Forced to Love (GL) - Chapter 7

Lingxi followed Teacher Zhao to an open area a bit farther from the classroom.

“Yao Jingzhu, you did quite well on this test,” Teacher Zhao said, looking at Lingxi’s paper.

“Hmm.” Lingxi glanced at the test paper in her hands and responded simply. What she cared about wasn’t just the individual subject scores but the overall ranking.

“The other subject teachers also praised you, especially the math teacher,” Teacher Zhao continued, pausing for a moment before cautiously asking, “Did you attend extra tutoring classes?”

Lingxi looked at Teacher Zhao without any expression, but suddenly, she thought of Shen Sui. She pressed her lips together slightly and replied, “Yes, I had a teacher help me.”

“How long have you been tutoring?”

Lingxi thought for a moment and said, “Since I got my last monthly exam results.”

“For all subjects?”

“Except for Chinese.”

Teacher Zhao glanced at the densely written words on the test paper, seeming to be lost in thought.

“Is there something wrong, Teacher Zhao?”

Teacher Zhao snapped out of it, smiled at her, and encouraged, “Nothing’s wrong. You’ve improved a lot this time. Keep up the good work.”

“Okay.”

“You can head back to the classroom now.”

Lingxi took the test paper from Teacher Zhao and returned to the classroom. The red marks on her Chinese paper showed a score of 102. Compared to Yao Jingzhu’s previous scores, this was indeed a small leap—a leap from failing to not only passing but scoring over 100.

Just as she was about to enter the classroom, Mi Tongtong suddenly jumped out from the side, reaching for Lingxi’s test paper. Lingxi dodged sideways, causing Mi Tongtong to miss, but the bright red score had already been clearly seen.

“What?! You got 102 in Chinese?”

Mi Tongtong immediately shouted in disbelief. The classroom, which had been filled with quiet chatter, fell into sudden silence.

Dozens of curious gazes turned toward Lingxi’s hand—or rather, the test paper she was holding.

A score of 102 in Chinese wasn’t considered high. In fact, it was an ordinary score. But everyone knew about Yao Jingzhu’s previous performance. For her to achieve such a drastic improvement in less than a month was unbelievable. It inspired admiration, but even more, it sparked doubt.

“Even you can get 102?”

Mi Tongtong’s voice was like a needle falling onto the ground in a silent, empty space, the sound spreading in waves, echoing endlessly.

Her words pinpointed what many were thinking.

“Why wouldn’t I be able to?”

Lingxi responded calmly in a factual tone. Every word on the test paper was her own.

Mi Tongtong looked at her in disbelief, then turned to the other students. “Do you guys believe it?”

The students glanced at Lingxi, then at the test paper in her hand. No one spoke for a long moment.

Mi Tongtong wasn’t in a hurry. She raised her voice and asked the entire class, “Do you all believe it?”

The classroom fell into an unusual and awkward silence. Standing tall, Lingxi scanned their faces one by one, meeting their eyes. But no one could hold her gaze for long—after just a few seconds, they hastily looked away.

Lingxi stopped paying attention to them. She didn’t care about their doubts or the opinions of others. None of it mattered to her. The only thing that mattered was Shen Sui.

She only remembered Shen Sui and the goal of fulfilling Yao Jingzhu’s wish.

“See? No one believes you,” Mi Tongtong spread her hands and added in a light tone, “You must have cheated, right?”

With those two words—”cheated”—the classroom’s atmosphere grew even heavier. Some students looked uneasy.

“I didn’t cheat.” Lingxi’s tone remained indifferent. She didn’t bother arguing further and simply walked toward her seat.

“What? Feeling guilty?” Mi Tongtong stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

Lingxi didn’t respond. When she looked up at Mi Tongtong, her gaze was sharp, like a piercing ice shard.

Mi Tongtong suddenly remembered what had happened last time. She instinctively shrank back, and the hand blocking Lingxi’s way lost some of its strength. But with the whole class watching, she stiffened and stood her ground.

Lingxi coldly brushed past her obstruction with her left hand and returned to her seat. Mi Tongtong hesitated for a moment, her expression darkening.

Gritting her teeth, Mi Tongtong turned around just in time to see Lingxi pulling out a transparent document folder from her desk to store her test paper. Inside, there was already a stack of papers—some filled with black ink, others marked with red corrections.

Lingxi carefully kept all the test papers that Shen Sui had used for tutoring, filled with his notes and calculations.

To Lingxi, anything related to her god was precious. Even though these were just ordinary test papers in this world, they bore his handwriting.

The classroom’s ceiling fan had been turned on at some point, and the breeze lifted one of the loose papers before Lingxi could store it properly.

Seeing the paper floating up, Mi Tongtong had a wicked idea. She reached out, trying to snatch it.

Noticing her movement from the corner of her eye, Lingxi reacted first. She leaned in swiftly and caught the paper. At the same time, she casually stuck out a foot, subtly tripping Mi Tongtong.

Caught off balance, Mi Tongtong stumbled forward. Her lackey quickly reached out to steady her.

Pushing the girl’s hand away, Mi Tongtong stood up and pointed at Lingxi. “You tripped me?”

Lingxi ignored her, carefully placing the precious paper into the folder. She sat down without a word.

Just as Mi Tongtong was about to argue further, a voice came from the back of the classroom. “Tong-jie, the teacher is coming!”

Mi Tongtong’s expression stiffened. She hesitated for a second before turning back to her seat.

The next class was math. As usual, the teacher started by going over the monthly exam.

The math teacher was a particularly thin man with glasses. As he walked into the classroom, his expression showed clear surprise over something in the results.

The math test papers were handed out one by one. Everyone around Lingxi received theirs, except for her.

“Alright, I want to highlight someone special in this exam,” the teacher said.

The classroom fell silent. No one spoke until the math class representative hesitantly asked, “Who is it?”

Holding up a test paper, the teacher smiled. “It’s Yao Jingzhu.”

The students exchanged glances, then all turned their eyes toward Yao Jingzhu, who sat in the second-to-last row.

Lingxi remained expressionless, only looking at the test paper in the teacher’s hand. She couldn’t let down Shen Sui’s efforts in tutoring her.

“Although her score this time wasn’t particularly high, she passed with a 96. This proves that she has been working hard and striving for improvement. I hope some of you will learn from her.”

The teacher then walked down from the podium and handed the test paper to Lingxi personally. “Keep it up. If you ever have questions, feel free to ask me.”

“Okay, thank you, teacher.”

As Lingxi took the test paper, the students’ gazes focused on her—especially Mi Tongtong, whose eyes were filled with hostility.

“Hmph, what’s so great about being praised for cheating?” Mi Tongtong deliberately muttered loudly as the teacher passed by her.

“Cheating?” The teacher frowned.

“No, teacher, I was just suspicious,” Mi Tongtong said self-righteously. The whole class turned their eyes to her again.

“Without proof, why accuse Yao Jingzhu?” The teacher’s tone was serious.

“But teacher, don’t you find it strange? She scored only 29 last time. Now, in less than a month, she passed?”

The classroom fell into silence, waiting for the teacher’s response.

The teacher glanced at the students, then looked at Lingxi with an expression of appreciation.

“I don’t think so. I believe Yao Jingzhu earned this score through her own effort.”