Chapter 9: Preparing for Exams

    When Tang Yifei got home, Grandma Li wasn’t back yet. Li Yifeng also noticed his sister looking around for her.

    “Grandma went to sell vegetables. People are out shopping at the market this time of day.”

    Hearing this, Tang Yifei’s memories resurfaced. Grandma Li sold vegetables at the local market, mostly wilted produce bought cheaply and resold for a small profit. They were laid out on plates, priced at just a few yuan.

    Did it make much money? Probably only enough to sustain herself.

    For someone of Grandma Li’s age, she should be taken care of by her children and grandchildren, not working to support herself. Tang Yifei couldn’t help but compare her to her own grandmother, who was her paternal grandfather’s younger sister—two completely different lives.

    But comparing them was pointless, their life circumstances were worlds apart.

    For now, what Tang Yifei could do was focus on preparing for her exams. First, she needed to copy Xu Kai’s exam notes for Li Ying, so her friend would have time to study before the exams.

    The only suitable place to work was the multi-purpose dining table.

    “Are you doing homework?” Li Yifeng asked.

    “Yeah,” Tang Yifei replied simply. She wasn’t ready to explain her ‘genius’ transformation, as her friends had called it.

    Still, if she passed her exams without needing remedial classes, it would probably make her family proud. Let’s call them that, as her real family had probably already drunk the soup of forgetfulness and moved on already.

    This family would surely be happy if she got better at her studies..

    Seeing his sister hard at work, Li Yifeng also opened his schoolwork and got to it.

    The old days of fighting over the computer were long gone.

    By six o’clock, the sound of the metal gate opening signaled Grandma Li’s return, carrying a few unsold vegetables. The siblings put away their homework, and the multi-purpose table transformed into their dinner prep space.

    Dinner consisted of stir-fried vegetables, which looked far from fresh. When their parents arrived home from work, this time they didn’t bring any food with them. After washing up, they all gathered at the table for a simple meal.

    Tang Yifei couldn’t help but mourned to the meals of the last two days.

    From now on, it would probably be wilted stir-fried vegetables, just like in the memories of the body’s previous owner.

    “How was your first day back at school?” her mother asked.

    “It was good.”

    Tang Yifei replied, her tone and expression matching her words. This visibly relieved her family.

    “And when she got home, she was doing homework too!” Li Yifeng added.

    Upon hearing this, Tang Yifei saw a mix of emotions flash across her family’s faces. If she picked up a book to study next, they’d probably be even more shocked.

    “That’s great. Education is important,” her father commented.

    “With Yifeng already being our hope, having Yifei join him would be even better,” Grandma Li added.

    Tang Yifei smiled inwardly, wondering if this was their way of encouraging her.           

    “I’ll do my best,” Tang Yifei responded enthusiastically, and suddenly, the tough, chewy vegetables in her mouth didn’t seem so bad anymore.

    If they were this tough, she just had to chew a few more times and swallow them all right away.

    This way of eating reflected the family’s need to be frugal.

    Tang Yifei also wasn’t sure how much her hospitalization had added to the family’s expenses.

    The fact that no one scolded her or found fault with her, unlike in the novels she'd taken from the maids to read, showed Tang Yifei that this family truly loved and cared for her.

    They didn’t favor Li Yifei’s younger brother to the point of belittling her.

    Even though they indulged him, her brother wasn’t spoiled.

    What a good family this was.

    After dinner, Tang Yifei helped her mother wash the dishes. She had improved considerably at this task—her hands no longer slipped as they had before. Soon, she’d be able to wash the dishes on her own, if her mother and Grandma Li trusted her enough to let her do it.

    Grandma Li, however, still circled around, keeping an eye on her.

    Once dinner was over, the dining table was quickly occupied by family members, each with their own tasks in front of them.

    Li Yifeng moved over to the computer desk to study.

    Tang Yifei remembered that there was a small folding table under her bed. The previous owner of the body had sometimes pulled it out to do homework on her bed.

    So, Tang Yifei returned to her room, unfolded the table, and began writing out answers for her English exam.

    Since it didn’t require much research, she finished quickly. Next, she pulled out her social studies textbook to review. Fortunately, the material wasn’t too different from what she had studied before.

    Grandma Li peeked into the room and seemed surprised by what she saw. She tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb her granddaughter.

    She couldn’t help but glance over at Tang Yifei, who was reading a textbook rather than a magazine—something the girl used to spend her pocket money on, even though she had very little of it.

    Though working a part-time job was fine, Grandma Li much preferred this image of her granddaughter focused on her studies. After all, children should prioritize learning.

    The next morning arrived with another breakfast of Grandma Li’s wilted vegetables, and a few sparse pieces of pork. They needed to eat what they had.

