Lu Qingyan, who was still hunched over her desk and muttering analytical phrases like a devoted scholar dissecting the secrets of the universe, suddenly felt a shadow fall over her from behind.
She turned her head mechanically—her neck creaked like an unoiled hinge—and saw her seatmate, Wang Jingyuan, silently standing there like some cold-blooded apparition summoned by her guilty conscience.
His chair scraped softly against the floor as he pulled it out and sat down, his every motion leisurely and unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world to witness her downfall.
He pulled his chair and looked at her condescendingly.
A pair of narrow and beautiful eyes revealed itself under a few strands of hair. The eyes had a hint of humor.
Don't know how long he's been listening for or how much he's heard.
Lu Qingyan: "..."
Thi-thi-this!
This is. Too. Embarrassing!
He wouldn't think she was ridiculing him behind his back and record it in his revenge book, right??
She quickly straightened up, brushing imaginary dust off her uniform and clearing her throat as if this would also clear her recent sins.
But Lu Qingyan still pretended that nothing happened and said, "Seatmate, good afternoon."
Wang Jingyuan pulled the chair away and sat down.
Just when Lu Qingyan thought that he would be too lazy to interact with her, he spoke.
He seemed to have just finished exercising as he was radiating heat. He slightly pulled at the collar of his school uniform before he said with a nonchalant expression, "That formula wasn't derived."
He glanced sideways at her and said quietly, "It was mentioned in class before. It's also in the lesson book."
Lu Qingyan: "..."
Ouch.
That was a direct hit.
He had heard everything.
Which means—
He'd also heard her huffing and puffing, accusing him of getting the wrong answer, and then admiring his god-tier physics steps like some tsundere academic.
She silently mourned her dignity.
Then, this is mocking her for not listening when attending class and for not properly reading the lesson book.
Right?
But before she could think of a way to dig a tunnel and escape, Wang Jingyuan's long fingers moved.
He pressed down gently on the corner of his physics paper—the very one she had leaned against while peeking—which had a slight upward crease.
His touch was light, deliberate, like he was pointing out evidence at the scene of the crime.
He glanced sideways. "Also," he said lazily, "Next time you peek, try not to leave behind… physical evidence."
Lu Qingyan: "…"
Lu Qingyan's soul momentarily left her body.
She wanted to argue—peek? Who peeked?? She was conducting observational research at best!—but the very obvious crease on the edge of his paper was now taunting her like a smug witness.
Trying to salvage her pride, she opened her mouth, but before she could launch into a heartfelt monologue on the nobility of academic struggle, something landed on her desk with a soft thud.
She looked down.
It was a small transparent bag.
Inside were two mint candies, a pack of yogurt-flavored marshmallows, and—most eye-catching—a pink bag of bear-shaped biscuits.
She blinked in confusion.
Wang Jingyuan didn't even look at her as he leaned back and casually said, "Next time, don't put food you don't want on my desk."
Lu Qingyan: ???
She stared at the snack bag for a full five seconds.
Was this… a misunderstanding?
These are all delicious!! I just didn't want to finish them in one sitting!
Lu Qingyan processed the words slowly, "These are all delicious, I couldn't bear to eat it by myself."
She confronted Wang Jingyuan expressionless face.
Lu Qingyan sighed, "Fine, just forget it if you don't like it."
Who cares if he likes it or not, she just needs to express her sincerity.
I would like to ask, would you retaliate against a pitiful person that brought you food every day?
If the villain had even a little bit of conscience, he would be shaken.
Lu Qingyan opened the pack of pink bear biscuits on the spot and stuffed it into her mouth. She made a "crunch crunch" sound as she chewed.
From Wang Jingyuan's side, he caught sight of her puffed cheeks as she chewed industriously. Her face, still a little flushed from earlier, looked round and soft like a small woodland creature munching on stolen food. Her pink tongue briefly flicked out to wipe away biscuit crumbs near the corner of her lips.
His eyes lingered for a second too long before he looked away and tapped his pen against the desk.
Lu Qingyan finished the biscuits with all the intensity of a martyr sacrificing herself to prevent war, then picked up her pen and went back to the physics problem, her earlier embarrassment now converted into fuel for vengeance.
In her mind, she began constructing a righteous internal monologue.
She also provided psychological counseling to herself.
It's okay to stumble once in a while. The strong recover. I shall rise from the ashes of this humiliation. I will defeat him in the exam room, with numbers. With calculations. With my score.'
It doesn't matter if you have a moment of indulgence as long as you are strong with your actions.
Fight magic with magic.
Although she felt a little aggrieved now, it's all for the purpose of paving a peaceful and ordinary life in the future. Who let her take the vicious female cannon fodder script. It's not easy to change.
And she will also use the final grade— to teach this villain how to be a man.
After Lu Qingyan created a series of large-scale dramas in her mind, her mood improved, and even her speed of answering questions increased.
There are always many exams in key high schools. The current closest major exam was the monthly exam.
Although the monthly exam was not as important as the final exam and wasn't included in the final placement results, the monthly exam was an assessment that tracked the progress of the students and prepared them for the final exam.
The monthly exam was in two days and the exam rooms were already sorted.
The examination rooms were sorted according to the scores. The top scorers were all in Room 1 and with each increasing room number, the students' scores were lower, all the way up to Room 12 with the lowest scorers. Since Lu Qingyan haven't taken the monthly exam last month since she just transferred, her examination room was in Room 12.
The ranking revealed that nearly the everyone in Special Class ranked high enough to be in examination rooms 1 through 5, very few were in the higher exam rooms.
To be more straightforward and harsh, she was the only one.
"Hey, Xiao Yan!"
Lu Qingyan looked up to see Peng Jianda, the head of their study group, approaching with the concerned look of someone visiting a hospital ward.
"I heard you're assigned to Room 12 for the monthly exam," he said carefully, as if trying not to trigger her.
Lu Qingyan nodded, poker-faced. "Mn."
As the leader of the study group, Peng Jianda came over to comfort her. "Xiao Yan, don't mind this. I heard that the feng shui in Room is pretty good, warm in winter and cool in summer. It's actually nice to be there for exams. They say people always score a few points higher in there."
Lu Qingyan: "..."
Tang Jie sneered and said, "Actually the Year One's Room 10 is also called the "Middle School Youth Sanitorium." You better be careful and not fall asleep while doing the exam."
Lu Qingyan squeezed out a smile.
But inside—
Room 12.
Room 12!!
Just thinking about it made her want to throw herself into her desk drawer.
She was the only one in Special Class assigned to a double-digit exam room.
Everyone else was in Room 1, 2, 3…
She wasn't a student anymore. She was a foreign ambassador sent on a goodwill mission to the land of underachievers!
But.
It's fine.
Lu Qingyan clenched her pen like a warrior clutching her sword.
I will not be defeated.
Just wait, Wang Jingyuan. Let's see who ends up ranked higher after the monthly exam.