Ch 16: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

Among the teachers in Class 1, Ye Qingfeng was known for his fiery temper and a particular dislike for students who were restless and unfocused, no matter how smart they might be. That said, how many dull students could there really be in an elite class?

Ye Qingfeng was furious because Ren Qingqing, who had just started her second year of high school, didn’t even bother to read the exam rules. In their class, even the top student carefully checked their answers after finishing. And yet, she expected anyone to believe she finished writing and checking the paper in just twenty minutes?

If her brain was truly on par with a computer, why hadn’t she been earning perfect scores in math all along?

Hearing Ye Qingfeng’s angry scolding, Ruan Cha suppressed a laugh, her sympathy nowhere to be found. After all, when Ren Qingqing went to hand in her paper, Ruan Cha had deliberately glanced at the clock twice. Sure enough, it was only twenty minutes into the exam.

What she hadn’t anticipated was Ren Qingqing’s bad luck in encountering the notoriously hot-tempered Ye Qingfeng, who berated her in front of the entire class.

When it came to someone coveting her beauty points and intelligence points, Ruan Cha never felt compelled to show mercy.

“Hahaha!”

“Damn! I totally forgot about the thirty-minute rule!”

“But seriously, finishing in twenty minutes is impressive. Even when I had the answers, it still took me sixteen or seventeen minutes just to copy them. She really is a genius from Class 2.”

At first, most of the underachievers in the classroom were awestruck, admiring that there was a real “top student” among them. But Ye Qingfeng’s scolding turned their awe into bursts of uncontrollable laughter. There was something hilariously satisfying about seeing a “genius” fail to pull off their act.

“Shut up! Quiet! Quiet! Laugh again, and I’ll kick you all out!” Ye Qingfeng banged the blackboard eraser on the desk to restore order, then shot a sharp look at Ren Qingqing. “Take your paper back to your seat. Hand it in after thirty minutes.”

Snapped out of her daze, Ren Qingqing’s face flushed red to the tips of her ears. Embarrassed and flustered, she hurried back to her seat, keeping her head down the entire time. She didn’t dare meet anyone’s eyes for fear of seeing ridicule. The thought of making such a spectacle in front of Xu Shen left her squirming in discomfort.

In truth, Ren Qingqing’s IQ was average, and her EQ was decent enough. Otherwise, her family wouldn’t have spent a fortune enrolling her in an elite school like Second High, where the children of powerful families gathered. They even arranged for her to stay at the Xu household.

However, her repeated failures to complete her missions because of Ruan Cha had planted a thorn in her heart. Every chance she got to strike back at Ruan Cha, she lost her composure and rushed in headfirst.

Math had always been Ren Qingqing’s weak spot. In the past, she often found herself stuck on the last big question by the time exams ended, unable to even glance at the bonus questions.

But now things were different. This exam was just a repeat of the paper she had done last night. When she finished the bonus questions, Ren Qingqing even felt confident she could achieve a perfect score.

Having been overshadowed for so long, the thought of outshining Ruan Cha in her best subject almost made her emotions spiral out of control. The moment she finished, she ran to submit her paper, eager to see Ruan Cha’s shocked and envious expression. Instead, she found herself scolded back to her seat.

Determined to ignore the scrutinizing stares around her, Ren Qingqing fidgeted anxiously in her seat. As soon as thirty minutes were up, she flew to the podium to submit her answer sheet, not daring to glance at Ruan Cha.

Meanwhile, Ye Qingfeng, who had observed Ren Qingqing during those ten minutes, noted that she didn’t even bother reviewing her paper. He shook his head in exasperation.

Compared to Ren Qingqing, Ruan Cha’s approach seemed remarkably “ordinary.” She took forty minutes to finish her paper and then spent twenty minutes meticulously checking for errors—ensuring no misplaced decimal points or incorrect answers due to carelessness. Finally, under Ye Qingfeng’s disapproving gaze, she calmly handed in her paper.

“The last one was from Class 2; they have a strong foundation. Don’t just mimic everything they do. Focus on getting the questions you can solve correct—”

Ye Qingfeng’s words came to an abrupt halt, his eyes widening in shock as he repeatedly examined Ruan Cha’s answer sheet. He was completely stunned.

He had to admit, the entire math exam was completed—and correctly—by a student from Class 10. That was simply unheard of.

In the past, Ruan Cha had never submitted her paper early. Once finished, she would sit at her desk zoning out, occasionally replaying a recent game match in her mind.

But not this time. Time was of the essence. With chemistry and biology still needing review before the afternoon science exam, she had to maximize her time to prevent Ren Qingqing from ranking higher than her.

“Teacher, may I leave now?”

It took Ye Qingfeng a long moment to recover. He gave Ruan Cha a deep look before responding, “Remember to take your bag and pen with you. You can go.”

“Thank you, Teacher!”

When Ruan Cha returned to Class 10 after eating in the cafeteria, the math exam bell had just rung. Some students were already loitering at the classroom entrance.

A group of slackers, who had left most of their papers blank and handed them in early, exchanged knowing glances as they saw Ruan Cha approach.

—So her English might be decent, but her math must be just as bad as ours if she submitted early too.

Among them, Ruan Cha spotted Huang Jiajia with her hands clasped in prayer, muttering fervently under her breath. Curious, Ruan Cha wondered if she was worried about her grades. After all, Huang Jiajia was one of the few Class 10 students who made some effort to study.

As Ruan Cha approached, Huang Jiajia’s words became clearer.

“Dear Buddha, Jade Emperor, Queen Mother of the West, and Lord Laozi, please bless me. Let my ranking be higher than Xie Chang’an’s, and let all my mistakes somehow appear on his paper. I’m begging you!”

