Chapter 21

Xuejiao walked to Examination Room No. 13. Gu Shiyun, sitting by the window in Class 2, glanced toward the middle of the classroom and gave Cheng Mingjiao a look of disdain.

Fool.

Cheng Mingjiao, oblivious to Gu Shiyun's gaze, sat at her desk with a self-satisfied smile.

Since that incident where Master Cheng became furious with her, Cheng Kai had kept her at home for a long time, strictly forbidding her from causing any conflicts with Gu Xuejiao.

Had she forgotten her grudge?

Impossible. Cheng Mingjiao hated Gu Xuejiao.

If it weren't for Gu Xuejiao, how could she have been beaten and scolded like that?

This morning, before leaving the house, Liu Yazhen had told her that as long as she did well on the exam and crushed Gu Xuejiao, she'd regain her pride.

Cheng Mingjiao chuckled inwardly. Crushing Gu Xuejiao was as easy as flipping her hand.

As the invigilator entered the classroom, Cheng Mingjiao snapped out of her thoughts.

The midterm exam lasted two days, ending at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.

Xuejiao followed the crowd out of the examination room and headed to Class 1's classroom.

"How did you do?" Yi Tianyu asked.

Both of them were cleaning up their desks, organizing their books into the back cabinets.

"Well, I gave it my all," Xuejiao nodded as she placed several exercise books into her schoolbag.

"Oh, that's good..." Yi Tianyu replied nonchalantly, tossing his books haphazardly into his drawer. Like most boys, he crammed his things in randomly, making it a hassle to find anything later.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Gu Xuejiao, clearly hoping she'd ask him the same question.

Xuejiao noticed and, slightly speechless, asked, "How did you do?"

It was as if he'd been waiting for that question. He immediately burst out: "Great! I gave it my all too. I did everything I knew, and for what I didn't, I wrote down the formulas and my understanding!"

"Oh, congratulations..." Xuejiao said as she finished packing her schoolbag, copied down the homework from the blackboard, and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Yi Tianyu reached out to grab her arm but quickly withdrew his hand as if he'd been burned.

"If it weren't for you helping me review, I wouldn't have known anything. Let me treat you to dinner."

Xuejiao shook her head. "No, you helped me too."

With that, she put on her headphones and started walking away, listening to music as she went.

Yi Tianyu stood frozen, rubbing his hair in frustration.

Stupid!

So stupid!

How could I be this stupid?

Xuejiao saw Li Sitong's message when she checked her phone. Something had come up with Uncle Xing's family, so she had to take a taxi home instead.

Almost immediately after reading the text, Cheng Mingze's message popped up.

Cheng Mingze: "Want to go together?"

Without hesitation, Xuejiao replied:

Xuejiao: "You go ahead."

She put her phone away and continued walking along the road, listening to music.

Suddenly, a black car honked next to her.

Xuejiao turned her head. The car window rolled down, revealing a familiar and handsome face.

"Where are you headed? Why are you alone?" Lin Zhihua asked.

"Lin Zhihua!" Xuejiao's eyes lit up slightly. In this world, Lin Zhihua was her only friend. Especially after he'd helped her deal with the incident involving Li Sitong and Cheng Mingjiao, Xuejiao trusted and appreciated him even more.

She scratched her head sheepishly and smiled. "The driver's off today. I'm heading home."

Lin Zhihua raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence. My brother and his friends went out, so I didn't have to pick anyone up. Why don't you hang out with your friends?"

Xuejiao shook her head. "I don't go out much."

"Get in. I'll drop you off," he said in his usual commanding tone.

"Ah?"

Meanwhile, at the school gate, Lin Zhihua's younger cousin, Bo Mingde, was on tiptoe, scanning the area for Lin Zhihua's car.

Normally, he would change clothes to play basketball or hang out with friends after exams, but today he had to stand in his school uniform and wait to go home.

After waiting for a while, his phone buzzed.

Lin Zhihua: "I have something to do. You can either head home yourself or ask Lao Li to pick you up."

