The English teacher stood at the podium, holding exam papers, with a face full of kindness. He casually lifted Ji Ran’s paper to show the entire class, saying, “Look at Ji Ran’s paper, everyone.”

“Yes, and the composition as well.” The English teacher turned the paper to the back, revealing the English composition side. “The use of advanced vocabulary by Ji Ran is something some of you probably haven’t even seen.”

The English teacher’s voice was loud, proud of having a student like Ji Ran, but also sighing for some underachieving students in the class.

After he finished speaking, he looked at Ji Ran with a gentle expression and said, “Alright, Ji Ran, come up and take your test paper.”

Under the attention of the whole class, Ji Ran stood up slowly from her desk.

As she moved to the aisle, she distinctly heard a soft laughter from the neighboring desk.

Ji Ran walked to the podium, and when she took her paper from the English teacher, thunderous applause erupted in the class. All the students felt as if they had just awakened.

The incident of Ji Ran scoring only 22 points in math just now was known to the whole class.

At this moment, the hottest topic on the online forum was still this incident.

They all said she was a poor student.

Little did they know that now, as the English teacher distributed the papers, she had unexpectedly scored 150 in English. People had seen others being embarrassed, but they had never seen someone embarrassed to this extent.

The classroom of Class 22 in the second year was not quiet either at this time. With no teacher present, everyone was making noise.

Jiang Yi was looking at her phone, shown to her by another girl in the same class. Since Jiang Yi was exposed for secretly wearing Ji Ran’s clothes, her reputation at school has plummeted. The group of girls who used to revolve around her in the class had dispersed.

Fortunately, there were still two or three who remained loyal to her, so she wasn’t completely isolated from all the girls in the class.

The first class’s math papers were also distributed. Jiang Yi’s grades were never very good, and this time, she scored just over eighty in math.

She was pushed into the school by Ji Qingli to make up for Jiang Liqi’s sake. Jiang Liqi didn’t expect her to go to university through the normal route; the path arranged for her was through the arts exam. After all, Jiang Liqi herself was a dance teacher at the university.

Jiang Yi’s future goal was to enter a top national film academy.

Film academies didn’t have very high requirements for students’ academic performance; as long as they passed the academic subject line, there shouldn’t be any problem with the interview.

Just a few days ago, before Jiang Liqi went abroad, she told Jiang Yi to work hard on the monthly exam this time and not perform too poorly.

Ji Ran’s grades were exceptionally good—the type that not only ranked first in the school every time but also scored full marks frequently.

However, Jiang Yi’s foundation was inherently weaker. Even if she tried to cram at the last minute, it was impossible for her to raise her math score from around eighty to full marks in one go.

Initially, Jiang Yi felt annoyed when she received her paper. However, as the class was about to end, her deskmate whispered, “Jiang Yi, do you know Ji Ran scored only 22 in math this time?”

Jiang Yi thought she had misheard until she saw the posts on the school forum. The informant was adamant and assured everyone that it was true.

Numerous others came forward to confirm; a classmate from Class 8 indeed verified that Ji Ran’s math score was only 22.

Her deskmate was also her only good girlfriend. She smiled and comforted her, saying, “Jiang Yi, you don’t need to worry now. Ji Ran’s grades are too poor, aren’t they?”

After her deskmate finished speaking, she covered her mouth and laughed.

Jiang Yi read through every reply on the forum post, wearing a happy expression. She had thought Ji Ran’s grades were as excellent as her mother claimed, but it turned out to be an exaggeration.

For a moment, Jiang Yi felt that her score of just over eighty was quite high.

When Ji Ran took back her English paper, the noise in the classroom didn’t subside. The English teacher had to use the triangular ruler on the podium to knock on the desk several times before barely quieting them down.

Ji Ran was aware that the difference was too significant, but the reality left her in a dilemma. After all, she had left school many years ago in her previous life, and returning to high school was no simple matter. Moreover, in the past few months, she hadn’t even thought about picking up mathematics immediately.

