Isn't This Just Bullying Xia Yanchun

Xia Yanchun retreated to her room looking a bit flustered and stayed behind closed doors.

Shen Nian didn't stay at her house any longer either; it was too awkward.

Once home, he tinkered with his livestream in his room. He hadn't forgotten about his study room stream.

...

The next day, Monday.

Spring was in the air. Early in the morning, a few cute little birds were hopping and chirping along the campus paths, huddling together adorably and fluttering away whenever someone approached.

Shen Nian propped his chin on his hand and pulled the curtains back.

The results of the second mock exam wouldn't be out until noon, so the entire morning was spent going over the test papers.

Senior year was just an endless cycle of doing practice problems and reviewing exam papers.

The hot-blooded passion from the 100-day pledge had already cooled down, and they were back to the normal student routine. Mondays inevitably brought drowsiness; as soon as class ended, half the class passed out on their desks.

The other half who didn't sleep only stayed awake because they had to go to the bathroom.

Even Xia Yanchun was sleepy. With her eyes half-closed, she rested her head on her arms and faced Shen Nian's direction.

It wasn't that she was looking at Shen Nian; she just had to face one side, and turning his way was simply more comfortable.

Shen Nian wasn't sleepy at all. He quietly watched Xia Yanchun's super cute sleepy state and gave her a goofy smile.

Xia Yanchun sluggishly yawned, then quickly flipped him the bird before turning to face Li Shiyan's side.

She ignored Shen Nian.

Shen Nian wasn't annoyed. He just felt bored and wanted something to eat, but his backpack had been devoid of snacks for a while.

Just as he was thinking about taking a trip to the school store, Ma Mingfan suddenly turned around.

"Shen Nian, did you write your answers on your science comprehensive paper?"

"A little bit. For the big questions, I only jotted down some formulas."

"That's fine, let me see it. I just want to check my answers for the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank sections."

"Here." Shen Nian pulled the somewhat crumpled test paper from his desk drawer and handed it to Ma Mingfan.

"Is this really the second mock exam paper? It looks like ancient parchment."

"Hey, hey, watch your mouth." Shen Nian's mouth twitched as he slapped Ma Mingfan's arm. "Who said test papers can't be wrinkled? If we weren't reviewing it, I'd have thrown it away already."

"You score so high, do you even need to listen to the paper review?"

"I don't. I just check the answers to see where I went wrong and note it in my mistake book."

"Damn, I need to start a mistake book too!"

"Go ahead, you'll be silenced by how much you have to write."

After saying that, Shen Nian headed for the school store. If he didn't go now, class would start soon.

Being late meant having to ask for permission to enter, and it was inherently a bit disrespectful to the teachers. It would be one thing if it was Ms. Su, but Teacher Yan was so cute, how could he be late to her class?

Haha, of course, Ms. Su was cute too. It would be nice if he could bring a little something every time he went to the office. He already gave Teacher Yan Wangzai milk, so maybe he could give Ms. Su some tomato-flavored Lay's potato chips, or Copico chips if Lay's weren't available.

With good grades, your test papers were always being borrowed. Shen Nian's scoring rate was at least 95%. If their answers weren't far off from his, their scores wouldn't be low.

Especially for the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank sections, people checking answers always assumed the top student got a perfect score.

Shen Nian also felt he got a perfect score on those sections anyway.

He bought some hand-torn beef jerky and returned to the classroom just in time for the pre-class reading.

The beef jerky didn't have a strong smell, so he could sneak bites during class.

Fun fact: Shen Nian never said that a teacher being cute would earn his respect.

During class, as Yan Yuzhu earnestly reviewed the test paper on the podium, Shen Nian buried his head in a pile of books and gnawed on beef jerky.

Xia Yanchun watched Shen Nian eat two pieces of beef jerky, debating whether she should write his name down for a disciplinary infraction.

Pure malice, hehe.

Ultimately, she didn't write his name down, because she wanted to eat some too.

