The silence didn’t last long before the bell rang for the next class.
Lu Xingyan glanced at Shen Xingruo, who still sat there quietly, looking sad and aggrieved yet trying to maintain a facade of strength. It made him feel a bit… sorry for her.
He cleared his throat and stood up when the teacher called for everyone to rise. Tilting his head slightly to the side, he said, “It’s no big deal not to do well once. Look at me, I’ve never done well.”
Shen Xingruo glanced at him, her eyes full of “Am I being compared to you, the bottom of the academic chain?” But Lu Xingyan interpreted her gaze as silent gratitude for his attempt at consolation.
During that class, Shen Xingruo remained silent again. While the teacher explained the test paper, she hardly made any notes.
Throughout the afternoon, everyone privately discussed Shen Xingruo’s grades. It seemed like it wasn’t just a minor setback but a shipwreck in the sea of exams.
When class ended, Shi Qin couldn’t help but approach her. She didn’t mention the grades, just invited Shen Xingruo to the restroom.
Shen Xingruo nodded and got up. On the way to the restroom, Shi Qin also avoided discussing the grades, pretending as if nothing had happened, complaining as usual about how some dishes were becoming less tasty and how the portions were shrinking.
While Shi Qin could avoid bringing up the grades, she couldn’t stop others from talking about it.
When the two were in the restroom stall, a girl came in to wash her hands, assuming nobody was inside, and spoke freely. Unfortunately, they overheard her conversation:
“Hey, that Shen Xingruo in your class, heard she didn’t do well on the test.”
“YeAh it’s quite average. She seems to be ranked in the thirties in our class.”
Shen Xingruo recognized the voice as belonging to a girl from their class.
“Ugh, I thought with all her boasting, she could at least rank first in the grade. With this level, she even won the Best Representative at the Model United Nations conference, just like He Siyue. I wonder what her family background is.”
The girl continued with gusto, “And the boys in our grade are speechless. Although they’re not particularly handsome, they’ve managed to elevate her to the status of a celestial being. I just don’t like her; she seems so fake!”
“Yeah… She’s just too aloof.”
After a while of gossiping, the girl turned off the tap and the conversation became indistinct with her footsteps fading away.
Shi Qin emerged from the stall, her expression grim. Shen Xingruo, the subject of discussion, didn’t seem particularly affected.
Shi Qin said, “Xingruo, don’t listen to them. That Yang Fang from Class 2 has a particularly nasty mouth. She’s been talking behind your back for a while now, just can’t stand seeing others excel!”
Shen Xingruo lowered her eyes, quietly washing her hands.
Shi Qin was still angry, “Many people know she’s been secretly infatuated with He Siyue since freshman year. She probably doesn’t like seeing you getting close to him.”
“When did I get close to He Siyue?” Shen Xingruo suddenly spoke, sounding puzzled.
“Isn’t it? You two knew each other before, and you often discuss topics together… He even helped you with cleaning before,” Shi Qin replied, looking completely matter-of-fact.
Shen Xingruo was speechless. So this was considered getting close… Then how would they describe her living at Lu Xingyan’s house?
In the afternoon after school, Shen Xingruo had no appetite. She didn’t join Shi Qin and the others for dinner. Instead, she went to the office briefly before heading straight to the playground for a run.
It was late March, and dusk was setting in, but it was still bright around five or six o’clock. The track wasn’t crowded at this time. Shen Xingruo jogged with her headphones on, completing two laps, feeling much more relaxed.
As she prepared for her third lap, a basketball suddenly flew from the direction of the basketball court, landing about four or five meters away from her, and then rolling slowly to her feet.
Shen Xingruo glanced towards the basketball court. It was a bit far, and she could barely make out the figures.
The voices of the boys on the basketball court echoed across both the small and large playgrounds, particularly clear. “Hey, beautiful, could you pass the ball over here? Thanks!”
Shen Xingruo squinted at the group but didn’t move.
Xu Chengzhou wiped his sweat, panting, “Hey, I hope it’s not another one throwing our ball into the trash. Can’t she hear us? Ah I’ll go get it.”
Lu Xingyan, also slightly out of breath, glanced over and suddenly said, “I’ll go.”
As Lu Xingyan approached, Shen Xingruo had already recognized him. She picked up the basketball and gently tossed it.
“Thanks.”
Lu Xingyan caught it effortlessly, tapped it on the ground, and tucked it under his arm.
Shen Xingruo nodded, intending to continue her run. But seeing that Lu Xingyan didn’t seem to be leaving yet, she asked, “Is there something else?”
Lu Xingyan rubbed the back of his neck, pondering what to say. He wanted to steer clear of the topic of grades, but for some reason, he blurted out, “Your dad’s wedding, you’re not going?”
Shen Xingruo fell silent for a moment before casually replying, “What’s the point of me going? Just to see how he brings his new lover to divide the family property with me?”
Lu Xingyan realized his mistake and changed the subject again, “By the way, what happened with your exams this time? You shouldn’t have done so poorly. Was it because of that idiot in front of you distracting you? I’ve seen you study hard.”
The words hung in the air for three seconds of quiet.
Lu Xingyan closed his eyes.
Perfect.
If the lid wasn’t opened, then it all had to be brought up neatly.
Shen Xingruo tilted her head slightly to look at him and pondered for a moment before saying, “Actually, I think I did pretty well.”
“Huh?”
“I still have another lap to run, so I’ll leave it at that.” With that, she stepped back and turned around, resuming her run.
Lu Xingyan stood there for a while, watching Shen Xingruo’s figure, not sure what he was thinking. He dribbled the ball and headed back to the basketball court.
In the evening, Lu Xingyan, for the first time in ages, attended the evening self-study session.
