Chapter 11

Aside from Fu Yangxi and Jiang Xiuqiu, there were quite a few people on the list who were in the International Class.

This included Ke Chengwen whose parents were high ranking officials. His return rate was 0.3%.

Mingxi threw out a net to the core of a school of fish. Although she was focused on Fu Yangxi, so long as she could get some luck from these people, she would do it.

For the past two days, she used the excuse of handing them their homework to conveniently gift them with some small biscuits that she had made at He Yang’s family’s shop. After inconspicuously interacting with these people, the tiny buds grew and had now accumulated to form one tree.

After seeing that there were 13 buds, Mingxi secretly took her mirror, walked to a corner and pulled down her mask to take a glance.

As expected, the mark was so faint that it could barely be seen.

Also, she didn’t know if it was her misperception, but she felt that ever since she started to freeload on other people’s luck, her hair became shinier while her skin became fairer and smoother.

The system said happily: “This is natural. Have you ever seen how authors would usually describe a novel’s villainess whenever they make their first appearance? It would always be very general and casual, such as the word ‘beautiful’. But when it comes to the good people, they would always be described in more detail. Positive luck is the same as nutrition. You will only become increasingly good-looking.”

The system couldn’t help but to compliment her: “You are the most dazzling villainess I have ever got. When your injury is healed, people might even believe it if they are shown a photo of you and are told that you are a celebrity.”

“Really?” Mingxi was ecstatic.

However, Mingxi did not ask for much. She wasn’t concerned with whether or not she would become prettier.

As long as the scar on her face disappeared as soon as possible and she would be able to live a long life, she was content.

According to the speed of how she was doing, she estimated that by the time she obtained 20 buds she would be able to take off her mask without having to ever wear it again.

Ke Chengwen was helping out with the changing of the water dispenser. When he walked over, he noticed that Fu Yangxi was supporting his head with his hand casually, his vision focused beyond the window.

He followed Fu Yangxi’s gaze and smacked his lips before saying, “The poor transfer student. I heard that her appearance was quite average and that last year her face got injured before she transferred to our school. Also, her younger sister Zhao Yuan is currently leading in the School Beauty Contest, so she should be feeling rather inferior—”

Halfway through his sentence, Ke Chengwen took a glimpse at the cold expression on Fu Yangxi’s face and quickly changed his words. “But the transfer student definitely has a better personality! For the past two days, she has been giving us sweets and biscuits. Everyone has taken a liking to her!”

“Us?” Fu Yangxi successfully latched on to the main point.

Zhao Mingxi bought some chocolate biscuits and placed it on her table this morning. She asked him if he wanted some with a soft voice, but he scoffed and complained that it was a mess of a biscuit instead. He was waiting for Zhao Mingxi to ask him again. However, just when he was about to reach out to take it, Zhao Mingxi kept them back in her bag. He got so angry that he almost screeched like a dolphin.

He thought that it was Zhao Mingxi’s breakfast. He was afraid that if he ate it she might not have enough for herself. So he didn’t even touch it.

Who would’ve thought that she went ahead and gave it to their classmates instead?

Fu Yangxi glared coldly at Ke Chengwen. It was obvious that he was unhappy. “Who?”

Ke Chengwen wanted nothing but to slap himself for having such a loose tongue. He might not be able to eat Zhao Mingxi’s handmade desserts anymore. “No one. J-Just the few group leaders who hand us our homework. Since the transfer student just got here, it would help her to blend in faster. ”

Fu Yangxi seemed to contemplate it. “True.”

This sweet little cook knows how to conduct herself around strangers. This coincidentally filled up his weak point. He won’t have to worry about his family’s social meetings anymore.

What surprised Ke Chengwen was that Fu Yangxi didn’t resume his interrogation.

Instead, he supported his head with a smile and continued to look outside the window.

Only then did Ke Chengwen let out a sigh of relief.

*

The School Beauty Contest and Hundred School Tournament were the hottest topics as of late.

When Mingxi kept her small mirror and came in, she heard a few students talking about it.

“Have you guys voted? Why is Zhao Yuan the one with the most votes again this year? Shouldn’t everyone vote for the Gold Medal Class’ Ceng Jiaojiao? I prefer the mature older sister type!”

“It’s only normal. Boys make up about 70% of A High and they all like Zhao Yuan’s simple, pure and pitiful appearance.”

“But Ceng Jiaojiao is way smarter!”

“I don’t think so.” A boy couldn’t help but to butt in, “The Evergreen Class which Zhao Yuan is in is a really good class. She also joined the Hundred School Tournament last year. As for the Gold Medal Class, all their students are trained to compete and win competitions. In terms of overall results, we don’t know who would be the better one.”

