Chapter 51

“Our Class 8 this time,” Guo Hairuo’s expression was as gloomy as an overcast day outside the window, “came second to last.”

The classroom immediately fell silent. Even those students who usually didn’t study much understood that this was not the time to make noise or engage in any petty actions.

“Should I stop praising you all? Last time after the monthly exam, I gave you a bit of praise, and now you’ve fallen back to this position? Half of your final year is already gone, classmates. With results like this, how are you going to go to battle?”

“At this stage, there are still some classmates eating during self-study, holding little meetings, and reading extracurricular books… Sigh, I won’t name names specifically to save you some face. But you know who I’m talking about in your hearts.”

“Last in math, last in biology. Tell me, with the same teachers teaching, why did the other two classes perform so well?”

No student dared to answer at a time like this.

Guo Hairuo spent over ten minutes discussing the overall class performance, branching out to issues like student discipline. With about seven or eight minutes left before the class ended, she circled back to the monthly exam results.

“The hardworking students continue to shine. Every effort reaps its reward; studying is a very fair matter—what you put in is what you get out…”

This went on for over six minutes.

Finally, she moved on to the individual achievements of outstanding students. “Just like in the November monthly exam, nine students from our class made it into the top 200 in the grade. Among these nine, some are regulars, and some are newcomers.”

“Students who made it into the top 100 in the grade…”

The dismissal bell rang.

Guo Hairuo paused, waiting for the bell to finish ringing. “I won’t read out the names. Later, Tao Lei will post the list at the back of the classroom. You can check it yourselves.”

An upset Guo Hairuo tossed the grade sheet to Tao Lei and left.

Without the homeroom teacher present, the students began to stir noisily.

“Let me see the grades first, class monitor.”

“Class monitor, I’ll help you put it up.”

“How did I do this time?”

Several students crowded around Tao Lei’s desk.

“Don’t flip through it, don’t flip through it! Wait until I post it…” Tao Lei frantically tried to stop them from grabbing the grade sheet.

However, his naturally soft demeanor lacked any deterrence, and the students continued rifling through it.

“Do you really have to rush to see your grades in these few seconds?” Yang Min, who had come to find Qin Xiaoxiao, couldn’t stand it anymore and rolled her eyes. “Do you have to make things difficult for the class monitor?”

Her voice was loud enough to be heard within a five-meter radius.

The students who had been fighting to see the grades awkwardly let go and dispersed.

Tao Lei glanced at Yang Min, but she had already turned away and started chatting with Qin Xiaoxiao.

“Yang… thanks.”

Yang Min heard him and waved it off nonchalantly. “It’s nothing, no need to thank me. Just let me copy your homework properly next time!”

“…Alright.” Tao Lei scratched his slightly angular jawline, then grabbed a pair of scissors and some clear tape to post the grade sheet at the back of the classroom.

“I told my mom I was going to get a haircut, took my stash of pocket money, and got it straightened,” Yang Min said, talking about her plans for the New Year’s holiday.

Qin Xiaoxiao glanced at her hair. “Won’t it be obvious if you straighten it?”

“No big deal. As soon as I get home, I’ll put on a hat and only take it off in my room,” Yang Min replied. “And as for washing it, I’ll just do it when my parents aren’t home.”

“…Alright then.” Qin Xiaoxiao glanced subtly toward the back of the classroom.

There was quite a crowd gathered.

“Xiaoxiao, are you going shopping with me during New Year’s?”

Qin Xiaoxiao shook her head. “No, I’m not going.” She planned to study and help her mother, whose health wasn’t very good.

Yang Min drooped her eyes and sighed. “Lonely me…”

“Why don’t you ask Dong Yunfang or someone else to go with you?”

“I want to go with you the most.”

“Mm… How about you stay home and study instead?” Qin Xiaoxiao’s tone carried a hint of persuasion. “The new year is almost here. Don’t you think it’s time to start focusing more on your studies?”

“Alright, alright, focus, focus. I like eating snacks.”

“…Yang Min.”

“Ah?”

“Goodbye.”

“Don’t!” Yang Min immediately sprawled across Qin Xiaoxiao’s desk. “You can’t abandon me just because I don’t like studying!”

Qin Xiaoxiao ignored her playful banter, stood up, and walked toward the blackboard at the back of the classroom.

There were only a few students left there.

“The school bully is seriously amazing!” 

“Skipped classes and still did better than last time…”

Noticing out of the corner of their eyes that Qin Xiaoxiao was coming over, the students who had been praising the school bully instinctively shut their mouths and stepped aside. Their companions, seeing this, glanced back, then followed suit, falling silent and making way.

