I'm Not Playing This Vicious Female Supporting Character Anymore! - Chapter 27

The mid-month exam results were announced the very next day at noon, and the school swiftly posted the Honor Roll on the bulletin board outside the third-year high school building.

Qin Yuzhen and Rong Xi returned from lunch to find a crowd gathered around the Honor Roll, the entire hallway buzzing with excitement. Rong Xi took a deep breath.

“Rong Xi, you’re second this time!” someone called out, turning to smile at him. “That’s amazing! You’re seven or eight points ahead of third place!”

Rong Xi’s heart skipped a beat. “Who’s first?”

“Oh, Qin Yuzhen. I hadn’t seen that name before. Is she the new student in your class? She’s insane—full marks in math and science! Not even human. This test was so hard!”

Rong Xi: …

Qin Yuzhen chuckled. “Do I look human to you?”

The person froze, glanced at Qin Yuzhen, and seemed to realize what she meant. He smiled awkwardly. “I was complimenting you.”

“I know, thank you for the compliment,” Qin Yuzhen said with a gentle smile.

The person paused, blushed, and quickly waved goodbye before slipping away.

Qin Yuzhen finally squeezed through the crowd with Rong Xi.

Their names were at the top of the list for the science stream, side by side.

Qin Yuzhen: Math 150, Chinese 142, English 146, Science Comprehensive 300, Total 738.

Rong Xi: Math 148, Chinese 140, English 145, Science Comprehensive 289, Total 722.

Rong Xi pursed her lips. She was surprised to be more than ten points behind, and to have scored lower than Qin Yuzhen in every subject. She took a deep breath and glanced up at Qin Yuzhen.

“Little sister, don’t forget, starting tomorrow,” Qin Yuzhen reminded her.

“I know,” Rong Xi sighed, her face ashen. “Does it really have to be a whole month?”

“You have to accept the consequences of a bet, little sister,” Qin Yuzhen replied softly.

Qin Yuzhen spotted Liang Xuzhou’s name around the tenth position. She raised an eyebrow, roughly understanding his intentions, but knew he was doomed to be disappointed.

As she carried Rong Xi upstairs, Qin Yuzhen noticed two students carrying their exam papers. A glance revealed handwriting that seemed familiar.

“Host, that’s your essay,” the System reminded her.

Qin Yuzhen: …

“Why would they photocopy my essay?”

Rong Xi looked over. “Our school always photocopies the highest-scoring essays after each monthly exam and distributes them to the entire grade.”

“Tsk.” Qin Yuzhen sighed. “Even the heavens won’t let me keep a low profile.”

Rong Xi: …

As soon as they returned to class, the entire class turned to stare at them.

“Qin Yuzhen, you’re a real hidden gem! A perfect score in the science section too? That final chemistry question was brutally hard.”

“I think the physics was even more unreasonable this time.”

“Physics has never been reasonable.”

The class buzzed with chatter as everyone complained about the exam. Qin Yuzhen put Rong Xi down and returned to her seat.

Liang Xuzhou remained leaning against the wall, watching Qin Yuzhen.

“Not bad this time,” Qin Yuzhen remarked. “See? Having me as your desk partner really does motivate you to study harder.”

Liang Xuzhou: …

He scoffed coldly. His scores—140 in math, 138 in Chinese, 139 in English, and 285 in science—totaled 702, which wasn’t bad at all. Yet the thought of being thirty points behind Qin Yuzhen left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The answer sheets and ten selected essays from across the grade were quickly distributed by the class representatives. Qin Yuzhen organized the papers, picked out Rong Xi’s essay, and began reading it. Qin Yuzhen had scored sixty points, while Rong Xi had fifty-eight.

Rong Xi’s handwriting was elegant and delicate, clearly that of a well-behaved girl.

Qin Yuzhen smiled at the score, knowing Rong Xi would likely be upset again.

“What the hell is this?” Liang Xuzhou’s gaze lingered for a moment on Qin Yuzhen’s essay, drawn to the prominent “60” grade. Few essays in the grade received full marks; teachers usually deducted points. But after reading Qin Yuzhen’s content, he was speechless.

Several students in the class noticed as well.

“Is that classical Chinese?”

“Looks like it…”

“Damn, impressive! So this is the world of true masters.”

When the graded essays were handed back, Rong Xi’s first instinct was to find Qin Yuzhen’s essay to see her score. The initial sixty-point grade had left her somewhat unconvinced, but after reading Qin Yuzhen’s essay, she fell silent.

This truly is the realm of the elite.

Understanding Qin Yuzhen’s essay would take considerable time. The text contained numerous unfamiliar usages and obscure vocabulary, along with rare characters that many students couldn’t even recognize. Some had already pulled out ancient Chinese dictionaries, while others had simply given up.

When the Chinese teacher entered and observed the scene, she could immediately guess what was happening. She sighed, “Qin Yuzhen’s essay this time is truly remarkable. The grader spent half an hour just deciphering it. An eight-hundred-character essay with not a single mistake! Normally, we don’t give full scores on in-class essays, but this… this is simply outstanding. It would be unjust not to give it a perfect score.”

