The comment read like this—

[Lin: Humans are advanced animals that seek benefits and avoid harm. They more easily remember a person’s faults than their good qualities. Rather than anxiously worrying about making a good impression on others, just be yourself. Frustrating things will never be few; the more you care, the worse everything seems. If you stop caring, then there will be no more frustrating things.]

Xue Jiao took a deep breath, then exhaled, her mood calmer than ever before.

Then, with a slight smile at the corner of her lips, “I never expected you to be a purveyor of inspirational quotes.”

She put down her phone, and within a few minutes, fell into dreams.

——

On Monday, Driver Xing drove them to school.

Xue Jiao sat on the left side of the back seat, and Cheng Mingze sat on the right. One looked out the left window, the other looked out the right window, both silent.

“Today’s when the monthly exam results come out, right?” Driver Xing suddenly spoke.

“Mm—”

“Mm—”

Xue Jiao and Cheng Mingze responded simultaneously, both startled for a moment, then fell silent again.

Cheng Mingze gazed at the rapidly passing scenery outside, slightly lost in thought. He didn’t quite understand; Gu Xuejiao used to dislike studying, and the textbooks from school were still brand new.

She used to dress in a complete mess, either running out or arguing with Li Sitong at home.

Back then, Cheng Mingze thought there couldn’t be a more annoying person in the world; even looking at her once was unbearable.

Since she declared her intention to change at the Cheng family’s old residence, it was as if she had become a different person—diligently going to and from school, and even spending most of her time at home studying at her desk.

He was deep in thought, and his gaze unconsciously shifted to Gu Xuejiao.

For some reason, seeing her so well-behaved, an inexplicable feeling arose in his heart.

Being stared at was naturally uncomfortable, especially when the person’s eyes were full of suspicion and mistrust.

“What is it?” Xue Jiao turned her head, removing one earphone, leaving the other one still reciting the lesson.

Hearing the coldness in her voice, Cheng Mingze felt a wave of irritation and almost instinctively said, “Gu Xuejiao, aren’t you tired of pretending for so long? What exactly are you plotting?”

Xue Jiao was stunned, looking up at him, “What?”

Cheng Mingze was growing somewhat impatient, especially when being stared at by those bright, large eyes. This strange feeling rising in his heart made his voice even more irritated and impatient.

“I said, you’ve been pretending to be well-behaved for so long, what exactly is it for?”

Xue Jiao laughed in anger, “Then what do you think it’s for?”

“You’d better not be up to anything devious!”

The car slowly pulled up to the school gate. Xue Jiao opened the door and got out, and Cheng Mingze, after a moment’s hesitation, also opened his door.

He wanted to stop Xue Jiao, but a voice came from the side.

“Sister, Brother Mingze!”

Xue Jiao and Cheng Mingze both looked over to see Gu Shiyun. Surprise flashed in both their eyes.

“It’s you.” Cheng Mingze’s voice carried a note of familiarity.

Xue Jiao thought to herself, sure enough, even without Li Sitong’s car accident, the male and female protagonists would still end up together.

Gu Shiyun smiled. Her smile appeared very gentle as her gaze shifted to Xue Jiao, “Sister.”

“Don’t call me sister.” Xue Jiao didn’t give any face at all.

A flash of embarrassment passed through Gu Shiyun’s eyes, but she forced a strained smile on her face, “The matters of the previous generation… I feel they have nothing to do with us. I’ve always considered you my sister.”

Her usual gentleness, even with a strain in her voice.

Cheng Mingze instinctively defended her, “Gu Xuejiao, you shouldn’t—”

“Cheng Mingze.” Xue Jiao called out the name seriously, her eyes earnestly scanning both of them, “The matters of the previous generation indeed have nothing to do with her, but her mother being a mistress for so many years truly hurt my mother. I don’t hate her, but if I were to be good sisters with her, what about my mother? Don’t you think she would be hurt by that?”

When Xue Jiao mentioned the word “mistress,” Gu Shiyun’s face visibly darkened, while Cheng Mingze was slightly taken aback, falling into deep thought.

Xue Jiao looked at him and continued, “Also, you just asked me what I’m up to, but I want to ask you, what are you thinking?”

“When I was problematic, you found me an eyesore and wished I would disappear. When I started to reflect and improve, you thought I had ulterior motives. So, what should I do?”

After saying this, she turned and left. Cheng Mingze stood there, staring blankly at her retreating figure.

Gu Shiyun took a deep breath and pulled at Cheng Mingze’s sleeve.

She couldn’t let him think too much right now!

“Brother Mingze, have you been busy with schoolwork lately?” Gu Shiyun blinked.

Cheng Mingze came back to his senses and forced a smile, “Yes, it’s been fine. Class is about to start, let’s go.”

He walked away first, his steps a bit quick, as if chasing after something.

Gu Shiyun’s face grew even darker.

Gu Xuejiao had changed!

The former Gu Xuejiao, who could be manipulated at will, was gone. This new Gu Xuejiao—she had lost to her twice?

