They Dumped Me—Now They’re Reincarnated and Obsessed? - Chapter 30

The Good Rabbits Growth Alliance continued to meet and study together every week, rain or shine.

Mei Jian’s mother had once quietly followed him and, upon seeing the students enter the military family compound, finally felt at ease. At least they weren’t using “study sessions” as an excuse to play computer games.

In early November, all high schools in Haishi held the midterm joint exams for the first semester.

That weekend after the exams, the underground study group’s mood was grim. Both Yan Ze and Feng Fei looked glum, worried about their scores.

Halfway through a practice session, Yan Ze muttered, “When the final bell rang, I still had two major questions left. The teacher insisted I fill out the answer sheet first, and I panicked…”

Feng Fei was just as uneasy. He said nervously, “Yan Ze, Mei Jian, Xie Tingxue… I let you all down. There were so many math problems I couldn’t solve…”

Xie Tingxue had a soft heart and couldn’t bear to see the boys beat themselves up, so she gently comforted them, “It’s okay.”

Mei Jian, however, was expressionless. “This is why I kept making you do practice tests—to get used to time constraints and find your own rhythm. Xie Tingxue, tell them: did you have enough time during the exam?”

Xie Tingxue nodded. “Every time, I finish the questions and mark my sheet, and I still have time left to check everything.”

Mei Jian said, “Don’t be fooled by how slow she seems normally—her exam pacing is excellent. Now, everyone remember this one thing.”

The students looked up attentively.

Mei Jian declared, “Exams are elimination rounds. They test you from every angle. If you can’t finish the paper in the allotted time, without question, you’re someone who’s going to be eliminated. So next time, I don’t want to hear any more ‘I didn’t have enough time’ excuses. Especially from someone here.”

Yan Ze pouted.

Mei Jian continued, “Also, treat every distraction in the exam hall as a challenge. The invigilator throws you off? That’s on your weak mindset. A student coughing beside you disrupts your focus? That’s still on you. Real warriors don’t blame the environment—they focus inward.”

Xie Tingxue nodded earnestly.

Even though Yan Ze felt embarrassed being lectured like a child by his love rival, he had to admit—when it came to academics, Mei Jian was the real deal. So he forced himself to accept the advice, albeit a little begrudgingly.

After the midterm debrief, Teacher Mei handed out the next set of task plans.

Each one had a name written on it. He distributed them with flair. “Yan Ze’s… Feng Fei’s… Xiao Xue’s… This one’s for Feng Fei… another for Feng Fei… and Yan Ze’s…”

Xie Tingxue always looked forward to receiving a new plan. It meant her efforts in the previous stage had passed the test.

Yan Ze took his plan and quipped, “Sexy Old Mei, dealing cards live on air…”

Feng Fei couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Xie Tingxue looked completely confused.

Mei Jian rolled his eyes and smacked the last plan sheet onto Yan Ze’s head. “If this were a gambling table, Yan Ze, you’d lose big. Lucky for you, I’m fair and don’t rig the game—though I could. I said it’d be a fair competition, and I meant it.”

“That’s only because you know I wouldn’t quit even if I lost.”

This round, Yan Ze got three plans, Xie Tingxue got two, and Feng Fei… five.

Feng Fei collapsed and wailed, “I can’t take it anymore! I must’ve lost my mind agreeing to study with you guys!”

Mei Jian said, “If you don’t study, you’ll lose your life later anyway.”

Yan Ze nodded solemnly. “Better listen to Mei Jian. Let’s treat this as a matter of survival.”

Feng Fei thought they were joking. “Studying already took half my life. Not being allowed to game took the other half. Right now I’m surviving on a thread of divine breath!”

Xie Tingxue giggled and asked curiously, “Are games really that fun?”

Feng Fei lit up instantly, grabbed her hand to explain, but the other two boys each grabbed one of his arms.

Yan Ze warned, “You can talk, but keep your hands to yourself.”

Mei Jian added, “Feng Fei, time’s ticking. Go do your exercises.”

________________________________________

Monday Afternoon, Before Class Meeting

Midterm results were released.

During a self-study period, Old Cai walked in holding the grade sheet and taped it to the back corridor door.

Then, hands behind his back, he strolled into the classroom. Passing Yan Ze, he said, “Not bad this time. Keep it up.”

Yan Ze grabbed his arm. “Wait! Don’t go yet. What was my score?”

This was a life-or-death matter—it determined his standing with his future wife!

Old Cai smiled, then pointed at Yan Ze and Feng Fei. “You both made it into the top ten… from the bottom.”

Yan Ze deflated. Feng Fei let out a long sigh. “Life is hard…”

As soon as class ended, Yan Ze dashed out and slammed his hand against the grade sheet, scanning from top to bottom.

“Mei Jian…”

As expected, Mei Jian was in first place. Yan Ze barely glanced at his score, skipping straight to find Xie Tingxue.

“Fourth…” Yan Ze froze, then broke into a goofy grin.

Feng Fei squeezed in and searched from the bottom up.

“…Fourteenth from the bottom.” Feng Fei looked crushed, then scanned upward.

One searched from above, the other from below—until they met at Yan Ze’s name in the middle.

Yan Ze squinted at the number next to his name. “…Twenty-first?”

Feng Fei shouted, “No freaking way?!”

“…Twenty-first?”

Yan Ze was stunned. His brain went fuzzy and he stumbled back a few steps. Feng Fei caught him in a bear hug, pounding his back in excitement. “Yan Ze! That’s amazing! Even as a delinquent you rise above the rest—of course once you started studying, you’d be top-tier too!”

Just one spot away from breaking into the top twenty.

Yan Ze had never even dared to imagine that.

