Feigned Pity - CH 15.1

At Fu Middle School, efficiency was also extremely high. In just a short couple of days, the results and rankings of every subject were released.

By the time classes ended, the school’s bulletin board was already pinned with an eye-catching red list. Only the top hundred scorings were qualified to be on that list. Many students surrounded the board.

Tao Yi Xi stood at the periphery and briefly glanced over.

Zhou Zhi, who rarely saw Tao Yi Xi expressed interest in anything, held her hand, “Let’s go check it out.”

“There’s too many people, I’ll come back later.”

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“No worries, I’ll bring you in.”

Zhou Zhi took the lead and opened the way for Tao Yi Xi by pushing aside the crowd little by little and squeezing through.

One of the students at the front exclaimed in surprise, “There are two students that scored more than 700 points this time around!”

Xdl xwpv jdso vbyv ralhkswpzu, vbl qkapv aydj zlqv vbl plnsde rzynl kd kvp ewpv. 600 yde 700 rskdvp olal yp ekqqlaldv yp blyhld yde lyavb.

Gdsvbla vssj y nzspla zssj, “Tlu, zssjp zkjl vbl vsr vball byhl clld pbwqqzle.”

“Mbkp aswde, obs’p qasx Uzypp Oktbv alrzynle vbl aydjp?”

Mbl ralppwal sq vbl nsxrlvkvksd qynle kd Ww Ykeezl Fnbssz oyp lmvalxlzu bktb. Ebkzl sdl oyp osajkdt byae, svblap olal yzps tkhkdt vblka clpv. Xdnl sdl alynblp vbl vsr, vbl nsxrlvkvksd clnsxlp qklanla.

Mbl qkapv rzynl bye yzoyup clzsdtle vs Uzypp Oktbv’p Ubld Hl. Tsolhla, vbl dlmv qlo prsvp olal yzoyup snnwrkle cu svbla pvweldvp sq Uzypp Oktbv.

“Mbl rlapsd kpd’v qasx Uzypp Oktbv! Nlv xl pll… plnsde rzynl clzsdtp vs Mys Zk Dk sq Uzypp Xdl.”

“Mys Zk Dk? Wasx Uzypp Xdl?”

Ebld Hbsw Hbk blyae Mys Zk Dk’p dyxl, pbl pbssj vblka kdvlazsnjkdt bydep kd lmnkvlxldv, “Zk Dk, vbyv’p usw!”

Hearing Zhou Zhi’s words, everyone turned to look at said person. They stared in amazement.

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She really lived up to her reputation on the school forum. In fact, she looked even better in real life!

Everyone tacitly stepped aside. While some just peeked at her, others could not help but whip out their phones to take her picture.

Tao Yi Xi spotted her name on the second row of the ranking list.

With a score of 714.

She pursed her lips.

Zhou Zhi was thrilled, “Oh my God, Yi Xi, you actually scored 714! That’s 714! I, Zhou Zhi, actually have a God-like friend who scored more than 700 points in exams!”

Tao Yi Xi smiled while letting Zhou Zhi shake her in excitement. However, she found this result very unsatisfactory.

She looked up and stared at the score in first place: Chen Ze – 722.

The two of them were eight points apart. If she managed to solve that math question, she would have even surpassed him by a couple more points.

Thinking about this, she felt even worse.

When she returned to class, she was in a foul mood.

When Gu Jing Yuan saw her in low spirits, he gloated, “What? You screwed up in the test?”

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He was the main culprit but he still dared to add fuel to the fire.

Tao Yi Xi gave him a fake smile and even her tone was no longer soft. There was even a touch of coldness in her tender voice.

“Ge-ge should worry about your own scores instead. If you come in last in class again, Uncle Gu might just confiscate your cards entirely.”

“Humph!”

Tao Yi Xi lowered her head to tidy up her desk. Qi Yue could tell that his goddess was upset.

“Sister Yi Xi, it’s just a minor test, don’t be too upset with the results. Additionally, you just joined Fu Middle School. You don’t know how many genetically mutated beings there are in this school. Just look at Class Eight, there’s already a psycho who always scores more than 700 points every time!” Qi Yue roasted fiercely.

Tao Yi Xi: Didn’t feel much comfort from that…

Qi Yue wanted to ridicule those high-scoring students even more but saw the form teacher entering the class with a radiant smile.

Ever since that little devil, Gu Jing Yuan, joined their class, Class One students have not seen their form teacher this happy in a long time.

“Class, settle down, I have some good news to share.”

“Ahem… This round, we have a classmate who scored 714 points, ranking second in level!”

“What the hell?! Are you for real? From our class?”

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“Is it our class leader?”

“It’s definitely not me. Based on my estimation, the highest I can score is about 600 points.”

Qi Yue was also shocked, “There’s also another psycho in our class?”

The form teacher relished in their awe. When they were almost calmed down, the form teacher looked proudly in the direction of the glory in their class.

“Let’s all congratulate Tao Yi Xi.”

“Fuck!”

“Study God?!”

“Oh my God!”

“Isn’t she a flower vase?” The person who asked this was Zhou Zhi’s deskmate, and her forehead was promptly slapped by Zhou Zhi.

“What nonsense! Our Yi Xi is both talented and beautiful.”

After the initial surprise, they burst into applause so loud that it was heard by the class next to theirs. The next class teacher had to knock on the podium table to bring her student’s attention back.

“Don’t be distracted, concentrate!”

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The teacher knew very well why Class One was in an uproar. It was because they had a student who scored 714 points. Class Eight’s Teacher Zhang even secretly checked through the student’s papers to make sure that the points awarded were correct.

