Chapter 13: The Instigator of School Bullying
On Monday, during the early self-study session, the teachers had already begun delivering the exam papers to the class representatives for distribution. The classroom buzzed with excitement as students compared scores and discussed the questions with their neighbors.
Zeng Xiuman turned around with her exam paper and asked, "An Wen, how did you do?"
"Not bad," An Wen replied.
"How about math? I broke my own record for the monthly exam this time!" Zeng Xiuman said cheerfully.
An Wen pulled out her math exam paper and showed it to her.
Zeng Xiuman gasped upon seeing it. "This test was pretty hard, and you scored 117 out of 120! How did you manage that?"
An Wen wanted to say: I just deliberately got one multiple-choice question wrong!
But that would have been too demoralizing, so she simply smiled without answering.
"An Wen got 117? That’s amazing! Tang Rui only scored 115," a girl with slightly curly hair suddenly interjected. Her voice was loud enough that the whole class turned to look at An Wen.
"The last problem was so difficult that even Tang Rui lost half the points. An Wen, you only lost three—that’s incredible! Can I take a look?" The girl stood up from her seat and walked toward An Wen, reaching out for the paper. Her slender fingers were adorned with glossy nail polish, her manicure neat and elegant.
Zeng Xiuman quickly introduced her. "This is our class belle—her name is Shi Jing."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Zeng Xiuman froze, realizing she had misspoken, and quickly shut up.
An Wen remembered this Shi Jing—she was the one who, along with her friends, had subjected the original host to school bullying. The original host had been cornered and mocked every time she stepped out of the classroom, sometimes even threatened after school.
Because of them, the original host had refused to leave her seat whenever she came to school.
An Wen didn’t let go of the paper as Shi Jing tried to take it. She looked up, meeting Shi Jing’s threatening gaze.
"You don’t want to lend it to me? It’s just a paper—it’s not like I won’t return it," Shi Jing said with a smile.
Shi Jing was the group secretary of the Rocket Class, beautiful and outgoing, well-liked by her classmates. Seeing this scene, other students couldn’t help but speak up for her.
"An Wen, Shi Jing just wants to take a look. It’s no big deal among classmates."
"Yeah, she just wants to check the answers."
Shi Jing slowly withdrew her hand and said, "Fine, if you don’t want to, forget it."
Her words made everyone think An Wen was being petty—unwilling to lend out a simple math exam paper.
As soon as Shi Jing finished speaking, another girl walked over, linking arms with her. "If she doesn’t want to lend it, forget it. Which question did you get wrong?"
"It’s not about wrong answers—I just wanted to see the top scorer’s paper," Shi Jing said, her voice tinged with grievance.
The girl grew indignant at Shi Jing’s tone. "What’s so special about the top scorer’s paper? It’s just a sheet of paper. If she doesn’t want to share, just go look at Tang Rui’s."
With that, she tried to pull Shi Jing away. But then An Wen handed her exam paper to Zeng Xiuman.
Shi Jing frowned at the sight, and the girl flared up. "An Wen, what’s your problem?"
Shi Jing had been asking her for so long, yet she refused to give it to her, only to turn around and hand it to Zeng Xiuman. Wasn’t this a slap in Shi Jing’s face?
An Wen looked at her with clear, innocent eyes and said, "Xiuman asked me first."
"What?"
"I haven’t been back in the country for long, so I’m not too familiar with some of your ways. But shouldn’t things follow the principle of first come, first served?"
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