“So confident?!” Yi Tian Yu was shocked.

Xue Jiao ignored him and continued reading.

Yi Tian Yu banged his head on the desk in frustration while flipping through his book. After looking for a moment: “Ah, what is this stuff anyway!”

Xue Jiao put down her pen: “I’ll help tutor you.”

“What?” Yi Tian Yu was stunned.

Then, as if hearing something incredible, his mouth opened slightly: “You said you’ll tutor me?!”

“Yes.” Xue Jiao nodded, her attitude serious.

Yi Tian Yu stammered: “But, but, but… but I don’t understand anything, and there are only two days until the exam…”

“You’re not aiming for a high score, just wanting to do a little better, right?” Xue Jiao tilted her head slightly, her eyes looking at him seriously.

“Right…”

“Then let’s start.”

“Huh?” Yi Tian Yu was dumbfounded. “I, I, I… won’t I… waste your study time?”

Xue Jiao shook her head, “Two days can still be useful. Helping tutor you is also a review for me.”

Two days indeed wasn’t much for review. For the college entrance exam, these two days wouldn’t count for much, but for the first semester midterm exam of the second year of high school, two days of review could cover a lot of content. After all, the material learned in half a semester wasn’t that extensive. By focusing on the key points, while not aiming for a high score, one could still improve considerably.

Xue Jiao always kept her word. Yi Tian Yu had helped her last time, so by all accounts, she should return the favor.

Let this midterm exam be her repayment!

Xue Jiao decided unilaterally.

“Let me start with math. I remember you almost passed it last time, so your math foundation should be decent, and you’re smart and flexible enough. Look at this page, the teacher spent an entire class emphasizing this example. The third and eighth problems in the after-class exercises, plus these three problems in the tutorial book, are all of this type. So I think this will be on the exam, but you need to pay attention to…”

When explaining problems, Xue Jiao spoke articulately, her eyes sparkling with confidence as she pulled out book after book and materials, marking them with a pencil.

Yi Tian Yu stared at her blankly, his heart pounding.

“Hey, do you understand?”

“I… I… I understand…” Yi Tian Yu stammered.

He didn’t know why Xue Jiao wanted to help him. Although her grades in last month’s test weren’t ideal either, at least she passed all subjects, and she had worked hard daily, never encountering problems she couldn’t solve when doing homework…

She was qualified to “guide” him, but… wasn’t the bookworm single-mindedly focused on studying?

Usually, Yi Tian Yu couldn’t even get Xue Jiao to answer him about homework, but now she was actively helping him review. This was no small shock to Yi Tian Yu.

But for some reason, he just felt very happy, happier than when he won first place in basketball!

Today, Yi Tian Yu didn’t sleep or doze off in class, but he still wasn’t listening to the lesson—he was looking at the key points Xue Jiao had marked!

“Wait, go to bed half an hour later tonight, and remember to memorize these physics formulas, and you must complete these two basic problems.” After the evening self-study session, Xue Jiao stopped Yi Tian Yu and earnestly instructed him.

“Okay…” Yi Tian Yu agreed, obediently.

He didn’t know why he was so compliant. Even if he didn’t do well, old man Yi was used to it—at most, he would scold him and reduce his allowance, but couldn’t do much else.

So whether he studied or not wasn’t a big deal.

Just like before when old man Yi hired tutors for him, he always acted as if they weren’t there, playing as he pleased.

To the point where old man Yi no longer hired tutors for him.

But when Xue Jiao explained problems and assigned homework, he listened attentively, and unexpectedly, and took notes.

That night, at the Yi household.

Yi’s mother rushed into the room in horror: “Old Yi, Old Yi!”

Yi Da Fa was half asleep and said angrily: “What is it? I just fell asleep, I’m exhausted!”

Yi’s mother didn’t care, pulling the blanket while slapping him awake: “Our son! Our son! Something major has happened!”

Yi Da Fa immediately sat up, raising his voice: “In the middle of the night, what trouble has this kid caused now?!”

Yi’s mother covered his mouth with one hand while saying in shock: “Our son is studying!”

Yi Da Fa looked completely bewildered: “What?”

A moment later.

“He’s studying?” Yi Da Fa, looking shocked, crouched with Yi’s mother at the doorway, carefully peeking in.

“Mm-hmm…” Yi’s mother nodded vigorously.

“Is this our son?”

“The genuine article.”

“He’s not reading some extracurricular book?” Yi Da Fa was still somewhat doubtful about life.

Yi’s mother slapped him: “Lower your voice!”

Then she whispered: “No! No! When I brought in a midnight snack earlier, I saw it was a physics book!”

Yi Da Fa’s eyes widened, and then he broke into a smile.

“Come on, let’s not disturb our son!” He pulled Yi’s mother away quietly.

——

Tuesday, in the classroom.

“Brother Yu, come on, let’s play basketball. Tiger and the others have secured the court!” Xi Jun Yang ran over, sat in Xue Jiao’s seat, and hooked one arm around Yi Tian Yu, speaking softly.

Although Yin Fang hadn’t explicitly stated it, her prohibition against bringing basketballs told them she wouldn’t allow them to waste time playing basketball.

So even slackers like Yi Tian Yu and Xi Jun Yang had to be low-key about going to play basketball.

Yi Tian Yu shook him off.

“Go by yourself if you want, don’t bother me!”

He spoke impatiently, obviously irritated.

Those who don’t like studying know the pain of struggling with incomprehensible problems.

Yi Tian Yu was now so irritated he wanted to hit someone. He couldn’t understand the purpose of studying these messy things, nor could he grasp what charge conservation and Coulomb’s law were for.

