Ji Nian never expected this.
She came as a week-long exchange student, only to run into two familiar faces at this school.
Ma Xiaofei was one thing.
But even Yang Qicheng, whom she’d only met once before, was here too.
Speaking of Yang Qicheng, one couldn’t help but mention Yang Xinyu, who had developed psychological issues after his mother passed away and his father swiftly brought home his mistress’s son, showering him with affection.
Yang Xinyu had since left the Yang household and was now living with his maternal grandparents. He was receiving regular treatment at a hospital under the Ji family’s name and attending school as usual.
With the student council’s help, his old friends learned that his sudden personality shift was due to illness. Everyone showed concern, and after his condition stabilized, he returned to school normally. During summer vacation, he even went abroad and sent Ji Nian plenty of gifts.
As for Yang Xinyu’s irresponsible father, who drove his legitimate son out of the house for the sake of his mistress’s child—word of that had spread throughout the industry. Especially when it somehow involved the renowned Ji family. After Yang Qicheng returned home, his father beat him so badly he almost wished he could crawl back into his mother’s womb.
Now, whenever Yang Qicheng saw Ji Nian, his entire body ached.
It all started because of her…
Because he’d run his mouth and said a few things about her.
"Yang Qicheng, what are you doing? What kind of behavior is this?"
Teacher Gao was baffled as to why this troublemaker had suddenly dropped to his knees in broad daylight. If anyone saw, they’d think he was physically punishing students.
Not just Teacher Gao, but the students below were equally stunned to witness such a scene first thing in the morning.
Among them were many of Yang Qicheng’s lackeys, but even more were those who usually couldn’t stand him but had no choice but to endure his bullying—along with the few who suffered the worst of it.
Ji Nian already knew where her seat was. Seeing Yang Qicheng still kneeling there, oblivious to Teacher Gao’s scolding, she walked past him and casually remarked, "Rise."
The classroom erupted in laughter.
Yang Qicheng’s face burned crimson, and he shot to his feet.
Damn it, what was S High thinking, sending her as an exchange student? Wasn’t this kind of thing supposed to be handed off to the most forgettable students?
As the person who’d been personally confronted by S High’s student council president before, Yang Qicheng harbored a special hatred for that school.
Hating the crow for the sake of the nest, he’d been fully prepared to take out his frustrations on whatever exchange student S High sent over.
But of course, it had to be this demon. There was no way he could mess with her—if anything, he’d be lucky not to get wrecked himself.
After glaring at the ones laughing the hardest, he couldn’t even stay in the classroom. Gritting his teeth, he bolted out.
Teacher Gao couldn’t be bothered to discipline a student long since written off.
The others, meanwhile, began whispering among themselves: "Yang Qicheng knows the young miss of the Ji family."
Yes, the moment Ji Nian’s face appeared, everyone knew Ma Xiaofei’s claim of "having met her in person" was a lie.
If this had happened earlier, it might not have been a big deal. But last night, a certain short video had exploded in popularity—even the dog tied up outside the school convenience store had seen it. At this point, who didn’t know what Ji Tingzhou looked like?
"Ma Xiaofei said she was going to teach that impostor a lesson. Why isn’t she saying anything now?"
"Didn’t you see her reaction earlier? That loud ‘What the hell?’ was hilarious."
"Always acting like she’s too good for everyone, like we commoners aren’t worthy of her company. Now that the real young miss is here, she’s gone quiet."
"Quiet!!"
Teacher Gao smacked the lectern, cutting off the murmurs.
Ma Xiaofei heard every word from her seat.
In the past, she would’ve lunged at those gossiping and torn their mouths shut. But after being exiled here, she’d learned her lesson—and gotten a little smarter.
She glanced back at Ji Nian, sitting alone in the last row. The moment their eyes met, she whipped her head back around.
Hmph!
She wasn’t the same Ma Xiaofei who only knew how to use violence!
Ji Nian, however, had no interest in their chatter.
She was focused on the lesson.
[The curriculum here is slower than S High’s.]
When class ended, most of the students turned to stare at Ji Nian.
"Did she curl her hair? It looks so natural. My sister got a perm over the summer—went in looking twenty, came out looking forty."
"She seems so cold. She hasn’t changed her expression since she got here, not even when she told Yang Qicheng to ‘rise.’"
"She looks more like Ji Tingzhou than that kid from the other class who claimed to be his son. Speaking of which, why hasn’t Ji Xi come to school?"
Intimidated by Ji Nian’s aura, no one dared approach her yet.
Listening to everyone talk about Ji Nian, Ma Xiaofei sneered inwardly and abruptly stood up.
"Ahem…"
"Over summer break, I went to Country O and brought back some souvenirs for everyone."
Chin raised, Ma Xiaofei plopped a large box onto her desk with a thud.
Her deskmate turned around and gasped.
"Wow! Isn’t this that super expensive chocolate that was trending a while back? Ma Xiaofei, you’re so generous!"
Ma Xiaofei waved a hand dismissively. "It’s just pocket change."
In reality, she’d thrown a tantrum to get her mom, Shen Ping, to buy it—using the excuse that it was for her classmates.
Back at her old school, Ma Xiaofei’s relationships with classmates had always been life-or-death battles. The fact that she wanted to bring gifts now made Shen Ping think she’d matured, so she happily obliged.
"Thanks, Ma Xiaofei! These are gorgeous."
Several classmates gathered around, each taking one.
Ma Xiaofei even made a show of offering some to the ones who’d been badmouthing her earlier, putting on an air of magnanimity.
Since it’s awkward to bite the hand that feeds you, a few even apologized sheepishly.
Watching this from her seat, Ji Nian thought, She really has gotten smarter. She’s even evolved to this level now.
Feeling her gaze, Ma Xiaofei looked over—but swallowed the haughty "hmph" she wanted to make.
After distributing the chocolates, most of the crowd lingered, pestering her for stories about her trip to Country O.
Ma Xiaofei had been waiting for this. She eagerly pulled out her phone, flipping through a pre-prepared photo album.
"Country O is amazing, but everything’s way more expensive than in China."
With nothing else to do, Ji Nian rested her chin on her hand and listened.
Country O was huge. She wondered which city Ma Xiaofei had visited and waited to hear her itinerary.
Then Ma Xiaofei continued—
"The best part was definitely the historic capital. You wouldn’t believe it—I even got to see their biggest festival, the Oulei Festival. The plane tickets cost a fortune!"
The mention piqued everyone’s interest.
Some asked if the Oulei Festival was like Valentine’s Day.
Ma Xiaofei rolled her eyes but didn’t waste time explaining.
"That’s not important. What matters is that this year’s Oulei Festival coincided with their once-every-twenty-years sacrificial ceremony—with the O royal family performing the ritual dance!"
Ji Nian’s chin slipped off her hand.
Ma Xiaofei raised her phone excitedly and showed them the photos, saying, "I even took pictures!"
"This year, he's the one performing the ritual dance! The only son of Princess Feia, the young prince of O Country!"
