Too Clever for Her Own Good

When Shen Banxia returned to her bedroom, she ran into Xu Mingyue, who had clearly been waiting specifically for her.

She had certainly gone to some effort, waiting outside her bedroom so late at night in a princess dress, her makeup still immaculate.

Shen Banxia walked over without any particular reaction.

"Banxia, we're close sisters, aren't we?" Seeing Shen Banxia's indifference, Xu Mingyue had no choice but to take the initiative and try to ingratiate herself.

Shen Banxia shook her head.

"My last name is Shen, and yours is Xu. We're not sisters!"

Xu Mingyue nearly went livid at Shen Banxia's words, but she still had to restrain herself. After all, she could not let her true identity be exposed yet.

"But we're still sisters. I've lived with the Shen Family for eighteen years, and Mommy has always raised me as her own daughter.

"Even though I'm not Mommy's biological daughter, raising a child means more than giving birth to one. In my heart, Mommy is my real mother."

"Then go tell my mommy that. There's no point telling me." Shen Banxia wore an expression that said this had nothing to do with her.

"What I mean is, since fate brought us together as sisters, we should get along peacefully and care for each other.

"I never expected the cup I gave you last time to break, and I felt awful about it.

"This time, I checked it carefully before wrapping it, and I packed it very securely. It definitely won't break.

"This is for you. I hope you like it!"

With that, Xu Mingyue brought a gift box out from behind her back and handed it to Shen Banxia with a beaming smile.

"Thanks, but I don't need a cup. Why don't you help me with my schoolwork instead? We're both in our final year of high school, after all," Shen Banxia replied after a moment's thought.

"Me, tutor you?" Xu Mingyue paused in surprise, but quickly agreed. "Sure! If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me!"

Half an hour later, Xu Mingyue's frantic roar rang out from the study. She sounded close to tears.

"How can you be so stupid?

"I already told you, you need to combine algebra and geometry to solve this problem. The answer is B.

"Why can't you understand?"

"I just wanted to ask what combining algebra and geometry means," Shen Banxia replied with an innocent expression.

"Combining algebra and geometry means... combining algebra and geometry.

"I don't want to tutor you anymore. You're just too stupid. No matter how I explain it, you don't understand.

"How did you even get into high school?"

"Good luck!" Shen Banxia replied, infuriating her without a care.

Xu Mingyue grew even angrier at that. Could all her hard work really not compare to Shen Banxia's good luck?

But a second later, remembering how stupid Shen Banxia was, she felt smug again.

So what if good luck had gotten her into high school? High school courses were far harder than middle school courses.

With abilities like hers, Shen Banxia wanted to get into Jinghua University? Night school was more like it!

In the end, though, Xu Mingyue still lost her temper and drove Shen Banxia back to her room, convinced she must have been out of her mind to agree to tutor her.

Shen Banxia returned to her own study, spread out the practice paper Xu Mingyue had just been explaining, and began working through it on her own.

She simply felt that Xu Mingyue had failed to explain the reasoning and methods clearly while tutoring her.

A good teacher not only had to understand the material herself, but also explain it in a way her students could understand. Only then was she truly teaching and clearing up confusion.

Xu Mingyue clearly lacked even the most basic qualities of a teacher.

Besides, to show off her top-student image and insult Shen Banxia's intelligence, Xu Mingyue had skimmed over every explanation.

Take that last problem, for instance. It called for combining algebra and geometry, but she had never explained how to combine them. She had simply given the answer.

Naturally, Shen Banxia had to play along and give her an appreciative audience, making herself look like an idiot to highlight Xu Mingyue's top-student image.

Putting on a persona was not the problem. Lacking the ability to back it up was.

Xu Mingyue clearly fell short in that respect. She could understand the problems her teachers explained, but could not apply what she learned to other situations or work out similar problems on her own.

When it was her turn to tutor someone else, there were some problems whose underlying logic she did not understand herself, so she could only bluff her way through.

To put it bluntly, she only knew how to learn by rote.

That made maintaining her top-student image a struggle, but how could someone accustomed to being put on a pedestal bear to give up that persona?

What was more, having always lived a pampered life, she could not endure hardship or put everything into filling the gaps in her knowledge. Even what little cleverness she possessed was never used for anything worthwhile.

Naturally, she could only resort to underhanded methods in her schoolwork, including getting Shen Qingfeng to do her homework, making cheat sheets, and cheating on exams.

A single formal exam would expose a student like Xu Mingyue for what she really was.

Shen Banxia finished the practice paper in a little over half an hour and checked her answers. Aside from her working not being rigorous or complete enough, every answer was correct.

Then she picked up the Gaokao mathematics syllabus and scanned through it again.

No matter how the questions changed, the fundamentals remained the same. As long as she mastered the concepts in the syllabus, the approaches to solving problems, and the standard steps for showing her work, the exam would be no trouble.

Once she had finished, Shen Banxia leisurely went to wash up and get ready for bed.

She had to eat well, drink well, and sleep well to have the energy to enjoy the drama. Not one of those could be neglected.

After driving Shen Banxia away, Xu Mingyue picked up her spare phone and secretly called her biological mother.

"Mom, Shen Banxia is an idiot. Just wait and see how I deal with her at school...

"Don't worry, I know where to draw the line. I definitely won't do anything myself and give anyone something to use against me...

"Just sit back and enjoy the show!"

Early the next morning, Xu Mingyue once again rushed onto the balcony in a frenzy.

She roared at Shen Banxia, who was reading aloud again.

"Shen Banxia, are you going to let anyone sleep?"

"Little sister, it's already seven. If you don't get up now, you'll be late!"

Shen Banxia reminded her with a smile.

"Even though it's Friday and the weekend is almost here,

"International High School seems to have a monthly exam today. If you don't get up early and study a little more, aren't you worried you'll flunk?"

Xu Mingyue froze for a moment, then let out a shriek and turned to run back inside.

She had actually overslept!

The night before, she had been so furious that she had ached all over and could not sleep until the early hours, only to be woken by Shen Banxia first thing in the morning.

Now she discovered that she had overslept, too. Forget breakfast-she did not even have enough time to put on her makeup. It was a triple blow!

Watching Xu Mingyue race back inside like an overstimulated, crazed horse, Shen Banxia continued reading her textbook aloud with lively intonation. Her mood was like the rising sun, full of hope and sunshine.