Trimmed By Time Chapter 7

Fei Yang's face flashed past quickly.

Liam Chen took a quick look while drinking chicken soup and thought to himself that he did have the talent from his genes.

However, Liam Chen didn't want to explain so much to Nathan Song at the moment, he just shook his head.

Nathan Song continued to ask him: "If you don't hide from me, the first monthly exam will be next week. Can you give me some extra time?"

Liam Chen thought for a moment and replied, "Then let's do it tomorrow after school."

Liam Chen expected that "studying together after school" would just be him finding a few basic questions for Nathan Song, and he could take this opportunity to thank the competition class for their questions, and then everyone would go home. Unexpectedly, after school, Nathan Song would walk up to him with his schoolbag on his back and say, "Let's go to my house."

The last time Liam Chen went to a classmate's house was when he was in the second grade of elementary school. Moreover, the other party's family is very special. Although Liam Chen is not a fan of stars, he has watched several movies of Thomas Song. Although he treats Nathan Song as an ordinary classmate, it is another matter when he really goes to his house. He can't help but feel restrained.

Liam Chen frowned and said, "Isn't it the same in the classroom? Going to your house would only waste time."

Nathan Song simply helped him organize the books on the table: "Silly you, the chance of being secretly photographed doubles if you stay in school for one more minute. Here, put the books away and leave."

This is indeed the truth. Although the classmates in the class have become accustomed to getting along with this little star, and the school has resolutely banned any media paparazzi from entering, it is inevitable to encounter mobile phone cameras when walking in the school. The media has long exposed Nathan Song's daily life in school.

Liam Chen weighed the pros and cons. Although he didn't want to go to Nathan Song's house, he didn't want his photo with Nathan Song to appear in newspapers and magazines. It was even more impossible to bring Nathan Song to his home. There would inevitably be people paying attention to him in public. His own home was indeed the safest place.

Nathan Song naturally had a special driver to pick him up. Seeing that he brought an extra classmate, the driver didn't say much, but continued as usual: "Lang Lang, your parents are at the film festival today and are not at home. Go home and ask Aunt Xu to prepare dinner for you."

When Liam Chen heard the name "Lang Lang", he couldn't help but smile like every other kid of his age would when hearing their friend's childish nickname.

Nathan Song glanced at him and said, "Uncle Chen, I've told you so many times that I'm not a child anymore, don't call me Lang Lang anymore. I don't need to eat first. This is Liam Chen, the science prodigy in our class. He came to my house to teach me my homework."

"Little Science Prodigy" was naturally a revenge against Liam Chen's smile.

Old Chen was very happy to hear this: "Student Chen, thank you for your hard work. Lang Lang is good in everything except that he has never focused on his studies. His father has scolded him for this. When he was in elementary school, he would cry whenever he was asked to go to school..."

Nathan Song was anxious: "Uncle Chen, stop it, stop it, why are you telling everything to others?"

Nathan Song is usually a character on TV and is the center of attention at school. Liam Chen doesn't communicate much with him. Now he turns his head to look at the furious child in front of him. It's as if the TV character has taken off the glass cover, real and vivid.

It turns out that the model boy in the commercial would also cry because he didn’t want to go to school.

Liam Chen's smile grew even wider.

Nathan Song originally wanted to glare at him, but when he saw that this usually cold and indifferent person now had a faint smile in his eyes, he couldn't glare at him anymore.

In order to make it easier for Nathan Song to go to school, his family moved from the villa in the suburbs to the city. Liam Chen walked in and found that it was not as domineering as he had imagined before, and it was also decorated in a lifelike manner. Nathan Song's chemistry exercise book was also placed on the cabinet in the entrance.

After taking two steps, Nathan Song took out two cans of drinks from the kitchen and asked Liam Chen: "Come in, what are you doing at the door? Are you looking stupid?"

Perhaps because the harmonious atmosphere in the car had eased the sense of distance, Liam Chen also had a joke in his mind: "Well, I thought it would be at least two floors, magnificent and luxuriously decorated."

"Hey, go to my dad's friends' homes, they are all like what you said. As for my family, everyone thinks my parents are big stars, but in fact, my dad is a very down-to-earth person. He always talks about being low-key and simple, otherwise he wouldn't have sent me to the school I'm in now."

"So Uncle Thomas Song's performance has depth and layers, because he lives a down-to-earth life."

Liam Chen's words were not flattery, he really loved watching Thomas Song's movies. Thomas Song had a very good reputation in the media for many years, being low-key and unpretentious, and the couple, both actors and actresses, were still approachable.

Nathan Song handed him the drink and asked him, "Mr. Chen, you're not excited at all to see me. Are you a fan of my dad?"

