“You keep complaining that Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu made the cut, but the truth is, both of them scored higher than you.”
“You say you worked hard, put in so much effort—what, Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu didn’t? Just because you didn’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
Wu Pingting gritted her teeth. “But in the earlier mock exams, both of them ranked lower than me.”
“So what? They were behind you for a while, so they should always stay behind you? You have the freedom to bury your head in books, and they don’t have the right to keep improving?”
Wu Pingting: “I looked through those practice problems. Without you, they wouldn’t have progressed so fast.”
Their rapid improvement in both score and rank was obvious.
To achieve such gains in a short time, Jiang Fuyue had to be the secret weapon!
“You can ask the teachers for help. Why can’t they come to me for advice?”
“That’s not the same!”
Jiang Fuyue asked calmly, “How is it not the same?”
Wu Pingting couldn’t answer.
“So just because the help you got from teachers wasn’t as effective as the help I gave them, the former is considered normal studying while the latter is cheating?”
Wu Pingting’s lips twitched, silenced.
“I understand how you feel. But I don’t agree with what you did.”
“There are plenty of people more talented than you in this world, and results often don’t meet expectations. If you’re willing to toss aside your conscience over just one spot on the national team, then maybe it wasn’t worth much to begin with.”
Wu Pingting trembled, eyes swimming with tears. She shook her head. “I… I didn’t want this… I was just so upset… I wanted to do something to make it right, but it seems I only made everything worse…”
Just earlier, Professor Li had called her into his office and criticized her in front of the other teachers.
Though he hadn’t said anything excessively harsh, Wu Pingting could clearly see the disappointment in his eyes.
That kind of disappointment hurt more than disgust or scorn. She would have preferred to be harshly scolded than to have a quiet label of “morally lacking” placed on her.
“I’m sorry… I really am…” Tears streamed down her face. All her tough talk and defiance crumbled like a sandcastle. She couldn’t hold it in any longer.
Then—
“WAAAAHHH!”
She crouched down in the hallway, buried her head in her arms, and started bawling.
“……”
Jiang Fuyue turned to leave quietly. But then—
WHAM!
The girl suddenly lunged and wrapped herself around Jiang Fuyue’s leg.
“!”
Wu Pingting sobbed and hiccupped, “Wuwuwu… Sister Yue, I’m really sorry… I was just too—hic!—too jealous.”
Jiang Fuyue: “?”
Then Wu Pingting mumbled, “If I were your schoolmate—hic!—your classmate, then you definitely would’ve given me extra help—hic!—not those two.”
Just then, Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu happened to arrive and caught that line.
They froze. Exchanged a quick look.
Someone’s trying to steal their spot!
ALERT LEVEL MAXED.
Jiang Fuyue, still being held onto: “……?”
Yeah. A little confused.
The whole scene ended with Wu Pingting successfully adding Jiang Fuyue on WeChat, skipping away like a happy bunny.
Chen Cheng: She actually added her??
Tan Jiaxu: Our position is in jeopardy!
They locked eyes, instantly reaching an unspoken agreement—
Intercept the threat. NOW.
Without alerting Jiang Fuyue, they slipped away stealthily.
A breeze blew past, jolting Jiang Fuyue back to reality. She looked down at her pant leg.
Tsk. It was damp.
She turned and left. As she passed the office, she locked eyes with Professor Li—who hadn’t pulled back in time.
Startled, he gave an awkward smile. “Hehe… Hi? What a coincidence.”
Clearly caught spying and eavesdropping. If he didn’t have a thick skin, he couldn’t have pulled off that fake smile.
Jiang Fuyue walked past without so much as a glance.
Li called out: “Jiang, be ready. We’re leaving the day after tomorrow, bright and early!”
She didn’t respond and disappeared around the stairwell corner.
Three heads poked out from the office door, watching her go.
Yuan Bentao: “Did she agree, or not?”
Xiang Pengyi: “Saying nothing means silent agreement.”
He Longchang: “What if she doesn’t show up that morning?”
