The New Campus Belle

"What's the use of being pretty?" another student said. "If she's in Class 12, then that means she has bad grades. She's probably stupid." He turned to Yao Ran then, desperate to curry her favor. "Ranran, the first monthly exam is coming up soon. Once you get first place again, no one would even try to challenge your place as the campus belle."

Yao Ran pasted a demure smile on her face. "Don't say that, guys. We don't even know her. She might be good at her studies, too."

A boy scoffed. "If she is, then she wouldn't be in the garbage section, to begin with. Everyone knows the best students in the entire grade are here in Class 1, and you're the smartest among us all."

Yao Ran's smile deepened at that, but her eyes remained glacial.

Yao Tang hadn't even been at school for a full day yet, but she was already stealing the spotlight from her. Wherever she went, all people talked about was the transfer student, and the boys wanted nothing more than to rush over to Class 12 and sneak a peek at her.

Yao Tang's fingers unconsciously tightened around her pen as she did some lesson exercises.

The bell rang again, indicating the start of Luo Hua's class.

He strode inside the room and slammed his lesson plan on the teacher's table. It landed with a sharp crack, and sent a cloud of dust billowing in the air. The students in the first row held their breaths, not daring to wave the annoying specks away in front of their teacher.

As it was, their desks were coated with a thin layer of chalk dust.

Luo Hua swept a cold gaze over his class. "Have I been giving you too little homework lately? Or have I been lax in assigning your readings? For more than half of your class to be scurrying off to Class 12, do you think coming to school is a joke?"

His outburst was met with guilty silence.

"The first monthly exam for the third year are happening this weekend. The average results of Class 2 had better not surpass yours, or you will be nothing more than a disgrace to me! Does anyone here know what it means to be made of jade on the outside, but utterly rotten on the inside?"

The boys quickly understood who he was referring to, and they collectively looked up in curiosity.

Luo Hua harrumphed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Tell me, is someone who has been getting zero marks in all of her exams since she was in primary school really worthy to be fawned over? She even almost got expelled from her previous school! The new campus belle, you say? What a joke! You kids need to get your eyes checked!"

The boys gaped at his revelation.

Who would have thought that their goddess Yao Tang had such a black history?

Even so, most of them thought that their teacher was being unnecessarily harsh. So what if Yao Tang was a failure in her studies? At least she looked nice. Although, that wouldn't really matter much in a cutthroat environment like their school.

Luo Hua banged his fist on his table. "Listen up, all of you! The first monthly exam is more or less a competition for all third years. The topnotcher must come from this class, no matter what! Starting today, I'm adding another set of lessons for each subject, and the self-study period will be extended by an hour. If not a single one of you gets first place in the monthly exam, I assure you that the whole class will suffer the consequences! Let's see if you can still find the time to dawdle around Class 12."

As expected, no one came over to Class 12 anymore, what with such a threat hanging over their heads.

When the next class break came, Yao Ran surveyed her classroom. Everyone was on their desks, except for a handful of people who had gone to the washroom.

She smirked in satisfaction and continued doing her written exercises.

…

A black Bentley emerged from the woods and pulled over on the side of the road.

The car window lowered slowly, revealing the man sitting in the back seat.

He had a stark profile, his nose high and sharp, his jaw clean and well-defined. He was wearing a black suit that was perfectly tailored to his figure and spoke of his distinguished status in society.

His cold eyes were lowered, but this didn't take away from his ability to command attention from those around him.

The man glanced once at the intersection up ahead before leaning back on his seat. His long fingers reached up and pressed against the bridge of his nose. "Are you certain that the girl is Yao Yuan's biological daughter?"

"Yes, Sir."

"There has been no mistake whatsoever?"

"With all due respect, Young Master Cheng, our information is never wrong. Still, there was no need for you to come all the way here. Next time, please arrange for your men to handle this matter in your stead."

Cheng Yan raised an eyebrow. "We were too late."

Someone else had found her and taken her away before they could even reach her.

"Don't worry, Sir, we've already found her. We sent several people to tail her, and this morning, they sent a report that her father brought her to No. 1 High School. We have yet to verify the details, but it is very likely that she was enrolled in this school."

The subordinate kept his head down as he spoke, and his voice was filled with respect.

"No. 1 High School, huh? I see."

Cheng Yan's gaze back to the stretch of asphalt before him. "Keep a close eye on her. If she runs into any trouble, inform me immediately."

"Understood, Young Master Cheng."

...

When school ended that morning, Yao Tang's classmates had only one goal in mind—to strike up a conversation and make friends with her. To their dismay, Yao Tang left the moment the school bell rang. She had already made plans with Lin Xin, after all.

Truly, Yao Tang was just too lethal for their fragile little hearts.

It was no surprise, therefore, that she also attracted everyone's attention as soon as she stepped out into the halls.

Some students even took out their phones and began snapping pictures of her, even as they asked their peers who this girl was and which class she belonged to. Most importantly, they wondered out loud why they had never realized that a goddess had been admitted to their school.

In their frenzy, they ended up posting all of their stolen snapshots on the school forum.

News traveled fast, and soon enough, almost everyone was aware that a certain transfer student from Class 12 was even more than the current campus belle, Yao Ran, and they began to speculate on the inevitability of her claiming the title for herself.

Yao Tang's photos spammed the forum, until it practically became a gallery of her face.

Her gaze was lowered in all of the photos, but this did not diminish her beauty at all. If anything, it only lent an element of mystery to her already alluring appearance.