Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Qiao Nan smiled in reply. “Perhaps, this is indeed the case.” Brother Zhai did not care for Qiu Chenxi, but he was not cold toward Shi Qing. Qiu Chenxi seemed to have created a big problem for herself.

  “Hey……” Shi Qing was upset. “How can you laugh at this time? Don’t tell me that I pose no threat to you? I have said that I like Brother Zhai.” Qiao Nan should be worried.

  “Qiu Chenxi obviously does not know your relationship with Brother Zhai. She wanted to make use of me to find out who the girlfriend of Brother Zhai is. Aren’t you worried that I will tell Qiu Chenxi the truth?” Qiao Nan was way too calm. It was getting on her nerves.

  Qiao Nan still had a smile on her face. “I will be worried if you keep quiet about everything. But now that you have made everything clear, I don’t think I have anything to worry about. When Qiu Chenxi came to our school before the exams started yesterday, it was the perfect opportunity to tell her the truth, but you didn’t. So, why do you think I should be worried?”

  If Shi Qing had meant to tell her cousin the truth, she would have said so earlier.

  Once Shi Qing told Qiu Chenxi the truth, Qiu Chenxi would create a fuss at the Zhai family and tell them of her relationship with Brother Zhai. She might not even be able to sit for the exams, let alone do well in the exams.

  Since the exams for yesterday were over, Qiao Nan felt that she did not need to be overly concerned.

  Shi Qing snorted. “You’re quite clever, but it is useless.”

  “Thank you for your concern. So far, my little cleverness is still enough for me to survive. There’s only half an hour to the exam. If we don’t go back, we may be late for the exam or we may leave out anything that we need to bring. Shi Qing, even if you deliberately lose to me in the exams, I can’t let you have Brother Zhai.” Qiao Nan returned the class notes to Shi Qing. “There is only half an hour left. I won’t have the time to read the notes. Thank you.”

  “Don’t pretend to be holy and pure. It’s fine that you don’t want it.” Shi Qing did not pretend to be polite to Qiao Nan. She had made the biggest effort by taking the initiative to lend her the class notes. Since Qiao Nan did not want the notes, she would not be so foolish to insist that she took them.

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  “Xiao Qiao, you……” When Qiao Nan returned to the classroom, Zhu Baoguo pulled her to the side. He had yet to finish his sentence when he saw Shi Qing coming back right behind Qiao Nan.

  Zhu Baoguo stopped in mid-sentence upon seeing Shi Qing. He waited for Shi Qing to leave before he continued. “Haven’t I told you that this woman is not to be meddled with? When school reopens next time, I will help you deal with her.”

  If Xiao Qiao looked for Shi Qing now, she would only be bullied by her.

  “Don’t worry. Nothing happened. In fact, Shi Qing is quite reasonable, unlike Xu Tingting and the rest.” Among the people that she met, apart from her roommates, everyone, including Qiao Zijin, seemed as if they were scheming against her.

  But Shi Qing was different. Even though she was here to fight for Brother Zhai’s affection, she was very frank about it.

  There was one thing about Shi Qing that made Qiao Nan at ease. She was not like Qiu Chenxi who had not even started a relationship with Brother Zhai but always said that he was her boyfriend, and made it such that his actual girlfriend was the third party.

  “Is that so?” Zhu Baoguo did not believe her.

  “Look at me. Do I look as if there’s something wrong?” She looked perfectly fine.

  Zhu Baoguo gave Qiao Nan a serious look and sized her up for any injuries. “It seems that you’re fine. Xiao Qiao, you must hang in there. After today’s exams, you will be free. You must not be affected by Shi Qing. Let’s not compete for first place with her. We can go for second place.”

  Qiao Nan did not know whether she should cry or laugh. “I didn’t think too much. It’s all of you who think too much. I have never given myself that much pressure. I have never thought of always being in the first place. I just want to study hard and strive for a good future. I am not foolish enough to push myself to always remain in the first place.”

  Even if she was the top student, she was only the top student in Ping Cheng High School, if not the entire Ping Cheng.

  China was a huge country. There were lots of talents. She could never be the first in the country!

  What a joke!

  “Right, it’s good that you think this way. Xiao Qiao, have some water and hydrate yourself. The weather is so hot that we keep perspiring. We must be careful not to suffer from heatstroke.” Zhu Baoguo agreed immediately. He only had one goal in mind, and it was for Xiao Qiao to relax and sit for the exam as per normal, and not to be affected by Shi Qing.

  Xu Tingting sneered. Qiao Nan refused to admit that she had lost.

  When the exam was over and the results came out, and Shi Qing ranked first, she was interested to know whether Qiao Nan would be as composed and cool as she was now.

  “Well, all the exams are over. In five days’ time, remember to come back to school to get the report card. As for the streaming for the next semester, the school will post the results on the bulletin board. In September, some of you may still be my students, while some of you will not be. No matter what, I hope you can still have the learning spirit and attitude of class one throughout your three years in high school,” Teacher Liu stood at the podium and spoke to the students.

  “It’s almost time. All of you should go back. Don’t be too late.”

  “Goodbye, Teacher Liu.”

  All of the students felt liberated now that the exams were over.

  Regardless of how they did, there was at least a five-day buffer period for them to relax.

  Qiao Nan stayed close to the school. Hence, among her classmates, she was the first to reach home. “Dad, I am back.”

  “Nan Nan, you are back. It’s very hot today. Have a Popsicle to relieve the discomfort from the hot weather.” Qiao Dongliang took a Popsicle that seemed to be steaming and brought it to Qiao Nan. It seemed that it had just been taken out of the refrigerator.

  Qiao Nan did not really like cold stuff. In the past, they did not have the money for this. Now, she seldom ate them as it was not good for the body.

  But since Qiao Dongliang gave it to her out of kindness, she could not possibly refuse. She took it from her father. “It’s mung beans. Delicious! But Dad, how did you know that I would come back at this time? This Popsicle is very hard. It seems like it has just been taken out of the refrigerator.”

  “It has indeed just been taken out of the refrigerator.”

  “Oh? You just came back home?” It did not seem so.

  “No, it’s not the refrigerator outside. It’s our own refrigerator.” Qiao Dongliang led Qiao Nan to check out the newly bought refrigerator. “Look, I just took out the popsicle from the refrigerator.” Since the Popsicle had just been taken out of the refrigerator, it was very hard.

  “Dad, why do we have a refrigerator at home?” Even though they did not need to provide for Qiao Zijin and her mother, her father would not have bought the refrigerator. Did her father win the lottery?