Li elbowed him: “Loudmouth!”
“Ow! Old Li, are you nuts? That hurt!”
“You were the first to duck when she showed up! Don’t think I didn’t see.”
He Longchang: “That’s because you reacted too slow. Not my fault.”
“You little—”
“Try me, I dare you.”
“Stay still, see if I don’t—”
……
Downstairs.
Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu, tall and fast, easily caught up to Wu Pingting.
“You—what do you want?!”
Chen Cheng, ever polite, started: “Wu classmate, did you have a nice lunch?”
Wu Pingting: “??” Is he… okay in the head?
Tan Jiaxu pulled him aside and got to the point: “You—you—you’re not allowed to talk to Sister Yue!”
“Huh?”
Tan Jiaxu: “Don’t play dumb! We saw you add her on WeChat!”
Wu Pingting glared. “I didn’t trick her! She agreed to add me.”
Chen Cheng scratched his head. What now?
Tan Jiaxu didn’t care: “Sister Yue is busy! Super busy! She’s flying around with work! If you were considerate, you’d delete her.”
Wu Pingting clutched her phone like it was gold. “I’m not considerate, okay?!”
“……”
Chen Cheng thought for a second. No hitting—only talking. “So listen… Sister Yue is ours. Don’t even think about it.”
Tan Jiaxu nodded. “She won’t be your classmate. She won’t tutor you.”
Chen Cheng added seriously, “Only we are her little sweethearts!”
Tan Jiaxu: “……Didn’t expect that from you, Orange.”
Both in unison: “You better not get any funny ideas!”
Wu Pingting: “……” Are these two from some cringey romance novel?
Two teenage boys, acting like mafia heirs issuing a warning to the innocent heroine: “Woman. Behave yourself.”
She watched them dramatically sweep their jackets and storm off like “domineering CEO” characters.
She couldn’t help but wonder: How on earth did these two get into the national team?
Then it hit her—
Only because Sister Yue is too powerful. Even idiots could be trained into geniuses under her.
Ugh… so jealous again!
She stared up at the sky for the Nth time that day: Why not me? Why not me? Why not me… (mutters furiously)
—
That evening, Jiang Fuyue left school and returned to the Han household.
Han Ke picked her up in the car.
On the road, his phone wouldn’t stop ringing— Calls from investors and coworkers fishing for intel.
“Manager Han, will the unknown virus in F-continent affect the diamond market? Should I hold or sell?”
“Old Han, I’m thinking of dumping all my non-ferrous metal stocks from F-continent as soon as the market opens tomorrow. What’s your take?”
“Heard this virus is serious. Super contagious. It’s hit several countries in North F. The diamonds are mostly in South F, so maybe not much impact… but oil prices might go crazy.”
“This virus looks bad. Another tug-of-war situation. I’m putting money into grain and household goods—big investors already started last week.”
Han Ke played with the steering wheel and adjusted his Bluetooth headset.
“Huaxia has already sent an expert team to support F-continent. From what I hear, the team lead is top-tier—has significant accomplishments in virology. I doubt it’ll drag on too long.”
“The team lead?” The other end snorted, unimpressed.
“My inside sources say this virus is worse than hemorrhagic fever. Impossible to conquer in a short time—unless Professor Xie himself goes. Then maybe there’s hope.”
But Han Ke still refused to jump in.
Food and daily essentials were directly tied to the lives of ordinary F-continent residents. He couldn’t bring himself to profit off that.
“Fine, fine. I get it—you won’t make money off war or disease. You’ll never change.”
Han Ke gave a faint smile and hung up.
Suddenly—
“Second Uncle, do you know who the lead of that expert team is?”
Seeing her serious face, Han Ke didn’t give her the usual vague non-answer he gave investors.
“I have a classmate in the Ministry of Health. We had dinner yesterday, and he mentioned a bit. Not much, though.”
“Who’s the team lead?”
Han Ke shook his head. “Classified. Even my classmate doesn’t have clearance to know.”
“Then why do you want to know?”
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