"'It's not like you're overly fond of me, right?' Lingyuan covered his face, unable to voice the bitterness in his heart.

'Not really? Then it is affection,' Yixinxue said, stirring her food with a trace of discontent. 'I can't believe I wasn't the first to kiss you. No wonder you're so reluctant with me.'

Every time they got intimate, Lingyuan's expression twisted in agony, as if he was losing a limb.

How could she be that terrifying? Among the methods her sister had taught her, far scarier ones existed than what she was doing now.

'No, class rep, listen! What Yanxi just said was pure fabrication. You absolutely can't believe it!' Lingyuan frantically ran his hands through his hair. Why was Yixinxue still hung up on this?

Yixinxue reached out and lightly flicked Lingyuan's forehead. 'I'll hear your excuses slowly tonight.'

Then she cupped her face, gazing aimlessly out the window, and murmured, 'What should I do to make you stay by my side forever?'

'That question...' Lingyuan was momentarily speechless. Since that incident, it had been hard for him to like anyone again. Only Yanxi knew about this; no one else ever had. It was a secret buried deep in his memories.

'Hmph,' Yixinxue snorted. 'I'll see how long you can keep up this tough act.'

If one kiss wasn't enough, then two; if two weren't enough, then every day. Yixinxue was more than willing—after all, Lingyuan was utterly irresistible to her.

...

Just as he opened his eyes from his nap, Lingyuan saw the math teacher standing on the podium with the weekly test papers.

In the past, he would have kept sleeping, then guessed the multiple-choice questions and handed it in half-heartedly. But now, he couldn't. He was genuinely afraid of inexplicably getting another punishment.

'This time, you must take it seriously,' Yixinxue said, passing the test paper over. 'If you don't understand, I'll teach you this weekend.'

The teacher's method wasn't suitable for students like Lingyuan with little foundation. Yixinxue planned to start from the basics when teaching him.

'Sigh, alright, alright,' Lingyuan said, reluctantly taking the test paper.

After a quick glance, he figured he could probably only do the first three multiple-choice questions and the first fill-in-the-blank—and not even guarantee they'd be correct. Apparently, he hadn't completely given up to the point of not knowing any answers.

'Everyone, you need to work harder this time,' the teacher announced. 'As students of the elite class, how come Class 8 and Class 9 keep surpassing our average scores in weekly tests—by several points? Even with Lingyuan turning in blank papers, it shouldn't create such a gap.'

Hearing this, Lingyuan recalled the Class 8 rep this morning, her arms tucked with test papers during break. How could ordinary classes surpass the elite class in weekly math tests but not in monthly exams? This was obviously suspicious.

'Class rep...' Lingyuan called softly.

'Focus on the exam. Don't expect me to give you answers.'

'Ummm...' Lingyuan obediently shut his mouth. He'd tell her after the exam.

How long had it been since he last took an exam seriously? Lingyuan couldn't even remember. He recalled when he first came to this school, he was an excellent top student.

He had fallen. Since his mother's passing, he'd started down a path of decline. If he kept falling, this schooling would be as good as not attending.

Lingyuan shook his head with self-mockery. Without motivation, he didn't know the meaning of his existence, living aimlessly every day. He looked at Yixinxue's back with a hint of envy.

*Unlike you, at least you have the goal of being number one.*

After zoning out for about twenty minutes, Lingyuan finally started on the first question. After finishing all he could do, there was still an hour left—the exam was one and a half hours long.

So, for the remaining time, he'd draw waifus on the scratch paper!

Lingyuan carefully took out a box from his drawer. Inside were various anime waifus—his treasured possessions, collected over many days. At school, this box was probably the neatest thing he owned.

*Hehe, all beautiful waifus, all with white hair~*

But the class rep would definitely make a fuss. If she saw him drawing for most of the exam, wouldn't the punishment that night be even worse?

Lingyuan's brow furrowed. To solve this, he'd draw a white-haired, red-eyed girl—it would be easy to explain later.

Sure enough, after the exam, Yixinxue noticed Lingyuan hadn't taken it seriously at all—he'd been drawing the whole time. She angrily snatched his drawings and scolded, 'I told you to take the exam seriously. Why didn't you listen to me?'

Yixinxue's furious expression reminded Lingyuan of last week's slap for not handing in homework. He felt a brief moment of fear, but immediately responded with a strong gaze that said *I did nothing wrong*.

'Look closely! I drew you!'

'Oh... really?' Yixinxue raised an eyebrow and unfolded the drawing.

The drawing was decent—a bell tied in the hair. Though there were no colored pens, Lingyuan had used a red pen to highlight the distinctive red eyes, proving it was a white-haired, red-eyed girl.

It's just that...

Yixinxue compared the drawing's figure to her own. The sizes didn't match at all. But due to Lingyuan's serious expression and the classmates' watching eyes, she didn't voice this doubt.

'Alright, don't do this next time,' Yixinxue sighed helplessly. Just as she turned to leave, Lingyuan called her back.

'Class rep, I found a problem.'

Lingyuan looked around, and after making sure everyone's attention was elsewhere, whispered, 'I suspect Class 8 and Class 9 are cheating.'

Yixinxue's pupils widened slightly. Her astonished expression seemed to say *Do you even hear what you're saying?*

'Think about it,' Lingyuan said. 'Every week, the test papers and answer keys are printed the day before and placed on teachers' desks that night. Remember the Class 8 math rep this morning?'

'What do you mean?'

'When she left, I noticed a test paper tucked in her arms. I guess it was the analysis for this afternoon's weekly test.'

Because there were so many papers, the detailed analysis was also printed and placed at the bottom of the stack to save teachers time. Lingyuan's reasoning was convincing, but there was no evidence.

'Understood. I'll report this to the teacher,' Yixinxue nodded thoughtfully. 'Anyway, take care of yourself first—drawing during exams.'

Yixinxue looked at the anime waifus on Lingyuan's desk, and her mood couldn't improve.

'What an idiot.'