Xie Qian had always known that hamsters had remarkably expressive faces, yet he couldn’t help but be startled by the speed of their every transformation.
…What kind of bizarre expression was this now?
Just moments ago, full of excitement and energy, but upon hearing that his mother had hired a lawyer for a lawsuit, the hamster’s spirit instantly deflated.
Xie Qian misunderstood, “Are you afraid your parents will find out? This is a lawyer arranged by the publishing department, for your own reputation, and more importantly, to ensure *Youth Idol* can be published smoothly. If handled carefully, your parents might not even know.”
The little alias “Fish Against the Current” hadn’t been exposed yet. Xie Qian assumed Wen Ying was afraid of the lawsuit, afraid of alarming her parents.
How could he know that Wen Ying was itching to fight the lawsuit herself!
Indeed, she was still a minor, and without a proxy lawyer, she couldn’t take the stand herself. She wasn’t some mythical being sprung from a rock, after all. A minor going head-to-head with *Aige* in court would definitely alert her parents.
Having the publishing department handle it was the best option.
That was the logic, but Wen Ying still felt disappointed.
“Which lawyer did Aunt Zou hire?” she asked.
“It’s, “
Before Xie Qian could finish, Lin Lin walked over from the office, arms full of stuff.
“Perfect timing, help me carry some things,” she said.
No need to carry report cards, what Lin Lin needed moved was summer homework.
Li Mengjiao rolled up her sleeves, “Teacher Lin, I’ll help you carry it.”
Outside school, Li Mengjiao was a star, but inside, she was just an ordinary student, Lin Lin liked that about her.
But the task of moving books was better left to Xie Qian and Wen Ying.
“You’re too skinny, you can’t carry it,” Lin Lin said.
Wen Ying, “…?”
, Teacher Lin, who are you implying is fat?
Lin Lin handed the report cards to Li Mengjiao, who took them into the classroom, “Oh, Wen Ying, your grades…”
Wen Ying had already followed Xie Qian to the office.
Li Mengjiao’s exclamation practically stole her soul.
“It doesn’t matter who the lawyer is, what matters is winning this lawsuit. Actually, it’s a great promotional opportunity, but my mum thinks you need protecting and doesn’t want to push you out to face the pressure,” Xie Qian said.
Xie Qian carried two-thirds of the books, leaving only a small portion for Wen Ying.
Wen Ying’s mind worked quickly, her earlier disappointment about not fighting the lawsuit herself already gone, “This lawsuit is indeed a great promotional entry point. If Aunt Zou can secure funding, we must hire a prestigious law firm and a well-known lawyer. My reputation is a small matter, but the publication of *Youth Idol* is a big deal. I’m not as fragile as Aunt Zou thinks.”
She couldn’t take the stand herself, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t work behind the scenes.
Wen Ying wasn’t made of steel, of course she could feel pain and get hurt. But only those close to her could ever cause her pain or injury, malicious attacks from opponents only fueled her fighting spirit!
Thinking about going head-to-head with *Aige*, Wen Ying walked with a spring in her step.
Fragile?
No, no, no, once she crushed her opponents, they’d be the fragile ones!
Xie Qian paused, disagreeing with Wen Ying’s view, “Your reputation is, of course, a big deal. Even if *Youth Idol* can’t be published, it’s not as important as your reputation. If you can write one *Youth Idol*, you can surely write more and better works.”
, A heartthrob like him could praise so earnestly and sincerely, it almost made her feel shy.
The two carried the books back to the classroom, where Li Mengjiao was the first to rush over.
“Li Mengjiao, sit down properly!” Lin Lin said.
Just moments ago, Lin Lin had praised Li Mengjiao, but now she was breaking the rules.
Li Mengjiao clutched a piece of paper and stuffed it into Wen Ying’s hands, “Here, here, take a look.”
It turned out Li Mengjiao had already found Wen Ying’s report card among the pile.
The final exam results for each subject were written on the summer report card.
Among the three main subjects, English was, of course, the highest at 144 points.
Chinese was also good, 132 points.
Math was a bit weaker, only 109 points.
Science comprehensive was 217 points, with a total score of 602 points, and a class rank of… 289th.
Had she really made it into the top 300 in her year?
Wen Ying instinctively looked up at Xie Qian.
Xie Qian nodded slightly, “You’ve definitely improved.”
Oh, the heartthrob had acknowledged her efforts!
Then she looked at Li Mengjiao, whose eyes were crinkled with joy, genuinely happy for Wen Ying, “You’re amazing!”
Wen Ying smiled and asked, “What about you? How did you do?”
Li Mengjiao still didn’t know her own results, having been too excited after finding Wen Ying’s report card, she’d been ushered off the podium by Lin Lin.
When Wen Ying asked, Li Mengjiao scratched her head belatedly, “Oh, I haven’t seen my results yet.”
Even Xie Qian couldn’t help but laugh.
Li Mengjiao truly had a rare, pure heart. She was so kind to Wen Ying, more outraged than Wen Ying herself when she faced injustice, and so thrilled about Wen Ying’s good results that she forgot to check her own… no wonder Wen Ying helped her so many times!
“All of you, go back to your seats!” Lin Lin said.
Lin Lin clapped her hands, unwilling to let the trio disrupt the distribution of summer report cards.
Xie Qian, unsurprisingly, was still first in the year.
Full marks in math, one point deducted in English, and 140 points in Chinese, which was already his weakest subject.
Science comprehensive, 300 points, and this guy only lost 5 points.
Sometimes Wen Ying suspected Xie Qian deliberately dropped points in science.
Because whether the science exam was easy or hard, Xie Qian always lost a few points.
Wen Ying marvelled briefly but then ignored Xie Qian’s scores, he was always first in the year, beating the second place by at least 20 points. Wen Ying could never catch up, and the perpetual second place must feel the worst.
Wen Ying was waiting for Li Mengjiao’s report card.
On the day of the exam, Li Mengjiao had said the questions were easy.
Li Mengjiao should have done well.
Originally, Li Mengjiao was around the 400th rank in the year, but after joining the talent show, her rank gradually dropped to over 500, until Xie Qian took over.
Finally, Lin Lin handed out Li Mengjiao’s report card.
“I improved?” Li Mengjiao’s voice carried a hint of disbelief.
She hadn’t even ranked this high when she first joined the school, though not as good as Wen Ying, she was 311th in the year.
Li Mengjiao grinned傻ly, “I’ll treat everyone after school!”
“The whole class?”
“Potato fries again? Can we have milk tea instead?”
“Thanks, Mengjiao, don’t forget to sign an autograph for me.”
Big Sis Jiao generously agreed to all sorts of requests.
Lin Lin waited for the commotion to settle before praising Li Mengjiao as well.
It could be said that no one in Class 16 had a busier schedule than Li Mengjiao, who juggled promotions while being a student. Maintaining her grades without slipping was already impressive, but to defy expectations and improve her year ranking was remarkable!
Compared to Li Mengjiao, Wen Ying’s schedule was equally packed, but Lin Lin didn’t know, Wen Ying was sitting next to Xie Qian, subtly influenced by him, so her grade improvement was expected.
It could even be said that after a whole year, Wen Ying had finally achieved the results expected of an experimental class student, living up to the backdoor Lin Lin had opened for her!