Bo Mingde's eyes lit up. He was free to play!

Then, his phone buzzed again.

Lin Zhihua: "Sister Chen knows your exam ended early. She's waiting for you."

Bo Mingde's excitement vanished instantly.

In the car, Lin Zhihua put away his phone, asked Xuejiao for her address, and started driving.

"How did the exam go?" he asked.

"Not bad," Xuejiao replied, sitting in the passenger seat. Her gaze occasionally drifted toward the man driving.

"Good. Keep studying hard," he said with his usual cold tone, though there was encouragement in his words.

"Okay..." Xuejiao said softly.

The car fell silent for a moment.

After some hesitation, Xuejiao bit her lip and said, "Thank you."

"Thank me for what?"

"For before… thank you for your advice," Xuejiao said, feeling a little embarrassed.

Lin Zhihua glanced at her. The little girl sat upright in the passenger seat, her eyes focused straight ahead.

A faint smile appeared in his eyes, but his tone remained serious. "You're young. Your focus should be on studying. Avoid family conflicts when you can, and if you can't, handle them calmly. Don't let them affect you. What you need now is to learn."

Hearing him speak with the tone of an elder lecturing the younger generation, Xuejiao relaxed and her tone became more casual. "Yes, yes, I know!"

Lin Zhihua slowed the car slightly.

"Lin Zhihua, aren't you the boss of your company? Aren't you busy?" Xuejiao suddenly asked. She felt like she had an unusual number of chance encounters with him. Plus, he always seemed to be available to chat on WeChat or meet on Fridays.

"If a boss has to do everything themselves, what's the point of being the boss?" Lin Zhihua replied with a slight smile.

"Oh, that makes sense..." Xuejiao tilted her head and blinked, realizing her question was silly.

Lin Zhihua chuckled softly.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Xuejiao quickly looked away, her ears turning slightly red.

No matter how slow the car was, they soon arrived at Xuejiao's house. Lin Zhihua stopped the car.

"Thank you," Xuejiao said.

"You're welcome," Lin Zhihua replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You've helped me a lot!"

"Didn't you say I'm like your brother? Isn't helping you what I'm supposed to do?" Lin Zhihua's voice was low and warm.

Xuejiao felt her ears tingle slightly at his tone. "It's not the same as a real brother…" she murmured.

"Go on, head inside."

"Okay, see you!" Xuejiao unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door.

"Wait—" Lin Zhihua suddenly grabbed her hand.

Xuejiao froze.

His hand was warm, almost hot, enveloping her cool hand completely. She stood there, momentarily stunned.

Before she could turn back, Lin Zhihua let go. Another object was placed in her hand.

Xuejiao looked down. It was her phone.

"You forgot this," Lin Zhihua said softly.

"Oh! I didn't notice! Thank you!" Xuejiao quickly said.

"How many times are you going to thank me today?" Lin Zhihua asked, his deep eyes locked on hers.

Flustered, Xuejiao hurriedly said, "I'll go now! Bye!" and quickly turned away.

Lin Zhihua watched her retreating figure, his expression relaxed and content.

This girl…

For Xuejiao, weekends were no different from school days. She followed a strict routine, focusing on her studies. By Monday, she had finished the semester's books and completed several mock college entrance exams.

"Jiaojiao, I'll be attending the parents' meeting for you today!" Li Sitong said, handing her a glass of milk.

"Thank you," Xuejiao replied before taking the glass. "Whatever you want."

Cheng Shuo softened his tone. "Finish your breakfast quickly. After you're done, we'll head to school together. Your Uncle Cheng will join us."

Together, Cheng Shuo was attending the parents' meeting for Cheng Mingze, while Li Sitong would attend on behalf of Gu Xuejiao.

"Alright," Xuejiao replied, her tone calm and expression indifferent.

Li Sitong tried to suppress her irritation. In the past, when Gu Xuejiao was unruly, she often scolded her. Now that Xuejiao had become more sensible, she felt she needed to control her temper.

