Chapter 30 He Regretted It!

Time flew by in the blink of an eye. The matter of Gu Ci making a bet with Duan Jingyi, and leading the students of Class Twelve to storm into the discipline director’s office, had been turned into a short video and was spreading like wildfire across the school forum.

Some people watched Gu Ci’s speech again and again, stunned by her boldness and protective nature, and captivated by her charisma.

As for the bet itself, no one thought she stood a chance, but the number of people mocking Gu Ci had dwindled considerably.

At First High, the monthly exams would shuffle the seating arrangements, while weekly exams were still held in each class’s own room.

Each desk at First High was equipped with a wireless-controlled system; whenever an exam was about to begin, the central system would send out a command, and the partitions on either side of the desk would automatically shut, making it impossible to open them again.

This greatly reduced the chances of cheating and was convenient for the students, saving them from having to haul their heavy books out of their desks each time.

It was said that the principal had managed to acquire this system after much persuasion from a friend, and it had been in operation at First High for seven or eight years, still not phased out.

As the exam was about to start, Lu Youming patted Gu Ci’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Gu Ci. With us here, even if your grades aren’t as good as Duan Jingyi’s, we’ll make her beg you to stay, tears and all.”

Wen Zixin nodded enthusiastically, encouraging her, “That’s right, Gu Ci. Don’t feel any psychological pressure, and if things get really tough, we still have Brother Xiao!”

Gu Ci was helpless, but didn’t bother to explain anything about her own grades.

It seemed that no one in the class believed her.

The exams at Songdu were held in sync with the whole province, and Chinese, Math, and English were all marked out of 150. After the afternoon Chinese exam and dinner, it was time for the math exam.

Though the weekly exams were still held in their usual classrooms, the seating order had been scrambled.

Shi Xuetong happened to sit diagonally across from Gu Ci.

As she was still racking her brains over the first page of the math test, she noticed that Gu Ci had already turned her paper to the last page and put her pen down.

Later in the English exam, Gu Ci handed in her paper even earlier.

Barely forty minutes into the exam, she left the room, having submitted her paper.

Shi Xuetong thought that Gu Ci, knowing she couldn’t beat Duan Jingyi, had simply given up.

She immediately felt a surge of malicious joy.

She could hardly wait to post about this on the forum.

Yet, her own questions weren’t finished.

Shi Xuetong’s family was merely middle-class, and her grades in Class Twelve truly couldn’t compare to those of students from other classes.

So she had to take every exam seriously, unlike her classmates who could skip exams on a whim.

This thought made her resent Gu Ci even more.

The others had wealthy families, but Gu Ci was just a country girl living under someone else’s roof—how could she act like that?

With that, Shi Xuetong lost her motivation, hastily finished the rest of her test, handed in her paper, and went onto the school forum to post a comment.

[I saw someone hand in their paper early—looks like she’s already given up. Pretending to be capable without any real strength, it’s disgusting! I hope she gets kicked out of school soon!]

Soon after, several replies appeared below.

[Gu Ci’s gotten arrogant, huh? She’s about to get slapped in the face. Let’s see how she keeps pretending.]

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[Your tone is so vicious—do you have a grudge against Gu Ci? Judging from your words, you’re also from Class Twelve, right? I was there too, and to be fair, I think Gu Ci’s values are pretty solid. The previous posts were way too extreme and biased.]

[Gu Ci agreeing to this bet was impulsive, but there’s no need for you to say that.]

Shi Xuetong’s face darkened instantly.

What were these people thinking? Had they already been won over by Gu Ci again?

---

Elsewhere, Gu Ci walked through a small alley on her way back to the apartment complex.

Yushui Huating was two streets away from First High, and Gu Ci had just discovered a shortcut the day before.

The dim streetlights fell across her face, softening her usually distant expression.

Halfway down the alley, Gu Ci suddenly heard erratic breathing from a shadowy corner.

A faint, metallic scent of blood drifted to her nose.

Her eyes swept carelessly across the ground, and she spotted a leg sticking out at the border between light and darkness.

Blood was spreading beneath it.

Gu Ci paused at the sight of wounds not caused by ordinary weapons, but her expression remained unmoved.

She continued walking forward, and as she passed by the man’s leg, she stepped over it without the slightest hesitation.

The man on the ground suddenly spoke in a hoarse, weak voice, “Help me…”

Gu Ci pretended not to hear, her footsteps unbroken.

Seeing this, the man hidden in the shadows grew anxious.

A cold, bloody glint flashed in his eyes. Suddenly, he lunged at Gu Ci, a crimson-stained knife appearing in his hand.

It was a knife that had seen blood.

Gu Ci sidestepped lightly, easily avoiding the man’s attack.

Shock was written plainly across his face.

Only someone trained could know how difficult that move was to dodge, yet this young girl in front of him had evaded it so effortlessly?

A vicious light flickered in his eyes. Without hesitation, he launched another attack, aiming straight for Gu Ci’s vital spot!

But—

With a loud thud, Gu Ci flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him hard into the ground.

She then stepped decisively on his already injured leg, the knife fell, and a wooden box rolled across the pavement.

Gu Ci glanced at it indifferently, then ignored it.

Looking down at him from above, she smiled faintly, “Are you looking for death?”

---

The man’s lips went pale, his face twisted in pain and rage, unable to hide his anger. “Why won’t you help me?”

Gu Ci regarded him as if he were a fool. “Read too many CEO novels, have you?”

The man was stunned.

Gu Ci nonchalantly took out her phone and, in a half-hearted manner, explained, “If you run into a bad guy, you should ask the police uncle for help.”

“Especially someone as obviously suspicious as you.”

With that, she dialed the emergency number.

The man nearly spat blood.

Regret! He was drowning in regret!

If he’d known it would turn out like this, he’d never have chosen to appeal to this seemingly sympathetic girl, nor tried to threaten her when she ignored him.

But it was too late for regrets now.

---

The next day, it was time to wait for the results.

All the teachers at First High who had no classes that morning gathered together to grade the papers.

In the math group,

A teacher looked up from the pile, stretched, and curiously asked her colleagues, “I just graded a perfect score—anyone else have one?”

Several teachers chattered, “I don’t, but the paper was pretty easy this time, so there should be more.”

“I found one too,” another said, raising her paper, “Here’s another perfect score.”

A teacher glanced curiously at Jin Jieqiao.

Jin Jieqiao was currently suspended, but the teachers could still help grade the students’ papers, so she’d come to assist.

The discipline director wasn’t involved in grading, so the math group had quietly recruited Jin Jieqiao to help out.

“Ms. Jin, how about you?”

Jin Jieqiao was grading papers, her mind still a bit foggy.

Upon hearing “perfect score,” she responded with a distracted “Ah?” clearly not paying attention.

The math teachers exchanged knowing looks and didn’t press further.

Ms. Jin was a good person: kind, easy-going, and excellent in many ways—just too naive about certain things.

Making a bet with the discipline director—what good could come from that?

Not only would she stay suspended, but even if she were reinstated someday, as long as the director remained, things would be tough for her…