After waiting for a week, Lin Wangye finally saw the homeroom teacher post the grade sheet, with black letters on a white background, next to the blackboard during the morning study session.
In his two lifetimes, he had never been this eager to see his exam results.
Unfortunately, the bell for class had already rung, and no matter how much he wanted to rush over, he couldn’t. He had to wait patiently at his desk for the teacher to slowly make her way to the podium and greet everyone with a smile.
“We have a student in our class who made a significant improvement in the last mock exam. Can anyone guess who it is?”
After he finished speaking, the classroom was filled with whispers as everyone exchanged guesses.
No one answered the teacher’s question, so Lin Wangye bravely raised his hand and loudly volunteered, “It’s me!”
The teacher turned his gaze toward Lin Wangye, offering him a proud smile.
“Xiao Lin also made great progress, improving six places in the class ranking. That’s definitely worth encouraging.”
Hearing this, Lin Wangye knew right away that the teacher had been talking about someone else, but he was still happy with the result.
The winter vacation was approaching, and once it ended, the countdown to the college entrance exams would become even more urgent. Right now, most of the lessons were focused on reinforcing and improving what they had learned in the first and second years of high school, with not many new topics introduced.
In this situation, barring any significant distractions that led to a drop in scores, the class rankings wouldn’t see any drastic changes.
An improvement of six places meant he was now in the top twenty.
Lin Wangye sighed in relief, then eagerly asked, “Teacher, how did I do in math?”
The homeroom teacher glanced at the backup grade sheet in his hands.
“Ninety-two, keep up the good work.”
That was an eighteen-point improvement from the last exam, jumping from failing to passing.
“Nice!” Lin Wangye was very satisfied with the result. He nodded vigorously and then asked, “So, teacher, who was the student you mentioned who made progress?”
“Yeah, who is it?”
“I guess it’s me, hahaha!”
“Maybe it’s Shi Shi? Her last mock exam results weren’t great, but she should have improved a lot by now.”
“It’s hard to guess, who is it, teacher?”
“…”
Amid the excited chatter of his classmates, the teacher finally revealed, “It’s our class’s study committee member, Fu Xuexue, who ranked first in the grade!”
After he finished speaking, the classroom erupted into loud cheers, but there was a moment of silence before everyone really reacted.
Fu Xuexue stared with wide eyes, clearly in disbelief.
“Awesome!” Lin Shen, sitting next to her, gave her a big thumbs-up. “That’s amazing! She just knocked the entire A class out of the top spot!”
The atmosphere-maker Lin Wangye, sitting at the back, was banging the table enthusiastically.
“Study committee member is amazing!”
“A true role model!”
“It’s so hard to move up in the top ranks of the grade!”
“Xuexue is amazing!”
“Suddenly, I feel like our whole Class 7 is so proud!”
Since the beginning of their enrollment at the school, the top-tier classes, including Class A, had been established, with separate divisions for Arts A and Science A. As a result, from the very start of high school, the top spots in the grade were mostly occupied by students from Class A.
Any competition for ranks basically came down to battles within Class A itself.
Among the top twenty students in the grade, counting Fu Xuexue, only four were not from Class A.
In the past, the top rank was always claimed by someone from Class A, without exception.
The student who ranked first in the last mock exam was Xu Suinian, a regular in the top three of the grade from Class A, so no one expected Fu Xuexue to suddenly jump to the first spot this time.
While everyone was still celebrating, the teacher reminded them to stay focused. The time in high school senior year was precious, and no time could be wasted. After a few seconds of free discussion, the teacher got the class back on track and began the lesson for the day.
After celebrating for Fu Xuexue, Lin Wangye quickly turned his thoughts to something else.
When someone’s grades go up, there’s always someone whose grades fall.
Fu Xuexue had taken first place, which meant Shi Yuan’s scores must have dropped.
Although it was just a difference of a few points between the top students, it didn’t have a huge impact.
Still, Lin Wangye couldn’t help but wonder if Shi Yuan’s recent hospitalization and all the time he spent tutoring him were the reasons for his drop in performance.
After school, Lin Wangye quickly made his way to Class A.
Passing by the grade’s announcement board, he noticed Xu Suinian ranked 7th in the grade, dropping six places from his previous ranking.
He had climbed six places in his class, while Shi Yuan had dropped six places in the grade.
It seemed similar at first glance, but the nature of the two situations was completely different.
The more Lin Wangye thought about it, the more he felt like it was some sort of sign from the heavens. He was definitely going to be the scapegoat for this. He quickly ran to Class A and peered inside the door.
To his surprise, Shi Yuan’s seat was empty.
Lin Wangye looked around, confirming he wasn’t in the classroom, so he walked up and knocked on the desk of the student nearest the door, asking, “Hey, do you know where Xu Suinian is?”
“He seems to have gone to the office to find the teacher,” the student replied.
Lin Wangye nodded in thanks and walked out of Class A, heading down the corridor to the teacher’s office. Seeing the door was tightly closed, he didn’t barge in but instead leaned against the railing and pulled out his phone to send a message.
[Xiao Lin Bullied by Math: Where are you?]
[Xiao Lin Bullied by Math: I came to your class but didn’t find you.]
The message didn’t get a reply right away. Lin Wangye glanced at the office door, guessing that Shi Yuan was probably inside.