Someone agreed, “Furthermore, Zhao Yuan is more elegant and she has a better family background. The young guy who came to pick him up had such a graceful aura. Did you guys see? I think that was her eldest brother.”

Mingxi had heard these words many times. After all, the halo surrounding the heroine was not something she could avoid.

However, the good part was that every time Zhao Zhanhuai came, he would only pick up his little princess. Mingxi had never been in Zhao Zhanhuai’s car, so not a lot of people knew that she and Zhao Yuan were sisters.

Nonetheless, maybe because she had just changed classes and voluntarily approached Fu Yangxi...

Someone began to express interest in her and heard about this.

When a guy saw her sit down and begin to fill in the application form for the Hundred School Tournament, he exclaimed in shock, “Are you joining as well?”

Zhao Mingxi raised her head and gave him a look. “Yes.”

Considering how her results in the Normal Class were always either average or below and there was only once when she managed to get into the Top 5, the fact that she wanted to join this province level competition was rather ironic in the eyes of an outsider.

But there was still some time until the Hundred School Tournament. Mingxi felt that as long as she did her best to increase her luck, when it's time for exams, she might not be held back by her luck as the villainess and instead show off her true potential.

—Based on this idea, there is a possibility that she might get in the tournament.

That guy felt that she had overestimated herself, but he was worried about Fu Yangxi who was sleeping beside her, hence he decided to tease her instead of speaking bluntly. “By the way, what happened to your face? Can you take down the mask for us? Since your younger sister is so pretty and her results are really good, you should be the same, right?”

The mockery in his words were clear. He obviously knew that before Mingxi came, her results belonged to that of the Normal Class which was three classes behind them.

The same goes for her appearance. He knew that Mingxi looked average.

Another girl joined in, “Yeah, I don’t even know what you look like.”

The pity in that girl’s eyes was more apparent than her curiosity.

Mingxi saw the guy’s ill intentions. She didn’t want to acknowledge him. So without even looking up, she said, “What can I look like? It’ll just be two eyes and one mouth.”

They were stunned.

Mingxi didn’t really care about what they were thinking.

However, since the scar on her face was almost gone to the point that it could not be seen unless someone used a magnifying glass to look at it, should she just take off her mask now?

But before she could do anything, a pencil case flew across her eyes and landed with a ‘thud’. The guy who was teasing her jumped and quickly avoided it. The pencil case landed heavily on his table.

Fu Yangxi gave him a look that said ‘did you think I was dead’. “So annoying. All I hear are your voices talking non-stop. It’s really noisy.”

That guy’s complexion went pale and he instantly lost his courage to speak. He picked up the pencil case and returned it to Ke Chengwen’s table. Then, he quickly hid to the back of the class.

That girl was shocked as well. She immediately looked down and continued to do her work.

Mingxi’s hand which was about to take off her mask paused in mid-air. She looked at her desk mate with a questioning gaze.

“What are you looking at?” Fu Yangxi scoffed. His red hair was arrogant as he raised his eyebrows. He looked at her from the side with an expression full of distaste.

Seeing as how Mingxi was still staring at him in silence, Fu Yangxi felt a little uncomfortable. He put on his noise-cancelling headphones and mumbled, “Don’t let it get to your head. I wasn’t helping you. They were just too noisy.”

Mingxi couldn’t help but to smile. “Thank you.”

Her impression of Fu Yangxi finally became a little higher than -1000. She realized that although this guy had a sharp tongue, he wasn’t as hard to get along with as she had expected.

Fu Yangxi said in exasperation, “I already said that I wasn’t helping you.”

Mingxi shrugged and didn’t say anything in reply. Instead, she lowered her head and continued to fill in the application form.

Fu Yangxi looked at her from the corner of his eyes. She was quiet and her sclera was white, he didn’t know what she was thinking about. Considering how she went to a corner to look at herself just now, it meant that she still cared about her appearance. When she heard those words, she must’ve been holding in her tears—

Of course, there were no tears in the transfer student’s eyes, but for some reason Fu Yangxi felt that she must be biting her lips underneath her mask.

Fu Yangxi scratched his head. He didn’t know why but he felt slightly agitated.

A while later, Mingxi who was almost done with the application form heard Fu Yangxi ask out of the blue, “Do you think I’m handsome?”

Mingxi: ?

Is this idiot having another bout of narcissism?

