Shen Fangli: My Silence Was Deafening

Zhou Ye waved a hand. "Then forget it."

"Good that you know. You're not qualified."

Yan Xianjue said coldly.

Zhou Ye pointed at Shen Fangli. "Shen Fangli is a Top Student."

Yan Xianjue shook his head. "She isn't qualified either."

"Neither is Lin Shi."

Shen Fangli was surprised. "Does this variety show have such high standards?"

Of course.

Yan Xianjue grumbled to himself as though it were only natural.

The novel's author spent a great deal of time describing it when writing about the female lead's high school regrets.

Every Top Student in it went on to become a big shot in their respective fields.

Even now, they only wanted first place.

"The selling point of this show is real Top Students."

"Can you become the provincial top scorer?" Yan Xianjue asked.

Shen Fangli's mouth twitched. He thought far too highly of her.

She could not even make the top ten in her class.

Although she was in the Top Student Class, she was only ranked around the middle.

Zhou Ye: "..."

"Isn't that way too strict?"

Zhou Ye looked at Yan Xianjue skeptically. "Can a show like that really make money?"

"Just watching a bunch of bookworms study all day?"

What do you know? The show stayed lukewarm for a full two months after it aired.

And two months later came the day Gaokao scores were released.

Every Top Student in it became the top scorer in their province.

The show exploded overnight.

Yan Xianjue propped his cheeks up with both hands. "It's not your money anyway."

Zhou Ye leaned closer. "Wasn't I planning to make a living by following Brother Yan?"

"I've got a little over a million myself. I can invest it and make some spending money."

"As long as you say it'll make money, I'll jump in right away!"

Although Zhou Ye could not hear Yan Xianjue's thoughts.

Having known Yan Xianjue for so many years, he knew Yan Xianjue had never been the type to take a loss.

Besides, he did not believe the Yan Household would really watch Yan Xianjue lose money on his first investment.

Shen Fangli fell silent for a moment, then steeled herself. "I'm not as rich as you two, but I can still invest two hundred thousand."

He shook his head. "No rush."

The director had not reached the end of the road yet.

How could icing on the cake compare to timely aid in a snowstorm?

Ji Xi arrived even sooner than Yan Xianjue had expected.

Yan Xianjue leaned against the corridor window.

He looked at Ji Xi in surprise. "Transfer classes?"

Ji Xi nodded awkwardly.

Yan Xianjue frowned. "As far as I know, you and Lin Shi have been at odds for a long time. There are less than two months left until the Gaokao. You could have endured it a little longer."

Ji Xi answered frankly, "But if you're willing, I won't have to endure those two months, right?"

Yan Xianjue let out a malicious sneer. "I'm no different from him. To you, we're both hateful rich second-generation kids."

"Why should I help you?"

Yan Xianjue untied the towel around his wrist.

He pointed at the scars on it. "See these? I got every one of them from fighting."

"I'm not some philanthropist either."

Ji Xi paused. He had nearly mistaken them for wrist-cutting scars.

Only after looking closely did he realize they looked more like messy cuts from shattered glass.

He lowered his eyes. "I never said you were a philanthropist."

"I don't hate the rich, either."

"But I think I should be useful to you."

Yan Xianjue became interested. He raised a brow. "Go on."

"I've heard others talk about your status. With your connections and position, you have many choices."

"But you asked me. I guessed that among them, I was the one who best fit the Top Student theme."

Yan Xianjue nodded. "Mm, that makes some sense. Keep going."

Ji Xi raised his head, no longer lowering his gaze to conceal the ambition in his eyes.

"What I mean is, Young Master, rather than investing in a variety show, why not invest in me?"

"Oh?" Yan Xianjue subtly straightened up.

He looked Ji Xi up and down.

Yan Xianjue suddenly laughed.

He had thought Ji Xi really was not nervous.

In the end, he was still only a high school student. No matter how early a child from a poor family matured.

His body, rigid with tension, had given him away.

Yan Xianjue suddenly asked in an unreadable tone, "Do you know Ji Heng?"

Ji Xi abruptly fell silent.

Yan Xianjue nodded. So he did know him.

He said blandly, "If you insist, I can indeed help you speak to the school about transferring classes."

"But you should think it over carefully. A favor from me is not so easy to owe."

"As for joining the variety show, you can receive payment for that. I'm giving you an opportunity; you're not doing me a favor. Do you understand?"

Ji Xi nodded.

He brought out his only bargaining chip. "Invest in me. In the future, I'll earn back even more for you."

Yan Xianjue turned around and faced away from him.

His fingertips casually tapped against the windowsill.

His voice was cold as he said, "The future is an empty promise."

At the same time, Yan Xianjue was practically bursting with joy inside!

Yes! The big shot who'll seize the entire Ji Household in the future is about to fall right into my bowl!

Hahahahahahahaha!

Shen Fangli sat in the classroom, gripping her gel pen so hard one might have thought she was about to snap it.

Yan Xianjue's laughter had nearly deafened her!

Literally.

But the Ji Household?

She smiled sweetly.

As expected of the class attended by the supposed male and female leads of a campus novel.

It truly was full of hidden talents.

Ji Xi did not know Shen Fangli was eavesdropping through Yan Xianjue's thoughts.

He paused. "Twenty years. Starting from when I graduate university, twenty years."

"I'll work for you, and I promise never to take any company shares."

Yan Xianjue felt that something was off.

Was Ji Xi an idiot?

He definitely was not.

All he had to do was endure Lin Shi for two months, then after the Gaokao, the sea would be wide enough for fish to leap and the sky high enough for birds to fly.

Why did he need to sign a contract that was practically selling himself for twenty years?

So that's how it is!

Yan Xianjue went over the Ji Household's plot again.

In the novel, Ji Xi disappeared without a trace after the Gaokao.

He did not reappear until a high school reunion many years later.

By then, Ji Xi was no longer the aloof Top Student, but a gloomy big shot sitting in a wheelchair.

So that was it. Ji Xi was the villain of this campus novel!

Shen Fangli was merely the female lead's foil and cannon fodder.

Shen Fangli: "..."

That "merely" felt rather insulting.

But when she thought of Ji Xi's miserable future, she felt her own situation was not so bad after all.

How had Ji Xi's legs been broken?

Yes, how had Ji Xi's legs been broken? The novel never described how Ji Xi had become the way he was now.

There was only the female lead, Su Su, sighing to the male lead, Lin Shi, that Ji Xi had become like this too.

Then the male and female leads fell out once again because of Ji Xi.

Seriously, Ji Xi's role had not changed at all over the years!

Yan Xianjue made a guess based on a few scattered details from the novel.

"Trading twenty years for two months—Ji Xi, do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Did the Ji Household contact you?"

Ji Xi nodded awkwardly in admission.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hide it. I just thought a young master like you wouldn't care about such trivial details."

A blatant attempt at provocation.

Yan Xianjue nodded with an amused smile. "Of course."

"But what you want me to shield you from probably isn't just Lin Shi. It's more the danger brought by the Ji Household, right?"

Ji Xi pressed his lips together, needing to summon all his strength before he could speak.

"The Ji Household sent an invitation, asking my mother to bring me to a birthday banquet."

Yan Xianjue frowned. This was not right. It was different from what his older brother had said.

Didn't they say the Ji family members were at each other's throats? Why did someone still have the mind to look for Ji Xi?