THD Chapter 26

Every year's college entrance examination produces its own legends, and this year's legend was Ye Xiqing. What did a score of 746 points mean? It meant that aside from losing a few points in subjective subjects, she achieved a perfect score in every objective subject. In a country where the college entrance examination was regarded as the most important event in a student's life, parents across the nation were thrown into an uproar, eager to learn the identity of this "national champion." What they discovered, however, was completely different from what they had imagined. The top scorer who was praised by everyone was not a well-behaved model student but a cold-faced girl with long hair. Not only was she not a good student, she had publicly announced her withdrawal from school on the eve of the examination and spent more than half a year partying wildly. Her teacher had been so furious that she called her parents, only to uncover a dramatic truth. Ye Xiqing was the long-lost daughter of a wealthy family. She no longer needed to do anything because billions of yuan were waiting for her to inherit. Studying seemed completely unnecessary.

After all her teachers had given up on her, this rebellious girl calmly walked into the examination hall. Just when everyone was lamenting that money had ruined a promising student, the examination results were released. Ye Xiqing shocked the nation with a score of 746 points. The media exploded. Reporters carrying cameras and microphones swarmed around her, asking what had driven her to achieve such a result. Ye Xiqing tilted her head slightly and gave them a cool, distant glance.

"I used to feel as though I was trapped inside a shell. I thought it was because I was too stupid. But when my biological parents found me, I realized that it was years of poverty that had gradually worn away my spirit."

"When I looked at all the material things my biological family could give me, I realized that I didn't truly desire them. What saddened me was discovering how much courage and self-esteem I had lost because I lacked them."

"So in the end, I stopped studying. More than mastering learning techniques with ease, I wanted to find my true self again."

The final glance she gave before leaving, later hailed as the "divine look back," spread across the internet and major newspapers. "Top scorer," "genius," "Cinderella reunited with her wealthy biological family," and "almost perfect score without studying" all became nationwide talking points. Ye Xiqing's name instantly became famous. Parents became somewhat less enthusiastic because of her rebellious image, but students idolized her even more because of her indifferent attitude toward convention.

The impact was so great that when Feng Xiuzhi welcomed a new batch of first-year students, she slammed her fist onto the desk and roared, "Your senior was able to find herself again because she had already prepared herself well enough. If you can't score 746 points, then stop talking about not studying!"

What had once been a joke became reality. Just as Feng Xiuzhi had said, Ye Xiqing became both the student who gave her the greatest headaches and the student who made her the proudest. She became a legendary figure whose story was told again and again throughout the school.

Admission offers from universities across the country arrived one after another like scraps of paper. Admissions offices everywhere were practically willing to do anything to recruit her, using every possible method to win her favor. Yet despite all this enthusiasm, Ye Xiqing ultimately chose X University.

X University resembled the humble childhood friend in a romance story. While countless superior rivals surrounded the heroine and competed for her affection, he could only watch anxiously from the sidelines. Just when he thought she was about to leave with someone else, she rejected everyone and turned back to choose him instead. The admissions office of X University was so overwhelmed with joy that they practically wanted to kneel and kowtow in gratitude as they welcomed their "grandmother" home.

The university moved quickly. They offered an astonishing scholarship, waived all tuition and fees, and arranged for the best professor in the School of Pharmacy to personally supervise Ye Xiqing throughout her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral studies. The professor they recommended was the "guiding light" of the protagonist's life in the original novel, a highly respected expert in pharmaceutical research. However, after Ye Xiqing examined the gender ratio among his previous students, she immediately rejected the recommendation without hesitation. Instead, she directly requested Yang Wenqing, the current honorary dean of the School of Pharmacy.

The university fell silent.

Academician Yang Wenqing, honorary dean of the School of Pharmacy at X University, was undoubtedly the most accomplished scholar in the entire university. Yet it was precisely because of her prestige that the university had no authority to assign students to her. She was a legendary figure who had made extraordinary contributions to pharmaceutical science and was destined to have her name recorded in the history of medicine.

