Chapter 12

After leaving the examination hall, Chu Yin ran into Chu Qiuqiu and her friends outside the school gate.
The bell had just rung to signal the end of the exam, so anyone who appeared on campus at that moment must have submitted their papers early. They were either top students who finished quickly or hopeless slackers who couldn’t come up with any answers.
When Chu Qiuqiu saw Chu Yin, she naturally assumed she belonged to the latter category.
One of her friends lamented beside her, "Oh no, that math exam was so hard! Qiuqiu, how did you do?"
Chu Qiuqiu glanced at Chu Yin and smiled. "I thought it was okay? Not too difficult."
Her friend looked at her enviously. "You're amazing, Qiuqiu! Did you manage to solve the last part of the final question too?"
Chu Qiuqiu brushed her hair back modestly. "I calculated x as .3/4."
"Oh my god, you actually solved it?!"
"Are you going to score over 140 in math this time? Could it even be a perfect score?!"
Chu Yin walked past them expressionlessly.
...What the hell is .3/4?
X equals 1, okay.
When she returned home, both of her parents happened to be there. Upon learning that their two high school daughters had just taken their midterm exams, they showed great concern.
Madam Chu asked worriedly, "How did the exams go today? Qiuqiu, can you maintain your ranking?"
Chu Qiuqiu pouted playfully. "Mom, I’ve been studying hard until midnight every day this week. My efforts will definitely pay off."
Mr. Chu nodded with satisfaction. "Heaven rewards the diligent. You truly live up to being a daughter of the Chu family."
Although they all knew Qiuqiu was an adopted daughter, this adopted child was ambitious and proved that their initial judgment had been correct.
Chu Yin watched the scene of familial affection indifferently, while Chu Shi, sitting beside her, frowned slightly.
After praising their adopted daughter, the Chu parents turned to their biological daughter, feeling somewhat awkward. For one, they still hadn’t grown close to Chu Yin, and secondly, her academic performance was simply too poor.
Mr. Chu asked politely, "How do you feel, Xiao Yin? Are Quiwen's questions more difficult than before?"
Chu Yin swallowed the food in her mouth and replied objectively, "It's manageable."
She was already at university level and had studied abroad. The knowledge Lu Zhen had forced her to learn back then was far more challenging than what was taught in domestic high schools. This exam was just an ordinary midterm for the second year of high school, so the difficulty was relatively low for Chu Yin.
Madam Chu said, "As long as you pass all subjects, we’ll sign you up for some tutoring classes after the exams."
"..." Chu Yin nodded. "Whatever you think is best."
When Chu Qiuqiu heard this, her eyebrows shot up, her parents had different expectations for her, the outstanding daughter, and her slacker sister!
It was clear that her parents had higher hopes for her!
In the evening, Chu Yin reviewed the key points she had compiled for history, geography, and politics one last time. She wasn’t worried about English, her foundation was solid, and she had practiced plenty of questions. All she needed to do during the exam was to be careful.
After washing up and preparing to sleep, there was a soft knock on her door.
When she opened it, her brother was standing outside. "Not asleep yet?"
Chu Yin nodded. "Going to bed soon."
Chu Shi patted her head. "Don’t stress about the exam. Whatever result you get is fine."
Though her brother was warm-hearted, even he seemed to think she would perform poorly. Chu Yin felt a mix of amusement and exasperation. "Okay, I’ll do my best."
Chu Shi smiled. "Don’t worry, I’ll find an academic god to share some luck with you."
The next day, when Chu Yin saw Gu Qiuzhe outside the exam hall, she felt quite helpless.
It seemed some things wouldn’t change even across two lifetimes. In her previous life, her brother had been eager for her to interact with Gu Qiuzhe, and it was the same now.
The senior leaned against the wall, looking handsome and refined, making the girls passing by blush.
Chu Yin stopped in front of him. Gu Qiuzhe raised his finger and lightly tapped her forehead. "There, you’ve got some luck now."
Chu Yin placed one hand in front of her chest. "...Thank you, benefactor."
Gu Qiuzhe was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Good luck on your exam."
"Okay."
But as Chu Yin turned the corner with her backpack, the luck she had just received seemed to vanish into thin air.
Lu Zhen stood at the classroom door, his gaze deep and intense as he looked her way.
Huh, is the jerk in a bad mood?
Chu Yin recalled what she had done to him yesterday and felt a twinge of guilt, but the next moment, she justified herself, she could have made him experience the world of the blind, so how dare he glare at her!
She lowered her eyes, pretending not to see him, and walked into the classroom with her head down.
Lu Zhen almost laughed out loud.
Afraid of him?
Chatting and laughing with others, but acting like she didn’t see him when he was around.
Young Master Lu had never been treated so dismissively in his life.
And by a nerdy, timid bookworm, no less.
"Chu Yin."
It was the first time Lu Zhen had called her name.
Chu Yin’s steps faltered, and her eardrums tingled instinctively.
"I’m not going in today. Do your best on the exam," Lu Zhen said, his youthful voice lowered. "I... mean you no harm."
Chu Yin finally looked up.
Her pupils, like crystal, were clear and translucent. Her long, thick eyelashes framed her eyes, giving them a soft, hazy beauty.
This was the first time she had calmly fixed her gaze on him, neither avoiding nor hiding.
