Daydreaming about Me

Chapter 27

The report card was in a tabular format. The first column was the ranking, followed by names, individual subject scores, and the final row was the total score.

Shen Juan was slightly biased in his subjects; except for his relatively low Chinese score, his math and science scores were nearly perfect, especially physics, where he scored a full 100 points.

Lin Yujing felt she had never been so humiliated in her sixteen years of life.

Liu Fujiang was very excited. This was only the first monthly exam of the second year of high school, and they hadn’t yet conducted systematic reviews. Even though it was just the knowledge from this first phase of the semester, a score of 700 was already terrifying.

Class 1, the experimental class, had previously produced students who scored 700, but this was in Class 10.

Class 10 was the bottom class, with nearly a third of the students in the last examination room.

“Although the questions this time weren’t difficult, this score is still quite impressive. I secretly checked, and it seems like there’s one person in Class 1 who scored 700. I haven’t asked about the other classes, but even Class 1 only had one, so other classes probably don’t have any,” Liu Fujiang looked like he had scored 700 himself. “I also looked at the test papers, Shen Juan is a bit biased in subjects, his Chinese score dragged him down a bit. You even left one ancient poem blank in the dictation section, that’s two points, weren’t those free points? Do you not like studying Chinese?”

Shen Juan paused, seemingly considering how to answer Liu Fujiang’s question with fewer words, and finally nodded conservatively.

Liu Fujiang sighed, “That’s not okay. Your scores in other subjects are so good, but your Chinese score drags you down so much. Studying is not something you can be willful

about. If nothing unexpected happens, you should be first in the grade with this score. Now it depends on how much over 700 the student in Class 1 got. I heard it’s just a bit over 700, so your chance of being first is fifty-fifty, half and half…”

After discussing “you can’t skip memorizing ancient poems just because you don’t like them” with Shen Juan for ten minutes, Liu Fujiang turned to Lin Yujing, circling her scores with his finger. “Lin Yujing, I also looked at your paper. Your scores in other subjects are very balanced, but your biology is a bit lower in comparison.”

Liu Fujiang looked melancholy, “It’s seven or eight points lower than your chemistry and physics. Did you not like my teaching style? Or did I explain something poorly? Tell me what you think is inappropriate.”

Lin Yujing: “…”

Liu Fujiang seemed quite hurt. Lin Yujing hadn’t figured out how to respond when a teacher outside the office called Liu Fujiang away. He went out to talk with the teacher.

The biology office corner fell silent instantly. Lin Yujing turned her head. Shen Juan also looked at her, appearing relaxed and calm.

The report card lay between them on the desk, dominating their attention like an exaggerated backdrop.

Lin Yujing felt she read eight words and a question mark on Shen Juan’s calm face: ——Is this all you scored?

“…”

Lin Yujing felt genuinely hurt.

She slowly, inch by inch, straightened up, leaned back, and stared at him expressionlessly, “703? That’s a good score.”

Shen Juan made a sound, still leaning on Liu Fujiang’s desk, and complimented her, “You did well too.”

Lin Yujing felt a bit suffocated, nearly choked, and almost passed out. Mockery.

She, Lin Yujing the great, who was always first in her grade, was mocked by her deskmate who skipped classes, fought, slept in class, didn’t do homework properly, and even mistook Ohm’s law for 3.1415926.

She truly couldn’t understand. When she studied in the capital, there were many geniuses. Many smart people learned quickly, including Lu Jiacheng, who almost never studied after class but at least listened during class.

Lin Yujing couldn’t understand Shen Juan’s situation. Had she just never met a real genius before, or was Shen Juan secretly studying hard at home?

She moved closer, deeply puzzled, “You sleep in class every day and still score 703?”

Shen Juan rested his head on his hand, fingers touching his lips, and after a moment of silence, said slowly, “I took a break from school for a while due to some reasons.”

Lin Yujing thought to herself, I know, wasn’t it because you nearly beat your deskmate to death?

“So I’ve learned some of the content of the second year of high school before. It’s too simple; listening in class is a waste of time, better to catch up on sleep,” Shen Juan said.

“…”

“And I can’t always sleep; I’ll listen when it gets to the more difficult parts,” Shen Juan continued.

This reason made Lin Yujing feel a bit better. She sighed and asked, “How long did you attend classes before you took a break?”

“I don’t know,” Shen Juan raised his eyelids slightly, “About a week or so.” “…”

Liu Fujiang returned a few minutes later and analyzed Lin Yujing’s scores for another ten minutes, sincerely asking if she had any issues with him and why her biology score was

the lowest among the three sciences. It wasn’t until ten minutes into the self-study period that they left the biology office.

The last self-study period was taken up by ten minutes from the math teacher and another ten minutes by Wang Konglong. During Wang Konglong’s lecture, Lin Yujing was somewhat distracted.

Actually, she wasn’t against Shen Juan scoring higher than her; she wasn’t that petty. But whenever Lin Yujing thought about the things she had said and done before, she felt her thin skin stinging with shame. She felt thoroughly deceived by Shen Juan.

Her face felt swollen from the metaphorical slap.