The university had only managed to persuade her to join because of the friendship between the students. It was precisely because of her that X University could truly be called the best pharmacy program in the country. Ye Xiqing was undoubtedly a once-in-a-century genius, but Yang Wenqing was already the fully matured version of a genius who appeared once every hundred years. How would the clash between two such geniuses unfold?

What was so difficult about it? She was looking for a master, not seeking revenge. Without any psychological burden, Ye Xiqing wrote a sincere and eloquent letter requesting to become a student under her tutelage. Academician Yang Wenqing had never experienced such an enthusiastic pursuit before and could not help laughing when she read the letter. She had already been considering retirement, but this incident seemed to breathe new life into her. After some thought, she waved her hand and said, "Alright."

My God, an ancient deity had descended!

On one side, the university promoted its thirst for talent. On the other, it promoted the inheritance bond between the ancient true god and her successor. Riding the enormous popularity generated by both Yang Wenqing and Ye Xiqing, the university became the brightest star of the admissions season. Countless aspiring pharmacy students listed X University as their dream school, while Ye Xiqing's future classmates were so excited they felt like jumping for joy.

Fellow Daoist, who exactly are you? Not only are you ascending to heaven yourself, but you're even giving us a free ride up the heavenly ladder!

Academician Yang had officially opened her doors to the university. Since she could not possibly teach only one student, everyone wanted a chance to enter as well. For reasons no one could quite explain, Ye Xiqing's cohort became the "Glorious Class" envied by everyone. They would study alongside legendary academic prodigies and listen to the teachings of an ancient god-like scholar.

Every freshman in the pharmacy department had heard of Ye Xiqing, even if they had never met her. The only exception was the male lead.

In truth, he should not have been unaware. The Qin and Ye families had maintained close relations for years because of their so-called marriage agreement. Ye Xiqing's academic achievements had shocked not only the entire country but also her own parents.

When her teacher first contacted them with the news, Father Ye and Mother Ye simply assumed their daughter had become a little too comfortable after returning to a life of luxury. If she wanted to enjoy herself, so be it. The Ye family was wealthy and influential. Whether she performed well on the college entrance examination hardly mattered.

Yet they never expected Ye Xiqing to deliver such a monumental surprise.

When the news arrived and the flood of public attention followed, Father Ye was overjoyed. He wanted to announce to the entire world that the nation's top scorer was his long-lost daughter. Even the Ye family's business reputation soared because of it.

Mother Ye was equally excited. What parent would not want to be proud of their child? It was just that their previous children had never been particularly ambitious, leaving little to boast about academically. Now that their precious daughter had brought them such glory, how could she resist showing off?

The first victim of her endless boasting was Mother Qin.

The Ye and Qin families had always been close, but the Qin family possessed a scholarly tradition. Both parents were highly educated, and their son was exceptionally talented. Unlike the spoiled rich children who only knew how to indulge themselves, Qin Nian was considered the pride of the upper-class circle.

In the past, Mother Qin loved talking about her son's grades, the prestigious schools he attended, the famous professors who selected him, and his promising future. Then she suddenly discovered that Ji Yuxiu's daughter was a thousand times more outstanding than her son.

Naturally, Mother Qin felt uncomfortable.

Of course, she still believed her son was the best and deliberately avoided bringing up the matter in front of him. Qin Nian, meanwhile, spent most of his time focused on his studies. Since his mother was merely a housewife who attended various social gatherings, she never actively discussed the issue with him. As a result, he completely missed the news that Ye Xueli's sister had become a legendary academic genius.

As for the senior pharmacy students, they did not have favorable impressions of this famous genius either.

At first, they simply found the relentless publicity annoying. "Female power," "peerless genius," and similar titles sounded unbearably exaggerated. Could someone produced entirely by exam-oriented education really be considered a genius?

