Chapter 5
When the bell rang, I suddenly realized the period had ended.
Those forty-five minutes were normally torture. I counted every second.
How had today passed in a blink? I had not learned enough yet.
I glanced at my textbook. Dense notes covered its pages, making it look completely different from all my other books.
A deep satisfaction filled me. I wanted to cover every textbook with notes.
Qiu Ting and Jiang Shuhua walked past me, but I paid them no attention. I was thinking about that night’s history homework.
For the first time in my life, I went straight to my room that evening and began working.
My mother was startled. She wanted to speak but did not dare. Outside my room, I heard her delighted whisper.
“Old Qiao, did you see? Ruru is studying!”
My father said with satisfaction, “Our daughter has grown up. She’s finally sensible.”
The corners of my mouth lifted. I bent over my paper and kept working.
…
Before long, my history performance improved rapidly.
Our history teacher resembled an old-fashioned government official. He always wore a stern face and looked rather serious.
But he never held back his praise for me.
Whenever I recited an answer fluently, completed my homework well, or paid attention in class, he complimented me.
The more he praised me, the harder I worked. I even memorized history during other classes.
Every evening, I reread the history textbooks we were studying from beginning to end.
I studied for only an hour a day, but compared to before, it was a complete transformation.
Soon, the first monthly exam of the semester arrived.
When I received the history paper, one glance at the questions filled me with confidence.
I had memorized most of them during the past few days.
History was not difficult. It did not require much of a foundation.
With a decent memory, one could simply memorize the material.
My pen flew across the page, and I quickly finished every question.
…
The other subjects were not nearly as easy.
I had spent all my time on history. Apart from listening a little in class, I had barely touched anything else.
The questions looked slightly more familiar than before, but I still had no idea which answers were correct.
Helpless, I gritted my teeth, worked out what I could, and guessed the rest. At least I did not submit blank papers.
After the exams ended, anxiety set in.
For the first time, I had completed every paper seriously.
How had I done? Would I improve, or would I remain at the bottom?
Would my history teacher be disappointed? Would Qiu Ting and Jiang Shuhua mock me again?
The thoughts churned until my head felt ready to burst. I could not study at all. I could only await my grades like a defendant awaiting judgment.
The results soon came out.
As Qiu Ting handed back our papers, I drew a deep breath.
When she reached mine, she looked down and frowned fiercely.
Her gaze ran up and down the paper for more than ten seconds, as though she could not believe it.
Then she passed my desk and flung the paper onto it.
For the first time in my life, I understood real nervousness. I lifted the paper with my eyes closed and waited ages before daring to look.
A huge red number met my eyes.
History: 92.
I was stunned. My hands trembled beyond my control.
Someone who had never been a failing student could not understand that feeling. My scores had always been in the single digits. Reaching double digits meant I had been lucky.
But this time, I had scored ninety-two.
A number beginning with nine.
Could this really be Qiao Ru’s grade?
I began grinning foolishly and turned the paper over again and again.
The lost points came from questions I had never seen. My foundation was too weak, and I had not finished learning the earlier material.
As delight flooded me, our history teacher entered.
The class immediately fell silent. He reached the lectern, coughed lightly, and took out the results without wasting words.
“This exam was difficult, but you all did better than I expected.
“This time…” He lifted a list. “Three students scored above ninety. Qiu Ting received ninety-nine, and Jiang Shuhua received ninety-eight.”
Then he smiled.
“And Qiao Ru.”
My heart instantly began pounding.
“Qiao Ru has studied very hard lately. She’s also intelligent. To improve this quickly is remarkable.
“She scored ninety-two. Don’t become complacent. Keep working, and aim for a hundred next time.”
The class erupted.
Everyone stared at me and whispered in astonishment.
Jiang Shuhua’s expression was complicated, while Qiu Ting’s face had turned livid.
My mouth stretched into an uncontrollable smile.
The joy was impossible to describe. It was a sense of achievement, as though my worth as a person had risen to another level.
In an instant, I had gone from the delinquent everyone despised to one of the best students in the room.
It was only one subject, but at least it proved my effort had produced results.
No wonder everyone wanted good grades. Being a good student felt wonderful. Pride, satisfaction, and confidence mingled until I felt as though I could float.
I could not remember how I finished the lesson. When class ended, several girls gathered around Qiu Ting.
Top students seemed to possess a natural authority. They always had followers.
The girls apparently wanted to disgust me, because they deliberately raised their voices.
“Some people are bad at school and stupid too. If you’re going to cheat, at least make the score believable. Above ninety? Who would buy that?”
“Exactly. What’s the point? She’s only fooling herself.”
“Qiu Ting, you’re amazing. Ninety-nine again! How do you study?”
Qiu Ting looked slightly happier and smiled.
“Only ninety-nine. Losing a point to carelessness was inexcusable. You know me—I never study at home.
“What other people do has nothing to do with us. A cheap trick might work once, but not forever. Honestly, I pity her. A failure in both love and academics.”
She smiled with pressed lips, and everyone around her joined the mockery.
I gripped my paper. My earlier happiness vanished.
Anger surged through me. It felt as though a string in my head had snapped.
I shot to my feet and strode toward Qiu Ting.
My expression must have been frightening. She flinched, then frowned.
“Qiao Ru, what are you doing? Are you going to hit someone?
“You delinquents may be terrible students, but you’re always excellent at starting trouble.”
I suppressed my fury.
“Qiu Ting, what did you just say? Say it again if you have the guts!”
“I don’t repeat myself.” She looked at me contemptuously.
“If the shoe fits, wear it. Qiao Ru, sometimes I really do pity you. Is this the only pathetic way you can think of to attract attention?”
Her words drove into me like a steel blade. Rage blurred my vision. Before I could answer, someone shoved my shoulder.
I lost my balance and struck the corner of a desk. A sharp pain shot through my waist.
I looked up.
It was Jiang Shuhua.
He had an arm around Qiu Ting and was staring at me with open disapproval.
“Qiao Ru, what are you trying to do? Qiu Ting isn’t someone from your world. Don’t bring your thug behavior to her!”
I nearly went mad.
“She accused me of cheating! Didn’t you hear her?”
Something complicated crossed his face.
“Qiao Ru, cheap tricks are useless. Everyone knows what happened.
“You should keep your feet on the ground and stop trying to act clever.”
A wicked fire almost consumed me. My mind went blank. I wanted to take a knife to the wretched couple in front of me.
Did good grades make them superior?
Did good grades give them the right to despise others and smear them with false accusations?
The words burst from my mouth before I knew what I was saying.
“What the hell are you so proud of?
“I’ll beat your score on the final exam!”
…
The class went silent for a beat, then exploded in laughter.
The girls surrounding Qiu Ting laughed so hard they doubled over.
“Qiao Ru, at least make your boasting believable! Qiu Ting is number one in the grade, and you think you’ll beat her?”
“Boasting is free, I suppose! She must be dreaming!”
…
Even Qiu Ting laughed.
“Fine, Qiao Ru. If you surpass me, I’ll do anything you ask.
“But if you fail, you’ll stand at the school gate and shout three times, ‘I, Qiao Ru, am a worthless piece of crap.’ Do you dare?”
Her confidence and contempt made my blood boil.
“Fine. If I beat you, you’ll bow and apologize to me at the school gate—and admit you’re inferior to me!”
“Whatever you say.”
She looked at me from the corner of her eye.
“Humiliating yourself like this is ridiculous.”
“Save the performance,” I sneered. “Just don’t regret it later.”
I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the classroom.