Chapter 11

Chu Qiuqiu stammered on stage for a full five minutes before finishing the passage, her face turning green with embarrassment.
The English teacher kindly remarked that although the reading wasn’t great, it proved the activity was completely fair and transparent! Otherwise, how could the person drawing the slip end up picking themselves?
Chu Qiuqiu forced herself to nod along with the teacher, suppressing her embarrassment.
In the audience, Fu Mingxuan and her friends were barely holding back their laughter, Chu Qiuqiu, who always loved the spotlight, had just humiliated herself in front of the entire grade!
Even after the activity ended, Chu Qiuqiu couldn’t figure out how the slip she had prepared with Chu Yin’s name had suddenly changed to her own. And even if she had drawn herself, she could have easily improvised and pretended she had drawn a blank slip!
After she went down, several girls from the international class gathered around to comfort her.
"You did great, Qiuqiu! Your pronunciation was super authentic."
"It's okay, Qiuqiu, everyone knows your English is excellent."
"Midterms are coming up, just prove yourself with your scores then!"
With their comforting words, Chu Qiuqiu felt better again, yes, the exams were just around the corner.
They were all in the liberal arts department, and the midterms would pit them against each other. That country bumpkin sister of hers might have dodged this time, but she couldn’t escape the exams. Once the results came out, it would be clear who was superior!
By then, Dad, Mom, Brother, Brother Qiuz, and the entire school, would know who the more outstanding daughter of the Chu family was.
Chu Yin had been studying even harder these days.
She was also looking forward to the midterm exams because,
Ding, First major study task issued!. Achieve first place in the midterm exams. Difficulty level: four stars. Upon completion, you will unlock the [Edit Single Sentence] permission.
A sentence!!
Previously, the script only allowed her to edit one word or phrase at a time. Although her artistic reinterpretations had yielded good results, the limited permissions were still restrictive.
But this time, she could change an entire sentence!
"Host, you’re excited!"
How could she not be excited?
As someone who had lost all autonomy in her past life, only heaven knew how sweet it felt to hold control in her hands.
So, over the next week, Chu Yin practically studied to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep.
She reviewed her already memorized notes for the three comprehensive liberal arts subjects over and over again, completed and corrected all the test papers she had on hand, revisited the vocabulary for the College English Test Level 6, and even compiled over ten pages of essay materials.
As the exams approached, no one in Class 5 took them lightly. Even Song Zhaolin didn’t dare sleep in class, afraid of missing key points.
As an elite class, they placed great importance on academic performance. After every exam, the release of subject scores was a major event. Everyone paid close attention to who scored the highest in the class, whether it was the highest in the entire grade, and the score gaps.
Amid the increasingly tense exam preparation atmosphere, teasing Chu Yin became their daily pastime.
Fu Mingxuan, the class belle and a wealthy, pretty girl, led the charge in ostracizing Chu Yin. This gradually fostered such an environment in the class. Apart from the kind-hearted Song Zhaolin, who would chat with Chu Yin, no one else paid her any attention.
A few boys who liked Fu Mingxuan gathered around her, laughing and joking: "Our 'top student' studied all day again today, didn’t even go to the bathroom."
Xing Lan chimed in from the side: "Probably used to it. Do rural schools even have bathrooms?"
"Pfft, hahaha, maybe not!"
It was break time, and the classroom was noisy, but none of it affected the speed of Chu Yin’s writing.
Fu Mingxuan glanced back at her and sneered, "No matter how hard she tries, it’s useless. Just look at her past lousy grades."
"Maybe she’s not even trying that hard, just putting on a show. Someone truly buried in studies wouldn’t flirt with guys. Have you forgotten how she deliberately caught Brother Zhen’s attention and even talked to Senior Qiuzhe?"
The girls all made disgusted expressions.
The boys, hearing this for the first time, were shocked.
"Damn, really?"
"With her looks… If I were Lu Zhen or Gu Qiuz, I’d be disgusted."
"Sigh, I really wish Chu Yin's departure would count towards our class's grades and lower the average score. How are we supposed to beat Class 1 then..."
Chu Yin didn't even bother listening to the idle gossip in the class. Every day, she exceeded her own study plan, reviewing with solid dedication.
Moreover, since she stayed in the classroom all day and left immediately after school, she hadn't run into Lu Zhen for quite some time.
The day before the exam, the school posted the seating chart for the test venues.
The seating order was arranged based on the previous semester's final exam results. Fu Mingxuan, Xing Lan, and Chu Qiuqiu were all in the first exam hall. Chu Yin had no previous scores, so she was placed in the last exam hall.
She glanced at the list and spotted Lu Zhen's name in that same hall.
His seat was right behind hers.
Chu Yin: "..."
Song Zhaolin, standing nearby, remarked, "Sis Yin, your seat, what a heavenly arrangement."
Chu Yin's expression remained blank: Heavenly my ass.
But then she reconsidered, Lu Zhen never participated in grade-level exams, which was why, like her, he had no scores and was assigned to the last exam hall.
In her past life during high school, Chu Yin had always thought he was a bad student who didn't study. It was only later that she found out he had actually been receiving elite education arranged by his family all along.
...As long as that damn guy didn't interfere with her exam, everything would be fine.
That evening, Lu Zhen and the others went out for dinner.
The young master was treating, so Song Zhaolin, Tan Ke, and the others didn't hold back, ordering a large table full of dishes.