As for English, it was almost her second language.

In order to apply to top foreign universities, she had raised her TOEFL score to over 110. After that, she had been studying and working abroad for several years.

The second-year monthly exam English paper was like a primary school test for her. Too simple.

Originally, Ji Ran had planned to perform poorly in all subjects. However, thinking about having to explain to Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli, she couldn’t just let herself, who had scored seven hundred points in the previous semester’s final, suddenly drop to a true academic failure after a summer break.

Ji Ran felt that if that happened, Pei Yuan might actually rush to B City, take her to the hospital, and have her brain examined.

Based on her understanding of Pei Yuan, Ji Ran thought this was something she could do. So, Ji Ran decided to raise her scores in the subjects she was confident in, allowing Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli to have a gradual acceptance process.

At the very least, it would prove that she was salvageable.

So, she boosted her scores and ended up with the only perfect score in English in the entire school.

She hadn’t expected the students at this school to have such ordinary English skills. Apart from her, no one else had a perfect score, making her stand out.

Ji Ran felt that she had overthought things.

However, the grades were already there, and she couldn’t change them. Just as this thought flashed through her mind, she caught sight of the conspicuous “1” on her math paper.

She sighed.

Little did she know that as soon as she sighed, her paper was snatched away by the person next to her again. This time, Shen Zhi didn’t add another mark to the score. After all, a score of 1150 was too unbelievable.

The total perfect score for all subjects combined wasn’t even that high.

Inappropriate.

Shen Zhi couldn’t articulate whether his thought was a bit regretful or something else. However, before the English teacher handed out the papers, he took out a red pen again. He thought this girl would once again achieve a stunning score.

It indeed was a stunning score, but not too low—rather, too high.

Shen Zhi rested his head on one hand, his fingers pinching the edge of the paper. His eyes focused on the English essay that the English teacher had just emphasized. To be honest, Ji Ran’s English writing was the most beautiful Shen Zhi had ever seen.

It had a smooth and distinctive beauty.

Her deskmate was also her only good girlfriend. She smiled and comforted her, saying, “Jiang Yi, you don’t need to worry now. Ji Ran’s grades are too poor, aren’t they?”

After her deskmate finished speaking, she covered her mouth and laughed.

Jiang Yi read through every reply on the forum post, wearing a happy expression. She had thought Ji Ran’s grades were as excellent as her mother claimed, but it turned out to be an exaggeration.

For a moment, Jiang Yi felt that her score of just over eighty was quite high.

When Ji Ran took back her English paper, the noise in the classroom didn’t subside. The English teacher had to use the triangular ruler on the podium to knock on the desk several times before barely quieting them down.

Ji Ran was aware that the difference was too significant, but the reality left her in a dilemma. After all, she had left school many years ago in her previous life, and returning to high school was no simple matter. Moreover, in the past few months, she hadn’t even thought about picking up mathematics immediately.

As for English, it was almost her second language.

In order to apply to top foreign universities, she had raised her TOEFL score to over 110. After that, she had been studying and working abroad for several years.

The second-year monthly exam English paper was like a primary school test for her. Too simple.

Originally, Ji Ran had planned to perform poorly in all subjects. However, thinking about having to explain to Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli, she couldn’t just let herself, who had scored seven hundred points in the previous semester’s final, suddenly drop to a true academic failure after a summer break.

Ji Ran felt that if that happened, Pei Yuan might actually rush to B City, take her to the hospital, and have her brain examined.

Based on her understanding of Pei Yuan, Ji Ran thought this was something she could do. So, Ji Ran decided to raise her scores in the subjects she was confident in, allowing Pei Yuan and Ji Qingli to have a gradual acceptance process.

At the very least, it would prove that she was salvageable.

So, she boosted her scores and ended up with the only perfect score in English in the entire school.

