Xue Jiao walked toward examination room number thirteen. Gu Shiyun, sitting by the window, glanced toward the middle of the classroom and cast a contemptuous look at Cheng Mingjiao.

Idiot.

Cheng Mingjiao was unaware that Gu Shiyun was watching her. She was happily sitting in her seat.

Since last time, Old Master Cheng had been angry with her, and Cheng Kai had confined her at home for a long time, forbidding her from creating any more conflicts with Gu Xue Jiao.

That’s why she had been quiet for so long.

Did she harbor no grudges?

That was impossible. She loathed Gu Xue Jiao.

If it weren’t for Gu Xue Jiao, how could she have been beaten and scolded?

When leaving home early this morning, Liu Yazhen told her that if she did well in this exam and crushed Gu Xue Jiao, she would be able to hold her head high again.

Cheng Mingjiao sneered. Crushing Gu Xue Jiao would be as easy as child’s play.

As the proctor entered the classroom, Cheng Mingjiao finally withdrew from her thoughts.

—

The midterm exams lasted two days, officially ending at five o’clock on Friday afternoon.

Xue Jiao followed the crowd out of the exam room and walked toward Class 1’s classroom.

“How did you do on the exam?” Yi Tianyu asked beside her.

They were both tidying their desks, returning books that had been placed in the cabinets behind them, and reorganizing everything properly.

“Hmm, I performed to my full potential,” Xue Jiao nodded, putting several workbooks into her backpack.

“Oh… that’s good…” Yi Tianyu carelessly tossed his books into the drawer. Like most boys, he haphazardly threw them in when putting them away, only to struggle to find them when needed later.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Gu Xue Jiao, his face clearly saying—hurry up and ask me.

Xue Jiao looked at him for a moment, slightly exasperated: “So how did you do on the exam?”

As if he had prepared the answer beforehand, he rattled off: “Pretty well, I also performed to my full potential. At least I answered everything I knew, and for what I didn’t know, I wrote down the concepts and formulas!”

“Oh… congratulations then…” Xue Jiao finished packing her bag, copied down the homework from the blackboard, and was ready to leave.

“Wait!” Yi Tianyu reached out and grabbed her hand, then quickly withdrew it as if he’d been burned.

“If it weren’t for your help with reviewing, I wouldn’t have known anything. Let me treat you to a meal!”

Xue Jiao shook her head: “No need, you’ve helped me too.”

She put on her earphones and walked away while listening to an audio recording.

Yi Tianyu stood in place, irritably ruffling his hair.

How could he be so stupid?

How could he be so stupid?

So stupid!

—

Xue Jiao only saw the message from Li Sitong when she opened her phone. Something had happened at Uncle Xing’s home, so he had taken some time off. Li Sitong told them to take a taxi back by themselves.

Almost immediately after she finished reading the text, Cheng Mingze’s message also arrived.

—[Cheng Mingze: Together?]

Xue Jiao replied without hesitation—

[You go ahead first.]

She put away her phone and walked along the road while listening to her audio.

“Beep beep—” A black car honked beside her.

Xue Jiao turned her head. The window lowered, revealing a familiar and handsome face.

“Where are you going? Why are you alone?”

“Lin Zhihua!” Xue Jiao’s eyes brightened slightly. In this world, Lin Zhihua was her only friend, especially since the last time when he “helped” her deal with the incident involving Li Sitong and Cheng Mingjiao. Xue Jiao trusted and appreciated him even more.

She scratched her head and smiled: “The driver took time off, I’m going home.”

Lin Zhihua raised an eyebrow: “What a coincidence. My brother went out with friends, so I didn’t pick him up. Aren’t you going out with your friends?”

Xue Jiao shook her head, “No.”

“Get in, I’ll take you home.” His tone was commanding.

“Huh?”

—

Bai Mingde, the child of the Lin family’s housekeepers—the person Lin Zhihua was supposed to pick up on Friday.

He was standing on tiptoe, looking for Mr. Lin’s car.

Originally, after finishing the exam, he should have changed clothes to play basketball or go out with friends, but Bai Mingde could only stand obediently at the school gate in his uniform waiting to go home.

After standing on tiptoe for a moment, his phone vibrated.

[Mr. Lin: I have something to do. Go back by yourself or call Old Li to pick you up.]