Other students gathered around. A few girls, upon seeing that they scored worse than Yan Ze, couldn’t hold back their tears.

Mei Jian strolled up, small notebook in hand, calmly copying down grades.

Xie Tingxue arrived with Yan Yaru, who had dragged her along. When she saw her name at fourth place and ranked thirty-second in the year, she held back her excitement out of consideration for Yan Yaru’s mood.

Yan Yaru was clearly upset.

Failing to pass the English competition prelims had already hit her hard. Now her strong subject—English—didn’t help her climb in the midterms either. She’d dropped from 12th to 19th place.

After recording the grades, Mei Jian quietly closed his notebook and left.

Yan Ze, still dazed, overheard students whispering about his and Mei Jian’s results.

“Mei Jian is insane…”

“Ranked first in the entire grade.”

“Did Yan Ze cheat?”

“Seats are assigned by score—he couldn’t have cheated.”

“They’re always studying in the classroom during PE class, even Xie Tingxue joins…”

“Still, this is so abnormal. Yan Ze ranked 197th last time. Who’s he trying to fool?”

Yan Ze gave a dumb, lopsided smile.

Yan Yaru came over to congratulate him, but he ignored her. Instead, he reached out and ruffled the top of Xie Tingxue’s head, eyes crinkling with a smile that came from deep within.

“I did it… it was worth it… everything will be okay…”

This time, the exam results were like a shot of adrenaline—suddenly, Yan Ze felt the road ahead was bright and clear, free of obstacles.

Before the class meeting, Old Cai rearranged the seating based on the latest rankings.

Mei Jian, unmoved as ever, hadn’t even left the classroom. He remained firmly in the middle of the third row, like a mountain. Xie Tingxue, under the pressure of all eyes on her, quietly returned to her original seat.

Yan Ze was glued to the seat adjustment process, drenched in nervous sweat.

Maybe his intentions were too obvious, but when it came to calling the 17th name, the seat behind Xie Tingxue was still empty. That was generous.

Yan Ze didn’t even try to hide his grin. His eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Nineteenth, Yan Yaru.”

Yan Yaru walked straight over and sat behind Xie Tingxue.

Yan Ze’s smile froze. He looked at her like she was his sworn enemy.

Yan Yaru sat stiffly, visibly upset. Xie Tingxue drooped her shoulders, her disappointment showing clearly.

“Twenty-first, Yan Ze,” Old Cai called out, then added, “Sit toward the front.”

The only available spot was by the window. The prime center seats had already been taken by the top students.

Gritting his teeth, Yan Ze dragged himself with deep humiliation to the second row by the window. He turned back to glare daggers at Yan Yaru.

Yan Yaru slammed down her pencil case and muttered, “First come, first served. It’s not my fault.”

She had gone to Yan Ze’s house the past weekend, but he wasn’t there. His mother told her he’d gone out. She believed it—until that afternoon, while singing karaoke, she overheard some girls from the sports school saying that neither Feng Fei nor Yan Ze had been to an internet café in over a month.

One girl saw Feng Fei buying water with test papers under his arm, and when she casually asked what he was busy with lately, he replied, “Studying.”

Yan Yaru burned with jealousy.

She had long noticed that Mei Jian was tutoring Xie Tingxue. She’d seen Yan Ze handing over homework to Mei Jian. Even Feng Fei had been studying seriously lately. Some classmates even overheard Yan Ze tutoring Feng Fei.

They were studying—without her!

She recalled that time she bumped into Mei Jian and Xie Tingxue at Yan Ze’s place. That definitely wasn’t about asking a homework question—Xie Tingxue had her backpack on!

Those three had excluded her and Chen Chang. That’s why the three of them made it into the next round of the English competition! So that was the truth!

Yan Yaru furiously scribbled circles on her paper, clearly unhappy.

Now they must’ve found another place to study. How many people were in on it?

Mei Jian, Yan Ze, Xie Tingxue… probably also Feng Fei.

Three guys and one girl?! Shameless!

Her face grew darker by the second.

Once the seating was finalized, Feng Fei ended up in the fifth row, center. It was the first time he’d ever sat so close to the front and the middle—his heart surged with pride.

Yan Yaru turned and shot him a glare, then tossed him a note.

Feng Fei opened it: Meet me in front of the girls’ dorm after class. I have something to tell you.

He shot her a wink and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Got it!”

—

After the self-study period, Mei Jian gave a small cough and stepped outside.

The others recognized the signal and stayed behind.

When most of the class had left, Mei Jian returned, opened his notebook with the copied scores, and said:

“New mission. Based on your subject-by-subject results, I’ve assigned each of you a ‘rival’ to surpass. Your goal next round is to beat this person’s overall score. If you fail, you drop out of the group—I won’t tutor you anymore. Understood?”

Yan Ze: “Cut the drama. Just give it to us. Make it quick.”

Mei Jian said, “Xie Tingxue, your target is Xu Lu—ranked second overall. Focus especially on her math. That’s her strongest edge.”

Xie Tingxue nodded.

“Yan Ze, your target is Wang Chang, ranked tenth.”

Feng Fei exclaimed, “Whoa, you’re setting the bar that high for Yan Ze? Old Mei, you doing this on purpose?”

Mei Jian: “Because your strengths and weaknesses match up closely. Your score distributions are similar. Go get him.”

He handed Yan Ze the copied grade sheet.

“Feng Fei,” Mei Jian continued, “Your target—Yan Yaru.”

Feng Fei was stunned.

“…I’m rebelling?!”

He’d been calling her “Sister Yan” for so long, and now suddenly, he had to beat the queen bee?

Feng Fei was shamefully excited.

He took the grade sheet, inhaled deeply, and struck a pose: “Ignite, my cosmos!”