Honestly speaking, there was nothing to criticize about the appearance of this young master. He had handsome eyes and a tall figure. He also had his own school hunk background music playing wherever he went. He was so good-looking that anyone who saw him would take another look.

Of course, no one in A High dared to stare at him because the moment they took another look he would go into a frenzy of rage.

“Yes,” Mingxi answered agreeably and honestly. She raised her head and looked at the tiny mole at the end of his eyes.

Fu Yangxi scoffed as he continued to look at her. “Alright then.”

Mingxi: ?

Fu Yangxi explained, “Because I’m handsome, I don’t care about the appearance of the girl—the friends I make and the followers I accept. After all, no matter how good-looking they are they can’t beat me.”

Fu Yangxi was complacent. “So rest assured. I don’t care if you’re pretty or ugly.”

Mingxi: “...”

Why thank you so much.

I suddenly feel comforted.

...

As everyone was talking about the School Beauty Contest all day, Mingxi who had planned to simply wash up and sleep that night casually opened up the forum. To her surprise, she was shortlisted for the contest.

Of course, she held the last position.

Nonetheless, what was astonishing was that she actually had 45 votes.

Mingxi: ???

A photo of her with a mask could be shortlisted as well?

Was the person who submitted her name blind or simply making fun of her?

As expected, a lot of students from other schools started to question who this person was as she was shortlisted despite using a photo with a mask.

Mingxi guessed that it was someone who hated her who did this, someone like E Xiaoxia. She didn’t have the energy to care about these things, and she was too lazy to do so as well.

On the other hand.

Ke Chengwen and a group of followers had to fight the urge to sleep as Fu Yangxi rushed them to change a few more accounts in order to vote.

They all complained that he was like Zhou the exploiter*.

ray’s note: refers to a short story about a man who refused to pay his workers after they were done working.

They initially thought that getting a ‘sister-in-law’ was a good thing, but what they didn’t expect was such torture.

Mingxi didn’t dwell on this matter. She was very busy as she not only had to prepare for the Hundred School Tournament, she also had to make sweets for Fu Yangxi everyday after school so that she could bring it for him the next day. Furthermore, she had to figure out various ways to get closer to Fu Yangxi.

Therefore, she didn’t know that by the time it was Friday, she actually had around 350 votes and had successfully entered the Top 20.

*

It was Friday. Shen Liyao had just finished playing basketball and returned to class when he heard his classmates discussing this. He furrowed his brows and took out his phone to take a look. As expected, he saw that Zhao Mingxi’s name had gone up to the Top 20.

Shen Liyao knew that Zhao Mingxi was beautiful. The moment he saw her two years ago, he couldn’t avert his eyes. However, her results were terrible and she was too thick-skinned. At the beginning, when Shen Liyao saw the results from her entrance exam, he felt that even speaking to her was a waste of time, hence he would always avoid her whenever he could.

But for the past two years, she must have worked so hard and put in so much effort that she managed to get her results all the way to the Top 5.

Actually, she isn’t that bad. When she works hard no one can beat her.

Shen Liyao lowered his gaze nonchalantly. He smoothly voted for the person in the 20th place.

Suddenly, he heard someone shout out his name. It sounded like Zhao Mingxi’s voice.

He stood still in the corridor and smiled. He quickly reverted to his cold gaze before turning back, but all he saw was a junior.

That girl quickly ran over to him to give him a bottle of water.

Shen Liyao’s expression changed instantly to one of annoyance.

Before that girl could reach him, he wordlessly walked upstairs.

For the whole of this week, aside from Tuesday when she got He Yang to return his notes, Zhao Mingxi did not appear in front of him at all.

Previously on every Wednesday, Zhao Mingxi would make up some excuse to escape class so that she could secretly come find him at the sports field during the Gold Medal Class’ physical education period. Even on Thursday when he would be at the broadcast room, Zhao Mingxi would definitely be there to wait for him.

There were also his basketball competitions every Friday. For the past two years Zhao Mingxi had never missed a single one of his basketball competitions—

This was the first time in two years that she did not appear in the crowd from the beginning till the end of the competition.

Additionally, despite the fact that the International Class and the Gold Medal Class was on the same floor, Shen Liyao had not once bumped into Zhao Mingxi.

For the past few days, Zhao Mingxi did not walk past the windows of the Gold Medal Class as well— It looked like she had purposely chosen the longer path this week. She would use the flight of stairs near the office to get down every time.

Shen Liyao finally noticed that she was avoiding him on purpose.

Why?

Shen Liyao appeared expressionless, but when he coldly walked into his class, he subconsciously looked toward the direction of the International Class and felt a strong sense of frustration.