Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 35

Since Old Man Nan spoke about Jiang Rui in class, Jiang Rui had gradually become low-key in class, basically not answering questions proactively unless the teacher called his name.

After one or two days of this, no one found it strange, but after a month, some people started spreading rumors privately that Jiang Rui’s senior high entrance exam score was fraudulent.

Everyone in the experimental class had been top students in junior high, accustomed to being praised by teachers. Arriving at the experimental class of Thirteenth High, the special attention was gone, and it was understandable that they felt uncomfortable. Especially since, besides the top three, the entrance scores had small differences, even though the rankings varied. Naturally, no one conceded defeat to anyone else.

Yao Jilan’s attitude towards Jiang Rui, Duan Xinrong, and Wang Xiaorui was noticeably different from other students, which drew some quiet criticism. Especially Jiang Rui—besides Chinese, his English was the best, and since Yao Jilan taught English, she naturally favored Jiang Rui more.

Although Jiang Rui was entirely a gentleman of jade-like refinement, he carried a subtle, unique aura that made people reluctant to approach him, as if speaking to him would desecrate his gentle elegance.

And besides being close to Nan Hechao and Wang Xiaorui, Jiang Rui’s attitude towards others in the class was distant.

The girls in the class, not to mention, saw Jiang Rui as an absolute male god with no flaws. Although he wasn’t aloof, he was simply impossible to get close to.

Once, a campus beauty from another class fell in love with Jiang Rui at first sight and sought him out within days of school starting. Jiang Rui was called out by the campus beauty. He didn’t feign indifference; instead, his expression was gentle, open, and smiling. Just standing there, he looked like an ancient painting.

The campus beauty looked at Jiang Rui, then at herself, and couldn’t utter a word before turning around and leaving.

Next to such a person, everyone else feels ordinary, or even like a clown, so no one dares to harbor any other thoughts.

Even the small number of boys who disliked Jiang Rui couldn’t say anything nasty to his face. It must be said that Jiang Rui himself was a lethal weapon.

In contrast, Duan Xinrong, the other male god in the class, was much easier to approach. He had a good temper, was gentle and handsome, and his family background seemed decent. Both boys and girls got along well with Duan Xinrong.

Coupled with Jiang Rui’s recent low profile in his studies, some people felt that Jiang Rui was inferior to Duan Xinrong. They were secretly circulating rumors that Duan Xinrong would likely be the top scorer in the upcoming monthly exam. Some idle gossip even started a rumor that Jiang Rui and Duan Xinrong were rivals.

Zhou Yang specifically ran to Class Nine and called Jiang Rui out to talk about the rumors. Zhou Yang got angry the moment he saw his friend’s smiling face.

The rumors were spreading throughout Grade One, yet Jiang Rui acted as if nothing was wrong.

Zhou Yang felt that Jiang Rui was so clueless that he wondered what the girls in the class liked about him. Was it just that face?

“I’m asking if you’re confident about this exam! I heard Duan Xinrong transferred from Beijing to Qingshi and is an academic powerhouse. But no matter how good he is, you can’t lose to him this time… Wait, can you give me some reaction? Don’t just keep smiling without speaking. I feel like I’m performing a monologue here…”

After barely getting through the physical exam requirement for junior high, Zhou Xiaopang now had to deal with morning exercises in high school, running three laps around the eight-hundred-meter track every day. He had already thinned down a bit and looked less chubby than before.

Jiang Rui leaned his arm on the railing and looked at Zhou Yang nonchalantly: “Yang Yang, how capable Duan Xinrong is, or whether he’s formidable, has nothing to do with me.”

Zhou Yang frowned: “Of course it does! If you win this time, all those rumors about your score being fake, or you being jealous of him and not getting along, will disappear…”

Jiang Rui shook his head and laughed at that: “Yang Yang, he is not my opponent.”

Zhou Yang was surprised: “Is there someone in our Grade One better at studying than both of you? That can’t be.”

Jiang Rui didn’t say anything more. Finding Zhou Yang’s incessant nagging annoying, he conceded: “Fine, I’ll take the exam seriously this time. I promise not to lose to him, alright?”

Zhou Yang’s eyes crinkled in a smile: “That’s more like it.”

Unexpectedly, Jiang Rui immediately followed up with: “I’m not worried about this monthly exam, but what about you? How are you preparing? I heard that after this monthly exam, the teachers plan to notify parents of the results. Auntie Cui must be looking forward to it, right?”

Zhou Yang’s smile instantly turned into a look of distress.

The final subject of the monthly exam was English. After the exam, everyone was discussing the difficulty of the questions, the correct answers, and which questions were the hardest.

Jiang Rui knew Wang Xiaorui was strong in science but slightly weaker in the liberal arts, so he stepped forward and asked her: “How did you do this time?”

The girl who had been walking beside Wang Xiaorui immediately flushed and backed away when she saw Jiang Rui approach. The slightly more outgoing ones also maintained some distance, daring not to get too close.

Wang Xiaorui was aloof, and her speech was sometimes sharp, so she didn’t get along well with the girls in her class. She didn’t pay any mind to their attitudes.

