“No,” Meng Dong said slowly, his voice eerily calm. “So you really didn’t know she scored first in the nation—20 points above the second-place student?”
Dead silence.
As he scanned the room, the stunned expressions—especially Old Lady Ye’s, her wrinkles doing little to hide her shock—confirmed it.
They genuinely had no idea.
Honestly, Meng Dong was now looking at Ye Yun with mixed feelings.
Back when Ye Shaohua had seemed like a lost cause, he’d been quick to sever all ties between Meng Ze and her. And when Yang Qin confirmed she was pregnant with a son—practically securing the Ye family fortune for Ye Yun and her brother—he’d silently approved Meng Ze’s relationship with Ye Yun.
But who could’ve guessed that Ye Shaohua, the girl who’d supposedly given up after her mother’s death, would suddenly rise from the ashes like a damn phoenix?
At the words “national first place,” Ye Yun and Old Lady Ye froze.
Ye Yun’s first instinct was to grab her phone and frantically search online.
Most people didn’t pay attention to college entrance exam results unless they had a family member taking them. But the moment she looked it up, her screen flooded with headlines about Ye Shaohua.
The details online were exhaustive. Ye Yun had already seen the viral posts about how brutally hard this year’s national exam was.
Now, she was staring at Ye Shaohua’s obscenely high score, her mind reeling.
How?
Hadn’t Ye Shaohua dropped out of academics for three years?
Ye Yun remembered clearly—in her past life, this never happened. Back then, Ye Shaohua had been suspended for fighting. So why was everything different now?
Had her rebirth somehow made things worse?
Her chest tightened, breath turning shallow.
“A-Yun, are you okay?” Old Lady Ye finally snapped out of her daze, noticing Ye Yun’s lips tinged blue.
Ye Yun forced a smile. “I’m fine.”
But beneath her lowered lashes, her gaze burned with something darker.
…..
The professor from B University had called Ye Shaohua multiple times. In the end, she decided to enroll there.
“Perfect!” The professor sounded thrilled. “One of your seniors from the same department is in Qing City right now working on a project. Since you excel in multidimensional space theory, I’ll have him reach out tomorrow.”
A research project before even stepping foot on campus?
The professor’s confidence in her was staggering.
But then again, this year’s math exam had included a multidimensional space problem—one Ye Shaohua solved flawlessly, using a method even cleaner than the standard answer.
When the professor heard about it from his connections, he knew exactly what kind of mind he was dealing with.
(Though he still wondered why a math genius like her had never competed in the IMO.)
“What’d you put for your applications?” Yu Hang and the others crowded around to peek at Ye Shaohua’s form.
Most of them had filled out multiple choices—first pick, second pick, even a safety school as backup.
But Ye Shaohua’s form had one line.
B University.
That was it.
No alternatives.
No plan B.
“Boss stays undefeated,” Yu Hang muttered, half in awe, half in resignation. The others mimed bowing to her with their pens. “We’re not worthy.”
In the entire group, only Yu Hang had dared to list B University as his first choice. The rest knew their scores wouldn’t cut it.
After submitting their forms, the class dragged Ye Shaohua out for skewers.
On the way, her phone rang.
“Hello?” She didn’t bother checking the caller ID—too many people had been calling lately.
“Shaohua, it’s Xu Mengjie!” A sweet, chirpy voice greeted her. “Remember the class reunion we talked about? I’ve set the date for July 3rd. Since most of us are on break by then, I thought it’d be perfect. Can you make it?”
Class reunion?
Ye Shaohua’s eyes narrowed slightly. She vaguely recalled a girl from First High mentioning this when she first arrived in this world.
She hadn’t expected Xu Mengjie to actually follow through.
“You’re free now that exams are over, right?” Xu Mengjie pressed when Ye Shaohua didn’t respond immediately. “Hello? You’re not backing out, are you? Everyone’s waiting to see you! Even our middle school’s heartthrob is coming this time.”
Ye Shaohua chuckled. “Sure. Just send me the details.”
July 3rd was still days away. No rush.
On the other end, Xu Mengjie turned to the handsome boy beside her, grinning. “Yan Sheng, she said yes.”
Two months ago, she’d invited Ye Shaohua on a whim, never expecting her to agree.
What Xu Mengjie didn’t mention was that half the class was going just to see how far the mighty had fallen.
Not that Ye Shaohua would’ve cared if she knew.
Even with exams done, her schedule was packed—company matters, the professor’s research project, and now the Class 13 kids taking turns dragging her to their homes for meals.
By the time Ye Shaohua returned to the Ye villa, Ye Guofu was gone.
Even the butler and staff were absent.
Her father had only left a voicemail: “Shaohua, your grandmother needs me. I’ll be back later.”
But as she stepped inside, she found Ye Yun waiting in the living room—unnervingly calm.
“You’re back, little sister.” Ye Yun smiled, holding out a glass of water. “Dad’s not here. Have a drink first.”
Ye Shaohua stared at the glass. Didn’t move.
Ye Yun’s smile stiffened. “…Not thirsty?”
“Not thirsty for drugged water, no.”
Spies who couldn’t spot basic traps didn’t last long in the business.
“You can smell the sedative?!” Ye Yun’s eyes widened—but oddly, there was no fear in them. Just shock.
Before Ye Shaohua could react, a white haze flooded her vision. A sharp, pulling pain split through her skull—
And suddenly, she was back on the phone call.
“Hello? You’re not backing out, are you? Everyone’s waiting to see you!”
