Wang Qiqi had no idea what her friend was contemplating at that moment. If she knew that Han Tao was merely considered a bookworm in Shi Man's eyes, she would certainly argue that Han Tao was no bookworm; he was definitely far more capable than Gao Kai.

Don't be fooled by Gao Kai's current competence or strong social skills; those were built entirely upon his presence on campus, coupled with his wealth. Everyone fawned over him because they assumed he was the heir to a major hotel. Once those surrounding Gao Kai learned the truth about the Gao family's situation, many would slowly drift away, and he would completely fall into ruin. It made sense, too. Gao Kai, who had always believed himself to be the son of a wealthy family and had enjoyed smooth sailing, would naturally struggle to pull himself together after suddenly discovering his family was poor. However, Wang Qiqi always found it strange that the mysterious grand owner of the hotel would entrust its operation to the Gao couple. It seemed they had only been checking the accounts for a few years, and the Gao couple didn't strike her as the type to simply accept a salary; they surely would have demanded shares. Could it be... Wang Qiqi mused that perhaps that was the only possibility, but regardless, it wasn't her business, so why bother meddling?

The two strolled slowly toward the classroom. A girl diligently tapping away at her keyboard looked up when she saw Shi Man enter, waved at her, and then immediately buried her head in her work, copying notes. There was no other way; time was tight, and the assignment was heavy. "Shi Man, Qiqi, why are you only getting here now? We're going to be late." Arriving at this hour, how could they possibly finish the homework? Besides, very few students were willing to let others copy their assignments, making their notebooks hot commodities. Even she had only just managed to secure one after waiting for nearly twenty minutes, and who knew how long it would take to finish copying.

Zhu Lina thought for a moment and shifted slightly toward the center. "The three of us can look at it together." That way, the three of them might finish the homework before morning self-study began, as mathematics was a known weakness for both Shi Man and Wang Qiqi.

Shi Man glanced up at the notebook. It was hers. Although Shi Man's grades were quite good, frankly, she didn't need such a notebook right now. Moreover, every time she copied her homework, the girl would speak with a sour tone, especially after an exam when Shi Man's total score surpassed hers; she would always utter something extremely sarcastic, which annoyed Shi Man greatly.

"Thanks, Lina, we're actually done," Zhang Qian said. Seeing that it was Huang Li’s notebook, she honestly didn't have a very good impression of her. Huang Li was the type who couldn't stand seeing others with better grades or better family backgrounds; otherwise, she would only offer biting remarks. If she didn't frequently lend her homework out for others to look at, her popularity in the class would be much worse.

Zhu Lina had been furiously copying answers and hadn't noticed Wang Qiqi and Shi Man’s movements. She had been wondering what was taking those two so long. Later, when she heard Shi Man say she had actually finished the math homework—and the problems from yesterday weren't even simple—she was stunned. "You finished?"

Zhu Lina looked up, surprised, at Wang Qiqi and Shi Man. "You both finished?" Impossible. She knew Shi Man's math ability; she wouldn't possibly have finished all the homework. And while Qiqi’s math scores were slightly better than Shi Man’s, the problem was she had taken a half-month leave; it would have been impressive enough if her grades hadn't slipped.

Shi Man nodded smugly. "Yep, I finished all the math homework yesterday." Hahaha, Shi Man felt the air today was exceptionally fresh. She wouldn't need to copy anyone's homework from now on, nor would she need to listen to anyone's orders.

Huang Li saw Wang Qiqi and Shi Man walk in and was about to throw in a sarcastic remark or two. But she knew if she insulted Wang Qiqi for being an orphan, she didn't know how the other girl might retaliate. After all, someone in class had lightly gossiped yesterday, and that girl Wang Qiqi had stormed over and demanded an apology from that person, and no one felt Wang Qiqi’s actions were excessive—she was an orphan, after all. What Huang Li was truly waiting for was an opportunity to mock them when Shi Man and Wang Qiqi came to copy her homework.

Especially Wang Qiqi. Yesterday, Huang Li had seen her heart's desire, Gao Kai, humbly begging Wang Qiqi, the orphan girl, only for Wang Qiqi to pull Shi Man away and leave with disdain. At that moment, Huang Li felt a strange, indescribable desolation watching Gao Kai standing alone in the wind. She desperately wanted to step forward and offer a few comforting words, but she knew she didn't have the right. Still, she thought, the more Wang Qiqi acted up now, the better; once she exhausted Gao Kai's feelings for her, how easy would Wang Qiqi’s future days be? And what made her happy was that at least for the time being, Wang Qiqi wouldn't be spending extended time with Gao Kai.

Thinking this, Huang Li decided she needed to carefully plan an "accidental" encounter with Gao Kai. She recalled Gao Kai saying that he had almost bumped into that jinx of a woman—Wang Qiqi—at a staircase landing. She definitely needed to devise a much better chance encounter scenario. Hmph, in Huang Li's view, there was no such thing as an accidental meeting. According to Gao Kai, more couples should have formed at school because of that incident. Thus, in Huang Li's mind, all so-called chance meetings were deliberately staged by Wang Qiqi.