Lu Zhen unconsciously held his breath.
A few seconds later, he slowly exhaled and turned to leave. "I’m going now."
His heart racing wildly, the young man strode away, almost in a fluster.
Chu Yin withdrew her gaze with a puzzled expression.
She said to Study System, "Do you know what's written in these eyes of mine?"
"What is it?"
The left eye says "I," the right eye says "have."
That dog of a man has no ill intentions, but I do.
The day's exams finally concluded smoothly.
All three subjects of the comprehensive arts exam were within Chu Yin's scope of expertise, and English was relatively easy for her. She breezed through the questions with great satisfaction.
Afterward, Quiwen students enjoyed a weekend break. When Monday rolled around, the highly anticipated score release arrived.
Class 5 was extremely anxious. Every break, students rushed to the teachers' office, asking about scores and rankings.
Unfortunately, Quiwen's efficiency was low. By noon, the scores and rankings still hadn't been released, leaving the class too restless to focus on studying. Although Chu Yin was also looking forward to the results, she remained much calmer than the others.
The first class in the afternoon was English. Everyone knew that machine-graded sections were processed the fastest. As soon as the English teacher entered the classroom, several boys started shouting.
"Teacher, the English scores must be out by now, right?"
The English teacher, holding a stack of test papers, swept a radiant gaze across the class and said with a smile, "Let's go over the questions first!"
From the looks of it, Class 5 had performed well in English this time.
Xing Lan nudged Fu Mingxuan and winked, saying, "Mingxuan, I bet you've secured the top spot in the subject."
Mingxuan was the best in English in their class, consistently scoring above 140.
Fu Mingxuan also curled her lips into a smile. She had estimated her own score to be quite good and guessed she might even surpass Chu Qiuqiu this time.
As the teacher went over the questions and announced the correct answers for each one, the class erupted in either cheers or groans.
Beside Chu Yin, Song Zhaolin was practically wailing the entire time, his cries bordering on heart-wrenching.
His mind and body had suffered a massive blow, and he couldn't help but glance over, Sister Yin was resting her cheek on one hand while twirling a red pen with the other. Her test paper was clean, with nothing corrected.
Understood.
Too many mistakes, couldn't even be bothered to correct them.
He was the same, boohoo TAT
By the end of the class, all multiple-choice sections had been reviewed.
Chu Yin finally put down her pen.
All correct.
Now that they could roughly estimate their scores, the classroom buzzed with noise. The students of Class 5 turned to Fu Mingxuan, the best in English, and asked, "Mingxuan, how did you do?"
Fu Mingxuan spread out her test paper, her eyes gleaming with pride. "One mistake in listening, one in reading."
No one in the class got those two questions right. The listening section tested an authentic American slang phrase that you wouldn’t know unless you’d lived abroad. The reading section tested an obscure, out-of-syllabus phrase that second-year high school students hadn’t even learned.
Aside from that, she got all the multiple-choice questions correct!
"Holy shit, that’s insane!"
"Mingxuan, you’re practically a god, "
"So you’re definitely first in the class, right?!"
Fu Mingxuan had indeed performed exceptionally well. A bright smile spread across her face, and as she turned to speak to someone, her gaze happened to fall on Chu Yin, who was sitting with her head lowered, her face obscured by her bangs and a mask, just as unnoticeable as usual.
That country bumpkin must have heard, right? Now she should understand the academic hierarchy in their elite class.
Come to think of it, on the first day of school, Chu Qiuqiu had mentioned that Chu Yin couldn’t understand English. So how many points could she possibly score? 50? In any case, she was bound to drag down the class average.
The nosy boys had already started clamoring: "Teacher, you’ve finished going over the test, hurry up and tell us our scores!"
The English teacher beamed, her eyes sweeping across the corner by the window.
The results this time had truly exceeded her expectations, but what surprised her the most was that particular student. She had noticed many times before, while others bought bubble tea and chatted during breaks, this student remained seated, studying motionlessly.
She had initially assumed that the gap in educational resources would result in a weak English foundation for her. Little did she expect this child to deliver such a huge surprise!
"First of all, congratulations, everyone! You all performed exceptionally well on this English exam!"
Someone from below asked, "Is the top score in our class?"
The English teacher nodded. "Yes!"
The class erupted into commotion, with everyone turning to look at Fu Mingxuan.
Fu Mingxuan straightened her back with a smile, secretly thrilled, she had outscored Chu Qiuqiu in English!
But the teacher’s next sentence froze the entire class,
"The top scorer is in our class, the only perfect score in the entire grade!"
"What?!"
Fu Mingxuan had just said she got two questions wrong, so who could have gotten a perfect score?!
At that moment, a crisp, cheerful electronic voice chimed in Chu Yin’s mind,
Ding, Authentication successful. Achievement unlocked: Top Score in English. Progress toward Grade Rank 1 mission: 15%!! Host, you’re one step closer to success!
Chu Yin leaned back in her chair, looking perfectly serene.
Fu Mingxuan’s face had stiffened completely. Was it Jiang Yan? Or someone else? Who in the class was better at English than her?
The English teacher’s gaze fixed directly on the corner by the window, her expression excited:
"This perfect score belongs to our transfer student, Chu Yin! Let’s give her a round of applause!"