Chapter 21 (Part 1)
Mingxi had both her hands in her pockets when she entered the class. Suddenly, someone called out to her.
"Mingxi."
Zhao Yuan was walking over to Mingxi with a pile of freshly photocopied information in her arms, her red-rimmed eyes filled with worry.
Mingxi turned. When she saw that it was her, she didn't even bother to greet her. Instead, she turned and walked straight into class.
She didn't want the luck that she worked so hard for to disperse due to Zhao Yuan's protective halo of being a main character!
"Wait. I want to talk to you." Zhao Yuan jogged up to her and blocked her path.
Mingxi took a glimpse at her flower pot. When Zhao Yuan got close to her, the tiny buds in her flower pot shivered and swayed. Some even stopped growing completely.
So how could Mingxi be in a good mood? She immediately furrowed her brows. "I have nothing to say to you."
A few people in the corridor looked over.
They watched as Zhao Yuan bit her lips in apparent fear of Mingxi. She mustered up her courage and said, "I just- just wanted to apologize on behalf of E Xiaoxia…"
A beauty with a kind heart.
Such a term appeared in the minds of all the boys in the corridor.
This incident clearly had nothing to do with Zhao Yuan. E Xiaoxia had even wanted to drag her through the mire. Nonetheless, she cared more about Zhao Mingxi's feelings and came to apologize first.
However, Mingxi was not listening to whatever Zhao Yuan was saying.
Zhao Yuan wasn't wearing her school uniform. Her bottom half was covered by a trendy dark blue colored sailor skirt, short white socks and a pair of coffee brown leather shoes.
Her long hair was tied up into a neat ponytail, and at the left side of the top of her head rested a blue checkered bow.
She appeared tidy, generous, frail and fragile.
All in all, she could be summed up in numerous glorifying terms.
On the other hand, Mingxi had a lean figure and she was almost half a head taller than Zhao Yuan. She lowered her gaze slightly. The blue checkered bow caught her attention.
Mingxi stared at that bow firmly. It was hard not to recall what happened previously.
When she first arrived at the Zhao family home two years ago, she brought a luggage bag with her. That luggage bag which was made out of rattan was personally woven by her grandmother. When she was brought in by Zhao Zhanhuai, aside from Zhao Mo, everyone else was rather friendly. Thus, it ignited a spark of hope in her heart as she looked forward to her new life.
Her mother pulled her by her hand and told her to take a shower and get changed first.
However, by the time she came out, she realized that the old clothes that she brought over and the luggage made by her grandmother had all been thrown out of the villa into the trash— Her mother said that she had suffered a lot and that she was going to buy her new ones.
Mingxi retorted softly that these were the items her grandmother had left for her.
Her mother wasn't too happy with this reply. She said, "You have to get used to your new surroundings."
The 15-year-old Mingxi back then felt conflicted. She really wanted to take back what her grandmother gave her, but she was afraid that it would make her appear unreasonable and troublesome, causing a bad atmosphere in the family.
Thus, she could only eat half-heartedly. She barely ate anything that day. Her plan was to wait until her mother had gone upstairs before she would head outside to take back her things.
However, what she didn't expect was for when the sky had turned dark and she went out to find it, the garbage truck had already taken the items away.
Mingxi felt extremely sad for a few days after that. It was only then that she realized that her surroundings were not somewhere she could easily blend in just because she wore the same set of clothes and small leather shoes as Zhao Yuan.
At the small Northern town which she lived in for the past 15 years, the norm was for the trash to be taken out the next morning among the noise and reminders of her neighbors. They would always help each other out when it came to taking out the trash. But here, the nanny will take out the trash whenever she likes.
She would have to put in more effort in order to blend in.
Upon realizing this point, Mingxi worked even harder, just as she did for the past 15 years when it came to her studies.
She started by observing the mannerisms of the Zhao family. She would even take note of small details like how many times they would wash their mouths after dinner. Then, she would do the same. All this was done just so she won't stand out from them. She wanted to compromise to their liking.
That day, after they went and bought a bunch of shoes and clothes, when Zhao Zhanhuai took Mingxi to deal with her transfer application to the first school, Mingxi noticed that a lot of girls were looking at her.
Mingxi realized that she was very different from them— Although they were wearing the same clothes bought from the same shop, these girls knew how to dress themselves up.
They would tie knots with their t-shirts and spend time to cut out patterns on their pleated skirts.
Their hairstyles were not like hers either as she left her long black hair flowing beyond her shoulders without any accessories. In contrast, most of them had bright colored accessories on their hair, making them vibrant and lively. With one glance, it was easy to tell that they were the pinnacle of fashion trends.
The way they stared at Mingxi made her feel so inferior that her face burned pink. She wanted nothing but to hide away from them.
Once again, she realized that this had nothing to do with the differences between their clothes or hairstyles. Instead, it was the difference between people who have been reading fashion magazines since a young age and someone who had to study in the summer without an air-conditioner and in the winter without any warmth.
If she wanted to blend in, she would have to try even harder and put in more effort.
After their return, Mingxi used her new phone and computer to learn about these things and also observed how Zhao Yuan did all these— Zhao Yuan was the best and prettiest example around her.
Mingxi took out some of her money and planned to start from buying some hair accessories.
As this was the first for her to buy such things, she was confused. She didn't know which types to buy. Then, she recalled the butterfly knot on top of Zhao Yuan's head and figured that she couldn't go wrong by buying those, so she bought two.
When she got home that day, she was overjoyed. She wanted to show the items she got to her mother so that she could know if her way of perceiving beauty had improved.
However, when she passed by Zhao Mo's room, she heard him speaking to someone.
Zhao Mo mocked her by saying, "That new kid is such a copier. She wants everything Yuanyuan has. You, go and console Yuanyuan."
Mingxi did not know who was on the other side of the conversation, but it had to be either Zhao Zhanhuai, her mother, or Zhao Yuning.
That day, Mingxi hurriedly retreated into her room and threw the accessories into the lowest drawer.
Her tears started to roll down uncontrollably.
For the past two years, Mingxi had undergone a quick growth, but it was mainly because she was forced to change at the fastest speed.
She could finally puff out her chest and blend in to her surroundings. She looked exactly like someone who had grown up in such circumstances.
She was calm and able to handle any situation with ease.
She also knew how to display her beauty.
Whenever someone looked at her, she would show herself off generously.
The 17-year-old Mingxi now was filled with confidence. She did not care about how others perceived her. Even when it came to her school uniform or how she always carried an old bag, she was unbothered.
When she recalled her 15-year-old self, she naturally felt that the person she was at that time was far too self-abased and cared too much about what others thought of her to the point that she was honed for it.
However, Mingxi did not want to doubt herself.
After all, that careful and sensitive girl who had just arrived from a small Northern town was also her.
From a certain perspective, Mingxi felt as if her role of a villainess in the original novel was justified.
Looking from Zhao Yuan's perspective, her arrival attracted the attention of the whole family. She copied her taste in accessories and even made dishes carefully in order to suck up to her family. She wanted to take away all the love and care of the family away from Zhao Yuan.
However, that was the past 15-year-old Zhao Mingxi who craved love and attention.
The current Zhao Mingxi cared not for love. She only wanted to get into college and live a good life.
When her attention finally returned to Zhao Yuan, she heard Zhao Yuan say, "…I think I am partly to blame for this as well. I didn't notice in time that the misunderstanding between the both of you had gotten so bad already."
Mingxi took a glance at the people in the corridor. She estimated that there were around 10 to 20 people there. They were all listening to Zhao Yuan's apology to her, as if she was the unreasonable one.
"What has this got to do with you? Since this incident was her fault, why are you apologizing to me in front of so many people? Is it to show how kind of a beauty you are?"
Mingxi couldn't help but to continue, "If it is so, do you have to apologize if China and America go to war with each other? Just because you didn't notice that their misunderstandings had gotten so bad?"
Zhao Yuan as well as the people around them were dumbfounded.
Mingxi said, "I've only heard of the injurer apologizing to the injured. Never have I heard of an unrelated third party apologizing to the injured. Isn't this just an act of involving oneself in unnecessary drama? Unless you admit that you were the one who encouraged her to do it."
Zhao Yuan burst into tears immediately. She hurriedly replied, "Mingxi, don't misunderstand me. She triggered my allergy, so how could I team up with her to do such a thing? You are my family while she is my friend…"
"Oh." Mingxi expressionlessly replied, "She hurt you and bullied me, yet you still apologized to me while knowing all this. You sure are magnanimous— Then next time if you someone is murdered, will you take up a loudspeaker and apologize on behalf of the murderer as well?"
The people in the corridor were also gradually figuring out the odd part of her apology.
She's right. The fact that Zhao Yuan told everyone about how E Xiaoxia triggered her allergy would mean that their friendship is over. So why was she apologizing on behalf of E Xiaoxia? She even made herself look pitiful in front of so many people.
At first glance, they would feel that she was very kind to the point that she could be called Mother Theresa. However, after a nearer observation, for some reason they felt like she was a fake b*tch.
Zhao Yuan did not think that things would end up like this. Zhao Mingxi didn't seem like the past Zhao Mingxi anymore. The current Zhao Mingxi would no longer puff up in anger and remain speechless. Instead, she could easily use a few words to make people lean in favor of her.
The way she spoke was interesting and charming.
Previously, as Zhao Mingxi always had a mask on, there weren't many around who would help her. But now that she had taken off her mask, her beauty was enough to make even those who were strict about justice to slack off for her— Just like how they were with Zhao Yuan previously.
"How could you compare such a small matter to murders and wars between two countries?" Zhao Yuan hastily replied. She could feel the changes in the gazes of the people around them.
But before she could finish, she was cut off by Mingxi once more, "Oh, so now it's a small matter? When you came to me with red-rimmed eyes in front of so many people, I thought something huge had happened, like maybe the sky had fallen or something."
The people around them snorted in laughter.
Zhao Yuan: "…"
E Xiaoxia: "…"
She was listening from afar, but she didn't know why she was feeling a little satisfied with this outcome.
Didn't she hate Zhao Mingxi?!
However, after the incident this morning, E Xiaoxia felt that as compared to Zhao Mingxi, she seemed to dislike Zhao Yuan more. She didn't like how everyone would automatically offer to protect her even without her doing or saying anything.
Zhao Yuan did not dare to continue the topic of their conversation. She was afraid that if she did, the people around them would look at her differently.
She hastily offered the information in her arms to Zhao Mingxi. "Aren't you preparing for the Hundred School Tournament? I drew out the important areas for it. I hope it'll be of some help to you."
She thought that Zhao Mingxi would not refuse this. The moment she accepted it, she would still be a gracious and magnanimous person because she had helped her.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Mingxi didn't even take her hands out of her pockets. "No thank you. I already have them."
Yesterday when she left the library, the librarian gave her a sheet of paper with the important areas marked. She only needed to verify it for a short moment to know that it was from Shen Liyao. Mingxi couldn't think of any reason for her not to accept it. After all, she did not bear some deep grudge against Shen Liyao, and vice versa. As Shen Liyao was from the school representative team and had always been in the Gold Medal Class, the important areas that he had pointed out were guaranteed to be far more accurate than Zhao Yuan's.
Zhao Yuan was certain that Mingxi did not plan to take the Hundred School Tournament seriously. She probably said it casually to their eldest brother just so she could show how hardworking she was in her studies.
As Zhao Yuan did not want to stay here any longer, she asked a final question in a concerned tone, "When are you coming back home?"
"I'm not going back."
Zhao Yuan did not want to admit that she had let out a mental sigh of relief. "Everyone at home is worried about you."
When Mingxi heard this, she looked at her with a gaze full of mockery.
Zhao Yuan felt as if her thoughts had been exposed. She subconsciously looked away.
Then, she heard Zhao Mingxi say, "Don't worry. Whatever you want is whatever I think of as trash. If you want them, I'll just give them to you."
"You—" Zhao Yuan wanted to scold her for speaking of their family like this. However, before she could say anything, she hesitated. She felt as if she was punching cotton. It was pointless no matter how much effort she put in.
Zhao Mingxi used to care a lot about their family, but now she is able to say such words. Does she really not care anymore?
When Zhao Yuan left, she was very close to losing control over her facial expression and frowning.
Chapter 21 (Part 2)
The majority of people in the corridor who heard the conversation were looking at Zhao Yuan with an odd expression. When a girl from the neighboring Gold Medal Class passed Mingxi by, she gave her a thumbs up. "Sister, I like how direct you were with such a fake b*tch."
Mingxi's eyes were clear as she replied to her with a flying kiss.
Nonetheless, there were a few boys who felt as if Zhao Mingxi was being unreasonable.
The guys who came with Li Haiyang just now were all from the Evergreen Class, so they were definitely closer to Zhao Yuan. When they saw what happened before they left, they were all in favor of Zhao Yuan.
One of the boys couldn't help but to speak out, "I've seen something new. Despite her beauty, she sure has a sharp tongue."
Li Haiyang who was beside him wanted to pull him away, but he continued to speak, "Zhao Mingxi, Zhao Yuan is merely showing her concern for you. Can you not retort her so harshly? Those who don't know will think that you might be jealous of her! It's almost her birthday soon, but you have yet to even wish her happy birthday."
The love of the young was indeed shallow. They all cared only for appearances.
Mingxi didn't care about these boys, but she didn't want those who were ignorant of the truth to criticize her like this.
Just as she was about to say something, the windows slammed open with a loud bang. Fu Yangxi appeared with a somber expression. "Jealous of her? Is she jealous that she's not as pretty as Zhao Mingxi or as sweet-smelling as Zhao Mingxi? Let me get this clear. How could Zhao Mingxi be jealous of others when she has me as her desk mate? That guy called Li Jingyu or whatever, what are you looking at—"
Before Fu Yangxi finished, he was about to jump out from the windows. When everyone in the corridor saw this, they ran away. Even those from the Evergreen Class fled downstairs.
Mingxi: "…"
Sweet-smelling?
Mingxi wondered if Fu Yangxi didn't learn his vocabulary properly. He couldn't even differentiate between humans and desserts.
Mingxi returned to class. When she sat down in her seat, she couldn't help but to say to Fu Yangxi, "His name is Li Haiyang."
Ke Chengwen snorted in laughter.
However, Fu Yangxi had yet to pull back the scary expression on his face. He didn't have the mood to care about how Zhao Mingxi actually remembered that guy's name nor did he care about Ke Chengwen.
He stood there and watched as Zhao Mingxi sat down. He swallowed the lump in his throat, as if he was close to losing it yet he managed to control himself again. There was a fire in his stomach that he had nowhere to vent to.
When he saw how Zhao Mingxi had taken out a draft paper and continued to revise, Fu Yangxi dragged his chair and sat down as well. He observed her for a while.
He pulled a long face, but his voice was soft when he asked, "Is everyone in your family like this?"
Mingxi didn't want to talk about it. Although Fu Yangxi had helped her once more, and there seemed to be a sort of friendship between a follower and a boss between them, Mingxi still found it hard to talk about what happened for the past two years. She didn't know where to begin.
She quietly flipped over a page of the Tournament's questions.
Fu Yangxi scratched his head in slight annoyance.
He couldn't help but to turn and glare at Ke Chengwen.
Ke Chengwen: "…"
As Fu Yangxi had no experience whatsoever in consoling people, he could only look at Zhao Mingxi's face, open his mouth, and close it again without saying anything.
Then, he turned to glare at Ke Chengwen once more.
Ke Chengwen: "…"
Ke Chengwen finally understood what he meant. He immediately said to Zhao Mingxi in an impassioned manner, "Transfer student, don't let it get to you! If you are really unhappy about this, we'll all go and give them a beating! Our Xi ge has never made any rule that we cannot hit women, so just hit them however you like! Borrow however many of us you want! If that doesn't work, you can also use money to hit that woman and your family members to death!"
"There is nothing that can't be solved by a fight. If you feel that it isn't enough, you can even go for it twice! Use money and piapiapia!"
Fu Yangxi scoffed and said, "That was Ke Chengwen's suggestion, not mine. But since you call me Xi ge, I guess I have to protect you no matter how unwilling I am. Just tell me, what do you wanna do?"
Mingxi actually didn't care about what Zhao Yuan said, but when she saw how Fu Yangxi and Ke Chengwen tried to console her in such a silly manner, she smiled.
The pen in her hand did not stop moving. While she was copying the formula for the important areas, she said jokingly, "You might as well save the money you're planning to use to hit her and buy me an airplane instead."
When she finished, she didn't hear a reply from Fu Yangxi. She instantly looked over and saw how Fu Yangxi seemed to be seriously contemplating this joke of a suggestion.
Mingxi: ?
Do all the young wealthy children of this generation treat their unimportant underlings so magnanimously?
Previously, he would shoo her away and ban her from being his desk mate, but now he was treating her so well. Mingxi was absolutely baffled.
Mingxi was afraid that he would really carry out her wish. She hastily said, "No, stop thinking about it. What am I going to do with an airplane? I don't even know how to maneuver it nor am I of age yet!"
"Not of age yet?" The topic reminded Fu Yangxi of something, "They were talking about Zhao Yuan's* birthday just now. So when is your birthday?"
ray's note: once again, he used 圆 (yuan) which means 'circle' instead of Zhao Yuan's 媛 (yuan)
"…" This was another question that Mingxi did not want to answer.
Her date of birth was around 10 days after Zhao Yuan's. There was an accident at the hospital's incubation room back then. But after the Zhao family found her two years ago, aside from changing her address, they changed her date of birth as well so that it was on the same day as Zhao Yuan's.
