Ning Li looked calmly at the stash of love letters in blue and pink envelopes before throwing them all into the trash can. Then, she positioned her backpack properly into the desk drawer and placed the books on her desk accordingly.
5:3 Physics, Yungang Thirty Sets of Secret Past Papers, One Thousand Best High School Physics Questions. The other students twitched their eyes upon seeing the reference materials.
Were all transfer students this diligent?
The newbie threw out all love letters without reading them and made space for these books instead.
"I certainly didn't expect this… It seems that our new classmate is completely focused on studies rather than the lovey-dovey stuff."
Ren Qian teased jokingly.
He shifted his gaze toward Pei Song who was sitting next to him.
"Hey, Brother Pei. Did you speak with the new student yesterday when you went to collect books together?"
A look of indifference washed over Pei Song's face. It appeared that he was uninterested in this topic.
Ren Qian did not expect to receive a reply from him anyway. He placed both arms behind his head and teased slowly.
"Aha, both the handsomest and prettiest students of the school are in our class. It's only going to get more interesting."
Lin Zhouyang ran into the classroom as the bell rang. He looked carefully at Ye Ci who was sitting in front.
"What are you talking about?! The prettiest student has always been in our class!"
Ren Qian smiled but did not comment further.
Ye Ci used to be the prettiest student in their school, but that position had been taken over by Ning Li. Surely things were not the same as before.
Although the beautiful girl was infamous for almost pushing another student down the stairs on her first day at school, her impeccable beauty triumphed over her poor reputation, making her the apple of many boys' eyes.
The stash of love letters across the desk was enough evidence to build the case.
Ye Ci?
She was nowhere near that level.
Lin Zhouyang tapped on the back of Ye Ci's seat.
"Ye Ci?"
She looked over her shoulder to see him handing over two sheets of paper eagerly.
"I finished writing the apology essay!"
A total of 1500 words. His hand was unquestionably sore!
Her face froze for a split second.
Ren Qian rolled his eyes.
Given his emotional intelligence, it was no wonder Lin Zhouyang still could not win over Ye Ci's heart after all these years. He should be grateful that she could refrain from slapping him!
Ye Ci regained her composure. She smiled faintly before replying softly, "Thank you, but you wrote this for Big Sister Ning Li. You should pass it to her."
Lin Zhouyang finally realized she was in rather low spirits. There were also dark circles beneath her eyes. He scratched his head helplessly.
"Eh? Oh, alright! But Ye Ci, did you have a poor night's sleep? Is it because of nerves since the competition is approaching?"
She shook her head.
"It's nothing. I just didn't sleep well."
"Oh," he mumbled quietly, not wanting to continue pestering her. He rose to his feet and walked over to Ning Li's seat.
"Here you go!"
Ning Li received the papers and scanned through the writing.
Indeed, Lin Zhouyang was experienced in writing apology essays. His writing was great.
Ning Li nodded.
"Not bad."
A smirk spread across his face as he raised his brows proudly.
"Of course. I'm an expert in this!"
"..."
She did not know what to say.
Ren Qian turned his head over. He could not bear to watch this anymore.
Ning Li left to hand in the apology essay.
...
Dean of Students' office.
Sun Quan looked at the apology essay. His eyebrows twitched upon thinking of her test paper from the other day which she scored. Finally, he gave in and accepted the essay.
"Alright, it's fine as you've acknowledged your mistake. There'd better be no second time."
Ning Li nodded.
Looking at the girl standing in front of him, Sun Quan recalled the rumors he heard today and thought of commenting on that. However, the crystal clear eyes staring back at him made him realize that would be unnecessary.
This was a smart kid who knew what she wanted.
He waved his hand dismissively in the air.
"Go on, head back to class."
…
On the way, Ning Li received a notification about a payment transfer.
Jiang Fan had deposited the money into her account.
She looked at the balance in her bank account. After doing a quick calculation in her head, she cheered up a little after finding out she could live comfortably for the time being.
The first period of the morning was mathematics.
Tan Kailan, the mathematics teacher, was a middle-aged woman in her early 40s.
She continued going through the previous test papers in this lesson.
Ning Li had asked for a copy of the test papers from Pei Song yesterday but had not completed them.
On second thought, she picked out a book from the desk.
She opened the book, chose a black ballpoint pen, and began solving the questions.
This first section of the page consisted of single-choice questions on key physics theories.
Ning Li started dissecting the first question, which talked about force field analysis.
After scanning through the question, she answered A in the brackets.
She moved on to the second and third questions quickly.
Soon, she completed the first page almost without stopping and flipped through to the second page.
Tan Kailan had noticed the transfer student sitting in the corner of the classroom from the beginning.
The new student had been attracting attention since her first day joining the school.
It was said that she was a challenging one. However, they placed her into First Class because of her connections with the Ye family.
Tan Kailan disliked this sort of student the most.
Students in First Class were potential seedlings to enter top-grade education establishments. The class' future average grade would undoubtedly be lowered by this weak student.
Sun Quan did not publicize the results Ning Li obtained from the test the other day. He planned to call for a small meeting with other teachers today, but Tan Kailan had no idea of that.
She stopped the lecture upon noticing the girl flipping through a physics reference book.
"Ning Li, come on, show us how to solve this question."
Silence fell upon the entire classroom.
A few heads turned toward the new student.
The teacher smirked and threw the chalk into the case.
"You must know the answers to all these questions since you're studying physics in mathematics class? Come on, then."
The air froze.
Everyone knew Tan Kailan despised students not paying attention to her lessons. They had to put up a show even if they were really uninterested!
Ning Li had certainly dug a grave for herself by studying physics under Tan Kailan's watch.
The new girl rose to her feet.
"Which question is it?"
She only asked because she truly had no idea.
However, the teacher took it as an open insult.
Anger flashed across her face.
Ren Qian leaned into his seat before revealing a smile.
"Miss Tan, Ning Li is a new transfer student. She didn't take part in the previous test and doesn't have a copy of the papers either."
This only aggravated the teacher's fury.
In her opinion, a student of Yunzhou Second Senior High School should always be a motivated self-learner.
"You knew we'd be going through the previous test papers in this lesson. Why didn't you ask for a copy and try completing the papers prior to our class? Are you waiting for someone to deliver everything to you? You might as well give up learning with that attitude!"
Another eerie silence.
Any girl would be utterly embarrassed to be reprimanded in public like this…
Ren Qian coughed drily before handing over his paper.
"Miss Tan wants you to solve question number 31," he whispered.
There was another row between their seats, but he managed to extend his hand to the new girl.
Pei Song looked over his shoulder to glance at Ren Qian coldly.
It was his test paper that the latter had passed over.
Ren Qian returned with a meaningful gaze.
They should help out the new student!
It would not hurt to show her the answers.
Ning Li lowered her eyes and noticed the neat handwriting on that test paper.
She retrieved her gaze almost immediately before heading toward the front of the class.
Ren Qian seemed shocked.
"Hey!"
The answers were written on the paper! She should have looked closely before stepping forward.
By then, Ning Li had already picked up a chalk and began solving the question on the blackboard.
Her hand moved across the blackboard swiftly. The entire classroom was silent as the grave.
She solved the first two questions in no time but did not stop there.
Ren Qian straightened his back in his seat before leaning closer to Pei Song.
"Hang on a minute. You didn't answer the third sub-question, did you?" he asked quietly.
Pei Song did not reply but gently lifted his chin. For the first time, the distant eyes behind the glasses truly focused on the slender silhouette in front of him.