Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Initially, all the female classmates had participated in the bet for the fun of it, while the male classmates had entertained themselves by simply watching from the sidelines.
But now that Ye Tianxin’s test results were unexpectedly better than Ye Youran’s, the girls somehow felt that Ye Tianxin was embarrassing them and making them feel uncomfortable.
“Ye Tianxin, you were just lucky. If you’re that good, why don’t you take first place in every test after this?!”
“Exactly, it was just 149 points, and she’s behaving so arrogantly….”
Suddenly, Ye Tianxin laughed. Her laugh, like peach blossoms perched prettily on their branches in March, had an uplifting effect on the emotions.
“Ye Tianxin, why are you laughing? Don’t you know that we’re merely stating a fact? Preening and posturing just because you scored 149 points!! if you’re that good, you should score 149 on every test….”
“What’s my test score got to do with you anyway? If you have so much time on your hands, you should focus on improving your own scores. Otherwise, you’ll be really embarrassed if you do worse than me on future mock exams!!”
Ye Youran, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, “Ye Tianxin, let’s say that you didn’t cheat. Even so, you were only lucky to beat me this round. To test your real ability, let’s make a bet on the second mock exam scheduled in two months!”
2
Ye Tianxin looked at Ye Youran, who was still reeling in disbelief at her defeat. Understandably, if the shoe had been on the other foot, she would’ve felt the same way!
A top student being beaten by a bad student. That must hurt bad!
“No way. I don’t want to see your teary face when you lose!!” Ye Tianxin replied, making a mischievous face at her.
Ye Youran stood in front of Ye Tianxin, blocking her way, and exclaimed, “I think you’ve lost your nerve! Didn’t you say you wanted to be accepted into Capital University? Ye Tianxin, since you’re the resident bad student, just admit that you don’t want to compete. No one will ridicule you for it.”
Ye Tianxin looked at Ye Youran. Deep in thought, she recalled the trite expressions on the faces of Ye Youran’s parents at her grandmother’s funeral.
Suddenly, she clenched her fists and took a deep breath.
“What are the stakes?”
In for a penny, in for a pound. Ye Youran decided that they should up the stakes. She was a top student, and this small defeat was just a minor pre-competition setback. In the next round, she would make sure she rubbed Ye Tianxin’s face in the mud.
“The loser has to do a rabbit hop in front of all the students and teachers during school assembly while the flag is being raised.”
“My fellow classmates, you’ve all heard this, yes? You must keep your word and not try to worm your way out of doing the rabbit hop when the time comes!”
Making a “humph” sound of disdain, Ye Youran said jeeringly, “Ye Tianxin, I think you’d better start training for the hop. Otherwise, you’ll be hopping like a zombie when you lose!”
“Ye Youran, are you absolutely sure that you’ll be the winner?”
That said, Ye Tianxin didn’t even bother to look at Ye Youran’s frowning face.
Turning around, she asked the classmate who shared her desk, “Bro, come on. How about I buy you a meal at the restaurant?”
“No need. I still have a lot of exercises to complete.”
Ye Tianxin didn’t push him further, this bookworm who shared her desk in class. She knew better than anyone else that Jiameng High School was just an ordinary high school in the southwest zone.
All the students at this high school wanted was to learn as much as they could and sit for the college entrance exams in the hopes that this would be their ticket to a better life….
“All right, then. I’m going to head home.”
She put on her backpack and walked happily out of the classroom toward the school’s bicycle rack.
She had gone back ten years, from age 27 to age 17.
At that age, her grandmother had still been very much alive.
Her life at this age… had been brimming with unlimited possibilities.
Not having ridden a bicycle in a very long time, Ye Tianxin started off wobbling as she rode along, not riding straight.
It was only after all that had happened that Ye Tianxin realized that when knowledge was acquired, it was deeply etched into one’s bones and never forgotten. In fact, this knowledge could become a life-saving ability at a certain time in the future.
This time on the way home, she cycled very slowly.
The familiar landscape flashed past before her eyes, scene by scene. This was the little town where she had lived for seventeen years.