I Am Already A Queen

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Enter Peng Jian’s Class

Vice Principal Zhang Yong was clearly trying to dump another troublesome, underperforming transfer student with connections into her elite, top-ranked class to ruin her class average. There was absolutely no universe in which she would agree to such a liability.

Earlier, when she had briefly entered the office, she had only given the new girl a casual, dismissive glance. Judging entirely by the girl’s plain, unbranded casual clothes, Ruan Leiwei had already instantly constructed her own biased conclusion. Since the girl was not even wearing the academy’s prestigious custom uniform on her very first day, she must undoubtedly be a problematic, uneducated transfer student with a messy, complicated background.

She let out a quiet, disdainful snort before pulling her lesson plan tight against her chest, walking away without giving the encounter another second of thought.

Inside the quiet office, Vice Principal Zhang Yong looked at Qiao Meixia with a profoundly apologetic expression.

”Miss Qiao, please forgive my colleague’s atrocious manners. I never expected Teacher Ruan to judge your potential so blindly based on mere surface appearances.” Vice Principal Zhang Yong said, his tone laced with genuine embarrassment.

”It’s completely fine.” Qiao Meixia replied flatly.

She did not seem to care about the blatant rejection in the slightest, her expression remaining as calm and unbothered as stagnant water.

”I will call another homeroom teacher over immediately.” Vice Principal Zhang Yong said, reaching for his desk phone and dialling an internal extension without delay.

Another fifteen minutes of waiting passed. This time, a middle-aged man wearing a simple, neatly ironed suit entered the office. The moment he stepped inside, his sharp eyes immediately landed on Qiao Meixia, and a sudden trace of intense surprise flashed across his face.

Being an active faculty member who had been present on campus yesterday, he had already heard the legendary rumours circulating among the staff about the transcendent, untamed genius who had casually aced both the Mathematical and Physics Olympiad papers with full marks. Looking at the remarkably calm, quiet young girl standing so casually beside Vice Principal Zhang Yong’s desk, his sharp instincts immediately deduced that she was the legendary student everyone was whispering about.

However, a deep knot of confusion instantly tightened in his mind. A student possessing such astonishing, record-shattering talent would naturally and automatically be assigned to Ruan Leiwei’s key star class. So why on earth had Vice Principal Zhang Yong specifically summoned him to take her instead?

”Teacher Peng, this is Miss Qiao Meixia.” Vice Principal Zhang Yong introduced her smoothly, gesturing toward the girl. ”I would like you to accept her into your homeroom class. Are you completely alright with this arrangement?”

”Vice Principal Zhang...” Teacher Peng, whose full name was Peng Jian, hesitated for a long moment, pointing a finger between them as he asked, ”Shouldn’t Student Qiao be fast-tracked directly to Teacher Ruan’s honours class?”

”She literally just flatly rejected her a few minutes ago.” Vice Principal Zhang Yong replied calmly, a faint, amused smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

”What?!” Peng Jian blurted out in utter, unadulterated shock, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

Only after the loud exclamation echoed off the walls did he realise he had completely lost his professional composure. He immediately coughed awkwardly, clearing his throat to hide his red face.

”I... I am terribly sorry for my outburst, Vice Principal.” Peng Jian apologised quickly.

”It’s completely fine. I had a similar reaction.” Vice Principal Zhang Yong waved his hand dismissively with a wry smile. ”So, to get back to the point... are you genuinely willing to accept this student into your class roster?”

”Of course! Without a single doubt!” Peng Jian nodded violently, practically beaming with unsuppressed excitement.

Only a fool would turn down a once-in-a-generation genius dropped straight into his lap!

”Good, very good.” Vice Principal Zhang Yong smiled with immense satisfaction, glad to see a teacher who actually valued substance over flashy uniforms. ”Then you may officially escort her to your classroom now.”

”I understand. Thank you, Vice Principal!” Peng Jian nodded respectfully before turning toward Qiao Meixia, his eyes radiating a warm, gentle, and deeply appreciative teacherly smile. ”Student Qiao, please follow me.”

