CHAPTER 265: CHAPTER 262: CINDERELLA’S COMEBACK IN ADVERSITY 7 (ELEGANT BYSTANDER’S TIP BONUS)

During the break between classes, Ren Jiayao was still sitting at her desk, not sure what she was jotting down with her pen.

Her deskmate leaned over to take a look: "Jiayao, you’re really something else, you know. The class is over and you’re still studying so hard. How are the rest of us supposed to live?"

Ren Jiayao looked up and smiled: "My grades slipped a little this time, so I need to catch up."

"Sigh."

Her deskmate heaved a sigh: "I mean, you come from a good family, you’re pretty, and you work so hard; it just makes everyone else seem mediocre. Sitting next to you, I feel enormous pressure."

Ren Jiayao took out a box of snacks from her desk.

Her deskmate immediately brightened up with a smile: "For the sake of the snacks, I’ll reluctantly keep you company."

While munching on the snacks, her deskmate moved closer to talk to Ren Jiayao: "That Gu girl from freshman year didn’t come today, do you think she got too scared because she was bullied too harshly these past few days?"

Ren Jiayao continued to work on her problems while responding: "Maybe. Or maybe she got so bullied that she fell ill."

"How can she endure all that?"

Her deskmate couldn’t understand: "I certainly couldn’t endure it."

Ren Jiayao laughed: "I heard her family isn’t very well off. When she enrolled, the school gave her one hundred thousand yuan. She’d probably endure it for one hundred thousand yuan."

Ren Jiayao’s pen paused as she inadvertently began to ponder Gu Anning’s situation.

She knew that the day before yesterday Gu Anning had been locked in the restroom and soaked with water; she might have caught a cold last night.

Ren Jiayao’s eyes narrowed slightly before she continued working on her problems with a faint smile on her face.

Qin Minghao made a round at the gate of First Middle School and then headed home. Once home, he sent a message to Ren Jiayao, telling her he couldn’t come to her house to play today.

Ren Jiayao looked a bit disappointed when she received the message, but then she replied, arranging to hang out another day.

After completing the enrollment procedure, Anning asked Teacher Fu to take her to Class One.

When Principal Lan learned that Anning’s books had been torn by her classmates at Shengzhe, he had Teacher Fu get her a new set of books and some additional exercises.

After seeing Mr. Gu off, Anning began her class.

The curriculum at First Middle School was more rigorously organized, and the teachers taught faster than at Shengzhe, so Anning needed to catch up with the pace at First Middle School, making her study time feel more intense.

By the end of the half-day, she had taken a lot of notes.

When school was over, Anning started packing her things; her deskmate was a slightly plump girl named Wu Lina.

Wu Lina had a very pleasant personality, always smiling, and very mild-tempered.

While packing her backpack, she asked Anning: "I heard you transferred from Shengzhe?"

Anning smiled: "Yeah, that’s right."

Wu Lina waited for Anning to pack up and then walked out with her: "Shengzhe is pretty nice, the uniforms are beautiful, the school is well built, and it’s not as intense as here. Why did you transfer?"

Anning, carrying her backpack, followed Wu Lina out: "It was too lax. I didn’t like the learning atmosphere there, and besides, what’s the use of nice uniforms? We’re here to learn, not to participate in a beauty contest."

"That’s true."

Wu Lina laughed good-naturedly: "Let me tell you, our classes here start very fast, and if you don’t listen carefully, you’ll fall behind. Also, the teachers are like extinction masters; they give a ton of homework. I have to write homework till after eleven every night, I’m nearly exhausted."

Anning wasn’t surprised at all: "When I was in ninth grade, I would do homework at that time every day too. I thought high school would be even more tiring than ninth grade, but it turns out it’s not that tiring."

"You, you’re not human."

Wu Lina looked Anning up and down, almost infuriated by her studious attitude.

"Then what else can we do if we don’t study hard?"

Anning linked arms with Wu Lina as they walked, speaking at the same time, "My family isn’t well-off, and my parents can’t help me with anything. I have to rely on myself for everything. Right now, studying hard is the only path I can take. At least at First Middle School, everyone is working hard, and I won’t be distracted by trivial matters. Back when I was at Shengzhe, I couldn’t even focus on studying when I wanted to."

"Why couldn’t you?"

Wu Lina was a bit curious.

Anning gave a bitter smile, "The students there all came from rich or noble families; they looked down on a child from a poor family like me. I was criticized from the moment I enrolled, and nobody wanted to deal with me. Later on, it got even worse. Almost the entire school bullied me..."

She glanced at Wu Lina, "If it wasn’t for the fact that the bullying almost killed me, I might not have had the resolve to transfer schools."

"What?"

Wu Lina was shocked, "Bullied to death? What exactly happened? From what you’re saying, Shengzhe sounds really terrifying."

Anning recounted how she had been drenched in cold water and later locked in the restroom after school, "It’s because my family is poor. Even if I died, it wouldn’t affect them in the slightest. That’s why they bullied me so brazenly..."

She looked at Wu Lina, emphasizing each word, "To avoid being bullied in the future, I have no choice but to work even harder."

Wu Lina grew up in a relatively well-off family, pampered from a young age, and she hardly ever experienced any hardships or setbacks. To her, just a few harsh words from her parents were very upsetting.

She could never imagine that in some places, some people live in constant torment.

Wu Lina looked at Anning, and she felt like crying.

Thinking about how Anning was toyed with every day, her books torn, her desk turned into a trash can, her chair smeared with various dirty things and glue, she had nowhere to sit in class, and was beaten by classmates every day, Wu Lina felt an overwhelming sense of discomfort.

She linked arms with Anning, "I... I will also study hard from now on."

She looked at Anning and said very carefully, "Don’t worry, our school isn’t like that. Our classmates are all very nice. I... will also be good to you going forward and won’t let anyone bully you."

"Thank you."

Anning said thanks with a smile.

Upon leaving the school gate, Anning saw Mr. Gu.

"My dad’s here to pick me up."

She said to Wu Lina, then got up and ran toward Mr. Gu, "Dad, why did you come to pick me up? I’m so grown up, I can go home by myself."

"I just couldn’t stop worrying."

Mr. Gu rode an electric bike, took Anning’s backpack, and placed it in the front, gesturing for her to sit behind.

As Anning sat on the bike, she said, "My classmates are pretty nice, and my deskmate is quite okay too. You don’t have to worry."

Mr. Gu was truly worried.

Even though Anning had transferred schools, he still shuddered when he thought of the prolonged bullying she endured at Shengzhe Middle School.

Mr. Gu feared that Anning would be bullied at First Middle School too and was even more worried that she might encounter something on her way home after school. He was too concerned to wait until school was out, so he rode the electric bike over just to wait for Anning to finish school.

On the way back, Mr. Gu also said to Anning, "From now on, I’ll pick you up every day."

"There’s really no need."

Anning repeatedly declined, "I’m already so big, and besides, I can’t be that unlucky to always run into bad students."