Chapter 17 The Second Wager: Ouyang's Thoughts

As soon as Teacher Jii had left, Yi Chenyi, who had just been provoked, stood up and defiantly said to Ouyang Xiasha, "I know you're lawless in your class, but you should know, this is Class 8, my turf. Since you're a girl, just apologize to me, and I'll let bygones be bygones. Otherwise!"

"Or else what?" Ouyang Xiasha asked with a laugh, looking at the little boy in front of her. She had recognized Yi Chenyi right away not because of her sharp eyesight, but because several years later at a reunion of her elementary school classmates, they had mentioned him. Yi Chenyi was known for his loyalty. With his big eyes, fair skin, long eyelashes, and a noticeable teardrop mole at the corner of his eye, he didn't look like a little ruffian he would be years later. Well, Ouyang Xiasha needed talents, so she considered it Yi Chenyi's good fortune.

"Or else, I'll make you regret it!" Yi Chenyi roared in frustration when he saw that Ouyang Xiasha was unperturbed, thinking to himself how this pretty girl didn't know to give herself a way out. She's really dumb!

Seeing Yi Chenyi's look of disappointment, Ouyang Xiasha rolled her eyes to the heavens, her lips twitching involuntarily. "Are your eyes messed up? You're disappointed in me? Your whole family should be disappointed!" Yet, having the soul of a twenty-five-year-old, she quickly calmed her impetuousness and spoke evenly, "You want me to apologize, but I don't want to. So, how about we make a bet? Since you're best at fighting, let's have two matches of fighting and one test! If I win the two fights, you'll be my minion and listen to Ouyang Xiasha. If I win the test, your whole class must study with me. How's that? Dare to take the challenge?"

"No, that's unfair. Since it involves the whole class, you'll have to fight more than two matches. I'll have Qiao Yelei and Mu Qingcang represent our class, each fighting two matches, totaling six. If you win them all, then you will be our boss. But if you lose even one, you'll have to apologize to all of us and be our little lackey! And if you want us to listen and study hard with you, you'll have to be the top scorer in this round of exams. Otherwise, none of us are material for studying; how could we possibly respect you? After all, you're from Class 1, and your grades must be better than ours," Yi Chenyi said earnestly. In truth, he was just trying to make things difficult for Ouyang Xiasha. Everyone knew that although she often got into scraps in primary school, she lost nine out of ten times. Furthermore, as a girl, and considering that the boys in her class were typical officials' children trained in self-defense for fear of kidnapping, how could she win without having lived once before, let alone afford to lose a single match? As for being the top scorer out of the entire grade, consider that there were more than three hundred students across eight classes. Since third grade, Ouyang Xiasha had always hovered around the 200th mark; it seemed impossible for her to be first. Yet, Yi Chenyi could never have anticipated that Student Ouyang had been reincarnated!

Ouyang Xiasha looked at the two boys named, one with short, messy hair, hazel eyes, a cool and distant demeanor, and slightly upturned phoenix eyes, though still a young boy he was undeniably eye-catching. This must be Mu Qingcang! The other was undoubtedly Qiao Yelei, always smiling like a Cheshire cat. His dad was the deputy secretary of the municipal committee secretary's office, his mom the president of Xiang City's largest group, Ye Corporation, and his grandfather, like Mu Qingcang's, was a senior official in Bianjing. Both were classic examples of the "red third generation" and "power second generation," yet willingly followed Yi Chenyi, hinting at his own extraordinary background. After Yi Chenyi's mishap, although he had been politically smeared, he was soon released, thanks to these two followers, followed by more than a decade abroad. What happened afterward was beyond the purview of a powerless citizen like Ouyang Xiasha. Now, however, these three were potential allies in Ouyang Xiasha's eyes. With a pleasant smile, she said, "Sure! I have no issue with that, does everyone else?"

Yi Chenyi never expected this silly girl to actually agree. He didn't want to gang up on her, so he probed, "Are you serious? How can you be so violent as a girl? With your delicate frame, you can't withstand our punches. I advise you to be sensible! Otherwise, you might end up hurt or crippled!"

"Huh? Little Yi, are you regretting it now?" Ouyang Xiasha blinked her large eyes, asking innocently.

"I am not regretting anything. I'm just worried that if we beat you to anything, Teacher Jii wouldn't be pleased!" Yi Chenyi, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, bristled defensively. He definitely wouldn't admit that he felt a bit sorry for this silly girl—if she knew that, who knows how smug she would be!

"You don't need to worry about that, we'll just put it in writing! But if you want to back out, there's still time!" Ouyang Xiasha teased while swiftly writing two agreements, effectively pressuring these naïve kids into submission. After all, if the agreements were ready and they backed out now, how embarrassing would that be!

"Who's backing out!" And so, spurred on by Ouyang Xiasha, all the classmates, driven by their refusal to be outdone, including the usually calm Mu Qingcang and the deeply strategic Qiao Yelei, put down their names and seals. After all, despite their scheming minds, they were nothing but kids with neither the scent of adulthood nor fully fledged wings; Ouyang Xiasha had, after all, lived a good decade or more than them!

"That's settled then! After school tonight, I'll wait for you on the playground! As for the test, it's only on Wednesday. Just wait until Thursday to start calling me Boss! Haha!" Ouyang Xiasha laughed heartily as she collected the written agreements, speaking her piece.

Following that, the previously noisy classroom fell silent in an instant, and everyone took their seats obediently. Some read books—though certainly not textbooks, usually Japanese manga—while others lay on their desks pretending to sleep or perhaps not studying or sleeping at all. According to an internal interview years later, this batch of kids revealed that after signing the agreements and hearing Ouyang Xiasha's laugh, they instantly felt they had been duped, a chill running down their spines! But this turned out to be the most disadvantageous yet correct decision they had ever made in their lives! In short, it was painfully pleasurable! Of course, all this would be revealed later!

Meanwhile, Student Ouyang Xiasha could only shake her head helplessly. She didn't know how it had come to this; having signed two bet agreements in one day was truly bothersome. Oh dear, oh dear!