Spending another semester under the demon king’s control meant possibly losing what little hair they had left.

“Don’t get a D!”

Richard’s freckles, Daisy’s acne, Lyle’s body fat… all seemed to scream silently.

“The exchange student is so unlucky, getting grouped with Richard – three losers!”

A note was passed to Ning Xue’s hand.

It had “Four” written on it with a big question mark!

Meaning three losers, or four?

Ning Xue crumpled the note.

Xia Xiaolan was never a loser – someone who could rank third nationally in China’s college entrance exam definitely had intelligence that surpassed their peers.

As long as someone had ever gotten an A from Professor McCarthy, there was no reason Xia Xiaolan couldn’t!

Ning Xue demanded the same of herself.

Having traveled across the ocean to study at Cornell, how could she be satisfied with just a “C”?

No, Ning Xue was never satisfied with merely passing. A score of 60 was an insult to her – she wanted an A, even an A+!

Xia Xiaolan stood at the front for the second time, with Richard and Lyle carrying their model. The four exchanged encouraging glances. Professor McCarthy circled the model once, then picked up his notebook to check their calculations.

Richard thought the demon king would question him, but McCarthy’s sharp gaze fell on Xia Xiaolan.

He stared at Xia Xiaolan for a full three seconds, then snorted heavily:

“Charlie looks like you got lucky – I assigned you a good helper. Alright, take your model away!”

Huh?

The demon king wasn’t asking questions?

The surprise came so suddenly that Richard couldn’t believe it. All three forgot to ask Professor McCarthy about their grade.

It was Xia Xiaolan who spoke up:

“Professor, you haven’t given us our grade yet!”

Yes, after a week of work, how could they not get a score?

McCarthy touched his nose. “Exchange student, what’s your name?”

“…!”

He hadn’t remembered her name.

Seems that getting an A was still out of reach. Xia Xiaolan said seriously, “Xia Xiaolan. I know Chinese names are hard to pronounce, but if you practice a few times, you’ll eventually get it right.”

Professor McCarthy tilted his chin up slightly, his hawk-like nose seeming to silently mock Xia Xiaolan: Remember names? Especially awkward Chinese names – maybe when you’re good enough for an A+!

“B, your group gets a B this time. Next group!”

B was fine – the semester was still long, and Xia Xiaolan was confident about turning things around.

She felt this B was barely acceptable, neither good nor bad, but Richard’s trio almost cried with joy. Especially after seeing another group’s third attempt being mercilessly judged as failing, Richard’s group found their “B” exceptionally precious!

Happiness comes from comparison.

Relief, excitement, and joy – all highlighted by their classmates’ misery!

“That group is done for!”

“Failing once under Professor McCarthy means he’ll be even more critical of their future work…”

“They have a 99% chance of having to retake the class!”

Richard’s trio kept sighing with relief. Daisy’s gaze toward Xia Xiaolan couldn’t be softer:

“It’s Xia – getting a B this time is because Xia joined us. I propose we treat Xia to a feast! No splitting the bill this time – we three will treat her!”

Richard and Lyle had no objections.

If Xia Xiaolan weren’t so pretty and attractive, making their behavior seem like creepy guys taking advantage, they would have lifted her and tossed her in celebration!

Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to dampen their spirits.

They were this excited about getting a B and wanted to treat her to a feast – what would they do if they got an A later?

“Well, since you offered, I won’t be polite!”

After several encounters at Cornell, Ning Xue stopped for the first time:

“Xia Xiaolan, welcome to Cornell University – I mean, truly joining it.”

Someone who couldn’t even get a C was just passing through Cornell, but now, she could barely be called a Cornell student. This was the kind of classmate and fellow alumnus Ning Xue would acknowledge.

Xia Xiaolan laughed heartily: “This is just the beginning.”

Ning Xue hadn’t completely broken through either. Xia Xiaolan had nothing to feel inferior about – neither of them had earned Professor McCarthy’s ability to call their names correctly, showing they were still at the same level in the demon king’s mind.

So Xia Xiaolan didn’t feel inferior, nor did she think Ning Xue had much to be proud of.

After Ning Xue left, Daisy came closer, “What were you talking about? I remember Professor McCarthy saying you’re from the same university in China. So do you know Ning?”

“Yes, we’re both from Hua-Tsing. Of course, I know her – we’re in the same year, same major, same class, even adjacent dorm rooms!”

Xia Xiaolan wanted to say that she and Ning Xue weren’t just classmates, but also competitors, and had almost become friends.

Daisy couldn’t understand.

It sounded like they should be close – shouldn’t they stick together like other international students at Cornell?

But Xia Xiaolan and Ning Xue seemed quite distant.

Ning Xue was different from other Asian international students, not just socializing with other Asians.

Xia Xiaolan was even more extreme, already knowing campus celebrities like Daniel when she just started… What kind of place was Hua-Tsing, could any of its students be normal?

…

That evening, when Zhou Cheng called again, Xia Xiaolan’s tone was noticeably more relaxed.

Zhou Cheng caught on quickly:

“Assignment passed?”

“Yes, Professor McCarthy gave us a B, which in percentage terms is around 70.”

70 points.

Zhou Cheng could imagine how disappointed Xia Xiaolan must be.

Back home, forget about the college entrance exam – at Hua-Tsing University, which course didn’t she excel in?

Without scoring above 90, how could one qualify for the special scholarship? The scholarships weren’t decided behind closed doors – grades were publicly posted, and other students wouldn’t accept it if you couldn’t overwhelmingly outperform them.

“He needs time to understand you, and you need time to prove yourself. It’s just one 70-point score. By the way, you mentioned applying for a driver’s license the other day – did you pass? I figured you’d need to buy a car after getting your license, so I deposited some money in your account. You can use it to buy a car.”

“Zhou Cheng, I have money to buy-“

“But I’m still your boyfriend, I need to do something too. We don’t need to keep such strict accounts between us. This money is what you earned anyway – if you won’t spend it, it makes even less sense for me to keep it!”

Well, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t refuse now.

She did have money, but Zhou Cheng insisted on providing this – perhaps because being so far apart, he didn’t know how else to show he cared.

Xia Xiaolan checked her account and found an extra $10,000.

— She had only planned to keep her car budget under $1,000! Such a spendthrift, showing off when he had money. She shouldn’t have left him with so much money in the first place!

[End of Chapter]