So, he wasn’t in a hurry and quietly waited by the railing.
Not long after, he suddenly heard someone call out, “Xiao Lin.”
Lin Wangye turned around and saw it was Fu Xuexue.
“What are you doing here?” Fu Xuexue asked.
As the study committee member, Fu Xuexue often interacted with teachers, so it wasn’t unusual for her to be here. Lin Wangye greeted her and explained he was waiting for someone.
Upon hearing that, Fu Xuexue didn’t say anything more and knocked on the office door before entering.
Lin Wangye kept his face neutral on the outside, but as soon as the door opened, he quickly leaned over to sneak a peek inside.
However, the office was large, and each teacher had their own cubicle. In the few seconds the door was open, Lin Wangye couldn’t see anything clearly.
Not in a rush, Lin Wangye continued to wait quietly by the door.
Inside the office, Fu Xuexue was surprised to find Xu Suinian talking to the homeroom teacher from Class A. She looked at them for a moment, then walked up to her own homeroom teacher’s desk and stopped.
“Teacher.”
The homeroom teacher from Class 7 looked up from his cup and asked, “What is it, Xuexue? Is something wrong?”
“I want to transfer classes,” Fu Xuexue said.
“What?” The teacher, surprised, pushed up his glasses and thought for a moment before quickly understanding. “You want to go to Class A?”
Fu Xuexue nodded. “Yes.”
There were two ways to get into the top class of Ningchang High School. One was to enter through excellent results in the entrance exams, and the other was to rank first in the grade after admission and then submit a transfer request to the homeroom teacher.
Fu Xuexue hadn’t been among the top scorers in the entrance exams.
Her grades had steadily improved after entering high school, and this was her first time ranking first in the grade.
It wasn’t surprising that she wanted to join Class A.
As a teacher, the homeroom teacher from Class 7 certainly admired Fu Xuexue, a hardworking and obedient student. He couldn’t help but say, “As long as you can keep up with your current performance, a top university will be no problem for you. Our class isn’t bad either.”
“I know. I really like the students in Class 7,” Fu Xuexue nodded, then pursed her lips. Finally, she said, “But my grades aren’t stable. When I perform well, I can rank in the top five in the grade, but when I don’t, I might fall outside the top twenty… This time, I performed better than expected and ranked first, so I want to give it a try. If I can join Class A, I’ll have many excellent classmates to help me with my issues, which should help me stabilize my grades. But in Class 7, there isn’t anyone who can really help me…”
After thinking for a moment, the homeroom teacher nodded in acknowledgment.
“That’s true. I won’t stop you, but I remember that Class A is already full…”
With that, the homeroom teacher turned to shout to the teacher from Class A, “Teacher Wang, is your class full?”
“Yes,” the Class A teacher stretched his neck to look over the cubicle, and when he saw Fu Xuexue, he raised his eyebrows, pushed himself up from the desk, and said, “Is the study committee member from your class coming?”
The homeroom teacher from Class 7 nodded. “Yes, but if there’s no space, then forget it.”
“The students these days are really something, as if it’s all planned,” the Class A teacher chuckled and patted his middle-aged belly. He pointed to the side and continued, “Our Xiao Xu came to me right after school, asking to transfer classes. I was just trying to convince him to stay, and now your study committee member shows up.”
“Ah?” The Class 7 teacher was stunned. “Where does Xu want to transfer to?”
The Class A teacher shrugged. “He didn’t say. He just mentioned that he didn’t do well this time and would be willing to transfer if needed.”
Though not explicitly stated, the meaning was clear.
Even in high school, casually switching classes could affect students’ results. They couldn’t just follow a jungle law and kick out the worst performers. Class A had long been full, and even if someone ranked first, they wouldn’t be able to get in.
Xu Suinian’s conversation with the teacher made it clear that he was making room for the student who ranked first in the grade, which was a very deliberate move aimed squarely at Fu Xuexue from Class 7.
The Class 7 teacher was also surprised when he found out about this because Class A was suited for ambitious students, and once in, they only got kicked out for violating the rules, so it was unthinkable that someone would voluntarily leave.
He glanced at Xu Suinian, then at Fu Xuexue, and with a sly smile said, “Well, well, this is quite the situation.”
The Class A teacher laughed heartily: “Xu Suinian is one of my most outstanding students. I really didn’t want to give him up, but since it’s his choice, I won’t stop him.”
The Class 7 teacher shot back, teasing, “Look at you, saying that like I’m so eager to hand over Xuexue.”
With both students present, the matter was settled in no time. The two teachers exchanged polite pleasantries and waved for the students to leave.
As Fu Xuexue walked out of the office, she looked up at the person next to her and, clearing her throat, quietly said, “Thank you.”
Leaving behind a place where so many people wanted to get in, Shi Yuan didn’t seem bothered at all.
He turned to Fu Xuexue and politely replied, “No problem.”
Fu Xuexue bit her lip and glanced at him with a hint of hesitation. “Xiao Lin is waiting for you outside… you can go first, I’ll follow behind. I don’t want to disturb you.”
Upon hearing this, Shi Yuan, who had already grabbed the door handle, stopped. He turned back, looked at Fu Xuexue with a meaningful expression, and after a brief pause, he cracked a small smile.
“Thank you.”
Fu Xuexue, standing at the corner where he couldn’t see her, raised her hand silently to wave.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
