Dazzling

This was the second time Qing Ye had given Xing Wu the feeling of transforming decay into magic. If last time she effortlessly sorted out his mother's perpetually messy accounts, this incident made Xing Wu view her in a new light.

She was the first "good student" who dared to break conventions and secular norms to appear in Xing Wu's life. She always seemed to know exactly what she wanted and how to ensure her goals remained undisturbed. She didn't fear others' opinions of her, nor was she intimidated by the bad influence of his crowd. She could even overnight turn that negative influence into open protection, leaving everyone astonished.

Originally, everyone at school thought Qing Ye, having been summoned to the disciplinary office early in the morning, would definitely be lectured about yesterday afternoon's off-campus gathering incident, especially regarding her inexplicable connection with Xing Wu's group.

Who could have imagined that not only did the school administration not severely reprimand her, but they personally escorted her back to class and even instructed Xing Wu's group to look after her from now on? Such a bizarre turn of events left everyone utterly confused.

The reason they couldn't understand was that this morning, the school leaders had planned to take turns persuading Qing Ye to stay away from those unruly bad students in school. However, as soon as Qing Ye entered the disciplinary office, she proactively confessed that Xing Wu was her cousin—family—asking whether she should sever ties with her own relative?

Before the school leaders could speak, they were already baffled by Qing Ye. They then retrieved the contact information of Xing Wu's mother, Li Lanfang, and confirmed their familial relationship with her right in front of Qing Ye. On speakerphone, Li Lanfang's loud voice came through: "Yes, Qing Ye is my niece. She's staying with me now. I'm busy with my business, Director, please look after our Qing Ye and Xing Wu."

Then Qing Ye heard Zhao Mazi shout in the background: "Sister Li, Zhang Guang's dad went for hemorrhoid surgery, we're short one for mahjong this afternoon!"

The school leaders' faces turned green. Qing Ye really wanted to find a hole to crawl into, regretting deeply why she had brought Li Lanfang into this.

After hanging up, the school leaders wore troubled expressions. They were legitimate relatives living together—they couldn't forbid them from associating. Yet they worried about Qing Ye's studies being affected. Eventually, Director Gu came up with this perfect solution.

Thus, under the school administration's directive, Qing Ye was openly placed under Xing Wu's protection, with no one daring to utter a word against it.

When Cao Fan heard about it, he nearly coughed up blood on the spot, because this meant that no matter how much he disliked Qing Ye, from today onward he couldn't touch a single hair on her head at school.

Regarding this strange incident, rumors soon leaked that Xing Wu had really become Qing Ye's lackey, acknowledging her as his elder sister, etc. Of course, most people didn't believe it. Everyone at An Zhong knew Xing Wu's temperament—when had he ever bowed his head to anyone? Let alone to a girl?

Qing Ye could sense that Xing Wu had recently been deliberately maintaining a certain distance from her. For example, during meals, he would always eat while scrolling through his phone, basically having zero eye contact with her. Whereas before he would occasionally sleep on the outside sofa, lately he hardly ever came back.Even at school, he was like a dragon whose head could be seen but not its tail. He often drifted in leisurely through the back door after a couple of classes had already started. By the time the bell rang and Qing Ye turned around, he might have already slipped away again. They barely saw each other more than a few times—utterly failing as a "safety monitor."

But aside from him, the others Director Gu had appointed were quite diligent. Almost every day this week, a whole crowd had "escorted" Qing Ye home after school. Though calling it an escort was a stretch—it was really just a bunch of slackers with nothing better to do, skipping evening self-study to wander the streets.

Even Huang Mao, Lang Dai, and other students from outside their class, whom Director Gu hadn’t specifically assigned, occasionally trailed behind Qing Ye, boasting and idling around. They usually dispersed once they saw her enter Dazzle Island. Lately, the troublemakers from An Vocational School hadn’t bothered Qing Ye either.

This whole situation left everyone at school baffled. In the entire history of An High School, no girl had ever had a gang of toughs following her around. After all, these guys might technically be students, but they swaggered around campus like they owned the place—even the principal couldn’t get them to budge.

As a result, lately, no one dared to mess with Qing Ye wherever she went. Her confident, purposeful stride even gave off the aura of the undisputed queen of An High.

In reality, Qing Ye was just seizing every second, unwilling to waste time on trivial matters, because the first monthly exam of their senior year was fast approaching.

