X University had ranked seventh nationally last year.
Xu Mengjie had overperformed on her exams, scoring within the top twenty at her school to secure admission.
While her results couldn’t compare to Ye Shaohua’s past brilliance, they were light-years ahead of the fallen goddess’s current state.
Ye Shaohua glanced at her, recalling from the original host’s memories that this was their former English class representative—a girl with decent grades and looks who had always been overshadowed by her.
Now, the tables had turned.
Xu Mengjie, now at a prestigious university, had completely eclipsed Ye Shaohua.
Without refusing, Ye Shaohua recited a string of digits for her.
As she pulled out her phone, Xu Mengjie’s sharp eyes caught sight of the latest Banana model—freshly released in M Country just yesterday.
Even overseas, people had lined up for hours without securing one.
Yet here was Ye Shaohua, already holding the coveted device.
But thinking of her current circumstances, Xu Mengjie relaxed.
So what? All flash, no substance.
She saved the number, already impatient for summer break—eager to show their old classmates just how far their former campus idol had fallen.
In fact, Xu Mengjie was already planning the reunion.
She was certain that once Ye Shaohua’s name was mentioned, attendance would skyrocket.
“Mengjie, who was that girl just now? She’s pretty… in a striking way,” her roommate mused, watching Ye Shaohua leave. “That blonde hair though—kinda edgy.”
“Her?” Xu Mengjie scoffed. “Our school’s former prodigy. Too bad…”
Her gaze drifted to the fourth mock exam honor roll displayed nearby.
From top to bottom, Ye Shaohua’s name was nowhere to be found.
…..
Though still technically a student at First High, Ye Shaohua had been demoted from the elite “Rocket Class” after her near-expulsion.
Now, she belonged to Class 13—the school’s dumping ground.
Unlike the fifty or sixty students crammed into top-tier classes, Class 13 held barely twenty, their desks scattered like afterthoughts.
By afternoon, seats remained empty.
This was a special cohort—home to sports recruits and rich underachievers like Ye Shaohua, whose families had bought their way in.
The school’s absolute bottom tier.
The disorderly atmosphere grated on Ye Shaohua’s nerves as she entered.
Yet as she passed, legs hastily retracted from aisles, and desks were hurriedly straightened.
“Boss, you good after yesterday?”
“Heard that bastard Jiang Cheng snitched to the grade director…”
Boss.
The title made her temples throb.
Thankfully, the bell rang before it could worsen.
Class 13’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Wang—a half-bald math instructor with a faded “Outstanding Educator” award in his past—cleared his throat. Rumor said he’d been exiled here after crossing someone powerful.
“Settle down. Today we begin final revisions…”
Short, bespectacled, and utterly non-intimidating, he might as well have been talking to the walls.
Phones glowed, snacks crunched, chatter continued, and some simply slept. Chaos reigned.
After multiple futile attempts to quiet them, only a handful of front-row students cracked open textbooks.
Mr. Wang’s voice, however loud, drowned in the din.
SLAM!
Ye Shaohua’s palm struck her desk like a gunshot.
Silence fell so completely that even Mr. Wang jumped.
Once every sleeping head had jerked upright, her icy gaze swept the room.
“Did none of you hear the teacher say to listen?”
Despite the bandage on her forehead, her sharp beauty lent the commanding tone an odd authority.
“YES, BOSS!” The chorus nearly burst her eardrums.
She winced, digging a finger in one ear. “Then apologize.”
“SORRY, TEACHER!”
Mr. Wang began the lesson in a daze, moved nearly to tears by this sudden compliance—until halfway through, when the Rocket Class’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Liu, barged in with the disciplinary director.
“Wang, we’re here about your students,” Liu Longsheng sneered at the “bad apples” of Class 13. “Ye Shaohua led a group to assault Jiang Cheng from my class. The director and I have decided she’ll be suspended for two months.”
Two months meant missing the Gaokao entirely.
Mr. Wang paled. “No! She was injured too—this wasn’t one-sided!”
Class 13 erupted.
“Bullshit! Jiang Cheng started it with his trash talk! Boss just stood up for us—”
“Enough!” Mr. Wang silenced them before turning to the administrators. “There are misunderstandings here. My students have their side—”
“Your delinquents’ version?” The director snorted. “Frankly, we should petition the principal to shut Class 13 down. They’re distracting real students like Jiang Cheng before exams!”
Arms crossed, Liu radiated contempt.
The insult hung thick, turning Class 13’s faces red with fury. Desks rattled as students shot to their feet.
Mr. Wang stood firm. “I won’t allow suspensions this close to exams. I’ll discipline them myself.”
“Exams?” Liu smirked. “Who are you kidding? These rejects taking the Gaokao? Don’t make me laugh!”