They had to do this to avoid the awkward situation of being unable to explain why she and Zhao Yuan were sisters yet their birthdays were on different dates of the same year.
The birthday on her Identity Card did not belong to her. She did not want to celebrate her birthday either.
Mingxi mumbled, "October 24th. Why do you ask?"
Fu Yangxi tried his best to pretend that he was nonchalant about it. "If you don't want to celebrate your birthday at home, you can come out—"
But before he could finish, Mingxi said, "I already have plans on that day. I have to go back to my old home."
Fu Yangxi did not know where Zhao Mingxi's old home was. He widened his eyes and asked subconsciously, "Where is your old home?"
"A small town in the North."
Fu Yangxi stared at her for two seconds. He was unhappy with how casual she was with her answer. However, he figured that maybe she was in a bad mood, hence he didn't say anything and thought to ask her about it later.
Ke Chengwen cut in from aside, "Transfer student, although we can't celebrate your birthday, you can still come and celebrate Xi ge's birthday. Xi ge, isn't your birthday coming soon? Just about half a month left—"
"Shut up! Why are you revealing my birthday so casually?!" Fu Yangxi was instantly angered. He stood up and covered Ke Chengwen's mouth. "What if I end up with a huge mountain of gifts? That's so annoying!"
However, he subconsciously looked over to see Zhao Mingxi's reaction.
"November 5th!" Ke Chengwen still managed to yell out.
"November 5th." As Mingxi was busy thinking about how she had to go back to pay her respects to her grandmother on October 24th, she repeated absent-mindedly, "I'll remember it."
She'll remember it!
The tips of Fu Yangxi's ears went red. He released Ke Chengwen's neck and mumbled, "Annoying. Don't you send me any gifts!"
Meanwhile, Shen Liyao was in the middle of training. After today's class, a few of them went to the nearby bubble tea shop to get some bubble tea.
Kong Jiaze had just finished attending her ballet class nearby. When she caught wind of A High's representative team current location, she brought her clothes with her and ran there excitedly.
The moment she entered, even the server in the bubble tea shop widened his eyes. The ballet outfit underneath the khaki windbreaker perfectly accentuated Kong Jiaze's body.
"How was your training?" When Kong Jiaze saw how Shen Liyao was looking at his phone with furrowed brows, she felt a little awkward, hence she could only greet Ye Bai who was beside him.
In the end, Ye Bai was looking at his phone with a shocked expression as well.
It was as if they didn't come back to their senses at all. They completely took no notice of her.
The same went for the other boys from A High's representative team.
"What are you guys looking at?" Kong Jiaze said with a slight tone of dissatisfaction before she tugged on her windbreaker and walked toward them.
"She's so pretty—" Ye Bai turned to look at Shen Liyao in shock. "God Yao, have you known this since the beginning?"
Shen Liyao merely furrowed his brows. There was no shock in his face. It was clear that he knew from the start.
Ye Bai regretted calling Zhao Mingxi a little follower back then. If he knew that she was this pretty, he would have pursued her. After all, she had a pretty good personality too.
"What pretty?" Kong Jiaze thought that he was talking about her. So, she subconsciously lowered her head, pulled on her dress and smiled.
However, it was only then that Ye Bai noticed her. He raised his head and saw how she was in her ballet outfit. "What? Were you having class nearby?"
But before Kong Jiaze could reply, Ye Bai focused his attention on his phone again.
Kong Jiaze: "…"
What in the world are these people looking at?!
Kong Jiaze took out her phone and opened the page they were looking at – A High's forum. In the end, she saw how Zhao Mingxi whom both she and E Xiaoxia had voted to second place was now already in first place with more than 3,500 votes.
Kong Jiaze was confused as she looked at the girl in the new picture. It was obviously taken this morning.
If someone were to say that this was a fan taken picture of a celebrity, she would have believed them.
Kong Jiaze was quick on her feet. She instantly understood the situation— No wonder Zhao Mingxi had the courage to go after Shen Liyao. It was because she was this pretty.
Looks like she just shot herself in the foot.
Kong Jiaze pulled a long face. She stared at this group of boys for a while. She tried her best to speak in a soft, casual and teasing tone, "I have some information about the incoming Hundred School Tournament, are you guys interested? If you only care about pretty girls, I'll be leaving then."
Only then did she manage to attract the attention of the guys. Some of them raised their heads and asked, "What information?"
"Inside information. I'll tell you guys for the sake of God Yao." Kong Jiaze purposely kept them guessing. She took a glimpse at Shen Liyao, but Shen Liyao still wasn't looking at her.
"Just tell us." Ye Bai also looked up from his phone. "What insider information? It can't be that the Tournament has been cancelled, right?"
Everyone knew that Kong Jiaze had a relative working in the Department of Education. Thus, there was a high chance that her insider information was true.
Kong Jiaze stared at Shen Liyao. Still he hadn't made any response. She could only bite her bottom lip and say, "It is something related to your school. I heard that Professor Gao from your school— aka the ex-homeroom teacher of the Gold Medal Class went to register another student for the Tournament. Could it be that he had his eyes on someone from your school and decided to give them another chance? By the way, remember that this is insider information. It's not very reliable so don't tell anyone else."
"How is that possible?" Ye Bai exclaimed. "How can it be that we have not heard even a peep of such a huge matter?"
One guy said, "What exactly is the background of this Professor Gao? I only know that he is really good at teaching and setting questions, and that his name always appears in the National Journal. Aside from the fact that our dean and headmaster would always bow to him in respect, why do various competition organizers recognize him as well?"
Kong Jiaze rolled her eyes at that guy as she despised that guy's ignorance. She said, "The famous national trainer of the country retires after decades of service. What do you think?"
As Ye Bai was quite familiar with Professor Gao, he added, "But that is impossible. Professor Gao never accepts gifts nor does he have any relatives in our school. So what's the point in him registering for another student from our school?"
"Beats me." Kong Jiaze pulled a chair over to her and sat down beside Shen Liyao. She said, "Just remember not to tell anyone about this."
After Kong Jiaze shared this information, a bunch of guys from the school representative team shifted their attention to her.
A guy who had a crush on her saw how she kept on glancing at Shen Liyao. Seeing as how Shen Liyao was still looking at the picture on his phone, her mood turned sour and it was reflected in her expression. That guy could easily read her thoughts.
Thus, he tried to ingratiate himself with her, "I think outer appearances are less important than wits. No matter how beautiful she is, she will never be able to qualify for the Hundred School Tournament."
Kong Jiaze felt better upon hearing this. She gave that guy a smile.
It was rather surprising to her that her appearance was truly inferior to that of Zhao Mingxi's.
But what was the point in just being pretty? In terms of results, intelligence and being an all-rounder, it was obvious that she was the better option.
For example, she was able to participate in this year's Tournament, yet Zhao Mingxi would not be able to do so no matter how hard she tries.
"Are you guys done with your drinks? If you're done, then stop talking and head back to school."
Shen Liyao tucked his phone away before standing up with a stony expression.
He walked to the counter and raised his head to look at the menu. Then, he ordered a cup of Supreme Strawberry Cheese.
"I almost forgot to order something." Kong Jiaze looked around. When she saw how everyone save for herself had ordered a drink, she thought that he was ordering the drink for her. She walked over and said in surprise, "Thanks."
Shen Liyao gave her a glance. "It's not for you. Order your own drink."
Kong Jiaze: "…"
Kong Jiaze looked back awkwardly. Thank goodness, the guys were all discussing the information she had shared just now and paid no attention to her.
On the other hand, Ye Bai was able to guess the reason behind Shen Liyao's actions. He stood beside Shen Liyao and whispered, "Has it been almost half a month since Zhao Mingxi last came to find us?"
Not only did she stop meeting them, she didn't even text or call them.
Ye Bai didn't know if Shen Liyao had initiated a call with Zhao Mingxi before, but seeing as how Shen Liyao had no choice but to go to the library in order to look for Zhao Mingxi that day, he knew that he had probably called her. However, Zhao Mingxi had changed her number— and she didn't even tell him.
Someone who used to appear in his life frequently had suddenly disappeared.
Setting aside how Shen Liyao felt about this, even Ye Bai himself was unused to it.
Furthermore, was A High that big? They were in the same school, studying in the same building, eating in the same cafeteria, and their classes were right next to each other, yet they had not seen her at all.
They didn't know if Zhao Mingxi was purposely ignoring Shen Liyao or… Then again, how could there be so many coincidences? Back then, it was always Zhao Mingxi who treated Shen Liyao well.
Shen Liyao had a cold expression on his face. He remained silent.
Ye Bai watched as the server handed him the Supreme Strawberry Cheese drink. He spoke to him softly with the intention of consoling him, "God Yao, don't overthink it. I think she's just playing hard to get. She might be trying to get your attention this way."
"See, hasn't she attracted your attention already? I remember that the drink, Supreme Strawberry Cheese, was Zhao Mingxi's favorite. If you buy this for her, then it means you're admitting defeat first."
Shen Liyao glared at him. Then, he turned to stare at the drink in his hands.
He hesitated for five seconds before tossing it in the trash.
He never lost.
And this time was no exception.
Meanwhile, Zhao Zhanhuai was developing a headache as the date for the birthday banquet was approaching. If he is still unable to coax Mingxi home before their mother's birthday, the truth will out.
Zhao Yuning had failed to meet Zhao Mingxi in school for two consecutive days already. Thus, he could only get two of his friends to help him send the gift that he had specially brought to the ground floor of Zhao Mingxi's dorm.
Before he sent the gift, Zhao Yuning initially planned to write an apology note. But with his terrible vocabulary skills, he was definitely unable to write something good, and if he asked his friends to write it for him, it would be too corny. He had never apologized like this before. Therefore, Zhao Yuning scrunched up the paper and threw it away in annoyance.
He felt as if he had lost two kilos ever since Zhao Mingxi left home.
Although Zhao Yuning felt unsettled, as if he was about to lose something, he was still certain that Zhao Mingxi would return before the birthday banquet— This year was their mother's 50th birthday, it was impossible for her to not return, right?
However on the next day, when he went to wait for Zhao Mingxi at the ground floor of her dorm again, he realized that the gift that he had given the lady in charge of the dorms was in the trash that was filled with dirt, its packaging unopened.
Chapter 22 (Part 1)
Zhao Yuning could not believe his eyes.
Does Zhao Mingxi know how long he spent on picking the gift?!
For a moment there he was so angry that his mind was buzzing. He subconsciously took the gift out of the trash.
The morning dew was moist to begin with, and the bottom of the trash was filled with dirty water.
The moment the gift was taken out, it was dripping with black water. A few drops splashed on Zhao Yuning's pants.
Quite a number of girls who had come downstairs hand-in-hand gave him odd looks as they passed him by. They all unanimously avoided him.
The other two guys who came along with Zhao Yuning scratched their heads. They felt a little awkward as they walked over to pat on his shoulder. "What happened? She didn't even open the package. Could it be that the lady in charge of the dorms didn't actually pass it to your sister?"
Zhao Yuning stared at the Kraft paper at the bottom of the box which was now soaked by the dirty waters in the trash. Even if he picked it up, it was useless. The dirty water would have completely soaked the gift.
He sighed. Finally, he had calmed down a little. He let go, turned and ran toward the reception at the lowest floor of the dorms— Yes, it must be so. It must be that the lady in charge of the dorms had not given it to Zhao Mingxi.
He rushed there, but before he could say anything, the lady by the window raised her head and recognized him. "Oh, it's you. Don't you dare ask me if I have passed the gift to that girl. I gave it to her personally the moment she came back yesterday. I even extended my shift for this!"
Zhao Yuning placed his hands on the windowsill. He was in disbelief. "Then why did it appear in the trash?! It hasn't even been opened yet!"
"She tossed it in herself! She took it from my hands, and without even glancing at it, she turned, walked down the steps and threw it away!"
When the lady finished speaking, she gave Zhao Yuning a suspicious look. "You're not her younger brother, right? She told me to reject everything you give her after this, regardless of what it is."
Zhao Yuning was about to pass out from anger. "How can I not be her younger brother?"
The lady said, "If you are her younger brother, then why would she reject your things?! Get going. Don't loiter around the girls' dorms. Also, I advise you to focus on your studies—"
The lady took a glimpse at the nameplate on Zhao Yuning's chest. "You are only in Year 1, yet you've already learned how to pursue your seniors. How could someone in Year 3 be free enough to entertain you? Allow me, as someone who has experienced this, to tell you one thing – it won't work!"
Zhao Yuning, "…"
Zhao Yuning's heart was filled with so much anger, yet he had nowhere to vent it to.
Aside from the frustration from being embarrassed due to his two friends seeing his gift awkwardly tossed out, there was also a sense of questionable fear and annoyance.
He swung his arms and left.
His two friends hurriedly chased after him. One of them said, "Your elder sister sure has a bad temper. She has left home for quite a while already. I'm actually wondering what has this got to do with you? Just leave it. It's fine if she wants to stay in school. She'll still have to come home during the New Year. Speaking of which, isn't it your mother's birthday soon? She'll have an excuse to come home then."
"You're the one with the bad temper!" Zhao Yuning said in exasperation. "You don't know anything about what's going on in my family, so shut up!"
It was no longer something as simple as her leaving home. Now, Zhao Mingxi wanted to sever all ties with them!
There was never a situation when he would fail to coax Mingxi after giving her gifts and ingratiating him with her.
This was truly the first time.
Another guy consoled him, "I, too, think you shouldn't be so anxious. Your elder sister will be fine after a while. I pick fights with my elder sister frequently too. The most extreme one was when she even bought a ticket and went overseas. But in the end, we're still a family so she stopped being angry after a while."
Zhao Yuning stopped walking. He massaged his temples, "You guys don't get it. The situation in my home is really complicated. She and I… are different from you and your elder sister."
Although there was nothing between him and Zhao Mingxi for many years, a lot of things happened for the past two years.
During Zhao Mingxi's absence for the past few weeks, the images of everything that had happened for the past two years kept on appearing uncontrollably in Zhao Yuning's mind.
His room was the closest to Zhao Mingxi's room. There were a few times when he would fall asleep on the floor in front of the sofa while in the middle of playing games. He realized that Zhao Mingxi who would go to the bathroom in the middle of the night would enter his room, drag a chair, stand on her toes and take a duvet from the top of his closet before draping it on top of him gently.
There were two times when Zhao Yuning woke up suddenly. He would then force Zhao Mingxi to play games with him. Zhao Mingxi would be unwilling, citing that she had to go to school the next day, and he would threaten her with an angry tone, saying that he would teach her. Zhao Mingxi knew that she could not win against him, so she agreed.
The two of them locked the door, put on their earphones, lowered the volume and played through the night with a guilty conscience.
When the words 'Game Over' appeared on the flickering blue screen, the two of them would feel defeated. When they succeeded in beating the level, they would laugh softly and give each other a high five.
Although Zhao Yuning was just 14, he knew that Zhao Mingxi was purposely ingratiating herself with him due to her hope of blending in well with them.
He despised it at first.
But seeing as how there was constantly no one at home as his elder brothers were busy with their careers while Zhao Yuan had to tend to her hobbies, he didn't have anyone else to play with. There was only Zhao Mingxi who had just arrived in this city, hence the both of them spent a lot of time together.
Therefore, as the days went by, Zhao Yuning became used to playing together with Zhao Mingxi.
Furthermore, after he turned 15, he gradually stopped following Zhao Yuan. Instead, the first thing he did when he got home was to search for Zhao Mingxi.
He and Zhao Mingxi even picked up a stray kitten which had been curled up underneath a car at the villa's parking lot during summer last year.
Zhao Yuan was allergic to many things like cat fur and peanuts. Thus, no pets were allowed in their home. They couldn't bring the kitten home, but they were also afraid that if they left the two-month-old kitten here, it would be burned to death by the hot summer weather.
Therefore, the two of them bought a tent, cat food, a feeding bowl, a litter box, etc. and brought the kitten to a cooler area which was at the mountains at the back of their neighborhood.
They took care of it for two months.
After the summer holidays, that kitten grew up. It could run and jump; it was no longer weak and skinny.
Zhao Mingxi was in charge of contacting a family who would want to adopt it. On the first day of school, the two of them secretly sent the cat over.
He recalled it clearly even now. It was a very hot day. The two of them did not dare to ask their driver to drive them, hence they booked a ride. They were waiting under the hot sun.
Back then, Zhao Mingxi's face had yet to be injured. The driver of the ride they got kept on looked at the pale and long legs below her hot pants. Although Zhao Yuning feigned a look of nonchalance, he was actually really nervous. He leaned forward and covertly blocked his view of her.
When the four-month-old cat figured out that it was about to be sent away, it mewled loudly in the car.
After they sent it away, both he and Zhao Mingxi felt empty. The two of them then went to have some Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
This was his and Zhao Mingxi's little secret.
During the period of her absence, Zhao Yuning came to realize that he really had a bad mouth. Sometimes, he would even uncontrollably lean in favor of Zhao Yuan. He always thought that that was the way he and Zhao Mingxi communicated. Since Zhao Mingxi came later, she should be okay with losing out.
But now, Zhao Mingxi decided that it was better for her to leave with honor than to stay in disgrace. She would rather lose everything than to only have one portion.
It was as if she wanted to cut him off completely.
She no longer wanted anything to do with him.
Although Zhao Yuning had a furious expression on his face, he was actually really lost.
What was he supposed to do?
