That night, Zhu Lexing had a brief chat with Liu Su. Three days later, she received the location of Qin Yun’s mother’s burial mound. But it was little more than an earthen grave—Qin Zheng had only provided a rough area, so Qin Yun would still have to search for it herself.
Yan Mian accompanied Qin Yun on the trip back. When they returned to the Zhu Family home, Zhu Lexing received a system prompt: 【Yan Mian Favorability increased by 100, now at -200.】
Triumphant background music flashed through Zhu Lexing’s mind.
From -1000 to -200—not a problem at all!
Qin Yun’s situation was on hold for the time being. Over the next few days, Zhu Lexing and Yan Mian both behaved themselves at home, either reading books or watching movies. Zhu Lexing couldn’t help sighing: Knowledge really is power!
After the third treatment session, on a crisp autumn day when everything was in place, Zhu Lexing welcomed the first day of senior year.
The summer break had ended, but No. 1 High School looked much the same. The school emblems gleamed a bit brighter from polishing, and the grounds had been beautified slightly, but there were no major changes.
Zhu Lexing subconsciously headed into Sophomore Year Class 7, only to be met by a sea of unfamiliar faces.
It hit her then—damn, they had moved up a grade.
Yan Mian trailed behind her, bewilderment plain on her face.
The pair were meant for the fifth floor, but Zhu Lexing suddenly veered toward the third. Yan Mian figured she just wanted to take the central spiral staircase the rest of the way up. Strange, sure—but Zhu Lexing had done far stranger things. This was nothing.
That illusion shattered when Zhu Lexing confidently shoved open the door to Class 7.
Yan Mian realized then that it wasn’t Zhu Lexing being weird.
She had completely forgotten they’d advanced a year.
Moments later, the students by the windows spotted the girl behind the random intruding Alpha tugging at her sleeve. The Alpha—who’d looked cold and a bit intimidating—softened instantly and followed obediently.
“Teacher Zhu announced it in the class group, didn’t she? New classroom’s on the fifth floor.”
The Alpha replied, “I muted the group chat.”
“I mentioned it on the way here too.”
The girl’s voice turned pitiful in a way that made no sense. “I’m so sleepy. Aren’t you?”
“Why would I be? I get six hours of sleep every night.”
Zhu Lexing: “…”
Only six hours, and still this energetic? Nobody else could pull that off.
Despite the mishap, they made it to their new classroom.
Zhu Lexing said gravely, “Don’t tell a soul about this.”
Yan Mian feigned ignorance. “About what? You walking into the wrong…”
“I said, don’t spread it around!”
This time, every face was familiar.
Zhu Lexing relaxed a fraction—until she spotted Song Yingying at their usual seat, her eyes darting shocked between Zhu Lexing and Yan Mian.
Zhu Lexing: ?
What the hell?
She and Song Yingying had barely talked over summer break. Song Yingying had gone straight back to her rural hometown after school let out, so meetups were impossible.
Song Yingying occasionally posted about countryside life in the group chat—like waking at five a.m. to rooster crows, or watching dogs get chased by massive geese.
The chat would explode with “hahahaha”s.
Zhu Lexing had just set down her bag when Song Yingying asked, “You and Yan Mian…”
“We’ve got nothing going on—”
“Why’d you bully her again?”
Zhu Lexing: ?
She gaped at Song Yingying in disbelief. “Which eye saw me bullying her?”
At least a minute ago, Yan Mian had been the one ribbing her!
Song Yingying said earnestly, “You two were arguing, right? That’s not okay, Lexing. I know you’re a good person, but…”
But what? There was nothing to it! Don’t jump to conclusions!
Zhu Lexing itched to grab Song Yingying by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.
In the end, though, she managed just two words: “Didn’t happen.”
Song Yingying eyed her skeptically. “For real?”
Zhu Lexing scratched her head and hollered, “Yan Mian!”
Gazes poured in from every direction, thicker than ever.
Confusion, excitement, shock, anger… why the anger?
Zhu Lexing ignored it, fixing her stare on Yan Mian. The girl had already unpacked her bag and pulled out a workbook. She’d flipped through a few pages when she heard her name; her pen paused mid-stroke. “Yeah?”