His eyes were sharp. From a glance, he could see that the reason she lost points was due to the lack of time to complete the last math question. Otherwise, who knew who might even take the first spot?

Next round, his class’s Chen Ze might be in danger of losing his top spot.

Teacher Zhang held Tao Yi Xi’s papers in his hands and lamented, “Such a talent to have ended up in Class One.”

She was a potential candidate for top colleges’ early entrance examinations.

This sour note caused Class One’s form teacher to beam in delight, “Teacher Zhang, how could you say that! Our class isn’t that bad, okay? It’s that little tyrant, Gu Jing Yuan, that always pulls the class aggregate score down.”

“However, this made up for it. It must have been fate.”

Class One was always bottom among all science classes. The main reason was because of Gu Jing Yuan’s poor scoring all year round. This time, with Tao Yi Xi’s score, they were finally no longer last.

This was also the first time that Class One snatched a spot in the top three, breaking Class Eight’s monopoly of the top rankings.

Teacher Zhang had been arrogant for so long and it was the first time that someone broke his momentum. No matter how he looked at it, the form teacher was in high spirits.

The form teacher nodded at Tao Yi Xi in satisfaction, “Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Tao Yi Xi calmly accepted everyone’s admiring gazes. She had long been accustomed to it.

Qi Yue was in disbelief but also knew that it was within reason. Sister Yi Xi had always studied hard and he knew that she was a good student. He just did not know that she was that good.

Although he did not put much effort into his studies, he still knew what it meant for a person to score more than 700 points.

That was god-like, okay?!

In layman’s terms, those people were not human!

He only belatedly realized that while he was roasting Class Eight, he inevitably ridiculed his goddess as well.

“That… Sister Yi Xi, I mean… the word ‘psycho’ can also be used in a positive manner too…”

Tao Yi Xi chuckled, “I know.”

“You’re really awesome! But that’s such good news, why weren’t you upset just now?”

If it were him, he would have sounded the gongs and beat the drums, letting everyone know about it. This would have been enough for him to brag for a lifetime.

She lightly replied, “I didn’t score well.”

Qi Yue, “???” Confused Nick gif.

He was dumbfounded.

714 points was not scoring well?

Were those even human words?

Gu Jing Yuan glanced at her, “pretentious.”

He looked down on the hypocrisy of these good students. In the whole cohort, how many could score more than 700 points? Even their form teacher was floating in ecstasy.

Just now she looked so sullen, who was she acting for?

He almost got fooled by her as well.

Tao Yi Xi chose to ignore him. Everyone’s standards were different. How would this Young Master who was pampered by everyone know how much pressure she was under?

And even when he affected her grades, she had no one to complain to.

**

It was a rare occasion that Xia Yan was at home that night.

“Mom, the results of the monthly tests are out.”

Xia Yan admired her new manicure and casually asked, “Oh? How did you fare in this round?”

“714, second in level.”

Xia Yan finally paused and paid attention to Tao Yi Xi. She frowned in dissatisfaction, “Why only second? Didn’t you say that you’re always first in level?”

Tao Yi Xi opened her mouth wanting to explain that she could have done better. In the math test, she remembered revising something similar for the last question. However, before she could complete her revision, she was dragged out by Gu Jing Yuan to participate in some crappy party that lasted the whole day.

Even so, there were only two people in the whole grade that scored more than 700 points. The teacher also said that she had the potential to get admitted into Qing Bei1 and would definitely do better next time around.

But would her mother care about this?

Xia Yan did not care about her feelings and continued, “Previously, I told your Uncle Gu that you always scored number one in the city. And now? You only got second place, where am I going to put my face?”

See? She didn’t care…

Tao Yi Xi opened her dried mouth, “back home, the competition was not as tough. In Fu Middle School, there are many other remarkable students.”

“Then you have to work harder! Let Uncle Gu see your strengths. Otherwise, what’s the point in bringing you here?”

Tao Yi Xi lowered her head, her soft tone containing a bit of grievance, “Mom, if I didn’t have to monitor Gu Jing Yuan everywhere he went, I could’ve gotten first place.”

After all, she was still a child. Towards the person who shared the same blood like her, she could not help but crave for her recognition and love.

Xia Yan glared at her, “How can you talk like that? I’ve told you many times before that you must pay attention to the way you address others! You never know who is listening in, are you trying to anger me to death?”

There were many servants that were in employment longer than she had been there. There was even Nanny Yang, who had raised Gu Jing Yuan since he was a child. If any rumors reached Gu Mu Yang’s ears, even if she had a hundred mouths, she would not be able to justify herself.

Xia Yan earnestly lectured, “Yi Xi, this is your fault. You not doing well in the exams shows that your foundation is not solid enough. If you have really mastered the subjects, no one would be able to affect your performance, am I right?”

Xia Yan took Tao Yi Xi’s silence as an agreement.

“And how did Jing Yuan do?”

“He’s last in class.”

“You say, does it make any sense that you are second in level but he’s bottom in class? While you’re doing your revision, you should’ve supervised him in his studies as well.”

“But he doesn’t want to listen to me.”

Didn’t she already offer him help?

She passed him her notebook with many key points highlighted within. If he had bothered to even take a look at a couple of points, he would not have been last.

Learning had to come from one’s proactiveness, she could not coerce him to study.

Xia Yan suddenly covered her mouth and smiled, “Silly child, if he didn’t want to listen to you, why would he stick around you?”

She stroked Yi Xi’s luscious hair all the way to her beautiful face. Her gaze contained a profound look that Tao Yi Xi could not understand.

Sheesh… Xia Yan is the ideal stereotype of how Asian parents expect their child to be the best and must always score full marks…

(;¬_¬)