Red Gemstone

"The troublemakers are here, they're here."

"Quick, quick, quick!"

The classroom buzzed with noise, excitement, and faint anticipation.

Bai Yunsheng stopped at the classroom door. The voices by his ear continued without restraint, even with the main character's arrival.

Bai Yunsheng turned a deaf ear to them and calmly walked into the classroom. The moment he crossed the threshold, the room fell silent for an instant before discussions erupted again.

"Holy shit. Who's that? Bai Yunsheng?"

"No way, that's Bai Yunsheng?"

"Did he get plastic surgery?"

"He, he looks so different."

The overlapping chatter circled Bai Yunsheng's ears but failed to stir even the slightest ripple in his heart. He looked around and found his desk at the very back of the classroom.

Under everyone's gaze, he headed toward the rear.

His desk sat alone in the farthest corner, covered in filthy words, written or carved into its surface.

Illegitimate child.

Moron.

Idiot.

Even their insults were so lacking in skill and refinement.

Bai Yunsheng blinked extremely slowly. He stared for several seconds at the puddle of yellow, unidentified matter that had already hardened, then turned around and randomly picked a classmate.

"I remember my desk was new before winter break." Bai Yunsheng lowered his eyes and looked down at the bewildered "innocent party" seated before him.

Perhaps the person had not expected Bai Yunsheng to speak to him and failed to react immediately.

Bai Yunsheng glanced at the clock. "There are only twenty minutes until the exam. I don't want to use such a disgusting desk."

"Who did it?" Bai Yunsheng's eyes were a standard brown, but they lightened under the sun. When he stared without emotion, they inexplicably gave people a suffocating sense of pressure.

It took the boy a while to recover. Realizing that someone like Bai Yunsheng had intimidated him, he seemed unable to save face, so he raised his voice. "How would I know? Stay away from me, you disgusting thing."

Bai Yunsheng continued staring at him. A second later, he smiled softly, casual and beautiful. "Is that so?"

"Then it was you."

The boy froze. Before he could understand what Bai Yunsheng meant, a sharp pain tore through his scalp, and the world spun. Bai Yunsheng grabbed him by the hair and slammed him viciously onto the floor.

Screams filled the room.

Those sitting nearby all stood up and backed away several steps.

They stared at Bai Yunsheng in utter disbelief.

The boy writhed on the floor, groaning in pain.

Bai Yunsheng could not be bothered to look at him again. He dumped everything from the boy's drawer, carried the clean desk to his own spot, and, ignoring the terrified crowd, kicked the filthy desk aside in disgust.

Other than that brief smile earlier, Bai Yunsheng had remained expressionless throughout.

Still, he felt rather satisfied inside.

After all, this person had bullied him plenty in the past.

Bai Yunsheng did not feel the slightest bit guilty.

"Has he gone crazy?" someone whispered.

The boy lay on the floor for a while before finally recovering from the pain. He braced himself against the ground and shakily stood up. Only then did his companions come to their senses and crowd around him.

"Bai Yunsheng! You're dead!" The boy covered his head and pointed at Bai Yunsheng viciously. "Kill him! Kill him for me!"

Bai Yunsheng looked up at the time again, then slipped his hand into his backpack and tightly gripped the stun baton he had prepared long ago.

The spectators had already lost their earlier panic and watched Bai Yunsheng with eager interest.

Just as the two sides were about to fight, the class bell rang. The piercing sound made everyone pause, followed by the teacher's voice. "What are you doing?"

Normally, these young masters did not take teachers seriously, especially those with gold school badges.

But this time, it was an exam.

Their families attached great importance to every exam. It was not that they cared much about grades, but the families all knew one another, so comparisons were inevitable.

Several people turned to look. Seeing the teacher standing at the podium with the exam papers, they all stepped back.

The injured boy glared coldly and threatened, "It's fine. We have plenty of time, Bai Yunsheng. We'll play slowly."

There were ten minutes left before the exam.

The teacher did not immediately hand out the papers. Instead, he looked at Bai Yunsheng, then took something from his pocket. "Bai Yunsheng, your school badge."

Just a few words changed the atmosphere in the classroom. The air seemed to freeze, and many people turned to look.

Bai Yunsheng stood up under their gazes, his expression calm.

A school badge?

Feng Yanshan could not possibly remember something like that.

Who was it?

As Bai Yunsheng walked toward the podium, a name surfaced in his mind.

"A school badge? It can't be a gold one, can it?"

"How could that be possible? He's an illegitimate child. How could he have a gold badge?"

"But he is still part of the Feng Household."

"I think it's silver."

"Maybe bronze."

The teacher standing at the podium frowned. "Quiet. The exam is about to begin, so get ready."

Bai Yunsheng stopped walking.

The teacher handed him the school badge. Bai Yunsheng accepted it and looked at it. His fingers trembled, and his pupils widened slightly.

It was a gold badge.

But it was also somewhat different from an ordinary gold badge.

Because a red gemstone hung from it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Bai Yunsheng put on the badge.

The expressions of the students below the podium were wonderfully varied—so varied that Bai Yunsheng nearly laughed. Still, he held it in, calmly returned to his seat, then looked at the person who had just loudly declared that they would play slowly. Bai Yunsheng raised a hand, propped up his chin, and silently mouthed the words.

I'll play slowly with you too.

The boy's expression stiffened.

Gold badges themselves were rare. Since the school had opened, only three people had ever worn gold badges adorned with gemstones.

One had been an exchange student from Q Country, the only daughter of Q Country's royal family, though she had graduated long ago.

One had been the grandson of the country's president, who had also graduated some time ago.

The last had been a genius who entered high school at ten years old and vanished without a trace after graduation.

And now, there was one more.

Bai Yunsheng.

The exam paper arrived in front of Bai Yunsheng as the student ahead of him turned around. After timidly glancing at the badge on Bai Yunsheng's chest, the student immediately turned back around.

Bai Yunsheng lowered his head and scanned the questions on the paper.

In his previous life, to avoid standing out too much, Bai Yunsheng had deliberately controlled his scores in every exam. Among this group of heirs from influential families, he had been utterly at the bottom of the class.

Feng Yanshan had loathed him because of it.

But it was also because he had seemed so useless that Jiang Li had never acted against Bai Yunsheng. She treated him as though he did not exist, or even as a servant. His life had been difficult, but at least he had survived.

Bai Yunsheng picked up his pen.

Mother had indeed understood Jiang Li well, but she had misjudged Feng Yanshan. Although Feng Yanshan had betrayed Mother, she had always believed that Feng Yanshan was a good father and would treat his own children differently. After all, Feng Yanshan had treated Feng Zhiyou very well.

Bai Yunsheng wrote down his name.

If Mother had known that Feng Yanshan was so selfish, caring only about the Feng Household's reputation and interests, she would never have told him to hide his talents.