family with limited means.

To say nothing of anything else, the piano sitting in the lobby of the teaching building was something he wouldn't have dared to imagine. Most schools certainly didn't have anything like that.

Once they went upstairs, Fang Yifan suddenly announced he had to use the restroom, refusing to let his new cousin tag along, and told him to head to the classroom on his own.

Helpless, Lin Lei'er had to find his way there himself.

Just as he reached the door, he saw a girl writing a difficult math problem on the small blackboard at the back of the classroom. Lin Lei'er’s eyes lit up the moment he saw it, and he walked over, staring intently at the board.

Qiao Yingzi, who was in the middle of copying it down, looked up and asked, "Classmate, who are you looking for?"

Lin Lei'er didn't say a word. He picked up a piece of chalk and began calculating right underneath the problem. This scene stunned Qiao Yingzi, and soon, the entire class gathered behind him, watching as he worked through the question.

"389! It's all correct!" After Lin Lei'er finished, Qiao Yingzi was the first to check the answer, then exclaimed to the crowd of students, "Mr. Chen said that he was the only one who could solve this, and no one else could!"

"That's just because Chen Qi is weak!" Fang Yifan, having returned from the restroom, immediately began to puff himself up. He slung an arm around his cousin's shoulder and started bragging to the crowd: "If I couldn't solve it, that doesn't mean someone else couldn't, right? Do you know who this is? My cousin, Lin Lei'er, a genius panda. And I, humble as I am, am the genius panda’s older brother—a giant genius panda!"

As the crowd burst into laughter, he caught a glimpse of He Chen walking past the door. He immediately raised his voice and said, "Ruan Liuzheng, you’ve seen the talent my brother and I possess. If you have anything you don't understand in the future, feel free to ask us!"

"Are you sick or something?" Qiao Yingzi, realizing Fang Yifan was deliberately trying to stir up trouble, muttered a curse under her breath.

Fang Yifan didn't see it that way. Without waiting for a response from Ruan Liuzheng, he carried on loudly, talking about how impressive his 'genius panda' cousin was, all while keeping a side-eye on He Chen, who had stopped outside the window. He was practically beaming.

He might not be a match for He Chen, but his cousin was a real academic prodigy—looking even more impressive than Qiao Yingzi. In such a situation, if he didn't take a jab at He Chen, would he even be the young, competitive Fang Yifan?

As for using Ruan Liuzheng to make his point, it brought him a strange sense of pleasure. *You bastard He Chen, don't you use my goddess to disgust me? Well, I'll use your girl to disgust you! Who's afraid of who?*

"Ruan Liuzheng, you need to be more diligent and work harder. Keep it up, and next year, I'll find you a sister-in-law!" He Chen, having grasped the situation from Fang Yifan's self-aggrandizing display, spoke through the window to Ruan Liuzheng. Then, he looked at Lin Lei'er, who was standing blankly beside Fang Yifan.

"And you, brother of the 'giant genius panda,' you need to work hard too! Your hard work isn't just to help your brother get into Tsinghua or Peking University next year, but for your own safety. After all, pandas are protected animals. If you don't keep your brother happy, don't let him sell you off or get you locked away!"

The crowd erupted into a buzz and laughter. Everyone understood He Chen's subtext and mockery. Phrases like 'work hard, and next year I'll get you a sister-in-law' or 'work hard, and strive to help your boss buy a new car by the end of the year' were exactly the kind of 'positive energy' popular in society—things that made people laugh, yet left them with no choice but to mock themselves. Because they knew it was wrong, yet were utterly helpless.

Fang Yifan’s smug attitude just now was the perfect caricature of a 'big brother' or a boss. A bottom-tier student with an amazing genius cousin was still just a bottom-tier student. What did his cousin's brilliance have to do with him? Could it help him get into a good university, or make his goddess look at him with favor?

This was He Chen, the one who stood up to 'Iron Rod Li' and left him speechless! In just a few sentences, he had dissected the essence of Fang Yifan’s arrogance and delivered a deep, stinging mockery. It was both hilarious and thought-provoking, offering a new perspective—everyone felt they had learned something!

And the remark about pandas being protected animals was the final touch, making everyone realize just how good He Chen was at hitting back. Who didn't know that He Chen had used the fact that Fang Yifan’s father bought a Class II protected animal, a golden turtle, to get his father locked up for a month?

A slap in the face! A blatant slap in the face!

While the crowd admired He Chen, Qiao Yingzi, Huang Zhitao, and Ruan Liuzheng understood more than the others. They knew He Chen’s words were far more damaging to Fang Yifan than anyone realized. That line to Ruan Liuzheng wasn't just a meme about social injustice; it had real weight. Wasn't Fang Yifan’s meltdown the night before caused by He Chen deliberately using Ruan Liuzheng to get close to Huang Zhitao?

Now, He Chen’s words were perfectly timed. To those in the know, it was like greeting Fang Yifan's goddess right to his face, implying he was going to 'practice' with her.

It was a triple-layered insult, each more provocative than the last. Could Fang Yifan handle it?

Huang Zhitao, one of the parties involved, felt her face flush. Even though she didn't have any particular feelings for He Chen and didn't want to provoke Fang Yifan further, some emotions were simply uncontrollable. Much like in their student days—many boys and girls didn't have feelings at the start, but after being linked by friends and rumors, they would inevitably start paying more attention to each other, eventually leading to further developments.

Fang Yifan’s face was truly a mix of green and black. Gone was his earlier smugness. Seeing his goddess blush made him clench his fists, itching to rush up and fight He Chen. He had done exactly that for her once before, against the 'young master' Ji.

But as he met He Chen’s smiling, encouraging gaze, his impulsive rage was doused as if by a bucket of cold water. Fighting wouldn't vent his emotions or make him look cool; it would only result in a beating and further humiliation. He wasn't that stupid.

Qiao Yingzi and the others breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Fang Yifan didn't charge, though they felt a deep sense of resentment. *Fang Yifan, everything was fine, why did you have to go and provoke He Chen, that master of insults? Are you looking to be humiliated?*

"What are you all doing? Why aren't you studying quietly? Why are you all gathered here?" With the arrival of a teacher, the crowd gathered at the back of the classroom scattered, followed by the stern voice of 'Iron Rod Li.'

He Chen and Iron Rod Li locked eyes for a moment before he walked toward his own classroom. Even though Iron Rod Li already knew what kind of person He Chen was, he was still infuriated by his attitude.

*Truly lawless! Not a shred of a student's demeanor!*