The classroom was quiet, with most students working on their exam error analysis.
As the second period of evening self-study was about to end, Wang Youfu suddenly came to the classroom, knocked on the door, and without warning said, “Hey, He Siyue, move this recalculated score sheet to the back. Shen Xingruo had issues with her pencil. Many of the multiple-choice questions couldn’t be read by the machine and had to be manually corrected.”
What?!
All the students in Class 1 perked up.
Wang Youfu, standing at the door, seemed satisfied but didn’t spoil the surprise.
He Siyue came to his senses and went forward to take the new sheet.
As he had anticipated, the first row was indeed refreshed.
Shen Xingruo: Chinese 133, Mathematics 150, English 149, History 93, Politics 93, Geography 100, Total score 718.
Grade ranking: 1.
Class ranking: 1.
With a score that pulled 41 points ahead of the one in second place.
The students in Class 1 were still a bit stunned, trying to figure out what Wang Youfu meant by “many multiple-choice questions couldn’t be read by the machine.” What kind of magical plot twist was this?
Soon, the bell rang for the end of class.
Almost instinctively, everyone dropped their pens and rushed to the back of the classroom.
“Damn… 718!”
“First in the grade!”
“I remember the previous first in the grade was Wang Ziyue from Class 2, with 687 points, right?”
“It was 678, one point higher than He Siyue.”
“Oh my god, Shen Xingruo got full marks in both Math and Geography. No wonder she only got 90 in Math. So she didn’t even read the multiple-choice questions for Math worth 60 points…”
Lu Xingyan didn’t get up, just glanced back, almost hearing what everyone was saying.
Shen Xingruo was still working on her math mock exam. Except for when Wang Youfu stood at the door and she glanced up, she was busy calculating the rest of the time.
Lu Xingyan tapped her desk with a pen. “Hey.”
“Don’t disturb,” she said.
She was working on the last major problem, and the process was complex. She was used to mental calculations and couldn’t handle distractions.
Unaware of this, Lu Xingyan, taking advantage of the situation, tapped her head with the pen again.
Shen Xingruo suddenly stopped, turned her head slightly, and looked at him. “Do you want to die?”
Lu Xingyan: “…”
After three minutes, Shen Xingruo finally finished the last problem. She put down her pen and the first-year chicks who had gathered to see the results also ran over.
Li Chengfan, with an exaggerated look of surprise, came over and occupied He Siyue’s desk. He turned around and shouted at Shen Xingruo, “Sister Ruo, you’re too awesome! Your total score seems to be exactly twice as much as Yan Ge’s!”
Lu Xingyan grabbed the Rubik’s Cube on Shen Xingruo’s desk and threw it at him. “Can you shut up for a minute or two, or do you want to die?”
Li Chengfan’s mind might not be the sharpest, but he was quick on his feet. He leaned to the side and dodged quickly.
From behind, Shi Qin wrapped her arms around Shen Xingruo’s neck, shouting for her to bring out the exam paper for everyone to see.
Shen Xingruo wasn’t used to this kind of close friendship between girls, but she didn’t refuse. She retrieved the exam paper from her desk and handed it to Shi Qin.
If Shi Qin were a host, she’d be a master of comedic relief. As soon as she saw the exam paper, her eyes widened. “Your Chinese essay scored 58. What kind of divine essay is this?”
“Let me see, let me see!”
Many people crowded around to take a look, and then there was a chorus of praises and compliments.
He Siyue also saw Shen Xingruo’s math paper. Except for the last major problem, the rest of the math paper wasn’t too difficult. He Siyue himself only solved the first part and had some ideas for the second part right before the exam ended, but it was too late to write it down.
But Shen Xingruo had answered everything, neatly and beautifully. Her answers were precise as if she had perfectly grasped the hearts of the examiners. Every scoring point was written clearly.
After reading it, he was convinced.
Only the girls who had mocked Shen Xingruo before, sitting at the back of the classroom, were as quiet as salted chicken, silently returning to their seats, grabbing their bags, and leaving.
Shi Qin and Li Chengfan, on the other hand, seemed like the captains of the fan clubs under the Weibo posts of internet celebrities. They exchanged compliments back and forth, and the onlookers nodded in agreement.
Yes, yes. Leader Fan is right.
Back in the dorm, there was a queue for showering and getting ready for bed, so everyone didn’t linger in the classroom for too long.
Shi Qin returned to her seat to pack her bag, while Shen Xingruo had already finished all her homework, so there was nothing for her to tidy up.
As people dispersed, even Lu Xingyan picked up Shen Xingruo’s exam paper to take a look.
No wonder she didn’t work on her error book during evening self-study.
“She’s quite something, Miss High and Mighty,” Lu Xingyan joked lightly.
“I told you, I think I did pretty well,” Shen Xingruo replied.
“…,” Lu Xingyan was at a loss for words.
Back on the playground, he had thought she was too upset to accept the truth, hence her incoherent speech.
Shen Xingruo took out the milk she hadn’t finished from her bag and asked as she punctured it with a straw, “Why did you speak up for me during the day?”
“What?”
“Li Ting and the others.”
Shen Xingruo lifted the milk to her lips, taking a sip while glancing at him.
She remembered.
“Oh, I wasn’t standing up for you, don’t get me wrong,” Lu Xingyan said.
“…,” Shen Xingruo was silent.
Wrong about what?
But the next second, the milk in her hand was suddenly empty.
“You’re my desk mate, and you live in my house. If people are talking about you like that, I’d be losing face,” Lu Xingyan shrugged his backpack onto one shoulder, shook the empty milk carton, and casually walked out. “Alright, see you tomorrow.”