Chapter 12: The One Clinging to a Powerful Leg, Yucai Middle School

Su Yuhang realized her predicament a beat too late. He held his forehead and said, "Let me clear a path for you, or the bell will ring before you even get inside."

Zhang Wanyuan was truly moved to tears by this.

Before she could take two steps, Ding Juncai rushed over from behind, grinning broadly. "Class monitor, let's go together! Don't leave me behind!"

Zhang Wanyuan: "..."

By the time the three of them returned to the classroom, the students who had run out to check their grades were also trickling back in. As soon as Feng Ying entered the classroom, she lunged toward Zhang Wanyuan in an exaggerated manner, looking as if she wanted to cling tightly to her leg. "Wanyuan—"

Her voice was mournful and winding, giving Zhang Wanyuan goosebumps all over.

"Speak properly. Are you trying to ascend to the heavens?"

Hearing this, Feng Ying immediately sat up straight, her back as stiff as a board. Only after taking out her books did she turn to look at Zhang Wanyuan, blinking her eyes rapidly as if she were having a spasm.

Zhang Wanyuan slapped a book onto her forehead. "Speak normally. If you act weird again, I'm ignoring you!"

"Don't be like that, Wanyuan! I'm counting on you to help me improve my grades! Did you see the scores on the bulletin board earlier?" Feng Ying looked at Zhang Wanyuan with wide, pleading eyes, like a little daughter-in-law.

Zhang Wanyuan shook her head honestly. "I didn't go look; I couldn't squeeze in at all. But I know my own ranking."

Feng Ying was so envious that she felt like crying when she thought of her own grades. "Do you know what rank I got?"

Zhang Wanyuan shook her head again, but Ding Juncai, standing to the side, eagerly raised his hand to answer. "I know, I know! Her city ranking is in the eight-hundreds. If she messes up again, she'll probably be past one thousand!"

"That's still better than you, who can't even be found past the one-thousand mark!" Feng Ying threw an eraser at Ding Juncai, but he caught it, leaving her stomping her feet in anger.

Zhang Wanyuan stopped them from starting a war. "Alright! Stop messing around! If you keep it up, I'll ask to switch seats with Ding Juncai and let you two fight it out to your hearts' content."

At the thought of that scenario, Ding Juncai shivered. He shut his mouth obediently—if he had to sit with Feng Ying, would he even survive?

Feng Ying also stopped immediately, shaking her head frantically. "No, no, no! I'm counting on you to help me improve! You know this city mock exam was particularly difficult. Look, you managed to score so well on such a hard paper. Good Wanyuan, lend me your textbooks for two days. I'll copy all your notes. Maybe if I catch some of your good luck, I can break through the siege during the Yucai Middle School entrance exam. If I don't get into Yucai, my parents will break my legs!"

Zhang Wanyuan’s grades had always been good, usually third or fourth in the class and top twenty in the grade, but this time she had made a qualitative leap—not only taking first in the class but also placing in the top one hundred in the city-wide exam.

When Ding Juncai heard this, he also asked to copy Zhang Wanyuan's notes. However, he planned to copy them at school, while Feng Ying wanted to borrow them to take home. At this stage, Zhang Wanyuan mainly relied on practice exercises for consolidation, so the notes were secondary. Since they were eager to improve, she naturally wouldn't refuse.

When others saw how readily Zhang Wanyuan agreed, they all came over to borrow her notes.

The bell rang, and as expected, the homeroom teacher brought up the grades the moment she walked in. She showered Zhang Wanyuan with praise and told the other students to learn from her, which made Zhang Wanyuan feel very embarrassed. As a result, she was called out by every subject teacher throughout the day to be "paraded" around. She spent the entire day under the envious, jealous, and hateful gazes of her classmates, feeling like she was sitting on pins and needles. As soon as school ended, she vanished.

For the next month, Feng Ying and Ding Juncai adopted the attitude of "hardworking warriors." Zhang Wanyuan wasn't used to seeing them so serious.

On the day of the Yucai Middle School entrance exam, Zhang Wanyuan woke up early. After a simple wash, Father Zhang leaned over and asked, "Girl, if you don't plan on attending Yucai, why are you still going to take the exam? If you feel unwilling, just take it seriously. If you really want to study there, just go; don't worry about the money."

In Father Zhang's eyes, this move was just Zhang Wanyuan being reluctant and still wanting to study at Yucai Middle School.

Zhang Wanyuan looked at her father in surprise and laughed. "Dad, thank you, but you really don't need to doubt me. I truly want to go to No. 1 Middle School. I just promised my friends, and it would be too unreasonable not to show up. Besides, doing a test paper is a chance to gain insight; I'll just treat it as gaining experience."

Seeing Zhang Wanyuan's relaxed demeanor, Father Zhang finally believed her. Since she said she was just joining in the fun, he stopped worrying. The father and daughter had a leisurely breakfast, and Father Zhang rode his motorcycle to take her to Yucai Middle School.

Zhang Wanyuan arrived early. The gates of Yucai Middle School were already open, and while the building serving as the exam hall was cordoned off, people could walk around elsewhere.

Father Zhang dropped her off and reminded her to do her best before leaving.

Zhang Wanyuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just then, Feng Ying and Ding Juncai arrived one after the other. Both heard Father Zhang's voice and said nervously, "Wanyuan, what do I do? I'm so nervous. Every time I get nervous, I need to use the bathroom."

Feng Ying pitifully pressed her head against Zhang Wanyuan's shoulder, eyeing Ding Juncai warily.

Ding Juncai curled his lip and rolled his eyes in disdain.

With all three of them gathered, they stepped into Yucai Middle School together.

The familiar security guard, the familiar gate passage, the familiar greenery—all of it filled Zhang Wanyuan with a thousand emotions. In her past life, this was where she had spent three years, but it hadn't brought her many fond memories; instead, it brought endless regret. Standing here again in this life, she could view it calmly, knowing she was destined to have no further entanglement with the rights and wrongs of this place.

As soon as Feng Ying entered the school, she looked around and whispered into Zhang Wanyuan's ear, "Let's go find a bathroom."

Zhang Wanyuan glanced at her, pointed in a direction, and said calmly, "There's a bathroom on every floor of the exam building. The men's room is at the end of the hallway, and the women's room is in the middle. If you're not in a rush, you can hold it until you enter the exam hall. If you can't wait, you can go to the experimental building. The labs there are usually locked, but the bathrooms are open to anyone."

After Zhang Wanyuan finished, she noticed Feng Ying staring at her blankly. "How do you know that so clearly?"

Zhang Wanyuan paused and joked, "I came to check out the exam site in advance."

Feng Ying finally had an "aha!" moment and dragged Zhang Wanyuan toward the bathroom.

When the two of them came out, Zhang Wanyuan's brows were slightly furrowed. Feng Ying noticed her change in expression. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Zhang Wanyuan nodded, feeling guilty, and clutched her stomach. "My period started, I'm a bit uncomfortable."

She really was on her period, but the discomfort was a lie.

Feng Ying panicked immediately. "What should we do? I've never heard you say you get cramps before. Why did you have to fall apart at such a critical moment!"

"Don't worry, let's find a place to sit for a while. Maybe it'll pass soon," Zhang Wanyuan comforted her.