Qiao Meixia followed Peng Jian down the long, bright corridor toward her new classroom. As they walked past the row of designated learning spaces, they passed several other homerooms where early morning self-study was underway. One of those rooms happened to belong to the academy’s infamous Class 1, Jiang Yanna’s homeroom.

Sitting near the middle row, Jiang Yanna happened to glance outside through the floor-to-ceiling glass panel and immediately caught sight of Qiao Meixia walking behind Teacher Peng Jian. Her sharp mind deduced the situation instantly. Qiao Meixia had not been placed in the elite star class at all. She had been assigned directly to Peng Jian’s class.

Jiang Yanna’s classroom was widely recognised as the absolute top-ranked class in their entire grade, populated exclusively by high-society heirs, top academic performers, and student council elites. Seeing that Qiao Meixia had been relegated to Peng Jian’s average, relaxed class instead of entering her prestigious domain, Jiang Yanna could not help a dark, triumphant surge of satisfaction rising in her chest. As expected of a country bumpkin, she thought smugly, she could not even meet the baseline standards to stand on the same floor as me.

Unbothered by the eyes tracking them, Peng Jian and Qiao Meixia soon arrived at the front door of their assigned destination.

”Wait out here in the hallway for just a short moment. I will call you inside once I settle them down.” Peng Jian turned and whispered gently to Qiao Meixia.

Qiao Meixia offered a small, obedient nod.

Peng Jian then turned the handle and pushed open the heavy wooden classroom door. The moment the door swung inward, a wave of noise spilt out. The students inside were chatting loudly, throwing paper aeroplanes, and laughing boisterously among themselves. The overall environment was entirely chaotic, lacking the rigid, suffocating formality of the honours classes down the hall.

”Alright, take your respective seats right now, you little rascals!” Peng Jian called out with a booming, authoritative voice the second his boots crossed the threshold.

Hearing his familiar voice, the scattered students quickly returned to their desks like mice, pulling out their chairs with a flurry of noise. Every single pair of curious eyes immediately shifted toward the podium.

”Well, everyone, pay attention for a minute. We have a brand-new transfer student officially joining our class roster today.” Peng Jian announced, resting his hands on the podium.

The room instantly erupted into a sea of excited whispers and wild, overlapping chatter.

”Old Peng! Is it a boy or a girl?”

”If it’s a girl, is she pretty? We desperately need a class goddess!”

”We definitely don’t want another noisy boy in the back row!”

”What on earth are you boys talking about? We want a handsome male transfer student!”

The students shouted over one another with absolute freedom, having zero intention of lowering their voices or maintaining false decorum.

Bang!

Peng Jian slammed the thick lesson folder in his hand onto the teacher’s desk with a resounding thud.

”Quiet down, the lot of you!” Peng Jian barked, though a humorous glint danced in his eyes. ”And for the hundredth time, stop calling me ’Old Peng’! I am only thirty-five years young!”

”Thirty-five is ancient, Old Peng!” A male student from the back row hollered out with a grin.

”Yeah! You should really be focusing on getting married already instead of nagging us!”

”My father had me when he was only twenty-four! Old Peng, you really need to work much harder at finding yourself a proper wife!”

The entire classroom burst into a collective fit of loud, unified laughter.

”I might actually possess the spare energy to find a wife if you lot did not cause me a massive migraine every single hour of the day.” Peng Jian shot back with a helpless, affectionate sigh. Remembering that his new star student was still standing outside in the drafty corridor, he quickly cleared his throat and waved his hand dismissively to suppress the noise. ”Enough with the nonsense. Let’s give a proper, warm welcome to our new classmate. Miss Qiao, you may come in now.”

Qiao Meixia stepped smoothly through the doorway and onto the raised wooden platform. The exact millisecond everyone caught a clear view of her face, the entire class was visibly taken aback.

Even though they belonged to different homerooms, high-society gossip moved like wildfire throughout the academy grounds. Almost every single student in the room had already heard the sensational rumours regarding the Jiang Family’s sudden, mysterious ”twin sister” cover story.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***