16: Chapter 16 The Insignificant Character in a Pampered Novel 16

In a peaceful life, time always passes very quickly.

In her second year of high school, Xu Zhao joined the National Training Team, participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad, won a gold medal with a perfect score, and was recommended for admission to China's top institution, Qing University.

Yinghua High School became the ultimate laughingstock!

Xu Zhao had participated in the city-level competition under the name of Yinghua High School, but she won the International Mathematical Olympiad gold medal under the name of The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. Not only was she selected for the National Training Team and recommended for admission to Qing University, but Yinghua had essentially handed this honor over to The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China on a silver platter.

At the thought of this, the principal of Yinghua High School wished he could beat the Xu Family members to death. If they hadn't taken things too far, how could they have pushed Xu Zhao to the point of rebellion? If Xu Zhao hadn't rebelled, she would still be a student of Yinghua.

They hadn't reflected at all; regarding Li Yan stealing the spot, they had also turned a blind eye.

Even if they did reflect on that point, they would probably just lament, wondering who would have thought that girl could actually win an award just because she said she would, and a first-place prize at that.

This time, regardless of how the Xu Family tried to curry favor, Yinghua High School finally stood its ground and directly expelled Xu Jiao on the grounds of failing grades.

Xu Jiao wanted to find Fan Zhiang for comfort, but Fan Zhiang had disappeared without a trace since he was taken to the police station after Gu Yunjing and Xu Zhao reported him for carrying a lethal weapon with the intent to cause intentional harm.

She asked the various older brothers in her phone contacts and heard that Dr. Fan had a history of intentional harm. His fingerprints were on the scalpel Xu Zhao had picked up, and the forensic analysis of that scalpel revealed invisible blood traces in the crevices of the handle, which were confirmed to belong to a previous victim.

The person he harmed had been a student at Yinghua High School. Fan Zhiang had secretly kidnapped her to his basement, tied her to an operating table, sewed her mouth shut with needle and thread, carved countless blade marks on her face, and finally dumped her in an alley in the red-light district.

The girl's life was saved, but she suffered great psychological trauma and never returned to school.

The case had been handled so secretly and the perpetrator wore a hood, leaving no clues, so no one originally knew. But now, with Xu Zhao's reminder, Gu Yunjing also felt that he wasn't a normal person and had the police thoroughly check his scalpel. Unexpectedly, they really found a problem; the DNA matched the victim of that previous severe assault case at Yinghua High School.

Fan Zhiang was quickly sentenced.

As for his motive, he only said he couldn't stand the girl's haughty appearance. This reason was hard to believe; after all, students at Yinghua High School came from wealthy backgrounds, and arrogant attitudes were not uncommon. It seemed somewhat unreasonable to cruelly harm someone just because of a haughty attitude.

The real motive was likely known only to himself.

Xu Jiao could never have imagined that the gentle Dr. Fan was actually a murderer, and such a cruel one at that.

Her instinct was to disbelieve it, but upon further thought, she understood immediately! This must be Xu Zhao's conspiracy; she must have used Gu Yunjing to frame Dr. Fan together!

She was jealous of her—jealous that from childhood to adulthood, the Xu Family only loved her; jealous that Li Yan also liked her; jealous that Dr. Fan stood up for her.

But she could actually do nothing! Xu Jiao felt hatred in her heart, but there was no way out. At this moment, she had no way to confront Xu Zhao. She had to endure and wait until she had the strength to expose Xu Zhao's true face.

To everyone's surprise, Xu Zhao chose to give up her recommended admission eligibility and continue to stay in City A at The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China for her senior year. In fact, she had already finished the senior year curriculum and was self-studying university courses.

The moment Gu Yunjing got the news, he skipped class, climbed over the wall of Yinghua, and headed straight for The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.

He desperately wanted to see her and ask her personally why she gave up the recommended spot—was it because of him?

Along the way, countless fragments flashed through Gu Yunjing's mind. He remembered what she said last time—'Gu Yunjing, I feel your urgent desire to go to a military academy. Don't worry, even if I have to push, tug, or pull you, I will definitely squeeze you through the gates of the National Defense Academy.'

He hadn't thought much of it then. He didn't expect Xu Zhao would be recommended for admission to Qing University ahead of time and might leave City A. He only thought that after she left Yinghua, they might have no more ties, and he didn't want the connection between them to break. At the same time, he was truly moved by the persistence and stubbornness she displayed, which gave him the goal of wanting to get into a military academy.

