Yi Tianyu's basketball had been confiscated by his dad, and with classes officially starting on September 1st, morning self-study began at seven. Even though his family had moved closer to school, he still had to get up at six-thirty.
His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles underneath.
Having played video games until dawn and barely slept before having to get up, he barely made it into the classroom as the bell rang.
"Damn, how long has this nun been standing here?" He glanced up at Yin Fang blocking the doorway, his face twisting into an exasperated expression.
The boy sitting in front turned around. "She's been waiting there since six-fifty!"
Yi Tianyu's mouth fell open slightly as he muttered under his breath, "What kind of psycho is this?"
His gaze shifted to the girl beside him. Her face was full of determination, her back straight as she stared intently at the English textbook in front of her. The vocabulary page was densely covered with notes—upon closer inspection, all related phrases.
Following the textbook upward, his eyes landed on the schedule pasted in the top right corner.
Yi Tianyu nudged her arm with a deadpan expression. Xue Jiao frowned and turned her gaze toward him.
"Hey, bookworm, you remind me of a song."
"?"
"The sun is shining, the flowers are smiling at me, the little bird says, 'Early, early, why are you carrying your little backpack?'..."
"?"
Yi Tianyu tapped the schedule with his finger. "You really are like a primary school kid..."
"..."
——
This time, without the pressure of survival, Xue Jiao strictly followed the three-step process of previewing, studying, and reviewing. Since she had already absorbed much of the material beforehand, she didn’t find it difficult, so she focused more on deepening her understanding.
No. 7 High School lived up to its reputation—the teaching quality was truly outstanding. Take Yin Fang, for example. Even though the class called her "the Nun," her pronunciation was impeccable, and her lessons were engaging. So even though Xue Jiao was relearning the material, she paid just as much attention as if it were her first time.
Despite having gone through it once before, Xue Jiao still felt she was far from where she wanted to be.
This gave her a sense of urgency. Fortunately, it was only the second year of high school—there was still time to work harder.
"Cousin!" Cheng Mingjiao walked over with a smile and sat down in the seat in front of Xue Jiao.
Xue Jiao closed her eyes slightly, irritation creasing her brow.
The girl in front of her was all smiles, her hair styled into pretty braids, a hint of lip gloss on her lips, and her eyebrows meticulously shaped.
She looked cute—a little beauty—but the ill intent in her eyes made Xue Jiao feel nothing but dislike.
"Cousin, if there's anything you don’t understand, just ask me! Uncle told me to take good care of you!" Here we go again—she’d said this multiple times already.
"I don’t need it."
"Cousin, are you still mad at me?" Cheng Mingjiao instantly put on a pitiful expression, gazing at her with wide eyes.
Xue Jiao wasn’t moved, but someone else was.
"Mingjiao, she’s your cousin?"
"Yeah! Her mom married my uncle a few years ago, so she’s part of the Cheng family now! Don’t bully her—bullying her means bullying me!" Cheng Mingjiao explained, then covered her mouth as if she’d said something wrong, looking at Xue Jiao with an apologetic expression.
Xue Jiao took a deep breath.
"Ah, so that means..." Someone started but quickly stopped.
"Are you done?" Xue Jiao’s face turned cold.
"What’s with the attitude? Mingjiao’s being nice to you, and this is how you treat her?""Exactly, isn't she just relying on her looks? What's with the aloof act?" Those close to Cheng Mingjiao quickly chimed in to support her.
Cheng Mingjiao's smile stiffened for a moment before she put on a pitiful expression. "Cousin, my dad reminded us before leaving today to get along. There's no need to stay angry over such trivial matters. Look, Grandpa even got you into the advanced class, didn't he?"
Taken separately, her words seemed harmless, but strung together, they implied Xue Jiao had been upset about not being in the advanced class initially.
"Seriously? Even if she got in, won't she just get kicked out after one semester? What's the point?" A bystander rolled their eyes.
The pride of the top students made them view underperformers in the advanced class as deadweight dragging everyone down. Neither teachers nor students had any patience for such students.
Hearing this, some grew indignant.
