Quick Transmigration: The Mad Beauty Refuses to Be the Scapegoat!-Chapter 73: Cannon Fodder Sister of the Female Lead (25)

"Don’t worry about her. We’ve all come here to study, and there’s really only one goal—to get into college. Three years might go by quickly, so let’s all work hard together."

"Jiang Lai is right, we’re here for college. No point in always keeping an eye on others. So Jiang Lai, do you want to sit in the front row after school starts? Zhou Juan’s seat next to the class monitor has opened up, you two could sit together."

As she said this, the class monitor, Chen Yi, was sitting nearby and turned around upon hearing their discussion.

"Jiang Lai, sitting in the front row indeed makes it easier to see the blackboard and hear the teacher more clearly."

Jiang Lai smiled and waved her hand.

"I just like sitting at the back, don’t like people staring at the back of my head."

Chen Yi glanced at the back row seats, disappointment flickering in his eyes.

"Okay, if you want to change seats later, feel free to let me know."

Soon, teachers from various subjects arrived, carrying thick stacks of test papers, and the homeroom teacher also had a grade sheet in hand.

Class representatives for each subject went up to collect the papers and distribute them. Jiang Lai looked at her grades, which were similar to before, except she lost a few points in math.

"This time, the math test was the city’s exam, kind of like a joint exam, so everyone’s scores are not just ranked within the class but also compared citywide. After all, the entrance exam compares you with students from all over the province, not just your school.

Our class’s top scorer, also the grade’s top scorer, is again Jiang Lai. And the score gap between her and the second place is quite large—just in math, she outperformed by thirty points. At the same time, her other subjects were also excellent. This is truly a remarkable achievement! Everyone should keep learning from Jiang Lai!"

The classroom was filled with enthusiastic applause.

Jiang Lai was used to it, graciously accepting all the compliments, and jokingly nudging Cheng Lie, who arrived even later than the teacher.

"Learn more from me, got it?"

Cheng Lie smiled gently at her and nodded slowly.

"Okay, really impressive."

Actually, Cheng Lie’s math skills were better than Jiang Lai’s; no matter how tricky the questions, he would solve them faster than Jiang Lai.

She often asked him questions in math and physics.

But when it came to exams, his scores were not great, maintaining an unremarkable level even in the sciences he excelled at. As for the humanities, like English, he would get mere tens of points by randomly guessing.

Jiang Lai knew he wasn’t fond of studying and didn’t plan to focus his energy on it.

What she couldn’t understand was why he still insisted on coming to school every day, given how far he’d come in his career.

Seemingly sensing her curiosity, Cheng Lie proactively answered.

"Before my mom passed away, her biggest wish was for someone in our family to graduate high school. My grandpa and dad were illiterate, never having attended school. She wanted me to achieve something academically."

"You’re pretty smart; if you studied hard, you might even take second place in the grade."

"Why not first?"

"Well, no matter how much you try, you can’t surpass me. That’s a given. First place is mine."

Jiang Lai held her head high with confidence, like a proud little rooster.

Cheng Lie smiled, pursing his lips, saying nothing, just watching her quietly.

After receiving her grades, Jiang Lai also took home a large bag of prizes—three award certificates and rewards from various subject teachers.

The math teacher’s prize was a notebook, a heavy, black leather one.

Unlike the English teacher, who specially bought a pen studded with rhinestones for Jiang Lai as she’s the only one in class seriously learning English and scored a brilliant 98.

This pen wasn’t cheap, and when Jiang Lai went up to collect it, everyone looked at her with envy.

The other teachers also gave out small rewards.

When it was the Chinese teacher’s turn, her face, always stern, showed some strictness.

"You’ve done excellently across so many subjects, but your Chinese still lacks a bit. Many in the class scored better than you, so you should devote more of your enthusiasm for learning English to Chinese. After all, in the actual entrance exam, English accounts for only 30%. Whether you score 90 or 80, the difference is just three points, but with Chinese, a well-written essay can get you ten or more points.

So do your best going forward."

Jiang Lai nodded, collected her things, and went back to her seat.

Afterwards, each subject teacher briefly went through the test papers, and by noon, everyone was released for holiday break to wait for the New Year.

As usual, Jiang Lai headed to the bike shed, but Cheng Lie led her toward the back door. When they reached the flag-raising spot, Jiang Lai spotted a shiny motorcycle under the national flag.

Cheng Lie straddled it, managing to keep both feet solidly on the ground despite its height, standing tall and striking against the spacious backdrop, making Jiang Lai’s heart race.

"What’re you staring at, silly girl? Come sit!"

Jiang Lai joyfully ran over, grabbing his coat to get on the rear seat, as the motorcycle roared to life and a puff of white smoke followed the bike as it sped away.

With this ride, Jiang Lai had to hug Cheng Lie’s waist tightly to avoid feeling like she’d be thrown off at any moment.

The roads of this era weren’t wide, and vehicles were few. After a brief show-off, Cheng Lie slowed down, driving leisurely along familiar rural paths. Jiang Lai clung to him tightly, bouncing around on the leather-cushioned seat yet feeling no discomfort.

All the way, Jiang Lai kept teasing him with questions.

"Where did you buy this motorcycle?"

"In the city."

"How much did it cost?"

"Over three thousand or so."

"Wow, my brother runs a small workshop and only earns a hundred or so a month. There’s someone named He Xing in our village who also has a motorcycle, smaller than yours. I’ve seen it once, its headlights were really bright at night."

"I know He Xing."

Jiang Lai hurriedly asked.

"How do you know him?"

"He used to mind my store. Then he branched out on his own and did well. He’s quite smart and ambitious, not content working for others. So I gave him some connections to start on his own."

Jiang Lai’s eyes brightened.

"That’s impressive, having He Xing work for you."

"What’s so special about him working for me? You think he’s great too?"

Jiang Lai nodded.

"Yeah, he’s quite capable, and he has a motorcycle, although his taste isn’t great."

"Married your sister, now that’s poor taste?"

"How do you know he’s marrying my sister?"

Cheng Lie paused for a moment.

"We live close, and the gossip from your village has spread around. Folks say that the headman’s daughter and he are sweet on the same guy."