Jian Yi glanced at Wei Tianxi before speaking again. “What are you worried about?”
Wei Tianxi’s face darkened. “Jian Yi, are you really clueless or just pretending?!”
“I’ve laid it all out for you. What are you playing at?”
“You think we’re still at Yude School? Your grades were fine there, but they might not cut it here! Since you’ve gotten chummy with Shen Ju and the others, why not ask them to help you out too?”
Wei Tianxi clicked his tongue, feigning helplessness. “I’m just giving you advice, okay?”
“It’s only tutoring one more person. If you just mention it, who knows…”
“And then what?”
“What?”
Jian Yi chuckled. “Looks like you’re the one pretending not to get it.”
“You’re giving me advice to ask Shen Ju and them for help. Since I’m close to them, my odds of success are way higher than anyone else’s.”
“Once I’m tagging along for tutoring, what do I owe you? How do I thank you?”
Jian Yi tilted his head. “Let me think… Should I share all my tutoring notes with you?”
“After all, that’s the only way I can help you out.”
Wei Tianxi stared at Jian Yi, his throat tightening involuntarily.
“You…?”
Jian Yi’s smile faded as he sized Wei Tianxi up from head to toe. “If I remember right, your grades in the Elite Class have been pretty ‘stable,’ haven’t they? Easy to spot your name from the bottom.”
“You pull out all the stops sometimes, and it’s even easier to see…?”
Jian Yi drawled, turning Wei Tianxi’s face beet red.
At the same time, a chill ran through him.
He hadn’t expected Jian Yi, who had just transferred to Qichen not long ago, to already know his situation so well!
“You hate me, don’t you?”
Jian Yi suddenly pressed. “You hate me but still want to use me. Think your act is pretty good?”
“High schoolers should keep things simple.”
“Acting like hot shit at this age usually just means you’re full of yourself.”
Wei Tianxi’s face twisted in embarrassment.
“Jian Yi! What gives you the right…? You think topping the exams at Yude means you can beat me here?! Fine, let’s see how you do at the end-of-month exam!”
Wei Tianxi sneered. “Don’t end up not even beating Guan Shen Ju.”
Jian Yi arrived at the classroom door with his thermos, bumping right into Shen Ju.
“Where are you off to?”
“Just checking why you’re only getting back now, bro.”
As he spoke, Shen Ju scampered eagerly after Jian Yi, looping back around.
Jian Yi sat back down, lost in thought.
Shen Ju returned to his seat too, sprawling over his desk to watch Jian Yi. “Did something happen?”
His gaze drifted downward.
Shen Ju noticed the damp spot on Jian Yi’s right sleeve.
He pressed his lips together.
This month had been swallowed by endless quizzes and exams—his mind crammed full of test questions and lectures, no room for anything else, let alone acting on it.
Task progress had stalled again.
Jian Yi turned to him. “You remember my dad, right?”
Shen Ju’s brows furrowed, nose wrinkling. “Of course.”
Cheating, abandoning his wife and son, emotional abuse.
The mistress showing up at their door…
And in the end, blaming it all on Xu Ru.
Because she wanted to keep him close, Xu Ru was the one who ruined the family.
Shen Ju’s eyes dropped at the thought.
Actually, I’m the one who ruined Xu Ru’s family.
“What are you overthinking now?”
Jian Yi sounded exasperated, glancing at his left arm. “I told you before—the main reason was me. He didn’t want a disabled son. All that ‘pressure’ and ‘can’t handle it’ was just excuses. More importantly, the guy’s a lowlife from the start. Good thing they divorced early, or with a dad like that, I might’ve gone off the rails too.”
“Don’t say that.”
Shen Ju frowned in disagreement.
“But bro, why bring him up out of nowhere?”
“I’m wondering…”
Jian Yi paused before continuing. “In my memory, Jian Zhan Guo was pretty good-looking. The woman he cheated with came from a rich family, but she wasn’t too bright—how else would she fall for a married man and even come to our door to humiliate us? She got her wish in the end, though. Jian Zhan Guo married into her family as a live-in son-in-law.”
996 spectated the drama eagerly, unable to resist: 【So what happened next? Come on!】
【You humans are way too dramatic.】
Shen Ju: […]
But he was curious too about why Jian Yi brought it up.
“I’m wondering if that woman has a kid too, and if they’re at Qichen.”
Shen Ju’s eyes widened. “How’d you come to that conclusion?”
“Who knows.”
