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“Yixuan, I’m sorry.”

Ji Yiran held her meal tray, deliberately approaching when Wang Sasa wasn’t around. After all, even though Wang Sasa had claimed she wanted to be friends with Tan Yixuan and had followed through for the past month, Ji Yiran still couldn’t forget the ruthlessness Wang Sasa showed when bullying others. She didn’t dare to take any chances. Over the past month, the guilt she carried toward Tan Yixuan had nearly suffocated her. So even if not for her own sake, she felt she had to apologize to Tan Yixuan.

When Tan Yixuan heard this, she didn’t even lift her eyelids, continuing to eat dinner as if Ji Yiran didn’t exist.

Ji Yiran, unbothered, continued cautiously, “I know you don’t want to forgive me, but I was forced. My family isn’t well-off, and my parents paid a lot of money to get me into this school. You know that Wang Sasa’s grandfather is one of the school’s board members, and I couldn’t afford to offend her…”

Tan Yixuan paused for a moment but didn’t lift her head. “Ji Yiran, you don’t need to apologize to me because we have nothing to do with each other.”

Ji Yiran opened her mouth, her face turning pale. “I’m sorry… I’m really sorry. But I still think of us as friends, so I never joined them in bullying you.”

This sentence seemed to irritate Tan Yixuan. She slammed her chopsticks down on the table, and a trace of a cold smile appeared on her lips. “So what? You stood by and did nothing while I was bullied, and I’m supposed to thank you for that?”

Ji Yiran stammered, “That’s not what I meant.”

Tan Yixuan sneered, “Then what do you mean? Do you really enjoy being Wang Sasa’s lackey so much? And now that you see Wang Sasa softening toward me, you dare to approach me again? Ji Yiran, you’re just a coward.”

Even though Ji Yiran had successfully mingled with Wang Sasa’s group, she was still mostly excluded. Forming an equal friendship with the original owner required certain qualifications. At the very least, one’s family background had to meet the standards, or they had to have something exceptional about them. Unfortunately, Ji Yiran was just an ordinary girl, neither particularly attractive nor academically outstanding. In Wang Sasa’s group, she mostly filled the role of an errand runner.

Tan Yixuan’s words hit the mark, like a loud slap across Ji Yiran’s face. Struck in her weak spot, Ji Yiran was left speechless for a long moment. After a while, she finally found her voice again and forced a smile. “They… they’re just spoiled rich girls who have been pampered all their lives, so they don’t know how to make friends.”

Tan Yixuan glanced at her mockingly, finding Ji Yiran laughable. But if she wanted to continue deceiving herself, Tan Yixuan had no intention of stopping her.

To be honest, if it weren’t inappropriate, Wang Sasa would have applauded Tan Yixuan. Watching Ji Yiran’s expression after that conversation—it was quite something.

Ji Yiran gritted her teeth, about to say something, when she suddenly looked up and spotted Wang Sasa standing nearby. She was startled. Wang Sasa didn’t feel guilty about overhearing their conversation. After all, the cafeteria was a public space; they talked, she listened. That couldn’t count as eavesdropping. So, she calmly approached, draping an arm over Tan Yixuan’s shoulder, and grinned at Ji Yiran across the table. “You two seem close, huh?”

Ji Yiran immediately panicked, her face going pale as she forced a stiff smile. “I… I’ve finished eating. You two enjoy your meal.”

Wang Sasa raised an eyebrow but didn’t try to stop her, allowing Ji Yiran to leave in a fluster. Then, she took a good look at Tan Yixuan’s expression. After a moment, her lips curled into a smile, and her eyes glimmered with amusement. “You seem angry, huh?”

The sweet scent of a girl filled the air, though Tan Yixuan couldn’t tell what brand of perfume it was. Feeling uncomfortable, she shifted her shoulder and pushed Wang Sasa’s head away, muttering in disgust, “You’re standing too close.”