"Psst!" she hissed.

Shen Nian glanced at her and instantly understood. Taking advantage of the moment Yan Yuzhu turned around to write an answer, he handed Xia Yanchun two pieces of beef jerky.

Never underestimate the tacit understanding of eighteen-year-long rivals!

Xia Yanchun hurriedly took it, shared a piece with Li Shiyan, and secretly started munching in the back row.

The back row was generally a zone of freedom. By piling books high, you could do whatever you wanted without anyone caring. Even if the teacher saw, they would probably turn a blind eye.

"Here's your paper back," Ma Mingfan whispered, passing Shen Nian's paper backward.

Passing a science comprehensive paper during English class—very true to life.

"What's your estimated score?"

"If your multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blanks are all correct, I'll probably score over 250 on the science comprehensive this time."

"Not bad, you're heading toward the excellence mark."

"A god is merely starting to get serious," Ma Mingfan said, pushing back his hair.

Shen Nian sweatdropped. He hadn't acted this pretentious even when he scored 700.

Whatever, he hoped Ma Mingfan would keep scoring higher and higher.

After school during the lunch break, Su Kexi posted a transcript at the back of the classroom.

The second mock exam was incredibly important. Even Chen Dong, who usually loved rushing to the cafeteria the most, held back. Compared to the cafeteria's five-spice giant chicken legs, he wanted to see his grades first.

Grades were like black pantyhose; if they weren't out, fine, but once they were, how could anyone resist looking?

"Anxious heart, trembling hands!" Shen Nian squeezed his way in. This time, he didn't look from the bottom up, but looked straight at first place.

First Place: Shen Nian, 724 points, Grade Rank 1. (As expected of me)

First Place: Xia Yanchun, 724 points, Grade Rank 1. (Who do you think you are, appearing right below me? The pressure!)

Third Place: Li Shiyan, 682 points, Grade Rank 18. (Please enter text)

Seventh Place: Chen Dong, 667 points (How is my good bro's ranking so stable?)

Thirteenth Place: Ma Mingfan, 628 points. (Does he really possess the Will of Fire?)

Fifteenth Place: Chen Qiuyu, 626 points. (Not bad)

Twentieth Place: Liang Jing, 598 points.

Scanning the list, Shen Nian noticed that everyone had improved to some extent, with Ma Mingfan making the biggest leap.

In the blink of an eye, this guy had gone from being at Shen Nian's old level to scoring 628.

In schools with less outstanding academics, he would undoubtedly be a top scholar worthy of the school's special attention.

But at Cinan No. 2 High School, one of the best high schools in the province, it seemed rather ordinary. This score wasn't exactly dazzling here.

Regardless, progress was a good thing, especially such significant progress.

Improving alongside Ma Mingfan was the little loli.

While 666 points showed a slight slump, 682 points maxed out her stats, and her ranking had jumped considerably. She had probably overperformed a bit.

Good background, good grades, good luck. It was a good thing the little loli had a soft personality. If she had the personality of a strong, domineering woman, Earth Online might as well shut down its servers. What kind of garbage balancing would that be?

Having finished looking at the grades, Shen Nian squeezed out of the crowd and looked at Xia Yanchun.

As soon as he saw Xia Yanchun's fair, soft little face, he couldn't help but smile.

It was impossible not to chuckle.

"What's with that expression..." Xia Yanchun felt a chill. Seeing how crowded it was, she hadn't squeezed in to check the scores. Shen Nian's expression gave her a very bad feeling.

"Guess who got first place this time?"

"It's definitely not you," Xia Yanchun huffed.

"No, no, no." Shen Nian wagged his finger.

Although he had tied with Xia Yanchun, this was his first time taking first place, even if it was shared with her.

Fortunately, his surname was Shen. In alphabetical order, Shen came before Xia.

Wasn't this essentially walking all over Xia Yanchun?

Shen Nian was already so thrilled that she was experiencing a mind-blowing rush of pure euphoria.