Chapter 5

“I have nothing to do with Xue Qingqing,” Lin Zhiyuan said, frowning. Before He Dongchen could speak, he continued, “I know who you are. If you want to find someone to amuse yourself with, find someone else. Yuan Jin is a good girl, and she can’t afford to be played with.”

He Dongchen sneered. “That’s quite interesting. Are you saying rich people make friends just for amusement? Or have you seen me harm someone?”

“Besides, what position do you have to say this to me? Yuan Jin is my younger cousin; it’s not your place to meddle.”

Younger cousin??? Lin Zhiyuan stood there in shock, watching He Dongchen’s carefree figure walk away.

How could Yuan Jin be He Dongchen’s cousin?

***

 

Yuan Jin herself was also startled by He Dongchen’s claim.

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

He Dongchen leaned back against the table, stretching one long leg into the aisle, spinning a black pen in one hand. He had already removed the diamond earring from his right ear and dyed his hair back to black. The unruly air around him had diminished, making him look more like a carefree and spirited youth. He spoke nonchalantly, “My Dad married your aunt, so reluctantly, you can be considered my younger cousin.”

“I am not!” Yuan Jin disliked this title but didn’t understand why. She turned her head away, refusing to speak to him.

Seeing her cheeks puffed up in anger, He Dongchen chuckled and changed his tone, “Fine, you’re not. I prefer calling you Xiao Jin over younger cousin anyway.”

“Xiao Jin, Xiao Jin~~”

The boy’s distinctive voice, magnetic in its cheerfulness, made Yuan Jin’s face flush. She quickly took out a pink notebook from her bag and handed it to He Dongchen. “This is a summary of my notes. You should study them more.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He Dongchen opened the notebook and, looking at the neat and elegant handwriting, suddenly grew curious. “Why do you think Lin Zhiyuan came to warn me? Is there some secret between you two?”

Yuan Jin frowned, thinking for a moment. “We went to the same elementary and middle schools. He was always first, and I was second. We participated in many competitions together. If one day he stopped studying hard and started messing around, I would probably jump in to stop him too.”

Others might think that as the perpetual second place, she would always be striving to surpass him, but Yuan Jin didn’t care about the rankings; just a few points of difference.

He Dongchen nodded, understanding it as a mutual respect between competitors. No wonder.

In the original story, Yuan Jin was portrayed as a malicious supporting female character. However, in a school setting, she couldn’t be too malicious. She reported the two leads when they skipped class and interrupted their dates.

Just like now, Lin Zhiyuan jumped out to warn He Dongchen upon hearing rumors about him bothering Yuan Jin, driven by the same mentality.

He Dongchen found it amusing and turned to ask, “Next week is the midterm exam, right?”

“Yes, you should prepare well. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Of course.”

***

 

A few days later, Xue Qingqing somehow learned about Lin Zhiyuan’s warning to He Dongchen. Her gaze towards Yuan Jin was filled with resentment.

Xue Qingqing, who chased after Lin Zhiyuan every day, knew that he treated Yuan Jin differently from other girls. For example, during exams, he would cheer Yuan Jin on, frequently glance back at her while practicing problems, and previously, when asked what kind of girl he liked, Lin Zhiyuan said he liked those who excelled in studies.

Upon hearing that Lin Zhiyuan warned He Dongchen for Yuan Jin’s sake, Xue Qingqing could no longer deceive herself. She lay on her desk, wailing.

Others exchanged looks, and a few girls surrounded Xue Qingqing to comfort her, occasionally glaring at Yuan Jin.

Yuan Jin, innocent of any wrongdoing, looked confused.

When she went to submit her homework and returned to class, she was blocked by a few girls in the stairwell.

“Yuan Jin, don’t be too greedy. You already have He Dongchen, so stay away from Lin Zhiyuan!”

“Exactly! You may be good at studying, but you’re not as pretty as Qing Qing, and you’re not as lively. You can’t sing or dance; you’re just a bookworm!”

