chapter 2

I charged over to settle the score with Qin Ruyu.

A crowd had gathered around her, asking how she had gotten a perfect score in English.

Qin Ruyu looked apologetic. “I don’t really have a method. Maybe it’s because my parents speak English at home a lot.”

Pinching my nose, I mimicked her in a strange voice. “My mommy and daddy speak English at home.”

Qin Ruyu flinched like a frightened deer. “I—I—”

She rushed to explain. “It’s true. I’m not talented or quick. I learn very slowly, and I’m really stupid. I was just lucky this time.”

Even I could not have come up with such an insulting provocation!

I planted my hands on my hips. “Who are you calling stupid? If you’re stupid and still came first, what does that make the rest of us?”

I jabbed a vicious finger at her nose. “Just you wait.”

I already knew exactly how I would deal with Qin Ruyu.

This was school.

So the most devastating way to torment and crush someone was—

“Tattle to her parents!”

On parent-teacher conference day, I volunteered to help.

The moment I got a chance to meet Qin Ruyu’s parents, I would report all her—

Wait. Wasn’t that Qin Ruyu?

Her head hung low as she followed a well-dressed couple.

“Ms. Zhang, forgive me for being blunt, but this first-place ranking means nothing to us.”

The middle-aged man’s expression was stern. “The questions were this simple, and Ruyu still got two wrong. You should criticize her.”

Qin Ruyu lowered her head even further.

Ms. Zhang stared at him, speechless. “Well, Qin Ruyu is an excellent student. She was only a little careless—”

“Ms. Zhang, is that what Ruyu told you? She always likes to make excuses for her mistakes. No matter what we do, she cannot correct this flaw in her character.”

Qin Ruyu stood there like a block of wood, listening blankly.

“She could not keep up with the gifted youth program, so we transferred her for her own good.”

“She is lazy. She refuses to work hard. She is nothing like us.”

Ms. Zhang looked uncomfortable. “But everyone wants to hear Qin Ruyu share her study methods—”

“There’s no need.”

The couple walked toward the classroom with Ms. Zhang. No one noticed that Qin Ruyu had been left standing where she was.

In the blazing summer heat, she looked like an ice sculpture that had forgotten how to breathe.

I walked over.

“Qin Ruyu.”

I called her name. “Do you want to help me with the bulletin board? We’re doing a summer water-safety display.”

As if waking from a nightmare, she slowly focused her bewildered gaze on me.

I pursed my lips. “You can help me draw the borders.”