On the day of the exam, Xing Wu actually showed up early for once. His tall figure slipped in through the back door, and Qing Ye caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing a clean white T-shirt and black cargo pants. Truth be told, Qing Ye had always thought Xing Wu had style—even simple clothes looked sharp and handsome on him. In a school filled with non-mainstream fashion, his attire was one of the few that actually caught her eye.

Not long after he entered the classroom, Huang Mao and the others called him outside. Qing Ye opened her book to review some chemical formulas when suddenly a shadow fell over her desk. She looked up slowly to find Li Wenhui standing in front of her, holding a bottle of yogurt.

Because of the seat-changing incident on her very first day, Qing Ye had already clashed with this girl and held no fondness for her. In all these days, Li Wenhui had never spoken to her, so her sudden appearance felt puzzling.

Qing Ye raised an eyebrow and asked, "Something up?"

Li Wenhui glanced toward the door. Following her gaze, Qing Ye shot a look at the guys joking around in the hallway.

Then Li Wenhui leaned in and whispered, "I heard from someone else—are you really Xing Wu’s sister?"

Qing Ye calmly observed her cautious demeanor, so different from the arrogance she’d displayed on their first meeting, and found it somewhat amusing. She countered, "What does it matter if I am or not?"

Li Wenhui looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn’t know about you back then. Since you know Xing Wu... I’ll leave this on his desk. If he asks, just mention me."

With that, Li Wenhui placed the yogurt on the corner of Xing Wu’s desk and hurried back to her seat. Qing Ye watched her retreating figure, then glanced outside at Xing Wu leaning against the corridor, and couldn’t help but curl her lips in a faint, amused smile.When the class bell rang, the group of guys outside gradually dispersed. Xing Wu slowly walked in through the back door. Qing Ye turned around and noticed that, for once, he had actually brought a pen with him. She was genuinely concerned whether that shabby pen of his could even write.

Seeing her turn around, Xing Wu glanced up at her but said nothing.

Qing Ye gestured toward the corner of the desk with her eyes. "Hey, yogurt."

Only then did Xing Wu look at the desk. Qing Ye added, "Li Wenhui gave it to you."

Xing Wu frowned slightly and called out, "Pang Hu."

Pang Hu turned around, and with a flick of his wrist, Xing Wu tossed the yogurt directly to him. Then he calmly stared at Qing Ye, who shrugged indifferently and turned back around.

It should have been an insignificant little episode, but after the math exam, Pang Hu boldly drank the yogurt in plain sight. When someone asked him where he got it, Pang Hu, without a second thought, said Brother Wu gave it to him.

Li Wenhui happened to overhear this. She rushed out of the classroom and intercepted Xing Wu, who was on his way to the restroom.

In the hallway, Xing Wu stood with a cold expression, hands tucked into the pockets of his cargo pants. His tall figure was silhouetted against the light, the shaved lines near his temples inexplicably radiating an untamable, rebellious aura.

Xing Wu wasn’t unaware of Li Wenhui’s little crush, but he had no other thoughts about her and wasn’t interested.

He hadn’t expected her to suddenly block his path. Although Li Wenhui had sat in front of him for over a year, she rarely saw Xing Wu, and he generally paid little attention to the girls in class. So, standing in front of him now, she still felt somewhat intimidated.

Lowering her head, she asked with a hint of grievance, "Why did you give the yogurt I gave you to Fan Tong?"

Xing Wu replied expressionlessly, "Didn’t want it."

Li Wenhui bit her lip, seeming to struggle for a long time before finally looking up at Xing Wu and saying, "I gave that to you specially. You know what I mean, right?"

Xing Wu’s gaze drifted slightly and landed on Qing Ye, who had just finished filling her water bottle and was now leaning against the hallway wall, watching him with an amused smile.

When he looked back at the persistent Li Wenhui in front of him, he could only feel a headache coming on.

Qing Ye had originally wanted to see how this usually aloof guy would handle a girl’s confession, but instead, she watched as Xing Wu pulled a twenty-yuan bill—yes, a twenty-yuan bill—out of his pocket and handed it to Li Wenhui. Li Wenhui, of course, stared at him in confusion, unsure why he was giving her money. Seeing her hesitate, Xing Wu stuffed the bill into her hand and said flatly, "Consider it bought from you."

