Everyone's been reborn, so who would bother finding a wife on their own?

Chapter 87 The Fallen Genius: Little Cloud

Thursday afternoon, right after the first class ended, during the long break.

The classroom was noisy; some people were catching up on sleep on their desks, some were munching on snacks, and some were chatting about games.

Zhao Qihang was bragging to Lu Ciyuan in the last row that he was sure he would get 120 on his math test this time.

Lu Ciyuan chewed on his fingers, looking at him with a mixture of belief and doubt.

Chen Xu sat next to him, flipping through a physics textbook. He got stuck after flipping through two pages, frowning as he stared at the force analysis diagram. He hadn't understood it after five minutes.

Song Huan leaned back in her chair, hands in her pockets, staring blankly out the window.

Xiao Yunqing sat beside him, head down, writing an English test paper. The pen tip made a scratching sound as she wrote quickly.

She's been doing practice problems these past few days, from morning till night, not even letting a ten-minute break between classes go by.

Sometimes Song Huan wanted to say something to her, but when she saw her head down as she wrote her homework, she swallowed her words.

The door was pushed open.

Wang Qing walked in quickly, her high heels clicking on the floor with a faster pace than usual.

She walked to the podium with a stack of papers in her hand and slammed one of the papers heavily on the table.

"Bang."

The classroom fell silent instantly.

The person lying down suddenly raised their head, the person munching on snacks stuffed them into a drawer, and the person chatting shut their mouth.

Everyone stared at the paper on the podium, their hearts sinking.

History class isn't starting yet, is it? What's Wang Qing doing here at this hour? What's that piece of paper?

Wang Qing stood on the podium, her hands resting on either side of the table, her gaze sweeping from left to right and then from right to left.

She didn't speak, just stared at them, her gaze like the winter wind, stinging their faces.

"Can you still play games? Can you still laugh?"

The voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a nail, hammered into everyone's forehead.

The classroom became even quieter, so quiet that you could hear the distant, muffled sounds of people playing ball on the playground outside the window.

Some people lowered their heads, some stared at the table, and some even held their breath.

"Where's the class monitor?" Wang Qing asked.

Xiao Yunqing stood up.

"Go and call everyone who went to the toilet back. Not a single one can be missing."

Xiao Yunqing responded with a "Yes" and quickly walked out of the classroom.

Her voice came from the hallway, hurried, "Back to the classroom, Teacher Wang is here."

The footsteps became chaotic; someone ran back and stopped at the door.

When he saw Wang Qing standing on the podium, his face turned pale, and he slipped back to his seat.

Xiao Yunqing was the last to walk in. She sat down, placed her hands on her knees, and nervously gripped her school uniform pants.

After everyone was seated, Wang Qing picked up the paper and held it up.

It's a report card.

Everyone gasped.

"You probably have a pretty good idea of ​​how your class did on this monthly exam."

She flipped the report card over, didn't read it aloud, and spoke first, "To be honest, I've been teaching for fifteen years and have taught six graduating classes. I've seen all kinds of students and all kinds of results. But I didn't expect you all to do this."

She slammed the report card on the table, her voice louder than before, startling the whole class.

"Let me tell you, in this monthly exam, out of more than twenty classes in the entire grade, you ranked tenth. Tenth! Do you know how much higher the average score of the ninth-ranked class was than yours? Fifteen points! Fifteen points! How much are you behind the first-ranked class? Sixty points! Sixty points! Do you think that getting into the top high school means everything is settled? Do you think you can just lie around and relax for the next three years of high school? Let me tell you, you're dreaming!"

Her voice grew louder and louder, like boiling water bubbling out.

No one dared to move, no one dared to speak, and everyone kept their breathing to a minimum.

"He Zhao!" Wang Qing suddenly called out a name.

The boy sitting in the second row stood up. He was short, wore glasses, had a pale face, and didn't talk much. He had a very low profile.

When he stood up, he braced himself on the edge of the table, but he always seemed a little unsteady.

"Do you think you're so smart? You came up from being the top student in the whole school in junior high, right? You think you're the best in the world? You got the highest total score in your class this month, but where do you rank in the grade? Thirty-eighth! Thirty-eighth! Do you know how many points the top ten in the grade are behind you? Fifty points! They go to university while you go to a junior college, you know that! You were number one in junior high, but now that you're in this high school, you can't even see their shadow!"

"You have the nerve to bring up homework with me? Saying you don't want to do homework after getting first place in history? Fine, if you don't want to do it, then get out! Go see if the other top students do their homework! You dare tell me you don't want to do homework? I think you really don't know your own limitations!"

He Zhao lowered his head, his face turning from white to red.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

Wang Qing didn't give him a chance and continued reading.

"Song Huan!"

Song Huan stood up.

Having learned from He Zhao's example, Song Huan stood up straight, her expression calm, her eyes fixed on the blackboard, neither humble nor arrogant.

