A Cold and Aloof Top Student Is Relied Upon - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Provocation

◎ Competition ◎

One by one, the monthly exam results were released. By the third day, it was clear who had taken the top spot.

On Thursday, the school’s PE teacher, who had been on leave for most of the month, finally returned beaming. When the bell rang, everyone lined up neatly. Next to him, in addition to the sports equipment, was a box of wedding candies in small, red, round tins. He’d call a name and have them take one. The students laughed and cupped their hands in thanks. “Congratulations on becoming a dad, Old Liu!”

“Say something nice, and I’ll let you run one less lap. How about that?” You could see he was in a good mood. He put his hands behind his back, as if ready to listen attentively.

“Oh my! Congratulations, Teacher! You’ve finally become a dad! We wish you and your family joy, happiness, and a lifetime of good fortune!”

“That’s a good one. You really are the talented students of Three High.” He praised them. “Then I’ll keep my word. After one warm-up lap, it’s free time today. If you want to play badminton, basketball, or shuttlecock, just get into teams and find a spot. We’ll meet back here ten minutes before class ends. Now, start running!”

The whistle blew, and the sports committee leader led a group in a slow jog. The tall students were in front, and the shorter ones were in the back. Before long, the neatly aligned line began to stretch out. By the time they finished one lap, the group had scattered into several smaller ones, and they all went off to their own games.

In past PE classes, Gu Zhu was either pulled by Luo Minmin to play badminton or roped into playing shuttlecock to make up the numbers. This time was no different. Since a lot of them wanted to play and the equipment was limited, they decided to form a big circle and play shuttlecock.

Playing shuttlecock at Three High was purely a recreational activity and not part of the physical education exam, so most of them didn’t have many fancy moves. When the shuttlecock didn’t fall off the previous person’s foot, you’d never know who it would be passed to next. Sometimes, one shuttlecock could be passed dozens of times in a row, and when that happened, some of the onlookers would applaud and cheer.

Gu Zhu was very good at playing shuttlecock. Her ligaments were flexible, and her steps were light and quick. Sometimes, a shuttlecock would fly over her head, and she could quickly step back and extend her leg to get it before it hit the ground.

The sunlight was clear, the sky was high and blue, and the thick green leaves of the camphor trees were drenched in light. The leaves at the very top were lit by the sun, appearing as green as emeralds, while the color of the leaves below gradually deepened to a richer shade of dark green closer to the ground. The wind gently swayed the leaves, and the patches of light on the ground also moved with them. The play of light and shadow, along with the girls’ light movements and beautiful faces, made a person’s eyes swim for a moment.

The shuttlecock suddenly hit the ground. She steadied herself and looked up to see Bai Tan standing across from her, staring intently.

“Bai Tan, don’t just stand there! It’s your turn to serve!”

“Oh—oh! Coming!”

Seeing Bai Tan awkwardly bend down to pick up the shuttlecock on the ground, Gu Zhu’s face inexplicably felt hot, too. She raised her hand, wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead, and used her arm to cover her ears. They were burning just as much.

During the break, they leaned against the single bars, drinking from their water bottles and chatting. Someone brought up the monthly exam results.

“This monthly exam was about a three-and-a-half to four-star difficulty overall. The average scores of a few classes were similar, and the difference between first and second place wasn’t that big. But we should still congratulate our classmate Gu Zhu for taking back the top spot!”

“She didn’t need to take it back. As long as our Zhu-zi gets started, she’s definitely first. She got first place in four out of six subjects and just barely lost in Chinese and English by a few points. I can’t even dream of getting those scores.” Luo Minmin shook her head, leaning against the bar and then sitting down. “Thankfully, the God of Exams blessed me, and I improved by about twenty ranks this time.”

“Hey, on that note, let’s interview our transfer student. What’s it like taking your first monthly exam at our school?”

Bai Tan’s overall scores were in the middle to lower tier, not as bad as she said. She was just a bit of a slacker. She rubbed her nose. Gu Zhu’s efforts in cramming for more than half a month had not been wasted. At least she wasn’t at the very bottom. Hearing Luo Minmin’s question, she gave a light cough. “Well, at my old school, we usually only had three exams in a semester: one at the beginning, one for the mid-terms, and one for the finals. So, the difference is probably that the exams here are more detailed?”

“What?! You didn’t have monthly exams?!” Here, some teachers even gave weekly quizzes! Only three exams were way too good!

Bai Tan shrugged. “I guess there are pros and cons to both. Exams are a way of reviewing, so frequent reviews mean you can check for gaps more often.” What she didn’t say was that at her previous school, exams were just exams. Most people didn’t take them too seriously. They all had private tutors and had already planned whether they were going to take the domestic college entrance exam or apply for a school overseas.

For them, high school was just a necessity. It was just three ordinary years of their lives, a time to expand their social circles as they stepped into adulthood.

But for the majority of ordinary people, the college entrance exam was a major hurdle, the only fair opportunity to change their fate.

Bai Tan couldn’t deny her own luck, nor could she deny her background. She couldn’t show off what she had. Here, she only had to be a normal student. She stood up, stretched, and did some on-the-spot stretches. “Anyway, it’s great that I made it through the monthly exam safely! I hope the final exam won’t be too hard on me, the transfer student!”

