Chapter 14: Exam Results

    Today, Li Yifei had to go to hear the results of her exams. It was her first time riding the bus alone because her brother's results wouldn't be announced for another two days, and he was busy working at the fried chicken shop. She didn't want to bother him.

    Although Li Yifeng had already asked if she wanted him to come along.

    While having her brother there would have been comforting, she knew she needed to learn to rely on herself sometimes. Li Yifeng had his responsibilities too, so she declined his offer.

    At first, Li Yifeng seemed concerned, but then he seemed to realize something and didn't insist on accompanying her.

    Actually, if her brother had pushed just a little more, Li Yifei might have given in.

    Now, she stood nervously at the bus stop, a place she had become familiar with over the past month. When the bus number 7 pulled up, she stepped on it.

    Taking the bus alone wasn't difficult. All she had to do was tap her bus card on the magnetic sensor as she boarded. It was simple, really, and there were still seats available, so she didn't even have to stand.

    By 10 a.m., she had arrived at the school. After getting off the bus, she walked toward the entrance, where Li Ying and Xu Kai were already waiting. These two always arrived before her, almost as if they didn't want her to wait alone.      

    When they saw her, Li Ying smiled sweetly.

    "I couldn't sleep at all last night. I don't know how my results will turn out," Li Ying confessed.

    "If you did remember what you studied, your aunt is going to lose her bet," Xu Kai replied.

    "Exactly, Kai Kai. You're really good at predicting exam questions!" Li Ying praised him.

    Worried about leaving her out, Li Ying quickly added,

    "And Yifei, too! You helped me a lot by summarizing all the other subjects."

    "We’re friends. We have to help each other out anyway," Li Yifei said.

    When they reached the results board, a crowd had already gathered. Some of their classmates who were walking out gave the group strange looks, almost as if they were looking at something unusual.

    "What is it?" Xu Kai asked.

    "Uh…uh," one of the students stammered, seemingly at a loss for words.

    "Just go take a look for yourselves," another classmate chimed in.

    So, the three of them pushed their way into the crowd. Naturally, they started by checking the lower-ranked names. Li Ying found hers first and smiled, happy to see she was no longer in the bottom fifty.

    Next, it was Yifei and Xu Kai's turn to search for their names. Xu Kai found himself in the middle ranks. Since the results were combined from all the second-year classes, it took time to find their names.

    Xu Kai seemed satisfied, at least he had placed somewhere in the thirties.

    Li Yifei, on the other hand, still hadn’t found her name. Did she overlook it?

    "Still can’t find it?" Xu Kai asked while scanning the list above his own name to help her look.

    "I'll go check the bottom ranks again," Li Ying offered.

    Xu Kai checked up to the top ten before stopping and glancing back at her.

    "Maybe you’re in the top ten?" he joked but kept searching just in case.

    Li Ying continued scanning the list as well.

    Suddenly, Xu Kai froze, muttering to himself in disbelief, "No way… am I dreaming?"

    Li Yifei continued scanning the list after Xu Kai, searching all the way to the top. Her name, Li Yifei, was listed in first place. The name was large and bold, as the school always highlighted students who ranked in the top ten.

“There...”

    Before Li Yifei could say anything, Xu Kai covered her mouth and quickly pulled her away from the results board. Li Ying, seeing what happened, ran after them.

    They finally stopped under the shade of a large tree.

    “Did you find your name? What rank did you get?” Li Ying asked.

    “Li Ying, go back and check who got first place again. What’s the name?” Xu Kai prompted her.

    “First place? It's Huang Feihong, obviously. What kind of question is that?” Li Ying replied, confused.

    “Just go check again,” Xu Kai urged.

    Li Ying obediently ran back to take another look. Meanwhile, the other two stood by.

    “That’s my name, isn’t it?” Li Yifei couldn’t help but ask, feeling a chill run through her. Was this real? Was she really that smart?

    “I checked the name several times. Unless someone has the exact same name as you, there’s no mistake. Even the classroom listed matches.”

    Soon after, Li Ying came running back, her face filled with disbelief.

    “Slap me! This can’t be real, right?”

    “Well, it’s real. I doubt we’d all be dreaming the same thing,” Xu Kai said, smacking his own arm for good measure.

    “Yifei, how did you manage to get first place in the whole grade?” Li Ying asked.

    “Maybe it’s because I hit my head.”

    Li Yifei joked, as she couldn’t come up with any other explanation.

