The Sickly Beauty Gives Up Struggling [Rebirth] Chapter 10

Li Rong sent a private message to Yang Fenfang, using a stomachache as an excuse to take leave.

[Li Rong: Teacher, I drank a bit of red wine, and now my stomach hurts terribly. I probably won’t make it to school today.]

[Yang Fenfang: ???]

Ever since Li Rong returned, Yang Fenfang had been feeling uneasy.

In the past, she considered it an honor to have a student like Li Rong. His rare excellence was a feather in her cap, and she imagined a future where he, now accomplished and successful, would visit her at school, bringing her immense pride.

But now, she didn’t feel that way anymore.

Since his return, trouble seemed to follow Li Rong everywhere. She was terrified that one wrong step on her part could negatively impact her career.

[Yang Fenfang: Are you skipping the mock exam in two days?]

[Li Rong: If I can make it, I will. If not, there’s nothing I can do.]

After all, he didn’t remember exactly when Li Baishou published his thesis. Before Li Baishou could extract his father’s hard drive from the investigation team, Li Rong needed to submit his paper first.

Fortunately, writing papers was second nature to him now. If he worked efficiently, he could complete the first draft in two days.

[Yang Fenfang: This mock exam is particularly important. It closely mirrors the college entrance exam’s difficulty. I know you’re a good student, but you’ve missed a lot of classes. I still hope you’ll take this opportunity to assess your weaknesses.]

Li Rong completely agreed with her assessment.

[Li Rong: No need to assess. I’ll definitely perform worse than before.]

After all, he had been out of the high school environment for five years. While he still remembered concepts he’d built up over years or used in research, he was admittedly rusty on things he hadn’t revisited. His performance this time couldn’t compare to when he was seventeen.

Seeing that Li Rong shared her concern, Yang Fenfang regained some confidence as his homeroom teacher. She immediately began a heartfelt voice message:

“So, you should identify your weak points through this exam. During the upcoming comprehensive review, you can focus on filling in those gaps. With your foundation—”

Before she could finish, Li Rong had already typed his next response.

[Li Rong: I probably can’t maintain a fifty-point lead over the second-ranked student this time. Let’s just leave it at that. I’m not particularly worried.]

Swoosh.

Yang Fenfang’s voice message was sent.

She hastily retracted it.

[Li Rong: ?]

[Yang Fenfang: Just rest well…]

[Li Rong: Okay. :)]

The next day, Li Rong’s seat remained conspicuously empty. To prevent gossip, Yang Fenfang gave a brief explanation before lunch.

“The class monitor isn’t feeling well and has taken leave. Focus on your exams and don’t waste energy on irrelevant matters.”

Hearing this, Cen Xiao frowned slightly.

When he left Li Rong’s house the previous night, Li Rong had been in decent condition—not great, but certainly not sick enough to skip school.

What was he up to now?

Jian Fu clicked his tongue in disapproval, sauntering over to lean against Cen Xiao’s desk. “Such a delicate flower. Barely managed to perk up before wilting again. He was so flashy last night—I thought he’d made a full recovery.”

Cen Xiao glanced up, his tongue running lightly over his molars. “Who did you call an idiot yesterday?”

Jian Fu froze. “Huh?”

Jian Fu jabbed a thumb toward Li Rong’s empty seat. “He hasn’t been to class for over a week. And who knows if carbon monoxide poisoning messed with his brain. Asking him for tutoring now—what else could it be but idiotic?”

Even the clique led by Cui Mingyang couldn’t help but agree.

As soon as the teacher left, Cui Mingyang sneered, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “I bet he’s not sick—he’s just scared to take the exam and embarrass himself.”

“Exactly. Making money off his classmates but can’t even perform well himself? What a joke.”

“His family’s been through so much. Saying it hasn’t affected him? Who’d believe that? Not me.”

“Just trying to save face. The more nonchalant he acts, the more insecure he is.”

Jian Fu grew annoyed. 

He didn’t mind mocking Li Rong himself but didn’t want to join forces with this Hongsuo crowd.

“If you want to talk trash, do it on your own. Don’t drag me into it.”

Cui Mingyang smirked and shot a pointed glance at Cen Xiao. “Jian Fu, you still don’t know who bought tutoring from Li Rong, do you? Care to guess?”

Jian Fu sighed. “…Your eyes are practically popping out. Do you think I’m blind?”

He genuinely hadn’t expected it to be Cen Xiao. But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.

Since the Li family’s incident, Cen Xiao had been paying unusual attention to Li Rong—something Jian Fu had tried warning him about to no avail.

But Cen Xiao had always been more deliberate and calculating than Jian Fu. While Jian Fu didn’t know what Cen Xiao was up to, he trusted that Cen Xiao had a plan.

Still, Cui Mingyang hadn’t gotten over being rejected by Cen Xiao the last time he tried to get close. It wasn’t about wanting to align with Blue Pivot—it was the insult of being passed over in favor of the now-destitute Li Rong that stung.

“Aligning with someone like him,” Cui Mingyang said airily, “you’ll end up deceived. When people hit rock bottom, they change. Even the proudest people turn nasty.”

Jian Fu glared at Cui Mingyang, grinding his teeth dangerously. If Cui Mingyang kept up with his snide remarks and fake moralizing, Jian Fu was about ready to throw a punch.

But before resorting to violence, he couldn’t help turning his head to look at Cen Xiao.

“Bro, did you really ask him for tutoring? Does that stuff even work?”

Jian Fu was heavily biased in certain subjects and didn’t have great overall grades, but he had a special admission to A University thanks to his lightning-fast mental arithmetic, rivaling that of a computer. Blue Pivot District’s tech firms desperately needed someone with his talent.

