Chapter 39 Academic Performance

Chapter 39 Academic Performance

Ye Baocheng shook his head and said earnestly, "But my aunt has been very troubled recently."

Wang Meili: "She must be struggling to adjust to life here."

Ye Baocheng: "That's not it. There's a man named Li Deshu who keeps harassing her. My aunt said if he keeps bugging her, she's gonna call the cops!"

Wang Meili raised her voice, "Li Deshu! No way, he's my son-in-law!"

Ye Baocheng blinked; his aunt had coached him to say just that.

After saying his piece, Ye Baocheng didn't want to chat with the old ladies anymore. He wriggled out of Wang Meili's grip and took off.

"Meili, you think Li Deshu's got a thing for that city girl?"

"You said it yourself, that girl's like a fairy, way prettier than your daughter."

Wang Meili stopped chatting, her face darkening. "My daughter's no slouch compared to a fairy."

Done with gossip, Wang Meili slapped her thighs and headed back to her yard.

Behind her, folks started whispering.

"Look... she's freaking out."

"Li Deshu's family's loaded; she's gotta keep that son-in-law."

"We all know what her daughter looks like—no fairy, that's for sure."

Meanwhile, Wang Meili stormed back into the house and threw open Zhang Erni's door.

"Zhang Erni, tell me! Has Li Deshu been giving you the cold shoulder lately?"

Zhang Erni: "Mom, how did you know?!"

Wang Meili was fed up. "I told you ages ago to quit school and marry Li Deshu, but your dad insisted you finish high school. Your grades are rock bottom; you're not getting into college, so why bother?"

Zhang Erni was heartbroken.

It wasn't like she chose to do poorly in school.

Wang Meili: "Listen, you've gotta hold onto Li Deshu—this is your golden ticket. If you let this slip, there's no second chance."

Zhang Erni bolted upright in bed. "Mom, he doesn't even pay attention to me now, will he still marry me?"

"Don't sweat it; I'll figure something out."

Though Wang Meili loves to gossip, she's sharp as a tack.

Why did Li Deshu arrange a marriage with her daughter back then? It was because her husband was the village head.

The Li family was developing a forest farm in the village, and some procedures had to go through her husband.

Since the two families have a relationship based on mutual benefits, this marriage is inevitable.

...

The Ye family's courtyard suddenly had an unexpected visitor.

Miao Cuifang was sweeping the yard when she saw someone and warmly greeted, "Erni, you're here! Are you coming to play with Xiao Xiao?"

Zhang Erni nodded emphatically, "Yes."

Miao Cuifang pointed the way, "Her room is over there. Go ahead and find her."

Zhang Erni entered the room and saw that although the room was not large, it was neatly arranged with a redwood cabinet, on which was placed a large dressing mirror and many bottles and jars.

There were cold cream, makeup boxes, perfume, lipstick...

Her mother usually couldn't afford to buy these for her.

Ye Xiaoxiao was sitting on the heated bed, reading a book.

Zhang Erni's visit took her by surprise.

"Ye Xiaoxiao, listen up, Li Deshu is mine. We're getting married soon, so stay away from him."

Ye Xiaoxiao put down the book, feeling quite pleased. She hadn't expected things to work out so quickly; Wang Meili and her daughter had acted swiftly.

She rested her chin on her hand, "Well, you'd better hurry. I'm not interested in him now, but who knows what might happen later!"

"You have no shame..." Zhang Erni looked at Ye Xiaoxiao, her heart in turmoil.

No wonder Li Deshu likes her. Facing this little enchantress, Zhang Erni felt she stood no chance.

"What's shame worth, anyway? You'd better keep an eye on your... future husband."

Ye Xiaoxiao's indifferent attitude only made Zhang Erni angrier.

With that, Zhang Erni turned and left.

Anyway, her mother had said she would be married soon.

...

After Zhang Erni's aggressive assertion of her claim, it was unclear if any real measures were taken, but Li Deshu never showed up again.

With the college entrance exams approaching, the school tweaked the schedule.

The teacher announced that after the May Day holiday, the school would add morning and evening study sessions.

But the students in Class Nine weren't worried about the study sessions; all they cared about was when the holiday would start.

"Alright, everyone, listen up," Zhang Xia said, maintaining order.

"This Thursday and Friday, the school is holding exams. After the exams, the Labor Day holiday will be extended by one day, and since this week is a big break, you'll have a total of three days off."

The classroom erupted in applause, but Ye Xiaoxiao was shocked.

"Labor Day only gives us one day off? How are we supposed to survive?" she thought.

But now it seems there's no such thing as a May Day Golden Week anymore. Even school holidays are adjusted independently.

Factory workers usually only get one day off.

But in some regions, they get long holidays during the sowing and autumn harvest seasons instead.

After Zhang Xia made the announcement, she dismissed the class.

Wang Ying pulled out her test paper and began working on it earnestly.

Ye Xiaoxiao noticed that nine out of the ten questions were already answered incorrectly.

"..."

She sighed, thinking this must be the standard of Class Nine.

What was even more surprising was that Wang Ying was genuinely trying to understand the questions.

"Wh-what's wrong..."

Ye Xiaoxiao pointed out, "You got this one wrong."

Wang Ying embarrassedly erased the answer, "Oh."

Ye Xiaoxiao said, "Erase the rest too."

Wang Ying's face turned red, "All of them wrong? I've been studying hard recently."

How could there be such a good deskmate as me in the world.

Ye Xiaoxiao took out a piece of scrap paper, wrote down the correct solution, and handed it to Wang Ying.

Wang Ying said, "Thank you."

Ye Xiaoxiao replied, "You're welcome."

...

That evening, after dinner at home, Wang Ying went to study with her childhood friend as usual.

Wang Ying took out the scrap paper from her deskmate and began reading it carefully.

Li Bowen, who had nearly given up hope on Wang Ying's academic performance, frowned and reminded her when he saw she wasn't studying seriously.

"Focus on your studies."

Wang Ying said, "I'm looking at the solution my deskmate gave me."

Li Bowen was stunned, "Is there really someone in your Class Nine who can solve this test?"

He grabbed the scrap paper and was immediately drawn to the handwriting on it.

It was very elegant handwriting, but not messy.

The solution was also very straightforward and clear.

Li Bowen was very surprised. When he reached the third question, he noticed it was solved in a completely different way.

"You said this is the solution your deskmate gave you?"

Wang Ying said, "Yes, she wrote it right in front of me."

Li Bowen asked, "What's her name?"

Wang Ying said excitedly, "Ye Xiaoxiao, she's a new transfer student this semester. She's really nice; she even stood up for me when others were laughing at me."

Li Bowen felt like he had heard that name somewhere before.

Wang Ying continued, "Last time I got bitten by a snake, she was the first to help me."

"Alright, I get it, you have a good deskmate. I hope she can rub off on you a bit, so you won't be at the bottom of the class anymore."

Wang Ying said, "I will definitely improve this time!"