The students in the grade were so shocked that their jaws practically hit the floor.
The slap delivered across the air was crisp and loud.
Just as the top students had gone to Class 24 to throw their weight around, Yuan Shao stepped up to deliver justice by forwarding the truth.
The students of Class 24, who had held back for so long, finally felt vindicated and basked in the sunlight of their cleared names. They began to complain:
“Damn, that was exhausting.”
“Yuan Shao can’t stand seeing us get bullied!”
“Yuan Shao is awesome!”
Yesterday, Yue Shi had looked so innocent, like she had nothing to do with what happened, leaving the naive boys dumbfounded.
The students of Class 24 breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if even the air they were breathing had become fresh again.
Yu Qingyan excitedly said, “I heard from someone in the ‘Winners’ class that Yuan Shao spent a lot of money to get a tech expert to recover the video.”
“Finally, there’s someone who hasn’t been brainwashed by Lu Lingshan and still has a clear mind.”
As Yu Qingyan spoke, she deliberately glanced at Tan Ming.
Tan Ming, his face stern, swiped through the video again and again. His handsome face was filled with disbelief as his gaze shifted to Zhou Xiu.
In the corner, that girl was intently focused on the questions in her hand. She showed no interest in the truth being revealed, as if she had shut out all external distractions. Only studying could bring her joy.
Unbeknownst to others, at that moment, a series of notifications were ringing in Zhou Xiu’s mind:
[Task completed: “Preview all content for the first semester of second-year high school.” You have received a reward of 500 RMB.]
[Full proficiency in all mandatory recitations of the high school Chinese textbook—reward: 500 RMB.]
With a fresh 1,000 RMB credited to her account, Zhou Xiu slipped her hand into her pocket, feeling the money, and finally curved her lips into a smile.
The truth, for Zhou Xiu, really wasn’t as joyful as… no, it really wasn’t as joyful as earning money through studying.
Only studying could make Zhou Xiu feel safe and fulfilled.
Another person who wasn’t happy was Hua Xu. She repeatedly replayed the video, frowning as she said, “Do you remember yesterday when Lu Lingshan said she didn’t plant the exam papers?”
She seemed to have an uneasy premonition.
But no one paid attention; the students of Class 24 were immersed in the joy of their vindication.
During the Monday flag-raising ceremony, the head of the political education department announced the disciplinary notices for Yue Shi and Lu Lingshan. The punishment was for cheating on the monthly exam. At the same time, students caught cheating in other grades were also punished.
The students in the lower and upper grades who were unaware of the situation were unexpectedly shocked, their faces blank as if they couldn’t believe their ears.
The school flower of the sophomore rocket class had actually cheated?
As soon as the head of discipline announced the news, the students exploded with chatter.
The second-year students who had watched the entire drama unfold felt inexplicably conflicted. The school flower had actually done something like that?
The goddess’s image was beginning to crumble.
After being given a demerit, Yue Shi and Lu Lingshan reached some sort of agreement. Yue Shi wisely chose to withdraw from the school. Before leaving, she wrote a letter of apology and posted it on the grade’s bulletin board.
After the flag-raising assembly, the sophomore bulletin board was so crowded that it was impossible to get through.
The students of Class 24 were stunned when they saw it. Hua Xu took a glance at the bulletin board and called Zhou Xiu over.
The content of Yue Shi’s apology letter went roughly as follows: I admit that I was jealous of Zhou Xiu and developed the idea of framing her for cheating.
I deeply regret doing this, but Lu Lingshan inadvertently discovered that I had hidden the exam papers and advised me not to go through with it.
At the end of the letter, she expressed deep apologies to Zhou Xiu and also apologized to Lu Lingshan, stating that she had let down Lu Lingshan’s good intentions.
In other words, before leaving Yude, Yue Shi took full responsibility for framing Zhou Xiu, conveniently clearing Lu Lingshan’s name.
The students who hadn’t been following the drama saw the apology letter and suddenly understood everything.
“Tsk, I knew Senior Lu wouldn’t do something so low.”
“Her grades are so good; how could she possibly steal exam papers… That’s just obvious, isn’t it?”
“Who’s Zhou Xiu? Never heard of her.”
“Good thing I believed in Senior Lu. She’s so kind and hardworking; she was just dragged into this mess by her classmate.”