Zhu Lexing: “…Nothing. Homework done? Lend me your physics to copy.”
Yan Mian started to rise, offering it over.
But the student in front twisted around, hand outstretched.
It passed from hand to hand…
Zhu Lexing felt like an eternity ticked by. Mortified, she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.
“See?” she hissed under Song Yingying’s stunned gaze. “Our relationship—”
“You two made up?” Song Yingying blurted.
Zhu Lexing: “…………”
“If you’re gonna put it that way,” she ground out, “it’s not entirely wrong.”
At lunch that day, Zhu Lexing scrolled the forum and spotted three posts.
《Hilarious, Someone Walked into the Wrong Classroom Before Morning Reading, School Uniform Shows an A, Are All Current A’s This Stupid?》
《Xingmian Century Reconciliation, Connoisseurs Enter》
《My Limp and Boneless Alpha Girlfriend 《Back to School Sugar! Updated to Third Chapter (Resource Group 618056767、545191977)》【Essence】》
Zhu Lexing desperately wanted to guzzle pure oxygen right there.
The one silver lining: Qiao Qiao and Xu He weren’t joining them, so they grabbed a quiet corner on the first floor. Maybe it was all in her head, but Zhu Lexing swore people kept sneaking peeks at the pair.
Weren’t these kids supposed to study? Why obsess over shipping couples? It made no sense.
She gnawed her spoon in righteous fury when Yan Mian’s gentle voice cut in: “Eat properly.”
Zhu Lexing felt like she was making good progress, but when she glanced down, she saw that Yan Mian had already eaten more than half. “…”
Zhu Lexing couldn’t help but think there really was a gap between mortals and gods.
“Did something come up on the forum?” Yan Mian noticed the screen on her phone and seemed tempted to check it out herself. Zhu Lexing quickly said, “It’s nothing. No need to pay attention.”
But Yan Mian still caught sight of that post titled 《Alpha’s a Moron》.
She frowned slightly and tapped into it. The thread was mostly first- and second-year students who hadn’t Differentiated yet, bickering away. They split into three camps: those just watching the drama, Alpha supporters, and Alpha haters.
Zhu Lexing didn’t really care—at least this was a semi-anonymous forum. No matter how nasty the insults got, they couldn’t hold a candle to the forums she’d seen in her previous life.
Still, she followed Yan Mian’s lead and clicked in. The moment she refreshed, she spotted a reply from someone called 【Study】: 【Instead of wasting time mocking others, focus on managing yourself.】
Zhu Lexing: “…Is that you?”
Yan Mian nodded.
Zhu Lexing: “…Why’d you pick ‘Study’ for your forum name too?”
Yan Mian replied, “Because I couldn’t think of anything better at the time.”
Zhu Lexing found the explanation refreshingly straightforward.
She snuck a peek at Yan Mian’s posting history, and it was the same as Shi Ruofeng’s—
Zero posts!
Yan Mian asked, “What about you? What’s your username?”
Zhu Lexing: “…Definitely not something like ‘Study.'”
Yan Mian smiled faintly. “I just wanted to know what you think makes a good name. This morning, I saw one called Xingmian. What does Xingmian mean? Do you know?”
Zhu Lexing felt like she’d been struck by lightning.
She studied Yan Mian’s expression, but Yan Mian looked utterly sincere, her eyes clear and innocent, as if she truly had no idea.
Zhu Lexing could only grit her teeth and say, “No clue. I don’t really check the forum.”
“Is that so?” Yan Mian nodded. “Me neither.”
With that, she closed the forum app and opened Star Net. Seeing this, Zhu Lexing let out a quiet sigh of relief and lowered her head.
She could still check the reply history on the forum.
Yan Mian’s replies were just like Song Yingying’s—short, pointed responses to posts about improving grades.
【How I Boosted My Score by 300 Points in One Year to Get into a Top University—It Was All Thanks to XX Software That Changed My Life…】
【Study】 replied: Checked the school’s past score rankings. No record of a Li XX.
