“You… estimate your score so accurately?” He was slightly stunned.

Xue Jiao rarely showed him a smile: “Want to guess?”

“…”

For some reason, Yi Tianyu always felt that Xue Jiao’s score was too coincidental, so coincidental that it made him suspicious.

As her desk-mate, he naturally had an uncommon understanding of the person before him.

Xue Jiao was very serious, more serious than many people he had seen. Those exercises in the practice books—he had barely seen her get any wrong.

Could it be…

Does this person have test anxiety?!

“Hey—” Yi Tianyu poked Xue Jiao’s arm.

She raised her hand and turned around annoyed: “What is it now?!”

“Nothing…” Yi Tianyu looked at her sympathetically.

In this world, more pitiful than a poor student doing badly on a test is—someone who studies well but panics during exams.

Though Yi Tianyu didn’t say anything, his face was full of—how pitiful you are! So pitiful!

Xue Jiao silently recited: “Don’t argue with fools,” “Don’t argue with fools.”

Only then did she calm her mind and browse the test paper again, looking for places where she hadn’t done well enough.

——

“Cousin! How did you do on the test?” Cheng Mingjiao asked knowingly, walking over with a smile.

She had done quite well this time, advancing two more places to rank eighteenth in the grade.

Xue Jiao looked up at her briefly, then lowered her head and continued reading.

“Cousin got ninety in English!” Cheng Mingjiao came closer, shouting, “Cousin has improved so much!”

Xue Jiao was looking at her English test paper. Although the paper wasn’t difficult, there were still some words she didn’t recognize or wasn’t familiar with. She wanted to note down all these words one by one to fill in the gaps.

“Pfft—ninety points, when our class average is one hundred and twenty. She’s dragging us down.” It turned out that Yu Fangfang, who was in the same class as Gu Xue Jiao, laughed.

“Did we have a grudge before?” Xue Jiao raised her head and looked at Yu Fangfang suspiciously.

She didn’t understand. It made sense if Cheng Mingjiao disliked her, but what about Yu Fangfang? Gu Xue Jiao didn’t even go to school much before, did she?

“Huh?” Yu Fangfang was taken aback.

Xue Jiao blinked her eyes: “If we don’t have a grudge, why do you always hound me like a mad dog?”

“You’re the mad dog!” Yu Fangfang was furious.

“But I don’t spend all day being passive-aggressive, fixating on one person, do I?” She blinked again, her exquisitely delicate face stunningly beautiful.

“Moreover, Yu Fangfang, if I remember correctly when you joined our class, your English score was 131 points. This time it’s 121 points, a decrease of 10 points. While I… increased by 57 points. Since I can improve by so many points, it’s obvious the test wasn’t difficult. So… Yu Fangfang, do you have the spare energy to worry about me?”

Xue Jiao curved her lips: “Yu Fangfang, I suggest you go salvage your precarious grades.”

“You—”

“Hey, a good dog doesn’t block the way.” Yi Tianyu, holding a basketball and dripping with sweat, tilted his chin slightly upward.

He was standing behind Yu Fangfang, and the word “dog” obviously referred to Yu Fangfang, agreeing with Xue Jiao.

“Wuu—” Yu Fangfang burst into tears and pushed past Yi Tianyu, running away.

Yi Tianyu wiped his sweat, looking puzzled: “What did I do to make her cry like that?”

“Pfft!” Xue Jiao laughed.

When she laughed, her eyes curved into crescents. Her already delicate face became even more radiant, dazzlingly beautiful.

Yi Tianyu was stunned for a moment, then quickly walked over and sat in his seat.

He thought to himself: It must be the hot weather; playing basketball made him this tired, even back in the classroom his heart was still pounding.

Cheng Mingjiao’s face was now unrecognizably ugly. Class One was the experimental class, and while there were many boys with good grades, none were as handsome as Yi Tianyu.

Plus he loved playing basketball, was tall and handsome, and was always jokingly called the “grade’s grass” among the girls.