Wang Sasa didn’t mind, still smiling brightly. Tan Yixuan found herself slightly confused, realizing that over the past month, this girl had been smiling every day, leaving her feeling somewhat strange inside. She rubbed her shoulder, still sensing the warmth and perfume scent left behind by Wang Sasa. The thought made her feel even weirder. Pushing aside her odd feelings, she made an effort to remain indifferent to Wang Sasa. “You’re meddling too much.”

The first complaint was, “You’re too close,” and the second, “You’re meddling too much.” Though both were complaints, Wang Sasa merely smiled sweetly. Tan Yixuan felt uneasy, which only proved to Wang Sasa that she was starting to notice the differences between her and the original owner. As for her gossip with Ji Yiran, Wang Sasa already had a general understanding, so there was no need to ask further.

Even though Wang Sasa was a day student, she was still required to attend evening self-study sessions. Over the past month, her classmates had grown accustomed to her regular presence. Some students initially skipped the evening sessions, but with the school tyrant leading by example, how could they justify skipping? As a result, the homeroom teacher of Class 6, Grade 12, was nearly moved to tears seeing her students sitting upright and studying diligently every night.

During the break, the homeroom teacher even mustered the courage to pull Wang Sasa aside to offer words of encouragement, urging her to keep up the good work.

Wang Sasa: “…”

When Wang Sasa returned to her seat, she was surprised to hear Tan Yixuan speak up first. “What did Old Liu call you out for?”

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Wang Sasa suddenly smiled brightly. “Were you worried about me?”

Tan Yixuan froze, saying nothing for a while, before finally replying in a muffled voice, “Boring. Who cares about you?”

“Then just don’t care.”

Wang Sasa propped her elbow on the desk, resting her chin in her hand as she smiled slightly at Tan Yixuan’s delicate profile. After all, everyone whose favorability she tried to raise always ended up becoming her friend. Feeling confident, Wang Sasa thought that remaining strangers was too boring—making Tan Yixuan her close friend, someone she could talk to about anything, now that would be impressive!

When she got home that evening, Wang Sasa received phone calls from both of her parents. The original owner’s parents had a business marriage, and each had their own lovers, so their marriage was merely nominal. However, they were very doting toward their only child, Wang Sasa. That night’s phone call was just to send her more money.

Ever since transmigrating here, Wang Sasa had yet to meet the original owner’s parents, so the call today caught her off guard. She consciously avoided any topics related to them because, after all, they were blood relatives, and if they noticed something off, that wouldn’t be good.

“Sasa, tomorrow is your brother Wei Qi’s birthday. Mom has prepared a dress for you, and it should already be delivered. Take a look and see if you like it.”

As she listened to the call, Wang Sasa walked over to the coffee table in the living room and searched through the packages. The original owner didn’t like having anyone else in the house, so Aunt Wang lived elsewhere. During the day, Aunt Wang stayed at the apartment to clean and cook, and would occasionally accept deliveries, but she returned home in the evenings, only to come back around six or seven in the morning the next day.

After searching for a while, Wang Sasa finally found the dress. It was beautiful and fit perfectly. However, it was destined to stay in the closet because she had no intention of attending Wei Qi’s birthday party. Distractedly brushing off her mother’s chatter, she absentmindedly stared at the cover of the novel “Campus Ghost Stories”.

Wang Sasa had initially planned to burn “Campus Ghost Stories” after transcribing it, but she worried she might miss some important details in the book, so she hadn’t acted yet. Later, when Aunt Wang was organizing the bookshelf, she curiously asked why the book seemed to be blank. That’s when Wang Sasa realized that she was the only one who could see the words on the pages of the novel she had brought with her during her transmigration. Feeling relieved, she still decided to lock the book away in a cabinet just in case.

On the other end of the phone, Wang’s mother continued to ramble, “…I’ve said so much—are you even listening? Wei Qi’s a good boy, but he’s just not right for you. Don’t be mad at Mom for being blunt…”

“You’re right. I don’t think we’re a good match either,” Wang Sasa responded.

There was a brief silence on the other end before her mother exclaimed in surprise, “What did you just say?”

Wang Sasa had to repeat herself.

