Chapter 30: The Bet

Before Fu Rong could ask the class their opinion about the grade exam, the Math teacher entered the room. She gave a few tips on how to prepare for the exam and shared some example problems that might appear. The grade exam was just the beginning; the primary focus was on the college entrance exam, which was two months away.

During the break, Fu Rong stood up to walk to the podium so that all the students could see her. However, before she could speak, a few students from the Elite Class barged into the Normal Class.

"Isn't this the coward who left the Elite Class? How dare she make our Goddess Bai Yan cry? I'm going to teach her a lesson today," said Gu Ming, the top student in the Elite Class and one of Bai Yan's admirers, taking the lead.

Fu Rong glanced at him coldly. "Why do these flies keep buzzing around, not giving me any peace?" she thought.

Before she could respond, Su Yuliang, one of her classmates from the Normal Class, spoke up. "All you shrews and hooligans from the Elite Class can leave our Normal Class. You're not welcome here. But before you go, apologize to Fu Rong for insulting her," he said firmly, and most of their classmates agreed.

Fu Rong felt a warmth inside her that she had never experienced in the Elite Class, in both lifetimes. She felt grateful for their support. She turned to Su Yuliang, nodded gratefully with a clear smile, and then approached Gu Ming.

Her eyes were ice-cold, causing Gu Ming to take two steps back in fear. Fu Rong sneered, "Classmate Gu, are you being unreasonable here? It was Bai Yan who spread rumors about me, and I defended myself. Should I allow her to slander me without retaliating? Are you pushing me too far? You're nothing but a fool in my eyes for letting Bai Yan use you like this," she said, standing tall.

Gu Ming was shocked by her response. Normally, Fu Rong would lower her head and cry silently whenever she was bullied. Now, not only was she confronting him boldly, but she was also reasoning with him. He felt humiliated when she called him a fool but realized he had been foolish to come here without knowing the full story.

Hai Tingyang, already scolded by Bai Yan earlier that morning for being stupid, saw what was happening and couldn't resist another chance to humiliate Fu Rong. She nudged another boy, Chu Bin.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you ended up here crying. No surprise you're in this class now. Only fools join fools. Birds of a feather flock together. You always ranked last, and now you're in the Normal Class, which is last out of the three classes," Chu Bin said, intending to insult Fu Rong and the entire class, not realizing he was only helping Fu Rong.

The students in the Normal Class were insulted by his comment. "What do you mean by that, Classmate Chu? Apologize for what you just said, or you won't be able to face the consequences," Mo Lian stood up and demanded.

"There's nothing wrong with what I said, Classmate Mo. Everyone knows what the Normal Class stands for—you all rank at the bottom, yet you have the audacity to ask me to apologize? Dream on," Chu Bin sneered sarcastically. "If you want an apology, score higher than our Elite Class. But that'll never happen," he laughed.

"What if our Normal Class scores higher than the Elite Class? Will your class kneel and apologize to us?" Fu Rong chimed in. The Normal Class students were stunned by her words and turned to her. She nodded confidently and continued, "This time, the Normal Class will score higher than the Elite Class. Be ready to apologize," she said coolly.

"If the Elite Class beats the Normal Class—especially you, Fu Rong—you'll have to kowtow to our class. Do you dare to bet?" Hai Tingyang challenged.

Su Yuliang, Mo Lian, and a few other Normal Class students quickly agreed to the bet. After that, the Elite Class students left the classroom.

Fu Rong walked to the podium. "I'm sorry, everyone. I caused trouble for you. Those classmates came for me, but now it's turned into a class bet," she apologized sincerely.

The Normal Class students were actually pleased. Since Fu Rong joined the class, they had seen her true character—she was different from other girls who were pretentious and fake.

"Classmate Fu, you don't need to worry about that. We're the Normal Class, and we need to defend ourselves," Tian Feng spoke first, followed by the other students.

"Since we're united in defending our class, we need to study harder this time. Only by outperforming the Elite Class can we truly defend ourselves. What do you think?" Fu Rong pointed out the key issue.

All the students agreed. They had placed a bet, and now they had to win it. They decided to take extra classes in the evening after school and work harder this time.