Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 202: 189th Chapter: Class Contest Against Class 17 (Part 1)

```

At First Middle School, classes other than Class Nine and Class Ten were divided based on grades, with Class One and Class Two being for top students who chose to be there.

Therefore, in terms of academic ranking, the general order was Class One, Class Two, Class Three,..., Class Eight, Class Eleven, Class Twelve..., Class Eighteen, Class Nine, and Class Ten. In the last monthly exam, Luo Qianqian and a few friends had surged into the top three hundred of the grade, which slightly raised their class’s average score, surpassing that of Class Eighteen. Although Class Eighteen was dismissive and vowed to put Class Nine back in its place, Luo Qianqian didn’t much care. She just wanted her and her friends’ grades to be something they could be proud of.

”Qianqian, how do you solve this problem?” As soon as class ended, Li Qi brought over his notebook full of questions he couldn’t answer and found Luo Qianqian. The notebook was Luo Qianqian’s suggestion for everyone to prepare.

”Pei Yutian just did this problem yesterday. Go have him explain it to you,” Luo Qianqian said, glancing back at Pei Yutian before turning to Li Qi’s puzzled face and explaining, ”This will help strengthen his memory. Explaining problems to others deepens understanding—you too can explain the ones you know to those who don’t.”

”But the ones I know, they seem so simple. Why explain them? They can be solved in an instant. I don’t know how to explain, just like I don’t know why one plus one equals two.” Li Qi sighed, sat down by Pei Yuhao’s desk, and obediently listened to Pei Yutian explaining.

Qian Yuling had been taken away by her parents and asked for a week off, which just overlapped with the May Day holidays, so she rested for a few extra days. She hadn’t come in today but should be back tomorrow. Luo Qianqian sighed, thankful that there were mid-term exams tomorrow; otherwise, it would have been awkward sitting together. Should she ask the homeroom teacher to change the seating after the exam?

”Where is the monitor of Class Nine?” A young man with his school uniform jacket half open appeared at the classroom door, holding a paper in his hands crossed over his chest while standing at the entrance with youthful arrogance all over his face. Luo Qianqian was stunned; Pei Yuhao had just gone to the restroom, right? The person they were looking for was not there, and no one responded, leaving the boy in quite an awkward situation.

”Are all the students in Class Nine such cowards? Too scared to accept a challenge letter? Where’s Pei Yuhao? Playing the turtle and hiding his head?” The youth shook the paper in his hands, ”Doesn’t your class have anyone brave enough to take a challenge letter? Your class’s guy who’s ranked...”

”Who do you think you are?” Pei Yuhao, shaking the droplets of water on his hand, looked disdainfully at the youth and then turned to Han Lei, ”Do you know him?”

”Where would I know him from? I can’t even recognize everyone in our own class,” Han Lei covered his mouth with a yawn, tears brimming in his eyes from tiredness.

”Who are you anyway? Two words on a paper is a challenge? Is it notarized? Sending a challenge letter, what happens if you lose, what if you win? Think it through and come back, and bring a witness next time. Don’t block our class door if it’s nothing.” Pei Yuhao disdainfully walked past the youth into the classroom, not even bothering to open his eyes to look at the person in front of him.

”You’ve gone too far! Just you wait, I, Cao Meng, will not let this slide!” The youth pointed at Pei Yuhao’s retreating figure with an expression of unwilling resentment. How could a mere Class Nine look down on him?

”Cao Meng?” Han Lei covered his mouth with a light laugh, unable to hide the amusement in his eyes and eyebrows.

”What’s so funny?” Cao Meng, seeing Han Lei blocked by his own gesture at the door, asked with a frown and a shout, ”Is everybody stepping over me now?”

”Nothing, I just remembered a joke Qianqian told us yesterday.” Seeing Cao Meng’s curious look, Han Lei chuckled, ”Qianqian said: ’Cao Cao raised a bird, called Mengde’s Pigeon.’”

Pei Yuhao, walking in front, was taken aback, ”How come I don’t remember that?”

”I told it to the girls; it’s not my fault you don’t have normal ’girl luck’,” Luo Qianqian explained with a helpless shrug upon seeing Pei Yuhao’s expression.

”What does that mean?” Cao Meng did not quite understand why the joke was funny, aside from his name being in it, ”Are you mocking me?”

”Heaven and earth are my witnesses; we did no such thing,” Han Lei said, bypassing Cao Meng into the classroom.

”Just you wait!” Cao Meng turned and ran off, leaving Pei Yuhao with a rare serious expression on his face.

”Why that look?” Han Lei wrapped his arm around Pei Yuhao’s neck, all smiles in his eyes and brows, ”The guy’s gone, what’s there to think about?”

”Cao Meng is the monitor of Class Seventeen and is on great terms with Class Eighteen; is this about them seeking revenge?” Pei Yuhao, even if he didn’t meddle much, had some understanding of the various classes.

”Being envious of the third-to-last in the grade? Seeking revenge?” Luo Qianqian was glad she wasn’t drinking water, or she would have definitely sprayed it, ”What kind of logic is that? Are Class Nine and Class Ten destined to be at the bottom?”

”You’re not entirely wrong.” Pei Yuhao shook his head, a troubled look on his face, ”Maybe surpassing us is the only joy left for these bottom-performing regular classes, huh?”

”What sort of joy is that? Why don’t they try surpassing me? We were treated this way with an average below passing; how bad did it have to be before?” Luo Qianqian’s face was full of disbelief. With total scores barely averaging a hundred, and individual subjects at just over thirty points, could two classes be surpassing them? First Middle School is a key school; surely it wasn’t as polarized as this? The advancement rate was also very high.