The girls surrounded Yuan Jin, issuing their warnings, and before leaving, they threw her practice books on the ground and stepped on them.

Yuan Jin, bewildered, silently knelt to pick up her books, carefully wiping off the footprints. However, the stains on the white paper couldn’t be cleaned completely.

Plop, plop. Two tears fell onto the practice book.

Suddenly, a slender, pale hand entered her blurry vision and snatched the books away.

“Didn’t you know you could go to the teacher if you had a problem? Why are you hiding here and crying?”

Yuan Jin looked up, her face still streaked with tears, looking pitiful. She saw He Dongchen standing over her with an outstretched hand. She placed her hand in his, her voice choked with sobs, “Going to the teacher is a solution, but crying is an emotional release. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”

He Dongchen chuckled and pulled her up. “Have you released your emotions now?”

Yuan Jin let go of his hand, feeling a bit embarrassed. She lowered her eyes and bit her lip, her voice low, “I’m just a little sad. Compared to others, it seems like all I can do is study.”

Yuan Jin had taken interest classes when she was younger, but she seemed to have no knack for them. She couldn’t grasp music or dance; the only thing she was good at was writing.

“Studying is also a skill. If you said that outside, people would tie you up in a sack,” He Dongchen said seriously.

He thought to himself; Top students don’t understand the struggles of poor students.

Yuan Jin was slightly stunned by his words. She suddenly remembered a desk mate from middle school who studied hard but never improved. The memory made her feel a bit wistful and less upset.

***

 

Back in the classroom, Yuan Jin appeared nonchalant, continuing to work on her assignments. The girls who initially felt guilty became emboldened again, thinking Yuan Jin was too timid to report them.

Just as they thought this, the ever-elusive homeroom teacher, Wang Peng, suddenly appeared at the classroom door and called the girls out.

Wang Peng had been repeatedly reminded by his wife to take good care of their niece. Seeing her bullied right under his nose was unacceptable. He called the troublemaking girls to his office, lined them up, and lectured them for an entire study period.

When the class bell rang, the girls scrambled to escape his clutches, looking like wilted cabbages. After school, they reluctantly apologized to Yuan Jin.

Yuan Jin smiled and said, “It’s okay. I know you envy my good grades.”

The girls were speechless.

Damn, this bookworm’s retort is deeply insulting.

***

 

As the weather cooled, coats made their appearance, and the midterm exams arrived as expected.

The exam papers were passed down the rows, and after the invigilator went over the rules, one teacher sat at the front to oversee everything while another patrolled the room vigilantly.

He Dongchen quickly finished his exam, handed in his paper, and left.

Teachers and classmates who knew him shook their heads in disbelief. He was known as a poor student.

However, when the results were announced the following Monday, everyone stared in stunned silence at the top name on the list.

“There must be a mistake, right?”

“Yeah, how could He Dongchen be first? I was in the same exam room as him, and he always leaves after half an hour.”

“I heard he doesn’t pay attention in class and never does his homework. How could he be first?”

Yuan Jin stood in front of the bulletin board, staring at He Dongchen’s name at the top, feeling dazed. After a moment, she found her voice and murmured, “How couldn’t he be first? Wasn’t he bad at studying before?”

The others exchanged puzzled looks. He Dongchen had transferred after the monthly exams, so no one knew his previous grades. Based on his usual behavior, they all assumed he was a poor student.

“Yuan Jin, you’ve been tutoring He Dongchen, right? You should know his level.”

Yuan Jin, with a blank expression, recalled how quickly He Dongchen grasped concepts during their tutoring sessions, often giving her meaningful smiles.

Fury surged within Yuan Jin. There was no mistaking it now—He Dongchen tricked me! He was probably laughing to himself, thinking how overconfident I had been.

Yuan Jin had thought she had a knack for teaching, only to realize he had been hiding his true abilities all along.

She returned to her seat, humiliated and furious, childishly drawing a dividing line down the middle of the desk.