Jian Yi reached out and pinched Shen Ju’s cheek. After all, he’d just transferred to Qichen—there had to be a reason for the unexplained hostility.
“I don’t want Mom coming to the parent-teacher conference at the end of the month.”
Even so, Xu Ru insisted on attending.
She wanted to see for herself how Jian Yi was doing here.
Their relationship still felt a bit strained, so when Jian Yi suggested she skip the end-of-month parent-teacher conference, it made her overthink. Is Jian Yi drifting further from me as his mom? The more she thought, the more scared she got—and the less she wanted to “listen” to him.
She wanted to act tough, to hold onto her dignity as a mother.
In the end, she came.
By contrast, Qin Soxi was raring to go, gearing up for both kids’ parent-teacher conferences.
The Elite Class and Experimental Class sounded different, but they were pretty much the same—Qichen’s prized students, so they often shared classes and events to ensure “targeted” teaching. Even without one-on-one tutoring, the combined classes were small.
All top picks or heavy payers.
Events for both barely hit forty kids total.
No wonder Pei Yan the study god carried such prestige—these classes were tiny, even with the buy-ins, and the rest were academic stars.
Individually, their scores shone.
Even Wei Tianxi’s did.
But in this elite pond, external edges dulled, looking mediocre.
At Qichen, unless you gave up or had the right mindset, if you could compete, would compete, and survived the grind—you just kept grinding harder.
Not just students; parents too.
Most of Qichen’s parent committee hailed from the Elite or Experimental Classes.
Qin Soxi was one.
But spots weren’t fixed—only thirteen seats, and everyone wanted in.
The committee represented parents in school management, oversight, and bridging school-home ties. Surface perks, sure, but deeper: networking, resources. Joining signaled strength, prime for alliances.
This parent-teacher conference was the last for the first semester of senior year.
The committee’s sole change opportunity.
The big criterion? Students’ performance.
Before Shen Ju transferred, Qin Soxi earned her spot on Guan Mulin’s scores alone—no Guan Family pull. She shared his study tips and parenting advice in the group chats. Guan Mulin consistently ranked high at Qichen.
December’s four exam weeks culminated in the final major test—the key for committee changes.
Only it had full rankings.
Earlier quizzes were in-class, self-graded with immediate review.
Majors got collected, quick-scored, returned for review—teachers gauged progress without full stats.
Streamlined for speed and efficiency.
Eased some anxiety under pressure.
Only somewhat.
The barrage still stressed some kids.
Otherwise, news of Pei Yan tutoring Shen Ju and others wouldn’t spark such frenzy.
Wei Tianxi crammed at home too.
His mom, Wei Jing, eyed a committee spot via him.
A big score jump and rank climb, plus maneuvering, and she’d likely snag it.
So Wei Jing nagged endlessly.
It’s for your own good, she said.
Connections benefit the Wei Family.
Laying groundwork for your future.
But Wei Tianxi’s tutoring predated this month; gains were meager.
Like the guy who dropped 100k on Pei Yan’s notes—not lazy, just couldn’t crack it. Stuck, couldn’t improve or even hold steady…
So when Jian Yi transferred—a top Yude student—Wei Tianxi soured.
Because his stepdad was Jian Zhan Guo.
Wei Tianxi despised Jian Zhan Guo, sneered at him.
His mom valued him; post-marriage, she skipped kids for years, then struggled to conceive. No bio kid yet—Jian Zhan Guo didn’t dare complain, but Wei Tianxi knew he hadn’t quit. Stuck as live-in, divorce was risky.
Lately, Wei Tianxi iced him out.
Jian Zhan Guo sweet-talked his mom, but she saw Wei Tianxi as her only son.
Wei Tianxi lorded over Jian Zhan Guo, supreme disdain. Anything tied to him couldn’t be worthwhile.
Heard Jian Zhan Guo had a disabled kid, Jian Yi.
Heard the old family had a freeloader too.
What a trash heap.
It fueled his superiority.
No wonder he clings. No wonder he won’t go back or ask. Who’d touch that mess?
No wonder he grovels to me.
The Wei Family had declined, never matching Guan or Pei peaks. Getting into Qichen took effort; there, he groveled, schemed into Han Chengfeng’s circle. But against Jian Zhan Guo? Total dominance.
The abandoned family—once humiliated by his mom—was beneath even that.
Wei Tianxi never rated them.
Just poked Jian Zhan Guo with it occasionally.
All that warped superiority shattered when Jian Yi transferred.
