In less than half an hour, every single student at the school had heard about the news that the new transfer student from Class Eight was the real-life daughter of the Zhu family. The school's forum, QQ, and WeChat groups were abuzz with this explosive news.
Even photos of Ming Jing were circulating throughout the school's public forums. A lot of them were jealous of Zhu Xiangxiang's long reign over the school, taking turns praising Ming Jing and insulting Zhu Xiangxiang. Zhu Xiangxiang's followers, on the other hand, nitpicked, trying to find flaws in their new classmate to prove Zhu Xiangxiang's ongoing excellence. All in all, it proved to be a very lively event indeed.
Some curious on-lookers ran to the door of Class Eight to get a peep of Ming Jing, and some even did a live-stream, broadcasting the event live.
"These people are so annoying. They are hovering over us like a bunch of flies. They are such a nuisance." Tao Xingxing rolled up her sleeves, getting ready to get up and shoo those people away.
Ming Jing continued to practice her calligraphy in her workbook. Her strokes were vigorous and powerful, and the elegance restrained right from the start.
This was like her character. Her looks weren't obvious, like the clouds and mist. Her ways were above conventionality and were hard to figure out.
"If you pay them mind, that will only exacerbate things. If you don't pay them mind, they will leave when they feel bored."
"I'm not as patient as you." Tao Xingxing started flipping through her phone and reading through the posts on the forum. The messages left her so enraged that she felt like her head was about to explode.
She lifted her phone screen in front of Ming Jing so that she could see the posts. "Look at how horrendous these people are being. They say you're ugly and have a horrible personality. That you can't even compare to Zhu Xiangxiang's pinky. They say that you deserve the worst in life…"
Ming Jing turned to give her an indifferent look, then just as suddenly, looked away.
Tao Xingxing shook Ming Jing's arm to get her attention. "Ming Jing, are you going to let them get away with this? Everyone at school is bullying us. Ahh, I can't help myself. I'm so angry!"
Ming Jing turned to give her a quiet look. "What happens next? You were just bitten by a dog and now you want to bite it back?"
She appeared very calm. Her deep black eyes were like top-grade obsidian, transparent and bright at the same time. For some reason, people did not dare to look into her eyes for long. It was like her stare could penetrate through armor. If people stared into her eyes for too long, they would feel pierced by her powerful gaze.
Tao Xingxing choked as she laughed out loud. "What you just said… I really don't know how to go about it. But if you're bitten by a dog, you most definitely have to beat that dog to death. Otherwise, if you just leave things be, what happens if that mad dog bites someone else? Doing this can also be considered as eliminating a great evil for mankind."
Ming Jing smiled and shook her head back and forth. With her head still bowed over the paper, she turned all her attention to practicing her calligraphy.
Ming Jing became notorious all around the school just like that. Everyone was taking turns comparing her to Zhu Xiangxiang. Everything from her height, appearance, and temperament to her grades were being hashed out in public. The students finally concluded that the fake daughter was in fact better than the real daughter. Those cheering for Zhu Xiangxiang used this method to comfort themselves that it was the right thing to be on Zhu Xiangxiang's team.
Just by gauging Zhu Xiangxiang's position in the school, everyone can see that she outranked Ming Jing by far. Zhu Xiangxiang was an excellent student and her name was entered in the Red List every year. She would always be in the top ten. She was awarded all kinds of coveted certificates and was the foundation of the school's student council. She was also extremely liked by all the teachers. As for Ming Jing, she was assigned to the worst class, Class Eight. Was there any further need for an explanation?
Although some people argued that everything Zhu Xiangxiang had should be Ming Jing's, however, there was little room for all the 'what ifs' in the world. The cold and unassuming world only looked at the results and what was currently at hand. It had no room for conjecture.
However, soon after, the posts on the school's forum that were talking about Ming Jing suddenly disappeared one by one. Those who secretly ridiculed Ming Jing were also banned from the site. Those who heard that a lot of people were getting banished in regards to Ming Jing, soon cleaned up their act and started changing the settings of their discussions to private.