Then he left. Just like that? Leaving Li Wenhui standing alone, holding the twenty yuan, utterly bewildered.

Xing Wu, unfazed, went to the restroom. When he sauntered back to class, Qing Ye was still standing by the corridor near Class 2’s back door, water cup in hand, watching him.

His eyes fell on her, but as he approached, Qing Ye suddenly remarked lightly, "How heartless."

Xing Wu slowed his pace and glanced sideways at her. "Watching a show without buying a ticket?"

Qing Ye laughed. "Li Wenhui’s not bad. She’s devoted to you and even bought you yogurt."

Xing Wu narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "I don’t eat the grass near my nest."

Qing Ye nodded as if she understood and changed the subject. "You’re something else, having Huang Mao and his crew follow me every day while you’re nowhere to be seen."Xing Wu raised his eyebrows and turned to stare at her. Qing Ye lifted her head, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly. "Isn't that right? If you hadn't spoken up, wouldn't those people have found trouble for no reason?"

Xing Wu simply crossed his arms, leaned against the wall behind him, and curled his lips playfully. "Isn't it because I'm afraid of spending too much time with you and being attracted by your beauty and excellence, falling for you? After all, you're someone I can't have..."

Xing Wu's face darkened. He couldn't bring himself to say those two words, so he just glared at her before turning and heading back to class. Qing Ye watched his retreating figure and laughed, then leisurely walked back to class herself. As she passed his seat, she secretly flipped him off.

...

Soon, the monthly exam results were released. To Qing Ye's utter surprise, Shi Min—who never let her attention wander for even a minute during class and even saved time by shortening her bathroom breaks—ranked in the bottom five of the class. Qing Ye was stunned.

So, Qing Ye very seriously asked her, "You pay such close attention in class every day—do you actually understand what you're hearing?"

Shi Min also answered very seriously, "I listen, but I just don't understand."

"..."

Qing Ye was utterly speechless. She had always assumed her deskmate was at least among the top students in Class Two. As soon as Shi Min left her seat, Qing Ye quickly turned to glance at Xing Wu's test paper. Xing Wu was leaning back in his chair playing games, his paper lying on the desk.

It was better not to look. Once she did, Qing Ye was left speechless. He had never seriously listened to a single lesson and had probably just randomly guessed on the multiple-choice questions. Although he still failed, his guessed score was higher than Shi Min's carefully written answers. How could something so absurd happen?

So, Qing Ye sighed over his paper, "I really didn't know Shi Min couldn't understand. She never said anything, and I don't see anyone in the class more diligent than her. How could she even score lower than you?"

She said the words "even you" with clear disdain. Xing Wu shot her a sidelong glance. "Have you ever considered that it's not because she's dumb, but because I'm exceptionally talented?"

"..." With a score of 72? Qing Ye looked at her own paper—147 points. If he was talented, then what did that make her? A god?

Right after he finished speaking, Xing Wu received a phone call. It seemed something had come up. He folded his test paper, stuffed it into his desk, and said to Qing Ye, "I'm going to Shunyi. I won't be back tonight."

With that, he left directly through the back door.

After school, Huang Mao and his crew were squatting by the roadside near the school entrance, smoking. When they saw Qing Ye come out, Huang Mao stubbed out his cigarette and walked over. "Cousin, how'd you do on the exam?"

Qing Ye replied expressionlessly, "Not great."

Lang Dai, standing nearby, immediately exclaimed in shock, "Our homeroom teacher said you outscored the second place in the grade by a full 58 points, and your science score was almost perfect!"

Qing Ye said with full disdain, "When I really enter the exam hall, do you think my competition would be your grade's second place?"

Her words sent a shiver through the group of slackers. Qing Ye turned and walked back with her backpack, and the others gradually stood up as well.

Qing Ye was indeed dissatisfied with this monthly exam. It could be said it was the worst she had ever performed. She lost points in areas where she shouldn't have, and her total score barely passed 650—not even reaching her usual standard.According to last year's admission scores for top domestic 985 universities in this province's science stream, she was still over ten points short. Moreover, she had checked that last year 81 students in this province scored above 650 in science. Referring to last year's enrollment plans, the admission rates of those first-tier universities in this province were less than 0.4%. If she couldn't rank within the top ten in the province, her situation would become very passive. She had always disliked leaving the choice in others' hands, so Qing Ye felt extremely dejected.

