Peng Yan would never forget that day.
When she returned from doing the exercises between classes, she saw that terrifying woman sitting in her seat.
The moment she entered, the woman gave her a mocking smile.
"You're Peng Yan?"
"Spreading rumors feels good, huh?"
"Tell me, are you coming out with me on your own, or do you want me to drag you out like a dead dog?"
Peng Yan cared about her pride and wasn't very good at reading the situation.
So that day, Gu Panyan kicked her so hard that she couldn't even stand, then grabbed her by the back of her collar and dragged her all the way outside.
The students around them simply watched her being dragged away. The place was utterly silent, and no one dared say a word.
Gu Panyan dragged her all the way to the school broadcasting station.
Only after entering did she realize that several other victims were already lying inside.
"If you don't want me to drag you here from the classroom a second time, then stay here obediently and don't move."
That was what the dangerous woman said.
That day, Gu Panyan forced Peng Yan to publicly refute the rumors under her real name over the school broadcast.
It was the darkest day of her life.
After returning home, the first thing she wanted to do was transfer schools.
She couldn't endure this humiliation. She couldn't stay at this school any longer.
But when her parents asked why she wanted to transfer, she stammered and couldn't explain.
In the end, the matter was simply dropped.
Peng Yan could only bear the humiliation and continue attending classes as though nothing had happened, enduring the strange looks from her classmates.
She didn't dare take revenge on Gu Panyan. She didn't even dare say another bad word about her.
She could only bury her hatred deep in her heart, constantly telling herself not to stoop to the level of someone like Gu Panyan. Her academic performance was terrible, and her future would certainly be bleak.
Once she had money and made something of herself, she would be able to humiliate her to her heart's content.
Carrying that hatred, Peng Yan studied harder and harder.
In this year's First Mock Exam, she scored an impressive 460 points, already surpassing the undergraduate admission cutoff.
This made her look down on Gu Panyan even more.
She knew that Gu Panyan had recently started studying under Wang Ge's guidance, but so what?
Peng Yan believed that a dog couldn't change its habit of eating filth, and a rotten person would always be rotten.
Just wait, Gu Panyan. Once I get into college, once I have money, I'll repay the humiliation you brought me a hundredfold!
I've always been working hard, and I've always been improving. What can you possibly compare with me?
Amid Peng Yan's beautiful fantasies about the future, the Second Mock Exam arrived as scheduled.
This Second Mock Exam was somewhat harder than the First Mock Exam, and Peng Yan barely managed to score 410 points.
Still, she was quite satisfied, because that score actually raised her class ranking instead of lowering it.
After receiving her score report and looking at her own results, Peng Yan subconsciously checked the bottom of the report for Gu Panyan's score, hoping to find a sense of superiority.
But suddenly, she couldn't find Gu Panyan's name.
Where's Gu Panyan? Where did she go?
With a suspicious look in her eyes, she searched upward bit by bit from the very last place.
At last, she found the name Gu Panyan directly above her own.
Huh?
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Gu Panyan surpassed me?
How is that possible!?
She turned the score report over and over several times. After confirming that Gu Panyan's score really was higher than hers, Peng Yan's first reaction was:
Cheating!
Gu Panyan cheated! She definitely cheated!
Otherwise, how could a poor student who had been at the bottom of the rankings for years possibly score higher than me!?
Peng Yan completely panicked. The gap in their scores had been her final scrap of dignity. She had relied on that success to numb herself with a form of psychological victory, allowing her to forget the humiliation and barely make it this far.
But now, even her last scrap of dignity was about to disappear!
Agitated people always tended to do irrational things.
Peng Yan was a perfect example. She rushed into the office of her homeroom teacher, Jiang Xiyu, and accused Gu Panyan of cheating on the exam.
But Jiang Xiyu only told her:
"I know you're anxious, but calm down first."
"You said she cheated, but how could she have cheated? Did she bring in cheat sheets?"
"Even if she really had brought in cheat sheets, how many points could they have added? The ancient-poem dictation section in Chinese is worth only eight points..."
"Besides, subjects like mathematics and physics aren't something you can solve with cheat sheets."
"Even if she brought a phone to search for answers, the questions on the Second Mock Exam were all newly created this year. She wouldn't have been able to find them online."
"You think she copied someone else? There wasn't even a single person capable of scoring 350 points in Gu Panyan's exam room. Who could she have copied from?"
Jiang Xiyu patiently reasoned with her, but she refused to listen.
She stubbornly insisted that Gu Panyan must have cheated.
Jiang Xiyu had no choice but to pull up the surveillance footage from Gu Panyan's exam room for her to watch.
The footage played at double speed. Peng Yan stared fixedly at the computer screen, trying to find evidence that Gu Panyan had cheated.
By the end, she gradually became disappointed, even despairing.
There's nothing. I can't find anything at all.
Afterward, Jiang Xiyu tactfully advised her not to be so jealous. Everyone was unique, and instead of worrying about what others were doing, she should just focus on herself...
But Peng Yan didn't hear a single word Jiang Xiyu said afterward.
Her mind was filled with disbelief.
Could it be that Gu Panyan really didn't cheat, and that she beat me through her own ability?
When she walked out of the office, she was completely dazed.
After concluding that Gu Panyan really hadn't cheated, Peng Yan's heart filled with absurdity, anger, and jealousy that had swelled until it overflowed.
Why?
Why!?
Why did it take me three whole years of hard work to reach this score, while that slut Gu Panyan surpassed me effortlessly after studying for only one month?
That slut, that slut... How could I possibly score lower than that filthy bitch!?
Peng Yan's breathing grew rapid, and her eyes gradually reddened.
Why? Why could Gu Panyan improve so quickly?
Could it be that she was naturally intelligent and gifted?
No. Peng Yan absolutely refused to believe it. Aside from knowing how to fight, did that woman have even a single other strength?
Carrying these doubts, Peng Yan returned to the classroom and happened to see Gu Panyan in the last row, working hard with a pen in hand.
A sudden sense of crisis arose in Peng Yan's heart.
No, no! I can't let Gu Panyan continue improving like this!
Amid that sense of crisis, she suddenly noticed the man sitting beside Gu Panyan from the corner of her eye.
That man who laughed and joked every day, slept during class, and never applied himself, yet still managed to score over 700 points every time.
Wang Ge... Right, Wang Ge!
Peng Yan suddenly understood.
It must be Wang Ge. It must be because of Wang Ge!
Gu Panyan can improve so quickly only because Wang Ge is tutoring her!
I can't let Wang Ge continue tutoring Gu Panyan. I have to separate them. I have to split them up!
After figuring this out, Peng Yan began observing the two of them, trying to find a way to separate them.
But she hadn't expected that observing them would shock her so badly.
After watching them for a while, she discovered that the two were abnormally close! They didn't look like ordinary deskmates at all.
Even if they weren't together yet, they had at least entered the ambiguous stage!
This reminded her of something she had overheard from someone last time: Wang Ge didn't attend evening self-study because he was actually going on dates with Chen Yanxi, the top student in the grade...
Peng Yan didn't know whether it was true, but... did that matter?
Drawing on the plots of all those palace-intrigue dramas she had watched, a plan slowly took shape in Peng Yan's mind...
Please recommend this, vote monthly, and follow for more~
Before you continue