Once when she sent Gu Jingxu and Wu Wanjun to intervene, not only did it fail to restore her to her former self, but they almost lost an apartment!

And this time, she had been humiliated in front of Cheng Mingze!

Gu Shiyun took a deep breath. Remembering that today was the day the results would be announced, her expression finally improved somewhat.

No matter how much Gu Xuejiao improved, when it came to academics, the difference between them was like that between the clouds and the mud!

——

As soon as Xue Jiao entered the classroom, she sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat peculiar today.

She had just sat down when Xi Junyang ran to sit in front of her, leaning on her desk and saying in a low voice, “Hey, did you know? Our class’s overall score was lost to the class next door. The first place was taken by someone called Chu Sheng from next door, the second place is Gu Shiyun from next door, and our class’s Shang Zhiyuan is third.”

“So?” Xue Jiao was confused.

Suddenly, someone forcefully pulled out the chair beside her and sat down, crossing his legs and grimacing, “So we few who are dragging the class down will face Teacher Yin’s wrath today!”

Xue Jiao: “???” She looked bewilderedly at Yi Tianyu and Xi Junyang.

At that moment, someone walked quickly through the front door, shouting, “What are you doing?! Everyone return to your seats!!”

It was Yin Fang, a woman with anger displayed on her face.

Yi Tianyu tilted his head slightly, “Bookworm, are you scared?”

“Are you scared?”

“What is there for me to be afraid of? What can she do to me?” Yi Tianyu was completely unconcerned.

“Yi Tianyu!” Yin Fang suddenly called out sharply.

“Here!” Yi Tianyu raised an eyebrow.

“You stand at the back for class.”

“Why?” Yi Tianyu protested.

“Because you only passed two subjects! Such simple questions! You ranked last! Go stand at the back and listen to the lesson!” Yin Fang’s voice rose.

Yi Tianyu: “…”

Xue Jiao’s shoulders shook slightly. Yi Tianyu noticed and awkwardly touched the tip of his nose.

He had just boasted that Teacher Yin couldn’t do anything to him, only to be immediately proven wrong.

“And the rest of you! Look at these terrible scores. The questions this time were so simple, all just covered in class. Our class had four students score above 700, but the class next door had nine! Nine! More than double!” Yin Fang slapped the desk with a loud bang.

“Today during morning self-study, I won’t ask you to memorize vocabulary. I just want to know what you’ve been doing this past month since school started! The difficulty of these questions wasn’t even half that of the college entrance exam. Only four scoring above 700?! And you’re supposed to be the experimental class! Out of all the classes I’ve taught over the years, you’re the most embarrassing! Those who scored below 600, if this were the college entrance exam, couldn’t even get into a second-tier university!”

Her gaze swept sharply over everyone, successfully making them all lower their heads.

Only then did she exhale heavily, “The class next door took seven of the top ten spots; our class had only three!”

She roared, “What are you all good for?!”

“I won’t talk about the other subjects, let’s just discuss English. Yi Tianyu! Such simple English and you didn’t even pass?! And Gu Xuejiao! 90 points, you are something, deliberately aiming for just passing?”

Xue Jiao: “…” She had aimed to just pass.

“For this exam, those who failed must copy it five times, those below 100 points copy it three times, and those below 120 copy it once!” She threw the papers onto the desk and continued her lecture, calling out most of the students by name.

It wasn’t until class ended that the English papers were handed out, followed by papers from other subjects one after another.

During the morning break, the total scores were posted outside. Xue Jiao glanced at the scores at the top and quietly left.

The questions were indeed simple. The top ten all scored above 700. The top student in the grade, Chu Sheng, had a total score of 729; second place was Gu Shiyun with 721; and third was their class’s Shang Zhiyuan with 718.

Xue Jiao’s barely passing scores in each subject placed her in the middle ranks of the grade.

She didn’t mind and slowly walked back to the classroom.

Good schools were indeed different. To score above 700 meant one could only lose very few points in each subject. There were two math questions beyond the syllabus this time, yet the top student in the grade still got a perfect score in math.

Xue Jiao’s heart was filled with fighting spirit, and she quickened her pace.

She wasn’t a genius, so she could only work hard.

——

“Holy—” Yi Tianyu exclaimed as he held her paper. As soon as Xue Jiao sat down, he turned around in shock.

“What’s wrong?”

Yi Tianyu blinked repeatedly, looking at her as if she were some sort of monster. On Friday, Gu Xuejiao had told Xi Junyang that her score was just passing.

At that time, Yi Tianyu thought this person was confident to say something like “just passing.”

And now, looking at the desk, Yi Tianyu found himself in deep existential doubt.

Just passing…

This was taking “just” to a whole new level!

Chinese: 91, Mathematics: 90, English: 90, Integrated Science: 180, Total: 451.

These were Gu Xuejiao’s scores.

Yi Tianyu looked at the paper, then at Gu Xuejiao, and then back at the paper, completely bewildered.