But at least she now knew where to focus her efforts. She had a vague worry—this score wasn't unusual at her previous school, but here, everyone seemed to think her results were extraordinary. She knew the reality wasn't like that, and she feared she might slack off even slightly because of these opinions.

Now she could only refer to the cutoff scores of those top 985 universities. If she really wanted to secure a scholarship abroad, she would be competing against top students from all over the world, along with facing the challenges of adapting to a foreign environment. These were all obstacles she had to overcome. So, the more people thought she was amazing, the tighter she needed to pull herself together.

On the way back, Qing Ye casually asked, "How did you all do on the exams?"

The scores they reported sporadically were utterly dismal. Qing Ye said helplessly, "You at least go to school every day, and you can't even beat Xing Wu?"

Huang Mao told Qing Ye, "Actually, our Brother Wu wasn't bad in junior high."

Qing Ye glanced at him skeptically. Huang Mao laughed, "Really, aside from Chinese—asking him to write an essay was like asking him to die—but in math and sciences, Brother Wu usually passed in junior high, and sometimes his scores were pretty good."

Qing Ye was somewhat surprised, "I thought someone like him would just go to a vocational school or something."

Huang Mao continued, "Well, after junior high, Brother Wu was planning to go straight to An Vocational School. After all, as you know, he's not really interested in studying."

"Then why did he go to high school?"

Huang Mao sighed deeply, "Didn't he have a conflict with some people from An Vocational? Back then, a few guys from An Vocational went to his family's barbershop for haircuts and deliberately caused trouble, flipping Aunt Li's mahjong table. Of course, Brother Wu wasn't going to let them off, so a fight broke out. Who would have thought that in the middle of it, Brother Wu went to the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and slashed a few of them? Although he ended up paying some compensation later, that incident really scared the An Vocational guys. After that, rumors spread that Brother Wu was a lunatic who didn't value his life and would even cut himself if pushed too far.

So, An Vocational held a grudge against Brother Wu, and he thought those guys were too trashy to associate with. During the high school entrance exam, he pushed himself, gritted his teeth through the essay, and ended up at An High School."

"..."

This was the first time Qing Ye had heard such an absurd reason for someone attending high school.

She couldn't help but say, "If his foundation isn't bad and he's in high school, why doesn't he study properly?"

Huang Mao replied offhandedly, "Probably can't get into it, just like the rest of us. And what's the point of putting in all that effort? To get into university? For Brother Wu, it's more practical to take on more jobs and earn money."

Qing Ye sighed inwardly. She only had herself to worry about, but Xing Wu was clearly different from her.

When they reached the entrance of Dazzle Island, Huang Mao and the others went their separate ways from Qing Ye.As soon as Qing Ye entered the door, she noticed that Du Qiyan and Liu Nian hadn't left yet. They were standing in a corner whispering about something. She asked curiously, "Aren't you off work?"

Liu Nian turned to look at Qing Ye, hesitated for a moment, then exchanged a few more words with Du Qiyan. The two approached Qing Ye, and Liu Nian spoke up: "We're planning to confront Yan Yan's ex-boyfriend to get money back. Not sure if we'll succeed."

Qing Ye put down her bag, poured a glass of water, and glanced at them. "What money?" she asked. Only then did she learn that when Du Qiyan was with that "widower" (her ex), he had taken quite a bit of money from her under various pretexts. According to Du Qiyan, during their less-than-a-year relationship, the guy had gradually taken over ten thousand yuan from her. Now Du Qiyan's mother was in poor health and needed money urgently for medical treatment, so she wanted to get the money back from him.

After hearing them out, Qing Ye suddenly remembered how devastated Du Qiyan had been after the breakup. No wonder she cried so hard - damn, with her meager monthly salary, she'd actually given that scumbag over ten thousand. True love really knows no bounds.

Qing Ye casually asked, "Do you have an IOU?"

"No."

"Any WeChat transfer records or chat history?"

"No."

"..."

Qing Ye put down her water glass and looked at them. "Good luck to you."

Then the two headed out into the night.

Qing Ye ate a few bites of food and took out her test papers to study. About an hour later, she suddenly received a call from Liu Nian, who was panting heavily: "I got beaten up."

"..."