This made him very agitated.

Xi Jun Yang looked at the desk in shock, stammering: “Brother Yu, you’re studying?!”

“Don’t disturb me!”

“Today… is the sun rising from the west? Brother Yu, weren’t you always dead set against studying? What happened to you?”

“…”

“Did your parents cut off your allowance?”

“…”

“Or are you just having a fit?”

“Get lost—”

At this moment, Xue Jiao entered after finishing her meal.

She wore the No. 7 Middle School uniform, her long hair tied up in a bun. Even with a bare face, she was stunning.

Xi Jun Yang felt slightly embarrassed and couldn’t bring himself to look at her.

“Class monitor, I just saw Teacher Yin, she might…” Xue Jiao smiled.

Immediately, Xi Jun Yang jumped up: “I’m going back to my seat!”

Xue Jiao sat back in her place and took out a pencil.

“This problem has an example ahead of it, it was on last month’s test, and the teacher said the error rate was extremely high, so there’s a possibility it will be on the test this month. Look at this conceptual problem, the first part was covered in last month’s exam, and the latter part uses Coulomb’s law…”

She marked with her pencil while explaining earnestly.

Her voice was soft, and though slightly cool, it was incredibly pleasant to hear.

Yi Tian Yu’s ears twitched, his heart pounding. His previously irritated mood was soothed, leaving only a slight nervousness, completely forgetting about basketball and everything else.

Now he didn’t want to play basketball; he only wanted to understand Coulomb!

——

Time passed in Yi Tian Yu’s mixed frustration and nervousness until Thursday arrived.

On Wednesday evening, they had moved the desks out, transforming the classroom into an exam room, with the names of the examinees posted on the door.

Xue Jiao’s Class 1 was Exam Room 1. Many students from Class 1 remained in Exam Room 1, with even more coming in from Class 2.

Xue Jiao and Yi Tian Yu’s desks remained inside. They moved their books to the cabinets at the back of the room.

Yi Tian Yu’s cabinet was next to Xue Jiao’s. While getting his pencil case, he secretly glanced at her, pretending to ask casually: “Which exam room are you in?”

“Thirteen.”

“Oh… I’m in exam room thirty-something…”

Xue Jiao looked up at him, then put the lid back on her cup, returned it, and took out her pencil case.

“You’ll improve this time…”

“I think so too! Thank you, I’ll finish all the questions this time, to do justice to your hard work these past few days!” Yi Tian Yu hurriedly said.

Xue Jiao shook her head, unconcerned.

“Bang—” A loud sound of a cabinet closing came from the front.

Both instinctively looked over.

It was Cheng Ming Jiao.

Her silence during this period had almost made Xue Jiao forget about her…

Perhaps the Cheng family had given her some instructions. Cheng Ming Jiao just glanced at her, said nothing, and gave Xue Jiao a contemptuous, disdainful look before lifting her chin and walking haughtily to her seat.

She was showing off her superior grades compared to Xue Jiao!

“Ming Jiao, your grades are so good. I’ve been moved to Exam Room 3 this time…” Yu Fang Fang lamented.

“That’s not bad. If you work harder this time, you can bounce back. It’s better than those in the teen’s exam rooms!” Cheng Ming Jiao mocked, her voice not low.

“You—” Yi Tian Yu flared up in anger.

“Ignore them.” Xue Jiao stopped him with her hand, shaking her head.

Yi Tian Yu was still angry, “What kind of people are they, so gossipy, asking for a beating.”

“Just don’t pay attention to them.” Xue Jiao shook her head. “Focus on your exam.”

“Don’t worry, I will. You too, do well in the exam. Don’t be nervous, just treat it like regular problem-solving. It’s just a monthly test, nothing to be nervous about.” Yi Tian Yu looked at her with concern.

He always felt that Xue Jiao shouldn’t have those grades. Was she doing poorly because she was too nervous?

Xue Jiao nodded, her lips curving into a smile, beaming: “Alright, this time, I’ll do my best.”

“Thump, thump, thump—”

Yi Tian Yu couldn’t describe his feelings at that moment. His heart seemed to stop, yet also seemed to fly out.

The feeling was similar to when his parents took him to the mountains as a child and he saw a patch of crimson peach blossoms—a beauty so profound that years later, he still couldn’t forget the spectacular display.

Xue Jiao turned and walked toward the door.

Just then, Gu Shi Yun walked in laughing with someone, confidently and gently discussing something with the person beside her.

The two met at the doorway. Gu Shi Yun smiled and nodded at her, without saying anything, as if it was merely a courtesy between strangers.

Then she walked composedly to the second position in the row closest to the window—the second-ranked student in the entire second year at No. 7 Middle School.

At this moment, Xue Jiao could feel Gu Shi Yun’s pride and confidence.

Gu Shi Yun’s disdain was different from Cheng Ming Jiao’s. Cheng Ming Jiao made people angry and irritated, and her methods were childish. Gu Shi Yun’s disdain seemed natural; when she looked at Gu Xue Jiao, she didn’t appear to show discrimination, yet made one feel ashamed.

All around were praises for Gu Shi Yun. In middle school, when Gu Xue Jiao said Gu Shi Yun was an illegitimate daughter, she was teased in various ways, and no one believed her.

With two such people around, no wonder Gu Xue Jiao had let herself go like that.

Xue Jiao walked outside, stopped, and looked back.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on the proud and confident Gu Shi Yun, then moved to the vacant seat in front of her.

Author’s note: Xue Jiao: I, Sister Jiao, am rising.