Ruan Cha: “…”

You’re quite the schemer, aren’t you?

“Ah, Huang! You’re scheming against your father again!” Xie Chang’an had just returned and caught the tail end of Huang Jiajia’s prayer. When he saw Ruan Cha standing nearby, his face lit up with smugness. “No way my answers are wrong! I was sitting right next to Ruan Cha!”

Even though the answer sheets were split into versions A and B, Xie Chang’an was confident that at least the first question he peeked at was correct!

Huang Jiajia, who had been assigned to the 18th exam room after performing well on her midterm, let out a wail and clung to Ruan Cha’s sleeve, feigning a sob. “Cha Cha, come sit with me in 18 next time! Don’t let that mutt Xie benefit!”

“No,” Ruan Cha replied, shaking her head with seriousness. “My goal next time is the first exam room. But, Jiajia, if you want, I can help you review. How about you come to the first room with me?”

Huang Jiajia: “???”

Is that something you can just casually decide to do?

“Cha Cha, what did you pick for the last multiple-choice question?” Huang Jiajia asked. Compared to the rest of Class 10, her math scores were relatively high, often exceeding 100.

Ruan Cha slung her bag over her chair and casually answered, “D.”

That question, while a bit advanced, could still be solved with some effort. Moreover, Ruan Cha had encountered even more challenging variations of it in her Five Three practice book.

Regardless of the difficulty, the principles and methods remained the same. Using a clever shortcut, she eliminated the odd-numbered options, leaving only the even-numbered ones as possibilities. Among them, only “D” was correct.

Huang Jiajia puffed out her cheeks and tapped her head in frustration. “I was torn between C and D, and in the end, I trusted the ‘uneven choices’ unbeatable mantra and went with C.”

“D for the last question? I saw Lin Ling choose B,” said the boy at the back, his tanned skin and upright demeanor radiating skepticism as he glanced at Ruan Cha.

Hearing this, Song Mengyu chuckled softly, her voice neither too loud nor too quiet, just enough to ensure the entire class could hear. “I chose D too. Actually, don’t underestimate Cha Cha. Even though her other scores at the High School Year One finals were only 10 points, her math and English were pretty good.”

Upon hearing this, Ruan Cha’s gaze shifted thoughtfully to Song Mengyu, only to be greeted with a sweetly delicate smile that seemed almost too kind.

Ruan Cha: “…”

She rubbed her arms. Their relationship wasn’t particularly close, and yet the overly warm fake smile felt overwhelming.

“10 points in all subjects? Ruan Cha, you’re really consistent, huh, hahahaha.”

“Cha Cha, that’s not good. I scored 60 in science! Getting 10 points in Class 10 probably puts you second to last.”

“Except for Brother Shen’s perfect zero, no one can beat Cha Cha’s score, hahahaha.”

Admittedly, Song Mengyu’s phrasing was calculated. By clearly pointing out the 10-point scores in other subjects and vaguely describing math and English as “pretty good,” she set up a narrative. Even if Ruan Cha scored only 20 points in those subjects, they’d still seem “good” by comparison. Naturally, no one in Class 10 would entertain the possibility of perfect scores.

The buzz-cut boy, who had started the conversation, caught sight of Lin Ling entering the classroom and immediately felt the need to show off in front of his goddess. Clearing his throat, he smiled smugly at Ruan Cha, “Ruan Cha, isn’t the answer B? Lin Ling is the only one from our class in the twelfth exam room—her accuracy has to be higher than yours.”

“Twelfth exam room is impressive? Our Cha Cha will be in the first exam room next time!” Huang Jiajia rolled her eyes in annoyance. The boy was a staunch supporter of Lin Ling and had badmouthed Ruan Cha often in private. “Besides, I’m talking to Cha Cha. Why are you butting in?”

The boy’s family was nouveau riche, wealthy but lacking refinement. His parents, eager to climb the social ladder, had set their sights on the Lin family, hoping their son could marry the beauty and elevate their status.

The boy bristled at this, unwilling to be belittled in front of his goddess. He shot back mockingly, “Huang Jiajia, are you used to being a lapdog? Barking at random now?”

Hearing this, Ruan Cha’s eyes instantly turned cold. She slung her bag onto the boy’s desk with a thud, standing over him with an icy glare. Her voice was crisp but laced with clear irritation. “If you can’t speak properly, shut up. Don’t use your sphincter to breathe—it’s disgusting.”

She might be a lazy fish, uninterested in social interactions, but anyone who insulted her friends? Absolutely unacceptable.

For a moment, the classroom fell silent. Even Lin Ling instinctively took a step back, as if glimpsing the fierce piranha who nearly broke her wrist before.

The boy blinked, stunned, and stammered out a question, “S-sphincter to breathe?”

Xie Chang’an, annoyed he hadn’t been the one to deliver the insult first, immediately burst out laughing, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “She means stop farting with your mouth, you idiot!”

Farting?

The boy’s eyes widened in disbelief. Could this ethereal and cool Ruan Cha really say something so vulgar? His parents wouldn’t even use such language in front of others!

Wait—no, the vulgar one was Xie Chang’an. Ruan Cha’s words, upon reflection, actually sounded… intellectual.

The boy: “…”

“Page 54, question three, from Five Three,” Ruan Cha said casually, then grabbed her bag without waiting to see if the boy understood. Before turning away, she added nonchalantly, “Of course, if you can’t figure it out using Five Three, you might want to trust someone who consistently gets full marks in math. For example—”

She paused briefly, then smiled. “Me.”

The boy: “???”

The whole class: “???”