For most top students, mastering the material and answering objective questions correctly was not particularly difficult. Some people simply lost points because they were weaker in certain subjects, careless, or unlucky. Those external factors often determined final rankings.

In their eyes, Ye Xiqing's advantage was merely that she was a girl. She could devote more time to studying. Boys her age were more easily distracted or less interested in humanities subjects, whereas girls tended to focus more carefully on exam details. She had simply benefited from circumstance.

However, university was different.

Once students entered higher education and began tackling advanced knowledge, the advantages of exam-oriented learning diminished. Female top scorers often failed to maintain their lead. One only needed to look at the gender ratio among senior academics.

Thus, when they saw that the heavily promoted top scorer was a girl, they immediately filled in the blanks themselves. Merely hearing her name felt like a lowering of academic standards.

Then Ye Xiqing did something completely unexpected.

She successfully turned that attention into opportunity and managed to become Yang Wenqing's student.

College entrance examination prodigies appeared every year, but there was only one Yang Wenqing.

Establishing a connection with Academician Yang and gaining access to her academic resources was enough, in their view, to elevate even a complete fool into a future academician.

The upperclassmen who had merely felt annoyed before were now genuinely outraged.

Ye Xiqing had practically created a new academic school of thought: the Traffic School.

A sacred institution of higher learning had been transformed into a chaotic spectacle driven by popularity and attention. Qin Nian and his roommates found the whole situation deeply distasteful.

They had no desire to argue with the masses, but that did not stop them from looking down on Ye Xiqing.

What they never expected was that this small misunderstanding would bring them directly into Ye Xiqing's grasp.

A burning sensation rushed from Qin Nian's feet to the top of his head.

It was lunchtime, and the cafeteria was crowded. As the commotion grew, more and more students turned their attention toward them.

Qin Nian had only participated because his roommates forced him into a game of Truth or Dare. He had never intended for the situation to escalate this far.

Immediately, he decided to withdraw.

"I'm sorry, Junior Sister. I lost a game of Truth or Dare with my roommates, and they forced me to do this. Please don't misunderstand."

"Oh?"

Only then did Ye Xiqing turn around.

She looked directly at Qin Nian and asked with obvious interest, "Then tell me, Senior. What year are you in? Which class? Which major? And what's your name?"

Qin Nian froze.

The so-called academic marketer he had imagined looked nothing like the person before him.

Her eyes shone like stars.

He had never enjoyed interacting with female classmates. The only girl he knew well was Ye Xueli. Yet at this moment, he felt the two could not even be compared.

The instant Ye Xiqing looked at him, all of his negative impressions vanished.

His heartbeat accelerated.

Without understanding why, he answered honestly.

"My name is Qin Nian. I'm in Class Three of the senior year Pharmacy program. You could say I'm your senior."

"Qin Nian?"

Ye Xiqing slowly repeated the name.

She felt that this world was filled with judges, and Qin Nian was the biggest one of all.

In Nian Nian Xue Li, he was the perfect male lead admired by the female protagonist. In Reborn After Having My Heart's Voice Heard, I Was Spoiled by My Whole Family, he was the perfect male lead who abandoned the original heroine and transferred all his favor to the new one.

The biological parents and brothers changing sides was one thing. But how could a male lead picked up from the street continue serving as a replacement judge every time the heroine changed?

Whenever Ye Xiqing was in a bad mood, she enjoyed doing unnecessary things.

What should have been ignored suddenly became interesting.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Ye Xiqing straightened her posture and became the center of attention. Looking directly into Qin Nian's eyes, she smiled.

"I thought I was already famous enough. Apparently, my senior believes otherwise. That's truly disappointing."

"But that's alright. I'll spend the next four years proving that you have no right to flirt with me so casually."

"Then I'll spend ten years proving that you have no right to look down on me in a cafeteria and discuss academic matters with me from a position of superiority."

"The fact that I remember you will be the greatest honor you ever receive."

"So remember my name well, Senior Qin Nian."

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