Bai Mingde’s eyes lit up—could he go play now?!

Another vibration.

[Mr. Lin: Auntie Chen knows you’ll be out early today because of the exam and is waiting for you.]

Bai Mingde’s face immediately fell.

—

In the car.

Lin Zhihua put away his phone, asked Xue Jiao for her address, and then started the car.

“How was the exam?”

“Hmm, not bad.” Xue Jiao sat in the passenger seat, her peripheral vision drifting to the man beside her.

“Keep it up, study hard.” The encouraging words coming from his cold face were somewhat chilling.

“Okay…”

There was silence for a moment.

Xue Jiao thought for a bit, bit her lip, and opened her mouth: “Um… thank you.”

“For what?”

“For the previous incident… thank you for giving me advice.” Xue Jiao was somewhat embarrassed.

Lin Zhihua glanced at her from the corner of his eye. The petite girl sat in the passenger seat, her back straight, seemingly focused on staring ahead.

His eyes showed traces of amusement, though his words remained as earnest as ever.

“You’re young. Focusing on your studies is the right thing to do. Avoid family troubles if you can, and if you can’t, deal with them coldly. Don’t take them to heart. What’s important for you now is studying.”

This educational tone, coming from his mouth, sounded exceptionally warm. Xue Jiao couldn’t help but relax, and her speech gradually became more casual.

“Yes, yes, yes, I got it!”

Lin Zhihua imperceptibly slowed the car down a little.

“Lin Zhihua, aren’t you a business owner? Aren’t you busy?” Xue Jiao suddenly thought about herself. She felt that her chances of running into him were not low, plus he came to pick up his brother every Friday and occasionally chatted with her on WeChat.

“If the boss had to do everything himself, what would be the point of being the boss?” Lin Zhihua countered, with a smile on his lips.

“Oh… I guess that’s true…” Xue Jiao turned her head, suddenly feeling that her question was very stupid, and blinked blankly.

Lin Zhihua chuckled softly.

Xue Jiao hurriedly looked away, her ears slightly red.

No matter how slowly the car moved, they eventually arrived outside Xue Jiao’s home. Lin Zhihua stopped the car.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Lin Zhihua raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve helped me so much already!”

“Didn’t you say I’m like your brother? Shouldn’t I help you?” Lin Zhihua’s voice was very deep, and now with the hint of a smile, Xue Jiao felt her ears twitch, feeling a little ticklish.

“You’re not my brother…” she said softly.

“Alright, go home now.”

“Ok, ok, goodbye then.”

“Goodbye.”

Xue Jiao unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door.

“Hey—” someone grabbed her hand.

Xue Jiao jolted.

His hand was very warm, clearly at a different temperature from her slightly cool one, even somewhat hot.

Xue Jiao had small hands, and with just one pull, it was as if he had her entire little fist enclosed in his hand, surrounded by a slightly hot temperature.

Xue Jiao was stunned. Before she could turn around, his hand let go, and another object was placed in her hand.

Xue Jiao instinctively took it, then turned around.

“Your phone, don’t forget it.” The man in the car said softly.

Xue Jiao looked at the phone he had placed in her hand and hurriedly said: “I’m sorry, I didn’t notice just now! Thank you!”

It was her phone, but apparently, she had dropped it in the car, and Lin Zhihua had picked it up for her.

“How many thank yous are you going to say?” Lin Zhihua raised an eyebrow, his deep eyes staring directly at her.

“I’ll go now!” Being looked at by such eyes, Xue Jiao felt somewhat flustered, and after hastily saying a few words, she turned and left.

Lin Zhihua watched her retreating figure, his expression relaxed.

This girl.

—

For Xue Jiao, there was no difference between holidays and school days.

She still methodically studied various subjects, basically finished this semester’s books, went through several sets of college entrance exam mock questions, and then it was Monday.

“Jiaojiao, I’m attending your parent-teacher conference today!” Li Sitong handed her the milk on the table.

Xue Jiao took the milk, first said thank you, and then replied: “Whatever.”

Li Sitong’s mood fell slightly. She instinctively wanted to criticize her as before, but then suddenly remembered that she hadn’t gotten over her anger yet, she was still upset.

So she softened her tone: “Hurry up and eat, after eating we’ll go to school together. Your Uncle Cheng will go with us.”