Yet such an outstanding boy always helped Gu Xue Jiao, which made Cheng Mingjiao both jealous and resentful.

She gritted her teeth: “Cousin, you’re too much! Isn’t it too heartless of you to hurt others like this?!”

Xue Jiao extended one finger, pointing at Yi Tianyu beside her: “Cousin, I think there’s something wrong with your eyes and ears. The one who hurt her was him, right?”

“Puhahaha—” There was muffled laughter around.

“Gu Xue Jiao!” Cheng Mingjiao gnashed her teeth, “Cousin, no matter what, she still scored better than you, and at least she’s not dragging down the class!”

Xue Jiao raised an eyebrow.

“Cousin, I hope you can do well in the final exams this semester. You did say you would surpass me, right?” Cheng Mingjiao’s smile was sarcastic, and her eyes turned to Yi Tianyu, “Yi, I hope you will apologize to Yu Fangfang. You can’t just follow Gu Xue Jiao in insulting others!”

She tilted her chin slightly, presenting her most attractive angle to Yi Tianyu, her face full of determination and righteousness. “So, Yi, please apologize!”

Cheng Mingjiao’s resolute, fearless demeanor was identical to those strong, rational Cinderella protagonists on TV, a carbon copy of Shan-Mingjiao-Cai.

However—

Yi Tianyu looked at Xue Jiao: “Is your cousin crazy?”

Xue Jiao: “Looks like it.”

“Is rabies contagious?”

As soon as Yi Tianyu finished speaking, both of them leaned back in unison, clearly trying to distance themselves from Cheng Mingjiao.

“You, you, you—” Cheng Mingjiao was so angry she dropped her mask, “Yi Tianyu! Have you been bewitched by Gu Xue Jiao?! She’s just like her mother, a vixen!”

“Bang!” Xue Jiao suddenly stood up.

She reached out and grabbed Cheng Mingjiao’s collar, her gaze suddenly becoming sharp: “Apologize!”

“What are you trying to do?!”

Xue Jiao’s gaze swept around the classroom, then coldly fixed on Cheng Mingjiao: “First, my mom is single and divorced. Uncle Cheng lost his wife ten years ago, and it was Uncle Cheng who pursued my mother. Before that, they didn’t even know each other. So please tell me, what makes someone a vixen?”

“Let go of me!” Cheng Mingjiao struggled.

Xue Jiao continued: “Cheng Mingjiao, not every woman loved by a husband is a vixen! And divorced women have the right to pursue happiness. The way you talk makes me think you have an intelligence problem. Or are you still living in the Qing Dynasty?”

As soon as Xue Jiao’s words fell, the female classmates in the class first showed expressions of agreement. Why couldn’t someone remarry after a divorce?

According to Cheng Mingjiao’s logic, remarrying after divorce makes you a vixen.

Thinking of it this way, everyone’s gaze toward Cheng Mingjiao changed.

“Gu Xue Jiao!” Feeling the surrounding gazes, Cheng Mingjiao was furious with embarrassment and reached out to scratch her.

Xue Jiao kicked her knee and looked at her coldly.

Although she didn’t yet have maternal feelings for Li Sitong, she could feel the guilt within her body, which might have been left by Gu Xue Jiao…

Since she had taken Gu Xue Jiao’s body, she naturally had to fulfill Gu Xue Jiao’s obligations.

Cheng Mingjiao was kicked to her knees by her, stunning everyone around.

Cheng Mingjiao stood up like a madwoman and lunged at her.

Xue Jiao applied strength with her hand.

At this moment, someone shouted from the front—

“The teacher’s coming!”

——

Xue Jiao and Cheng Mingjiao stood in the office, both with their heads lowered, not speaking.

Just then, the office door was pushed open, and two women rushed in, one was Liu Yazhen, and the other was Li Sitong.

“My poor daughter!!!” Liu Yazhen shouted, lovingly embracing Cheng Mingjiao.

Li Sitong also approached Xue Jiao, extending her hand—

“Slap!”

A slap landed on her face.

Xue Jiao was stunned.