She hadn’t expected the students at this school to have such ordinary English skills. Apart from her, no one else had a perfect score, making her stand out.

Ji Ran felt that she had overthought things.

However, the grades were already there, and she couldn’t change them. Just as this thought flashed through her mind, she caught sight of the conspicuous “1” on her math paper.

She sighed.

Little did she know that as soon as she sighed, her paper was snatched away by the person next to her again. This time, Shen Zhi didn’t add another mark to the score. After all, a score of 1150 was too unbelievable.

The total perfect score for all subjects combined wasn’t even that high.

Inappropriate.

Shen Zhi couldn’t articulate whether his thought was a bit regretful or something else. However, before the English teacher handed out the papers, he took out a red pen again. He thought this girl would once again achieve a stunning score.

It indeed was a stunning score, but not too low—rather, too high.

Shen Zhi rested his head on one hand, his fingers pinching the edge of the paper. His eyes focused on the English essay that the English teacher had just emphasized. To be honest, Ji Ran’s English writing was the most beautiful Shen Zhi had ever seen.

It had a smooth and distinctive beauty.

After staring at her paper for a few seconds, he slowly said, “You did well on the exam. Why the sigh?”

Ji Ran glared at him. How dare he say that!

But Shen Zhi paid no attention to her expression and continued, “Do you feel that the math exam didn’t go as well as you hoped? It’s okay; just read more books for the next time.”

The tone…

Ji Ran suddenly felt that she had truly gained some insights. A person who comfortably sat at the bottom of the grade was actually speaking to her in a tone as if he had already scored 700 points.

Unfortunately, Shen Zhi’s scores were as stable as ever, so stable that it was difficult for others to challenge him for the bottom of the grade.

Ji Ran didn’t want to bother with him. She reached out to take her exam paper, but it didn’t budge.

The classroom windows were open, letting in a gentle breeze. With the cool night wind, the young man tilted his head slightly, looking at her. His voice carried a hint of a smile. “How many more surprises do you have for me?”

So, before the end of the evening self-study, a new post appeared on the school forum.

[What the heck! Shock! Shock! Do you know Ji Ran scored 150 in English?]

“??? OP, are you sure you didn’t read it wrong? Isn’t it 15 points?”

“No mistake at all. Our English teacher also said there’s a girl in Class 8 who got the only perfect score in English in the grade. Even the teacher who corrected the composition didn’t deduct a single point.”

“Alright, next time when students from other schools ask us about our school’s beauty, you can tell them that our school’s beauty excels in English. She gets a perfect score every time.”

“It seems that pretty girls still have souls.”

“Are you guys bored? Ji Ran posts her grades on the forum every time. If you’re interested, go take a look.”

“Guessing from the comments, it’s probably a girl upstairs. So much jealousy. Sorry, I just want to see Ji Ran’s score. If you’re so capable, score 22 in math and 150 in English for me to see, but pay attention; the focus is on 150 in English.”

“Compared to my own score, I’m more curious about Ji Ran’s score now.”

So, on the second day, the most anticipated topic in the entire grade was not who got the first place this time, but Ji Ran’s scores.

Even Ji Ran herself probably didn’t expect others to care so much about her scores.

Fortunately, she didn’t keep everyone waiting for too long. Almost as soon as Ji Ran got hold of her papers, the scores were immediately posted on the forum.

Chinese: 135 points, also a top score.

As for the comprehensive subjects, she failed all of them without exception.

A student who excelled in one subject but failed miserably in others, not to mention other students—even the teachers at Class 4 hadn’t seen such a case before. If it weren’t for Ji Ran’s deskmate being Shen Zhi, the guy who comfortably held the position of grade bottom dweller, there would probably be three times as many people gathering to watch her every day after class.

Ji Ran forgot about the matter of Ji Qingli returning to the country, and the whole day she was surrounded by onlookers.

