Chapter 129: After the Comeback, the Basketball Game!

"Why don't you say she's a freak in Chinese? The highest score in Chinese... heh!" Xiao Nan's grades were not bad, and he had done well this time too, but when it came to math, English, and Chinese, he truly admired Sui Yi from the bottom of his heart.

She was just too incredible!

However...

"Is it for real? I'm telling you, it must be fake!"

Such a resolute and blunt voice came from the side corridor.

Everyone then saw Han Yuanzhong and his group.

Han Yuanzhong's grades were once decent; he used to be among the top five students at the Second High School.

However, due to his father's personal issues, his own lack of mental fortitude, and his association with troublemakers, his grades had plummeted.

Although not terrible, he had definitely fallen out of the elite circle of top students at the school.

Originally, this wouldn't have mattered much to him, as he believed that money and power were more important than anything else.

But he couldn't stand the fact that Sui Yi—the very person who had caused his downfall—had made such a miraculous leap, scoring such monstrously high marks!

Now, the teachers wouldn't stop talking about Sui Yi, which infuriated him!

Since she made him unhappy, how could he let her have a good time?

So, he had come to confront her!

Han Yuanzhong's group blocked one side of the corridor, while Sui Yi stood on the other. Others, not wishing to get involved, retreated slightly, which made it easier for Chi Gao and two others to step forward.

"What's the matter? Did Young Master Han get such a great score that he came here to spew sour grapes and look for trouble?" Chi Gao had a rough, rebellious streak himself. His family were nouveau riche private entrepreneurs whose roots were not in Nanxun, and since they had no business conflicts with the Han family, he wasn't afraid of Han Yuanzhong and spoke with plenty of confidence.

As he spoke, he began rolling up his sleeves.

"If you're looking for trouble, come to me. I specialize in curing all kinds of dissatisfaction!"

Han Yuanzhong wasn't about to engage in a physical brawl with Chi Gao; he just sneered, "Her grades were so bad before. In less than a month, she suddenly scores this well? Who would believe that!"

Yu Hang pursed his lips and scoffed, "Listen, Han Yuanzhong, just because you can't do something doesn't mean others can't, okay? Sui Yi is just smart! She was already good at math and English to begin with; what's wrong with making progress during a senior year cram session? How does it concern you? Are you this angry because you've got nothing better to do, or are you just bored out of your mind?"

Han Yuanzhong was incensed, and the people behind him started to rush forward to join the argument...

The situation was on the verge of chaos.

"It wasn't a month."

Huh?

The voice that suddenly cut in was cool and detached, drifting eerily into everyone’s ears, instantly chilling their hearts.

They turned to look.

Sui Yi, leaning against the door frame, tapped it with one hand and looked at Han Yuanzhong indifferently. "You missed the two months of summer break. While you were taking remedial classes, I was studying seriously."

Two months, plus one month—that made three months. It was enough time for someone who was naturally gifted and not at the very bottom to climb back up.

Although the sudden jump was significant, it wasn't strange.

Moreover, since high school began, no one had ever thought Sui Yi was stupid.

On the contrary, many people, including teachers, felt she was very bright.

With that foundation, her grades were not actually suspicious, which was why few people joined in when Han Yuanzhong tried to provoke her.

However, hearing her words, many people felt a sense of awkwardness.

Wait, why did something feel off?

So, she skipped the remedial classes and self-study sessions for two months, and her grades skyrocketed, while we paid money to slog through those classes and still ended up with these pathetic results?

Many people retreated.

Han Yuanzhong immediately realized that squabbling here was just asking for trouble, so...

His eyes flashed, and he turned to look at Yu Hang, smiling slightly, "Exams and such are just child's play. Yu Hang, after school this afternoon, see you at the basketball court!"

With that, the group marched off in a grand procession.

Behind them, Chi Gao scratched his head, "That kid's imagination is wild, his train of thought jumps way too fast!"

Is he mentally ill?

Sui Yi watched the direction in which Han Yuanzhong and the others had left, her eyes closing slightly.

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The afternoon classes maintained the lively atmosphere of the morning, a mix of gloom and joy. The grade rankings had also been posted.

They were plastered on the bulletin board of every classroom.

It was like the most naked battlefield leaderboard.

The more "kills" you had—the higher your rank—the more glorious you were.

The one with the most "kills" was, naturally, Yan Qingwu.

Across so many classes, there were 250 names on the science list and 150 on the arts list.

Setting aside the arts, for science, she was at the very top.

Her name was elegant.

But her score was overwhelmingly dominant.

"A total score of 750, and she got 742. She only lost 8 points in Chinese! It's too heaven-defying! It looks like our school is about to take off!"

Indeed, this score was top-tier even among all current high school seniors across China.

Usually, such scores only come from the elite schools in major cities.

To have it appear in a small high school like Nanxun—one could imagine how bizarre that was.