Meanwhile, Lin Zhiyuan, who had lost his first-place position, felt equally conflicted. Not long ago, he had confidently warned He Dongchen, only to find that He Dongchen’s scores were better than his own.

Who was holding back whom was now uncertain!

***

 

Nearby, someone fanned the flames, “Looks like Lin Zhiyuan’s glory days are over.”

“Not even in second place. Yuan Jin is still the perennial runner-up.”

“Serves him right, he was taught a lesson.”

On the report card, He Dongchen’s and Yuan Jin’s names were side by side, with Lin Zhiyuan’s name trailing behind.

Lin Zhiyuan had never felt such humiliation in his life. He sensed that everyone around him was mocking him. He fled, almost running away, and unfortunately crossed paths with He Dongchen in the hallway.

He Dongchen, with a group of boys, was returning from the snack shop, arms around each other, laughing and joking. Seeing the carefree He Dongchen, Lin Zhiyuan thought he detected scorn, contempt, and ridicule on his face. He brushed past with a cold expression.

“Hey, what’s up with Lin Zhiyuan?” one of the boys who was almost hit by him shouted. Lin Zhiyuan, the aloof academic star, wasn’t popular among the boys. At their young and rebellious age, no one enjoyed seeing Lin Zhiyuan’s cold face every day.

He Dongchen guessed the results had been released.

Sure enough, upon returning to the classroom, he saw it.

He Dongchen had topped the school’s ranking list. Previously assumed to be a poor student, he was now recognized as a top student. No one dared to mess with him anymore.

Someone mischievously whispered in He Dongchen’s ear, “Have you been secretly studying at home and pretending to be nonchalant at school?”

A hardworking top student commanded respect; a nonchalant top student was admired.

He Dongchen rolled his eyes dramatically. “Who do you think plays games with you guys at night? A ghost?”

The boy was silenced, realizing he had a point. Embarrassed, he scratched his head.

He Dongchen waved him away and leaned on his desk, pondering how to calm Yuan Jin down.

When Yuan Jin had initially suggested tutoring, he had agreed out of curiosity, wanting to see her reaction upon discovering the truth and also to make Lin Zhiyuan, the high-and-mighty male lead, take a fall.

Look, through subtle reinforcement during their tutoring sessions, Yuan Jin had managed to outscore Lin Zhiyuan this time.

Lin Zhiyuan not only lost the top spot but also couldn’t hold onto second place.

Without the aura of being number one, the male lead’s charm had diminished significantly.

He Dongchen felt a fleeting satisfaction from his petty revenge, but then he became ensnared by his own actions, turning his joy into sorrow by making Yuan Jin angry.

Sighing, He Dongchen glanced at the fuming Yuan Jin beside him and tried to defend himself. “We agreed to do tutoring together. What difference does it make who helps whom? Look, you scored better than Lin Zhiyuan this time.”

Yuan Jin got even angrier upon hearing this. He Dongchen not only excelled in his studies but also boosted my performance!

Feeling utterly humiliated by being toyed with, she decided to ignore him.

“Hey, don’t be mad,” He Dongchen said, moving closer. His warm, minty breath surrounded her.

Yuan Jin ignored him, even pushing his encroaching head back with her book, her expression fierce.

Amidst their scuffle, the class bell rang.

***

 

Wang Peng strode into the classroom with a proud demeanor, casting a gratified glance at He Dongchen. He announced loudly, “As you all know, our class has secured the top three positions in the grade. Especially commendable is He Dongchen, who transferred here and still maintained such excellent performance. Let’s give him a round of applause.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Everyone enthusiastically applauded, thinking, so He Dongchen had always been this good. Truly, the excellent remain excellent.

He Dongchen, thick-skinned, happily basked in the applause.

Wang Peng continued to praise a few other outstanding students before analyzing the midterm exam papers, addressing any gaps in knowledge.

After school, He Dongchen watched Yuan Jin leave in a huff, her ponytail bouncing. He shook his head and chuckled.