While waiting for the food, Song Zhaolin asked Lu Zhen, "By the way, Brother Zhen, are you going to the exam tomorrow?"
Tan Ke chuckled, "When has Brother Zhen ever gone?"
Song Zhaolin nodded, "True."
Lu Zhen looked indifferent, his slender fingers spinning a cup. "Why do you ask?"
Once the dishes were served, Song Zhaolin mumbled between bites, "My deskmate is sitting in front of you. I thought since you really dislike her, I was worried you might get angry if you showed up."
Lu Zhen's fingers suddenly stilled.
Tan Ke, who wasn't familiar with this person, widened his eyes. "Who?"
"Chu Yin," Song Zhaolin said, "the daughter the Chu family brought back."
Being part of the wealthy circle, Tan Ke was aware of the situation. A while back, that girl had gone viral on the forum because of her report card, and Tan Ke had witnessed it.
But aside from that, there wasn't anything particularly appealing about this Chu family daughter, neither outstanding nor beautiful. After chatting with Song Zhaolin for a bit, Tan Ke changed the subject.
Lu Zhen lowered his gaze slightly, his dark pupils fixed on the rim of the cup, his expression unreadable.
After a long pause, he suddenly spoke, "I dislike her?"
Song Zhaolin and Tan Ke were caught off guard. "Huh?"
Lu Zhen tossed his cup aside and let out a low chuckle.
Quite the opposite, actually.
The next day was the exam. That morning, Chu Qiuqiu spent the entire car ride buried in her books. Classroom 5 was unusually quiet too, even Song Zhaolin was cramming in some last-minute studying.
By this point, Chu Yin had already relaxed.
As eight o’clock approached, students in the classroom gradually headed to their assigned exam halls. When Chu Yin entered the last-ranked exam hall, a few girls craned their necks expectantly, only to slump back in disappointment moments later.
Chu Yin glanced around, Lu Zhen wasn’t there. Perfect.
The seats in front of and behind her were empty, with only two girls sitting on either side of her. Because Quiwen Private High School was well-funded, even midterm exams were equipped with signal jammers, and phones were strictly prohibited. The two girls beside her were so bored during the exam that they looked on the verge of tears, doodling on their test papers to pass the time.
Chu Yin remained unaffected. She breezed through the morning Chinese exam with steady confidence.
By the time the afternoon math exam rolled around, the girls in the classroom had given up on any excitement and were slumped over their desks, waiting for the test papers to be handed out.
Just as the teacher entered carrying the sealed exam papers, the back door suddenly swung open.
The classroom immediately stirred with commotion.
Within seconds, Chu Yin felt a rush of air sweep past her, carrying a crisp, pleasant scent.
Her body’s memory instantly reminded her, this was Lu Zhen’s aura.
The two girls on either side immediately sat up, adjusting their postures and smoothing their hair, their faces lit with excitement.
The boy was tall, and once seated, his long legs seemed to have nowhere to go. He stared at the back of the girl sitting in front of him, sensing a hint of stiffness and unease in her posture.
Because they were so close, Lu Zhen could see the porcelain-white nape of her neck, exposed by her high ponytail. Delicate strands of hair fell beside her neck, looking incredibly soft.
Unable to resist, Lu Zhen leaned in slightly. “Pass the papers, classmate.”
Chu Yin cursed him furiously in her mind, but on the surface, she had no choice but to obediently pass the test papers.
The moment she turned around, Lu Zhen’s gaze landed on her face.
The girl’s eyelashes were lowered, dark and feathery like a row of crow’s feathers. Her skin was thin and delicate, and he could faintly see the pale blue veins on her eyelids.
Chu Yin quickly turned back around.
…What the hell are you looking at, you dog!
When the time came, the exam officially began.
Chu Yin closed her eyes for a moment, then immersed herself in the math problems. For liberal arts students, math was the subject that could make or break their scores, and she demanded nothing less than her absolute best performance.
After finishing the first twelve multiple-choice questions, Chu Yin took a deep breath, her expression murderous, and called out to the system, “Load the current script.”
…Lu Zhen, that dog, was still staring!
If you keep looking, I’ll knock your head off!!
Sure enough, the male lead’s power was counteracting her cheat abilities, all to prevent her from gaining higher permissions!!
Though Lu Zhen couldn’t hear her thoughts, he could sense the faint irritation emanating from her.
…Was the little bookworm actually getting annoyed?
Was it because she couldn’t solve the problems?
She seemed to be pretty bad at studying.
Meanwhile, Chu Yin was browsing the script:
[…Lu Zhen didn’t work on the exam. He propped his cheek on one hand and sat in the exam hall for two hours.]
She said gloomily, “Can we make the male lead go blind?”
Study System: [?]
Chu Yin was itching to try. “Change ‘sat’ to ‘blind.’”
Study System: [[Smile] Physical harm is not allowed, host.]
But a few seconds later, Chu Yin still crossed out the word.
She changed “sat” to “slept.”
…Let’s see you keep staring now! Go ahead and look!!
A few minutes later, the familiar gaze from behind her disappeared.
The young man had his arm resting on the desk, eyes closed, the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye hidden peacefully beneath his lashes, his profile exquisitely refined. Every girl in the classroom was secretly captivated by him.
Meanwhile, Chu Yin had finally completed her exam paper smoothly and effortlessly. After checking it over, she saw there were still ten minutes left before the papers would be collected.
Lu Zhen was still asleep.
So, with a smile on her face, she handed in her paper early and left the examination room with a carefree air.
See you never, asshole!