The three of them continued walking to the Year 1 academic building. When his friends saw how miserable he looked, they gave him an idea, "Didn't you say that your elder sister has a crush on Shen Liyao? Why not play the matchmaker? If it works, your elder sister just might make peace with you."
"What the hell. What kind of bad idea is this?" Zhao Yuning felt that this friend of his was especially unreliable.
"I think I'll just ask my eldest brother about this."
Zhao Mo was currently overseas filming for his show. Furthermore, out of all of them, he was the one who despised Zhao Mingxi the most, so it was impossible to talk to him about this. As for their father, he was now on a business trip overseas. He doesn't even know that Zhao Mingxi is staying in school right now. If he finds out, he will definitely go into a fit of rage. So he is also definitely out of the question.
Zhao Yuning could only make a call to Zhao Zhanhuai, urging him to figure out a solution as soon as possible.
Chapter 22 (Part 2)
How could Zhao Zhanhuai not be thinking of a way to deal with this?
After all, he had many things to do in the company, and he had people to meet. Also, Mingxi changed her number so it was impossible for him to contact her, neither did he have the time to wait for her at her dorm like Zhao Yuning did.
Thus, he got their nanny to pack some of Mingxi's winter clothes and included a card with around a few tens of thousands of yuan in it. Then, he asked the driver to fetch the items and their nanny to Mingxi's place.
This time, in order to prevent triggering Mingxi's scorn, he didn't ask the nanny to pass on any message. He was just worried that she would need some clothes as the days were getting colder.
After he was done relaying his request, Zhao Zhanhuai gave it some thought and felt like something was off.
This nanny has been working for them in their home for a long time, and could be considered a loyal worker. Everyone at home respected her, but as she took care of Zhao Yuan her whole life, her relationship with Zhao Mingxi was just so-so.
Zhao Zhanhuai was rarely at home, but whenever he was home, he never saw Mingxi initiate a conversation with this nanny.
If he asked the nanny to send things over, it probably won't lead to the outcome of Zhao Mingxi retracting all the sharp edges she had placed around herself.
Thus, Zhao Zhanhuai asked his own secretary to drop by her place.
If this happened back then, Zhao Zhanhuai may not have had the time to take care of Zhao Mingxi's emotions.
However, she was stubbornly unwilling to come home. So Zhao Zhanhuai would naturally have to spend more of his attention on her.
However, his results were the same as Zhao Yuning's this afternoon.
The items were returned in the same way it was sent.
The nanny, Zhang Yufen, had yet to realize the seriousness of the matter. She took the items and got down the car. While she was in the parking lot, she kept on complaining to Zhao Zhanhuai, "Miss Mingxi is a tough one to serve!"
"I left the items in the car and went to look for her in school. But before I could even catch a glimpse of her, I got kicked out by a boy with red hair. Has she been mingling with the wrong crowd? Why are the students around her so unreasonable?"
"If it was Miss Zhao Yuan, she would have definitely invited me to the dorms and poured me a glass of water."
"Alright, you head back first." Zhao Zhanhuai could no longer control the sour expression he had on his face. He didn't want to hear her nonsense anymore. He spoke to his secretary who had hurriedly rushed back, "Move the items to my car."
The secretary took the items from the nanny's arms and opened the boot to Zhao Zhanhuai's Audi.
Before the nanny could say anything else, she got dragged away by the Zhao family's driver.
After the both of them left, Zhao Zhanhuai looked at the things that were sent back, sealed in the same way it was sent off. He frowned and said, "Forget the fact that she is mad at us, she doesn't even want these things anymore. The weather is unpredictable nowadays. Could this child be any more stubborn?"
"And you," Zhao Zhanhuai turned to look at the secretary beside him. "Didn't I tell you to catch up to them and ask to send the items yourself?"
"Your family's driver drives too fast. I couldn't catch up." The secretary explained. "But there is one thing… I don't know if I should say this."
"What is it?" Zhao Zhanhuai was in an emotional turmoil. He turned and walked towards the elevator. "Speak your mind."
The secretary hurriedly followed after him. He was hesitant.
Zhao Zhanhuai gave him a side eye. "What is it?"
"I'm afraid if I say it, I might be inciting your family matters." the secretary said.
Zhao Zhanhuai raised an eyebrow. "Did you see something?"
"Yes. I don't know why, but what I saw was different from what your nanny described. When I arrived, I saw that Zhao Mingxi did come out to greet her."
The secretary took a peek at Zhao Zhanhuai's expression before continuing, "The two of them were at the lowest floor of the academic building. Your family's nanny pulled a long face and gave her the items in an enigmatic manner. I couldn't hear what she said clearly, but judging by her expression… If it was me I wouldn't want to accept these things."
"I think at some point your nanny said something along the lines of 'ungrateful', only then did Zhao Mingxi get annoyed and turned to leave. After that, she bumped into a few guys who had just returned from the school field. Then the incident of them kicking your nanny out of school happened— Also, do you know the identity of the red-haired guy your nanny was talking about?"
Zhao Zhanhuai stopped walking. He didn't pay attention to what his secretary said after the first sentence.
He was always a gentle person, but at this moment his expression was borderline terrifying. "Li Xiao, are you speaking the truth?"
"I think there were quite a few students who watched the whole thing happen. If you don't believe me, I can get some of them to come and verify it for you."
Zhao Zhanhuai never thought that it would be like this!
As he was always busy with the company, he never had time to deal with the matters at home.
It was always their mother who was in charge.
If it wasn't because Zhao Mingxi had said to sever all ties with them and caused such a ruckus this time, and that he was afraid to let his parents know about it, he would not have gotten himself involved.
However, he didn't expect something like this to happen!
A nanny was a nanny. No matter how long she had worked for their family and they thought of her as a part of their own, she was still a nanny.
Even if Mingxi did something wrong, what right did she have to treat Zhao Mingxi like this?
Furthermore, Zhao Zhanhuai suddenly noticed a problem.
Aside from this incident, has this nanny called Zhang Yufen gone against Mingxi many times and yet no one knew about it?!
Zhao Zhanhuai was angered and frustrated. He took in a deep breath and threw his car keys to Li Xiao. Then, he turned and walked the other way.
Li Xiao quickly caught the car keys. "What are you doing? You still have a meeting to attend later."
"Postpone the meeting. Drive the car. I need to go back and find out exactly what is going on."
Over here, Fu Yangxi was exasperated. He rushed into the class like a powder keg, took off his jacket with a cold expression, picked up the bottle on his table and chugged a few mouthfuls of water.
When the followers in class saw how he rushed in, they were all trembling in fear. They were afraid that if they were to even bump into him he would make them go bankrupt. The follower who was sitting at the passageway hurriedly pushed his table aside, causing the 'Xi ge's Special Area' to widen its horizon even more.
Zhao Mingxi and Ke Chengwen walked in.
The followers looked at Zhao Mingxi with hopeful eyes, hoping she could calm Fu Yangxi down.
When faced with pairs of eyes gleaming with the hope of survival…
Mingxi felt extremely pressured.
She walked over and looked at Fu Yangxi. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Stop being angry. What is there to even be angry about? My nanny has always been like this."
Fu Yangxi was in disbelief. "She squinted at you!"
"So?" Mingxi said. "She has always been cross-eyed."
Fu Yangxi, "…"
Fu Yangxi couldn't take it anymore. "She tossed the things to you!"
Mingxi said, "What else was she to do? Give me a fancy hand shake, twirl around and send it to me while flying?"
Fu Yangxi, "…"
Mingxi added, "Besides, you've already kicked her out. So stop being angry, alright?"
Although Fu Yangxi was still angry, after Mingxi's consolation and advice, his expression softened a little.
He reached out his leg and pulled out a chair before sitting down with his arms crossed. He said, "Don't you have my number? If something like this happens next time, just call me—" Fu Yangxi paused. Then, he coolly added, "Or Ke Chengwen."
Ke Chengwen hurriedly said, "Yes, call me! I am always willing to help pretty girls! Your nanny is way too obnoxious! If something like this happens again just give me a call, I'll help you teach her a lesson!"
"I'll call Ke Chengwen then." Mingxi felt like she shouldn't be troubling Fu Yangxi with such small matters. If those people from the Fu family find out that she got their Young Master to deal with a nanny, who knows if they might sue her for the damage to his mental health.
She turned to look at Ke Chengwen. "I don't have your number. Let me save it now."
Of course Ke Chengwen would immediately take out his phone.
Fu Yangxi clenched his fists. He gave Ke Chengwen a cold glare.
Ke Chengwen pretended as if he didn't see him. He happily exchanged phone numbers with Mingxi.
Mingxi, who had taken off her mask, was so pretty. It was worth it even if he might receive a beating from Fu Yangxi.
Fu Yangxi's expression turned ugly again. He tossed the books around and disturbed them. "Are you guys done exchanging numbers? Class has begun! Can you at least obey the rules?"
As Mingxi wasn't exactly afraid of him right now, she looked up at the clock hanging on top of the blackboard. She was confused. "There's still another five minutes."
Fu Yangxi, "…"
Once Mingxi was done exchanging numbers, she sat down, took out today's desserts from her drawer and gave it to him. "Here you go."
Fu Yangxi wasn't really appeased with this. He gave Zhao Mingxi a chilly look. "You only made one portion today, right?"
Mingxi nodded obediently. "Yep, just one."
Yesterday, she saw that she had a lot of ingredients, so she made three portions and gave the other two to Ke Chengwen and another follower who had helped her two days ago. Fu Yangxi gave her a look which was so full of envy and didn't even pay any attention to her for the whole day. His lack of attention caused her luck to grow at a snail's pace. Thus, Mingxi only made one portion today.
Only then did Fu Yangxi look slightly better. He accepted it, took off the lid and was about to begin eating with a small spoon.
When Ke Chengwen and the other followers behind them smelled the sweet scent of desserts, they swallowed their saliva in jealousy.
Fu Yangxi had two bites before feeling a little dissatisfied. He contemplated for a moment. Suddenly, as if he was struck by some sort of idea, he stood up abruptly with the container.
Mingxi: ?
Then, she watched as he took the desserts and left his seat. While placing a spoonful of hazelnut cream into his mouth, he walked across the passageway, taking slow steps in a circle.
He spoke confidently, "Don't move, everyone. I'm in charge of cleaning duties today, so let me look around to check on our class' cleanliness."
The whole class: Go away!
That smells so f*cking good! We're so hungry!
Mingxi: …
Who was the one who said to obey the rules just now?
Fu Yangxi was satisfied. He walked back with his head held high.
Mingxi scooted over to give him some space, allowing him to get into his seat.
Mingxi looked at the dessert in his hands and asked, "Is it delicious?"
The cream of the desert in Fu Yangxi's hands was about to be licked clean by him. He focused hard on the transparent container, twisting the small spoon in order to scrape off the last bit. He replied, "It's so-so."
Mingxi couldn't help but to smile.
Mingxi used her left hand to support her head as she leaned on the table. For the first time ever, she was focusing on his features.
Although Fu Yangxi has always had that arrogant and odd-looking mop of red hair, one could easily observe from the way it was pressed down in certain places that he lacked sleep or that he didn't sleep at all. If he had slept for a short while, the short wisps of hair around his forehead would curl upwards while there would be signs of his hair being slept on from the back. However, Mingxi noticed that there was no such sign of Fu Yangxi having slept last night— Had he not slept at all yesterday?
But Mingxi didn't know if she had the right to ask about this based on their current relationship.
Just as class was about to start, Mingxi gave it some thought and still could not help but to ask, "Why were you angrier than I was just now when we were downstairs? Could it be that you…"
Before Mingxi could finish her question, Fu Yangxi went stiff with the small spoon in his hand.
As if he had heard a joke that was so out of this world, he let out a huff and said coolly, "Don't think too much about it. I don't know and I didn't! The reason why I was so angry was because you are my follower, and you were bullied right in front of my eyes. Got it?"
Mingxi contemplated his answer. Fu Yangxi seemed to treat Ke Chengwen the same. So long as he had accepted you as his follower, he would stand up for you.
Oh no, I think I'm kind of touched.
After such a long time of hard work, was she finally going to be accepted as his follower?
"Then, since when have you…" Mingxi wanted to ask Fu Yangxi since when did he treat her as his follower. Did their gang not have any rituals to perform before an acceptance? Did she not need to give them her blood to form a pact or something before joining their ranks?
Fu Yangxi's heart was about to beat out of his chest. He hurriedly cut her off, "What do you mean 'when'? I already said no, I haven't li—"
He suddenly stopped.
His body went stiff.
Mingxi asked, "What?"
Fu Yangxi changed the subject awkwardly, "Laundry. I haven't done my laundry."
Mingxi asked again, "What?"
Mingxi wanted to continue asking, but Fu Yangxi used a book to cover his face and pushed her face lightly to the side. His pale neck was flushed red. "Why are you asking such things when class is about to start? Little Mask, you've been talking a lot ever since you took off your mask."
"What in the world is a Little Mask?" While Fu Yangxi was not paying attention to her, Mingxi took the opportunity to look at him in disdain, as if asking 'what exactly is running through your head all day?'.
If she didn't do it now, when this overlord looks over, she will have the courage to do so anymore.
Ke Chengwen who was sitting in the row behind them stretched his head out like a tortoise out of its shell. He whispered, "That's the nickname Xi ge got you. All his followers have a nickname."
Mingxi, "…" What kind of an ugly name is this?
Fine.*
*This was already written in English.
Although it was ugly, she didn't mind it.
"Then what do I call Fu Yangxi? Xi ge?"
Just as Ke Chengwen was about to speak, Fu Yangxi's voice cut in from behind the book, "You can make one for me."
"Make one for you?" Mingxi pointed at her own nose in disbelief.
Was her position ranked so high in this gang?!
Had he taken her as his left guard?!
What was she, that she could make a name for the Boss?!
But since things have come to this, she took a glance at Fu Yangxi's red hair and said casually, "Then I'll call you Red Fu."
Fu Yangxi, "…"
Ke Chengwen, "…"
Chapter 23 (Part 1)
The first thing Zhao Zhanhuai did when he got home was to call his mother to the study room and briefly explain the situation to her.
His mother was skeptical. "Auntie Zhang has been working for us for so many years. She has always been an obedient one. Mingxi has only been in our home for two years, what could she possibly have against her? Was your secretary mistaken?"
When Zhao Zhanhuai recalled how firm Mingxi was when she threw away the photograph, a gush of courage emerged and he said to his mother, "Then let's get everyone to testify their version of events."
Aside from the nanny Auntie Zhang, there was another hourly maid, a chef, a driver and a gardener working in the Zhao family villa.
Zhang Yufen had no idea that the first thing Zhao Zhanhuai did when he got home was to call Madam Zhao to the study room. Then, he ordered everyone aside from herself to go to the study room as well.
She only knew that after these people came out, they all could not help but to look at her.
"What happened?" For some reason, Zhang Yufen felt a sense of foreboding.
Everyone avoided her.
The hourly maid whom she never really had a great relationship with looked at her with an odd gleam in her eyes. She said, "I hope you sought enough blessings for yourself."
As Zhao Mingxi only got here two years ago, the Zhao family's explanation to them was that due to Zhao Mingxi's poor health, she was always living in the countryside. Now that she is 15 years old, they feel like it was about time she came home.
No one thought much of it. After all, they only started to work here a few years ago, so they had no say in the Zhao family's internal affairs.
However, Zhang Yufen was different from them. Zhang Yufen has been in the Zhao family for years. She was a long-time worker. She often flaunted her seniority and advantage of having taken care of Zhao Yuan for many years.
When she saw how the Zhao family had to share half the attention they used to spend on Zhao Yuan on Zhao Mingxi, Zhang Yufen often felt unjust on behalf of Zhao Yuan.
Nonetheless, she never did anything extreme save for the few times she gave her the cold eye and said a few passive aggressive words.
There was one time when Zhao Mingxi wanted to talk about this, but as she could not produce any evidence of Zhang Yufen treating her badly, she could only let it slide.
As for the other workers, they all felt that Zhang Yufen was a senior, hence there was no need for them to go against her. Therefore it was impossible for them to report this to the Zhao family.
Furthermore, none of the members of the Zhao family noticed anything amiss.
Who would've thought that this was what Zhao Zhanhuai purposely came home to ask about?
Zhang Yufen immediately understood what was going on, but she didn't take it to heart. She even said to that hourly maid, "What's the big deal? Even if they know that I don't treat Miss Mingxi well, what will they do? There's no way they would fire me just because of such a small matter, right? At most they would only give me a short lecture."
The hourly maid gave her a dissatisfied look before knocking on the door to the study room and entering.
Although she disliked her, she felt like she made a fair point.
It was just her attitude problem. Zhang Yufen has been working in the Zhao family home for so many years, everyone in the Zhao family respected her, so there was no way that just because of this small matter…
In the end, before she could finish her thought, Zhao Zhanhuai's raised voice could be heard from the study room, "Small matter? How is the matter of you, a nanny, exceeding your limits a small matter?! Did you know that just because of your 'small matters', Mingxi—"
In the study room, Madam Zhao exclaimed, "What happened to Mingxi?!"
"Nothing." Zhao Zhanhuai was frustrated. He did not dare to tell her about the fact that Zhao Mingxi wanted to sever all ties with them. Instead he said, "Because of these things, Mingxi left home."
His mother found this suspicious. "Mingxi has left home many times. Didn't you see her recently and said that she was going to return on my birthday? Why are you suddenly so angry today?"
Zhao Zhanhuai did not know how to explain himself. He could only glare at Zhang Yufen who was trembling in fear. "Fine. Take your salary and leave."
