Chapter 13: 013 That Transfer Student Has Great Grades?

“Goodbye, Auntie Song.”

Seeing Ji Shaojun come out, Bai Lian politely bid farewell to Mrs. Song.

Mrs. Song stood at the doorway, watching the two of them leave.

She returned to the car and held her phone for a long while before dialing a number.

The person on the other end answered quickly: “Mrs. Song?”

It was Bai Qiming.

Mrs. Song told the driver to start the car. “President Bai, I just saw A-Lian. She came to Beicheng to transfer her household registration; she’s on the 10:35 train. Once she goes back, she won’t be a member of your Bai family anymore. She has a childish temper—would you like to send Butler Bai to pick her up first?”

On the other end of the line, Bai Qiming put down his pen.

He looked out the window. It had been nearly ten days since Butler Bai told him Bai Lian had left, and he hadn’t heard a word from her since.

In the end, Bai Lian had taken that apprenticeship letter with her. In that regard, she was very much like her mother: she would rather burn everything to the ground than let anyone else benefit.

In truth, after ten days, half of Bai Qiming’s anger had dissipated.

But—

“Thank you for telling me this, Mrs. Song,” Bai Qiming said, pulling his gaze back. “However, Bai Lian is already eighteen. She can decide for herself whether to stay or go.”

With that, he hung up.

The Bai family was large enough that raising one Bai Lian wouldn’t be difficult.

But Bai Qiming also knew about the conflict between Bai Lian and Bai Shaoqi.

If he brought Bai Lian back now after she had taken the apprenticeship letter, it would inevitably cause friction in Bai Shaoqi’s heart.

Bai Qiming thought long-term. Bai Shaoke’s future was currently bright, and he couldn’t afford to lose a giant watermelon just to keep a sesame seed like Bai Lian.

So, he could only act as if he had never received Mrs. Song’s call.

Today was also a choice between Bai Lian and Bai Shaoke, but clearly…

There was no need to choose at all.

At the Bai residence.

The eldest patriarch of the ancestral home heard about the matter and seemed somewhat concerned. “Find an auspicious time tomorrow and strike her name from the register.”

“Strike it tomorrow?”

“Naturally,” the patriarch pondered for a moment. “Remember to make sure Shaoqi and Shaoke know about it.”

Striking Bai Lian’s name was a small matter.

The important thing was to let those two siblings see the Bai family’s stance.

Simply crossing out a name was, to them, not even worth mentioning.

**

On the other side.

Although Mrs. Song had anticipated this, she still sighed softly upon hearing Bai Qiming’s words.

She had called Bai Qiming not just to inform him of Bai Lian’s whereabouts, but also to see what choice he would make.

Mrs. Song took out her phone. Thinking that Song Min should be in class, she simply sent a WeChat message—

【Come home early tonight; I have something to tell you.】

Usually, if Song Min had nothing going on, he would go to the library with Bai Shaoqi to discuss difficult problems from the Jiangjing preparatory camp.

But since his mother asked for him, he would come straight home after school.

When he returned, Mrs. Song was using shears to prune some flower branches. She spoke slowly: “I wanted to talk to you about Bai Lian.”

Song Min’s expression was cold and detached. Hearing the name, there was no ripple on his face: “Her?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Song said softly. “She has been officially removed from the Bai family genealogy. You still have the marriage contract that was set for you both when you were children. If you have no objections, we’ll find a time to tell the Bai family and then make it clear to Bai Lian. How does that sound?”

Song Min didn’t even think about it: “Whatever.”

Mrs. Song didn’t have many strong opinions about Bai Lian; Bai Lian was beautiful.

She had watched Bai Lian grow up and had some affection for her.

But that was all.

Compared to Bai Shaoqi and Bai Shaoke, that bit of affection seemed insignificant.

Mrs. Song snipped off a stray branch.

She shook her head, feeling that Bai Lian was still too young and hot-headed, not knowing what was truly important.

**

On the train, Bai Lian was in a very good mood.

Not only had she transferred her household registration, but she had also taken care of the Song Min situation in the process.

She naturally knew that Mrs. Song had gotten out of the car specifically to probe for information.

Ji Shaojun, however, remained extremely silent throughout the journey. He had originally thought that by following Bai Lian, he would see the Bai family, and he had planned to help negotiate some terms if they wanted her back.

He hadn’t expected the Bai family to never show their faces from start to finish.

It was nearly eleven at night.

The train finally arrived at Xiangcheng Station.

