I Became the Female Lead’s Current Obsession - Chapter 20.2
Xu Miao happened to be in the same exam room. She was extremely driven and had made up her mind to beat Jiang Qing’s score from the last exam. In Jiang Qing’s inherited memory, the original version of herself had never taken this lightly—she was always tense, always afraid that Xu Miao would one day overtake her and claim the top spot.
That version of her had often been red-eyed with jealousy. But Jiang Qing only felt a faint sense of pity for Xu Miao now.
After the Chinese exam, Xu Miao came over to vent about the composition topic. She was in a cheerful mood at first, but stopped herself when she noticed Jiang Qing’s dull expression.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t do well on the test?” Xu Miao nudged her with an elbow.
Jiang Qing barely heard her. She replied vaguely, “Yeah…”
“It’s just one subject—no big deal. Our Jiang Qing is amazing. You’ll bounce back with the next one!”
“Mm.” Jiang Qing nodded, still dazed.
________________________________________
That afternoon, the math exam.
The paper wasn’t too hard—probably because the holidays were coming up and the teachers were going easy. Jiang Qing felt confident about the multiple-choice questions and found the overall difficulty manageable. Only the last question slowed her down a bit as she had to carefully draw the auxiliary lines.
The first day’s schedule included just Chinese and math; the next day would be English and integrated science.
After the math test, the school generously let students go early. Jiang Qing packed up quickly and rushed to Class 5, determined to run into Hou Xue this time.
Unexpectedly, she was intercepted halfway—by Wang Lei.
“Hey, stop running in the corridor!” the dean called out sternly. Then, recognizing her, he squinted. Wasn’t this the rich girl who had been seen with a school team member recently?
Wang Lei didn’t have a strong opinion of Jiang Qing either way. He had assumed that any girl involved with the school’s basketball team would be hard to manage. But her behavior—both then and now—seemed polite and proper. It made his years of experience as an educator falter just a little.
As time passed, more and more students trickled out of the exam room. Wang Lei had no intention of making a fuss, so he waved them off. “Alright, alright, just be careful next time. No more running in the corridors.”
Jiang Qing immediately nodded and, as soon as Wang Lei turned toward the office, she bolted straight for Class 5.
But the classroom was still empty of the person she was hoping to see.
No sign of Hou Xue.
Was this just fate keeping them apart?
It had already been nearly a whole day since Jiang Qing last saw her. She clenched her fists, frustration bubbling in her chest. She didn’t know where the thought came from, but it surfaced anyway: “She’s really going too far, ignoring me like this.”
She paced back and forth in the hallway. By the time most students had left and the floor grew quiet, she found herself drifting back to the door of Class 5.
Enough. If Hou Xue didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t look anymore.
Everyone has their own life—so why is it always me chasing after her?
But that kind of reasoning was fleeting. It was less a conclusion and more an excuse for her to let out some steam.
She couldn’t really stay away from Hou Xue.
Hadn’t she said she would protect her?
“I said I’d protect you, and now you just ignore me because you feel like it? You don’t even want to see me?” Jiang Qing muttered bitterly, her temper rising. She kicked lightly at the wall in the corner, a small rebellion against the image of the well-mannered Second Miss Jiang she’d kept up all these years—an image already wearing thin.
By now, the hallway was nearly deserted. Jiang Qing, tucked into a corner, was completely caught up in her emotions. She didn’t realize someone else had approached.
“If you damage school property, the whole class gets points deducted.”
A voice came unexpectedly from just behind her ear. Jiang Qing froze mid-kick.
The voice was familiar.
Too familiar.
A jolt of embarrassment shot through her. She wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.
At this moment, shame far outweighed her anger.
Her ears turned pink.
She cleared her throat, trying to sound casual. “How was the test?”
“Not bad,” Hou Xue replied coolly.
“Oh.” Jiang Qing instantly regretted asking—what a lame question.
She knew that no matter how easy the paper was, Hou Xue rarely got the score she deserved.
“And what about our Second Miss Jiang?” Hou Xue asked, her tone calm.
“She’s… fine.” In truth, Jiang Qing felt she’d completely botched the Chinese test—especially the composition part.
“Then what are you still doing here?” Hou Xue raised an eyebrow.
Jiang Qing felt ridiculous. All this emotional turmoil, and now she didn’t even know what she wanted to say.
She stepped forward impulsively and grabbed Hou Xue’s hand, intertwining their fingers before the other girl could react. “Where did you go at noon?”
Hou Xue glanced down at their linked hands and raised her brow slightly.
Friends—or even sisters—didn’t usually hold hands like this.
“I went to see a friend,” she replied calmly.
“A friend?” Jiang Qing repeated. “The same one who gave you those movie tickets?”
In her memory, the only person Hou Xue ever referred to as a “friend” was that mysterious woman—the one who handed over the movie tickets. Even now, Jiang Qing still didn’t know who she really was.
Hou Xue nodded, surprised that Jiang Qing remembered.
“You didn’t even tell me…”
Hou Xue gave a soft laugh. “I thought the Second Miss wouldn’t want to see me.”
“How could that be?” Jiang Qing instinctively tightened her grip on Hou Xue’s hand. “You promised you wouldn’t leave me… How can you decide things like this on your own?” She sounded like a child throwing a tantrum, awkward and helpless.