With regards to how he was to convince Mingxi to come home, Zhao Zhanhuai had no idea. If he were to send things over, he would appear insincere. But if he were to fire Zhang Yufen, Mingxi just might come home before the birthday banquet. Then his family's stability can still be saved.
Zhang Yufen's head went into a buzz. She was in disbelief. Her face went pale as her jaw dropped.
Madam Zhao stood up in confusion as well. "Why can't she just apologize to Mingxi? Why must you kick her out? She's already almost fifty years old. Where else can she find work?"
When the people outside heard what was going on in the study room, they all looked at each other in shock.
What happened to Zhao Zhanhuai today? He was usually such a gentle person. Why was he firing people so suddenly?
While things were getting more intense on Zhao Zhanhuai's side…
Mingxi was called out by the International Class' homeroom teacher.
Mingxi initially thought that their teacher was going to scold her for chatting even though it was minutes before class was about to start, but what the teacher was actually concerned about was whether she was struggling with her studies ever since she transferred here from the Normal Class.
Their teacher Mr. Lu said with a smile, "Mingxi, the October monthly exam will be held tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. If you feel like it will be too hard for you, you can excuse yourself from it with the reason being your failure to catch up with our syllabus."
Mingxi was a little confused. Why did their teacher sound as if he didn't want her to take part in this month's exams?
The teacher avoided her gaze. He took a sip of his tea and said in a muffled and sad tone, "Truth is, the average mark of the International Class has always been much lower than the other two classes', and the greater the gap, the more embarrassed I am— So do you want to take part from November onwards? When it comes to transfers, the school will allow a one-time exemption."
Mingxi instantly understood his words.
In A High, these three classes were independent from the Normal Classes. Their learning speed was a few times faster.
Aside from the Gold Medal Class who takes part in the National Competition every year and the Evergreen Class which was ever growing in terms of their results, even the syllabus of the International Class was greatly ahead of Normal Classes'.
It could be said that the 20 over Normal Classes could not be compared to these three classes.
Their exam papers were different as well.
And Mingxi's results were always slightly below average among the Normal Classes.
The only time she got good results was when she accidentally came in 3rd place.
However, even if she had the best results among the Normal Classes, she would still be considered below average in these three classes.
In other words, Mingxi was not qualified for this exam.
Their class already had someone like Fu Yangxi who would obtain great results when he was in a good mood and would simply fill in the blanks when he was in a bad mood. He would constantly make their class' average go up and down like a roller coaster.
If someone from the Normal Class came over, would it not just pull down their average even further?
Although their homeroom teacher was feeling anxious about it, he did not show it.
Mingxi did not know how to tell her teacher that she had been 'debuffed' during her previous exams, and now that she had absorbed Fu Yangxi's luck and obtained 66 tiny buds, these 'debuff' would no longer influence her when it came to the exams.
With her standards, it was impossible for her to be ranked last in the International Class!
She could only pretend not to understand his words. "But teacher, I really want to take this exam. I've already caught up to the syllabus, and I want to see what level I am at right now."
The teacher was a little impatient. "The main point is that our International Class is always in the last place…"
Mingxi cut him off, "What is the total number of students in these three classes? 150, right? What if I can get into the Top 20 for this month's exam? Then there won't be the possibility of me pulling down our average marks, right?"
The teacher looked at her with his jaw dropped. He must be feeling like she was a little too overconfident with her abilities.
Young girls sure like to dream.
What kind of people made up the Top 20? Shen Liyao and his competition team already took 6 spots. As for the rest, they were all from the Gold Medal Class and Evergreen Class. None of them from the International Class has ever made it into the Top 20.
Seeing as how his attempts to persuade Mingxi was futile, their teacher could only let her go.
Nonetheless, he was now even more depressed when he thought about the upcoming monthly exams.
Due to this matter, Mingxi had a heavier load on her shoulders. She had to obtain great results for this monthly exam, or at least to a point where she would not pull down the average scores for their class.
When she returned to class, she spent her whole afternoon break on doing test papers.
Fu Yangxi knew that she took her exams seriously, hence he did not bother her. When afternoon rolled around, he lied and said that his hands slipped so he accidentally got another meal, but it was only for her.
Mingxi finished a paper with lightning speed. After she was done eating, she placed the empty container aside. She didn't even notice that in order to avoid walking out from behind her, Fu Yangxi had jumped out the window to throw away the container.
The whole class watched this scene unfold in shock.
Mingxi continued to do test papers until the next afternoon when Mr. Yang from the Literary Center came to find her during the second period. He asked if she was willing to be the host for the upcoming Annual School Celebration.
"Why me?"
"You probably don't know this, but you're really popular right now." Mr. Yang smiled and blinked as he spoke, "But we have yet to decide on the host, so why not sign yourself up? I strongly recommend you to do it."
After Mr. Yang left, Mingxi opened up the forum to take a look. Only then did she realize that after that incident with E Xiaoxia, she had become this year's School Beauty.
Previously, be it the Annual School Celebration or New Year's Day, such festivities were usually hosted by Zhao Yuan or another guy who was well-versed in hosting and performing.
But for this year, it might be because she was fresh meat that she obtained many cheers of confidence by the crowd.
Nonetheless, there were people questioning this in the forum: "Hasn't she already stolen Zhao Yuan's title of School Beauty? And now she wants to take away Zhao Yuan's right to become the host?"
"Besides, our school's annual celebration will be broadcasted on TV! Aside from looks, should we not get someone who has good results too? The results of a simpleton from the Normal Class surely can't compete with our previous School Beauty's, right?"
But it wasn't long before someone from the Normal Class rebutted: "The exams for the Normal Classes and those three classes were never the same, so that means that these two School Beauties have never competed on an equal platform. Who gave you the courage to claim that Zhao Mingxi's results are not as good as Zhao Yuan's? At least she had gotten into the Top 3 among the Normal Classes."
The students from those three classes always felt like they were above the rest. So immediately someone commented: "With your Normal Class exams that are so easy that I can use my toes to score full marks? What is so hard about getting in Top 3? I can do it even with my eyes closed."
Then an argument broke out.
Finally, someone made a firm note: "What's the point in arguing? Isn't the October monthly exam coming up? We'll just wait and see their results."
Mingxi was shocked. What the heck is going on?
Whoever wants to be the host, go ahead and do it! She never said that she wanted to steal that spot from Zhao Yuan!
But she had no choice but to participate in the October monthly exam.
Someone even called her a simpleton. She wanted to see who was the true simpleton.
Mingxi pulled up her sleeves and returned to class to continue doing the test papers.
While Zhao Mingxi had no intention whatsoever to become the host, the people from the Evergreen Class were becoming unsettled.
Previously it was always someone who was from their class who became the host. So why was it that this year a lot of people in the forum were leaning towards the International Class' Zhao Mingxi?
"Is Zhao Mingxi even qualified for the job? Can you all not just look at her visuals?" When Pu Shuang saw Zhao Yuan resting her head on the table, she could not help but to stand up for her. In just a few days' time, Zhao Mingxi had taken everything away from her. She was about to lose her title as host that she had for the past two years as well.
A guy said, "She is really beautiful."
Pu Shuang spoke in disdain, "You boys only know how to look at someone's face. What else does she have aside from her appearance?! Those who came from the Normal Class will only be ranked last in our class! Moreover, Zhao Mingxi had only obtained good results once. Other than that, her results were always below average! As for Yuanyuan, she has constantly been representing us in the Top 20 among the three classes. Wouldn't these glorious results be more of a positive impact on society if she is the host?"
As the guys could not think of a better argument, they all agreed. "It is true that mere beauty without wits is a little lacking."
Zhao Yuan lost to Zhao Mingxi in the School Beauty Contest.
Zhao Yuan initially thought that she could ignore it. After all, she had the love of her family, good results, intelligence, and she knew how to play piano and dance ballet.
But this was a really odd feeling— When she saw those IDs who used to talk about her frequently now change to talk about the International Class' Zhao Mingxi, she felt a slight sense of envy.
On the one hand, she told herself that this was just temporary. These people wanted something fresh. They will surely re-focus their attention on her later.
On the other hand, she could not help but to open up the posts about Zhao Mingxi. She searched for the keywords 'Zhao Mingxi' and 'zmx', and like an addict, she tried to focus on the flaws in her photos. Then she would tell herself that she had nothing to worry about.
Zhao Yun also felt that she could not maintain such a mindset. Just because she lost once doesn't mean that she will continue losing.
It won't be long before she will be able to win over her in other areas.
She regained her composure and began to prepare for the October monthly exam.
Just like what those people said, this was the first time that she and Zhao Mingxi were taking the same exam.
The exam days were here.
On the day of the exam, during their morning self-study period, their homeroom teacher Mr. Lu was observing them from outside the class. He noticed that although Zhao Mingxi was from the Normal Class, she was focused and hard-working. With just these qualities, it was enough to leave a good impression on Mr. Lu. He even felt bad about how he persuaded her not to take the exams yesterday afternoon.
But a good impression was one thing. When Mr. Lu thought about how the average results were going to drop, he felt an itch on his scalp and a pain in his chest.
Mingxi's ultimate goal was to escape her fate as the unlucky side character and get into the best university she could possibly get into. Without the Zhao family, she was still the Zhao Mingxi who came out of a small Northern town, so she could only rely on a good university to change her fate.
Although an ordinary October monthly exam was a small thing, she still had to try her best.
She kept on doing test papers, and by the time she noticed her surroundings, it was already the moment before the exam papers were to be distributed. The invigilators were asking the students to shift the position of the tables.
This was Mingxi's first exam after being reborn.
She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous.
She looked at the 66 frail buds in her flower pot and turned to Fu Yangxi who had his head full of red hair leaned against his hand as he flipped carelessly through a book, his eyes unfocused as he looked at her. She said, "I'm a little nervous."
When she looked over, Fu Yangxi immediately retracted his gaze.
Only after he heard her speak did he pretend to have just seen her.
"So?" Fu Yangxi's heart was beating faster because of her. He took off his noise-cancelling headphones. "Isn't this just an October monthly exam? Since you're my follower, no one will say anything if you don't do well."
Mingxi put out her hand with her palms up and looked at him.
Fu Yangxi: ?
Mingxi said, "Then I'll be frank. Can you let me hold your hand for a couple of minutes?"
F*ck.
Fu Yangxi almost fell out of his chair.
Mingxi immediately placed her hands in front of him. Her hands were thin and as pale as jade.
Fu Yangxi looked at her hand, then raised his gaze to look at her before his face flushed red.
If she wanted to hold hands she could have just said so. Why pull the whole 'I'm nervous' or 'I need you to give me courage' as an excuse?
He wondered if Zhao Mingxi had read one too many romance novels.
"Right here?" Fu Yangxi pulled a long face as he slowly sat straight, acting as if he didn't want to hold hands at all.
There are so many people in class. There is no snow, nor is there any rain.
What an unromantic setting for their first time holding hands.
"Quick." Mingxi was getting impatient. There was only around 15 minutes before the exam was about to start.
"What are you in a rush for?" Her anxiousness made Fu Yangxi's heart skip a beat. He offered her his hand with an unwilling façade. Fu Yangxi turned his head to face Ke Chengwen, and pulled on an expression that said 'what the f*ck am I supposed to do when she's so clingy?'.
Ke Chengwen: …
To his surprise, the moment he reached one hand out, both his hands were held tightly in Zhao Mingxi's haste.
Fu Yangxi: …!
Fu Yangxi spent the whole 15 minutes in a daze. Aside from that one time when Zhao Mingxi was applying medicine on him, this was the first time he ever held hands with a girl.
And it was the kind where their hands were tightly held together.
His thoughts were everywhere, yet he refused to think about his hands.
Although he felt like his relationship with Zhao Mingxi ought to have progressed to this stage, isn't she a little too thoughtless about this?!
Suddenly they were holding hands before the exam!
At that moment, a familiar figure appeared outside their class. Fu Yangxi instinctively took a glance. He recognized him. He had seen him before at the library, someone called Shen something Yao.
Just as he noticed this guy, the bell signaling the start of the exams rang. That guy rushed to the Gold Medal Class while Zhao Mingxi pulled her hand away and said, "The exams are starting. Good luck."
The product of holding hands for 15 minutes was the instant growth of 10 tiny buds! Mingxi felt slightly more confident in her exams!
—That's it?
Fu Yangxi looked at Zhao Mingxi in shock. Shouldn't she be writing about their first time holding hands in her diary? Why is she so nonchalant about this? She was as casual as how she confessed that day at the library. She couldn't even confess with proper words! How was he to accept her confession then?
Fu Yangxi stared at Zhao Mingxi. He kept on staring until the invigilator at the podium had no choice but to cough and walk over to him in order to block his line of sight. "Focus on your exams."
Only then did Fu Yangxi retract his gaze.
After a while, when the invigilator left, Fu Yangxi couldn't help but to look at her again.
But this time, he was focused on the speed at which Zhao Mingxi was answering the exam paper.
What the hell? Is she writing blindly? Why is she writing so fast? Didn't she transfer here from the Normal Class?
Chapter 23 (Part 2)
Zhao Zhanhuai directly ignored his mother's shock and disapproval. After firing Zhang Yufen, he planned to pay a proper visit to Zhao Mingxi again.
And this time, they will have a proper conversation.
As they were only a week away from the birthday banquet, he was hard-pressed on bringing her back.
When he heard that they were having their exams, Zhao Zhanhuai even purposely waited for another two days. Two days later, in the afternoon when they were done with their exams, he got his secretary to drive the car and come along with him to bring the clothes which the nanny brought home back to A High.
He didn't look for Zhao Mingxi at the International Class this time. He knew the reality of what would happen. If he did the same thing he did previously, he might not even be able to get in a few words before Mingxi would turn and go back to class. He wouldn't be able to make any progress then.
He wanted to look for Zhao Mingxi's dean and homeroom teacher first so that they could ask Zhao Mingxi to come over. Then, he would ask them to give him and Zhao Mingxi some time to talk.
Zhao Zhanhuai was having a headache about this matter as well. This was the first time that he, as a 25-year-old man, had to deal with the issue of a rebellious teenager.
Furthermore, he had only attended Zhao Yuan's Parent Teacher Meeting once when she was in her First Year. He had never done so for Mingxi— Thus, after parking the car outside and entering the school, he was like a blind man as he did not know where to find the dean and Mingxi's homeroom teacher.
The exams have just ended so they can't be in the office, right?
Just as Zhao Zhanhuai was tossing his car keys to the secretary so that he could park the car, he suddenly saw a familiar figure coming out from the convenience store.
That girl had some snacks in her arms. When she saw him, she exclaimed, "Zhanhuai ge!"
Zhao Zhanhuai replied, "You are?"
That girl walked over to him. "I am Pu Shuang. I'm Yuanyuan's close friend. I've been to your house before, but you just got back from work and went straight to the study room that day so you might not have noticed me,"
Zhao Zhanhuai nodded. "I see. Nice to meet you."
Not only was Zhao Zhanhuai handsome, he was also young. With his neat and chipper black and white suit, everyone in school who passed by them would spare him another glance.
And they would look at Pu Shuang as well.
Pu Shuang could feel the heat rushing to her face. She asked, "Did you come here to look for Yuanyuan?"
"No." Zhao Zhanhuai shook his head. He then thought about how Pu Shuang and Zhao Yuan were from the same class, and since the Evergreen Class and International Class are in the same academic building, they should have the same dean. Thus, he asked, "I'm looking for your dean. Do you know where he might be right now?"
As Zhao Zhanhuai was extremely handsome, Pu Shuang couldn't help but to ask again, "What's your business with our dean?"
But Zhao Zhanhuai just said, "Just tell me where he is. If you don't know, I'll ask around."
Pu Shuang looked behind him and saw his secretary carrying a bunch of things while standing afar by the car.
Those things looked like presents.
Could it be that he got these presents for their dean as well as their homeroom teacher, and that he plans to invite them for Zhao Yuan's birthday banquet? That's why he couldn't say anything to her?
When Pu Shuang realized this, she was even more jealous of Zhao Yuan. Her elder brother was so handsome and absolutely spoiled her. He was even so detail-oriented to the point where he would give her teachers presents on her behalf.
No wonder the dean and their homeroom teacher would always pay more attention to Zhao Yuan.
Pu Shuang offered joyfully, "I'll bring you there."
Zhao Zhanhuai entered the dean's office.
Then, Pu Shuang left.
When she left the dean's office, she coincidentally bumped into Zhao Yuan who had just come out of the piano room. She went over and looped her arm around hers. "Guess who paid a visit to our school?"
Zhao Yuan asked, "Who?"
"Your eldest brother." Pu Shuang smiled as she leaned in to whisper into Zhao Yuan's ear. "His secretary was carrying a bunch of things while he went to visit the dean and our homeroom teacher. My guess is that he came here for your birthday banquet. After all, we're already in Year 3. He would want the teachers to take extra care of you, hence he secretly came over to give them some gifts."
Zhao Yuan looked towards the dean's office. A blush formed on her cheeks.
Her whole family spoiled her, especially her second eldest brother Zhao Mo who was the most protective of her. But for some reason, she was always especially attracted to her eldest brother Zhao Zhanhuai.
Maybe it was because of how gentle he was in everything he did.
When she was young, she liked to stick around her eldest brother. But as she grew older and found out that she was not the biological daughter of the Zhao family, she was initially sad and nervous. Then when she looked at Zhao Zhanhuai, a sense of anticipation and happiness appeared in her heart.
There was a vague feeling of a crush forming in Zhao Yuan's heart, but she could not put a finger on what that feeling was just yet.