“It works. Really well,” Cen Xiao replied to Jian Fu, his tone flat as his cold gaze settled on Cui Mingyang. “Did you think I was joking?”

The smug expression froze on Cui Mingyang’s face.

He immediately remembered Cen Xiao’s warning that day in the hallway. He’d gotten a bit carried away today, almost forgetting that Cen Xiao was a moody, unpredictable person—a total wildcard.

Someone beside Cui Mingyang nudged his shoulder, confused. “What did you say? How come you seem to have connections with people like those in Blue Pivot?”

Cui Mingyang took a deep breath and gestured for a truce with Cen Xiao. “I was just trying to give you a friendly reminder. Sure, Li Rong can probably guess what’s likely to be on the test, but thinking you can significantly improve your grades in just a couple of days is impossible. Highlighting common exam points is just a shortcut. It’s not like these joint mock exam teachers are writing the actual college entrance exam.”

Cen Xiao stood up and replied indifferently, “If you can’t improve, that’s probably an IQ issue.”

He gave Jian Fu a look and walked away.

Jian Fu quickly followed, and once they were some distance away, he leaned in close to Cen Xiao’s ear, whispering, “Bro, you’re talking way too big. What if there really isn’t any improvement? Li Rong’s grades are impressive, sure, but we can’t treat him like some kind of god. He’s still just a regular sickly guy who’s been poisoned before…”

That “regular sickly guy” actually showed up on the day of the first mock exam.

And sure enough, the “sickly guy” didn’t seem to be in great shape. He looked even worse, with faint dark circles under his eyes.

It was pouring rain that day, and the temperature had dropped. Li Rong showed up in a padded jacket, his neck wrapped tightly in scarves as though trying to bury his chin into his collar.

Even so, he still shivered, occasionally coughing so hard his eyes turned red, his face pale as paper.

The previous day, he had barely slept at all, rushing to draft a paper. Though he managed to make it to the exam, his already frail health had taken a turn for the worse. In addition to stomach pain, he seemed to have a slight fever.

The mock exam lasted all day. Li Rong threw up twice in the restroom and took a few fever reducers to get through it, barely holding on.

By the time evening self-study rolled around, he was visibly dazed.

Cen Xiao, who had been watching him since his arrival, finally spoke up as Li Rong collapsed wearily onto his desk.

“It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

Li Rong’s face was flushed unnaturally. Hearing the familiar voice, he half-opened his eyes and let out a soft hum.

“It really is,” he murmured.

Cen Xiao didn’t know what Li Rong had been doing at home that was worth such exertion, but it was clear it had to be something important. 

Still, since Li Rong hadn’t mentioned it that night, Cen Xiao didn’t pry.

Using the knuckle of his forefinger, he gently nudged aside the strands of hair covering Li Rong’s forehead.

It was warm to the touch.

Cen Xiao withdrew his hand and rubbed his knuckles together for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing lightly.

“It’s not even that important of an exam. Why push yourself like this?”

Li Rong slowly opened his eyes, propping himself up weakly. His voice was listless as he replied, “I bet they were all gossiping about me yesterday. Saying I was too scared to take the test, that I’d definitely score poorly, or that I’m just here to scam my classmates out of money.”

His bloodshot eyes were filled with unshed tears, glistening against the faint shadows of his lashes. A stray lock of hair and a fragile eyelash clung together, teasing his eyelids and making him blink rapidly, the tears pooling precariously.

Cen Xiao said nothing.

It was an eerily accurate guess, eerily close to what Cui Mingyang had actually said.

Li Rong, though clearly lacking the strength, still fumed faintly. “I can’t let them have the satisfaction. Just thinking about how my results will make them furious gave me the strength to hang on till the end.”

He wasn’t someone who let go of slights easily, nor did he turn a blind eye to them. In his past life, his aloofness had kept him from stooping to petty revenge.

But after all he had endured, he’d learned his lesson: a person who can’t protect themselves has no business playing the saint.

After finishing his rant, Li Rong slumped back onto the desk, frowning as the discomfort consumed him again.

He only needed the Academic Affairs Office to confirm the test papers were correct, and he could go home.

Cen Xiao, noticing how seriously Li Rong took the slander, felt an inexplicable irritation rise within him.

“Go to the hospital,” he said coldly.

“No.” Li Rong rejected the suggestion outright, his tone snappish. He wasn’t usually so short-tempered, but his fever was making him irritable.

Cen Xiao’s voice rose slightly. “What did you say?”

It wasn’t often that he cared about someone else’s health, and now he was being met with such defiance.

Li Rong glared at him with bloodshot eyes, his temper flaring. “You’re always like this! Can’t you be a little nicer to me?”

In his past life, Cen Xiao had been the same—moody and erratic. Even when they seemed to get along, his temperament could shift in an instant.

Cen Xiao: “….”

Seeing how miserable Li Rong looked, he decided to let it slide this time.

Just then, Yang Fenfang entered the classroom. “The papers have been confirmed. You all worked hard today. Be safe heading home.”

Li Rong, still feverish and short of breath after his outburst, stiffened slightly at the mention of the papers.

He suppressed his annoyance and tilted his almond-shaped eyes upward, biting his pale lips lightly. His voice, now soft and weak, carried a hint of guilt.

“Cen Xiao, you answered the papers properly, didn’t you? Otherwise, they’ll spread rumors that I’m a terrible tutor.”

Cen Xiao chuckled, the anger he’d felt moments earlier dissipating.

“You taught me something?”

He had ordered food for him, transferred money to him, and hadn’t even gotten any tutoring in return—let alone anything more personal. Yet, here he was, daring to expect him to perform well in the exam.

Li Rong groaned softly, clutching his throbbing head. Propping his elbow on the desk, his shoulders trembled lightly. “I’m dizzy. I think I need to go to the hospital.”

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