```

”You? In their eyes, you’re the thorn in the flesh. Once you’re gone, Class Nine will revert to being trash again.” Shen Yan slowly approached, placing the papers she held onto Luo Qianqian’s desk—test scores from a few of this year’s exams for Class Nine and Ten, as well as second and third years.

After looking through them, Luo Qianqian realized that such characters existed even in key high schools. If negative points were allowed as scores, perhaps the average would even drop to zero.

”What? Are you going to kill me? This is a society governed by law.” Even if someone dared to make a move, there would be people around to protect her, so what was there to fear?

”You’re overthinking it.” Shen Yan patted Luo Qianqian’s shoulder. ”But with your grades, you’d have no problem transferring to Class One or Two. Someone might take that route.”

”If I wanted to transfer, I would have done so long ago. Why wait until over half a year has passed?” Luo Qianqian scoffed, glancing towards the doorway. ”That person is back.”

The newcomer was indeed Cao Meng, who had brought along a youth wearing black-framed glasses, Pei Yuhao slightly frowned. ”Class Thirteen’s class president, Chen Biang. It seems Cao Meng is very confident about hitting our class in the face? He’s determined to have us accept the challenge?”

”There’s someone actually named Biang? It reminds me of a delicious dish called Biangbiang noodles.” Luo Qianqian chuckled and then slipped out the back door of the classroom to fetch Gu Yanzhi from Class One.

”Class Thirteen’s Chen Biang will witness. Are you reassured now? He’s not one of our allied classes, so you can relax, right?” Cao Meng looked at Pei Yuhao with a self-assured smile. ”I’ve also prepared the stakes, one thousand yuan from our class fund.”

Seeing Luo Qianqian who had just arrived, Pei Yuhao took a deep breath and asked, ”Our class doesn’t have that much in the fund.” Indeed, they only collected five yuan per semester, at a very conscientious rate, yet ironically, this was the class with the least money issues in the school.

”Even if you had, we aren’t planning on taking it.” Cao Meng sneered. ”We want your top student to transfer out. If they don’t want to join our class, they can go to Class One or Two!”

”Oh? Our class? Interesting.” Gu Yanzhi, who had just arrived alongside Luo Qianqian, spoke up, ”Then you surely wouldn’t mind me serving as a witness, right? If any cheating occurs, it will be deemed zero and won’t contribute to the total score. Since you mentioned our class, as a member of Class One, I surely need to step up.” Watching Cao Meng’s complexion change, Gu Yanzhi chuckled and turned to Luo Qianqian, ”Good luck, I believe in you, but Class One wouldn’t turn you down either.”

Cao Meng’s face turned dark. He had thought Luo Qianqian would definitely not go to Class One or Two and would have to join his class, which was why he made the bet. If they could have another top student like Class Nine had risen, their class would become the dark horse. Yet, Gu Yanzhi from Class One had interfered.

”I trust Gu Yanzhi to be a fair witness, so let’s settle it this way.” Cao Meng stressed, as if afraid Luo Qianqian hadn’t heard. ”Luo Qianqian, you’re worth a thousand yuan.”

”I disagree.” Luo Qianqian stood next to Pei Yuhao, looking up with a smile. ”I’m worth more than a thousand. To challenge our class, you need to bring enough capital to the table. We’re not even interested in your class’s people.”

”I agree with that.” Pei Yuhao quickly nodded, having been scared cold by Luo Qianqian’s words just a moment ago, worried that using her as a betting chip had angered her. But then he realized she’d taken the initiative to call Gu Yanzhi, showing that she still trusted him.

”Three thousand at most.” Cao Meng frowned, not because he feared losing—his confidence in winning was firm due to their score gap. ”We can’t afford more.”

”You could write an IOU,” Han Lei spoke up but was quickly muffled and dragged away by Shen Yan.

Luo Qianqian nodded in agreement, precisely, they could write an IOU.

”Three thousand it is then. With that, our class can enjoy a free trip.” Pei Yuhao nodded, not pushing Cao Meng into a corner.

”Feeling quite confident, are you?” Cao Meng huffed coldly. ”Sign it; a gentleman’s agreement is hard to break even for the swiftest horse.”

Pei Yuhao paused momentarily, then swiftly scrawled his name. ”Words without action are for puppies.”

”I’ll be the witness. Fail to honor the bet and expect to be blocked and fought every day.” Gu Yanzhi looked at Pei Yuhao with a light chuckle, then turned to Luo Qianqian, ”Exam’s tomorrow; I’ll look for you during the lunch break. Wait for me in the classroom.”

Luo Qianqian nodded, then watched as Gu Yanzhi took his leave before returning to her class, without giving Cao Meng and his companion a second glance.

Chen Biang adjusted his glasses, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.