14 – Call Me Sister
The little incident from yesterday evening lingered on the minds of several people present—except for Xin Jushang.
As soon as Xin Jushang arrived at her seat and put down her backpack in the morning, Xu Zhiyan eagerly turned around to ask her about Xu Yinan.
Seeing the lovestruck look on Xu Zhiyan’s face, Xin Jushang knew exactly what was going on in the girl’s head.
Still, she extended her index finger and gently poked Xu Zhiyan’s forehead, speaking earnestly, “My brother is still a middle school student. How can you set your sights on him?”
Xu Zhiyan rested her chin in her hands, her eyes seemingly hiding two big hearts as she retorted carelessly, “It’s fine. I can wait, sis.”
As if suddenly remembering something important, Xu Zhiyan lowered her voice and nervously tugged at Xin Jushang’s sleeve. “Jushang, which high school is your brother planning to attend?”
The question made it clear what Xu Zhiyan was scheming. But Xin Jushang still pretended to be nonchalant as she replied, “Hengmu.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Xu Zhiyan cheered as if it were New Year’s, squealing with joy.
Watching Xu Zhiyan’s reaction, which resembled that of a girl in the throes of a crush, Xin Jushang felt both helpless and amused.
Throughout the morning, Zhou Yuchuan didn’t take the initiative to speak to Xin Jushang, and she was perfectly content with that, quietly working on practice problems by herself.
It wasn’t until noon, after school ended, that Xin Jushang, as usual, found a secluded corner in the school, took out the lunchbox she had brought in the morning, and was just about to remove her mask to eat when a familiar young voice sounded above her—
“Your brother told you not to associate with me, so you really won’t say a single word to me.”
The tone was thick with dissatisfaction.
Xin Jushang looked up in surprise, meeting Zhou Yuchuan’s aggrieved eyes, and for a moment, she was momentarily dazed.
She even forgot that she wasn’t wearing her mask.
Only after several seconds of eye contact did Xin Jushang snap back to reality, lowering her head and hurriedly trying to put her mask back on. But Zhou Yuchuan grabbed her right wrist.
“Aren’t you going to give me an explanation?”
Zhou Yuchuan was utterly aggrieved. He had been sulking all morning, skipped lunch, and rushed over to demand an answer from Xin Jushang, only for this heartless woman to act as if he were invisible.
“Zhou Yuchuan, can you let me put on my mask first before I answer you?” Xin Jushang was exasperated. She simply had no way of dealing with Zhou Yuchuan, who was acting like an unreasonable kindergarten child.
“No.”
Zhou Yuchuan was resolute.
Xin Jushang was taken aback, then lowered her head. “But it looks really ugly like this.”
Silence.
After a long pause, Zhou Yuchuan crouched down, cupped Xin Jushang’s face in his hands, examined it carefully, and slowly said—
“I think it’s okay.”
Sure, there were a few more pimples, and the lower half of her face was a bit red and swollen, but upon closer inspection, her features were still quite pretty.
Besides, compared to the first time he saw her face, the pimples had lessened, and the lower half of her face wasn’t as red and swollen as before.
“Let go first,” Xin Jushang reminded him.
Only then did Zhou Yuchuan release her hand and obediently sit down beside Xin Jushang.
“Want some?”
Xin Jushang took a piece of sushi from her lunchbox and offered it to Zhou Yuchuan.
But Zhou Yuchuan didn’t take it, pretending to be stubborn. “Didn’t your brother tell you not to associate with someone like me?”
Xin Jushang withdrew her hand and tossed out a reply, “Suit yourself.”
Seeing that his deskmate was ignoring him, Zhou Yuchuan immediately snatched the sushi from Xin Jushang’s hand. Chewing it with his mouth full, he mumbled indistinctly while complaining to Xin Jushang, “You’re the older sister here, can’t you stop being led around by a little brat?”
Xin Jushang froze for a moment, tilting her head to look at Zhou Yuchuan, her eyes curving into crescents—
“What did you just call me?”
“Older sister.”
“Mm.” Xin Jushang nodded in satisfaction.
It took quite a while before Zhou Yuchuan realized he had been tricked. Furious, he turned and walked away.
He had actually been tricked by Xin Jushang into calling her “older sister”! How was he supposed to maintain his dignity from now on?
In the afternoon, during his math class, Old Hu announced that Xin Jushang had placed first in the six-school joint exam, while Zhou Yuchuan had come in second, trailing by just three points.
Having both the first and second place winners in his class, Old Hu was so overjoyed he couldn’t stop grinning. For the entire class, he barely touched on the textbook material, instead standing with his hands on his hips and pontificating—
“These two transfer students in our class are truly outstanding! Everyone should strive to catch up with them. That way, our Class Three will be unstoppable…”
As for the two individuals in question, one was diligently working through practice problems with her head down, while the other was intently focused on a small mirror.
It wasn’t until Old Hu said, “Now, let’s invite our two outstanding students to come up and share their study tips with everyone,” that the two finally paused what they were doing.
Standing at the podium, Old Hu beamed with anticipation, his face crinkling with smile lines as he looked toward Zhou Yuchang and Xin Jushang in the back row. “What are you waiting for? Come up and share your experience!”
Zhou Yuchuan flipped the small mirror in his hand and slapped it face-down on the desk, then turned to Xin Jushang with a teasing grin. “Let’s go. Why don’t you tell everyone about the great achievements of our class’s top student—how at home, she only knows how to copy homework from Baidu, and at school, she just copies competition problem answers to pass the time?”
Xin Jushang: …
The two walked up to the podium one after the other, with Zhou Yuchuan speaking first—
“I don’t have much experience to share, so I’ll just thank my parents for giving me such a smart and capable brain.”
The classroom erupted in laughter, followed by enthusiastic applause.
Old Hu looked encouragingly at Xin Jushang. “Student Xin, do you have any experience you’d like to share with everyone?”
Xin Jushang thought for a moment, then nodded.
“I’m not sure exactly what to talk about, so everyone can feel free to ask me questions now.”
As soon as she said this, a buzz of discussion broke out among the students below.
After a while, a boy stood up, scratching his head somewhat shyly. “Student Xin, for this exam, one of the English reading comprehension sections had five consecutive ‘A’ answers. Did you ever doubt your choices while taking the test?”
The examiners for the six-school joint exam had deliberately set five identical options to test the students’ confidence, seeing whether they would dare to stick with their answers.
“No,” Xin Jushang replied firmly.
“Then how do you usually study English? Could you share some methods with us?” the boy asked again.
“I usually memorize 200 words a day and review them once a week. Right now, I’m studying vocabulary for the TEM-4. Before bed, I relax by listening to two listening passages. Honestly, I don’t spend much time on English practice problems each day—my focus is mainly on building vocabulary and improving listening skills.”
As soon as the words were spoken, the students below deeply felt the gap between themselves and the academic prodigy:
Their usual way to relax before bed was listening to music or chatting, while the academic prodigy’s relaxation method was listening to two passages of listening comprehension!
…
Xin Jushang had answered about seven or eight students’ questions when Old Hu, standing nearby, was just about to signal for Xin Jushang to return to his seat. Suddenly, Xue Yingying stood up, fixed her gaze on Xin Jushang, and spoke with precision and weight—
“Classmate Xin, may I ask how you performed in the high school entrance exam?”