At this hour, the buses had stopped running, and there were few taxis near the station.

The two of them walked out of the station and prepared to find a taxi on the roadside. As soon as they stepped out, Bai Lian saw Jiang He squatting by the side of the road, staring at a tree.

“Why are you here?” Bai Lian walked up to him and introduced him to Ji Shaojun, “This is the first friend I made when I came to Xiangcheng.”

“Waiting for you. My brother hasn’t come back yet.” Jiang He looked up, looking a bit dazed. “Hello, Uncle.”

Seeing this refined-looking child, Ji Shaojun didn’t know how to respond, but he was surprised by how politely the boy greeted him. Flustered, he handed the snacks he had been keeping for Bai Lian over to Jiang He.

Ming Dongheng stood coolly to the side.

By the time they dropped Bai Lian and Ji Shaojun off at Qingshui Street, Jiang He was still clutching the hem of Bai Lian’s shirt.

Ming Dongheng was used to it; Jiang He’s behavior was always strange.

He reported to Jiang Fuli.

Jiang He received a message on his watch and finally let go of Bai Lian’s shirt.

By the time Jiang Fuli arrived, Bai Lian had already gone inside.

He had just come from the lab and hadn’t changed his clothes yet. He lazily reached out and tapped on Jiang He’s car window.

Jiang He held a grudge and ignored him, remaining slumped against the window.

Jiang Fuli was unhurried: “I saw an MTS report last time. It said that children who stay up late don’t grow tall.”

Jiang He, who hadn’t even reached Jiang Fuli’s waist, suddenly looked up: “Are you sleepy?”

“I’m not sleepy,” Jiang Fuli glanced at him casually and asked sincerely: “You shouldn’t be sleepy either, right?”

“Oh, of course I’m not,” Jiang He said to himself. “I meant Uncle Ming must be sleepy. If he’s sleepy, we can go back now and let him go to bed first.”

Ming Dongheng was expressionless: “Yes, Young Master, I am very sleepy now.”

**

Xiangcheng High School.

Bai Lian caught the train on Monday, and after explaining the work-energy theorem to Ji Heng again on Tuesday morning, she finally came to school.

“Deskmate,” Bai Lian twirled her pen and tilted her head to look at Yang Lin, “could you lend me your biology notebook?”

The black pen spun flexibly between her fair, slender fingertips.

Yang Lin was the study committee member. Her hair was long and black, covering most of her face and neck. She wore the standard school uniform every day and rarely spoke to anyone.

She simply reached into her desk and pulled out two biology notebooks for Bai Lian.

Bai Lian took them and flipped through them. The notes were very clear and neat. In one of them, she saw a realistic drawing of an alleyway covered in flowers on both sides. This realistic style was very similar to those of Ji Heng and Ji Shaojun.

It seemed to be a few years old, but it had been well-preserved.

Bai Lian took it out and returned it to Yang Lin. Her dark eyes reflected Yang Lin’s face as she sincerely praised: “It’s very beautiful.”

Yang Lin was stunned and reached out to take it back.

After a long while, Bai Lian heard her give a soft “Mm.”

The first class in the morning was Chinese.

When Bai Lian’s deskmate behind her, Zhang Shize, arrived, Lu Lingxi had already finished analyzing an ancient poem.

“Report!” Zhang Shize ran to the classroom door, his school jacket zipper still undone.

Lu Lingxi stood by the podium, one hand resting on it as she looked at Zhang Shize and pointed at the clock on the wall. “Zhang Shize, you’re in your third year of high school, yet you’re still so lazy. Class starts at eight. Look, open your eyes and look at what time it is now!”

Zhang Shize looked at the clock hanging on the back wall and said with a serious expression: “7:70.”

Lu Lingxi: “…”

“Pfft—”

The students in the class suddenly burst into laughter.

Lu Lingxi was caught between laughter and tears, scolding: “Get in here already!”

Zhang Shize rubbed his nose and returned to his seat, feeling sheepish.

He had stayed up late last night trying to snag a photo of Yan Lu, so he had woken up late this morning. Seeing his mother still angry at his father, he had helped her prune some flowers for a while, and only realized he was going to be late when he snapped out of it.

The class ended quickly.

Lu Lingxi called Bai Lian to the office alone.

“I saw you getting along well with Yang Lin this morning,” Lu Lingxi handed a box of bandages to Bai Lian and said softly, “Could you give this to her? She has a wound on her left forehead.”

