Aunt Liu chuckled. "Really that bad?"
Lu Qingyan nodded seriously. She took a sip of her milk tea, then added with a smirk, "But I've managed to survive sitting next to him for weeks. Trust me, your nephew can't be worse."
Aunt Liu was very excited and even gave Lu Qingyan a cheese fruit tea[1] when she was on her way out.
**
It didn't take long for the school to correct the monthly exams.
When Monday arrived, the news that the results were out traveled from class to class.
The results of the monthly exams had just been released, and the halls were alive with chaos.
The teachers' office had turned into a battlefield of wailing, chest-beating students.
"AHHHHH! I dropped from the top five! Someone kill me now!"
"Damn, Learning God Wang got a 149 on the math exam! Wasn't that paper made by a devil?!"
"My math score is only 103, my god…"
"You got 103? Bro, I got 78. Don't talk to me unless your GPA is bleeding."
In Special Class, however, the situation was even more brutal.
Their homeroom teacher, Zhang Qingze, had a habit that made every student's soul leave their body.
Instead of announcing results from best to worst like a normal human being, he started from the bottom of the list, revealing the lowest scores one by one like he was peeling the layers off a particularly humiliating onion.
Everyone sat frozen in their seats, some clutching their desks as if it might save them from the impending doom.
Peng Jianda was sweating so much he looked like he'd just come out of a sauna.
"The group with the lowest average on the section exam will be punished with extra homework," he muttered under his breath. "More homework. More. Homework."
The very thought sent shivers down his spine.
There was already so much homework, if one more was added everyday…
Pend Jianda took a cold breath, his plump face covered with sweat.
He recalled how he had previously asked each of the group members how the exam went. Except for Wang Jingyuan, everyone said it was a little worrisome.
Of course, there was Lu Qingyan who said "It was okay. My grades should be a bit better."
At the time, he'd patted her shoulder and smiled like a benevolent older brother. Such optimism. Such innocence. He didn't believe it for a second.
After all, she'd only transferred here a few days ago. There was no way her level was anywhere near the top.
Zhang Qingze had a nasty preference when it comes to displaying the grades in class. He liked to start with the end of the list, revealing the lowest score before working her way to the top. It was an undisguised public execution.
They all thought the last place would be Lu Qingyan, the transfer student. It was a truth that anyone could determine without guessing.
But this time, when Zhang Qingze revealed the list—
Peng Jianda saw his name in the last column.
He felt that there was empty air below him.
Peng Jianda thought that there was something wrong with his eyes. He looked everywhere for Lu Qingyan's name.
But he couldn't find it.
Peng Jianda: ??
Where's Xiao Yan?
Where did Xiao Yan go?
Then, as Zhang Qingze continued to slowly scroll up the list, Peng Jianda finally found Lu Qingyan's name.
17. Lu Qingyan.
Class Rank: 17th
Grade Rank: 17th
Ranked 17th in the class, Ranked 17th in the grade.
Peng Jianda recalled what Lu Qingyan had originally told him—
"It was okay. My grades should be a bit good."
This is called okay?
This is called My. grades. should. be. a. bit. good??!!
I believed your lies!!
Not only did Peng Jianda noticed this peculiarity, but basically the whole class had noticed this unusual rank.
Everyone knew that Lu Qingyan took the exam in Class 12. It was absolutely impossible to copy others and cheat, but if it is not cheating, then what left everyone astonished was that—
This person placed just transferred less than a week, so how did she suddenly jump to the top10??
Tang Jie became a black exclamation mark on the spot and looked at Lu Qingyan's, who was calm and composed, full of doubts in his eyes.
"What's going on with you?"
Lu Qingyan leaned her cheek on her hand, looked at him lazily, and replied, "I told you. My grades are a bit good."
Tang Jie looked personally offended. "A little?! You skipped the staircase and rode the elevator straight to the top twenty!"
Lu Qingyan turned her head and looked at him in surprise, "I thought my performance was average this time. Don't be so exaggerated, okay? Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll become too proud."
"Average?! If that's average, I must be taking exams underwater!"
If she really did well she would've placed first in the entire grade.
Tang Jie: "…"
Although many hateful people in the class would do very well on an exam and then pretended to be calm as they said, "It's okay, I did pretty average this time."
But he can guarantee that Lu Qingyan was definitely the most hateful one.
"She transferred last week, right?"
"Yeah! And she placed seventh?!"
"She didn't even take the test in our class, how did she pull this off? That's basically playing on hard mode!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
1. cheese fruit tea is a type of cold tea topped with a foamy layer of milk and cream cheese, sprinkled with salt – the drink is sweet (similar to boba), but has a savory finish.