My Beloved Grandfather

After making their way to the front, the two girls began searching for their names on the rankings—though they could also check via the school's software, the results usually wouldn’t appear until the afternoon. No one knew why the person in charge was so lazy.

Bai Yuyou was also scanning for her name. Honestly, finding herself among so many students wasn’t an easy task, but since she had her ranking from the last test, she started looking from around that position.

"……" After a full sweep, Bai Yuyou still hadn’t found her name.

She looked a little disappointed, her ahoge drooping like a ripe stalk of wheat.

Had she fallen behind?

Would Ye Shuang be disappointed?

"Yuyou, didn’t you find yours?" Tang Keke asked.

"No."

"Maybe you missed it? There’s no way you’d be at my level, don’t worry… I didn’t find mine either…" Tang Keke figured she could probably start searching from the bottom. The thought alone made her backside tingle as if anticipating a spanking.

This is bad. I don’t even dare look.

Tang Keke instinctively glanced toward the top of the rankings and froze. "She’s actually second?!"

"She?"

Bai Yuyou followed Tang Keke’s gaze and saw a familiar name in first place—

[1. Luo Xi

2. An Shiyu

3. Gao Qiqiang

4. ……

……]

Then Tang Keke checked An Shiyu’s scores and suddenly tugged at Bai Yuyou’s sleeve. "Yuyou… I just noticed something terrifying."

"What?" Bai Yuyou tilted her head.

"Look there—"

Following Tang Keke’s finger, Bai Yuyou realized An Shiyu’s Chinese score was actually a zero—yes, a complete zero. Yet, her other subjects were nearly perfect. Even so, the first-place student had only pulled ahead by twenty points!

"Tsk…" Tang Keke sucked in a sharp breath, her pupils shrinking. "A Douzong-level expert is truly terrifying!"

"But why did An Shiyu get zero in Chinese?" Bai Yuyou wondered. "Did she forget to write her name on the paper?"

"Could be. Or maybe the scanner missed her answer sheet?" Tang Keke sighed regretfully. "For such an important exam, she should’ve easily taken first place…"

"That girl who never cares about anything probably wouldn’t stay calm if she found out, huh?"

……

"Hm? You’re asking why I got zero in Chinese?"

In the infirmary, Ye Shuang was flipping through the early copy of the score report and couldn’t help but ask An Shiyu about her zero in Chinese.

"Yeah, how did that happen? Did you forget to fill in your student ID on the answer sheet?"

"Oh, that? I just didn’t feel like writing the essay. A thousand words is too much work, and the topic was something like 'My Beloved Grandpa.'" An Shiyu’s eyes turned into dull dots. "Anyway, I did the math, and my score would’ve still landed me in second or third place, so I just skipped it."

Ye Shuang: "……"

Are those even human words?

And isn’t deliberately sandbagging to second place even more attention-grabbing?!

Though, this essay topic was indeed weird.

Could it be that Grandpa An Shi had set the question just to fish for compliments from his granddaughter?

That would totally be like him.

He probably just didn’t expect her to hand in a blank paper.

"Somehow, I feel like that first-place student won’t have an easy time." Ye Shuang scanned the name on the report and asked, "When did you get this booklet?"

"This morning. I still have to enter all the data into the system by tonight, sort it, and then upload it to the school app. What a pain." An Shiyu swung her legs, her little leather shoes tapping against the desk.

"Hey, old man, wanna do it for me? I’ll let you touch my thighs."

"Pass."

"What if I’m wearing black stockings?"

"……"

Ignoring An Shiyu, Ye Shuang continued flipping through the booklet until he spotted a familiar name at 8th place.

8. Bai Yuyou

"She’s improved so much. We should celebrate tonight." Ye Shuang hadn’t expected Bai Yuyou to climb all the way to 8th. Maybe his tutoring was just that effective, or maybe the girl had worked hard enough.

Either way, he felt genuinely proud.

"But if we’re celebrating, I should check Keke’s position first." Ye Shuang started searching for Tang Keke’s name. If she hadn’t cleared the passing line, then celebrations were off.

At most, they could have a small, private one.

Otherwise, what if the poor girl ended up crying into her pillow?

Yinshan Academy’s admission cutoff for external applicants was determined by the number of candidates and a fixed quota.

But internally, the academy only required students to meet a relatively reasonable standard—not a strict 60% or 80%, but a passing score set by the teachers based on the exam’s difficulty.

Yinshan Academy didn’t enforce internal quotas. In other words, if every third-year student passed, they could all advance to fourth year together. There was no competition for spots.

This school had no shortage of classrooms, teachers, or dorms.

"Hm?" Suddenly, Ye Shuang noticed something and couldn’t help but smile.

"This girl really cut it close."

In the booklet, Tang Keke’s name was right there—and just below it was a glaring red line marking the passing threshold.

Meanwhile—

"Yuyou, Yuyou! You’re eighth! Number eight!" Tang Keke scanned the top names and suddenly realized Bai Yuyou had landed in 8th place!

"That’s amazing!" Tang Keke exclaimed.

Bai Yuyou stared blankly at her name in the 8th spot.

"Will Ye Shuang be happy?"

"Of course! You improved so much!"

"That’s good." Bai Yuyou seemed pleased, but then she asked, "Keke, where’s your name?"

"Huh?"

Tang Keke suddenly remembered the real problem—Bai Yuyou never had to worry about failing. That was always her burden.

"Keke, I found you."

Bai Yuyou pointed, making Tang Keke immediately cover her eyes.

"Yuyou, tell me… am I at the very bottom?"

"Yes, very far down…"

Tang Keke let out a wail, then asked nervously, "I-I-Is there a red line near me?"

"Yes."

"Ah—"

Despair filled Tang Keke’s heart. "Then… is the red line above or below me?"

"Above," Bai Yuyou said.

Keke felt as though ten thousand swords had pierced her soul. She weakly lowered her arms. "I’m done for. I’m gonna be a junior again."

But when she finally looked at the list, she realized the red line was actually below her name!

"Wait, wasn’t it above?" Tang Keke was stunned.

Meanwhile, Bai Yuyou, standing beside her, tilted her head and pointed at a loose red thread on Tang Keke’s clothes. "Above."

Keke: "……"