The old Gu Xue Jiao might have flared up in anger, stormed out, and sworn never to return to the advanced class again.
That was likely what Cheng Mingjiao was counting on—they all assumed she still had the same temper.
But Xue Jiao wasn't the same.
Her abilities allowed her to sit here without a shred of guilt.
"Are you done? If so, please leave. I need to study," Xue Jiao said, looking at Cheng Mingjiao.
The latter froze momentarily, her eyes flashing with humiliated anger. "Cousin! Let me tutor you. Otherwise, if you get kicked out by the end of the semester—"
"Even if someone gets kicked out, it won't be me," Xue Jiao replied, meeting her gaze.
"Come on, Gu Xue Jiao, who are you trying to fool? Others might not know, but I do. With your math score of nine points, you think you can stay in the advanced class?" This was Yu Fangfang, who had been in the same class as Xue Jiao in their first year and had quickly befriended Cheng Mingjiao at the start of the term. Though Xue Jiao had no idea what the old Gu Xue Jiao had ever done to offend her.
"Nine points? Even random guessing would score higher, hahaha!" Someone laughed.
Xue Jiao remained calm. "Just because I performed poorly before doesn't mean I always will. On the contrary, I believe if I work hard, I can at least outperform those who spend their time stirring up trouble."
"Who's stirring up trouble?!" Cheng Mingjiao could no longer keep up her act.
"Whoever responds."
"Gu Xue Jiao, you actually think you can surpass Mingjiao?! That's hilarious!" Yu Fangfang sneered.
"Time will tell," Xue Jiao said lightly, raising her eyes slightly.
Her face was strikingly beautiful. Today, she had simply tied her hair into a ponytail and wore her school uniform. Even in such plain attire, she effortlessly drew all eyes toward her.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at her face, jealousy raging inside her, but she forced it down. "Well then, cousin, do your best. I'll be waiting for you to surpass me! And if you don't... I'll have to punish you."
She said it with a smile, as if joking, but her eyes gleamed with calculation.
"Fine. If I do surpass you, will you accept punishment too, cousin?"
"Of course!" Cheng Mingjiao didn't believe for a second she could lose.
"Then let's compare final exam results."
Cheng Mingjiao stood up, eyes bright. "The loser has to grant the winner one request!"
Xue Jiao also rose, replying calmly, "Deal."
Within a day, not just Class One but even Class Two had heard about Gu Xue Jiao—infamous for her nine-point math record—brazenly challenging Cheng Mingjiao, ranked in the top twenty of their grade, and the bet they had made.
Class Two."Shiyun, isn't it ridiculous? Someone like Gu Xue Jiao actually dares to challenge Cheng Mingjiao?" Gu Shiyun ate her meal slowly while absentmindedly listening to the person across from her.
"Exactly! Although Mingjiao can't compare to Shiyun, she still got into the experimental class on her own merit. But Xue Jiao's grades... tsk tsk."
"I don't like Mingjiao. She's inferior to our Shiyun in every way yet keeps trying to compete with her. Shiyun is top three in the grade while she barely makes top twenty!"
"I don't like her either, but I dislike Xue Jiao even more. Just looking at her, you can tell she's not the studying type. Remember how she used to be? My god, like a ghost!"
"Hahaha—"
Gu Shiyun set down her chopsticks and said softly, "Let's not gossip about others. What they do has nothing to do with us. We should return to the classroom early to do our homework."
Her voice was gentle, and with her good looks, she naturally carried an aura.
As expected, her words made the nearby boys admire her even more. Even her close girlfriends said, "Shiyun, you're just too kind. Fine, we'll stop talking as you say. Let's go!"
Shiyun smiled gently, as if she hadn't heard anything at lunch.
But once she entered the restroom and closed the door, her expression darkened completely.
Is Cheng Mingjiao an idiot?
If she dislikes Xue Jiao so much, couldn't she use a smarter tactic?!
A bet? Isn't that just motivating Xue Jiao to study harder?!
Even if Shiyun didn't believe Xue Jiao could achieve anything academically, she didn't want to see her improve at all.