Bai Lian took it, tossed it in her hand, and raised her eyebrows playfully: “Let’s be clear, I’m not sure if she’ll take it.”

She was wearing the school jacket she had just received today, her hair still pinned up with a hairpin. Her lowered, beautiful eyes made her look very well-behaved.

The blue and white uniform didn’t look bulky on her at all.

She looked lazy and casual.

“It’s fine, just try.” Lu Lingxi sighed and remembered the main point. “There’s one more thing. We have a training class for top students, every day after school until eight in the evening, with practice problems from the Jiangjing University Affiliated School.”

Lu Lingxi didn’t know the specifics; the principal had called her on Sunday to ask if there was a transfer student named Bai Lian in her class, and that was how it was decided.

In any case, going to training wasn’t a bad thing.

“Okay.” Bai Lian put the bandages back into her school jacket pocket.

Back at her seat, Bai Lian looked at Yang Lin, who was busy doing homework, and said, “Deskmate.”

Yang Lin looked up.

Bai Lian quickly tore open a bandage, brushed aside her hair, accurately applied it, and let her hair fall back down.

The entire movement was smooth and fluid.

Yang Lin didn’t react for a long time.

Bai Lian thought lazily that the facts proved that sometimes one shouldn’t be too polite; Lu Lingxi was too polite, which was why she couldn’t even give the things away.

**

The training class for top students was in the lecture hall of the comprehensive building.

There were only a dozen or so people participating, less than one per class on average. When Bai Lian walked in, most of them had already arrived.

To the front left, a group of people sat centered around Chen Zhu.

On the right sat a few scattered boys; Zhang Shize’s deskmate, Ning Xiao, was also sitting there.

Bai Lian walked to the right and found an empty seat to sit down.

Although she had only transferred a few days ago, she was quite famous in the school, and her presence was everywhere on the forums. As soon as she arrived, people noticed her.

“It’s Bai Lian,” Ren Wanxuan was sitting to the left of Chen Zhu, with a boy behind her. She was quite surprised. “That transfer student? Damn, is her academic performance actually that good?”

There were many rumors in the school about Bai Lian being a top student because she was always reading or doing practice problems.

But no one expected her to be able to come to this training class.

Ren Wanxuan was working on the test paper handed out by the training class. Hearing the name “Bai Lian” from the discussions around her, she thought she had misheard.

“Who did you say?” she asked.

“There,” the girl in front was Ren Wanxuan’s number one follower, Shi Yutong. She pointed her chin to the right. “Her, Bai Lian, that pretty transfer student.”

Ren Wanxuan subconsciously looked over and happened to see Bai Lian putting away her bag and sitting down not far away. Her school jacket was tossed aside carelessly, and her eyes were as lazy as a beautiful cat.

Most of the people around were whispering about Bai Lian, as if she were the center of attention.

The topic always revolved around Bai Lian. “To dare to transfer in the third year of high school and get into our training class just a few days after arriving… Damn, could she be as much of a freak as Brother Zhu and Ning Xiao?”

The people here were all from Xiangcheng and had been in the competition class together since their first year, so they were very familiar with each other.

Hearing his name and Ning Xiao’s, Chen Zhu also looked up.

Chen Zhu was the hope of the Chen family for this generation. Unlike Chen Wei, he never caused trouble at school and was focused solely on his studies, often battling Ning Xiao for the top spot in the grade.

So, even though Ning Xiao was gloomy and didn’t talk to people, being very reclusive, Chen Zhu knew his name.

He had heard that someone’s science scores could rival Ning Xiao’s.

He spoke for the first time: “What transfer student?”

Seeing Chen Zhu ask, Shi Yutong quickly looked at him, half-envious: “Just Bai Lian. To be able to come here, her grades…”

“Her grades?” Everyone around was discussing Bai Lian, and even Chen Zhu had asked about her. Ren Wanxuan interrupted the girl.

She sneered, her gaze withdrawing with a mocking expression.

The others immediately sensed something unusual. The boy behind immediately asked: “Classmate Ren, do you know her?”

Most people looked over.

“On the initial placement test, her science score was 85,” Ren Wanxuan picked up her pen again, her tone almost mocking. “As for why she’s here…”

She didn’t even need to think to know why—

The school probably knew that Bai Lian was a relative of the Ren family.

**

A-Lian and little Jiang are out on the front page of the book, everyone don’t forget to give them a little heart~

If you don’t die in your studies, you’ll explode in your studies. I love studying!!

Hehe, sleep early~

(End of chapter)