Diagnosis: Friend [Rebirth] - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

As November arrived, the weather in Anhe City grew increasingly cold. The wind had passed through, leaving withered yellow leaves scattered everywhere.

Today was the day Gu Yining was to report to No. 2 Middle School, so she woke up early. She tied her hair into a high “bright-forehead” ponytail—the kind most beloved by teachers and elders. After winding the hair tie twice, the girl contentedly smoothed the stray hairs by her temples and pushed open her room door with a heart full of joy.

She walked straight into Gu Xi’s gloomy face.

Seeing the girl’s buoyant appearance, Gu Xi suspected her condition had worsened again; how could anyone be this happy about going to school? She let out a disdainful snort and strolled slowly past the girl’s door.

When Gu Yining reached the ground floor, Zhou Xuening was already seated in the living room. Looking up at Gu Yining’s appearance, she couldn’t help but nod: “Not bad, you look very spirited.”

Gu Xi, who was drinking milk, caught a glimpse of the “spirited” girl and clearly spat out a single word: “Tacky.”

Gu Xi didn’t like this sister who had returned halfway through her life one bit. She carried a “poor-person” air from being raised in a destitute family and loved to act. Act for what? Shameless!

Dislike aside, the two still had to share a car to school. Fortunately, Gu Yining had been sensible enough to choose board on campus; otherwise, they would have had to go to school and return home together!

The driver pulled up to the front gate, and Zhou Xuening led the two girls out of the car. As soon as they entered the school gates, Gu Xi spotted some classmates ahead. Ignoring the two beside her, she ran up on her own to talk to them.

Zhou Xuening said: “That’s just Xixi’s personality. Don’t think too much of it.”

The girl tilted her head to look at her, her mouth curving to reveal a row of neat teeth, her mood not affected in the slightest. “I know, Auntie Zhou.”

Passing through the Plane Tree Avenue brought them to the main teaching building. Students rushed in like a swarm, all holding soy milk and steamed buns they hadn’t had time to eat. Out of the corners of their eyes, they observed the Dean of Students standing on the steps like a great Buddha; the students judged exactly how many minutes they had before being late for morning self-study based on the severity of his expression.

The appointed time with the homeroom teacher hadn’t arrived yet, and Zhou Xuening and Gu Yining weren’t in a hurry. They stood by the bulletin board to avoid getting in the way of the students.

Zhou Xuening glanced at the girl and noticed she was staring intently at the board. With a quick scan, Zhou Xuening realized this wasn’t just a regular bulletin board, but the school’s “Roll of Honor,” displaying the photos of the top thirty students in the school.

The board directly in front of Zhou Xuening was for the 11th grade.

Her gaze shifted toward the top left, but she didn’t see the person she expected… Fluctuations in student grades were common, so Zhou Xuening moved her eyes down the rankings, her expression gradually turning solemn.

Not until she reached the 30th place in the science track did Gu Yining’s voice ring out beside her: “Why isn’t Jiang Qing here?”

Gu Yining tilted her head and checked again; Jiang Qing was indeed not there. In Gu Yining’s memory, Jiang Qing always held the first place consecutively; at her worst, she never fell out of the top five. During the college entrance exam, she had even snatched the title of the city’s top science student and was smoothly admitted to A-University.

Being absent from the top thirty was an extremely low-probability event. Did she miss the exam?

The bell rang for the end of class.

The students in the classroom were like a wheat field ravaged by a rainstorm, collapsing in dark masses. Jiang Qing was among them, lying quietly on her desk, her cheek pressed against the smooth surface as she looked out the window at the dry branches of the plane trees. She wasn’t sleepy, but she was a bit anxious.

Because in a few days, it would be time for the monthly exams again.

When the results of the last monthly exam came out, it was as Jiang Qing had expected—the grades were not ideal. Her grade ranking had even slid to thirty-fifth. Regarding such a massive drop, the first person to be terrified was Jian Wenxin.

During the evening self-study session on the day the results were posted, the first person called to the office was Jiang Qing. Jian Wenxin was even more serious than during class, her face so dark that Jiang Qing didn’t dare breathe easily. She looked as if she were about to faint from anger. She took several deep breaths before slowly speaking: “From first place down to thirty-fifth. Do you have anything you want to say?”

Despite having survived the ravages of the professional world and believing that student life was the easiest time, Jiang Qing still felt a powerful sense of pressure when Jian Wenxin pointed coldly at the ranking sheet and asked her why. Her prepared excuses were forgotten; her lips parted and closed, and finally, she uttered a dry truth:

“I forgot.”

Having suddenly been reborn from twenty-nine back to high school, all those bits and pieces of knowledge had been forgotten completely. After a few days of review, being able to rank thirty-fifth was something Jiang Qing even considered an extraordinary performance. It was a blessing she hadn’t been reborn on the day of the college entrance exam; otherwise, this high-achieving student of A-University might have only made it into a vocational college.

Those two simple words clearly failed to convince Jian Wenxin. The hand holding the ranking sheet slapped the desk heavily. “Forgot? It’s only been a month since you were first, and you say you forgot the knowledge?!! What, in this past month, did you not study at all, and then your memory just plummeted?”

The woman tried hard to control her volume and emotions: “Then let me ask you, what have you been doing this past month?”

A young body cannot hide things. Jiang Qing herself didn’t feel any intense emotion, but when she spoke, her voice carried a slight tremor: “Ms. Jian, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not the teacher you’ve let down.” The second half of the sentence went unspoken, but both understood. Thinking back on the events of the past few days, Jian Wenxin said: “Is it because of that girl, Gu Yining? Is that why your mind hasn’t been on your studies this month?”

Jiang Qing sniffed and shook her head gently: “No.”

At this moment, Gu Yining, lying in the hospital (or recently discharged), let out a sneeze, completely unaware that a giant scapegoat “pot” had fallen from the sky onto her.

At the mention of that girl, Jian Wenxin inevitably thought of the recent events at No. 9. She knew Jiang Qing had done the right thing, but since it had affected her grades, Jian Wenxin’s heart was momentarily conflicted. She let out a sigh. “Did you bring your math paper?”

The girl handed it to her.

Jian Wenxin pointed to a chair nearby. “Sit down. I’ll go over the questions where you lost points.” As she looked, she couldn’t help getting angry again. She looked up and gave the trembling girl a smile. “The ones you got wrong are all the most basic questions. The difficult ones, you actually scored on.”

After explaining all the mistakes in detail to Jiang Qing, Jian Wenxin asked: “What are your plans and goals for the next step?”

“To read through the textbooks from beginning to end…” The girl looked up to observe Jian Wenxin’s expression. “As for the goal, I’ll try my best to get into the top ten next time.”

“Top ten?” Jian Wenxin was clearly dissatisfied. “Top five. Can you do it?”

Jiang Qing answered guiltily: “I think so…”

However, with the next monthly exam approaching, Jiang Qing felt more guilty by the day. She had indeed been studying constantly, even compressing her sleep time, but learning isn’t just about competing with oneself. While she was studying, others were too. To say she could definitely surpass them—Jiang Qing lacked that kind of confidence.

How am I going to explain it to Jian Wenxin if I don’t make the top five?

The bell for class rang.

Jiang Qing straightened her back and looked up to see Jian Wenxin walking to the podium clutching her math book.

She felt even more guilty now.