Fortunately, she had planned to send a text message today and took a photo, otherwise she wouldn’t have known how to prove herself.
Ruan Xing directly handed her phone to Ruan Ting, who stared at his daughter’s ranking on the screen, his expression gradually softening.
Qiao Li and Lu Wan were clearly skeptical, but after seeing the Grade Ranking List on the phone, their faces completely changed.
Lu Wan’s face was now devoid of any color. When she saw Ruan Xing’s ranking, she felt as if her face was burning with shame.
“My little star is amazing! Whatever reward you want, Dad will get it for you.” The moment Ruan Ting saw his daughter’s results, he was so moved he nearly shed tears.
For so many years, his daughter had never taken her studies seriously, and as a father, he had been endlessly worried.
Truthfully, it wouldn’t have mattered if Ruan Xing didn’t study—the Ruan family had plenty of money and didn’t need her to work—but Ruan Ting still hoped his daughter would strive to improve. Ever since Ruan Xing’s mother passed away, the father and daughter had grown increasingly distant, and Ruan Xing had started skipping classes and fooling around.
He had thought his daughter would continue down this path and had already prepared himself to accept it. Never did he imagine that in his lifetime, he would witness such a change in her.
“I don’t want anything. I just want Dad to always be healthy and always by my side.” Seeing how happy her father was over her good grades, Ruan Xing’s eyes instantly reddened.
“You little charmer, your words are so sweet.” His daughter’s words warmed Ruan Ting’s heart.
Only then did Ruan Xing remember the two women beside them.
Lu Wan and Qiao Li were now pale-faced, completely devoid of their earlier aggressive demeanor.
Seeing them like this, Ruan Xing suddenly felt mischievous. She leaned in and spoke slowly.
“Auntie, Sister, shouldn’t you be happy for me since I did well on my exams? Why do you look so upset? Could it be that you can’t stand to see me succeed?” As she spoke the latter part, Ruan Xing even managed to squeeze out a few tears, her teary-eyed appearance evoking pity.
As if Ruan Xing had exposed their true thoughts, the two hurriedly explained, forcing smiles onto their faces that were uglier than crying—utterly fake.
“H-How could that be? Of course we’re happy for you since you did so well.”
Watching their hypocritical expressions, she felt a wave of disgust.
The next day.
“Young Master, it’s time to go.” Ye Shimin spoke up to remind him as it was exactly eight o’clock.
“Mm.” The young man’s voice was unusually hoarse.
Lin Shen didn’t know what had gotten into him this morning. He had been sitting in the living room since early dawn, skipping breakfast and remaining on the sofa the whole time.
He didn’t know what he was hoping for. She was just a little girl—why did he care so much?
He must be going crazy.
Then again, who would want to get close to someone like him?
Ye Shimin had sensed the young master’s bone-chilling coldness since early morning and couldn’t help but shiver.
He had been in such a good mood yesterday—what happened today? Who had upset him?
Though he was initially filled with irritation, when Lin Shen stepped outside and saw the figure curled up by the door, the coldness in his eyes gradually faded, and the corner of his lips curled up in an almost imperceptible smile.
Ye Shimin instantly understood what was going on with the young master—it was related to this little girl, no wonder.
“Lin Shen, you’re finally out. I’ve been waiting so long.” When Lin Shen emerged, her eyes curved like crescent moons.
“Why are you here?” Lin Shen frowned upon seeing her, though there was no trace of impatience in his eyes.
The butler’s mouth twitched at this. Just moments ago, he had been eagerly anticipating the young girl’s arrival, yet now he was putting on this act.
Completely ignoring what he said, Ruan Xing naturally followed behind him and got into the car without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
“I… I told you yesterday we’d go together today.” Her eyes sparkled brightly, like stars in the sky.
When they reached No. 18 High School, Ruan Xing naturally got out of the car.
“Lin Shen, I’ll come find you this afternoon.” After waving goodbye, she left. With class still a while away and the walk from No. 18 High to No. 3 High taking only ten minutes, she had plenty of time.
Lin Shen still said nothing.
Because of yesterday’s incident, Ruan Xing had become famous at No. 18 High School early in the morning.
Many students looked at Lin Shen with strange expressions when he arrived at school.
At some point, photos of Ruan Xing and Lin Shen together yesterday had been posted on the school forum.
“Did you hear? Lin Shen actually has a girlfriend. I heard it directly from someone – they say the girl is incredibly beautiful, just like a little fairy.”
“I wonder what’s wrong with that girl’s eyes. How could she fall for a cripple who can’t even take care of himself?”
“I heard Lin Shen treats that girl really well. They even walked together yesterday.”
“That girl looks so damn innocent. I saw her with my own eyes yesterday – absolutely stunning. That kind of little fairy must be something special, but it’s really pitiful she ended up with someone like Lin Shen as her boyfriend.”
“If that girl were my girlfriend, I’d treat her like a princess.”
…
Lin Shen rarely went online and knew nothing about these matters.
Ruan Xing was equally unaware that she had become famous at No. 18 High School.
Today, all subject exams had been graded, and Ruan Xing had surprised everyone once again. No one expected her to rank 45th in her grade, especially since she had turned in a blank math paper.
This was undoubtedly astonishing.
Her classmates couldn’t help but marvel – even with a zero in math, she still managed to rank 45th in the grade. How well must she have done in her other subjects?
Ruan Xing didn’t disappoint – her other subjects combined had only lost two points, and that was from the composition section.
Her results caused many classmates to change their opinion of her.
However, Ruan Xing was about to face a bigger problem.
Soon she was called to the office.
“Ruan Xing, explain yourself… just explain what’s going on. How could you turn in a blank paper? Only you would do something like this.”
“You did so well in all other subjects, yet you turned in a blank math paper. Do you have some problem with me?”
“All your other papers are absolutely perfect, but for my math subject, you didn’t even lift your pen. It’s really hard to believe.” Lin Fen looked through all her exam papers and had to admit they were flawlessly perfect.
…
From the moment she entered the office, Lin Fen hadn’t stopped talking. Ruan Xing had wanted to explain, but there was simply no opportunity. She could only stand there silently, enduring the scolding.
After Lin Fen finished reprimanding her, Ruan Xing finally spoke up: “Teacher, it’s not that I have any issue with you. It’s just that I truly don’t understand math at all—I can’t make sense of any of it.”
The girl kept her head bowed low as she spoke, like a quail that had done something wrong. Lin Fen couldn’t bring herself to be too hard on her.
“Alright, don’t let it happen again. Come ask me whenever you don’t understand something in the future.”
…
After Ruan Xing left, Lin Fen shook her head, seeming somewhat regretful.
Such promising material—why did she have to be so weak in math?