So, she quietly sat next to Cheng Shuo and ate her breakfast.

Today, Li Sitong had taken extra care to dress up. Even though she and Cheng Shuo were living a good life and he treated her well, she couldn't forget the man and woman who had once caused her so much pain. Their daughter, Gu Shiyun, was in the second senior high class. Even though Li Sitong knew Xuejiao's grades couldn't compare to Gu Shiyun's, she refused to lose to that woman in demeanor.

As she thought about it, her gaze fell on Xuejiao, who was walking just half a step ahead of her.

Unfortunately, Zizania's grades were too poor.

That reality left her feeling a mix of shame and helplessness.

"Sister-in-law! Jiaojiao!" A warm voice called from behind. Two familiar figures quickly approached.

"Well, sister-in-law, are you here for the parents' meeting too?" Liu Yazhen asked with a smile.

Li Sitong, noticing Cheng Mingjiao's unpleasant expression, forced a smile. "Yes, I'm here for Xuejiao's parents' meeting."

Liu Yazhen nodded, still smiling, and turned her attention to Xuejiao. "How did you do on the test?"

"It was alright," Xuejiao replied calmly.

"Mingjiao said she did well too. It seems like you both scored similarly. You're really living up to being sisters!" Liu Yazhen continued with her smile.

Li Sitong's anger flared up. The implication was clear—she was equating Xuejiao's scores with Cheng Mingjiao's! But in Li Sitong's mind, Xuejiao and Cheng Mingjiao were worlds apart. This was clearly a jab.

Suppressing her frustration, Li Sitong forced herself to respond. "Mingjiao's scores are always excellent!"

Turning to Xuejiao, she snapped, "Gu Xuejiao, go to your seat!" Her tone betrayed her growing anger.

Xuejiao, unfazed, simply turned and walked toward Class 1.

It seemed misfortunes always came in pairs. As they approached the back door of Class 1, a woman stepped out from the front door of Class 2.

It was Wu Wanjun and Gu Shiyun.

Both parties stopped in their tracks, momentarily stunned.

Li Sitong, pushing forward angrily, overheard Wu Wanjun saying, "Shiyun, have your grades come out yet? How do you think you did this time?"

"The teachers might not finish marking everything before the meeting," Gu Shiyun replied with a serene smile.

Li Sitong's body stiffened, and she nearly fainted from the sheer tension.

Xuejiao let out a quiet, almost imperceptible sigh. This was the nature of the strained relationship between the original Gu Xuejiao and Li Sitong. Li Sitong felt Xuejiao was a source of shame for her, so she instinctively picked fights, and arguments became the norm.

But Xuejiao wasn't Gu Xuejiao.

After the incident with Cheng Mingjiao, any residual affection for Li Sitong had faded entirely. Xuejiao wouldn't feel hurt or upset anymore.

"Here comes the teacher! The teacher is coming!" Someone shouted, breaking the tension as students and parents alike became nervous.

Yin Fang, the head teacher of Class 1, approached with a stack of report cards in her hands, accompanied by the head teacher of Class 2, who carried a similar stack.

"The results for our class are here! Parents, you can take one and head into the classroom," Yin Fang called out.

Meanwhile, the head teacher of Class 2 posted a large report card for the entire grade on the bulletin board outside Class 12. "This is the grade-wide ranking. If you're curious, feel free to take a look," he announced.

Instantly, a crowd of parents swarmed around the bulletin board.

Li Sitong didn't want to look, but Liu Yazhen dragged her into the throng. Wu Wanjun glanced over and pulled Gu Shiyun along as well.

"Elder sister-in-law, let's check Xuejiao's score together!" Liu Yazhen exclaimed loudly, tugging at Li Sitong as they squeezed into the crowd.

The report card was posted high on the board. Even before they managed to reach the front, they could see the top few names listed:

Gu Xuejiao – Total Score: 739

2. Chu Sheng – Total Score: 730

3. Shang Zhiyuan – Total Score: 725

4. Gu Shiyun – Total Score: 717

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