She found the summary sheet for the class’s overall ranking.

Chinese: 112, Math: 137… Total Score: 657, Class Rank: 1, Grade Rank: 11… Qin Xiaoxiao glanced at her own scores, her expression calm as she continued scanning downward.

Class Rank 2, 3, 4… Her gaze paused at Class Rank 7.

Chinese: 107, Math: 126, English: 135, Science: 234, Total Score: 602, Class Rank: 7, Grade Rank: 98, Grade Progression: +101.

The name in the far-left column of this row was: Ji Wenchen.

…

During the last self-study session before the holiday, Lu Yitao could hardly sit still.

Doing practice questions was out of the question, and flipping through magazines wasn’t interesting either.

He glanced around the classroom, then craned his neck to look outside for a while. After confirming that Miss Ruo wasn’t around, he boldly pulled out the phone hidden in his desk.

Out of habit, he first opened QQ to see which girls on his list were online.

A slight scroll down revealed that Brother Chen’s avatar was lit. As a loyal underling, Lu Yitao respectfully clicked open the chat window to send his daily greeting (a one-sided awkward chat).

【Good afternoon, Brother Chen.】

【After this class, the school will officially be on holiday!】

【Miss Ruo is so damn unfair, insisting on announcing the grades right before the break.】

After sending these messages, Lu Yitao took a moment to admire Brother Chen’s simple yet tasteful profile picture before preparing to exit the chat.

Who would have thought that Brother Chen, who rarely replied to him, actually sent a message!

Brother Chen: 【How did I do?】

【Outstanding!】 Lu Yitao replied without hesitation. 【Brother Chen is, of course, outstanding!】

Brother Chen: 【Rank.】

This…

Lu Yitao, a perpetual underachiever who never cared about exams, how could he possibly keep track of the results? When he had passed by the grade sheet earlier on his way back from the restroom, he’d only given it a casual glance. How could he possibly know Ji Wenchen’s rank?

It was rare for Brother Chen to chat with him, so he absolutely had to answer this question. Clutching his phone, Lu Yitao half-squatted as he hurried to the back of the classroom. Starting from the bottom of the grade sheet, he searched forward. Before long, he found it.

Lu Yitao glanced at the class rank and typed quickly, 【Brother Chen, you ranked 7th in the class!】 Then he checked the grade rank, 【98th in the grade.】

He was just about to add an exclamation mark to emphasize his admiration—

“Lu Yitao!” Guo Hairuo suddenly appeared at the back door of the classroom.

Lu Yitao’s bulky body trembled, nearly causing him to fall backward onto the ground.

“During self-study, why aren’t you in your seat? And you’re playing with your phone?” Guo Hairuo frowned as she approached, stretching out her hand. “Hand it over!”

“Miss—no, I mean, teacher, I’m sorry! I-I just wanted to, um, take a picture of the grades to show my parents!”

Guo Hairuo didn’t believe a single word of his excuse. “Hand it over!”

“Teacher, I… I…”

“You want your parents to know your grades, right? I’ll call them later and tell them your results myself. We can also have a nice chat about your behavior at school.”

Hearing this, Lu Yitao, whose “economic lifeline” was tightly controlled by his parents, felt his legs go weak and actually collapsed onto the floor. He desperately wished he could go back to a minute ago and strangle his past self for making up such a terrible excuse!

“Hand it over. Don’t make me say it a fourth time.”

Resigned to his fate, Lu Yitao extended his phone toward her. Midway, he suddenly remembered that he hadn’t replied to Brother Chen’s message yet. Retracting his hand, he said hurriedly, “Teacher, let me just send one message,” and quickly sent the reply.

He turned off the phone, removed the SIM card, and handed it over to the teacher.

Guo Hairuo took the phone and said, “Come with me to the office.”

Sigh… Lu Yitao got up miserably and dragged himself along.

…

“Young President Ji, this is the proposal submitted by the Planning Department and the schedule for tomorrow.” A sharp-looking man in a gray business suit handed over a folder with both hands.

Ji Wenchen nodded. “Leave it on the desk.”

“Yes, sir.” The man responded respectfully, placed the folder on the solid wood desk, and exited the office.

Ji Wenchen leaned back against the chair, pinched the bridge of his nose, tugged at the collar of his sweater, and reached for the documents on the desk.

The phone on the desk lit up.

With a slightly tired and lazy lift of his long eyes, Ji Wenchen, who had excellent eyesight, noticed the string of messages sent by Lu Yitao.