“Poor Senior Lu, she got punished for nothing.”
After reading the apology letter, the students of Class 24 were left speechless: “???”
Du Feiyang said, “Wait… am I blind, or was that paper-passing move by Lu Lingshan supposed to be her persuading Yue Shi?”
In the video, Yue Shi looked shocked when she saw the exam papers, while Lu Lingshan, who handed them over, remained calm and composed. The roles had been reversed so absurdly that it was almost maddening.
The students of Class 24 had thought they would receive a sincere apology, but Yue Shi had taken the blame for everything.
Du Feiyang patted Tan Ming’s shoulder, “Wash your eyes, man. Did you see that? That’s your goddess…”
Although Lu Lingshan had been given a demerit, this apology letter was like a slap in the face to the students of Class 24.
As they walked back to their classroom, the girls from Class 24 couldn’t help but vent:
“Passing the blame to Yue Shi, Lu Lingshan, do you have no shame?”
The top students of the rocket class had been infuriated by Class 24 over the past few days, and yesterday’s argument hadn’t even been fully settled. A fire was still burning in their hearts.
When they heard the remarks from the students of Class 24, they silently lifted their heads and looked down the corridor.
One student coldly said, “Yue Shi has already withdrawn from school. Do you still want to force Lu Lingshan out too?”
Another top student added, “This isn’t what you think it is. Ling Shan was dragged into this mess, and she’s already suffered enough. Be reasonable, okay?”
“Yue Shi did something wrong, and she’s admitted it. Please leave Lu Lingshan alone. What did she ever do to you?”
The students of Class 24 slowly wore expressions of disbelief: “???”
Yu Qingyan was rendered speechless:
“So you’re saying we made Yue Shi drop out, and Lu Lingshan shouldn’t have been punished?”
As Zhou Xiu passed by the rocket class’s windows, she calmly said, “Why are we even arguing with them?”
“Let’s leave them with some dignity.”
Lu Lingshan had been at Yude since middle school. She was good-looking, had excellent grades, and was the school flower. Her popularity was rivalled only by Xi Shaoyuan, and she had many die-hard fans and admirers.
**Nomad: I’m a bit confused with the authors random changes of Middle school and High school. Given their age and this statement I will stick to high school from now on. **
The goddess’s status was rock-solid, and it wasn’t going to be affected by something so trivial. As long as there was a reason, the students of the rocket class were willing to believe her.
Zhou Xiu shrugged and followed Hua Xu back to their classroom.
Hua Xu, who had seen through Lu Lingshan’s tactics long ago, complained to Zhou Xiu, “No wonder, I always felt something was off.”
Quietly accepting the school’s punishment? That didn’t fit Lu Lingshan’s usual perfect image. Today, with just one apology letter, she had instantly pushed herself back into the role of the innocent and kind-hearted victim.
Hua Xu sighed, “Forget it. She’s been punished anyway, and there’s no point in arguing. What’s the use of debating with people who are just fooling themselves?”
You can never wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep.
Zhou Xiu and Hua Xu’s remarks infuriated the top students.
Qi Yaguang from the rocket class sneered, “It’s like scholars trying to reason with soldiers—you can’t win. People on different intellectual levels just can’t communicate.”
“I suggest you spend more time reading books and less time indulging in paranoid fantasies. Use your brain a bit more.”
Du Feiyang exploded, “Say that again?”
The students of the rocket class were insufferable, constantly mocking the intelligence of the students in Class 24.
Li Simiao retorted sarcastically, “I suggest you study hard and strive for progress every day. Stop acting like paranoid idiots.”
“What does Zhou Xiu have that would make our Lu Lingshan want to frame her? Come back and talk when you’ve actually achieved something.”
“No offense, but any random person in our class scores better than you.”
As Xu Qing passed by, he adjusted his glasses and said, “I didn’t hear that clearly just now. Could you repeat that?”
Li Simiao coldly replied, “Xu Qing, you’re about to lose your spot in the top ten. Look at the kind of people you’re hanging out with now.”
“Cheating on such a small test… only someone from Class 24 could pull that off,” another student from the rocket class sneered.
They went on to mock Yuan Ruoyi and the others from Class 24 who had been caught cheating.
“You rich brats, what else can you do besides throw money around? No offense, but if you were born into ordinary families, you’d be worthless trash.”