Her mother, thinking her daughter must have been overly stressed and was speaking sarcastically, sighed even more heavily.

Wang Sasa hung up the phone and had a peaceful night’s sleep.

During the Saturday makeup class, the math teacher walked into the classroom with a stack of tests, pushed up his black-framed glasses, and sternly announced, “The next P.E. class has been canceled. We’re having a test.”

The students in Class 6, Grade 12 groaned in despair.

Those who did well in school always liked taking tests.

Wang Sasa happened to enjoy them. As soon as the test was handed out, she quickly got into the zone.

Within just half an hour, she had finished the entire test, with only one bonus question left unanswered. Even though the bonus question wasn’t difficult for her, it was a bit tedious. Just as she was about to tackle it, she suddenly thought of the original owner’s grades. The original owner had failed every subject, especially math, where she usually scored in the twenties or thirties. Today, even though Wang Sasa wouldn’t score a perfect 100, she was only about five or six points away from it. Going from twenty or thirty points to sixty would still be believable, but getting close to a perfect score might raise some eyebrows.

Wang Sasa realized that if she got a perfect score today, her classmates in Class 6 would definitely suspect her of cheating. Her hand paused slightly as she held the pen, and a smile slowly crept across her lips. She, Wang Sasa, should be brilliant, and hide her shortcomings? Not possible.

After completing the final problem, Wang Sasa let out a small sigh of relief. She rested for half a minute before meticulously checking her answers. She wouldn’t allow herself to lose points due to carelessness—that would be too embarrassing. By the time she finished reviewing the test, almost an entire class period had passed. Seeing that no one else had turned in their paper yet, she smiled, stood up, and strolled leisurely to the teacher’s desk.

She handed the completed test to the math teacher with a smile. “Teacher, I’m done.”

The math teacher adjusted his glasses and gave her a stern look. His gaze then fell on the test paper, and the rebuke he was about to deliver instantly stuck in his throat. He had assumed that Wang Sasa was turning in a blank paper again, but to his surprise, she had actually written answers? Glancing at her neat handwriting, the math teacher found himself deep in thought.

“Teacher, can I leave now?”

The math teacher was shocked to discover that Wang Sasa’s answers were all correct. He stood frozen for a long time before snapping back to reality. Hearing her request, he waved her off, allowing her to leave the classroom. But as he watched her cheerful figure disappear, his face was full of contemplation. How could Wang Sasa possibly get a perfect score? Could there have been a leak of the exam?

The math teacher was notoriously stubborn. He didn’t care if you were the school board member’s granddaughter—many of the wealthy kids in Class 6 had already faced his strictness. But anyone who could teach at this school certainly had connections. The difference was whether or not those connections were solid. As it happened, the math teacher had solid backing. He had personally supervised the exam and hadn’t noticed any cheating.

He had even paid special attention to students like Wang Sasa, who had all been on their best behavior.

So his first thought was that the exam had been leaked, not that someone had cheated. However, this time, he had prepared both A and B versions of the test and had decided on the spot which version to use. There was no way both sets of questions could have been leaked, right?

The math teacher frowned in deep thought, but he couldn’t come to a conclusion. Since there was no evidence, he dropped the matter. However, when the tests were handed back later that day, the entire class erupted. Even though it was just a pop quiz, the difficulty level had been high, and most students had done poorly. The math teacher had also required that everyone rewrite their mistakes several times. Those who scored well only had to copy one or two problems, making them the target of envy.

“I can’t believe I got 10 questions wrong. I’m going to die!”

“10 questions? That’s nothing. I got 12 wrong.”

“Don’t feel too bad. Just think about Wang Sasa and her group, and you’ll feel better.”

“True. Though I’m sure someone else will copy for them…”

At that moment, a classmate gossiped, “Did you know? Wang Sasa scored a perfect score!”

Another classmate, not believing it, rushed over to check and immediately became indignant, “It’s bad enough having someone copy for you, but Wang Sasa is getting out of hand, even cheating!”

Han Zhiyuan, who was frowning at the red X’s on his own test paper, heard this and his brow furrowed even more. “Wang Sasa cheated?”