【Why was this math test so brutal??? Teacher, even if you just got dumped, you can’t torture us like this!】
【Don’t Argue with Me If Below 700】: Why can everyone else solve it but not you? Isn’t it your own fault? Instead of whining about the teacher making tough questions, blame your pea brain [munching seeds][image] Here are my scores from the last few exams. If you’re arguing, it means I nailed it and you’re triggered. Go work on that IQ first [picking nose]
【Study】 replied to 【Don’t Argue with Me If Below 700】: The ones below you are freaking out—what should the ones above you say? Moron. [image]
No. 1 High School didn’t just rank total scores; they also graded performance from S to D. Comparing the score sheets the two had posted, Yan Mian clearly dominated with straight S’s in morality, intellect, and aesthetics.
Zhu Lexing thought, what kind of wish-fulfillment plot is this?
It was satisfying!
The one slight outlier was in a post titled 《xm, Get It?》.
【Study】: What’s xm? Envy?
【Zhu Lexing Fans】: Why’s Study here too? Anyway, it’s definitely not about studying!
【Bread Dog】: Newbie lurking this thread [sharing link: Soft and Boneless…]
【Study】 replied to 【Bread Dog】: Got it. Thanks.
The question had been posted before summer break, but that “thanks” reply was just a few hours old.
Remembering Yan Mian’s earlier question—”What does Xingmian mean?”—Zhu Lexing: “…”
The first day of the new semester.
The last class of the day was Zhu Xing’s.
After he finished lecturing, there were only a few minutes left until dismissal. Normally, this would be the time when the teacher droned on up front while students chatted below, neither side getting in the other’s way.
But then Zhu Xing spoke up: “Next month, there’s a Math Olympiad preliminary in S City. Any students in the top twenty of the grade rankings who are interested can come find me to fill out a registration form.”
The class erupted in an instant.
The whole point of the Math Olympiad was to make finals, win awards, snag a Guaranteed Admission Quota—and then skip the grind of competing with everyone else for Gaokao spots.
Zhu Xing didn’t specify how many slots No. 1 High had, but Song Yingying said, “Probably an internal prelim first, selecting just a few.”
Zhu Lexing saw her enthusiasm and asked, “You want to join?”
Song Yingying nodded. “But we might not make the cut. Our Elite Class has tons of kids with Olympiad experience—prizes from middle school and all.”
Only then did Zhu Lexing remember: this was the Elite Class.
Song Yingying seemed to think of something and asked, “If Yan Mian entered, her odds of winning would be huge.”
When talking about others versus herself, Song Yingying stuck to school-level rivalries. But mention Yan Mian, and she jumped straight to prizes.
In the original work, Yan Mian’s Guaranteed Admission Quota came from a provincial contest—nothing national—so it got snatched away easily.
Zhu Lexing wasn’t sure how far Yan Mian could go against real competition, but she wholeheartedly agreed with Song Yingying. As long as Yan Mian entered, she’d surely deliver.
Zhu Lexing figured Yan Mian would jump at the chance.
But the moment they got back to the Zhu Family home, when she brought it up, Yan Mian said flatly, “I’m not planning to participate.”
Zhu Lexing froze in place, clutching her half-eaten apple, bewildered. “Why not?”
Yan Mian replied calmly, “I have my own plans. I can get where I need to with my own abilities—no need to take a slot like that. There are people who need it more than I do.”
Zhu Lexing: “…………”
Zhu Lexing never imagined that Yan Mian’s reason for refusing would be this.
It wasn’t because she lacked the courage or confidence in herself. No, it was because she had too much confidence—absolute faith in her own abilities. She believed she could secure the spot on her own, so she wanted to yield it to someone else.
Wasn’t that a little too cocky?
Yet this brand of cockiness left Zhu Lexing frozen in place, utterly dumbfounded.
Even now, Yan Mian was still scribbling away at her practice problems. She paused for just a few seconds to hear Zhu Lexing out before diving right back into the test paper.
![The Overachieving Female Supporting Character Quits [Quick Transmigration]](https://i0.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/jk.png?resize=151,215 "The Overachieving Female Supporting Character Quits [Quick Transmigration]")
