Dating Myself - Chapter 8

An Mu’s question came out of nowhere. Some students who were just there for the gossip had caught on to the subtle tension and immediately took out their phones to film.

Jian Yihu was a minor celebrity, and any publicity was good publicity. In this day and age, who would complain about having too much online traffic?

Jian Yihu’s peripheral vision caught sight of a few raised phones. They were sitting at a table against the wall, and the phones could get a clear shot of her face but only the backs of An Mu and her friends.

Jian Yihu was pleased with this situation. She calmly brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, revealing more of her graceful, elegant neck.

Instead of answering, she asked, “You’re An Mu, right?”

Qin Yige chimed in. “Yes, she’s An Mu. Didn’t she introduce herself in class this morning?”

—Who asked you? Stay out of it!

Jian Yihu stood up. She shed her seated arrogance and adopted a polite and humble demeanor. The admiration on her face was so obvious that it could be captured by a phone from a mile away.

“I’m in Class 1, too. You probably don’t remember me. My name is Jian Yihu, and I’m Jian Yixi’s sister.”

Jian Yixi subconsciously turned to look at An Mu.

—An Mu, why are you lying through your teeth? This morning in the swimming pool, you said you knew I was Jian Yihu’s sister and that I was the one who was going to be filmed. Now you’re saying you don’t… re… mem… ber?!

An Mu knew exactly what Jian Yixi was thinking. She didn’t even make eye contact with her, pretending not to see her shocked little eyes.

“That’s… that’s okay. It’s not too late to get to know each other.”

While it was plausible that An Mu, being a new transfer student, wouldn’t know Jian Yihu, saying it so directly left Jian Yihu a little flustered.

Luckily, Jian Yihu was a veteran of public appearances, and this little scene was nothing.

Jian Yihu’s smile became even sweeter, revealing two small dimples on the sides of her face. She looked as sweet as summer ice cream.

“To be honest, I really admire people like you who are both brave and strategic. If I had encountered something like this, I would only be able to make a plea on my own blog. You were decisive and efficient. In this society, not many people dare to speak up. I think we would get along well.”

This praise, while seemingly directed at An Mu, was actually just self-praise.

An Mu’s smile disappeared. Her eyes were cold and deep as she spoke one word at a time. “Can I ask something?”

“What was your score on the Chinese exam last semester?”

Jian Yihu had good grades and was consistently in the top ten of the school, so this question was music to her ears.

She said coyly, “It was just so-so, 138.”

“It’s true, just so-so. No wonder you misread the question.”

Jian Yihu froze.

She said “just so-so,” so it’s “just so-so”? Doesn’t she know what humility is?!!

An Mu didn’t have time to play games with her. She went straight to the point.

“I’ll say it again, and you listen carefully this time. Your sister is a tuition-paying student, and according to the rules, she should have been placed in a regular class. So why was she placed in the ‘undecided’ class? Who asked the teachers to do that? I don’t think… any parent would willingly put their child in the worst class, right? Unless someone encouraged them to, and this person was someone they trusted very much.”

The message was clear. Even an idiot would have understood An Mu’s implication.

The person Jian Yixi’s parents trusted was Jian Yihu, right? So was she saying Jian Yihu encouraged her parents to put her in the undecided class?

The students who were there for the gossip continued to eat and whisper, not missing a beat in their filming.

Jian Yihu lowered her head and brushed her hair aside. She had thought she had perfectly bypassed the topic, but now it had come back so blatantly.

“I was also a little confused about that this morning. But then I figured it was because her grades were too poor. My parents were worried that if she went into a regular class, she wouldn’t be able to keep up and it would discourage her. So they decided to put her in the undecided class. This way, when she gets into Class 10 or Class 8 or 9 on the next exam, she’ll be more motivated.”

The blame was shifted, and the “white lotus” monologue was delivered perfectly.

Jian Yihu added, “I really didn’t want to talk about this in front of so many people. I was afraid it would embarrass my sister.”

The subtext was: You forced me to do this.

“If you didn’t want to talk about it, then why did you? And you just said a whole bunch.”

An Mu’s response was so quick that Jian Yihu hadn’t even closed her mouth yet. It left her choking.

“I… you… you kept asking me!”