Wang Qing glanced at him, her gaze cold.

"Second place. Your total score is three points lower than He Zhao's. Three points, that's just a multiple-choice question. But look at your ranking in the grade, fifty-second. Three points less and you're fifty-second, one point and you're ranked one place! You think you did very well? You think you're amazing? Oh, you came from Yucai No.1 Middle School, that's impressive, but let me tell you, with your score, you wouldn't even be considered excellent at Jiangcheng No.1 Middle School. Lift your head up and take a good look at your grades, what a piece of crap they are!"

Song Huan stood there, staring at the table, her face expressionless.

The people in the classroom gasped. If the first and second place students were being scolded like this, what about the others?

Zhao Qihang was in the last row, tucking his head into his collar, wishing he could hide himself.

Lu Ciyuan stopped biting his nails and hid his hands under the table.

Chen Xu lowered his head, his face towards the table, and even his breathing became soft.

Xiao Yunqing sat down next to Song Huan, and after seeing him sit down in silence, she clenched her fists even tighter.

Her innermost thoughts drifted over, one after another, like leaves scattered by the wind, frantically searching for a place to land.

[He came in second place, that's amazing.]

[And what about me? What did I get?]

Why haven't they called my name yet?

Did I do poorly on the test?

[Oh no, I'm sure I bombed the exam.]

Song Huan heard it, but there was nothing she could do.

He stood there, and Wang Qing was still looking at him. He couldn't turn his head or speak; he could only stand there.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Xiao Yunqing breathing heavily through her mouth, her body trembling with tension.

After Song Huan sat down, Wang Qing continued reading.

Third place: Feng Nian.

Feng Nian stood up from her seat, her face oval, her expression calm and composed.

Wang Qing glanced at her, the girl who had scored the highest in the class, her tone softening slightly, but still cold.

"Third place, sixty-seventh in the grade. Ten points lower than Song Huan. Your English is dragging you down; go back and work on it yourself. I heard you're particularly inattentive in English class, and the teacher has already called you out several times. If it happens again, call your parents over. I want to see if they're diplomats; how can they let you be so careless about English!"

Feng Nian nodded and sat down.

"Fourth place, Lin Xiaoyu... Fifth place, Zhang Hao... Sixth place, Zhao Qihang!"

Zhao Qihang stood up from the last row, his chubby body springing up from the chair with lightning speed, as if he were on a spring.

He pushed up his glasses, looking very smug.

He ranked sixth in the exam, sixth in his class, and should be a shoo-in for the top 100 in the grade.

"What are you laughing at?" Wang Qing looked at him. "Sixth place is something to be proud of? Look at your math. You got the second part of the big question completely wrong, and you didn't even get any points for the steps. You think you did well? You're far from passing."

Zhao Qihang's smile froze on his face, his lips drooped, and he lowered his head.

Lu Ciyuan sat next to her. He had been itching to retaliate, but after hearing Wang Qing scold Zhao Qihang, he felt a little better.

But he soon lost his balance.

"Ninth place, Lu Ciyuan."

Lu Ciyuan stood up, took his finger away from his mouth, and hid it behind his back.

He didn't dare look at Wang Qing, staring at the table.

"Ninth place. Look at your chemistry score! Forty-eight! Forty-eight! Are you here to study or just to coast through?"

Lu Ciyuan lowered his head, his face turning red.

"Tenth place, Chen Xu."

Chen Xu stood up; he was very tall, and standing in the last row, he looked like a tree.

He kept his head down, his face facing the table.

Wang Qing glanced at him. "Tenth place. Physics was alright, but the other subjects were terrible. You only got 41 points in English, 41 points! I can understand if you're patriotic and not good at English, but you can't be this bad. Are you planning to go back to farming with this score?"

Chen Xu's face turned from red to purple, and he lowered his head even further.

When Song Huan heard the tenth place finish being announced, her heart skipped a beat.

Xiao Yunqing is not in the top ten!

He glanced at her sideways. She sat there, her face and lips pale, as if all color had been drained from her.

Her thoughts were in complete disarray.

[I'm not in the top ten.]

[What about the top fifteen?]

[What about the top twenty?]

[No, no, I won't do that badly on the test.]

[What if?]

Wang Qing continued reading, like a ruthless executioner.

"Eleventh place, Li Siqi... Twelfth place, Wang Haoran... Thirteenth place, Sun Xiaoxiao... Fourteenth place, Zhou Ziheng... Fifteenth place, Wu Yutong..."

After reading all five names, Xiao Yunqing was not among them.

Song Huan's palms were sweating.

But he couldn't move or speak.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Xiao Yunqing was completely lost and his eyes were vacant.

"Sixteenth place, Zheng Hao... Twentieth place, Su Xiaoran..."

Still no!

Song Huan clenched her fists, her heart pounding.