This drink was exactly the one that Liam Chen had seen advertised on TV a few days ago, and there was a small Nathan Song printed on the bottle. One real and one fake, two faces, for the first time Liam Chen truly experienced the wonder brought by Nathan Song's identity.

Before he could reply to Nathan Song, Nathan Song continued: "I know, the media has been saying that Thomas Song's son is not as good as his father. He is a profound actor, while his son is just a second-generation rich man who gets the upper hand. Fcuk it, for the same play, just because my father has a special status, the expectations for me are higher than those for other young actors... Forget it, why should I say this to a little prodigy like you? I think you only know math, physics and chemistry. Hurry up and start doing the questions. The exam is counting on you."

The two of them sat down at the dining table. Liam Chen didn't say anything, but took out the questions he had circled for Nathan Song from his schoolbag.

When Nathan Song lowered his head to do the questions, Liam Chen looked at his well-carved face. He had always thought that the little prince who had a smooth life had his own teenage troubles. But this troubled young Werther made Liam Chen more willing to get close to him than the little star who was the center of attention during military training.

After looking at it for a while, Liam Chen took out his own competition questions and started working on them.

Forty-five minutes later, Nathan Song handed the written questions to Liam Chen. Liam Chen only looked at the first three questions and felt there was no need to read on.

All wrong.

Nathan Song read his expression and said, "You answered very badly? Forget it, forget it. Don't waste your time telling me this time. The test is the day after tomorrow. You are not the Buddha and cannot save me. Just think of it as you letting me know the answer. Don't tell me how many mistakes you made. I'll let Aunt Xu start the meal. The steamed fish she made today is really good."

Liam Chen looked down at the page full of ridiculously wrong answers and felt that the road ahead would be difficult.

Before dinner, Liam Chen called his grandmother and told her not to worry as he was at his classmate's house.

At the dinner table, Nathan Song laughed at him: "Mr. Chen, I always thought you were aloof and indifferent to everyone. But in front of grandma, you just said "OK, grandma" obediently."

Aunt Zhou's steamed fish was indeed delicious. Liam Chen took a bite with his chopsticks and replied without looking up: "Oh, Lang Lang."

He also grasped Nathan Song's vital point.

Nathan Song was the only one talking during the entire meal, for example, "I guess you don't like playing games," "Is doing exercises your hobby?", "If you like games too, I can play Nintendo with you," "How about I ask my dad to sign an autograph for you next time as a gift to the little movie fan Liam Chen?", "I know you actually think talking to me about exercises is a waste of time."

Nathan Song blurted out all the truth and lies without hesitation, and Liam Chen did not open his mouth to explain at the dinner table.

It's not that he can't see the weakness in Nathan Song's heart, it's just that they are not yet familiar enough to open their hearts to each other.

Before leaving, Liam Chen looked at the contradiction in front of him, as if Nathan Song had just transformed from 2D to 3D today. Liam Chen tied his shoelaces, raised his head, and said very sincerely: "...I saw the commercial you shot before, you acted very well."

Nathan Song's face may be the most genuine smile today, just like the time during military training when Liam Chen watched him from afar being surrounded by people talking about some small gossips, that kind of flying and confident look: "I'm awesome, do I need your affirmation?"

Well, this is Nathan Song.

After the first exam, Nathan Song and Liam Chen were indeed called to Lao Zhou's office.

Two physics test papers were placed on the table. One had full marks, the other had a score of 37. The contrast was so stark that Liam Chen closed his eyes.

Old Zhou had no expression on his face. He just pushed the test paper closer to them. Nathan Song approached with a playful smile, "Wow, Teacher Chen, you are amazing. You are the future Marie Curie."

Liam Chen was not sure whether Nathan Song had the common sense to know Madame Curie's gender, and he was too lazy to correct her that Madame Curie was not studying physics.

Nathan Song's laxity made Lao Zhou angry. Lao Zhou slammed the table and said, "You are still excited, right? Your father put you in this school so that you can live a more normal student life in high school and learn more knowledge. I have seen your high school entrance examination results, and there is no way you can get this score. You have only studied physics for two months in the first year of high school. How difficult can it be?"

Nathan Song stopped smiling.

Liam Chen glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Most people would either feel aggrieved or angry if criticized like this, but Nathan Song seemed very casual and didn't take it to heart.

The next second, Lao Zhou turned to Liam Chen: "And you, Liam Chen, I asked you to come here not to praise you. I told you during the military training that we should help each other and make progress together. Have you supervised Nathan Song in the past two months?"

Lao Zhou had a strange concept of sharing honor and disgrace. Liam Chen thought that whether Nathan Song studied or not and what his grades were was his own business, and Lao Zhou was the one who should be in charge. There was no tenable reason to force classmates to help each other. He just listened to Lao Zhou's lecture silently, neither defending nor refuting.