Nonetheless, it was an undisputed fact that her eldest brother treated her very well.
The slight dissatisfaction she felt from when her eldest brother failed to console her when he came home that day disappeared instantly. She assumed that he must have been bothered by something in the company, hence he was in a bad mood.
"I'll treat you to hotpot today." Zhao Yuan said happily, "Then when we're done, I'll get my eldest brother to fetch us home."
Pu Shuang was extremely jealous. "It feels like you're a princess. You're so lucky."
While the two of them were chatting as they walked downstairs, they saw Zhao Mingxi who was walking upstairs.
They met right at the stairway.
When Pu Shuang saw Zhao Mingxi, she purposely raised her voice. "Yuanyuan, your eldest brother came looking for you in school again. He even got you so many gifts. He treats you so well!"
Zhao Mingxi, "…"
So what was she supposed to do? Cooperate and feign a look of envy?
Zhao Yuan hurriedly covered Pu Shuang's mouth. She nodded at Mingxi, then ran away with Pu Shuang in laughter.
Mingxi continued upstairs, wondering what business the dean has with her.
Meanwhile, in the dean's office.
Normal Class 6's homeroom teacher was a little slow in collecting the exam papers, so when he sent the papers to the dean's office, he coincidentally bumped into Zhao Zhanhuai who was waiting for the dean.
He unconsciously looked toward Zhao Zhanhuai. In that instant, the wheels in his mind started to run. He felt as if he was really familiar. He looked like someone he used to teach… Zhao Mingxi's guardian?
When Zhao Zhanhuai saw this middle-aged man staring at him through his spectacles, he immediately got up and offered to shake his hand. "Hello. You are—?"
"I am Normal Class 6's homeroom teacher, Li Yong." The teacher did not accept his hand shake. He even tossed the test papers on the table before saying, "Have you come to school to pick up your other sister again?"
"Are you Mingxi's ex-homeroom teacher?" Although Zhao Zhanhuai had no idea why this homeroom teacher was suddenly so hostile towards him, he still maintained a respectful attitude and explained, "I'm here for Mingxi today, not for Yuanyuan."
"Humph," The teacher snorted. "How rare of you to look for her. Last year when she got gastroenteritis in the middle of an exam, no one from her family came. I even had to get two students from my class to send her to the hospital."
"She never told us about it!" Zhao Zhanhuai was exasperated. He had no idea that Zhao Mingxi had gastroenteritis. He went through his memories once more and affirmed himself, "She never told any of us!"
"Of course she would never tell you about it! What's the point in telling you?" The teacher looked down at him. "No one from your family has ever attended her Parent Teacher Meeting! I even went out of my way to ask about this last year. Why was it that Zhao Yuan from the Evergreen Class had family members over but our Mingxi had no one? I wanted to ask what the hell were you guys thinking, but the next thing I saw was you leaving in the car with your other sister!"
Zhao Zhanhuai felt a sharp stab in his heart.
It was true that he attended Zhao Yuan's Parent Teacher Meeting. Then he got their mother to attend Mingxi's. However, their mother was so busy with playing with her friends that day that she forgot about it, hence her absence.
"My mother forgot about it." Zhao Zhanhuai could only apologize. "I'm sorry. But this was just one occasion, you…"
"What do you mean 'just one occasion'? Do you think it was just one occasion?" The teacher had to stop himself before he threw the papers in Zhao Zhanhuai's face. "There was a period of time when such a hardworking student like Zhao Mingxi would fall asleep in class. I asked her about it a few times. I even gave her a good scolding before she confessed that it was because she was busy cooking all day that she didn't have time to do her homework, hence she had to burn the midnight oil to complete them and ultimately caused her to fall asleep in class— Aren't you guys from a wealthy family? Since you can drive cars worth a few hundred thousand yuan, why must you get Zhao Mingxi to cook for you everyday?! She has such a heavy workload as a Year 2 student. Do you not want her to get into university?"
Zhao Zhanhuai was shocked. "Mingxi gets sleepy in class…?"
He never thought of this.
He thought that Mingxi was happy whenever she made dinner for them. She was good at cooking, and she wanted to ingratiate herself with the family.
But he never thought about the impact of this matter on Mingxi.
While the first thing Zhao Yuning and Zhao Yuan did when they got home was to do their homework, she was in the kitchen dunking her hands in water with that nanny who treated her poorly.
She was human too. Of course she would be sleepy.
When she first arrived at their home, she was only 15 years old; still a skinny little girl who did not dare to even raise her head.
He did tell her back then that she did not need to make dinner for them.
But Zhao Yuning was an immature child. He only wanted to eat what Zhao Mingxi cooked.
Thus, Mingxi told him with her eyes gleaming, "It's alright, da ge*. It won't take me long anyway."
*da ge = eldest brother
As Zhao Zhanhuai was still not that close to Mingxi and their relationship was still in an awkward phase, he could only let her be.
But if it was Zhao Yuan—
Zhao Zhanhuai could not imagine how their family would allow Zhao Yuan to use her hands which were used to play piano to wash vegetables instead.
Zhao Zhanhuai's heart clenched painfully.
"She's not made out of metal. How could she not be sleepy?" The teacher snorted coldly.
He always thought that Mingxi had a lot of natural talent. He could see through her answers that she was a bright student, but for some reason she would always be either sick or inconvenienced during her exams, hence she had never taken a proper exam before.
This made him wonder if it was because Mingxi lacked certain vitamins in her body— But the Zhao family was so rich, how could they raise a child who lacked vitamins?
He bought vitamins and supplements for Mingxi and insisted that she eat them everyday. After Mingxi gave him the money and thanked him, he couldn't help but to look at the Evergreen Class' Zhao Yuan to see how she was doing. In the end, all he saw was a completely different and confident child who was raised with love.
His heart ached even though he was just her homeroom teacher.
Therefore, he naturally held a grudge against the Zhao family.
"When she scraped her knee during Sports Day last year, no one from her family came either," the teacher continued to complain. "Later on her face got injured and she fell back in her studies. When I heard that she was staying in school, I was happy on her behalf. Now that she didn't have to make dinner anymore, can you imagine how much more time she would have to study?!"
"It is not enough to provide mere financial support when it comes to a child's growth. Will you treat your other sister this poorly?"
Zhao Zhanhuai felt a sharp prick in his heart.
The teacher's words were like a sharp knife, stabbing him in the chest repeatedly.
No—
Because Zhao Yuan will speak her mind. She was raised in a honey pot and taught to be innocent and ignorant. Whenever she needs something, she will say it.
But Mingxi won't do the same. She was raised in an entirely different circumstance, and was used to bearing her own burdens.
Yet their family used the same method to treat two children with completely different personalities.
Were they too arrogant, or were they simply lacking in love?
They were supposed to treat Mingxi with more care, but they failed to do so.
Zhao Zhanhuai used to think that he merely missed the first 15 years of his sister's life. But now he realized that he had missed these two years as well.
The teacher plainly disliked him. He turned to leave, but before he went off, he said in a tone full of distrust, "Don't touch the sealed exam papers."
Zhao Zhanhuai, "…"
Zhao Zhanhuai felt dejected.
That teacher made one correct point. If their family did their job, why would Mingxi have to ingratiate herself with them? Is it not them who owes Mingxi?
Zhao Zhanhuai suddenly felt that Mingxi's decision to stay in school was the right choice. If she was only going to receive such poor treatment at home, she might as well move out and live on her own.
At this moment, Zhao Zhanhuai felt extremely uncomfortable. He desperately wants to see Mingxi.
He still remembered that time when he first took her to school to deal with the transferring procedure, how Mingxi's eyes gleamed with the liveliness and anticipation of a young girl.
It wasn't until the door behind him was opened that Zhao Zhanhuai came back to his senses.
When Mingxi saw him, she immediately looked around the dean's office. When she noticed that there was just Zhao Zhanhuai there, she instantly frowned, realizing that it was probably Zhao Zhanhuai who asked the dean to summon her here.
Mingxi turned to leave.
But this time, Zhao Zhanhuai didn't know how to treat her.
As compared to the arrogance he had during his previous visits, this time, Zhao Zhanhuai realized that their home was probably a torturous hell for Mingxi. If he was truly thinking for her, the thing he ought to do would not be to force her to go home.
"Mingxi," Zhao Zhanhuai took a deep breath and called out to her. "I came here this time to tell you that if you don't want to come home, it's fine. But I hope I will still be your brother, and if you ever need anything, I will help you."
When he saw how Zhao Mingxi paid no mind to him and continued to walk downstairs, Zhao Zhanhuai felt immense guilt in his heart and hurried after her. He placed a card in her hands and said, "This is my supplementary card. Go ahead and use it. I won't tell anyone from our family. It'll be our secret."
Mingxi couldn't figure out Zhao Zhanhuai's intentions.
She said, "Supplementary card? How much can I use? Lies. What if I use up everything in it? Don't you like Zhao Yuan? Aren't you saving this for your wedding with her? When the time comes, do I have to use this money to wish the both of you an everlasting marriage?"
When she saw how shocked Zhao Zhanhuai was at the end of her rant, Mingxi realized something. Oh crap, I don't think Zhao Zhanhuai is in love with Zhao Yuan yet.
It was a slip of the tongue.
"I don't want this." Mingxi tossed the card back to Zhao Zhanhuai.
"There is only 30,000 yuan in here. It's what we owe you. Don't you get it? I'm giving a part of what we owe to you first."
Mingxi refused to believe that the Zhao family was this kind-hearted. Furthermore, she didn't think that the halo surrounding the male lead would let her go that easily— If she dared to take the male lead's money, wouldn't that bring more bad luck to her? The luck that she worked so hard to obtain might just return to its original state.
Mingxi walked ahead without even looking back.
Zhao Zhanhuai felt helpless. After standing on the spot for a few minutes, he collected his thoughts. He sought for that teacher he met just now and gave his card to him. He explained the situation and asked him to take good care of Mingxi. Although he received another lecture, Mr. Li ultimately accepted it.
Only then did Zhao Zhanhuai feel slightly better.
He returned to the parking lot outside school with a heavy heart. When he saw his secretary carrying the items, he said in a somber tone, "She doesn't want them. Forget it, let's head back to the company first."
As for Zhao Yuan, she was done eating her hotpot. She thought that Zhao Zhanhuai was coming to pick her up today— But in the end, he didn't show up?
And for some reason, he wasn't picking up her calls either.
Did he forget again?
Does it take this long to talk to the dean and send him gifts?
As Zhao Yuan was anxious, she couldn't help but to return to school with Pu Shuang. When they went to the dean's office, they realized that the door had been locked long ago.
Zhao Zhanhuai's car was not parked outside the school as well. It appeared as if Zhao Zhanhuai had left quite some time ago.
Zhao Yuan was both angered and embarrassed. She almost couldn't control the expression on her face. "Didn't you tell me that my eldest brother went to look for the dean to send him gifts?"
Pu Shuang was hard-pressed as she replied, "It was merely a guess. He only asked me where the dean's office was. But if he wasn't going there for you, it couldn't be that he went for the sake of Zhao Mingxi, right?"
Could it be that he really went for the sake of Zhao Mingxi? Pu Shuang guessed. When she saw Zhao Yuan's face, she thought, could it be that the Zhao family isn't as loving toward Zhao Yuan as I thought they were?
Zhao Yuan could feel Pu Shuang's gaze. She felt as if she was struck. As she didn't want to dwell on this anymore, she got in the driver's car and went home.
Once she got home, she realized that Auntie Zhang had been fired.
Zhao Yuan was in disbelief.
"Why didn't you ask for my permission before sending her off?"
Zhao Yuan rushed to Zhang Yufen's room. When she saw the empty room, the corner of her eyes went red. "What did she do? What crime did she commit that she had to be fired?"
Their mother was still out shopping. There was only Zhao Yuning and a few workers at home.
Zhao Yuning never bothered about these things. Furthermore, he was wondering about the outcome of Zhao Zhanhuai's visit to Zhao Mingxi today.
Thus, he casually gave her a few consoling words.
But the more she listened to him, the more she felt bothered by it. So she went to sit at the swing in their lawn.
The driver explained to Zhao Yuan, "Miss, you were taking your exams, so we couldn't notify you about this. Your brother got Auntie Zhang to send something to Miss Mingxi at school. But due to her bad attitude and lies, your brother fired her in a fit of anger."
"My eldest brother?" Zhao Yuan couldn't believe it. "But he knows that I'm very close to Auntie Zhang. She treats me very, very well. Even if she made a small mistake, he shouldn't—"
The driver did not dare to finish her sentence. Although they felt the same, after seeing Zhao Zhanhuai so enraged yesterday, they felt that it would be best not to be on Zhang Yufen's side.
When Zhao Yuan failed to get any response, she felt a sense of foreboding.
Why did her eldest brother fire the person closest to her due to Zhao Mingxi's small matter?
She used to be the most important person to him.
The sound of a car braking could be heard from outside.
Zhao Yuan walked towards the gate with her red rimmed eyes and pale face. When she saw Zhao Zhanhuai getting down from the car, she could no longer contain the wretchedness she felt in her heart. Zhao Mingxi was suddenly the School Beauty, her eldest brother hasn't gone to fetch her twice, even Auntie Zhang was fired for no apparent reason.
She didn't even change her shoes before running into Zhao Zhanhuai's arms.
The driver and Zhao Yuning were used to such a scene. Zhao Yuning wanted to run over and ask Zhao Zhanhuai about Zhao Mingxi's matter as well, but in the end, he was superseded by Zhao Yuan. This made him frown in slight dissatisfaction.
Recently, after some comparison between them, he was beginning to realize the good sides of Zhao Mingxi. Not only was she a good cook, she would also play games and rear cats with him. As for Zhao Yuan, aside from her companionship when they were young, after she grew up, she only stuck to their eldest brother.
Sometimes, Zhao Yuning would realize that with regards to this point, it was undeniable that Zhao Mingxi was truly the one related to him—
No one else in this family was allergic to cats or peanuts.
Zhao Zhanhui opened his arms and allowed Zhao Yuan to hug him. He unconsciously softened his tone. "What happened? Did someone bully you?"
Only when Zhao Yuan heard his gentle voice did she let out a mental sigh of relief. She felt so wronged that her tears were flowing freely. She rubbed against his chest. "Why did you fire Auntie Zhang? Answer me!"
Zhao Yuan was usually generous and kind, so this sort of delicate and innocent tone was saved exclusively for Zhao Zhanhuai's ears only.
Before this, Zhao Zhanhuai would treat this as a normal thing. But now the words Mingxi said kept running through his mind— "Wish the both of you an everlasting marriage."
What did she mean? Mingxi thought that he liked Zhao Yuan? Or was it that Zhao Yuan liked him? But he has always thought of Zhao Yuan as his younger sister and nothing else. How could it be? Was Mingxi overthinking it?
However, Zhao Zhanhuai suddenly noticed Zhao Yuan's tone and the way she squirmed in his arms.
"Da ge, can I go to your room tonight, just like how we were when we were kids?"
The expression on Zhao Zhanhuai's face changed abruptly.
Could it be that Yuanyuan—?
This isn't right.
A multitude of expressions went across Zhao Zhanhuai's face.
If Zhao Mingxi didn't remind him today, he might have just allowed their relationship to grow in this direction naturally. But when he heard this sentence from Mingxi today, it became like a fish bone stuck in his mind.
It was impossible for him to allow this to go on when he was now aware of Zhao Yuan's feelings towards him.
Just when Zhao Yuan was about to continue her complaint, she felt Zhao Zhanhuai pushing her away stiffly. His gaze was one of avoidance as he walked towards the stairs.
"You're already a grown up. Stop crying because of such petty matters. Sleep in your own room."
Zhao Yuan watched in shock as her eldest brother awkwardly pulled a distance between them. He just entered his own room and rejected her.
A if she had been slapped, the complaining words that were about to escape her lips came to a stop.
When Zhao Yuan watched all this unfold, even her blood seemed to have frozen. She belatedly realized that something was amiss, and a sense of fear appeared in her heart.
The old Zhao Zhanhuai would never reject her.
Since when did he…?
Chapter 24 (Part 1)
Only when Zhao Zhanhuai got back to his room did he realize that there were many things belonging to Zhao Yuan in his room. There were two pillows on the couch, and she left a short jacket in his room as well.
Zhao Zhanhuai was experiencing a pounding headache.
In terms of a brother-sister relationship, their actions may be a little too close for comfort in the eyes of a stranger. Yuanyuan didn't seem to be this reliant on their other family members as well.
Zhao Zhanhuai didn't think much of this back then. He didn't think that the current Zhao Yuan had that kind of feelings for him either. But Mingxi's words were like a police siren for him, making him come to a sudden realization— It didn't matter if she had that thought or not. He was doing to kill it before it could be born.
There was an urgent need to create a distance between them.
Zhao Zhanhuai put aside his own pain and quickly got the secretary to clean up the things that Zhao Yuan had left in his room. Then, the items were all placed in a cardboard box and returned to Zhao Yuan.
There were a few other items which he didn't know if they belonged to Zhao Yuan. So long as it was for female use, he would get the secretary to pack them in. Since he kept mostly to himself and has never brought anyone home before, these things could only be Zhao Yuan's.
While he was tidying up the things, Zhao Zhanhuai gradually noticed an increasing sense of biasness.
He didn't have a single thing in his room that was related to Mingxi.
If he were to recall carefully, it was likely Mingxi had never entered his room before.
Zhao Zhanhuai's heart sank even further.