“The questions weren’t hard this time; I did okay.” Then she asked, “What about you?”

Jiang Rui replied modestly: “Not bad. My score in Chinese will probably be a little lower than English and Math.”

Wang Xiaorui glanced at him. Senior students had already said that it was virtually impossible to get a perfect score in Chinese in Thirteenth High’s regular exams; even if one answered perfectly, teachers would deduct a few points to avoid suspicion. For someone of Jiang Rui’s ability, perfect scores in English and Math were a given. Saying his score would be “a little lower than perfect” was not humble at all!

Wang Xiaorui knew from her best friend’s answer that he would undoubtedly take the first place in the grade.

She wondered what the reaction of that guy named Xie would be when he saw Duan Xinrong being overshadowed by Jiang Rui again.

The thought alone made her feel satisfied.

The teachers at Thirteenth High were efficient. Scores for one or two minor subjects were released the day after the exam. By the afternoon of the third day, all test papers, except for Chinese, had been returned.

Because marking Chinese was relatively more difficult, it was the last subject to be released.

Before the Chinese scores came out, a rumor spread that Duan Xinrong’s Chinese score was 145, placing him first in the grade!

Duan Xinrong only laughed when he heard it: “How could I score that high? The classical Chinese reading and poetry appreciation parts of the Chinese exam were too obscure this time. I didn’t do very well, so it’s impossible to score that high.”

Since this was the first monthly exam for the new Grade One students, the school didn’t make it overly difficult to avoid crushing student morale. So, except for English, Physics, and Chinese, the questions for the other subjects were only moderately difficult.

Jiang Rui scored perfectly in every subject except Chinese. Duan Xinrong missed a few points in both English and Physics. Wang Xiaorui’s total score in the eight subjects was two or three points lower than Duan Xinrong’s.

Whether Duan Xinrong would surpass Jiang Rui, or Wang Xiaorui would surpass Duan Xinrong, now depended entirely on the final Chinese score.

Zhou Yang had run to Class Nine several times, and even Xie Gaoling had hovered outside Class Nine’s door a few times.

Once, Wang Xiaorui went to the restroom during the break and bumped into Xie Gaoling in the hallway on her way back. Wang Xiaorui frowned when she saw him. She intended to walk around him, but he blocked her path.

“I heard you did well this time, almost catching up to our Old Duan.”

Wang Xiaorui raised her eyebrows coolly but said nothing, a hint of impatience in her demeanor.

“Oh, after a few days, your act of playing aloof has improved. What, talking to me makes you lose face or something?” Xie Gaoling sneered angrily.

Wang Xiaorui didn’t respond at all. She let him continue his cold sarcasm for a long time, just waiting for the class bell to ring. She understood Xie Gaoling’s personality: the more she engaged with him, the more he would persist. If she ignored him, he might eventually find it boring and stop bothering her.

Xie Gaoling saw through her thoughts and said, “I don’t believe you won’t say a single word to me today. Look, class is about to start. If you’re truly so pure and noble, then keep up that pretense and don’t talk to me. We’ll both just stand here. If you want to go back to the classroom, then honestly give me a reply, and stop giving me that cold face whenever you see me.”

Wang Xiaorui finally fixed her gaze on Xie Gaoling, but the look held no warmth whatsoever.

Jiang Rui achieved first place in the grade this time. Every exam score was perfect, except for Chinese, where he scored 149.

Duan Xinrong’s total score was over ten points lower than his.

This was with six out of nine subjects having easy questions.

When the results came out, even the usually gentle and good-tempered Duan Xinrong couldn’t help but look grim.

All previous rumors about Jiang Rui were instantly dispelled.

At Thirteenth High, results determined everything.

Although it was only a monthly exam, no previous Grade One student had ever achieved Jiang Rui’s score, or even Wang Xiaorui’s score.

With the students performing well, Yao Jilan naturally looked good. She walked with a lighter step these days, and the smile hadn’t left her face.

The doubts people previously had about Jiang Rui turned into astonishment. Scoring 149 in Chinese at Thirteenth High was beyond “excellent.”

Jiang Rui was indifferent to the shift in people’s attitudes, but Zhou Yang felt greatly vindicated.

Jiang Rui had been keeping an eye on Jiang Jianlin, but in recent days, the latter had been quiet and hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Jiang Jianlin had almost collected all the money he had lent out but hadn’t lent any more.

Jiang Rui didn’t believe for a second that his good third uncle wanted to wash his hands of the business.

Jiang Jianlin had a bit of cleverness, but that small cleverness wasn’t enough to make him wise enough to walk away after earning a large sum of money from loan sharking.

Saturday, three o’clock in the afternoon.

Jiang Rui arrived at Taibai Tower as agreed.

When he entered, Yang Feng was standing with his back to him, bowing slightly as he reported work matters in a low voice to the person seated in the main seat.

The person looked up slightly when Jiang Rui entered, his voice as calm and indifferent as ever: “Long time no see, Jiang Rui.”