Liam Chen has always been a good student, but he doesn’t think there is anything wrong with having low grades.

Everyone has their own aspirations. If Liam Chen stood in front of the camera, he might not be able to express his emotions as freely as Nathan Song.

It was Nathan Song who spoke first. A smile was on his face again, but this smile did not make Liam Chen feel comfortable. He said, "Teacher Zhou, please don't blame Teacher Chen. He asked me several times to help me with my lessons but I didn't agree. I reflect deeply on this. I am still in the crew and I really don't have the energy to take care of everything. After the work is over next week, I will study hard. I promise Teacher Zhou."

Old Zhou didn't say anything for a while. He had a hunch that this was indeed the case - Nathan Song didn't seem like someone who would cooperate with this kind of learning activity. If Liam Chen wanted to help but Nathan Song didn't appreciate it, then his criticism of Liam Chen just now was not appropriate. He got angry because he saw Nathan Song's attitude at the beginning, and Liam Chen was just being taken out on.

The three of them were silent for two minutes, and Lao Zhou said, "Alright, alright, you two should go back to class. You must pay attention to it before the next exam, and be more proactive when you need help from your classmates. Liam Chen has come to you and you are still making trouble. Go back, go back."

Nathan Song saluted and said, "Thank you, Teacher Zhou! I promise to study hard tomorrow!"

Old Zhou, with a face that was about to be amused, spat, "You kid!"

After leaving the office, Liam Chen kept looking for the right time to speak. Old Zhou just believed what Nathan Song said. Although Liam Chen did not feel that he had an obligation to help Nathan Song, it did not mean that Nathan Song had to take all the responsibility. Although he was stood up the first time, he could help Nathan Song with the questions the second time he went to his house.

Liam Chen was originally a cold-hearted person, and he always believed that less is worse than more, so when he saw Nathan Song's wrong answers that day and heard him say "no need to talk about it", he was indeed relieved. However, he felt a sense of guilt because of Nathan Song's protection.

Before he could ask "Why did you lie to Lao Zhou just now" or suggest "Why don't I set aside one afternoon every weekend to help you with your questions starting this week", Nathan Song said "I have to rush to the crew, I'm leaving first" and disappeared around the corner of the corridor at full speed.

This made Liam Chen feel even more uncomfortable.

He might be the only one who took this seriously, and whose psychology went through countless ups and downs. In Nathan Song's view, these were all trivial matters that were insignificant.

When Liam Chen returned to the classroom, the Chinese class had been going on for ten minutes. He sat down, looked at Nathan Song's empty seat a few rows in front of him, and lost his mind for a while.

After the report card was distributed at noon, the whole class gathered to discuss. Although Liam Chen's political history was not excellent, the science subjects were difficult in this exam. Liam Chen made up for his shortcomings in political history with physics alone. Contrary to his ranking, Nathan Song's name appeared on the page.

At the bottom, his physics score was only one-third of Liam Chen's.

Several boys rushed to Liam Chen's seat and laughed at the girls who came to Liam Chen to ask for his physics test papers to see his solution ideas: "Tsk tsk tsk, look at you guys, you usually hang around Nathan Song like crazy, now you know that the class monitor is the best... You only know how to look at boys' faces, what's the use of just having good looks, 37 points in physics, aren't you stupid."

A few girls with red faces started playing with the boys, and a large group of people ran away.

Liam Chen looked at the transcript again. Nathan Song's physics score was indeed 37 points, and his total score was entirely due to English.

Liam Chen recalled what Nathan Song had said with his usual nonchalant expression at Nathan Song's house that day. At this moment, he suddenly understood a little. This darling who was considered to have had a smooth life since childhood probably also had many dissatisfactions that ordinary people could not understand.

For example, now, in the eyes of those male classmates who usually hang out with him and chat about gossip in the hope of being taken to the set to meet female stars, Nathan Song is nothing but a beautiful figure.

Most people like this kind of drama - the little boy who seems to be omnipotent on TV, is just an embroidered pillow who can't solve physics problems when he is away from the camera.

Liam Chen realized that his thoughts were probably different from those of many people. He had good grades since he was young, and he was indeed proud of it, but he never thought that poor grades were shameful. Just like you can't say that Jupiter is definitely better than Saturn, they just have different orbits.

That night during dinner, Liam Chen switched the TV to a station with a lot of ads, and sure enough, he saw Nathan Song's smug face in the soda commercial. In the past, Liam Chen thought it was a pity that such a good-looking face couldn't solve physics problems, but after watching the commercial two or three times, Liam Chen suddenly thought, with such a brilliant look, what's wrong with not being able to solve physics problems?

This is Nathan Song's track. Most people probably can't even get 37 points when standing in front of the camera.

Liam Chen dreamed at night, and his dream was all about that bottle of soda.