The classmates began chattering among themselves. At first, Han Zhiyuan’s brows were tightly knit, but then he seemed to think of something, and his expression slowly relaxed. He smiled and suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. Beaming, he went to find Wang Sasa and said, “Hey, do you have the test questions? Lend them to me for the next exam, will you? I’ll pay you for it.”

Wang Sasa was resting when Han Zhiyuan suddenly interrupted her, waking her up. She immediately responded coldly, “What do you want?”

Han Zhiyuan, in a low and humble tone, said, “Did you get the questions from Old Bai? Or are you so resourceful that you managed to get the answers to his test? If it weren’t for Old Bai’s nasty temper, I wouldn’t be asking you for answers. So, how much do you want? Name your price!”

The math teacher’s last name was Bai, and since he was relatively old, the students privately called him Old Bai. It took Wang Sasa a while to figure out what Han Zhiyuan was talking about, and she was both amused and exasperated. This guy actually thought she had gotten the test questions in advance, which was how she was able to score so high. Even though she had expected this outcome, she still felt annoyed. With a cold snort and a look of displeasure, she said, “Do I look like someone who needs money?”

Han Zhiyuan scratched the back of his head. Seeing that Wang Sasa wasn’t moved, he became anxious. “You can’t just leave me hanging!”

Wang Sasa looked at him curiously and asked, “Are we even that close?”

Embarrassed, Han Zhiyuan awkwardly retreated, muttering under his breath about how stingy she was as he left.

Although no one dared to confront her directly, being misunderstood as a cheater still left Wang Sasa feeling quite frustrated. That afternoon, she decided to leave early and go home, planning to get her hair done.

She called her personal stylist and, with her legs crossed, instructed, “Dye my hair back to black and straighten it.”

“Do you want to add some highlights? Maybe a streak of blue or purple? That would look great,” the stylist suggested, based on the original owner’s taste.

Wang Sasa shook her head. “No highlights. Just do as I said.”

After the styling was done, Wang Sasa deliberately put on her school uniform, packed her backpack, and went to prepare her secret weapon.

She took a taxi directly to Tan Yixuan’s house and rang the doorbell.

The door opened, and Tan’s grandmother, dressed simply, looked at her curiously. “Young lady, who are you looking for?”

Wang Sasa flashed a sweet smile. “Hello, Grandma Tan. I’m Tan Yixuan’s deskmate. I told Yixuan I’d come over to her house to hang out.” She paused, then quickly handed over the apples she had just bought downstairs, looking cheerful. “I went home to grab a book, but has Yixuan not come home yet?”

Grandma Tan, stunned for a moment as she accepted the apples, suddenly smiled brightly. “Oh? You’re Ji Yiran, right? Xiao Xuan mentioned you.” But as her granddaughter had become increasingly withdrawn, she had stopped talking about school altogether. Seeing her granddaughter’s gloomy face every day, no matter how much Grandma Tan asked, she never got any answers and could only worry helplessly.

Grandma Tan had been planning to visit the school in a few days to ask about the situation, but here was this girl, just like a pillow delivered when she needed one. As for whether the girl was lying to her? They were dirt poor—there wasn’t much worth lying about. Besides, Xiao Xuan was due home soon. How bad could things be if the girl was willing to tell such an easily exposed lie?

Wang Sasa’s smile faltered slightly, then she explained, “No, no, Grandma, you’ve misunderstood. I’m Yixuan’s new deskmate.”

Grandma Tan gave her a loving look. The more she looked at her, the more she thought this young girl looked proper. With her neat appearance and demeanor, she was clearly from a good family and was probably one of those top students. Grandma Tan had been meaning to ask about Tan Yixuan’s school life, so she warmly invited Wang Sasa inside, which played right into Wang Sasa’s plan.

So, when Tan Yixuan came home from school, she was greeted by the sight of her grandmother and Wang Sasa chatting and laughing together. Immediately, Tan Yixuan frowned, wondering if she was hallucinating.

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