Even a rich girl couldn’t escape the torment of studying. The other girls couldn’t help but laugh, but when they thought of their own grades, they felt a sense of camaraderie. They looked up at the sky and clasped their hands together. “Don’t be too hard on us, either!”

Gu Zhu watched their pious prayers, silently unscrewed her water bottle cap, and took a strategic drink. Her peripheral vision was fixed on Bai Tan, who was practicing kicking the shuttlecock. The rich girl seemed to really enjoy this sport. She had just learned to alternate kicking it with the inside of one foot, and now she was practicing alternating between the inside and outside of her foot.

She sat on the sit-up frame, her eyes following Bai Tan’s movements. Suddenly, a few voices shouted at her at the same time:

“Gu Zhu!”

“Zhu-zi!”

She subconsciously wanted to turn around, but she keenly sensed that something dangerous was coming from behind her. When she heard someone shout, “A ball! Get out of the way!” she immediately tried to lie down under the frame.

Her vision inverted, and she saw the basketball flying over, landing exactly where she was about to fall. Gu Zhu froze. It was too late to dodge. She was about to close her eyes and accept her fate of being hit when a figure lunged forward, using their forearm to block the ball with all their might. The ball fell to the ground, bounced a few times, kicked up a little dust, and was finally caught and stepped on by another person.

“Are you guys okay?!” A few girls quickly jumped down from the bars and asked with concern.

Gu Zhu shook her head, walked over to Bai Tan, and held her hand, which she was shaking. Her fair skin was bright red, looking as if it had been abused, a shocking sight. She pursed her lips, and her lowered gaze was melancholic. “Does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt. It just looks serious. My bones aren’t hurt, so don’t worry.” The ball had lost some of its force when it fell. She had practiced fighting before and knew how to use force without injuring herself, so although her arm looked bad, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

“Sorry, we hit you guys. Can you hand the ball back?”

The culprits appeared, but their attitude was very condescending. They looked up and saw Lin Ye and a few people from her class, two of whom were also on the basketball team. Besides their class, the other class that had PE on the field that day was Lin Ye’s tenth class.

They were one hundred percent sure this wasn’t an accident.

“You hit someone, and this is your attitude? You’re just going to try to leave without even asking if we’re okay?” Luo Minmin was furious. She pointed at Lin Ye and swore, “Have you no shame?!”

“I’ve already said sorry. Nothing happened anyway, so why make such a big deal out of it?” Lin Ye spread her hands, not taking Luo Minmin and the others seriously at all. She only looked at Bai Tan. “Right, little cousin?”

Bai Tan knew exactly who the ball was intended for. She motioned for Huang Tingxi, who was standing on the ball, to hand it to her. She bounced the ball a few times in her hand and then, in front of everyone, she suddenly threw it hard toward Lin Ye. After Lin Ye blocked it, Bai Tan also smiled. “I did that on purpose. Are you going to make a big deal out of it?”

There was no smile in her eyes, only coldness. When she stared at Lin Ye, it was dark and oppressive, as if a dangerous hurricane was about to swallow her.

Lin Ye’s heart jumped, and she clenched her fists. The basketball had hit the nerve on her right arm, making her unable to move for a moment. She dropped the fake smile from her face, but her eyes were filled with resentment. “Just a nanny’s daughter, what’s so special about her that you have to protect her? Don’t forget, little cousin, you can barely protect yourself right now, can’t you?”

“What do you mean, ‘just a nanny’s daughter’? What did nannies do to you? What century are you living in, with this kind of job discrimination? Are you sick?” Luo Minmin immediately exploded again. She was always very straightforward and never held back. “Who do you think you are, a royal princess, showing off your status here? If you’re so high and mighty, why are you even going to school here? Wouldn’t it be better to go home and continue dreaming your fantasy?”

“You!” Lin Ye’s face turned ashen from her words. She pointed at her, unable to speak.

“You, you what! Go get some help if you’re sick. Don’t just bark here, or you might get rabies, and then you’ll be the one who dies!”

“You’re asking for it!”

Furious, Lin Ye kicked the ball at her. Luo Minmin was startled, but thankfully someone next to her pulled her back, and she barely managed to dodge it.

No one expected her to be so blatant. Even Gu Zhu was shocked for a moment. She stepped forward and stood in front of Luo Minmin. “What exactly do you want?”

What did she want? Lin Ye didn’t want anything in particular; she just purely couldn’t stand Gu Zhu. “Everyone says you’re a genius, a top student, but I’ve never seen you bring honor to the school. You even ran away from a competition. I really don’t like your holier-than-thou attitude.”

“Let’s have a match. If you win, I’ll apologize to you and stay out of your way from now on. If you lose, at the next flag-raising ceremony, you’ll have to admit in front of the whole school that you’re just a vain person, all form and no substance, a complete and utter loser. How about that?”

“What will we compete in?”

“Let’s compete in…” Lin Ye pointed to the basketball court behind her, her smile malicious. “Basketball. How about it?”

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