After thoroughly fleecing her malicious stepmother, Ruan Xing was in such high spirits that she happily hummed a tune all the way home.
Walking ahead with her head held high like a master, she remained perfectly clean without a drop of sweat, looking just as pristine and polished as when she had left home.
Meanwhile, her two “servants” trailing behind struggled to walk steadily, their hands completely full with packages.
Despite an entire afternoon of running around, not a single bead of sweat appeared on Ruan Xing’s face.
In contrast, Lu Wan and Qiao Li—who had started the day with meticulously applied makeup—now bore no trace of their former elegance. Their foundation had become patchy under the assault of sweat, creating a grimy, uneven appearance. Their bodies emitted a foul odor of perspiration faintly mixed with cosmetic fragrance, making it nearly unbearable to be near them. The hair at their foreheads clung greasily to their skin, utterly devoid of their earlier refinement.
Ruan Xing walked ahead, deliberately covering her nose and pretending to find the smell intolerable.
Lu Wan was so furious she could practically feel her teeth grinding, shooting daggers at Ruan Xing’s back with her eyes.
It had been ages since she last went shopping. Before heading out today, she’d been brimming with excitement, planning to play the pity card as usual whenever she saw something she liked, expecting Ruan Xing to eventually pay for her.
But today, this wretched girl seemed intentionally obtuse, never once offering to pay and completely ignoring her—instead relentlessly spending the mother-daughter pair’s own money.
Qiao Li had been plotting the same scheme with her daughter, never imagining they’d not only fail to gain any advantage but also lose the substantial savings she’d accumulated since coming to the Ruan household.
When they returned home, Ruan Ting was momentarily stunned to see the two disheveled women, his face clouding with displeasure. Only when his daughter stepped directly in front of him did a trace of warmth gradually return to his expression.
Since Qiao Li and Lu Wan held no authority in the household, they didn’t dare complain, trembling as they retreated to their rooms.
That night, Ruan Xing went to bed early.
The bright moonlight outside her window spilled over the girl’s fair, smooth skin, making her appear even more delicate and soft.
Early the next morning, Ruan Xing prepared everything she needed for the exam. Assigned to the thirtieth examination hall where she didn’t know any students personally, she nevertheless recognized many familiar faces.
The third high school typically assigned exam halls based on test scores. As a perennial bottom-ranked student, Ruan Xing naturally ended up in the last hall—the thirtieth—which gathered the lowest performers from every class.
The atmosphere in the exam hall was excessively lively. The moment Ruan Xing entered, the cacophony of noise made her ears ache.
Though she’d spent her previous life constantly in such environments without ever noticing anything amiss, now that she’d returned, she felt intensely uncomfortable in this setting.
After entering, she went straight to her assigned seat, isolating herself from the discordant surroundings.
Despite Ruan Xing’s careful efforts to minimize her presence, many still noticed her.
“Hey, isn’t that Ruan Xing from Class One? I last saw her on our school’s forum,” a round-faced girl whispered to her friend.
“Wow, she’s really beautiful—much prettier in person than in photos,” another girl remarked after glancing at Ruan Xing, her eyes filled with admiration.
“So what if she’s pretty? She’s still ranked last in her class.”
“You don’t understand—she puts all her attention on Huo Jing. It’s normal for her grades to be poor.”
“She just sits there without speaking, and honestly, she really does look like a little fairy.”
…
Soon, the proctor entered the classroom carrying a stack of exam papers, and the noise gradually faded away.
After receiving her paper, Ruan Xing quickly skimmed through it from beginning to end. The first subject was Chinese, which posed no difficulty for her at all. While others were still pondering the next line of ancient poetry, Ruan Xing had already finished.
The proctor walked around the classroom and was astonished to see a student completing the exam so quickly. She deliberately walked behind Ruan Xing to glance at her paper—the handwriting was small, delicate, and beautiful, with every blank space filled neatly. It was hard not to feel a hint of admiration.
However, remembering that this was the last exam hall, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.
“Teacher, I’m handing in my paper.”
After finishing and checking her answers, Ruan Xing went straight up to submit her exam.
Holding the impeccably neat paper, the proctor sighed inwardly: Such a diligent student—how could her grades be so poor?
Ruan Xing, about to leave the exam hall, had no idea that the proctor now saw her as a poor student with beautiful handwriting.
As Ruan Xing left, the eyes of all her classmates in the exam hall fixed on her in unison, filled with surprise, though she remained unaware.
Since only one exam was scheduled for the morning, she had nothing else to do afterward and decided to visit No. 18 High School. With a bit of luck, she might even run into Lin Shen.
After finding out last time that Lin Shen lived right across from her, she had been excited for a long time. She had gone to his place several times, but each time an elderly gentleman answered the door, saying Lin Shen didn’t often stay there.
After repeated attempts, her excitement had been thoroughly dampened.
It seemed her only option now was to find him at school.
Since it was exam time, students weren’t allowed to leave campus without permission. Ruan Xing thought for a moment and came up with a bold plan.
She headed toward the spot where she remembered Huo Jing and his friends often went.
First, Ruan Xing tossed her backpack over the wall.
She was wearing a miniskirt today, which made things somewhat inconvenient. For a moment, she felt stuck, but she quickly found a solution. She deftly took off her shirt, tied it around her waist, and instantly covered herself up.
Underneath the shirt, she wore a spaghetti strap top that could be worn outdoors, revealing her smooth, pale arms and a glimpse of her fair, slender waist. Under the sunlight, her skin seemed to glow, and her collarbone stood out prominently.
In her past life, to follow Huo Jing, Ruan Xing had climbed this wall many times. Back then, Huo Jing and his friends would scramble over effortlessly, while she struggled halfway up, unable to get down—and Huo Jing never once helped her.
In her panic as Huo Jing started to leave, she had fallen off the wall and broken her leg. For a long time after that, she had to attend school in a wheelchair, yet Huo Jing never showed any concern. Instead, he joined his friends in mocking her.
Now, returning to this place in this life, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of bittersweet nostalgia.
But she quickly composed herself, her expression turning serious as she gripped the wall’s ridges with both hands and stepped onto the available footholds. She struggled upward step by step, her exposed calves scraping against the rough surface multiple times, leaving alarming red marks.