Seeing the third message, he leaned forward and picked up the phone.

With his long, slender fingers, he typed a few times and sent a message.

Lu Yitao: 【Outstanding! Brother Chen is, of course, outstanding!】

But Ji Wenchen only cared about the ranking.

On the other end, it seemed as though Lu Yitao had gone offline—there was no reply even after two or three minutes.

Ji Wenchen’s fingers tapped idly on the desk, hitting the surface rhythmically.

After about seventeen or eighteen taps:

Lu Yitao: 【Brother Chen, you ranked 7th in the class! 98th in the grade!】

【Mm. Thanks】, Ji Wenchen replied.

A faint smile glimmered in his deep amber eyes, like a breeze passing through orange-red maple leaves on an autumn day—fleeting but vivid.

After reading two lines of the document, Ji Wenchen picked up his phone again, tapped on the message icon, and sent a text to the top contact in his list.

…

The 31st was the first day of the New Year’s holiday.

Qin Xiaoxiao’s father, who had been promoted another level earlier in December, also had the day off for the holiday.

In the morning, Qin Xiaoxiao stayed home doing homework and reading books. By noon, she volunteered to deliver lunch to her mother.

Winter fruit sales weren’t particularly easy, but with the holiday season, there were slightly more customers than usual.

Qin Xiaoxiao persuaded her mother to go to the small back room to eat lunch in peace and then take a nap, promising to watch over the shop.

After some initial resistance, her mother couldn’t argue against her and, feeling touched, listened to her daughter’s suggestion.

Qin Xiaoxiao stood in front of the shelves, carefully arranging oranges one by one.

A customer entered the shop.

Unlike clothing stores, fruit shops typically didn’t require enthusiastic greetings; the names and prices of the fruits were already displayed, and customers could browse on their own.

So Qin Xiaoxiao politely said, “Welcome,” and continued with her task.

“How much are these navel oranges per jin^[1]斤 (jīn) is Chinese unit. 1 jin = 500 grams (approximately 1.1 pounds).? Oh, I mean, are these navel oranges sweet?” A young man in his early twenties pointed at the oranges Qin Xiaoxiao had just finished arranging.

Qin Xiaoxiao gave an appropriately polished response: “They’re sweet with a hint of tartness, thick-fleshed, and very juicy.”

“Oh, oh.” The man grabbed a bag and cheerfully picked out a few oranges.

Qin Xiaoxiao placed the bag of oranges on the electronic scale and, seeing him take out his wallet, said, “13.7. I’ll give you a little discount—13.5 yuan.”

“No need, no need. Just give me one yuan in change.” The man handed her a ten-yuan bill and a five-yuan bill.

“Uh, if it’s convenient… could I get your WeChat?”

“Sorry, that’s not convenient.”

“Ah, what I meant was… I mean, if your shop gets any new fruits, you could let me know via WeChat.”

“Sorry, but we’re not doing WeChat promotions at the moment.”

“Oh, that’s alright then.”

The man glanced again at the fresh and delicate young woman selling fruit, feeling a bit regretful as he left with the fruit he had casually bought.

After finishing arranging the fruit on the shelves, Qin Xiaoxiao returned to the counter and sat down.

The shop didn’t have a computer installed yet.

It was hard to focus on studying while watching the shop.

Qin Xiaoxiao reached into her small crossbody bag and took out her phone.

There were two messages: one from her mobile carrier, sent seven minutes ago, and another from the person who had been messaging her most frequently lately, sent thirty-two minutes ago.

Qin Xiaoxiao first checked the message from the mobile carrier, then opened the one below it—

Ji Wenchen: 【Girlfriend, are you eating at home tonight?】

…Since yesterday afternoon, every one of his messages had started with those three words (girlfriend).

Qin Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, then replied: 【Mm. Was it you who topped up the 100 yuan phone credit?】

In less than ten seconds, Ji Wenchen replied: 【Yes, I saw you didn’t reply for a long time and thought you might be out of credit.】

Qin Xiaoxiao responded: 【…I wasn’t out of credit.】

Almost at the same time Qin Xiaoxiao sent her message, Ji Wenchen’s reply arrived: 【No need to pay me back, and don’t top it up for me either. This is just a small thing a boyfriend should do.】

Ji Wenchen: 【Then consider it next month’s phone credit.】

Ji Wenchen: 【If it’s not enough, let me know.】

Qin Xiaoxiao’s face felt a bit hot. “…” This guy sure adapted to the role quickly.