That morning, Jiang Fuyue had just visited the headmaster’s office. By afternoon, the news that she declined a guaranteed university admission had spread throughout the entire grade.
Forget about Xu Jing, Meng Zhijian, and Yu Wenzhou pacing and fuming in the office; the shockwave it sent through the class was palpable—
“No way! ‘Amazing’ doesn’t even cover it for God Yue!”
“Why is she so intense? She turned down both Q University and B University. Is Jiang Fuyue planning to go to college on another planet?”
“If you don’t understand, don’t blab. Sister Yue wants a fair competition with us, so she declined the recommendation to take the college entrance exam.”
“Pfft—let’s be real. With your intelligence, are you really ‘competing’? You’re not even on the same level, alright?”
“…True, but did you have to be so blunt?”
“Bottom line: Sister Yue is just the best—”
“That was Q University and B University! Sister Yue doesn’t want them—could she spare one for me?”
“I’m turning into a giant lemon here.”
“….”
Jiang Fuyue returned to the classroom and found her deskmate staring at her in amazement.
She raised an eyebrow. “?”
Wan Xiutong’s face turned red as she leaned in shyly. “Jiang Jiang…”
“Hm?”
“Everyone’s talking about you declining the recommendation.”
Jiang Fuyue just shrugged, indifferent.
Wan Xiutong looked up to her with a fan-girl gaze.
Squeal! Another day to bow down to her goddess deskmate!
Suddenly, a stare from nearby was so intense it was impossible to ignore. Jiang Fuyue turned sharply and locked eyes with a boy gazing at her without reservation.
Yu Jiaze.
His deep, dark pupils seemed like bottomless whirlpools, filled with an air of mystery.
Jiang Fuyue withdrew her gaze casually, her expression indifferent, as if she didn’t see him as worth noticing.
Yu Jiaze chuckled softly.
Yu Kaixin, beside him, asked abruptly, “Why did she reject the offer?”
Her clear eyes flashed with curiosity, making her appear both gentle and innocent.
But Yu Jiaze ignored her, his cool profile radiating an aloofness that kept people at a distance.
Yet Yu Kaixin wasn’t upset. She even smiled at him, “Don’t you find Jiang Fuyue interesting? No wonder we transferred to Class 3 and not Class 7.”
Yu Jiaze stood up abruptly, his chair scraping the floor with an ear-piercing sound as he walked away.
Yu Kaixin’s smile remained as she slowly took out the book for the next class.
The boy in the front turned around, looking at her shyly, his ears turning red. “Classmate Yu, for you to eat?”
He quickly placed a round orange on her desk and turned back, visibly tense.
“Thank you,” she said sweetly.
The boy’s cheeks flushed. “You’re… welcome…”
Although he said that, his back stiffened even more.
Yu Kaixin peeled an orange, releasing a burst of tangy sweetness into the air. She took a segment and popped it into her mouth. “Mmm, so sweet!”
“As long as… you like it!”
Yu Kaixin’s smile was bright and sweet.
…
After school in the afternoon, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi headed to the sports field, where Jiang Han and Ge Meng were already waiting by the ping-pong table with their homework out.
“Sister Yue—”
“Mhm.” Jiang Fuyue kept her hands in her pockets. “Finished your homework?”
Jiang Han answered loudly, “Finished!”
Ge Meng nodded as well.
The two had clearly put in a lot of effort over the summer. Apart from collecting rent with her dad, Jiang Han spent the rest of her time taking online tutoring classes.
Ge Meng had hired a college student as a private tutor, patching up her weak spots.
Their improvement was obvious, and doing homework was now a breeze.
“What about you?” Jiang Fuyue suddenly turned to Liu Sisi.
The latter admitted honestly, “I did what I knew, but I left the ones I didn’t blank.”
Jiang Fuyue pondered for a moment, then took out two test papers and handed them to Jiang Han and Ge Meng. “Forty minutes—do as much as you can.”
Then she turned to Liu Sisi. “Take out your homework. Which questions are you stuck on?”
Liu Sisi was stunned for a moment before pressing her lips together. “…A lot.”
“Then let’s go through them one by one.”
Liu Sisi hesitated. “I’m just not cut out for this. Maybe I should just…” Forget it.
Jiang Han and Ge Meng had talent. Now that they were putting in effort, it was natural for them to improve quickly.
But Liu Sisi knew very well that no matter how hard she worked, her grades wouldn’t improve much. Rather than wasting time, she might as well focus on something else—like combat, boxing, or firearms…
Jiang Fuyue glanced at her calmly. “No matter what you do in the future, you need a basic education.”
Liu Sisi: “…Alright, I’ll try my best.”
….
Yi Ci, as usual, arrived at the sports field with a basketball in his arms, planning to mess around for two hours before heading home. But unexpectedly, he spotted someone at the ping-pong table—slender waist, long legs, standing out even in a generic school uniform.
