Cheng Mingjiao’s face turned completely red with anger and embarrassment as she ran out.

Yi Tianyu lowered his head slightly, leaning closer with half-closed eyes and a mischievous smile on his handsome face, “How was that? I shut her down pretty well, right?”

Xue Jiao looked up, studying him seriously.

Their gazes met in mid-air. After just a few seconds, Yi Tianyu awkwardly averted his eyes, his ears turning slightly red as he stammered, “What are you looking at!”

Xue Jiao touched her chin, mimicking his half-closed eyes, “I’m looking at… when did my mother give birth to a brother for me!”

Yi Tianyu: “…”

After a moment’s pause, his eyes widened, “Just today, hurry up and call me ‘big brother’ so I can hear it!”

“In your dreams,” Xue Jiao rolled her eyes.

Yi Tianyu moved his head even closer, “Hey, don’t you think Cheng Mingjiao… targets you specifically?”

“Yes, I know.”

“You don’t hate her?”

“I hate her very much.”

“Then why don’t you say anything when she mocks you? Are you that timid?” Yi Tianyu asked, confused.

Xue Jiao sighed slightly. Cheng Mingjiao was using academics to mock her. If she argued back now, she’d just be making empty boasts!

“After I score higher than her, I’ll go thank her.”

She finished speaking, gathered her things, and headed toward the cafeteria.

Yi Tianyu’s eyes widened, “Wow, that’s so devious!”

While Cheng Mingjiao’s grades were better than hers, she said nothing, allowing the other girl to be arrogant.

Once she beat her, all of Cheng Mingjiao’s previous arrogance would become a joke.

And if Gu Xuejiao then went to thank her—it would likely make her so angry she’d spit blood!

“Indeed… a woman’s heart is most poisonous!”

After saying this, Yi Tianyu paused, “Wait, why am I assuming Gu Xuejiao could win against Cheng Mingjiao? She’s ranked twentieth in our grade!”

He raised his hand and slapped his forehead, “Yi Tianyu, has your brain stopped working?”

Where else would this mysterious confidence in Gu Xuejiao come from?!

——

The monthly exam followed a format similar to the college entrance exam. Thursday morning was Chinese, afternoon was mathematics, and the following day was English and comprehensive science.

To maintain consistency with the college entrance exam, the scoring for each subject also followed the same standard.

Chinese, mathematics, and English were worth 150 points each, comprehensive science was 300 points, totaling 750 points.

In her previous life, Xue Jiao hadn’t received her final score, but she estimated it at around 640 points, enough to get into a decent university and major in their province, but far from sufficient for a top 10 university.

If possible in this life, she wanted to aim for over 700 points.

Xue Jiao knew it wouldn’t be easy, but she still had two years—she had stolen two extra years compared to others.

With this thought, her gaze became determined.

The Chinese exam wasn’t difficult. She quickly completed all the multiple-choice questions on the paper but hesitated when filling in the answer sheet.

She erased three correct answers and filled in three wrong ones instead.

Xue Jiao certainly knew her abilities, but Gu Xuejiao shouldn’t have this level of skill.

The progress from her efforts since the beginning of school could be significant, but it couldn’t possibly match the score she would get if she answered everything correctly.

Xue Jiao thought for a moment and decided to aim for just passing grades in each subject this time. For someone like Gu Xuejiao, who hadn’t studied properly for many years, this would already be a terrifying improvement.

She would hold back this time, but next time, there would be no need to hide her abilities!

Looking at the exam paper, Xue Jiao felt troubled. Controlling her score to just pass in each subject was an extremely difficult task!

It required real skill to achieve!

After all… she needed to know all the correct answers first!

——

“How did the exam go?” Xi Junyang felt that his kindred spirits in this class were fellow transplants Gu Xuejiao, Yi Tianyu, and Qi Lei. Plus, since Xue Jiao was pretty, he would occasionally come over to chat.

“None of your business!” Yi Tianyu glared at him.

Xi Junyang returned the glare, “I wasn’t asking you, I was asking Jiaojiao!”

“What are you asking for? Let’s go play basketball!” Yi Tianyu suddenly raised his voice, sounding challenging.

“I won’t go!” Xi Junyang ignored him and smiled at Xue Jiao, “Seeing how serious you’ve been, you’ll improve this time.”

Xue Jiao shrugged, “Just barely passing.”

Yi Tianyu felt uncomfortable watching the two chat. This Xi Junyang smiled at everyone, a typical people-pleaser. Why did girls like this type?

And Gu Xuejiao was even smiling while talking to him!

He suddenly mocked, “Passing? You’re so confident when the results aren’t even out yet?!”

Xue Jiao: “…”

Just passing… was considered confident?

So exactly how bad were Gu Xuejiao and Yi Tianyu’s grades?

“Wow! I knew that with Jiaojiao working so hard, there would be results!” Xi Junyang smiled. Though he was tall, he had a baby face.

Xue Jiao’s real age was almost nineteen, so looking at this young man always gave her a feeling of looking at a younger brother.

