Chapter 28: The Submissive, Obsessive Top Student

Jiang Zhiyi froze for a moment, her fingers stiffening slightly. It took her a while before she timidly turned her head. The blonde girl was still buried in her arms, sleeping soundly, as if she didn’t care who was sitting next to her.

It was that arrogant, entitled tone, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The workbook was brand new, with only a name written on it. Jiang Zhiyi bit her lip and reached out to flip it open.

She had only glanced at it when Old He asked her to solve problems on the board. Most of the questions inside were past exam papers—real ones. She was so poor she couldn’t even afford the fifty-yuan printing fee, let alone something as expensive as this elite training workbook.

This was Shi Qingyi’s book. Her heart fluttered anxiously as she wrote on the page following Old He’s instructions, wondering if she should sneak a glance while Shi Qingyi was asleep.

Just one look—just one—

Before she could decide, a hand suddenly reached over from the side and pointed at the problem she was working on.

“You got this wrong here.”

The fingers were slender and delicate, with perfectly proportioned joints, like intricately carved ivory. Jiang Zhiyi blankly followed the hand upward. Shi Qingyi was propping her chin with one hand, a faint red mark from prolonged sleep on her face. She looked over with sleepy eyes, but they were clear and bright.

She was indeed beautiful—stunningly so. It was different from Jiang Zhiqing’s delicate, pitiable beauty like a clinging vine. Shi Qingyi’s beauty carried an inviolable chill, a cold aloofness that kept people at bay.

“What are you staring at me for?” But the beauty’s temper was clearly not good. She frowned and poked at the workbook. “Look at the problem.”

“Mm…” Jiang Zhiyi hurriedly lowered her head and corrected the mistake, her heart pounding.

She had just been distracted for a moment, but suddenly it hit her—why was Shi Qingyi doing this kind of problem?

In the final sprint of senior year, the question Old He was teaching was already at a difficult level. It shouldn’t be something Shi Qingyi would tackle.

The System felt a bit stifled. “Host, you have to remember you’re playing the role of a bad student!”

“Sorry, I just happened to know it.” Shi Qingyi brushed it off casually. Seeing her make the correction, she withdrew her hand and let out a small yawn.

“The student in the back, stand up and answer this question.” Old He pushed up his glasses. He had been annoyed with her for a long time. Sleeping was one thing, but now she was disturbing her deskmate—what was that about?

Shi Qingyi stood up confidently and blurted out, “I choose D.”

Old He’s eye twitched in anger. Just as he was about to snap at her to get out, Jiang Zhiyi mustered her courage and quietly tugged at the girl’s sleeve.

“…This is a geometry problem.”

Jiang Little Pitiful’s voice was tiny, and she kept her distance, as if afraid Shi Qingyi would bite. Shi Qingyi leaned in slightly with a calm expression, waiting for her to continue.

The girl’s sleeve carried a pleasant fragrance that assaulted her senses. Jiang Zhiyi’s face inexplicably flushed. She leaned in closer, almost against her waist. “Just add an auxiliary point Q on line B.”

“Sit down and pay attention. Don’t think the teacher can’t see.” Old He gave a meaningful warning—whether it was telling her to behave and stop bothering her classmate or to stop sleeping, it was unclear.

Shi Qingyi had some pride, so she didn’t sleep for the rest of the class. Jiang Zhiyi held her pen and tried to focus on the lesson, but her thoughts wandered aimlessly.

The scent on her body seemed like lemon—fresh with a hint of coolness. Or maybe not…

Halfway through her musing, her throat itched. She couldn’t hold back and started coughing intermittently. Midway through, a piece of paper was tossed over, followed by a stack.

She blankly looked at the person beside her. Shi Qingyi was doodling with her pen, not lifting her head, her voice dripping with disdain. “Look at the blackboard. Why are you looking at me?”

Then she tossed over a whole box of tissues.