“Hey—don’t hit, parent, please don’t hit!” Teacher Yin Fang quickly came over to stop her.

Li Sitong gritted her teeth: “This girl doesn’t listen at all, causing trouble, even hitting her sister!”

“Wuu wuu wuu…” Cheng Mingjiao was still crying.

“Gu Xue Jiao! You wretched girl, not only do you not study well, but you also bully Mingjiao. Does our Cheng family owe you? You wretched girl, quickly apologize to Mingjiao! Eating at our Cheng family’s expense, yet bullying Cheng family members!” Liu Yazhen wailed as if she had suffered a great injustice.

“Quiet! Parents, all of you be quiet!” Yin Fang shouted, glaring at the people in front of her.

Only then did Liu Yazhen stop talking, while Li Sitong still looked furious.

“Since the parents are all here, I’ll be brief. The two of them were fighting in the classroom today, which is very inappropriate! Regardless of the reason, both must write self-criticisms!”

“Yes, yes, yes, teacher, I’m sorry, Xue Jiao has caused you trouble!” Li Sitong squeezed out a smile.

She had gained much experience dealing with the troubles Gu Xue Jiao had caused over the years. Smiling shamelessly and apologizing profusely were minor responses.

There had been fights before, and she would apologize plus compensate. This time the fight was with Cheng Mingjiao, and she didn’t know what other storms awaited back at the Cheng home.

Gu Xue Jiao had just said earlier that she would become her pride in the future, but after only a few days, she was causing trouble again!

Li Sitong looked disappointed.

“Why should she?!” Unlike Li Sitong’s repeated apologies, Liu Yazhen was quite angry.

She tilted her chin: “My daughter was hit by Gu Xue Jiao. She’s innocent. Shouldn’t Gu Xue Jiao be the one apologizing to my daughter? Why does my daughter have to apologize too?!”

Yin Fang’s brow slightly furrowed, “From what I heard, Cheng Mingjiao provoked Gu Xue Jiao first. They’re both at fault!”

“How did my daughter provoke her?! No matter what, she shouldn’t resort to violence, right? Teacher, tell me, how can a female hooligan like Gu Xue Jiao compare to my daughter? She doesn’t study well herself, yet bullies her sister! Such a person should be expelled! Sister-in-law, don’t you agree?” Liu Yazhen gave Li Sitong a cold smile.

Li Sitong awkwardly squeezed out a smile: “It’s Jiaojiao’s fault. Let her apologize properly to Mingjiao. Let’s forget about expulsion—Jiaojiao is already in her second year of high school…”

“So what if she’s in her second year? Can a daughter like yours get into college? Last time she pushed Mingjiao down the stairs, this time she directly hit people in class. She should be expelled!” Liu Yazhen insisted.

Li Sitong felt distressed and pulled Gu Xue Jiao over: “Quick, apologize to Mingjiao, beg for her forgiveness!”

Gu Xue Jiao was still dumbfounded.

Li Sitong was so angry she ground her teeth. Who was she doing all this for? Wasn’t it for this girl?!

“Speak! Are you mute?! When you make a mistake, you should apologize!”

Xue Jiao seemed to come to her senses and suddenly raised her head, shaking off Li Sitong’s hand.

“I did make a mistake. The mistake was defending someone who doesn’t deserve to be defended.”

Everyone was stunned. Liu Yazhen glared at her: “What are you saying?!”

Xue Jiao ignored her and coldly looked at Yin Fang: “Teacher before a judge pronounces a verdict, shouldn’t they at least hear from both the plaintiff and defendant? Shouldn’t they know the cause and effect before making a judgment?”

Yin Fang was stunned for a moment and opened her mouth: “But neither of you were speaking, were you?”

“Yes, now I’m willing to speak. Teacher, can you call a few classmates to testify? Anyone who was in the classroom at that time would know what happened.”

Her face was very cold. Her delicate small face was already naturally aloof, and now it was frighteningly cold, keeping people at a thousand miles’ distance.

“Witnesses?” Li Sitong was taken aback.

This matter… was there something more to it?