The students of Class
24 were speechless: “…”
Zhou Xiu stopped in her tracks. When she turned around, she saw the students of Class 24, their faces flushed with anger, their eyes brimming with tears. They looked as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing, too furious to speak.
The only thing showing their frustration was their tightly clenched fists hidden in their uniform sleeves.
It seemed that the moment grades were brought up, the usually lively students were crushed into the ground by the top students.
Zhou Xiu walked back, looked through the window at the top students in the rocket class, and repeated the words they had just said:
“No offense, but none of you in this entire class could score a perfect score in math. Remember this.”
“Isn’t it just grades? Who’s afraid of that? Zhou Xiu from Class 24 accepts your challenge. Let’s see each other on the honour roll after the final exams. Don’t cry foul then, saying we bullied you with better grades.”
“You can’t just have it both ways.”
Xu Qing followed up, “As the class president of Class 24, I, Xu Qing, also look forward to competing with the outstanding talents of the rocket class.”
The students of Class 24 were stunned as they looked up at Zhou Xiu and Xu Qing.
What were they saying? Did they understand?
Xu Qing and Zhou Xiu, one who consistently hovered around the top twenty in the grade, challenging the top twenty of the rocket class. The top ten rankings were usually stable, with little movement.
As for the other, it was even more outrageous—Zhou Xiu hadn’t even made it into the top 100 this time. What was she going to compete with?
It might have seemed like overconfidence, but at that moment, the determined look on their faces made the students of Class 24 lift their heads.
They were stunned for a moment, and then someone started clapping. The others quickly joined in, and a round of enthusiastic applause echoed through the hallway. They regained their confidence and swagger:
“Did you hear that? Our class president said, ‘See you on the honour roll after the final exams!’”
“Isn’t it just an exam? Who’s afraid?”
“Tch, just wait and see!”
After throwing down these harsh words, the students of Class 24 quickly followed Xu Qing back to their classroom, afraid that if they delayed even a second, the top students would mock them again and they’d lose face.
Back in their own classroom, the students of Class 24 were sullen, some even laying their heads down on their desks, pretending to sleep.
After a long while, Du Feiyang finally complained, “Damn, it’s bad enough that Old Huang calls us trash all the time, but now they dare to look down on us too?”
“What gives them the right?”
Well, in terms of grades, the students of the rocket class did have the right to mock them. Not only could they mock them directly, but they could also hurt them indirectly.
After the monthly exam results came in, the students of the rocket class would turn into the “kids next door” that parents talked about.
“Why are you so useless? Look at the kids in the rocket class, learn from them!”
“You can’t even score a third of their points, useless!”
Yu Qingyan muttered gloomily, “I really wish I could throw down harsh words like the class president and Zhou Xiu just did.”
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t envious.
When Zhou Xiu first joined their class, her grades were on par with theirs, but now she had the courage to challenge the rocket class.
When Xu Qing and Zhou Xiu stood up and declared “see you on the honour roll,” they seemed to be glowing.
Zhou Xiu hesitated for a moment, then lightly coughed:
“Why the long faces? I think top students are just ordinary people. They’re no different from us.”
She noticed that even Hua Xu looked furious, so she walked to the podium, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote a sentence on the blackboard: “Failure is the mother of success.”
The students looked up and felt a wave of despair.
Zhou Xiu smiled and erased the sentence, writing a new one: “Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work.”
This old motivational quote had been so overused that the students were numb to it. They glanced at it, unmoved, and continued to sulk.
Zhou Xiu slowly said, “For most people, the level of effort they put in doesn’t even reach the point where intelligence matters. If you work hard, you will be rewarded.”
She paused, then raised her voice, “Let them see the power of your hard work, okay?”
Didn’t need to compete with intelligence, just needed to work hard?
The students looked at the transfer student on the podium in disbelief.
It sounded so motivating, so inspiring. Her words were warm, like a spark that fell into their hearts, filling them with hope.
“Didn’t you say you wanted Old Huang to look at you differently?” Zhou Xiu asked again.
The students suddenly felt a surge of energy, “Damn it, who’s afraid?”
“If I really put in the effort, even I’d be scared of myself!”
Yu Qingyan turned away, pretending to be unimpressed, “Tch, why get all emotional?” But in the end, she couldn’t help but let her lips curl into a smile.
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