“I ask, and you answer? Then can you tell me your measurements?”

“You!” Jian Yihu’s eyes widened in anger. “How can you be so vulgar?!”

“What? Can’t you say it? You’re willing to talk about your sister’s private information just because I asked, but when it comes to you, you get upset?”

Seeing that Jian Yihu was losing the argument, Qin Yige slammed his hands on the table. The plates and bowls clattered loudly.

“How can you be so shameless?!”

Jian Yixi tried to interrupt. “You guys…”

An Mu raised an eyebrow. “What about me? Didn’t she say that she would answer if I asked?”

Jian Yixi’s attempt to interrupt failed. “…Don’t fight…”

Qin Yige angrily said, “Say one more word! Don’t think I won’t hit you just because you’re a girl!”

“You’d have to be able to hit me first.”

An Mu ignored him. Her amber eyes reflected the cold light from the window, making them look icy and clear. She looked at Jian Yihu, whose face had slightly changed.

—You’re only just realizing something is wrong, Jian Yihu? Too late.

“What was your name again? Jian some-what? Never mind, it’s not important. I just want to remind you that a brain is a good thing to have. Remember to bring it with you when you go out. Don’t just say whatever comes to mind.”

When had Jian Yihu ever been so humiliated?

She wanted to explode but couldn’t. So many people were watching and filming. She had to swallow her anger and figure out how to take back what she had said.

“I… I was just scared. You said all that, and if I didn’t explain, I was afraid rumors would start. I don’t care if I get smeared, but I was worried my sister would misunderstand me. She just came home a few days ago, and I didn’t want this to affect our relationship.”

Jian Yixi tried to interrupt again. “Actually, I…”

An Mu said flatly, “So you just had to make things up?”

“What did I make up?”

“That Jian Yixi’s grades are bad?”

“Yes, the teaching in a small town is not as good.”

Jian Yixi’s attempt failed again. “Well…”

An Mu said, “Do you have any proof?”

Jian Yihu’s eyes widened slightly. “What proof do I need? I’m her sister! How could I not know what her grades are like?”

An Mu used a clever trick to deflect the question. “You just said she came home a few days ago. And now you know everything about her?”

Jian Yihu wanted to tell Jian Yixi to just announce her final exam score from her first year, but she was afraid it would ruin the kind and virtuous image she had so carefully built. She was at a loss for words.

“Stop with the ‘you’s’ and ‘I’s.’ They just took a test in the first two periods of class. Based on Old Hu’s usual habit, the first test of the school year is always the B-version of the last semester’s final. Let’s just wait for the results, and we’ll see who’s telling the truth.”

When Jian Yihu heard this, she finally saw a way out of her predicament.

—Heh! You brought this on yourself!

How good could Jian Yixi’s grades be, coming from a small town? Besides, when we went to get her, her foster parents said her total score was only a little over 400. And they had the nerve to say that was a good grade, top five in the whole school!

If that was top five, then the overall academic level of that school must be terrible.

Jian Yihu lowered her eyes and sighed, looking troubled. She pretended to back down gracefully while also putting on a show of being a good person.

“Xixi, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have involved you in this. Your grades are your private information, not something for people to criticize. Let’s just drop this. It’s my fault for not bringing my brain with me and saying whatever I wanted.”

This time, An Mu didn’t stop Jian Yixi and let her say, “It’s okay. I don’t care about that, but…”

Jian Yihu interrupted, “Since you don’t care, then when the grades come out, I’ll take a picture and post it on my blog. It can be a testament to your progress. We can compare it with your final exam score at the end of this semester. It’ll be so inspirational!”

Since Jian Yihu had already said this, Jian Yixi had no choice but to swallow the rest of her words.

Little did she know, in her last life, after she and Maomao had asked for Qin Yige’s WeChat, Jian Yihu used Qin Yige to anonymously post on the school’s online forum, mocking Jian Yixi for being in a “trash class” and for being so desperate on the first day of school that she asked for a guy’s WeChat. She then compared her to Jian Yihu’s excellence, completely humiliating her. A bunch of people commented on the post, and An Mu knew many of them were just Jian Yihu’s aliases.

Jian Yihu, are you really going to use the same trick this time?

Dream on.