Xue Jiao should only get worse, without a single redeeming quality, until everyone is ashamed to even mention her!
She exhaled, took out a spare phone, and made a call.
"Hello, Dad, I miss you. Tomorrow's Friday, can you pick me up..."
——
"Hey, are you stupid?" Yi Tianyu nudged the girl studying diligently beside him.
"What?" Xue Jiao frowned, looking confused.
"The bet! Why are you getting involved in something so childish? Do you know what people are saying about you now?"
"I know. It's none of your concern." Xue Jiao turned back to her studies.
Yi Tianyu widened his eyes and nudged her again. "Wait, can you even compete with Mingjiao? And you really don't care what others say? They're being really harsh!"
Xue Jiao closed her eyes, exhaled, then turned to glare at him. "If a dog bites you, do you bite it back?"
"What?" Yi Tianyu froze, staring at her dumbfounded.
Xue Jiao smiled. "Just like how you keep nudging me for no reason—have you ever seen me nudge you back?"
There was a moment of silence, followed by an outburst—
"Gu Xue Jiao! You just called me a dog!"
"You said it, not me."
"..."
——
The second year of high school wasn't the most intense period yet, so although Seventh High maintained a rigorous academic schedule, they strictly followed national standards for holidays.
Every Friday after three classes, day students could go home with backpacks stuffed full of enough homework to last the entire break.
Xue Jiao slowly packed her things. She usually packed quickly on Fridays, but today she was unusually slow.
Because of Gu Jingxu's call last night, the driver wouldn't be picking her up today—he'd come later to fetch Cheng Mingze after his tutoring.Yes, last night Gu Jingxu called Li Sitong and said he would pick her up for dinner today.
Li Sitong thought she was still clinging to Gu Jingxu as before, yearning for paternal love, so she reluctantly agreed.
"Hey, bookworm, lend me your homework to copy this weekend, will you?" Yi Tianyu blinked his eyes.
Xue Jiao slung her backpack over her shoulder, turned her head, and blinked back—
"Dream on!"
With that, she walked away, leaving Yi Tianyu standing there in a daze, his hand pressed to his chest.
"Fine, don’t lend it then… Why’d you have to blink like that? Made my heart race for no reason!"
——
Xue Jiao walked slowly toward the school gate, headphones in her ears. Apart from the third-year students still in class, the first and second-year students had already bolted out of school, while those staying behind had returned to their dorms.
When she reached the gate, she spotted the familiar Audi A8L.
"Jiao Jiao!" A middle-aged, intellectual-looking woman waved at her, smiling brightly.
Xue Jiao couldn’t understand why Gu Xue Jiao had ever felt maternal love from this woman. Just because she wasn’t strict and indulged her?
But her indulgence was only possible because Xue Jiao wasn’t her daughter. That indulgence was harmful—otherwise, why was she so strict with her own biological daughter?
Even without knowing what would happen later, Xue Jiao couldn’t bring herself to like either of these two people.
One was a man who cheated on his wife while she was pregnant and divorced her as soon as her father—her only support—passed away.
The other was a mistress who spent ten years as the other woman and then ruined the original wife’s daughter with excessive pampering.
Her expression gave nothing away as she slowly approached them. Then she noticed Gu Shiyun sitting in the car, smiling gently—the female lead of this story.
Gu Shiyun certainly had the makings of a female lead.
"Why aren’t you greeting anyone, silly girl? Auntie Wanjun even brought you gifts!" Gu Jingxu laughed, reaching out to pat her head, but Xue Jiao dodged his hand, causing his smile to freeze.
"Oh? What gifts?" Xue Jiao raised an eyebrow, her smile faintly mocking.
Wu Wanjun quickly pulled out two boxes from her bag. Xue Jiao opened the first one—a gaudy, overly flashy necklace. If she wore this out in public, tsk tsk.
She closed the box and opened the second one.
When she saw what was inside, she almost laughed in anger.
Author’s Note:
Yi Tianyu: My deskmate is such a bookworm O_O
Xue Jiao: My deskmate… might just be an idiot O_O.
OpenNovel