It might have been an illusion, but in the faint morning sunlight, Jiang Zhiyi noticed the ears of the girl who always seemed so superior turn faintly pink.

After the morning class ended, Shi Qingyi decisively grabbed her bag and stood up. She knocked on Jiang Zhiyi’s desk. “You coming or not?”

Jiang Zhiyi lifted her head from her desk, still a bit dazed. “G-Go where?”

“The school infirmary.” Shi Qingyi was concise. By the time Jiang Zhiyi snapped out of it, she was already at the door. Without thinking, she put down her book and chased after her.

Deng Sisi had just bought breakfast and returned. She saw Shi Qingyi grabbing her bag to leave and felt a pang of envy—rich kids were different; they could skip class without even asking the homeroom teacher, who would cover for them.

Then she spotted Jiang Zhiyi following behind Shi Qingyi. Her expression twisted as if she had swallowed a fly. “Qingyi, class starts in ten minutes. Are you heading out for something?”

And bringing along that disgusting thing.

“Something.” Shi Qingyi couldn’t be bothered with her and tried to walk around.

“Can I help with whatever it is?” Deng Sisi persisted, smiling as she followed up. It didn’t look like she was dragging her off to beat her or anything.

“What, you want to take my place for a fake injection?”

Deng Sisi’s face paled. Medicine had side effects—who would volunteer for that when they weren’t sick?

Shi Qingyi rarely had the leisure to stop. She leaned against the railing. Her tall, slender figure—nearly 1.7 meters—outlined a slim waist by the hem of her school uniform skirt.

Class was about to start, and boys from the class trickled back one by one. They paused at the stairwell, their gazes sticking to the beautiful girl. Jiang Zhiyi keenly noticed the looks on Shi Qingyi’s waist and quietly shifted closer, blocking the boys’ line of sight.

No one saw the suppressed chill in her downcast eyes. Those appraising, intrigued gazes made her heart burn with irritation.

She didn’t like anyone looking at Shi Qingyi like that—not even just looking—

Shi Qingyi seemed to sense something and glanced her way. The frail girl’s back was hunched; as she looked over, she was coughing softly, her shoulder blades trembling faintly. It inexplicably reminded her of someone.

When Xu Zhaosu’s health deteriorated later, she often curled up in her arms coughing like this. She was so thin, her shoulder blades quivering gently like fragile flower stems.

Shi Qingyi zoned out for a moment, then glared at the boys nearby. The boys, whose views were blocked, froze in their annoyed and angry expressions. They hadn’t expected Shi Qingyi to protect Jiang Zhiyi, and they suddenly felt awkward.

Shi Qingyi was a thorny rose—everyone appreciated a beauty, but no one had the guts to test the thorns.

“N-No need, no need. Qingyi, go and come back soon. I’ll tell the homeroom teacher for you.” Deng Sisi’s face was pale, but she inexplicably sighed in relief. It didn’t look like a reconciliation with Jiang Zhiyi; she was just using her as an excuse to skip class.

A hint of schadenfreude appeared in her eyes. Being dragged off for shots and meds—who knew what issues that might cause?

The next moment, she saw Shi Qingyi impatiently grab Jiang Zhiyi’s hand and pull her downstairs. Her smile twisted into a stiff grimace.

Shi Qingyi’s hand was warm. When she grabbed hers, Jiang Zhiyi was a bit stunned. The dark irritability in her heart quickly dissipated under that warmth, as if her heart itself was gripped by that hand. The heat of skin against skin seeped through to her core.

It had been so long since anyone had held her hand—not even classmates in her group or people walking home with her.

After a long while, she timidly gripped back. Only then did Shi Qingyi notice and abruptly let go, striding ahead to shake her off.

A strange sense of loss welled up in Jiang Zhiyi’s heart. She quickened her pace to catch up, her voice as small as a mosquito’s. “Are you… still making me get the shot?”

“What else?” The girl ahead walked fast, giving her no time to pause, her tone gruff. “Your coughing is annoying me to death. I couldn’t even sleep in class.”