Xiao Yunqing sat there, completely frozen in place.

Her inner voice was no longer as panicked as before; it had transformed into something more terrifying—quiet and desperate.

[Without me.]

[Still not me.]

What was my ranking?

I wasn't even in the top twenty.

Did I get the lowest score on the exam?

No, no...

Song Huan stood there, feeling a tightness in her chest.

He heard her heart's voice, each word softer and more broken than the last, like glass falling to the ground and shattering into pieces.

He wanted to tell her it was okay, it was just a monthly exam.

However, under Wang Qing's icy gaze, he dared not make any move.

Wang Qing turned to a page of the report card and continued reading.

"Twenty-first place, Xiao Yunqing!"

The classroom fell silent for a second.

Xiao Yunqing sat there, her head suddenly lowered, as if someone had pressed down on the back of her head.

Her ponytail hung down, obscuring her face and preventing her from seeing her expression.

But her shoulder twitched slightly, very lightly, very quickly, like being pricked by a needle.

Wang Qing raised her head and looked down at the girl in the third row who was looking down.

Her voice didn't soften just because she was the class monitor; on the contrary, it became even harsher.

"Xiao Yunqing, you always seem quite attentive in class, your notes are neat, and you hand in all your assignments. I thought you were a good student, but look what happened? Twenty-first place. Tell me, have you even put your mind to your studies? What are you doing?"

Every word was like a knife, cutting into Xiao Yunqing's body.

She lowered her head even further, her ponytail hanging down, obscuring her entire face.

My shoulders started to shake, not just a slight tremor, but an uncontrollable, persistent tremor.

Song Huan felt a tightness in her chest as she listened to those words.

After Wang Qing finished speaking, she lowered her head and continued reading the names that followed.

The classroom was as quiet as a tomb, with only her voice calling out names and scores, each word uttered one by one.

Song Huan lowered her hand from the edge of the table and let it hang at her side.

He stretched to the side, his fingers touching Xiao Yunqing's hand.

Her hands were on her knees, clutching the hem of her clothes; her fingers were icy cold, and her palms were covered in cold sweat.

He gently hooked his finger around the back of her hand, as if afraid of breaking something.

Xiao Yunqing didn't move; her head was still down, and her ponytail was still hanging down.

Song Huan felt her hands trembling.

He withdrew his finger, pulled two tissues from the table, and handed them over from under the table.

Xiao Yunqing lifted her hand from her knee, took the tissue, and moved quickly, as if afraid of being seen.

She pressed the tissue against her face, and after a while, a small patch of the tissue became damp.

She crumpled the tissue in her hand and stuffed it into her pocket.

After reading out the last person's name, Wang Qing placed the report card on the podium.

She glanced at the whole class; all fifty-four students had their heads down, not one of them looked up.

"Let me tell you, with your current grades, you won't even get into a second-tier university. You think getting into No. 1 High School means everything will be fine? Do you know how many students from No. 1 High School fail to get into a university every year? 15%! There are 54 people in your class. At that rate, at least eight of you won't get into a university! Who wants to be one of those eight? Raise your hand!"

Upon hearing this, Song Huan's lips twitched; she knew Wang Qing was talking nonsense.

Their high school boasts a 97% undergraduate admission rate and a 90.5% special admission rate, so it's safe to say that Wang Qing is just bluffing.

However, the students were genuinely frightened.

No one raised their hand; no one dared to move.

Wang Qing took a deep breath, picked up the report card, and tucked it into her lesson plan.

"I'll print out the new seating chart tonight. Parents will sit in this seating arrangement at tomorrow night's parent-teacher meeting. Let you parents see where your children are standing in the class."

She picked up her lesson plan, turned around, and walked out of the classroom.

The high heels clicked on the floor, the sound growing fainter and fainter until they disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The classroom was deathly silent.

No one spoke, no one moved.

Someone was lying face down on the table, their face buried in their arms.

Someone was staring blankly at the table.

Someone was looking out the window. Outside the window was the playground, where people were running and shouting. The sound was far away, separated from the classroom by a pane of glass, like two different worlds.

Song Huan leaned back in her chair, which creaked loudly in the quiet classroom.

He turned to look at Xiao Yunqing, who was still looking down, her ponytail hanging down, obscuring her face.

Her hands were on her knees, clutching the wad of tissues, which were already crumpled beyond recognition.

"Xiao Yunqing," he called softly.

She didn't move.

"Little Clouds".

Her shoulders twitched, but she still didn't look up.

But her inner voice drifted over, softly and fragmented, like petals dampened by rain.

[Twenty-first place.]

I ranked twenty-first.

[I've never done this badly on a test.]

Will my mom scold me?

Will Dad be disappointed?

Will he think I'm useless?

[Would it be... that I can no longer sit next to him?]

When Song Huan heard the last sentence, her heart felt like it had been struck by something.

……

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