Hou Xue froze for a moment, taken aback. She looked into Jiang Qing’s eyes.
She hadn’t expected her to say that.
“I wasn’t in a good state this morning,” Jiang Qing continued, seizing the moment to explain. The silent treatment between them had been tormenting her—especially since it was Hou Xue. She didn’t want to leave any kind of bad impression. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. But you didn’t even give me a chance to explain…”
Halfway through, Jiang Qing suddenly realized how the words sounded.
Why did this feel like a lovers’ quarrel?
She shook the thought off. It must be her imagination.
“Alright. It won’t happen again,” Hou Xue said quietly, rubbing her thumb gently over Jiang Qing’s fingers—a silent gesture of comfort and reconciliation.
Even if one day you reject me, push me away, or leave me behind… I won’t walk away again.
Jiang Qing, just remember—this was what you asked of me.
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The next day, Jiang Qing tackled the English test with rare enthusiasm. She finished with nearly forty minutes to spare, but didn’t dare check her answers too many times.
Experience had taught her: the more you double-check, the more you second-guess—and the more you get wrong.
In the afternoon, it was time for the comprehensive science exam. She started with biology, her strongest subject, before working through physics and chemistry. The final physics problem left her completely
stumped, and she only managed to fill in the last blank in chemistry at the very last second.
Still, overall, she felt she had done well.
When the results were finally released, Jiang Qing nervously reviewed her original test papers.
This wasn’t just another final exam. It was the result of countless late-night efforts—hers and Hou Xue’s. It was a shared wish to take first place.
She pulled out a calculator and totaled the scores. The result looked promising, but she wasn’t sure.
Yangrui High School was filled with hidden talents—it was a top provincial school, after all, sending students to Ting University every year.
Just then, Hou Xue walked into the room, unwrapped a piece of candy, and held it out to Jiang Qing’s lips. Jiang Qing, without hesitation, opened her drawer and handed Hou Xue a piece of chocolate.
“How much did you get?” Hou Xue asked.
“Mm… look.” Jiang Qing raised the calculator for her to see.
“You did really well,” Hou Xue said. “You’re right where I estimated you’d be.”
“If you say that, then I feel confident.” Jiang Qing beamed, her eyes curving into a smile.
Hou Xue had the urge to ruffle her hair—her head always moved around like it was inviting someone to mess with it—but she restrained herself.
“No need to look now. I’ll see the rankings once I get to school.”
Jiang Qing was hoping for a top-five finish.
Even fifth place would be enough for her.
She hadn’t studied this hard since her past life in high school—and she planned to push herself even more in the coming month.
People want to be rewarded for their efforts. Jiang Qing was no exception. She hoped that her aching fingers and endless hours of writing practice had all been worth it.
At Yangrui High School, tradition dictated that students received three report sheets after every major exam: one showing the subject-wise top 20 scores across the grade, one for class rankings, and another for individual performance analysis.
Jiang Qing arrived at school early. Only five or six students were already in the classroom, including Hou Xue.
Xu Miao was there too, flipping through her own transcripts.
Jiang Qing sat down and greeted her. Xu Miao nodded back, though she looked like she had something on her mind.
Before opening her own transcripts, Jiang Qing glanced back at Hou Xue.
Unlike the others, Hou Xue wasn’t looking at her report cards—she was looking at Jiang Qing.
Their desks were lined up in a row, so when Jiang Qing turned, their eyes met.
It felt like Hou Xue was waiting for her reaction.
Jiang Qing turned halfway, picked up her report card, and leaned toward Hou Xue.
Second place.
Second in the class. Twentieth in the entire grade.
She was in the top five. Even in the top three.
Jiang Qing was thrilled. She hadn’t fallen behind—in fact, she had nearly made it to the top. Just one step away from first place.
Her hard work had truly paid off.
Jiang Qing looked up and blinked at Hou Xue, her expression clearly saying, “Hurry up and look!”
Hou Xue smiled and lowered her gaze to the class ranking.
There it was—Jiang Qing’s name on the second line.
Second in the class.
From her previous ranking to reaching 20th in the entire grade in just one month—this alone was enough to prove how remarkable she was.
Next time, she’d be first.
Hou Xue gently traced Jiang Qing’s name with her fingers.
Whether in class or grade rankings…
Only then did Hou Xue glance at the name above—Xu Miao.
She looked over at Xu Miao, who sat just next to Jiang Qing.
Xu Miao had turned her head, noticing that Jiang Qing had already seen the results. She instinctively reached out, as if wanting to explain or salvage something between them.
But before her hand could make contact, Jiang Qing stood up abruptly.
She strode to the back of the classroom, pulled Hou Xue up by the arm, and led her outside.
She was ecstatic—so ecstatic she couldn’t wait another second.
She wanted to share this joy with Hou Xue first.
Hou Xue cast one last glance at the classroom as they left.
Xu Miao silently dropped her outstretched hand, tightened her grip on the report card, and stood up, frowning.
“I’m second. I’m really second!” Jiang Qing said excitedly as she pulled Hou Xue to a quiet, sun-drenched corner of the corridor, her voice laced with a desire for praise.