To be fair, Lin Yujing recalled that Shen Juan had never actually said he was bad at his studies. Although teachers mentioned his habit of sleeping in class, and Wang Konglong would rage daily for him to pay attention, there had never been a specific comment about his academic performance.

During class quizzes and homework, he would typically only complete the multiple- choice questions, skipping the steps for the major problems and directly filling in answers—just enough to make it obvious that his work was either copied or guessed.

Lin Yujing remembered when they first became desk mates, and he wasn’t yet familiar with her, Shen Juan had said, “My English is okay.”

She also remembered his confident yet indifferent “My physics is also okay” when he was punished to copy Ohm’s law.

However.

Lin Yujing still felt deceived.

She felt like her previous behavior was that of an idiot, with the words “BIG FOOL” written boldly across her face. She wondered if Shen Juan had looked at her as if she were brainless, because in hindsight, she did feel quite brainless.

She had spent until 2:30 AM organizing physics review materials for him, fearing he wouldn’t understand, and had prepared both a Word document and a PowerPoint, complete with pictures and after-class exercises.

To capture the attention of this supposed poor student, she even went as far as creating a small advertisement.

But in the end, he got a perfect score in physics. And his total score was higher than hers.

I thought you were just a school bully.

Turns out you’re also a top student.

The teachers at No. 8 High School were indeed efficient. Liu Fujiang brought the grade rankings the next afternoon. The student in the experimental class who had scored over 700 had originally also scored 703, but he had reported to the teacher that he had mistakenly filled in one of the fill-in-the-blank questions and had three points deducted.

Thus, Shen Juan from Class 10 took the top spot, becoming the undisputed first in the grade. His deskmate, Lin Yujing, moved from third to second place but felt no joy.

Recently, Lin Yujing had been like a wilting eggplant, deflated and lacking energy, even speaking weakly.

This was how Li Lin felt. She thought it was because Lin Yujing’s guaranteed first place was snatched by Shen Juan, but what difference did it make? They were only two points apart! Lin Yujing was still the second in the grade, with a total score of over 700! Was she really that upset?

Li Lin, who had scored 350 in the monthly exam and was thrilled that her math grade had passed, felt like a genius in her studies, a prodigy with the potential to become a top candidate, couldn’t understand the world of these current top students.

Shen Juan couldn’t understand either.

He thought he was good at reading people. Lin Yujing wasn’t the petty type who would be unhappy just because she didn’t score as high as he did, so he hadn’t thought much during the exam and answered as usual.

But now his deskmate was indeed unhappy. It wasn’t because she scored two points less than him, so what was it?

Women’s minds were as hard to fathom as the sea, and Shen Juan really couldn’t grasp the intricate thoughts of young girls.

In the week following the release of the monthly exam papers, each subject teacher mainly reviewed the exams. With the first and second places in the grade both in Class 10, the class saw an increase in onlookers.

For instance, during breaks, there were noticeably more students from other classes “passing by” the door of Class 10, even though the classroom was at the far end of the fourth floor, and you’d have to walk through walls to really “pass by.”

When a girl “passed by” the door of Class 10 for the third time in the morning, with a face full of curiosity and excitement, staring at Lin Yujing, Lin finally lost her temper.

She slammed her pen down, took a deep breath, and looked up at the girl outside the classroom.

The girl met her gaze, froze, and stood at the door, staring back at her.

It was noisy during the break, with the classroom bustling and the corridor filled with the sounds of chatter and laughter. No one paid much attention to this side. Lin Yujing frowned and was about to speak when Shen Juan returned to the classroom. He walked over and stood at the door, looking down at the girl. “Excuse me, thanks.”

The girl looked up, met the cold face of the school bully, and ran away, blushing with fear.

“…”

Lin Yujing couldn’t tell if the girl’s expression was one of fear or shyness.

She sighed, lowered her head again, and tried to finish the biology problem Liu Fujiang hadn’t finished explaining. But she could still feel someone’s cold gaze.

Lin Yujing pretended not to notice for three minutes before she couldn’t help but look up. Shen Juan stood at the door, looking at her with a frown. “Why are you unhappy?”

“How can you tell I’m unhappy?” Lin Yujing replied expressionlessly.

“You don’t seem happy,” Shen Juan tilted his head, “Did I offend you?”

“No.”

“Is it because of the monthly exam?” Shen Juan was getting impatient, “It’s been a week, are you still mad?”

“I’m not mad. Why would I be mad? I’m happy. Little Lin, the teacher, is so good at teaching that her student scored full marks in physics,” Lin Yujing lowered her head and continued writing her biology paper, her pen moving quickly. “He even scored two points higher than Little Lin, the teacher.”

“…”

Even though the background noise during the break was loud, Shen Juan was sure he heard Lin Yujing grind her teeth.

“Just two points, one multiple-choice question,” Shen Juan leaned against the door frame, looking at her, frowning, finding it hard to understand. “If you don’t understand something, you can ask me. I’ll explain it to you.”

“…”

Lin Yujing paused, looked up in disbelief, and glared at him, “Are you mocking me right now?”

Author’s Note:

Shen Juan’s perfect score in physics added two years to his path to winning her heart (not really).