If she was put in a difficult position because of his request and gave up this recommended admission opportunity, he would hate himself for his selfishness.

When he reached the gate of The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, he remembered that it was still class time, and the school did not allow people to enter or leave freely.

As soon as Xu Zhao finished class, she was notified that someone was looking for her at the school gate.

She looked at the eye-catching person standing by the guardhouse and was slightly stunned. Today wasn't the weekend, and there were no tutoring sessions.

"Gu Yunjing, are you looking for me?"

Hearing that clear and crisp voice, Gu Yunjing's racing thoughts finally settled. Without a word, he grabbed Xu Zhao and walked outside.

Gu Yunjing didn't stop until they reached a place with no one around.

"What's wrong? Did something happen? Is it because the monthly exam results came out and you didn't do well?" The monthly exams had just finished; looking at his expression, could it be that he failed?

"It's okay. An occasional failure doesn't mean anything. It's better to expose problems than not to find them. If there are deficiencies, we'll just fix them. This weekend, I'll analyze the test paper with you and see where the problem lies—whether it's calculation, a weak foundation, or confused concepts—"

"Xu Zhao—" Gu Yunjing interrupted her, "Why did you give up the recommended admission spot?"

Gu Yunjing suddenly stopped and turned around to question her. Xu Zhao wasn't paying attention and bumped straight into him. That flat chest was truly hard; the impact made her nose sting, and tears flowed involuntarily.

"Sniff—"

Seeing her cry, Gu Yunjing immediately became flustered, forgetting his questioning: "Did it hurt? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have stopped suddenly. Let me rub it for you." After saying that, he reached out, took off her glasses, pinched the bridge of her nose with his fingertips, and touched her smooth forehead.

The sudden warmth from his fingertips made him forget what he was doing for a moment, and the tips of his ears turned incredibly hot.

"Where are you rubbing?" Xu Zhao pulled his hand down and touched her own nose. "It's fine. It was just that moment; my nose stung a bit, and the tears just became uncontrollable."

Seeing her say this, Gu Yunjing sheepishly put his hands behind his back, his fingertips secretly rubbing together.

"What did you want to see me about?"

Almost forgetting the main point, Gu Yunjing was still very annoyed. "Why did you give up the spot for recommended admission to Qing University?"

Seeing his aggressive manner, Xu Zhao immediately guessed what he was thinking. "Isn't studying the same everywhere? I can self-study university courses here just as well."

"I want to experience the atmosphere of the Gaokao, that sense of urgency like thousands of troops crossing a single-log bridge. Haven't you heard the saying? A life without experiencing the Gaokao is an imperfect life. I want my life to be more perfect, is that not okay?"

Gu Yunjing was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say.

"What? Do you think if I take the Gaokao next year, I won't be able to get into Qing University?"

"Of course not," Gu Yunjing immediately retorted.

"Then that's that."

"I thought you gave it up because of me."

"There was some consideration of that, too. After all, the Xu Family definitely won't pay for my tuition and living expenses. Isn't it better if I tutor you for another year and earn my university tuition and living expenses?"

"You don't have to do that. You don't need to worry about tuition and living expenses. I can—lend it to you." Fearing he might hurt her self-esteem, Gu Yunjing changed the "give it to you" on the tip of his tongue to "lend it to you."

Xu Zhao suddenly turned her head and looked at him with burning eyes, making him feel a bit shy.

She suddenly laughed. "Just teasing you. Qing University said they would waive my tuition and fees, and I've saved up my scholarships over the years. I'm not that pitiful. I gave up the spot purely because I want to experience the atmosphere of the domestic Gaokao."

Gu Yunjing didn't believe her, but since she had already said so, he didn't want her to worry about him.

The next moment, Xu Zhao's smile froze on her face because she was pulled into a light embrace. That warm breath permeated everywhere, stimulating her nerves.

"Zhao Zhao, thank you."

Then, that source of warmth turned around and ran away.

Xu Zhao was petrified on the spot.

system 1105 said disdainfully: [Look at him, running away just like that?]

Afterward, Xu Zhao continued her weekly work as a little tutor. However, when Zhou Chi and Cheng Yi heard that Brother Gu was secretly having the Study God give him extra lessons and had abandoned them, they were very indignant and insisted on joining in. So, the one-on-one became one-on-three.

Xu Zhao went between school, the dorm, and the Gu Family home on weekends to give the three of them lessons. Running this three-point circuit, she had no time to worry about irrelevant people.