When she returned home, Jiang Yi was already sitting on the sofa with Jiang Liqi. Ji Qingli had a gloomy expression, not looking particularly good. Ji Ran greeted them and was about to go upstairs.

But Ji Qingli stopped her, saying, “Ji Ran, wait a moment.”

She stood in place and turned to him. “What’s wrong, Dad?”

Ji Qingli suddenly stood up, and when he walked in front of Ji Ran, she finally reacted a bit belatedly. It turned out Ji Qingli’s bad mood might be related to her.

Ji Qingli looked at her and asked, “Did you take the monthly exam? Are the results out?”

Ji Ran lifted her eyelids slightly and glanced at Jiang Yi. Oh, it turned out someone came to complain.

So she nodded. “The results are out.”

Ji Qingli was evidently suppressing his anger as he asked, “How did you do this time?”

Ji Qingli, at most, would smile and say, “Well done, Ranran,” when she took first place in the grade again.

She thought he wasn’t so concerned about scores.

Ji Ran knew Jiang Yi had probably already mentioned it, and since concealing it was futile, she truthfully reported her scores.

Every time she reported a score, she could feel Ji Qingli’s temples pulsating. It was both amusing and worrisome, fearing that her father might get angry for real.

After she finished reporting, Ji Qingli couldn’t help but say, “Are you retaliating against me?”

Ji Ran was momentarily puzzled, unable to understand why he would say that.

It wasn’t until he spoke with a hint of anger, “How many points did you score last semester? Over 700, right? How come, since living with me, your grades have dropped like this? Do you want your mom to think that I’m inferior to her in everything and that I can’t even raise a child as well as she can?”

Ji Ran only then realized what he was angry about.

Initially, she thought Ji Qingli cared about her grades, but that wasn’t the case. He just didn’t want Pei Yuan to look down on him; he didn’t want Pei Yuan to think he couldn’t raise a child as well as she could.

After all, when Ji Ran was with Pei Yuan, she consistently scored over 700 points.

But now, under Ji Qingli’s influence, she has failed both math and comprehensive subjects.

Ji Ran suddenly became unusually calm. She looked at Ji Qingli and said, “Dad, you’re overthinking. I don’t need to use my grades to retaliate against you.”

Ji Qingli fell silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “Then tell me, what’s going on with you?”

Ji Ran thought for a few seconds, and her expression suddenly became somewhat disheartened. She spoke in a low voice, “I just feel a bit uncomfortable.”

Ji Qingli hadn’t expected this reason.

Ji Ran’s voice suddenly carried a hint of choked emotion: “Before you two divorced, there weren’t as many issues, and as long as I focused on studying, everything was fine. Now, after your divorce, I need time to adapt, and besides, there are too many things going on in life here.”

Her tone was particularly soft. She knew that there was no benefit to confronting Ji Qingli at this moment, especially with Jiang Liqi and Jiang Yi, mother and daughter, sitting here, waiting to see her make a fool of herself.

As she spoke, her eyes became slightly moist. Her eyes were already very beautiful, and at this moment, the dampness made them appear even softer.

Listening to her words, Ji Qingli suddenly thought of the incident where Jiang Yi had secretly worn Ji Ran’s dress. Indeed, such things never happened before.

Ji Ran felt that she portrayed the character of a child who couldn’t accept her parents’ divorce, became emotionally disturbed, and saw a drastic decline in academic performance quite vividly.

Ji Qingli’s voice also softened, and he said, “You’ve had a day of classes, and you’re tired. Go upstairs and rest. Focus on your studies; don’t let miscellaneous matters affect you. As for family matters, Dad will handle them properly.”

Ji Ran nodded, preparing to go upstairs with her backpack.

However, when she reached the staircase, she glanced at Jiang Yi. The “miscellaneous matters” mentioned by Ji Qingli—wasn’t it Jiang Yi?

Ji Ran sneered inwardly. It’s just acting, isn’t it? Who the hell doesn’t have some acting skills?