Dongyue Building.
The scalding tea bubbled and gurgled in the kettle, the steam fogging up the nearby window.
After moving floors, Jiang Ling’s most immediate impression was how much quieter the club room had gotten.
Usually, at this time, she could still hear the students downstairs making a ruckus, but now there was no sound at all.
Maybe it was because of tomorrow’s monthly exam—the neighboring clubs hadn’t shown up either.
Looking at it that way, she and Ji Qingyan were probably the most laid-back ones.
Jiang Ling suddenly felt curious.
Ji Qingyan was always telling her to balance writing and studying, yet Ji Qingyan herself just stayed in the club every day, reading books, sometimes even later than Jiang Ling.
Thinking about it, Jiang Ling decided to ask directly, “Qingyan, what were your grades like in your first year of high school?”
Ji Qingyan gave a slight nod, her eyes lifting from the book.
Though her face was expressionless, a hint of pride flickered in her eyes.
“First in the grade.”
Ahaha, so that’s what first in the grade meant.
Jiang Ling wished she hadn’t asked.
Why were all the people around her monsters?
“Jiang Ling, Xia Yu wants to add you as a friend.”
Just as Jiang Ling was typing away, Ji Qingyan suddenly spoke, holding up her phone to show the conversation between her and Xia Yu.
[Senior, I have something to do today, so Ding Rui and I won’t be coming. Could you please send me Jiang-senpai’s WeChat?]
[Let me ask her first.]
“Oh, sure, just send her my contact info.”
“Okay.”
Soon, Ji Qingyan pushed Xia Yu’s WeChat to Jiang Ling.
It had a profile picture of a snowy mountain landscape, with the name “Xia Yu Liang Shan.”
Pretty poetic.
Jiang Ling smiled, added her as a friend, and it was approved almost instantly.
Xia Yu sent a cute greeting sticker, and Jiang Ling replied with one.
“Qingyan, we had another club member, right? I haven’t seen her around.”
Jiang Ling suddenly remembered that besides Xia Yu and Ding Rui, there was another underclassman who’d joined the club, so she asked.
Ji Qingyan replied, “That underclassman submitted a withdrawal application during National Day. She’s no longer in the club.”
Jiang Ling was taken aback.
She quit that fast?
She hadn’t even seen what that underclassman looked like.
From what she recalled, ever since that underclassman joined, Jiang Ling had only seen her once during the recruitment drive.
But she could understand.
“Maybe she found the club too boring. It’s basically just reading books and doing homework anyway.”
Jiang Ling felt a cold glare land on her face.
She gave two awkward laughs, forgetting that the club president was sitting right next to her.
Realizing her mistake, she quickly backtracked.
“But it depends on the person, you know. I, for one, don’t find it boring at all. Reading, writing, and having delicious black tea—the Literature Research Society is basically heaven!”
As she said that, the cold stare gradually softened.
Ji Qingyan’s slightly pursed red lips relaxed.
Anyone could say the club was boring, but if Jiang Ling said it, she would feel uncomfortable.
Because of tomorrow’s exam, Jiang Ling didn’t stay very late.
The main reason was that Ji Qingyan shooed her back, reminding her to review a bit more.
It’s just a monthly exam.
That stuff is basically just a baseline test; it doesn’t mean much.
As someone who’d been through it before, Jiang Ling really didn’t see the need to review.
But then she remembered what Xu Niannian had said today—that from now on, seats would be rearranged for every exam, and apparently it was based on grades.
But that didn’t matter much to Jiang Ling either.
Even if she chose to sit with someone else, with Fang Chenxi’s grades, she’d probably still end up next to her.
***
After dinner, Lu Yuyao originally wanted to show Jiang Ling the special Mid-Autumn lewd illustration she’d drawn, but considering Jiang Ling had an exam tomorrow, she decided not to bother her.
After showering, Lu Yuyao took off her daytime uniform and changed into a white spaghetti-strap nightgown.
She hooked her fingers under the straps, feeling they were a bit loose.
Maybe she’d bought a size too big, or maybe it was because her chest couldn’t quite fill it out.