    Tang Yifei still opted to wear her face mask to school, even though her bruises had faded significantly thanks to Grandma Li’s compresses. Still, she didn’t want to invite curiosity or more attention to her face.

    Thus, today she was still wearing it.

    Her two close friends were already waiting for her when she arrived at school. They smiled widely as soon as they saw her.

    Li Yifeng then handed her over to their care.

    The atmosphere in the classroom was tense, with exams fast approaching. Students huddled in groups to discuss their studies, sat quietly at their desks, or whispered idle chatter, knowing it wasn’t the time to be loud.

    Tang Yifei thought it was actually a perfect time to be back at school.

    No one had much time to pay attention to her. Just as she was thinking this, she overheard a comment.

    “Some people don’t seem the least bit worried about the exams.”

    “Yeah, no kidding.”

    “No sympathy for the teachers who’ll have to give them remedial lessons.”

    It was unclear who the comments were aimed at, but they seemed to resonate with a few people in the class.

    The sound of bags being slammed down onto desks followed, startling the group who had been making the remarks—it was none other than Xing Fei’s lackeys.

    Tang Yifei silently labeled the situation as, ‘gossiping about others without realizing the blowback could come their way.’ In this case, it backfired.

    Li Ying didn’t need to lift a finger this time.

    She just smiled widely.

    "These are all the answers.”

    As for Tang Yifei, with someone else already dealing with the situation, she didn’t pay much attention. Her focus was now on handing over her notes to Li Ying before the bell for the next class rang.

    Instead, Xu Kai was the one who reached out to take the notebook. When he opened it and saw some of the answers, he realized he already knew a few of them. However, he was surprised that Tang Yifei had managed to solve them as well.

    There was one problem he only half-understood, so to verify whether Tang Yifei really was becoming a genius, he got up and went to ask the third-ranked student in the class for clarification.

    "You solved it already?" the third-ranked student asked, surprised.

    Hearing this, Xu Kai realized that Tang Yifei’s solution had been correct.

    Xu Kai just nodded, not mentioning who had solved it. He wanted to see the reactions of the other students when they realized that Tang Yifei had passed her exams, it would be fun to watch.

    He was also curious whether Li Ying would pass this time.

    As Li Ying’s childhood friend, Xu Kai wondered why he hadn’t thought of preparing answer sheets for Li Ying to memorize like this before.

    If he had done so, neither of his friends would need remedial lessons. It took this "new" Li Yifei to point out this simple solution.

    But there was no point dwelling on the past. They’d have to wait until the exam results were out.

    While Xu Kai doubted he could predict every exam question perfectly, he was confident he could guess more than half correct. It was just that he didn’t know all the answers.

    For top students, these matters were usually closely guarded. They might share problems, but they wouldn’t give out answers unless asked directly.

    Xu Kai, on the other hand, was just a diligent student—average overall—but he could manage well enough.

    After receiving confirmation, he returned to his desk and handed the copied math notes to Li Ying.

    "The answers are correct. Go ahead and memorize them," he told her.

    Li Ying’s eyes sparkled with admiration as she looked at Yifei. Xu Kai shared her thoughts. Maybe not just Li Ying who would get better grades.

    But Xu Kai himself would benefit from this too.

    During lunch, Xu Kai planned to ask about the problem he had taken to the third-ranked student, curious to know how Yifei had solved it. For now, though, he continued reviewing the English notes.

    Around 50% of the answers he checked were correct.

    For the other questions, he used the same method—confirming them with top students. Before he could finish, the bell rang, but his heart was pounding with excitement. It seemed like a miracle that Tang Yifei’s answers matched those of the top students.

    "How’s it going?" Tang Yifei asked.

    "Great!" Xu Kai replied, thrilled that his friend was doing so well and showing signs of improvement. He was genuinely happy for her.

    Li Yifei was undeniably beautiful. Her looks often caused people to stop and stare as they passed by, but it would be even better if her academic performance could rival that of Xing Fei, the top student in the class.

    Xu Kai hoped this miracle would last.

    And that both of his childhood friends, Li Ying and Li Yifei, would continue to improve.

    It was a far cry from the days when they would sit around daydreaming.

    While Li Yifei might be the most beautiful girl in the school, once they stepped outside or went to auditions, they’d realize that the world wasn’t short on beautiful people.

    The ones outside were not only beautiful but also had everything else going for them.

    At least for now, both of his beautiful friends seemed to be on the right track. Yifei diligently followed along with the teacher’s lessons, and Li Ying focused on reading the notes Tang Yifei had prepared, her hand moving as she wrote down everything, trying to memorize as much as possible.

    Though it wasn’t the ideal time to be doing this, Xu Kai felt reassured. His task was to continue predicting exam questions, paying attention to the teacher’s hints about what would be on the test, whether from the textbook or from handouts.

    He planned to help both his friends study.

    And hoping that Tang Yifei’s answers would continue to be correct.