When Zhao Yuan received the cardboard box from the secretary, she felt so wronged that her chest began to heave. She slammed the door with a loud thud, and she never came downstairs even though it was already dinner time.
The auntie knocked on her door twice, but she still kept her head tucked under her blanket, refusing to eat.
It was rare for Zhao Yuan to do this at home. This was because everyone at home spoiled her, and she had never been bullied by anyone.
But whenever it was to a point where she would refuse to eat, her family members would definitely take turns to coax her out.
But today, their mother wasn't home yet. There was only Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning in the house.
Zhao Yuning wasn't one who could read the room well. He was unkind to anyone he spoke to. He came over, knocked on the door and said, "Yuan jie, are you eating dinner? If you aren't then at least tell us. Is it worth doing all this just because Auntie Zhang was fired? Da ge said that Auntie Zhang has always treated Mingxi jie poorly. Is Auntie Zhang more important or is Mingxi jie more important?"
Zhao Yuning muttered to himself, "Needless to say, firing 100 Auntie Zhangs would not be as important as Mingxi jie's return."
Zhao Yuan's heart was in great pain.
Zhao Zhanhuai was supposed to ask about her. However, he was adamant on creating a distance between him and Zhao Yuan. Furthermore, for the whole night he couldn't help but to recall what Mingxi's ex-homeroom teacher told him this afternoon.
The guilt he felt for Zhao Mingxi was so overwhelming— Back then when Mingxi refused to eat, he had never bothered to coax her. Why did he have to only spoil Yuanyuan?
After a moment's hesitation, Zhao Zhanhuai said with furrowed brows, "Let her be."
Even though she waited until it was 10 p.m., no one came to comfort Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan's eyes were swollen to the size of walnuts. Gradually and finally, as if she had ants in her pants, she panicked.
This was completely unexpected.
Why is this happening?
Around 11 p.m., a bright light coming from a car flashed through her windows, signaling the return of their mother who had just returned from promoting her birthday banquet.
After a while, Zhao Yuan's door opened. Madam Zhao walked in, sat by the bed and gently lifted up Zhao Yuan's blanket. She sighed and consoled her, "Yuanyuan, do you have to go to this extent for an Auntie Zhang? It was truly Auntie Zhang's fault this time. Your brother is still mad about it."
"If you are truly unwilling to let go of her, after the birthday banquet when Mingxi returns, I'll get Auntie Zhang to apologize to her and admit her faults. Then I'll hire Auntie Zhang again."
Her mother still cared for her.
Zhao Yuan felt greatly relieved. She sat up and sniffled. "Okay…"
But actually, was she really doing all this because of Auntie Zhang? What she truly cared about was her eldest brother and Zhao Yuning's attitude.
After her mother was done consoling her, she looked out the window at the cold night and couldn't help but to say, "I wonder how Mingxi is doing in school. She hasn't been home in a while. I regretted it the moment I scolded her back then, but I had no means of backing down."
The relieved expression on Zhao Yuan's face instantly went hard.
The hand that she had placed underneath the blanket curled up into a tight fist silently.
"She will come home once she has thought things through." Zhao Yuan could say a few consoling words while forcing out a smile.
Her mother nodded. "After she returns from the banquet, let's buy her some of her favorite things."
Zhao Yuan, "…"
As her mother was a little tired as well, she spoke no further and left the room.
For the whole night, Zhao Yuan found it hard to sleep. She was both anxious and agonized.
She didn't know if it was just a mere misconception, but it felt as if ever since Mingxi left home, everything at home seemed to have changed, quietly and unnoticeably.
The next day, Zhao Yuan's eyes were a little swollen. They were so prominent that even some powder could not cover them up.
During the Flag Raising Ceremony, Pu Shuang immediately noticed it and asked, "What happened to you? Did something happen at home last night? I'm sorry for misleading you yesterday. I didn't know that your brother really went to look for Zhao Mingxi…"
After giving it some thought, Pu Shuang consoled her, "I think that the reason why everyone has their attention focused on Zhao Mingxi is because she left home."
"I know." Zhao Yuan turned, her eyes unconsciously locked on Zhao Mingxi who was standing not far away at the third row of the International Class. There were also many people like her who were secretly looking at Zhao Mingxi.
After Zhao Mingxi took off her mask, she was getting prettier and prettier with each passing day. In the morning mist, her complexion was milky white, her facial features delicate and beautiful, and as she stood in the crowd doing absolutely nothing, it was enough to make others turn into her background.
Furthermore, she didn't bring many clothes with her when she left home, but for some reason she was constantly wearing well-tailored branded clothing lately, and it made her appear even more outstanding.
Zhao Yuan furrowed her brows. "But I can't possibly follow in her footsteps and leave home as well."
"What are you afraid of?" Pu Shuang whispered. "Our teacher said that our October monthly exam results will be released today! Zhao Mingxi's results are definitely going to flop while your results have always been good."
"When you show your results to your mother and eldest brother, they will definitely pay attention to you again."
During the Flag Raising Ceremony, all the homeroom teachers from all three classes were not present. They were all rushing to arrange the rankings for the newly marked monthly exam results.
There was only the dean who was in charge of discipline.
Every class was separated into a square-shaped formation. As Mingxi was considered quite tall for a girl, she stood at the middle of the third row.
She was still thinking about last weekend's monthly exam as well as the questions she asked Professor Gao yesterday.
Over at Professor Gao's place, Mingxi felt a long-awaited, simple sense of happiness from studying.
Just like how she was back at the small Northern town, she didn't need to think or care about anything. She only needed to focus on her studies.
The mere action of bringing the praise from her teachers back to her grandmother and Mr. and Mrs. Dong was enough to make her happy.
It was a shame that she could only go there once a week.
While Mingxi was absent-mindedly thinking of all these, suddenly, someone whistled loudly at her. The girl behind her carefully pulled her hand. Mingxi lowered her head and turned back. The girl stuffed a phone case in her hands.
Mingxi was confused. What is this?
Someone whistled.
She instinctively looked back and saw the tall Fu Yangxi standing at the last row. His red hair which was like a porcupine stood out among the morning mist and cold winds. His pale face still had a sheen over tiredness on it, but his face revealed a happy expression.
When he saw that he had attracted her attention, Fu Yangxi immediately raised his hand and pointed at the item she was holding in her hands.
He wanted her to look at her phone?
Mingxi looked closer and noticed that the phone cover of the phone in his hands was black in color, and it was the same design as the one that girl had just stuffed in her hands.
The only difference was that his black phone case had a simple design of a small sun.
As for her own white colored phone case, it bore the design of a small mask, outlined by black ink.
Mingxi: ?
Matching phone cases?
Mingxi was shocked.
But upon a closer look, she noticed that a dozen boys from the back row had all taken out their phones for her to see.
They were all the same kind of phone case, save for their difference in color. Orange, yellow, blue, green and purple, even the drawings at the back were different. Someone of them had a simple cartoon character design; some of them had a simple pile of sh*t.
The one who got a yellow phone cover with a simple design of pile of sh*t looked at Zhao Mingxi with a pained expression.
Only then did Mingxi's pounding heart slow down a little.
What a surprise.
She thought that Fu Yangxi had given her a matching phone case. Turns out it was just a phone case specially made for the people in his weird gang.
How childish.
Although she felt that this gesture was both childish and arrogant, Mingxi still found a sense of belonging from this, as if a group of people had accepted her as one of their own.
Mingxi smiled and turned to look at Fu Yangxi. Then, she lowered her head, took out her phone and changed her phone case. After that, she raised her phone again, and without looking back, she waved it at Fu Yangxi.
Fu Yangxi's ears immediately flushed red. He quickly turned and said to Ke Chengwen who was beside him, "I told you she'll change it."
Ke Chengwen secretly blocked him from the cold glare coming from their neighboring competition class' Shen Liyao. He was unsure of what to say. "Try to keep it low-profile, Xi ge. They're all looking at you. If you wanted to buy a matching phone case, go ahead. Why did you have to force all of us to change one as well?"
"What matching phone case? Are you crazy? She's the one who likes me. That kind of girly thing should be done by her." Fu Yangxi was in denial. He glared at Ke Chengwen. "The one that I got is a gang phone case! Am I not allowed to have my own personal preference?"
Ke Chengwen instantly replied, "You're allowed!"
Fu Yangxi said, "Leave."
Once he was done talking, Fu Yangxi raised his head. He saw how the dean who was up front was staring at him, as if he was about to pull him out. Fu Yangxi raised his brows, and his lips formed the word "building" without a sound.
"…" The dean immediately made a turn and patrolled another area.
Ke Chengwen, "…"
Fu Yangxi, who had just changed a new phone case, was in a good mood. The way he walked was filled with arrogance. Although he had yet to complete his previous punishment of cleaning the toilets, after he returned to class, he took the initiative to throw away all the rubbish on their floor.
As they didn't have a self-study period this morning, when Mingxi saw him leaving to throw the rubbish, her eyes gleamed and she hurried after him.
Due to Fu Yangxi's long legs, it didn't take him long before he reached the ground floor.
Mingxi jogged all the way. It took her quite the effort before she managed to catch up to him at the small alley located at the ground floor of their academic building.
When Fu Yangxi heard footsteps behind him, he turned around and saw her. "What are you doing here?"
"Let me help you!" Mingxi quickly reached out a hand and took away the trash bags which Fu Yangxi was holding in one hand.
Recently, the plants in her flower pot have stopped growing.
But it was mainly because she had given him desserts and helped him do his homework too many times, leading to a diminishing margin of zero.
Aside from that, she had accidentally hugged him and held his hands, so the luck brought by these two physical touches were all used up.
Mingxi couldn't figure out what to do next.
She hadn't tried throwing rubbish on his behalf, so she might as well give it a try.
Fu Yangxi held on to the trash can, unwilling to let go. However, when he saw how determined Mingxi was with her shining eyes, he could only unhand the trash can.
Only when Mingxi held it did she realize that it was quite heavy. She had to hold it with both hands. She quickly said, "Xi ge, you head on upstairs. Leave this to me."
Sometimes Fu Yangxi would wonder if she was treating him a little too well. She was even willing to do such a small task like throwing away the trash on his behalf. Could this be what they call 'mutual help in humble circumstances'?
He observed her quietly.
The October winds were cold. Mingxi stood before him with her head slightly raised. Fu Yangxi felt a sensation as if he had just eaten a strawberry flavored candy.
Fu Yangxi lowered his head. When he noticed that Zhao Mingxi's shoelaces have come loose, he asked, "Is this how you normally tie your shoelaces?"
Mingxi looked down at her white sport shoes in confusion. "What is it?"
The method she used to tie her shoelaces was quite weird whereby she would merely tie two simple knots. While it wasn't to the extent where it would easily come loose, it does look rather messy.
"Come here." Fu Yangxi suddenly commanded.
Mingxi: ?
Fu Yangxi was getting impatient. He said coldly, "Take one step closer to me."
"What for?" Mingxi asked in disdain. Nonetheless, she still held unto the bags and took a step towards him hesitantly.
Fu Yangxi abruptly bent down, his fingers touching her shoelaces. He pulled apart the laces on both her legs and tied two perfect and beautiful butterfly knots. "This is the right way to do it."
In the small alley, Mingxi was standing still while Fu Yangxi was half-squatted before her. Both their shadows were pulled long due to the orange sunset.
Mingxi looked down at his head of red hair. Her fingers which were holding on to the trash can unknowingly clenched tight. She was nervous for some reason.
She felt that Fu Yangxi had been acting rather odd recently.
—He was being oddly good to her.
She averted her gaze to focus on the shoelaces which Fu Yangxi had tied for her.
Mingxi was stunned. All her life, including her last one, aside from her grandmother, Fu Yangxi was the only one who had tied her shoelaces for her.
Mingxi immediately retracted her foot in an unnatural manner, and proceeded to take one step back.
Fu Yangxi's fingers were still on her shoes. So when she suddenly retracted her foot, his body instantly went stiff.
Once he realized what he had done, his heart started to pound loudly against his chest. With his red ears, he slowly stood up like a rigid rock.
He squinted at Zhao Mingxi, his eyes conveying a look of 'have you been living under a rock, Little Mask?'. He crossed his arms and with an arrogant tone and said, "What are you so nervous about? We're in the same class and you are my follower. It's only right for us to help each other out— Unless you—"
Mingxi didn't need to hear his next words to guess that he was about to say something illogical again. Unfortunately, her hands were busy with the trash cans, hence she could not use them to cover her ears.
"Shut up." Mingxi really wanted to cover his head with the trash can. She made a move and went ahead without him.
Fu Yangxi swallowed hard before following her.
He couldn't help but to smile.
When he observed her delicate and pretty silhouette, he suddenly felt the urge to say, 'Let's date.'
But before the words could leave his mouth, he swallowed them back.
Little Mask hasn't even confessed yet. She might not be ready.
He shouldn't rush things.
"Let's throw it together." Fu Yangxi caught up to her in just a few steps. He tucked one of his hands in his pocket and tried his best to stop the corners of his mouth from curling up. He reached out one hand and held up the other end of the trash can.
Mingxi wanted nothing but to carry the trash can and run at that moment. "No need. It's fine. I can do this myself."
Fu Yangxi said, "Don't worry, I get it. Whenever a girl says 'no', she means 'yes'. Whenever a girl says 'it's fine', it means 'something is wrong'."
Mingxi: …
You don't know anything!
Fu Yangxi paid no mind to her and continued to hold on to the trash can.
Mingxi couldn't figure out why he would allow his other followers to help him throw away the trash, but when it came to her, he wouldn't allow her to do things like throwing away the trash and cleaning the toilets.
Mingxi could only understand it as a little punk having his moment of chivalry.
Being able to throw half is better than not being able to throw anything at all.
"Fine." Mingxi felt dejected. She had no choice but to hold on to the other side of the silver trash can and head towards the school's trash site with Fu Yangxi.
Chapter 24 (Part 2)
After they were done throwing away the trash, as they were walking back to class with the empty trash can, Fu Yangxi was caught by the dean who had just come out from the academic building.
The dean wanted to talk to him about what he did this morning during the Flag Raising Ceremony.
Fu Yangxi pulled a long face. He had no choice but to give the trash can to Mingxi and ask her to go up on her own first.
Mingxi was glad that Fu Yangxi wasn't around. She took the trash can and walked upstairs slowly. She counted the amount of tiny buds in her flower pot. As this was the first time she had helped Fu Yangxi throw rubbish, three little buds grew.
Up until now, there are 79 buds.
As Mingxi felt motivated once more, her whole body seems to have been refreshed. She smiled all the way back to the International Class.
In the end, before she could enter her class, as she was walking upstairs, she raised her head and saw Shen Liyao and the other five from the School Representative Team.
The students from the Gold Medal Class would normally use the left stairway of the academic building, but for some reason they left from the right stairway today.
When a group of them saw Zhao Mingxi, they all appeared awkward. They instinctively looked towards Shen Liyao.
The moment Shen Liyao saw the smile on Zhao Mingxi's face, he felt as if the sight had pricked his eye. He couldn't help but to clench the fingers in his pocket tightly.
He saw everything in the upstairs corridor.
He saw how Zhao Mingxi and Fu Yangxi went off to throw rubbish together. The two of them talking happily all the way.
Fu Yangxi even helped her tie her shoelaces.
Shen Liyao couldn't help but to look down at Zhao Mingxi's shoes. An emotion akin to anxiousness filled his heart.
He subconsciously took a step forward, but was held back by Ye Bai's hand on his shoulder. Ye Bai whispered in his ear, "She might have done that on purpose. God Yao, control yourself."
However this time, Shen Liyao directly slapped Ye Bai's hand away.
His mind was like a tightrope, filled with only images of Zhao Mingxi and Fu Yangxi together. He couldn't calm down nor could he control himself.
What in the world is she trying to do?
Even though he was not around, she would still talk with Fu Yangxi.
He even saw them holding hands before the exams.
Shen Liyao's fists were tightly clenched in his pockets. He tried to maintain his composure as he stood in front of Zhao Mingxi. "I received some news today that the Dong family will be returning this Saturday. Did you know about this? If need be—"
There was a pause. Shen Liyao raised his gaze and with all his might, he tried to speak in an indifferent tone, "I can go and pick them up with you."
Shen Liyao had met the Dong family two years ago. He also knew about the relationship between the Dong family, the Zhao family and Zhao Mingxi.
"What?" Mingxi was stunned for a moment. She belatedly realized that after the Dong family struck gold, they had most likely found themselves in the social circles of the Zhao and Shen families. Thus, it was not surprising for the news of them returning to their country to reach Shen Liyao's ears.
She hurriedly shook her head. "It's alright. There's no need for you to do so. Thank you for your reminder, but I can pick them up on my own."
Shen Liyao's brows furrowed instantly. "Why?"
Mingxi answered, "What do you mean 'why'? What if they mistake you as my boyfriend?"
Shen Liyao couldn't understand what was going on with Zhao Mingxi lately, just as how he couldn't understand why Zhao Mingxi didn't want others to mistake him as—
The feeling of annoyance could not be dispersed from his heart. He was no longer able to control himself. "Isn't that what you want?"
"…" Mingxi got it now. Shen Liyao thinks that she still likes him.
Although it wasn't a good place to talk about this, since Shen Liyao was the one who initiated it, Mingxi decided to make everything clear once and for all.
Or else was she to spend more time asking him out to the nearby café?
After all, her pursuit of Shen Liyao was a really casual thing. He had never shown her any affection, so he probably didn't think of it as anything significant.
"I don't like you anymore."