He dribbled the basketball over and called out, “Jiang Fuyue, up for a game?”
Jiang Fuyue gave him a once-over, then hit him with a fatal question: “Did you finish your homework?”
Uh.
“…Why are you asking that?” The boy stammered, his eyes darting around.
Jiang Fuyue instantly understood. “Oh, you didn’t.”
“I did!”
“Oh,” she nodded, “You did. But you didn’t finish.”
Yi Ci: “…” D*mn it!
Five minutes later, Yi Ci was sprawled over the ping-pong table, gripping a pen, a math workbook open in front of him, and his basketball sitting by his feet.
He muttered under his breath, “cos(x+y) equals… equals what? How do you even solve this?”
Beside him, Liu Sisi was equally frustrated. “I get that sin(2x) = 2sinx*cosx, but why does it also equal 2/(tanx+cotx)?”
The two of them exchanged confused looks before simultaneously turning to Jiang Fuyue, identical expressions of bewilderment on their faces.
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
A moment later, Zhong Ziang showed up.
Ever since he saw that scene at the school gate on registration day, he had been keeping an eye on Yi Ci.
For the past two days, everything had seemed normal, but today, he let his guard down for one second—and the guy disappeared.
Of course, he ran off to find Jiang Fuyue. Hmph!
“What a coincidence! What are you guys doing?” He grinned as he walked over.
Yi Ci’s eyes lit up. “He didn’t do his homework either!”
Zhong Ziang: “?” Do what?
Jiang Fuyue spoke slowly. “Since that’s the case, take it out.”
Zhong Ziang suddenly had a very bad feeling. “…Take what out?”
“Your homework.”
“?” Big bro, are you serious?
Five minutes later, another person joined them at the ping-pong table. Zhong Ziang stared at the blank pages of his workbook, completely dazed.
Yi Ci nudged him with his elbow, grinning. “Come on, bro, get writing.”
“…F***! You set me up?!” He finally realized, but it was too late.
“Who told you to follow me? You totally deserved it.”
Zhong Ziang gritted his teeth. “Just you wait! If I don’t mess you up, I’m not a Zhong!”
“Tsk, before you try messing me up, maybe focus on finishing your problems first.” Yi Ci copied Jiang Fuyue’s method step by step.
Huh? This was actually… pretty smooth…
Zhong Ziang was having a miserable time, staring at a mess of sin, cos, and tan, his head throbbing.
Why did he even follow them here?
Wouldn’t it have been way better to be lying on the couch watching TV at home? Or gaming with his squad?
Now, faced with two full pages of math problems, he was absolutely drowning in regret.
At that moment, Yi Ci had just finished solving a big problem and asked Jiang Fuyue to check it for him.
“Is it correct?” He swallowed nervously, eyes full of anticipation.
Jiang Fuyue nodded. “Yeah.”
“Yes!” Yi Ci suddenly realized that maybe these problems weren’t as terrifying as he had thought.
Seeing this, Zhong Ziang cleared his throat. “Uh… let me take a look.”
Yi Ci immediately covered his answers. “In your dreams!”
“…You!”
“You’re the great Young Master Zhong, aren’t you? Solve it yourself, hehe.”
“I’m warning you—don’t get cocky!”
Yi Ci smirked. “Too late, I already am.”
“…” D*mn it!
Zhong Ziang wanted to sneak away, but a single glance from Jiang Fuyue pinned him in place, rendering him completely immobile.
This was too hard.
Chasing a goddess was too hard.
Chasing a straight-A student goddess was unbearably hard!
Suddenly—
“Which question don’t you understand?”
Zhong Ziang hesitantly looked up, finding Jiang Fuyue standing right beside him. “You…”
Gulp. He swallowed nervously. “W-What did you say?”
“I asked which question you’re stuck on.”
“Oh.” His face flushed red as he pointed at the two completely blank pages in his workbook. “All of them.”
Yi Ci: “…” Idiot.
Liu Sisi: “…” Phew, finally someone worse than me.
Jiang Han & Ge Meng: Why do we suddenly feel so much smarter?
Jiang Fuyue: “Then let’s start with the first one. So, because sin²(x) + cos²(x) = 1…”
“W-Wait a second.”
“?”
“Why does sin²(x) + cos²(x) = 1?”
“That’s a fundamental trigonometric identity.”
“…Huh?”
A vein twitched on Jiang Fuyue’s forehead. “No need to ask why. Just memorize it.”
“…Oh.”
Thirty minutes later, Jiang Han and Ge Meng finished their test papers and left happily.
Then Liu Sisi wrapped up her homework as well. “I’m heading back.”
She was currently staying in Camp A’s dormitory, with all her needs arranged by Liu Jinzhong.
Jiang Fuyue nodded. “Alright.”
In the end, only Yi Ci and Zhong Ziang remained, staring at each other like two roosters ready to fight.