So, she returned a smile, “I’ll keep working hard. You keep it up too.”

“Keep up my ass!” Yi Tianyu stood up and pulled Xi Junyang away, “School’s over! Basketball!”

“Hey! Slow down, slow down!” Xi Junyang shouted as he was dragged away.

Xue Jiao also packed her bag and headed out.

“Xue Jiao?” Just as she reached the school gate, a car stopped in front of her, and the window rolled down to reveal a familiar voice.

“Oh? Mr. Lin?” Xue Jiao was slightly surprised.

Lin Zhihua nodded, his eyes black as ink as he looked at her, “Would you like a ride?”

Xue Jiao hurriedly waved her hands, “No, no, there’s a car waiting for me! By the way, what brings Mr. Lin here?”

“My younger brother studies here. I just picked him up.” He gestured slightly toward the passenger seat.

Xue Jiao looked over and indeed saw a boy in a school uniform.

She smiled at the boy, then looked back at Lin Zhihua, “Then I’ll be going now, Mr. Lin!”

“Mm, goodbye.”

Xue Jiao waved and walked toward Driver Xing’s car.

Lin Zhihua closed the window, started the car, and said to the terrified boy beside him who didn’t dare speak, “From now on, I’ll help Auntie Chen pick you up on Fridays.”

The boy in the passenger seat was nearly in tears but could only nod, “Okay.”

He was just the son of the Lin family’s housekeeper, and Mr. Lin would come to pick him up every Friday from now on?!

He… he… he just wanted to cry!

Originally, he could go out and have fun with friends, but now he would have to go straight home in his school uniform.

That night.

Xue Jiao was lying in bed when her phone rang once.

Gu Xuejiao had previously added some random people, all of whom she had removed. Now her list temporarily contained only one person she had added herself: Lin Zhihua.

[How was your monthly exam today?]

Xue Jiao replied—

[Just barely passed, why?]

The response came quickly—

[My brother said he didn’t do well. Were the questions difficult?]

[They were okay. The math exam had two questions beyond the curriculum that we haven’t learned yet.]

After sending this message, she sighed. Lin Zhihua was a good brother, even indirectly asking if the questions were difficult.

Then she thought of Cheng Mingze next door, who still looked at her with displeasure, and felt somewhat exasperated.

[Oh. I understand.]

Xue Jiao checked the time and replied—

[Good night! Dancing.jpg]

The reply came instantly—

[Good night.]

A few seconds later, he followed with an emoticon—Cute.jpg.

Thinking of Lin Zhihua’s cold face, and then looking at this emoticon, she almost burst out laughing.

She didn’t reply, put down her phone, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

——

It seemed to be a habit for many people to take a break right after exams, and teachers generally didn’t assign too much homework.

So after the monthly exam, things were usually relaxed for a few days, and with the National Day holiday coming up, Cheng Mingze also went out to play with several childhood friends for a few days.

When he returned, he saw through the half-open door next to his room a girl in cute pajamas sitting upright at her desk, seriously working on problems, and he was momentarily dazed.

He leaned against the doorframe, quietly watching the girl.

Perhaps because he had been staring for too long, Xue Jiao turned around.

“What is it?” she asked, surprised.

Cheng Mingze looked at her meaningfully and said, “It will be very difficult for you to beat Mingjiao.”

“So?” Xue Jiao’s voice turned cold.

In truth, she didn’t want much contact with this original male protagonist. No one would like someone who constantly looked at them with disdain. The only reason she had remained friendly was to avoid making things difficult for Li Sitong.

Perhaps sensing her cooling attitude, Cheng Mingze straightened his posture, showing slight discomfort, “If you keep working hard like this, you can ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand. Even if you lose to Mingjiao at the end of the semester, as long as you’re still in the top hundred, you’ll remain in Class 1.”

Xue Jiao replied calmly, “Thank you, but no need.”

Cheng Mingze frowned, “Studying is your own business, don’t let emotions get in the way.”

Having said this, he left without giving Xue Jiao a chance to respond, his face displeased.

Xue Jiao exhaled, feeling somewhat annoyed.

In her previous life, she had been an orphan, having to rely entirely on herself. In this life, she finally had someone to support her during her most crucial period, allowing her not to worry about tuition, materials, and living expenses during the most critical times.

She should be grateful, but encountering the mess and bad impressions left by Gu Xuejiao still made her feel awful.

Looking at the time—ten o’clock—it was time for her to go to bed.

Xue Jiao tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Suddenly opening her eyes, she took out her phone and composed a social media post.

—How long does it take to erase the bad impression someone has left? When will there be fewer annoying things?

After posting it, she felt as if she had thrown out some garbage, and her mood finally improved.

Just as she put down her phone, she received a comment from her only friend.

Author’s note: Yi Tianyu: Oh my god! Breaking news! Gu Xuejiao says she can pass the exam!! Oh my god! Passing! Such a difficult thing as passing!

Xue Jiao: ………………