But Gu Yunjing knew. When she won the International Olympiad gold medal, Xu Jiao and the Parents of the Xu Family had tried every possible way to contact this forgotten daughter, but they were all silently blocked by Gu Yunjing, and not a single word reached Xu Zhao.

She wanted to study hard and do research seriously, so he wouldn't let these things interfere with her.

Soon, a year passed. Without any surprises, when the Gaokao scores came out, Xu Zhao got into Qing University as the Gaokao Top Scorer of City A.

As soon as the news came out, The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China became famous, and Yinghua High School also became famous.

Yinghua High School was mocked once again by everyone in the high school circle.

Last year, they were mocked for giving away an International Olympiad champion; this year, they were mocked for giving away the Gaokao Top Scorer.

The Xu Family was also having a hard time. After the lawsuit, the Xu Family was severely weakened, dropping from the bottom of the second-tier directly to being unranked.

Whenever Father Xu and Mother Xu attended a gathering, they would always be pointed at, with people saying the Xu Family was blind and had mistaken a pearl for a fish eye. They mistreated such a golden treasure and pampered a useless vase; people really wondered what was going on in their heads. They figured the Xu Family members' brains must be somewhat problematic, and if they partnered with them in business, wouldn't they lose everything down to their underwear?

Yes, people are realistic.

The elite circle used to think the Xu Family's eldest daughter was good because the Xu Family was a second-tier family, Xu Jiao was valued by the Xu Family, and she was beautiful with a gentle, obedient, and understanding appearance. But compared to the younger daughter with an off-the-charts IQ and a limitless future—who was the Gaokao Top Scorer of the entire City A, a municipality—the difference was clear. One relied on family protection, while the other relied on her own efforts to gain glory; it was obvious who carried more weight.

Moreover, with more reports in newspapers and news media, when they saw the younger daughter whom the Xu Family usually disregarded, they felt that if the Xu Family's brains weren't working, their eyes must also have problems. How was this a "bookworm" with psychological issues who was dull and gloomy? The young girl was clearly cute, articulate, and had a cool temperament with a unique and attractive scholarly aura.

From then on, any enterprise of a certain scale kept its distance from the Xu Corporation. Life had become increasingly difficult for the Xu Corporation over the past two years; Father Xu was already retired, but the Eldest Brother Xu was still struggling bitterly.

They wanted to show weakness and repair the relationship with Xu Zhao, but they couldn't even find her.

After more than a year of sprinting, the trio's Gaokao scores were also noteworthy. Zhou Chi's foundation was the weakest among the three, but his score was more than twenty points above the second-tier cutoff, though not quite at the first-tier cutoff. For the parents of the Zhou Family, however, this was already a very satisfying score, as if their ancestors had burned high incense.

Cheng Yi did even better, just reaching the first-tier cutoff, and chose his favorite university.

Gu Yunjing's Gaokao score this time exceeded the National Defense Academy's admission cutoff by 5 points, barely scraping through, which made the Gu Family go crazy with joy.

If two years ago someone had said that Gu Yunjing, with his slacker attributes, could get into the highest institution among China's military academies—the National Defense Academy—on his own merit, the Gu Family themselves would have thought it was a pipe dream.

But who would have thought he actually made it!

The Gu Family knew very well that it wasn't because their child was so smart or diligent, but thanks to that child Xu Zhao. Little Jing's change had been subtle and profound, both in character and knowledge.

Initially, because of the storm surrounding the Xu Family's child, when Gu Yunjing asked Father Gu to intervene, Father Gu was full of reluctance, feeling it was using public office for private gain. But as the truth came to light, he didn't expect he had actually done a good deed, purifying the social atmosphere and promoting integrity.

It was precisely that unintentional intervention that yielded such a great return.

Xu Zhao was an ambitious child and a grateful one.

Back then, when Xu Zhao refused the recommended admission and insisted on taking the Gaokao, the Gu Family, including Gu Yunjing, were convinced she did it to repay their kindness. If she had gone to Qing University then—since Qing University was in City H, a two-hour flight away—the tutoring would have definitely fallen through.

They really didn't expect the young girl to have such a strong mind, giving up something others dreamed of, directly refusing the recommended admission, and staying behind.

In the following year, she put in even more effort, starting lessons and explaining problems from Friday night until midnight, and not slacking on Saturdays and Sundays either, stubbornly pulling these three into the ranks of intellectuals.

The heads of the Gu, Zhou, and Cheng families felt that the greatest luck in their sons' lives was probably meeting the young girl Xu Zhao; this was truly a slacker's history of struggle.