Since Lin Shen explained his relationship with that girl, the two of them remained silent for the rest of the journey. No matter what Ruan Xing said, Lin Shen showed no reaction.
By the time they reached her doorstep, Ruan Xing was still feeling somewhat gloomy.
“Goodbye,” she said, nevertheless turning back to wave at the young man behind her.
Just as she expected, the young man ignored her and entered the villa across the street on his own.
Ruan Xing couldn’t understand—everything had been fine before, so why had he suddenly changed so drastically? It was all too strange.
What was wrong with him?
It was nearly noon, the sun blazing fiercely.
Inside the dimly lit bar, deafening music pulsed to the intense rhythm of the DJ.
Huo Jing sat at the bar, downing one drink after another without pause since he’d arrived.
“Jing, stop drinking. You’ve had way too much already. You can’t keep going like this—you’ll get drunk,” Xie Yiming couldn’t stand it any longer and walked over, snatching the glass from Huo Jing’s hand.
Meeting Huo Jing’s dark, crimson-tinged eyes, Xie Yiming felt a shiver of fear.
Although they had grown up together, he was still somewhat intimidated when his friend got angry.
“A Ming, don’t provoke me,” Huo Jing retorted, then snatched his glass back and immediately downed its contents.
Seeing him like this, Xie Yiming knew there was no reasoning with him.
“A Jing, you like Ruan Xing, don’t you?” Xie Yiming finally asked after a long pause.
Huo Jing’s hand, holding the glass, visibly stiffened for a moment before quickly recovering, his expression unchanged. “How could I possibly like her? The one I like is Lu Wan.”
Huo Jing knew that it was Lu Wan who had saved him back then, so from the very beginning, his affection had been for Lu Wan. The only reason he allowed Ruan Xing to stay by his side was because Lu Wan was her older sister.
“You say you like Lu Wan, so why are you here drowning your sorrows in alcohol?” Xie Yiming mercilessly called him out.
That question left Huo Jing silent for a long time.
Why? He didn’t know why he was here drinking away his gloom. In short, his mind was in chaos.
In the end, Xie Yiming didn’t press the matter further.
When Lin Shen returned, Ye Shimin was genuinely surprised. The young master was usually unwavering in his decisions—if he said he wouldn’t come back to this villa, he typically never did. This was the first time Ye Shimin had seen him change his mind.
A few days after the monthly exams ended, the school went on break.
Even during the vacation, Ruan Xing didn’t dare slack off. She remained secluded at home, studying diligently.
Lu Wan observed all this hard work but was inwardly dismissive.
Just the last-ranked student in Class One—someone who never even touched a book before, now suddenly trying to put in effort? How utterly foolish.
They were already in their final year of high school. With so many missed lessons, how could she possibly catch up now?
Lu Wan found it laughable. She quietly waited for the following week when the monthly exam results would be released, eager to see if Ruan Xing, the perennial bottom-dweller, could still manage to smile then. She looked forward to witnessing the humiliation.
Monday arrived.
All the scores were out, and the school’s performance ranking was posted as usual.
On results day, the students were always a mix of excitement and anxiety, arriving at school early in the morning.
Ruan Xing was in no particular hurry. When she arrived at school and saw the crowd gathered around the grade list, she didn’t feel like squeezing through the masses, so she simply decided not to check her results.
Lu Wan, on the other hand, had been restless the whole way, constantly worrying that she hadn’t performed well this time. Eager to see her grades immediately, she didn’t care about the crowd and joined the throng of students checking the results.
It was easy to find her own score. Lu Wan usually ranked around tenth in her grade, and the top scores were displayed clearly at the forefront.
Third in the grade—she had performed exceptionally well this time, something even she hadn’t expected. In the past, her results typically fluctuated between seventh and somewhere in the teens. This was the first time she had scored so high.
Looking at her third-place ranking, Lu Wan couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile.
The classroom was noisy and chaotic; Ruan Xing could hear everyone discussing their grades even before she reached the door.
By this time, the score reports had mostly been distributed. As soon as Ruan Xing entered the classroom, Wu Jiali rushed over to her. Before Ruan Xing could dodge, Wu Jiali enveloped her in a tight hug.
It wasn’t until Ruan Xing was nearly out of breath that Wu Jiali slowly released her.
Meeting Wu Jiali’s slightly reddened eyes, Ruan Xing was somewhat puzzled.
“What’s wrong? Why so excited? Did you do exceptionally well this time?” She must have outperformed herself to be this happy.
“I did do well, but not me—it’s you, Ruan Ruan!” Wu Jiali wore a proud expression, as if she were the one who had aced the exams.
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, ‘huh’? Have you seen your grades yet?”
Ruan Xing shook her head blankly, looking utterly adorable.
“…”
So, after all that, the person in question hadn’t even checked her results yet.
Wu Jili rolled her eyes dramatically, not knowing what to say. How could someone be so carefree?
Wu Jiali decided it wasn’t worth arguing about.
“Do you have any idea how well you did? You made it into the top fifty of the grade—forty-fifth place! And you improved this much in just one month. Impressive!” Wu Jiali seemed even more excited than if she had outperformed herself.
“I kind of expected it.” Ruan Xing had set a goal for herself to break into the top fifty early on. After the exam, she had roughly estimated her score and knew she had just met her target.
“You even predicted that…” Wu Jiali was astonished.
After the scores were released, the homeroom teacher came in during the first period to hand back the exam papers.
When Huang Yi entered, she was beaming. It was clear that the class’s overall performance must have been excellent; otherwise, Huang Yi’s face would have been gloomy.
Observing Huang Yi’s expression, the students in the class quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
They hadn’t forgotten how, in the past, when their results were poor, Huang Yi would lecture them for an entire period—an absolute ordeal.
“This time, our class performed exceptionally well. Our overall ranking is first in the grade. This is the first time our class has achieved such outstanding results,” Huang Yi announced from the podium, her eyes brimming with joy.
As soon as she finished speaking, the classroom erupted into applause.
“The top scorer in our class is He Yang, who ranked third in the grade.”
…
“Ninth in our class is Ruan Xing, forty-fifth in the grade.”
“Tenth is Chen Yan, fifty-second in the grade.”
…
When the teacher called out Ruan Xing’s name, the entire class widened their eyes in shock, their faces full of astonishment as if they had just learned some earth-shattering news.
“Ruan Xing ranked ninth in class, forty-fifth in the grade? Holy shit, am I hearing things?”
“Is this still the same person who used to be last in our class?”
The second-to-last student: “Damn, damn, if Ruan Xing moves up, there’ll be no one left to cushion the bottom. That means I’ll officially become the last-place student.”
The snarky deskmate: “Hahahaha, buddy, you’re on your own now.”