And after the college entrance exam, if Yan Qingwu maintained this level, even if the exam papers were more difficult, it would be enough to make the Second High School famous.

"Yan Qingwu has always had freakish grades... hey, look below her. The one who used to be ranked first in our school is now third, with a score seventy points lower than hers!"

The person ranked third was from Class One, named Chu Han, an absolute academic powerhouse who had scored 672 this time.

Before, Han Yuanzhong had always been right behind him, ranking second in Class One.

"Hey, Xiao Zi, you're fourth! 662 points, you're awesome! And Yu Hang, that kid is... seventh, 642! You two are amazing!"

Chi Gao’s grades were in the mid-to-lower range, but he was always carefree and didn't care. His family didn't have high expectations for him; as long as he could get into an undergraduate program, get a degree, and barely manage to pass as an educated person to inherit the family business later, that was enough!

Xiao Nan just smiled faintly, looking at the name right below Yan Qingwu.

"If our scores are considered amazing, then what is this 714?"

Uh... the onlookers fell silent. (Don't say this score is too monstrous; academic geniuses in science streams are common, and perfect scores are everywhere. Since Sui Yi’s improvement was fast, it was largely due to her own foundation, temperament, and even some help from Yan Qingwu, so it wasn't exactly heaven-defying.)

"I heard that our school's ranking list has already spread to other schools. There are seven schools in our Jiangnan district holding a joint exam this time. Once they compare them, who knows how we'll rank."

"We absolutely cannot be worse than them!"

"It's not that simple. Among the seven schools, our Second High School is only in the middle. The First High School is better than us! Plus, our head teacher said this set of papers was generally on the easier side, for fear of discouraging students at the start of the semester, so there must be many high scorers..."

With a score of 714, Sui Yi was not even the most outstanding in the science stream.

Someone had crunched the numbers: in one grade level, there were eighteen people who scored over 140 in math! Even more scored over 140 in English! There were many with over 270 in the integrated science section, and while there were fewer in the integrated arts, many still scored over 250...

This was enough to prove the point!

However, while internal competition was one thing, when faced with external enemies, the students of Second High were still very passionate.

"Screw them!"

Someone shouted this loudly, and everyone else laughed.

Chi Gao, hugging his basketball, also shouted, "Boys, Uncle Chi is playing basketball today. Are you coming to watch?"

"We're coming!"

"Screw them!"

"Exactly!"

"By the way, does that Han jerk even have the 'equipment' to screw anyone?"

The group burst into laughter.

Han Yuanzhong had become very unpopular lately, his reputation even being quite foul. Why?

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After school in the afternoon, almost the entire senior grade poured out, swinging their backpacks and racing toward the playground.

As Sui Yi and Yan Qingwu were walking toward the playground, they heard Zhou Xiaopang, who was known as the "Jianghu Little Loudspeaker," chirping away.

"It's all because he helps his rich cousin pursue girls from our school. Every pretty girl has been chased by him. Chasing them is one thing—he's rich, handsome, and from a big city, so what can we say... but after he catches them, he dumps them one by one. To put it bluntly, he's played with most of the pretty girls in our high school! I heard one even tried to commit suicide..."

Zhou Xiaopang was full of complaints. In his words, poor losers like him treated those girls as goddesses, wishing they could be the cow dung to fertilize the earth beneath their feet, never imagining their goddesses would be picked like wild flowers, played with, and tossed away!

The blow to his heart was not trivial.

But after saying that, he immediately realized, "Uh, of course, that doesn't include you two..."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xian knew this guy had spoken out of turn again.

--Are you saying these two aren't pretty?

On the contrary, these two were undeniably the campus beauties of the Second High School.

Sui Yi wasn't focused on that; she raised an eyebrow. "I remember he only arrived at our school a few days ago, so how..."

So fast?

Zhou Xiaopang and Wang Xian remained silent.

Sui Yi suddenly understood.

Money, power, good looks, plus the fact that Li Run was very good at putting on a facade, with endless romantic gestures.

Few girls could resist that.

After all, most of the girls in school were simple-minded.

"It's not that easy to trick them now. The others who have even a bit of brains are avoiding these people. Actually, if it weren't for Han Yuanzhong helping him on the side, Li Run wouldn't have had it so easy..." Wang Xian sighed, then changed the subject. "Anyway, you two should be careful. I feel like his main targets are actually you two."

As they spoke, the group arrived at the edge of the playground.

But at one look, the expressions of Zhou Xiaopang and Wang Xian soured.

Speak of the devil!

Li Run had spotted Sui Yi and Yan Qingwu from afar. He had originally decided to give these two a hard time, but the moment he saw them, his legs couldn't help themselves.

Then he thought, don't women always need to be coaxed? They all like to play hard to get at first. If they see how impressive he is, wouldn't they come crawling to him?