“I really should take a video of you one of these days,” Qin Jing drawled.

“I’ll show it to your fans and your classmates, so they can finally see you for who you really are! Disgusting!”

Yao Ran whirled around and froze when she saw Qin Jing. The humiliation she had suffered from the girl last time was still painfully fresh in her mind.

“Get lost!” Qin Jing snapped before Yao Ran could say anything, her eyes flashing ferociously.

Yao Tang slowly removed her earphones and looked at Qin Jing.

“Let’s go,” she said lightly.

She didn’t even acknowledge Yao Ran.

It was as though she was nothing more than a piece of trash floating by—insignificant, and nothing worth paying any attention to.

Qin Jing shouldered linked her arm with Yao Tang’s and the two girls walked away.

They left Yao Ran standing there, her chest heaving up and down with the effort to stifle her rage.

…

Everyone went silent the moment Yao Tang stepped back into their classroom, and all heads turned in her direction.

Behind her, Qin Jing peered at their friends, sensing that something was amiss. To her confusion, Meng Yang and Lin Xin were wearing the same expression as the rest of the class—a mix of bewilderment and awe.

They were all looking at Yao Tang like she was some idol they wanted to worship.

Qin Jing held her breath and didn’t speak, afraid of disrupting the reverent air in the room.

As for Yao Tang, she acted like she didn’t notice everybody’s gaze.

She calmly walked to her seat and opened the book she had been reading that morning, her face devoid of any emotion.

As always, she seemed isolated from the rest of the world.

Qin Jing quietly shuffled to Meng Yang’s desk and whispered, “What’s going on? What happened to you guys? Did you see Sister Tang’s results? Did she do badly in the exams?”

This was the only reason she could think of to explain their strange behavior.

Sister Tang might be highly intelligent, but she was still a transfer student, after all.

It was perfectly understandable for her to encounter a few setbacks now and then.

Even so, their classmates’ reaction was still a little… weird.

Meng Yang looked away from Yao Tang and wordlessly handed his phone to Qin Jing.

Seeing that he was still somewhat lost in his reverie, she snatched the device from his hands, mumbling, “What the hell is wrong with you people…”

She looked at the screen as she spoke, and her words eventually died in her throat. Qin Jing’s jaw fell as she processed what she was reading.

‘Oh, my God! Oh, my God!’

She blinked and read through the page again. ‘But how is this possible?’

In an instant, Qin Jing’s cynical demeanor changed, and she became just as floored and speechless as everyone else.

At first, she thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her.

She checked again, this time, bringing the phone closer to her face and squinting at the screen.

‘Nope, it’s still the same!’

Displayed on the screen was an official list of the students who had taken the national exams, with their respective scores right next to their names.

The first name on the list was Yao Tang.

On the column next to that—750 points.

Yao Tang had gotten full marks.

Qin Jing turned to Meng Yang and stuttered. “This—Is it—This must be photoshopped, right? Is this another scheme against Sister Tang? I—This can’t be—”

Meng Yang shook his head.

He appeared to be a little worse for the wear than usual, and who could blame him?

His phone had been buzzing nonstop as friends and former teachers from other schools sent him a barrage of messages, all asking about Yao Tang.

Apparently, word has spread that a student from No. 1 High School had gotten full marks in all the subjects, a truly unprecedented event in their generation.

The school forum was just chaotic, with new posts and endless comments popping at every second.

Once again, everybody was talking about Yao Tang.

…

Xi Yan emerged from the Principal’s Office with a dazed look on her face.

She could barely feel the floor beneath her feet, as If she was walking on clouds.

Principal Kong had specially called for her, and to her utter shock, he had proceeded to offer her his congratulations and commended her for being an excellent teacher.

He had mentioned Yao Tang in passing, and had insisted that she make sure the girl’s skills were cultivated properly while she was in their institution. He had been rather serious about it, too.

Xi Yan had thought then that Principal Kong must value Yao Tang very much. He seemed to have seen a tremendous potential in her that escaped the other teachers’ notice.

But then she found out about her test results, and Xi Yan grew even more confused. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the matter.

Yao Tang was obviously capable of great things, yet she chose to be unassuming and withdrawn during class. And then she would go on and score full marks just like that!

Xi Yan was at a loss. What was she going to do with the girl?

She gathered herself as she trudged up the stairs to her classroom.

She realized too late that her surroundings had gone eerily silent, and the air was charged with something she couldn’t name.

The halls were almost always noisy, with the occasional scuffle between students.

But now, not even a rustling of pages could be heard.

The entire building felt hollow.

She glanced into the classroom she was passing by and saw that the students were huddled in a group.

Xi Yan thought it was odd, but quickly dismissed the thought and moved on.