Before Huang Li could devise a better scene, she heard Shi Man announce that she had actually finished her math homework. This caused Huang Li to turn pale with shock. She knew that while she occasionally surpassed Shi Man in total score, it was only because Shi Man struggled with math and her own math scores were decent. Even so, Shi Man often still beat her. Now, Shi Man had actually done the math homework? However, she quickly stabilized her emotions.

"Maybe she asked an expert for advice yesterday," Huang Li said, emphasizing the words "asked for advice." As students, everyone understood the implications of "asking for advice," just like copying. If Huang Li had said this about someone else, people might have chuckled. But the problem was she was talking about Shi Man, and nobody was stupid; seeing Shi Man and Wang Qiqi walk in together, what if Wang Qiqi jumped out and flew into a rage? Especially with the huge family incident Wang Qiqi had recently gone through, feeling down was perfectly normal. Furthermore, everyone generally had a poor impression of Huang Li. Everyone was too busy with their own homework to pay attention to this slight.

Huang Li noticed that no one had responded to her. Her face twisted in frustration. She truly wanted to say, "When you usually need to copy my homework, aren't you all begging me like puppies? Why has everyone suddenly changed?" Hmph, I won't let you copy anymore! But Huang Li couldn't utter those words. She knew that if she actually dared to say that, she would truly alienate everyone.

Shi Man watched Huang Li’s face twist, feeling an immense satisfaction, as if she had just eaten a KFC ice cream cone. She smiled. "I did ask an expert, and anyway, my homework is done." Shi Man pulled her notebook out of her bag and handed it to Zhu Lina. "Lina, here’s my notebook, see how I did."

Shi Man knew Huang Li would believe she had finished the math problems, but she would assume Shi Man had just scribbled nonsense in the process.

Shi Man put her notebook down and returned to her seat, planning to doze off for a bit. Wang Qiqi picked up a history book to read. At home, Wang Qiqi had dedicated almost all her time to reviewing math. As for history and geography, which required memorization, Wang Qiqi planned to tackle those at school.

Seeing Shi Man hand her notebook to Zhu Lina, Huang Li immediately jumped up and lunged toward Zhu Lina, snatching the book from her hand. The unprepared Zhu Lina was startled by Huang Li's sudden action. If she hadn't quickly let go, allowing Huang Li to take the book, the notebook might have been ripped in two with the combined force. Zhu Lina wondered what was wrong with Huang Li; couldn't she have just asked first if she wanted to see Shi Man's notebook? Why the sudden agitation?

Everyone first heard Zhu Lina's gasp and looked over, only to see Huang Li standing next to Zhu Lina, clutching a notebook. Everyone looked quite perplexed. Those who didn't know what was happening thought Huang Li was trying to snatch the book back, refusing to let Zhu Lina copy it, and felt Huang Li was being petty. Even though Shi Man had given her math book to Zhu Lina, they wouldn't assume Shi Man's problem-solving steps were better than Huang Li's.

Students who witnessed Huang Li’s aggressive grab shook their heads, feeling Huang Li was being utterly unreasonable. From their perspective, Huang Li had deliberately yanked Shi Man's notebook away with vicious force, clearly intending to destroy it. If Zhu Lina hadn't let go quickly, the book really might have disintegrated.

Huang Li had no time to consider what others thought of her move. She flipped to Shi Man's homework from yesterday, looking at each problem one by one. She refused to believe Shi Man could have completed all these problems. Yesterday, she herself had struggled with two of them, written them down messily, but she hadn't expected Shi Man to have answered them correctly.

This made Huang Li's face grow progressively paler. What she hadn't expected was that Shi Man had solved the problems she herself couldn't, and for the problems she could solve, Shi Man had used simpler and clearer steps. Huang Li now understood the implications of this outcome.

"Shi Man, did you copy this?" Huang Li didn't believe Shi Man had done it herself. Clutching Shi Man's notebook, she rushed over to Shi Man and shouted at her.

Shi Man had intended to take a short break during this time, but she hadn't expected Huang Li to keep harassing her. She looked up and stared at Huang Li. "Does it matter if I copied it or not? Who in the class do you think I could have copied these solutions from?" What an idiot. Seeing that her steps were better, she immediately accused her of copying, and in front of so many people too. Does she have a brain?

Wang Qiqi yawned. "Exactly. How Shi Man does her work is her business. Isn't it just because Shi Man's solutions are too good that you're jealous, so you're claiming Shi Man copied?" Hmph, accusing her of copying right in front of everyone—she's asking for it. "Huang Li, you aren't the only one with good math grades."

Double Pink Ticket last day, any pink tickets left, RS