Mingxi looked at Shen Liyao with a serious expression. "I might have liked you because you helped me once. But since I was young back then, if I have offended you, please do not take my actions to heart."
Mingxi could not get any clearer.
The stairway fell into a bout of silence, as if only the sound of the wind could be heard.
Ye Bai was so shocked that his jaw fell open.
Shen Liyao watched as Zhao Mingxi said the four words 'don't like you anymore' in a clear tone. His stiff expression was akin to that of a plaster figure.
For a moment there, he felt a slight sense of pain in his heart.
When his other teammates from the School Representative Team looked at his expression, they didn't dare to even take a deep breath.
Although Shen Liyao had been able to make a guess about this lately, he still refused to believe it. But who knew that before he could convince himself, she had actually said it herself.
Shen Liyao didn't know if he was supposed to compliment Zhao Mingxi for being so certain or something. Based on his memories of her, whenever she wanted to do something or if she made any decision, she had never been sloppy about it.
She was so decisive that her previous pursuit seemed like a joke.
Shen Liyao initially thought that Zhao Mingxi's absence from his sight would cause him to let out a huge sigh of relief as he no longer had to spend time dealing with her.
However at this moment, he didn't feel released at all. Instead, what came to him was a surge of painful emotions.
Never was there a time when he had felt such clear feelings of losing something…
Shen Liyao pulled a long face as he stared at Zhao Mingxi.
Zhao Mingxi assumed that she had embarrassed him, so she could only continue awkwardly, "I think that's it? Bye, I still have to get back to class."
After she was done, Zhao Mingxi quickly left without even looking at the reactions of Shen Liyao and his teammates who were behind him.
They stared at Zhao Mingxi's silhouette for a few seconds.
Ye Bai was still in disbelief. "Is she joking? She stopped liking you just like that. When has there ever been a person who would not be dramatic when they go from liking to not liking at all? She must still be trying to get a reaction out of you, right?"
Shen Liyao's mind was in a buzz. He didn't have the mood to think about what Ye Bai said.
How did things turn out to be like this?!
He even started to think back. On the day she suddenly decided to leave him, did he do something?
But there was none. Shen Liyao couldn't think of anything. The day when she decided to give up on him out of nowhere was just another ordinary sunny day.
The more it was like this, the more it made Shen Liyao's stomach queasy.
Ye Bai said, "But just now when Fu Yangxi was tying her shoelaces for her, she unconsciously took a step back— She doesn't seem to have moved on from you yet?"
"Leave me be for a moment." Shen Liyao shook off his hand and turned to walk downstairs.
"God Yao, we have to conduct an experiment later, and marks will be counted for it!" a guy from the School Representative Team hurriedly reminded.
Ye Bai quickly caught up to him and said, "Do you like her? You can't possibly have fallen for her, right? If you don't like Zhao Mingxi, then there is no point in you being bothered about what she said!"
Shen Liyao stopped walking. As if he had to force himself to say these words, he answered, "I don't like her."
Ye Bai said, "Exactly."
Shen Liyao told himself, he didn't like her. It didn't matter. It's fine. It's nothing big.
So many people would stuff love letters on his table everyday. Her absence didn't matter.
Although he admired her and that they could continue as friends— She just didn't like him anymore.
But at this moment, Shen Liyao was still so lost that he couldn't say anything else.
Everything was spiraling out of his control.
He didn't have the mood to conduct some sh*tty experiment. He continued to walk downstairs and said coldly, "Don't follow me."
At the same time, in the office, a few teachers had formed a circle as they analyzed one exam paper in shock.
"The final question requires Linear Functional Analysis. This was a question which I had set in order to create a gap between their marks. This topic is beyond a high schooler's syllabus. What was extremely relieving for me was that there were a total of seven people who managed to answer this with clear work, and there were even three among them who got the steps right. This shows that they have dabbled into many areas of study."
Said the Gold Medal Class' Mr. Jiang who was both their math teacher as well as their homeroom teacher.
"This is Shen Liyao's paper. I've seen his handwriting for the past two to three years so I am sure that this belongs to him." He waved the exam paper to his left, the happiness in his eyes apparent. Then, he waved the exam paper to his right. "This is our class' Qiu Wei's paper."
When it comes to outstanding students, as teachers they were able to recognize their handwritings easily.
"Now the problem is, whose one is this?"
Mr. Jiang said, "I have never seen this student's handwriting before!"
Although the exam papers have all been marked, they had yet to be unsealed so they couldn't see their names. The three of them were extremely shocked and confused about this exam paper, so much so that they were discussing it over breakfast.
The Evergreen Class' Mrs. Ye Bing squinted at the International Class' Mr. Lu who was sitting at the corner. She gave him a mysterious smile. "It can't possibly be from the International Class, right?"
"I say, Mr. Lu, if your class continues on with these results, you're all about to get kicked out of this building! Although your class does not need to join competitions nor are they required to obtain good results, and they only need to develop in all areas— but we can't have a huge gap between us, right? Wouldn't you guys fall into the category of a Normal Class then?"
"Also, look at your results this month. It has already been reduced by half due to that boy from the Fu family. Will the other half be reduced this month due to the monthly exams?"
Mr. Lu bit into his pancake. Although his face was full of anger, he did not dare to say a word.
What sin did he commit that he had to be stuck with this group of students from the International Class? Their results were only so-so, but they were the best in creating trouble for him.
Although he felt uncomfortable about this, he still retained a smile as he replied Mrs. Ye Bing, "I think it should be someone from the Evergreen Class. You should compare their handwritings."
Mr. Jiang agreed, "It has to be someone from the Evergreen Class."
Although Ye Bing could not determine which student in her class did this exam paper belong to, she agreed that it had to be someone from her class.
The corners of her red lips curled up. She picked that exam paper up and said, "Let's not make any more assumptions. Hurry up and bring the other exam papers here. We'll arrange their rankings."
After a while, the teachers in charge of other subjects brought over their exam papers. When they sent it over, they all said that there was one student with a handwriting that they were unfamiliar with who seemed to have gotten rather good results. Their marks were very high as well.
Only the biology teacher didn't say anything about this.
This piqued the interest of the three homeroom teachers. Even the teachers of other subjects felt that there was an unfamiliar handwriting?
Because they were paying a lot more attention to this student who not only had unfamiliar handwriting, they also scored full marks for their Math paper, while they were separating the papers, they also paid more attention as to the identity of this student.
When the seal was opened, the three homeroom teachers surrounded the paper.
Although Mr. Lu felt that this as none of his business, he still went over in a sour mood. He pretended to be a mere extra and that he was not jealous at all.
In the end, when the name was revealed—
Mr. Lu couldn't believe his eyes!
Meanwhile, Mrs. Ye Bing and Mr. Jiang were stunned. "T-This, who is this Zhao Mingxi?"
F*ck, when it comes to his students scoring full marks, these two draw up a blank as to the identity of his student. Mr. Lu yelled out angrily, "She's from our class! The student who just transferred from the other block's Normal Class!"
"What's going on?!" Mr. Lu was stunned for a good five seconds before he quickly flipped through Zhao Mingxi's other subject papers. After merely going through Chinese and English, his hands were already shaking. He felt as if he had just struck gold as he was both in disbelief and fear. He was afraid that in the next moment, her marks for her other subject papers would be average—
In the end, after reading through all her exam papers, aside from her Biology paper which she didn't complete and had scored an average mark on, the scores for her other subjects were extremely high, the total of which added up to 700.
"What the hell? A transfer student from the Normal Class? 700 marks?" Ye Bing couldn't control her emotions. "This time's Math paper was really hard! It's as hard as last year's Hundred School Tournament's paper! Did you guys set easy papers for the other subjects?"
The other subject teachers all said, "No, we made it especially hard for our subjects as well."
"Then what's going on?" Ye Bing couldn't believe it. She hurriedly turned back. "Quickly add the marks of the other students so that we can arrange their rankings."
If someone who had just transferred from the Normal Class could get 700 marks, wouldn't the other students from the Gold Medal Class and Evergreen Class be able to get scores of 700 and above then?
As it was merely a monthly exam, it was easy for the students in the Evergreen Class, hence no one paid any mind to it.
However, as this exam would determine who would be the host for the Annual School Celebration as well as being the first common exam taken by the new School Beauty as well as the previous School Beauty, everyone in the Evergreen Class couldn't help but to pay attention to Zhao Mingxi's results.
Previously, Zhao Yuan didn't care about these exams as well. After all, her results were good, so if nothing went wrong, her ranking would be around 20. Although it couldn't be compared with the more intelligent School Representative Team, it was still enough to annihilate around 99% of students in their area.
Nonetheless, as this month's exam was joined by Zhao Mingxi, she felt a little nervous.
She had been waiting in her classroom ever since the end of breakfast. Although she appeared as if she was nonchalant while reading a book, her mind was focused on the door as she waited for their homeroom teacher to display their results on the screen.
Ye Bai and the rest from the School Representative Team were all quietly discussing what had happened to Zhao Mingxi as they had all witnessed Zhao Mingxi rejecting Shen Liyao this morning at the corridor.
Thus, they went from not caring about this monthly exam's results — because no matter what they would always be the Top 6 — to paying a lot more attention to it.
As for Zhao Mingxi, she was obviously nervous about this.
She heard that they had yet to choose the team for this year's Hundred School Tournament. Usually, only 20 will be selected. Therefore, if she manages to get into the Top 20, she would be able to join the Hundred School Tournament.
God knows how much she wanted to join that Tournament.
This time when she took the exam for the first few subjects, she could happily feel that her 'debuff' had all but disappeared. She didn't know if it was because of the dozen buds which had just grown before the exams.
But when it came to Biology, the familiar feeling of being unable to write and almost blacking out appeared once more. Thus, she couldn't do her best in the Biology paper.
I wonder how it'll turn out in the end.
She kept on looking at the clock. She turned back and asked Ke Chengwen, "When will the homeroom teacher for the International Class usually come to announce the results?"
"Before the start of the first period, around 8.50 a.m.." Ke Chengwen was playing a game while sitting on a table, his legs swinging. "Are you nervous, Little Mask?"
After he finished speaking, Fu Yangxi rolled up a book and swatted him on the leg heavily. He then looked at him with a threatening glare.
Fu Yangxi didn't allow anyone else to use this nickname.
Ke Chengwen quickly switched it up, "Zhao Mingxi, are you nervous?"
"Of course I am." Mingxi confessed honestly. This was the fastest way for her to earn money. "I want to join the Tournament."
She couldn't earn a lot of money by merely taking exams for others or tutoring them.
But if she joins the Tournament and gets into the finals, she heard that the school will give them 50,000 yuan as a cash prize.
And if she wins the Tournament, not only the school, even the city will give her money! She would get extra marks as well! She wouldn't be able to find better benefits anywhere else!
Of course, winning the Tournament was not something Mingxi dared to hope for.
"But your results—" Ke Chengwen gave her a one over before speaking in a hesitant manner, "Are so-so, right?"
"What are you talking about?" Fu Yangxi smacked him again.
Ke Chengwen's legs were swollen. He didn't dare to sit on the table anymore. He quickly crawled back to his seat.
The guy who previously had the gall to ask what Mingxi looked like under the mask asked in a small voice, "When it comes to exams, the more important part is the fact that she joined it. I'll be thankful if she doesn't pull down our average marks."
He originally thought that his voice was small enough that no one could hear him in this noisy classroom. Unfortunately for him, Fu Yangxi immediately stood up with a fierce look. "Tao Han, come here for a moment."
Ke Chengwen couldn't help but to say, "…His name is Wang Han."
F*ck.
That guy instantly hid underneath his desk.
The class was in an uproar.
Fu Yangxi was about to angrily drag Tao Han out from behind Mingxi. When Mingxi recalled how he had been summoned by the dean this morning, she quickly blocked him.
When Fu Yangxi saw that he couldn't get out from behind Mingxi, he pulled open the window to his right and was about to jump out.
At this moment.
Their homeroom teacher Mr. Lu suddenly rushed in!
Everyone watched as Mr. Lu with his bright face and confident steps walked over to Zhao Mingxi. The way he looked at her was as if he was looking at his own biological daughter!
Then—!
He abruptly pulled her up and hugged her. Then, he mumbled, "Ah, I've finally made a comeback," as he jumped a few times with Zhao Mingxi in his arms.
The dizzy Zhao Mingxi: …?
Fu Yangxi: !?
"Lu Zhangwei, what the f*ck do you think you're doing?!" Fu Yangxi was exasperated. He quickly pulled Zhao Mingxi out of his arms.
Chapter 25 (Part 1)
When Mrs. Ye Bing entered the Evergreen Class with the exam papers, her lips were pressed tightly together, forming an ugly frown.
The whole of the Evergreen Class could feel how angry she was and how she was about to unleash that anger unto them.
When they heard her first sentence of, "Our overall results this time is not bad, there isn't much difference from before", they all let out a sigh of relief.
But in the next second, they all watched as she slammed the exam papers on the podium!
"But you have all done so badly in the Maths paper!"
"None of you scored full marks for it!"
"There are three people who scored full marks, including someone from the upstairs International Class. So why isn't there anyone from our class who got full marks?!"
"Is it because I'm a worse teacher than the other two Maths teachers?!"
Ye Bing was burning up on the inside. She could forget about the fact that she always lost to the Gold Medal Class' Mr. Jiang. After all, their class made up the School Representative Team, so it was normal for her to be unable to win against them.
However, this was the first time in a few years that she had been overtaken by the International Class' Mr. Lu!
When she recalled how back in the office, Lu Wangwei was smiling in absolute delight as he said to her, "all is fair in love and war", with his look of having obtained advantages yet choosing to put on an innocent farce, the fire in Ye Bing's heart raged stronger.
"That person from the International Class must have been very lucky," someone beneath the podium muttered.
That question was so difficult. It was hard for them to even understand it.
Not only was it beyond their syllabus, it was way beyond the scope of the Tournament.
They knew based on how Ye Bing said that only three people from their block managed to answer the question. Not even all six members from the School Representative Team managed to answer it— So how could someone from the International Class who always scored results lower than theirs be able to answer it?
No one took it to heart. It was just one question. In the end, they would still trump over the International Class' total marks.
Zhao Yuan wasn't bothered by it either. Although she didn't complete that question, she was still quite good in her other subjects, so her final ranking will not be too bad.
All in all, it was impossible for the only person from the International Class who scored full marks for the Maths paper to be Zhao Mingxi.
She continued to keep her head lowered, her eyes focused on the book. However, her mind was where the teachers were moving on to the next step of announcing the rankings.
The projector was turned on. Zhao Yuan was getting increasingly nervous. Although she did not seem like it, her hands which were unconsciously clenching the pages of the book were covered in sweat.
Pu Shuang who was sitting beside her whispered, "Don't be nervous. So long as you've performed as you normally did, you will be in the Top 20 amongst the three classes. Zhao Mingxi just transferred here from the Normal Class last month. She probably has yet to catch up with our syllabus, so how could she possibly compete against you?"
"I'm not nervous." Zhao Yuan shook her head and said, "I am certain that my results will be better than hers. I'm just afraid that—"
She was afraid that the gap between her results and Zhao Mingxi's will not be big.
Afraid that Zhao Mingxi would have made great improvement in her studies.
Although Zhao Yuan didn't finish her sentence, Pu Shuang understood what she meant. "True. As Zhao Mingxi started from the bottom, whenever she makes any progress your family will definitely notice it. But as your results have been consistently good, your family members must be used to it already."
Zhao Mingxi's transfer from the Normal Class to this building must be accompanied by a huge fall. She has to fall to the bottom of the rankings. Only then will Zhao Yuan's family notice the difference between them.
"Yeah."
Zhao Yuan closed her eyes and regained her composure.
When she opened her eyes once more, the results were displayed on the screen.
She held her breath as she searched for her own ranking, looking through the results of each and every subject.
Pu Shuang looked from up to down and found her name first. She said, "Oh my God, Yuanyuan, you're amazing! Ranked No.5 in class and ranked No.20 among the three classes!"
"You got into the Top 20 again!"
Zhao Yuan immediately let out half a sigh of relief. She smiled at Pu Shuang as she spoke, "I didn't do my best this time."
Pu Shuang said, "I think you shouldn't worry about it so much. There are a total of 150 people among the three classes. Zhao Mingxi will either be in the 149th or 150th place. Her results weren't that good to begin with with her average being near the bottom of the Normal Classes. Besides, it is practically impossible for someone who had just transferred from the Normal Class to catch up to our syllabus!"
The more Zhao Yuan listened, the more she felt relieved. She said, "I do hope that she doesn't get such bad results, or else my eldest brother will have to be called here by her homeroom teacher again."
While the two of them were talking, Ye Bing pressed a button and changed the screen from displaying the results of their class to the results of their whole building. She said with a cold expression, "Don't think that you ought to be happy just because you scored good results. Look at the results of the School Representative Team and observe the gap between your results and theirs."
The students from the Evergreen Class began to seek for the results of the people they were familiar with on the list of the whole building's ranking.
Suddenly.
Someone said, "Oh my God, wait a minute. Am I seeing this right? Is that Zhao Mingxi's name?"
"What place is she in—? Have I gone blind? Teacher, can you zoom in a little?!"
"Li Haiyang, was she the one who rejected you?"
"What do you mean Li Haiyang*? You should call him Li Jingyu*. That Young Master from the Fu family personally gave him this nickname. Isn't that exciting?"
*Haiyang = sea. Jingyu = whale.
Li Haiyang said, "Shut up."
What's going on?