Jiang Zhiyi said nothing, quietly stepping on her shadow from behind. But in her heart, it was like a long-lost candy melting sweetly at her core.

In truth, Shi Qingyi didn’t have to sit next to her or listen to her coughing.

But she would never say that out loud.

The doctor in the school infirmary lifted his eyelids upon seeing them and pointed to the adjacent room. “We have an empty room today. The IV will take two or three hours. Go sit inside—there’s a bed, and you can nap if you’re tired.”

The cold medicine had sedative effects anyway. Yesterday morning, that little girl had used Shi Qingyi as a pillow for hours, and the infamous troublemaker hadn’t said a word, acting as a human pillow the whole time.

Her legs must have gone numb after two or three hours—impressive that she could still stand.

The doctor hooked up the IV and left. The room was small, only about twenty or thirty square meters, with a green plant climbing half the balcony. Shi Qingyi tossed two books onto the bed and put on her earphones to listen to music.

“Study properly. When you’re done, do my homework for me.”

They were the English and history books for the next two classes, plus the math workbook from that morning. Senior year courses were basically over; it was all review now. Studying was better than sitting bored for hours.

Jiang Zhiyi paused. She hadn’t thought Shi Qingyi would check the schedule at all.

“Mm.” Jiang Zhiyi nodded. One hand on the IV, the other holding the books as she really started reading. “I’ll do it as soon as I get back.”

—Willingly, for you.

Her voice was soft and gentle, obedient to the extreme. It made the bossy “bad student” Shi Qingyi feel inexplicably guilty.

“She’s sick and you’re bullying her like this, and she still agrees—what a good-tempered girl. If you had any backbone, would she turn dark and destroy the world?” The System fumed in frustration.

“I get it.” Shi Qingyi rubbed her temple and left with her phone.

Seeing her go, Jiang Zhiyi instinctively grabbed her clothes and sat up. “Where are you going?”

She was already thin; curled up on the vast white bed, she looked even more fragile, her sharp chin accentuating her large, bright eyes. Her hand covered the IV needle, as if she wanted to get up and go with her.

“Don’t move. I’m just grabbing something. I’ll be right back.” Shi Qingyi frowned. The IV had just been set—if she yanked it, it’d have to be redone.

“Then I’ll wait for you.” Jiang Zhiyi finally relaxed and shrank back. Her gaze followed the girl’s figure until she vanished at the end of the hall before she pressed the bedside bell.

Thanks to Shi Qingyi’s wealthy parents, even the small school infirmary was well-staffed with doctors and nurses. A young nurse hurried over right away, concerned. “Is the needle leaking? Or is the drip stuck?”

The girl on the bed shook her head and pulled up her sleeve with an exceptionally pale hand, all the way to her shoulder, revealing a bruised needle mark. Her tone was gentle. “I came for a cold IV. I fell asleep during it and just woke up to find another needle mark on my shoulder. I wanted to ask what it was.”

She paused, as if casually. “Did they mess it up?”

The young nurse, probably still an intern, was very sensitive to injection errors. She shook her head hastily. “No way, don’t worry. Yesterday only two people came for IVs. Besides your cold meds, I only prepped tetanus for one, on the upper arm deltoid—that must be it. If you don’t believe me, I can get Doctor Xu to show you the record.”

Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes flickered, and she shook her head quickly. “No need, no need. I was just asking casually. Could you get me some water? Thanks.”

The nurse sighed in relief, poured water, checked the IV, and left.

Jiang Zhiyi touched the needle mark on her arm. Tetanus must be from her hand. Yesterday, Shi Qingyi had gruffly said it was to skip class and give her parents proof by making her take the shot. But how would she explain tetanus?

A barren wasteland in her heart suddenly felt a spring breeze, reviving long-dead hopes.

But this time, would it just be toying with her? Watching her for laughs, pulling her from the cliff only to shove her back into hell, finding her disgusting, just playing around—

Jiang Zhiyi abruptly closed her eyes, not daring to think further.

