"Still looking down on our Class 1? Got 'overconfident' and crushed, huh?!"
"I'm serious, this bet of yours isn't a bet—it's self-humiliation, hahahaha!"
Chen Yiyang's voice cut through the crowd, cold, low, and certain, landing right in Yun Mi's ear: "Jiang Wenshao, looks like I have no reason to hate anyone else."
Like a small pebble shattering the calm lake surface, her heart suddenly tightened, then was unexpectedly wrapped in warmth.
She couldn't hold back anymore. She abruptly moved her hand away from her eyes and looked up at the striking numbers on the results sheet.
【Yun Mi】Class Rank: 50/51; Grade Rank: 572/1378; Math Single Subject Class Rank: 46/51
Class 2 Average Score: 736.23; Class 1 Average Score: 737.10.
Yun Mi froze on the spot, her mind blank for a few seconds.
Ding Yuan had been standing silently beside Yun Mi, waiting for her to see it herself.
The next second, Ding Yuan couldn't hold it in anymore. She threw her arms around Yun Mi, screaming with excitement, her cheers nearly lifting the roof: "Awesome—Yun Mi, you really did it!"
Yun Mi had just come to her senses when Ding Yuan spun her around. In the crowd, she immediately located Chen Yiyang.
The young man's figure was tall and youthful. He was looking up at the grade list, his gaze firm.
His thin lips pulled into a confident, triumphant smile.
His vague mouth shape was probably:
We won.
---
"Jiang Wenshao, a real man honors his word. Don't be a coward—apologize quickly!"
"Yeah, get on with it! Don't embarrass Class 2!"
Around them, the corridor was already packed, with jeers and murmurs rising and falling. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the person in the middle.
Jiang Wenshao's face alternated between pale and red. Cornered by the crowd, he was trapped, his head nearly drooping to his chest, too embarrassed to even lift his eyes.
"How annoying! I'll apologize, alright!"
Enraged and humiliated, he shook off the people around him. Earlier, when Chen Yiyang was there, he had instinctively fled, but now wherever he went, there were 'righteous' classmates jeering.
Jiang Wenshao couldn't hide behind his friends, so he could only irritably shove the people around him and stride over to Yun Mi.
Yun Mi was just looking in the direction Chen Yiyang had left, wanting to catch up, but was stopped by him. She frowned.
"You're Yun Mi?"
Jiang Wenshao had never taken a good look at this transfer student named Yun Mi.
He had only heard rumors that she had gotten in through connections, that she was soft-natured and popular, that in just half a month she had already gathered a group of friends, and even the aloof Xu Zhiyu had a favorable impression of her.
Only now did he truly see her.
Yun Mi wasn't short. Fair skin, clear almond-shaped eyes, straight black hair. Even in the most ordinary school uniform, she exuded a gentle and clean girlish aura. Yet when she spoke and lifted her eyes, there was a resilience and sharpness that others lacked.
Perhaps under different circumstances, he might have liked a girl like this.
Yun Mi was looking for Chen Yiyang. She asked, "Is there something?"
Jiang Wenshao opened his mouth, his cheeks flushed red. He scratched his hair irritably and said awkwardly, "Chen Yiyang told me... to apologize to you."
He clenched his back teeth, his voice extremely low and barely audible, as if forced out through gritted teeth: "That... sorry."
"Dude, Jiang Wenshao, is that what you call an apology? Can't take a loss, huh!"
"Way too perfunctory! Who would accept that attitude?!"
The surrounding students instantly erupted, jeering and mocking. Everyone had been waiting to see this arrogant, mouthy guy finally lower his head sincerely, but all they got was those three light words—so perfunctory it was laughable.
A wave of unison boos swept over, making Jiang Wenshao's head sink lower.
Yun Mi looked at him, feeling for the first time a clear sense of disgust.
She hated Chen Yiyang, and she also hated Jiang Wenshao.
But this hatred was completely different from the complicated, agitated feelings she had toward Chen Yiyang. For this person in front of her, it was pure indifference—a reluctance to waste even a sliver of emotion.
Yun Mi's gaze was calm, but her words were clear, loud enough for everyone to hear: "Jiang Wenshao, these past few days I've been studying hard. But not because of you—it's because I wanted to integrate into Class 1 and the study atmosphere for academic students. I think I need to make two things clear to you."
"First, Chen Yiyang and I are not dating. We're not whatever relationship you were implying."
"Second, I didn't get into Class 1 through the back door. I transferred to Shanfu's key class on the personal recommendation of the president of the Shanghai Fencing Association, because I won the junior foil championship in Los Angeles. I earned my place."
"I am not Chen Yiyang's 'rumored girlfriend who beat Xu Zhiyu,' nor am I some dead weight who snuck in through connections to drag down the class."
"I hope you will stop spreading rumors from now on."
Jiang Wenshao was thunderstruck, frozen on the spot. The color drained from his face, his lips moved, but he couldn't say a word for a long time.
Yun Mi looked at him without any backing down: "Also, I don't accept your apology."
With that, the girl walked past him.
Author's note:
Never try to guess a girl's thoughts.