The entire room was stunned.
“Am I seeing things? Did Rong Yu just reject Ji Zhouye’s confession?”
“Ji Zhouye got turned down by the school beauty when he handed her a love letter in freshman year. Now, with such a grand gesture, he got rejected again.”
“Honestly, Ji Zhouye is pretty good-looking. Why does he keep getting rejected?”
“Bad grades, terrible temper, awful fashion sense, and I heard his parents died—he’s an orphan living on government aid. With all that, who’d want him?”
“Exactly. I wouldn’t date someone like that either.”
“…”
The buzzing voices around were relentless.
Ji Zhouye scrambled up from the ground, furious. “Shut up! All of you, shut up!”
Damn it. He’d become the laughingstock of the whole school.
He was seething.
Glancing at the crystal necklace he’d picked up, he hurled it away.
It landed right at Rong Ruoyao’s feet.
Her gaze froze.
That necklace looked familiar. Wasn’t it from that international luxury brand’s new collection last month? Just released, ridiculously expensive—nearly a million for one.
The Rong family was well-off, but in Haicheng, they weren’t even considered wealthy enough to drop a million on a necklace for her.
In short, she couldn’t afford it.
Just then, Chen Nian stumbled over, picked up the necklace, and handed it back to Ji Zhouye. “Bro, no matter how mad you are, don’t take it out on the necklace…”
Rong Ruoyao smirked.
So it was a fake.
Of course. Who in their right mind would throw a million-dollar necklace on the ground?
Besides, if anyone at school could afford this, their family would outrank the Rongs, and she’d definitely know them.
Song Huai glanced at her. “You like it?”
Rong Ruoyao smiled sweetly. “Not really. Just thought the knockoffs these days look pretty convincing. Took a second look.”
The two walked off, chatting.
Rong Yu left the cafeteria without a backward glance.
Her emotions were complicated, but some things couldn’t be said outright.
She wondered when Yingbao would wake up.
Ji Zhouye skipped classes the entire afternoon. The back rows were empty, unusually quiet.
Near the end of the school day, homeroom teacher Pei Yaru said to her, “I’ve got a set of the latest international high school physics competition questions. Come to the office during evening self-study to work on them.”
Rong Yu nodded.
She hurried to Hibiscus Manor for dinner, stayed about twenty minutes, then rushed back to school and headed straight to the teachers’ office.
Pei Yaru gestured for her to sit. “I’ll watch you solve them. Try to write out the steps as clearly as possible.”
Rong Yu focused on the problems.
Truthfully, even the toughest international competition questions were just basic physics with a slight twist of current events for innovation. For her, it was child’s play.
Especially since her knowledge far surpassed high school level.
Where most students needed five or six formulas to reach the answer, she could solve it with one advanced equation—no calculator, no scratch paper, just mental math at lightning speed.
Pei Yaru was stunned, then stunned again.
She took a sip of water to steady herself. Just then, the office grew noisy.
Looking up, she saw their math teacher, Wu Su, surrounded by colleagues.
“Teacher Wu, you’ve really kept a low profile until now.”
“That thesis of yours got reposted by Professor Min, the big shot in mathematics. It’s trending!”
“Who knew our No. 1 High School had such hidden talent…”
Wu Su wore a modest smile. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just some humble thoughts I posted online. Never expected Professor Min to notice. I’m just glad I didn’t embarrass our school.”
His gaze swept the room. Everyone’s congratulations seemed genuine.
So that discarded draft paper couldn’t belong to any of them.
He glanced at Pei Yaru, who came over to congratulate him too.
Then his eyes landed on Rong Yu, seated at Pei Yaru’s desk. He remembered—she’d been sitting there for a while when he found that paper.
Could it have been hers?
The thought barely surfaced before Wu Su dismissed it.
A high school student, even the brightest in Haicheng, couldn’t possibly be dabbling in the convergence and solvability range of parabolic equations…
He shook his head and buried the idea.
Rong Yu finished the entire competition set in half an hour.
Pei Yaru spoke softly, “Now I understand what true talent looks like. Rong Yu, come with me to my place. I’ll give you some more advanced physics materials… I live in the faculty dorm behind the school. It’s close.”
Rong Yu wanted to refuse.
She really didn’t want to waste time on simple physics problems.
But fine.
She was just an eighteen-year-old student, after all.
Picking up her bag, she obediently followed Pei Yaru home.
With her husband away on business and her child in college, Pei Yaru lived alone in a spotless apartment. One study wall was entirely lined with books—scientific journals, magazines, all meticulously organized.
Rong Yu’s eyes lit up.
Math was just a tool for scientific research, and physics fascinated her.
Pei Yaru returned with a glass of water to find her student pulling dozens of books off the shelves, sitting cross-legged against the wall, absorbed in reading.
An invisible barrier seemed to surround her, shutting out the world.
Pei Yaru didn’t dare interrupt, not even to suggest moving to a chair, afraid to disrupt her focus.
Rong Yu couldn’t put the books down.
By the time Pei Yaru finally spoke up, it was past 11 PM. “Rong Yu, it’s time to head home. Should I walk you?”
Snapping out of her trance, Rong Yu checked her phone—multiple missed calls from the family driver.
She stood quickly. “I’ll have the driver pick me up. Can I borrow these books?”
Pei Yaru nodded and saw her off.
It was nearly midnight.
Rong Ruoyao, finished with homework, stepped out and noticed the open door next door. Looking downstairs, she paused. “Dad, is Sister not home yet?”
Rong Wangtian, buried in paperwork, finally registered his eldest daughter’s absence.
“Could it be…” Rong Ruoyao hesitated. “Someone confessed to Sister at school today. Maybe she’s out with that boy…”
“What?!” Rong Wangtian shot up. “Out gallivanting with boys at her age, staying out all night—what kind of disgraceful daughter did I raise?!”
As the words left his mouth, a car engine sounded in the yard. Rong Yu stepped out and walked inside.
The moment she entered, Rong Wangtian’s fury rained down. “Coming home at this hour? Why not just stay out all night! I’ll overlook your terrible grades, but if you get knocked up as a teenager and shame this family, I’ll break your legs!”
Rong Yu lifted her eyes coolly, glancing at Rong Ruoyao leaning over the second-floor railing.
For some reason, that single glance sent an inexplicable chill down Rong Ruoyao's spine. Biting her lip, she spoke softly, "Don't be angry, Dad. My sister must have had something urgent to attend to."