“Oh, and Qin Yuzhen,” the teacher added with a smile, “prepare yourself. If everything goes as planned, we’ll have the monthly exam summary meeting in a few days, and you’ll be giving a speech.”

Qin Yuzhen: ???

“Host, look! The chance to show off you’ve been waiting for.”

Qin Yuzhen had hoped for some kind of mishap, but her homeroom teacher announced after class that she should prepare a speech to share her study methods. Share what? she thought. How to sleep in class?

“Remarkable! You must keep up the good work,” Old Wang said, his face beaming. “All our teachers have high hopes for you.”

“I will, Teacher! I’ll definitely strive to become the top student and bring glory to our school.”

“What a grandiose tone,” the physics teacher remarked with a smile, glancing at Qin Yuzhen. “I can tell it’s you just from hearing that.”

“A man should have dreams.”

“Careful you don’t crash and burn,” the physics teacher teased.

“I never crash and burn.”

“Alright, alright.” Old Wang handed Qin Yuzhen a bag of snacks. “Class is about to start. During the class meeting, you’ll be seated with Rong Xi. Remember, no talking during class.”

“Thank you, Teacher! Don’t worry, if Rong Xi tries to talk, I’ll definitely ignore her,” Qin Yuzhen replied.

“Rong Xi never talks during class,” the physics teacher interjected pointedly.

Qin Yuzhen, thick-skinned as ever, pretended not to hear the teachers’ remarks. She smiled, greeted them, grabbed her snacks, and slipped over to Rong Xi’s side. “We’re desk partners now, since the class meeting changed the seating.”

Rong Xi: …

“Great! Now I can chat with my little sister more often.” Qin Yuzhen gently stroked Rong Xi’s hair. “Is that a look of overwhelming joy?”

“No, it’s overwhelming despair,” Rong Xi replied curtly.

“That bad?” Qin Yuzhen returned to her seat.

When Liang Xuzhou heard the news, he couldn’t help but clap three times. “Yes! Finally, I’m free from this misery! I’m setting off firecrackers when I get home!”

“I wonder how the seats are arranged. You don’t think you’ll end up behind me, do you?” Qin Yuzhen glanced at him.

Liang Xuzhou pondered for a moment, mentally calculating his academic ranking. Realizing it was a distinct possibility, he suddenly fell silent.

The class meeting was the last period of the afternoon.

Old Wang projected the new seating chart onto the screen. As students searched for their names and chattered excitedly, fate had placed Liang Xuzhou directly behind Qin Yuzhen. He wanted to scream, “Life is too cruel!” Why couldn’t he escape Qin Yuzhen?

Qin Yuzhen and Rong Xi were seated in the middle of the front row, the best spot for visibility. However, it wasn’t ideal for sleeping, leaving Qin Yuzhen and Liang Xuzhou silently resigned.

“How can anyone sleep in that position during class?” Qin Yuzhen asked.

“It’s all your fault,” Liang Xuzhou sighed. “Can we even go to the teacher and say we want to sit at the back?”

“And then when the teacher asks why, you’ll say it’s because you want to sleep?” Qin Yuzhen glanced at him.

The two sighed again, resigned to their fate. They exchanged seats, with someone else moving Rong Xi’s desk due to her mobility issues. As Qin Yuzhen settled into the seat beside her, Rong Xi’s expression held a hint of displeasure.

“You don’t want to be my desk partner?” Rong Xi asked, sounding hurt. She hadn’t even cried.

“I’m just upset about this seat being so inconvenient for sleeping,” Qin Yuzhen said.

Rong Xi stared at her, wide-eyed. “How can you even sleep here?”

“Why not sleep when you’re tired?” Qin Yuzhen replied.

“You’re actually defending this?”

Qin Yuzhen looked at Old Wang, who was standing beside her desk, and remained silent for three seconds before giving him an innocent smile. “I’m not actually sleeping. I’m just leaning over the desk because I’m so tall, I’d block the view of the students behind me.”

“That’s fine,” Old Wang said. “The students behind you are all taller than you, so you shouldn’t be blocking their view. Just sit up straight like the others.”

Qin Yuzhen turned to glance back and muttered, “Good thing.” In her column, she was the only girl; the rest were boys. Even more conveniently, most of the tall boys in the class were seated behind her, while the other columns had a more even mix of boys and girls.

Arranged by academic ranking, how could they have ended up so conveniently placed? The System was already cackling with glee, and Rong Xi beside her couldn’t suppress a snicker.

“Teacher, it’s actually Liang Xuzhou who likes to sleep. I usually pay close attention,” Qin Yuzhen said.

Liang Xuzhou: ???

Rong Xi: What a masterful diversion!

“Liang Xuzhou, you did well on this test. Now you need to keep up the good work. No more sleeping in the back,” Old Wang said, glancing sternly at Liang Xuzhou.

Liang Xuzhou: …

He shot a sidelong glance at Qin Yuzhen in front of him. She had already vanished into the shadows, successfully escaping Old Wang’s scrutiny.

“He’s sitting behind you,” Rong Xi whispered, leaning closer to Qin Yuzhen.

“So?”

“If I were him, I might kick your seat.”

Qin Yuzhen stared at Rong Xi for a moment, then smiled. “I’ll chat with you more tomorrow.”

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