When Zhao Yuan and Pu Shuang heard someone mention Zhao Mingxi, they thought they were imagining it at first.
Usually when Ye Bing displayed the rankings on the screen she would scroll down slowly from top to bottom. She has only shown the rankings of this block for a few minutes, so they should still be looking at the Top 50.
Zhao Mingxi got into the Top 50—?
Zhao Yuan's heart fell to the pit of her stomach. She quickly raised her head and looked towards the screen.
Then, she saw a sight which she simply could not believe or comprehend.
White background, black boxes. The number in front of Zhao Mingxi's name was 19.
From left the right, the one which attracted their attention the most was the Maths column.
Full marks.
She scored full marks.
Voices began to appear beside her ears:
"Zhao Mingxi who just transferred from the Normal Class is ranked 19? She got into the Top 20?"
"What the hell? Oh my God! It is so hard to get into the Top 20. Usually more than 10 students from the Gold Medal Class will take up those spaces and only around five students from our class can get in. No one from the International Class has ever gotten into the Top 20! But why is it that this time— Didn't Zhao Mingxi say that she was from the Normal Class?"
More and more people were noticing Zhao Mingxi who was in 19th place.
Then, someone took note of the same thing as Zhao Yuan—
"Wait, she's the one who scored full marks for Maths?!"
The moment someone made this statement, everyone fell into shock.
Then, the whole class went into an uproar which was akin to boiling water.
The person from the International Class who was one of the three who scored full marks for Maths as mentioned by Ye Bing just now was her?
When Ye Bing saw how the whole class started to make noise due to Zhao Mingxi, she pulled a long face. "You still have the courage to talk about others? She had just transferred here for a month and is still trying hard to catch up to our syllabus, yet she could obtain full marks for Maths! I have taught you all for so long but none of you had any idea on how to answer the last question?!"
Zhao Yuan looked at the name which was sitting right on top of hers.
For the next five minutes, she felt as if she was in a dream.
She wondered if she had encountered a demon.
She appeared extremely uncomfortable.
Her whole mind was aloof. In the end, she couldn't help but to regain her composure. She whispered to Pu Shuang, "…Am I hearing things? Is that Mingxi? 19th place…? In front of me?"
Pu Shuang was still in shock, so much so that she had yet to shut her mouth and return to her senses. "What?"
When the guy in front of Zhao Yuan heard her, he thought that she couldn't see it properly, so he turned around and told her kindly, "Yes, that is Zhao Mingxi. She actually got full marks for Maths! Who would've known? And it was such a tough question too! How did she end up in the Normal Class anyways?"
"Is your elder sister good at one subject— Wait, it can't be considered as being good at one subject. She's only bad at Biology, seeing as how she scored quite well for her other subjects."
"Wait, why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"
Zhao Yuan, "…"
Meanwhile, the International Class was still in an uproar.
Their homeroom teacher Mr. Lu didn't even use the projector. The moment he ran in excitedly to hug Zhao Mingxi, he told her on the spot that she obtained full marks for Maths this time. She was ranked No.1 in the International Class and ranked No.19 in their whole building.
The whole class looked at Zhao Mingxi in surprise.
"Oh my God, Little— No, Zhao Mingxi, you're quite good, aren't you?" Ke Chengwen exclaimed. "If only we knew that your results were this good, Xi ge and I would have copied from you."
"Copy, copy, copy. You only know how to copy!" Fu Yangxi had a proud smile on his face. He gave Zhao Mingxi a look and emphasized, "I have never cheated on my exams, alright?"
Ke Chengwen said, "Yes, you're lazy to even answer the paper, so why would you cheat? Are you trying to copy her name into your top left corner?"
Fu Yangxi picked up a dictionary on Zhao Mingxi's table. "You're getting brave, aren't you?"
Ke Chengwen quickly smiled and retreated.
"I'm in 19th place?" Zhao Mingxi had yet to return to her senses. She pointed at her own nose and looked at Fu Yangxi. "Did they mark the papers correctly? Is it true?"
The thing is, she had always gotten 1st place back in Tong City. But ever since she got here, she had never obtained good results. Not only did this cause her to be unable to determine her true results, it also made her think that the Maths standard over here had trumped over Tong City's by a lot. Thus, it led to her going from the 1st place to nearing the end of the ranks.
Who would've known that without the disadvantages, she would immediately come in 19th place?
Why does she look so silly when she's shocked?
Fu Yangxi's heart almost melted. He couldn't help but to ruffle her hair, unable to keep in the smile on his face. "Don't be crazy, Little Mask. You've already gotten 1st place and yet you're asking me who is probably in the last place if you've gotten 1st place? You're purposely showing off, aren't you?"
With her hair in a mess, Zhao Mingxi was pulled to sit down by Fu Yangxi.
After sitting down, her heart started to beat at a fast pace. She was trying her best to accept the fact that she really wasn't that bad.
As she continued to think about it, she couldn't help but to place her face in her hands in excitement.
However.
—"Are you sure that there was nothing wrong with the marking process? And there's cameras in the classroom so don't you think about suspecting that I've cheated."
Mingxi didn't want her feelings to go up and down like a roller coaster.
"Silly child." Mr. Lu's gaze upon her was filled with affection.
He returned to the podium and looked toward Zhao Mingxi with an excited gaze which positively screamed 'I finally have one promising child from my household'.
"Ahem, everyone settle down. I want to say a few words."
"This is the happiest day of my teaching career. No one from the International Class has ever gotten first place for Maths. Although this time we are tied with two others from the Gold Medal Class, but we still got No.1! This means that my teaching has been effective. It means that all my hard work did not go to waste…"
What followed after was an endless speech of hurt and pain, spanning all the way to when Mr. Lu had yet to lose the hair on his head and decided to spend the rest of his life educating the young.
Just as a group of people from the International Class was about to throw spoiled chicken eggs at him, what made their hearts go through a roller coaster really appeared.
A Biology teacher appeared at the entrance to their class and called for Mr. Lu. He said that there was a problem with two students' Biology papers.
They needed to rearrange the final marks again.
"What?" Mr. Lu was shocked. Their class had just gotten someone who squeezed into the Top 20, so please do not let it be Zhao Mingxi's results. With an anxious heart, he asked, "Which two?"
"Your class' Zhao Mingxi and the Gold Medal Class' Dan Qi."
Mr. Lu followed the Biology teacher with his emotions on tenterhooks.
The mood in the International Class turned anxious.
Fu Yangxi looked out the window and frowned. "They released the results before checking it properly, and now they've got to rearrange it again. What if your results become lower? Then wouldn't they have made us happy for nothing?"
Mingx sighed. She actually thought of this as the plot going in the right direction— Or else how was it possible for her to get into the Top 20 so easily?
It wasn't that she didn't believe in Fu Yangxi's luck. She simply didn't believe in herself.
Achieving such good results so suddenly after obtaining terrible results for the past two years. Even she thought she was dreaming.
"Relax." Mingxi was surprisingly calm. She took a sip of the milk from her table and poked a straw into it.
Chapter 25 (Part 2)
The Evergreen Class received the news about the rearrangement as well. They heard that it involved the International Class' Zhao Mingxi and the Gold Medal Class' Dan Qi.
The moment they heard this news, Ye Bing left the class to participate in the rearrangement too.
After the strict Ye Bing had left, the discussion in the Evergreen Class increased in volume.
"I was wondering why Zhao Mingxi had gotten such high marks. Turns out there was a miscalculation."
Li Haiyang couldn't help but to stand up for Zhao Mingxi. "Didn't you hear that it was just because one blank space in a Biology question had been asked wrongly? That only amounts to 3 marks. Even if they deduct those 3 marks, she would still have 697 marks, and that itself is impressive."
"But if that happens, her ranking will drop— She might be," That person raised his head and said, "She might be ranked below Zhao Yuan at 22nd place."
The blood in Zhao Yuan's veins rushed to her head. The buzzing in her mind had finally reduced albeit just a little. She forced herself to calculate the outcome if Zhao Mingxi really lost those 3 marks.
If a deduction is made, then she will be in 19th place while Zhao Mingxi will be in 22nd place.
Pu Shuang made a quick mental calculation as well. She swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "Who would've known that Zhao Mingxi would do so well this time? Could it be purely coincidental? Did Shen Liyao point out the important areas for her? But if they are to rearrange the rankings, she will be right below you. Then—"
Pu Shuang wanted to say that 'it is at least better than having her defeat you', but when she saw the look on Zhao Yuan's face, she could not muster up the courage to finish her sentence.
The few minutes of waiting was absolutely torturous for the three classes.
Zhao Yuan kept on staring at the screen. Around five minutes later, Ye Bing returned.
Ye Bing refreshed the page.
Due to what happened just now, everyone subconsciously looked for Zhao Mingxi and Dan Qi's names. They all wanted to see the change in their rankings.
Then, they saw—
Zhao Mingxi actually moved up? Marks were added instead of deducted?
She moved up to the 17th place?!
As compared to the noise they made just now, the current Evergreen Class fell into pure silence.
Ye Bing explained coldly, "There were two answers for a question in the Biology paper, but the other one belongs to the syllabus of a university student. As it was not in the scope of our syllabus, we marked it wrongly at first glance. Now everything has been fixed, and only two students used the other answer. "
"Let me remind you all once more. Those who plan to join the Tournament, you ought to try your best to expand the range of your knowledge."
Zhao Yuan's blood was as if it had been frozen over. She watched as Zhao Mingxi went up to the 17th place due to the addition of those 3 marks.
As for Dan Qi who was ranked behind her, her ranking had also gone up because of those 3 marks.
She suddenly fell to the 21st place!?
Due to the fact that this time Zhao Yuan's ranking had been affected as well, everyone subconsciously took a glance at Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan tried her best to maintain a calm facade, but how was she to truly calm down? Her mind was blank.
Why is this happening?
Zhao Mingxi's results used to be so bad.
How could she have defeated her in just one month? Did she sign up for tuition classes? But who was teaching her to the point where she would surpass her so quickly?
Zhao Yuan started to pant. She was afraid that others could see her flustered expression, so she had no choice but to lower her head.
E Xiaoxia looked at Zhao Yuan and said in an enigmatic tone, "Looks like Zhao Mingxi isn't that bad after all."
In contrast to the Evergreen Class' somberness, the International Class fell into an uproar again.
"I am so happy! 17th place, 17th place, I taught someone in 17th place! What does this mean? This means that the International Class will only be better from this point onwards!"
Mr. Lu walked over in big strides. His face was flushed red in excitement and the rims of his eyes were actually damp. He rushed over and was about to pull Mingxi up.
Fu Yangxi stopped him in time. He chided, "Mr. Lu, please be a good example to your students and calm down."
The followers in the International Class were all looking at Zhao Mingxi in admiration— Now they knew why Xi ge had rejected this transfer student so many times at the beginning yet as time went by he slowly began to accept her. Maybe it was because he realized that her results were good and he wanted to copy her homework.
However, why did someone who transferred from the Normal Class obtain such good results?
Could it be that she had not bothered to take the exam seriously last time and pretended to be stupid?
All in all, everyone was very surprised.
The face of the long-tongued Wang Han who previously said that Zhao Mingxi's results were bad had swelled. He shook in fear, unwilling to raise his head.
"17? There won't be any mistakes this time, right?"
Mingxi asked in shock.
Although she was trying her best to appear calm and collected, she was actually feeling as happy as Mr. Lu, if not more.
Despite the fact that it was just a monthly exam, it still meant that there was a possibility for her fate to be changed completely.
Fu Yangxi didn't know why he was feeling this odd sense of satisfaction akin to when he got through a dungeon in a game when he saw how happy she was.
When he saw Mingxi stand up abruptly with an excited look, he stood up hurriedly as well.
Mingxi turned to look at Fu Yangxi. Her surprise seemed to have been cut off.
What? Why did he stand up after her?
Fu Yangxi thought that Little Mask must be overwhelmed to tears right now, the look in her eyes was as if she was going to suddenly envelop him in a hug.
He pulled up the zipper of his jacket. Then, with flushed cheeks, red ears and a determined look, he put his chin up and said, "Come!"
Mingxi: ?
Mingxi couldn't figure out what he was trying to do.
Fu Yangxi would do crazy stuff more than 100 times a day. Since she was already used to it, she quickly sat down.
Ke Chengwen, "…"
Fu Yangxi, "…"
She didn't want a hug?
Fu Yangxi was both angered and embarrassed. He touched his nose and hurriedly pretended as if nothing happened by turning around and sitting down as well.
Due to such an awkward scene, everyone calmed down, save for Mr. Lu.
At least until next month, whenever he hears Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Ye Bing boast about the good results of the students in their classes, he will no longer have to feel envious and put on a fake smile in order to remain polite!
Who was it who advised Zhao Mingxi not to participate in this month's monthly exams?
It was him!
Mr. Lu was extremely thankful that Zhao Mingxi didn't listen to him!
After obtaining such results, during the afternoon break, the Literature teacher came again to look for Mingxi in order to ask her to be the host. However, Mingxi had just gone to the toilet when she arrived so she missed her. Therefore, she could only get someone to pass the message to Mingxi asking her to appear at her office in the next few days.
After their lunch break, at the end of the third period, Mr. Lu called Mingxi to the teachers' office. He complimented her before asking about Mingxi's studies.
He had always been very concerned about Mingxi. When she first transferred into the International Class, he even purposely allowed her to choose her own seat.
Now that he feels that Mingxi is a good seedling which can be cultivated, he paid even more attention to her.
"But I'm curious as to why you have never been able to score such good results back in the Normal Class." Mr. Lu was flipping through Mingxi's homework as he asked, "Based on your homework, I wouldn't think that you were someone who used to rank around 600 to 700 in the Normal Classes."
Before Mingxi could say anything, the door to the office was pushed open. Mr. Li from Normal Class 6 had entered with a tea cup and he said, "I am curious about this as well."
"You're here?" Mr. Lu took a glance at Mr. Li. Then, he said to Mingxi, "Before you transferred here, your ex-homeroom teacher asked me to take good care of you."
Mingxi quickly said, "Thank you sir!"
"No need to thank me. Lu Wangwei, stop saying all this nonsense, or else she might get scared of you." When Mr. Li saw how Mingxi was still standing in front of Mr. Lu's desk, he pulled a chair to her and said, "Have a seat."
When Mingxi saw Mr. Li, her heart felt warm. He had always treated her very well back when she was in Normal Class 6.
Mr. Li said with a smile, "Our Mingxi has finally made it. A few teachers were discussing about you during lunch. They all said that the student who came from my Normal Class 6 had defeated a majority of students in the three competitive classes and that you were very outstanding. It made me so proud to hear it."
"It has already reached your ears?" Mingxi was a little shy as she lightly scratched her face.
She simply could not figure out a way to explain the occurrences which had happened to her previously. Just as she was thinking about how to answer this question, she suddenly thought of Professor Gao, so she said, "I found an amazing teacher who provided me with tuition classes. I have done many test papers as well recently so my results may have risen due to these reasons."
Such situations whereby one's results suddenly shot up in Year 3 was not something unheard of.
The two teachers weren't suspicious of this answer at all. They both felt that it was most likely that this child was not into it previously, and her family was an affecting factor too.
Now that she was staying in school, had left such disturbances and joined tuition classes, it was only natural for her results to get better.
"Then you should be a black horse with unstable results. You have to continue working hard in the future. Don't let your results go down from here."
Due to his words, Mingxi was suddenly reminded of a problem she was most concerned about. "Mr. Lu, have the participants for the Hundred School Tournament been decided? I don't know if I can participate in it with my result as No.17."
"I hope you can join it as well." However, Mr. Lu's face turned somber. He sighed and said, "But it's hard. This is decided by the Gold Medal Class' Mr. Jiang. He is the student of the infamous gold trainer Professor Gao, and he is the teacher who leads the team every year."
"The ones who are usually chosen to participate would have the average results above the 18th place out of everyone in this building— Another two spots are for two students from the International Class who specializes in foreign language."
"Although you are at 17th place this time, your average results are still pulled down too much by your previous scores," Mr. Lu said. "So it is really quite hard. Nonetheless, I will still mention this to Mr. Jiang."
As Mr. Lu spoke, he also felt a little distressed.
He wanted to get Zhao Mingxi to join as well. The more chances she gets, the more hope he has for his bonus.
Although Mingxi was slightly disappointed by this, she still nodded.
Despite the fact that the monthly exam was a mere brief interlude, it still led to Zhao Mingxi entering the group of people leading the ranks among the three classes. At least she had fired her first cannon and established her place in the three classes.
The people who called her transfer student gradually decreased. There were even some who forgot that she was from the Normal Class.
The announcing of the results in the Gold Medal Class was not as dramatic as it was in the Evergreen Class. Mr. Jiang merely passed a piece of paper with the rankings to everyone in class. Then, he gave a short speech.
Shen Liyao had never paid much attention to that list. Regardless of whether or not he took a glimpse of it, he was still in 1st place.
But this time, he held the paper tightly to the point where his knuckles turned white. His expression was unreadable, his eyes glued to the paper.
It was the same as how he liked to take the longer route to the Normal Class' building and take a glimpse of the rankings of the Normal Classes after their exams.
Zhao Mingxi in 17th place. It was within his expectations.
The gap between them was getting smaller.
Shen Liyao had a feeling that someday she was going to gradually crawl up to the spot beside him, and everyone would see how bright she shined.
However, he used to be pretty certain that she was doing all this because of him.
But this time, he was completely unsure.
She was still raising her head, but she was no longer looking in his direction.