"Well done. It's all just a bunch of gossip. The administrator is a very observant person well worth applauding." Tao Xingxing showed her obvious approval for the administrator.
In the last self-study class for the day, no one was studying, all except for Ming Jing.
At this very moment, Hu Tian made his way into the classroom with a stack of test papers in his hand and began handing them out one by one.
This was Class Eight's norm. After receiving their test papers, the students either stuffed them into their desks or crumpled the paper into a ball to be tossed into the wastebasket later without even giving the exams a look. When her exam was sent to Ming Jing, Hu Tian looked down at her and pursed his lips. "You did very well in the test."
As soon as Ming Jing got back her exam paper, she heard someone screaming out loud, "120 points? Ming Jing, you are so smart!"
The pop quiz was given out in the morning and by the afternoon, it would already be graded. Many people could care less about it and the exam was not too difficult, but this did not mean that Class Eight was capable of a perfect score.
The subject was mathematics, the sort of mathematics used to test one's IQ. Ming Jing actually got everything on the test right.
They thought their classmate was ordinary. Who knew she would actually turn out to be so capable and outstanding?
Tao Xingxing's scream drew the attention of the whole class, and everyone's eyes all turned to look over involuntarily.
"Is this some kind of joke? Can she even get a perfect score?" Zhang Jingwen said in a subconscious manner. After having said that, she gave Ming Jing a nervous look. For some reason or another, her entire body started to itch.
Tao Xingxing grabbed hold of Ming Jing's test paper and studied it from cover to cover. "Class Eight is about to have a top student in our midst."
Zhang Jingwen clenched her teeth and glared her eyes at Ming Jing with hatred in them. Top student? Is she even worthy? Who knows how she got that score? Did she cheat?"
Tao Xingxing rolled her eyes at Zhang Jingwen exasperatedly. "If Ming Jing isn't worthy of this, then are you? Show everyone your score. Besides, I'm Ming Jing's deskmate. I would know better than anyone else if she happens to cheat. If she did cheat, then I, Tao Xingxing, will write my name 'Tao Xingxing' backwards for everyone to see."
At that moment, Class 8 saw Ming Jing in a different light. They began looking at her like she was the top student in the class.
Initially, when the Zhu family's real daughter's identity was exposed, everyone sympathized with her fate. Everything that belonged to her was snatched away by Zhu Xiangxiang. After she transferred to this school, she studied hard and never caused any problems. People found themselves liking this sort of quiet and obedient girl. Naturally, they were very impressed by her.
Perhaps people, in general, sympathized with the weak. Between Zhu Xiangxiang and Ming Jing, Ming Jing proved to be the weaker one.
All of a sudden, Ming Jing got a perfect score in math? What could this mean?
That she was indeed not weak at all!
...
Some students secretly posted on the forum discreetly, saying that they were the classmates of Ming Jing. They reported that in the morning math quiz, Ming Jing got a 100% on her exam.
Those who were subdued suddenly exploded. Many people came to the forum to respond to the post. Some could not believe their eyes. Some even made fun of it. And others still could not believe it. Even though this was a hot topic, the administrator did not do anything about it nor did he ban anyone.
"If she was such a good student, why was she assigned to Class Eight?"
"Perhaps the Zhu family did not care a lot about her and just casually flung her into Class Eight. Who would have thought that she would exceed expectations? Hahaha, just imagining the looks on the Zhu family member's faces is getting a laugh out of me right now."
"But what kind of joke is that? That is Class 8, where losers attend. If her results were not from cheating, I will be shocked enough to have my heads twisted off and kicked like a ball."
"... The monthly exams are coming up soon. I'll make a bet with you. If she can get her name into the Red List, I won't let you rip your head off and have it kicked it around like a ball. Instead, how about running ten laps on the playground in your underwear?"
"... Let's bet on it. The one with the ID 'Drunk Dream Jinghua' , remember your bet. I'll take a screenshot. And you too, the one with the ID 'Mountains and Water'. I'll also be photographing you in your underwear when the time comes."