Cheng Shuo would go with them; he would attend Cheng Mingze’s parent-teacher conference, and Li Sitong would attend Gu Xue Jiao’s.

“Okay.” Xue Jiao agreed, her expression calm.

Li Sitong tried to suppress her anger. In the past, when Gu Xue Jiao was ignorant, she often scolded her. Now that Gu Xue Jiao was sensible, she should control her temper.

So, she sat beside Cheng Shuo and started eating breakfast.

Li Sitong had dressed up a bit today. Although she and Cheng Shuo were living well, and Cheng Shuo treated her very well.

But she would never forget the man and woman who had caused her pain. Their daughter was in Class 2 of Grade 11. Even though Li Sitong knew Xue Jiao’s grades were far inferior to hers, she didn’t want to lose face to that woman.

Thinking of this, her gaze fell on Xue Jiao, who was walking half a step ahead of her.

Too bad Jiaojiao’s grades were so poor…

Those grades made her somewhat embarrassed yet helpless.

“Sister-in-law! Jiaojiao!” An enthusiastic voice came from behind, and then two familiar people walked quickly toward them.

“Well, sister-in-law, you’ve also come for the parent-teacher conference?” Liu Yazhen said with a smile.

Li Sitong’s expression soured slightly at the sight of Cheng Mingjiao, but she still forced a smile.

“Yes, I’ve come for Jiaojiao’s parent-teacher conference.”

Liu Yazhen nodded with a smile and looked at Xue Jiao: “Jiaojiao, how did you do on the exam?”

“Not bad.” Xue Jiao said calmly.

“Mingjiao also said she did not bad. It seems you two did about the same, truly sisters!” Liu Yazhen continued with a smile.

Li Sitong was instantly furious. The implication was that Xue Jiao and Cheng Mingjiao had done equally well!

But in Li Sitong’s impression, Xue Jiao was far worse than Cheng Mingjiao. Liu Yazhen was mocking them!

Li Sitong suppressed all her anger and only replied: “Mingjiao’s grades are still better!”

“Gu Xue Jiao, come on, go to your seat!” When Li Sitong turned around, her tone inevitably carried some anger.

Xue Jiao didn’t mind at all and turned to walk toward Class 1.

As if misfortunes never come singly, unpleasant people also seemed to come in pairs.

Just as they walked to the back door of Class 1, a woman walked out from the front door of the adjacent Class 2.

It was Wu Wanjun and Gu Shiyun.

Both parties were stunned simultaneously.

Li Sitong angrily took two steps forward, when she heard Wu Wanjun speak—

“Shiyun, the results aren’t out yet? How did you do on this exam?”

“The teacher said they’ll bring them over soon. I did okay, I probably won’t fall out of the top three in the grade.”

Li Sitong swayed slightly, nearly fainting from anger.

Xue Jiao sighed almost imperceptibly. The terrible relationship between Gu Xue Jiao and Li Sitong had always been like this. She felt that Xue Jiao had embarrassed her, naturally found fault with everything about her, and arguments became the norm.

She was, after all, Xue Jiao, not Gu Xue Jiao.

Plus, after the previous incident, it was already very difficult for her to feel any familial affection for this woman, so she wasn’t sad or upset.

“The teacher is coming! The teacher is coming—”

With the alarmed shout, parents and students immediately became tense.

Yin Fang and Class 2’s homeroom teacher came from the same direction, walking over quickly, each holding a stack of grade reports.

“Our class’s grades, one for each person. Parents can enter the classroom first.” Yin Fang called out.

Then the Class 2 homeroom teacher posted a sheet of paper on the bulletin board outside Classes 1 and 2, “These are the grades for the entire grade. Those interested can take a look.”

In an instant, many parents crowded around.

Li Sitong originally didn’t want to look, but Liu Yazhen pulled her into the crowd. Wu Wanjun glanced at them, and mockingly pulled Gu Shiyun closer.

“Sister-in-law, quickly look at your Xue Jiao’s grades!” Liu Yazhen said loudly, pulling her further into the crowd.

The grade sheet was posted quite high. Before they could push to the very front, they could already see the top few names.

Gu Xue Jiao, Rank 1, Total score 739;

Chu Sheng, Rank 2, Total score 730;

Shang Zhiyuan, Rank 3, Total score 725;

Gu Shiyun, Rank 4, Total score 717;

…