Speaking of which, Lu Yuyao couldn’t help but think of Jiang Ling and the others.
Jiang Ling’s figure was just ridiculous.
Even though she wasn’t very tall, the softness of her chest was two cup sizes bigger than Lu Yuyao’s.
And Fang Chenxi was the same.
They were all high school students, so why was everyone else so full?
While she felt as immature as a budding flower bud.
Women always tend to compete over the strangest things.
Lu Yuyao used to think having big boobs wasn’t all that great, but now she secretly found herself comparing.
Still, thinking about Ji Qingyan’s size made her feel a bit better.
Qingyan-jie was still the better one.
Lu Yuyao’s expression relaxed a little.
She picked up her tablet and stylus, leaning back against the headboard.
Thanks to Jiang Ling, lately she’d had some inspiration and started taking on commissions again.
After delivering drafts to a few regular clients, the feedback was the same as always—full of praise.
But they said Lu Yuyao’s art style seemed to have changed a bit.
Compared to before, the depiction of the characters’ bodies was more detailed.
The most noticeable change was in the chest area.
Lu Yuyao used to be a fan of smaller chests, but these regular customers were asking if she was planning to specialize in big-breasted women.
Lu Yuyao didn’t know how to respond.
She just said she wanted to try something new, but she hadn’t even noticed it herself!
She hadn’t been paying attention when she drew!
It was all Jiang Ling’s fault.
Lu Yuyao sighed, then focused on drawing the new commission she’d taken today.
The client seemed to be a newbie ordering art for the first time, recommended by one of her friends.
At first, they sent a bunch of requirements.
Lu Yuyao thought they were a bit messy, so she summarized them for them:
Blonde hair, big chest, spaghetti-strap sportswear, specially noted to depict a state of sweat glistening.
This client knew what they wanted.
Sporty girl lewd illustrations—Lu Yuyao had drawn plenty similar ones before.
But the client’s request still made her subconsciously think of Jiang Ling.
Tsk.
She’d have to be careful not to draw Jiang Ling’s face in there.
***
“So sleepy.”
Jiang Ling struggled, her whole body weighed down by drowsiness.
She really didn’t want to get up.
She dawdled in bed for a while before her pale white ankles touched the floor.
She fumbled around for a bit before slipping into her slippers.
While brushing her teeth, Jiang Ling looked in the mirror and saw faint dark circles under the eyes of the blonde beauty looking back at her.
She sighed.
She hadn’t been able to resist.
Maybe it was because she’d returned to high school and was facing her first exam.
Despite saying she wasn’t nervous, she’d still ended up with insomnia last night.
After tossing and turning, Jiang Ling thought she’d read for a while, but she couldn’t concentrate.
So she ended up writing two more chapters, checking the decent-looking backend data, and started imagining what life would be like if she made money from writing.
The more she thought, the more she imagined.
By the time she realized she needed to sleep, it was almost 3 AM.
She spat out the minty foam, wiped her mouth, cupped cold water to splash on her face, patted her cheeks, and tried to encourage herself.
It’s okay.
No matter what, she wasn’t going to lose to Fang Chenxi.
Math, English, Chinese, and Science.
That was four subjects, taking up a whole day of exams.
Everything depended on this.
When she got to the classroom, everyone had already started clearing out their desks.
The exam rooms required the use of all second-year classrooms, so everything in the desk drawers had to be cleaned out—books, miscellaneous items—nothing could be left inside.
To save trouble, most people chose to place their things in the hallway near the windows.
“There shouldn’t be any rain today, right?”
If it rained, these books would turn into soggy messes.
Jiang Ling muttered, following the crowd and putting her books by the window near a pillar.
No sooner had she set them down than Xiao Tongqi slid over with a grin.
“Someone’s the floor mat.”
Then she casually stacked her own books on top of Jiang Ling’s.
“Childish.”
Jiang Ling curled her lip, then added, “Make sure you mark them so they don’t get mixed up.”
After tidying up, the classroom started rearranging desks.
The exam required single desks, eight people per row, six rows per classroom.
Now, all that was left was to wait for the exam to begin.