When she opened them again, Shi Qingyi was back, carrying a packed lunchbox. The enticing aroma of food filled the small room—preserved egg and lean pork congee with a plate of buns, and another box with steamed dumplings.

She had only drunk a cup of soy milk that morning, which wasn’t nearly enough to fill her up. Her empty stomach had managed to hold out before encountering any food, but now, with the enticing aroma wafting over, it suddenly became unbearable. Stomach acid surged upward one wave after another, and the hunger pains in her gut began to throb.

Her stomach started to protest, letting out a loud gurgle the instant Shi Qingyi opened the lunchbox.

The sound was quite noticeable, especially in the empty space, and Jiang Zhiyi’s porcelain-white earlobes flushed red as if dripping blood. She wished she could bury herself right into her book.

But Shi Qingyi had already picked up her chopsticks, and it was clear there was no portion for her. Jiang Zhiyi kept her head down, pretending she hadn’t noticed anything.

It was just a matter of going hungry for a little while—wasn’t she used to that already? It was nothing; she couldn’t embarrass herself in front of Shi Qingyi…

Shi Qingyi took only two symbolic bites of the bun before setting down her chopsticks, her voice carrying a hint of impatience.

“I told her not to send it, but she sent it anyway. I can’t even eat it,” the girl grumbled bad-temperedly, shoving the food toward the person huddled in the corner of the bed. Her tone was utterly exasperated. “Hurry up and eat it already?”

“…”

Jiang Zhiyi seemed about to say something, but the girl cut her off with a fierce glare. “Even leftover rice and dishes—she makes me eat them!”

With the food practically shoved into her mouth, Jiang Zhiyi didn’t dare disobey Shi Qingyi. She picked up the bowl of porridge that the girl had sipped from twice and slowly fed it to herself. It must have been freshly made, simmered with finely minced fresh meat that melted in her mouth. The steaming heat warmed her straight to the heart.

No. 3 Middle School was the best school around, and the cafeteria food was cheap compared to outside prices—just under ten yuan per meal. Even so, Jiang Zhiyi always brought lunch from home for midday.

Every time she ate in the classroom, the disdainful stares felt like blunt knives stabbing at her heart.

Her insulated box had long since broken, so lunch was either cold dishes and rice or pickled vegetables with steamed buns. It had been ages since she’d had a hot dish or soup during the day.

The steam made her eyes inexplicably heat up. The bag was transparent, and she suddenly noticed there were actually two sets of utensils inside. The ones Shi Qingyi had used were set aside, while hers were brand new, clean chopsticks and spoon.

At first, she ate slowly, but soon she was eating faster and faster, as if the emptiness in her heart could never be filled. Finally, upon seeing those two sets of utensils, she froze, her slender wrist trembling.

Tears fell without warning, one drop after another splashing into the hot soup.

She cried until her vision blurred, something shattering inside her heart, unleashing a torrent of sour emotions. Yet her hand kept shoving food into her mouth nonstop, like a starving person gorging indiscriminately, afraid that the next moment it would all be gone.

“Enough, stop eating…” Finally unable to watch any longer, someone reached out and snatched the hot soup from her hands. The seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl had never seen anyone cry so heartbreakingly. For a moment, she was at a complete loss.

Jiang Zhiyi cried without a sound, yet it conveyed a despair as if she were at the end of her rope, tearing at the heart.

Flustered, the girl held her, unsure where to put her hands. Finally, one hand landed on her back, hesitantly tracing her emaciated spine. She patted tentatively and lowered her voice to ask.

“Was it too hot? Or do you not like it? I’ll go buy something else…”

Her tone was helpless yet indulgent—in that instant, it was gentle beyond words.

Jiang Zhiyi’s vision blurred with tears, but in her heart, she thought: Shi Qingyi had just claimed it was leftovers from home that she couldn’t finish, which was why she was giving it to her.

She had lied again—