    Both of her friends nodded in agreement. After all, there seemed to be no other reason why someone who had always struggled with her studies could suddenly top the class.

    Finally, the three of them sat down to process the news. As they did, a classmate from another room walked by and noticed them. Curious, he came over to join the conversation.

    That classmate was Lu Han.

    “This time, our class beauty is definitely getting a new nickname!” Lu Han teased.

    “Mhm,” the three friends responded in unison.

    “Why are you so shocked? You just scored first place! And you!”

    Lu Han pointed at Li Ying.

    “You don’t have to be in the remedial class anymore, right?”

    Li Ying, who had been so excited for Yifei that she’d forgotten about herself, realized it with a smile.

    “Right! This is all good news. We can go anywhere we want this summer!”

    “Me too! And Xiu Min as well.”

    “It’s all thanks to Yifei’s notes!”

    If Lu Han hadn’t mentioned Xiu Min, the three of them wouldn’t have even noticed that he was also nearby.        

    “That’s true,” Xu Kai agreed.

    “So, everyone who bought Yifei’s magic notes should have passed too.”

    “Well, if they actually read them, they would have.”

    “Come on, let’s celebrate! Let’s go grab something to eat. This is the best summer break ever.”

    The celebration took place at a popular international fried chicken chain, K Fried Chicken. For Li Yifei, despite it being a famous brand, she had never had the chance to experience it before, having grown up in a wealthy family.

    As they entered, she felt a bit excited and watched how her friends lined up to order.

    But Xu Kai spoke up, "You girls go find a seat. I’ll get the food."

    "Yeah, go ahead," the two other guys chimed in support.

    Li Ying then took Li Yifei by the hand to find a seat, while the boys handled the ordering. As they walked to their table, a few people glanced at Li Yifei and whispered.

    They overheard some comments like,

    "She’s really pretty," which both Li Ying and Li Yifei caught.

    "That other girl is cute too," another voice remarked.

    One of the boys stood up and walked over to their table.

    "Can I get your number?" he asked, clearly he was quite handsome.

    If it had been the original Li Yifei, she would have given it to him, using it as a way to charm him. But for the current Li Yifei, she didn’t see the point, and thinking of her family’s status, she didn’t want to bother with such things.

    "Sorry," Li Yifei replied, declining his request.

    Li Ying was surprised too.

    "Excuse us," Xu Kai’s voice cut in as he arrived with Xiu Min and Lu Han.

    Seeing three more boys, the guy quickly backed off.

    "Yifei, that guy was really good-looking," Li Ying commented.

    "Good-looking, sure, but who knows if his personality is good," Lu Han remarked.

    "Exactly," Xiu Min agreed

    "You can’t just judge people by their looks," Xu Kai added. "That was Yi Fan, the star from AA Technical School. He’s a player."

    Hearing this, everyone at the table turned to look at Xu Kai.

    "How do you know that?" someone asked.

    "Connections," Xu Kai said casually.   

    "Oh," the two guys nodded in understanding.

    "Maybe it’s just rumors, like the ones people spread about Yifei," Li Ying, who was a fan of good-looking guys, defended him.

    "Then why didn’t you ask for his number yourself?" Xu Kai shot back.

    "He didn’t ask me!" Li Ying complained softly.

    "Let’s just eat," someone suggested, redirecting the conversation.

    Li Yifei was fine with letting the matter drop, especially with the tempting smell of fried chicken in front of her.

    "Yeah, before the chicken gets cold and loses its flavor. Let’s eat." Xiu Min agreed, siding with Li Yifei.

    And so, the party became all about the fried chicken. Li Yifei couldn’t help but marvel at the crispy outer layer.

    It truly fit the description of "crispy on the outside, soft on the inside," especially when dipped in ketchup—it was the perfect combination.

    She really enjoyed it. She regretted that she hadn’t tried it sooner. Growing up, her grandfather and the nanny had always insisted that fried chicken was unhealthy and lacked nutritional value.

    But if it was truly so bad, why were there so many branches all over the place?

    Of course, back then, she hadn’t dared to argue.

    Perhaps the handsome reaper who had sent her back in place of the original Li Yifei did so because there were many things in life she hadn’t yet tried.

    If she hadn’t spent all her money on a new phone, she would have bought K fried chicken to take home. Unfortunately, she was out of cash. She would have to wait until school resumed, and after the next exams, she could sell her answer notebooks to make some money again.