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"That was so amazing! I literally have goosebumps look," Mo Ran ran up, his face flushed in agitation from her speech.

Jiang Shen let out the breathe she had been holding and visibly relaxed. His words managed to jerk her back to a calm facade as she let out a peal of laughter.

"Yeah me too. Look, I have sweaty hands."

"Xiao Shen! You were amazing out there."

"Totally cool."

"You were born to be a leader!"

"Yes, you were charismatic talking to the audience."

Everyone chimed in with their own compliments. Having settled the issue of her reputation, Ling Wenzhen excused himself with the rest of the student union.

After the morning ceremony, classes will start and they wouldn't be able to talk to each other until classes ended. Today was the day the test scores were going to be announced. Their overall rank, both in their class and year would decide the new class arrangement the next semester.

October was a chilling month. Jiang Shen was fortunate enough to have dressed thickly despite the glaring lights on stage.

When everyone had had their fair share of gossip and stories, the three people from the Liberal Arts department walked back to their classroom.

Shi Fen wss busy munching on a chocolate biscuit as he played on his phone simultaneously. Jiang Shen had to link arms with him to prevent him from accidentally bumping into a wall or tripping from a crack in the ground.

"You were amazing out there."

"... Thanks."

And she meant it. To be honest, when she thought of how Yang Mu was behind her the whole time calmed her heart and nerves. It wasn't a bad feeling. But somehow as she recognized the budding feelings within her, a sense of dread and fear also crept in her heart.

"I'm proud of you."

Yang Mu patted her head, an action he had probably done a hundred times. But it was something he was sure he would do even if he was tired.

"I know."

"I never knew you had that side to you."

"You mean being assertive?"

"Also that passion. I've never seen you speak so passionately like that."

His confession made it sound like she had always spoke in a neutral tone. But she also couldn't deny that she agreed. Up on stage, she wanted to speak until her voice turned hoarse. The thrill of an audience listening to you felt so exhilarating.

"Did I really?"

"Yes. I mean it."

"Ahahaha, thank you."

They soon reached the classroom. Upon entering, she was bombarded with a wave of apologies. Although they did not exactly ignore her or talk behind her back like the other students did, the fact that they believed the rumors were enough to shame them.

Of course, she accepted them, albeit superficially. She didn't care what the others thought about her. In any case, these people saw her value as someone who could help them and while she didn't mind, it didn't mean that they would be allowed to go overboard.

Starting from now, she would restrict herself from helping the left behind students rather than the ones faring well.

Slipping into her seat, Jiang Shen quietly took out her notebook and began to scribble again. The random doodles paired with her messy handwriting made a funny combination.

Her joy was stopped short when the teacher came and everyone quieted down. As soon as he spoke, she immediately began to listen attentively.

Yang Mu had not taken his eyes off of her since her speech. It's not that he couldn't, but he wouldn't. He was charmed and completely realized how attractive she is. Sooner or later he would have to confront a question he'd been meaning to ask her since they first met.

He was thankful the teacher hadn't noticed him zoning out. Also because she hadn't felt the intense stare from behind her.

When the results are posted on the notice board in front of the department, he hoped that he could sit next to her next semester.

He smiled to himself as he looked forward to that day.

"What rank are you?"

"23rd..."

"Hahaha! I'm 18th!"

"Dammit! I was so close to being in the top 20..."

Being in the top 20 of your entire batch would mean that a student is entitled to a better classroom and less classes.

While an average student has about six subjects a day, a student from the top class would have four subjects, allowing him to freely make use of his timetable.

Although it was a bit biased, teachers would often make more effort teaching the top class rather than the others.

Jiang Shen did not bother to look at the board as she directly walked out of the building. She had Shi Fen to tell her what her rank would be, as she had no interest squeezing herself through the crowd to find out her rank.

On the other hand, Yang Mu also hurried to catch up to her. His strides were long and in a few seconds he had caught up to her.

"Hey, want to go home together again?"

"Sure."

"Have you figured out your rank?"

"Don't need to."

It sounded arrogant, but to her it was a fact.

Yang Mu chuckled. "That's true."

"What about you?"

"I also don't need to."

She glanced at him in the corner of her eyes, only to see that he had already been staring at her with his signature smile.

"How arrogant," she jokingly said.

"Ahahaha, maybe? But I know for sure we're going to be sitting beside each other next semester."

She raised a brow. "You're that confident?"

Of course he was. He had studied very hard for the exams. And even if he wasn't in first place, he was confident that he'd place second. It was something he worked hard for after all. It would be good if the fruits of his labor were worth it.

"I am."

"Whatever you say..."