After Differentiation, I Marked My Arch-nemesis - Chapter 87

The spring breeze swept across the land, dispelling the coldness of late winter. Flowers and trees took root, sprouted branches, and grew wildly. The earth was revitalized, the temperature warmed up, and everything was filled with new vitality.

Days passed by.

By late April, in just over a month,

Jiang Youli had gone from being a good-for-nothing student in the mouths of others to a diligent and studious one. The students who used to be afraid of her were no longer scared, and even her good-for-nothing friends were influenced to a certain extent.

Now,

The class and school culture of the entire Jiangcheng No. 1 High School were getting better and better.

Especially Class 1 of Grade 1, where the change was the most obvious.

Jiang Youli’s seriousness and attitude toward studying had a subtle influence on them. Jiang Youli’s books, which she used to be too lazy to even write her name in, were now filled with all kinds of notes. The workbooks she had never touched were all filled out, and the assignments given by the subject teachers were all completed very well.

The opinions of Jiang Youli at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School had all changed.

Everything was slowly getting better.

Chen Huaian, who never liked to study, thought Jiang Youli was very strange, but he also started to read and study with her.

On Monday,

The results of the second monthly exam of the semester were released.

Jiang Youli’s total score on this exam was 125, an improvement of 83 points from the last one. Tan Yushan praised Jiang Youli during the class meeting and even gave her a pennant for being the Star of Progress.

The whole class applauded Jiang Youli’s improvement.

Jiang Youli looked down at her total score on the report card and smiled knowingly.

125 points.

She was one step closer to Lu Yaoyi.

After school in the afternoon,

Jiang Youli blocked Jin Rubing and pulled her to the teaching building’s rooftop.

Jin Rubing wasn’t as strong as Jiang Youli, so she could only be dragged along.

They arrived at the rooftop.

Jin Rubing pulled her hand away from Jiang Youli’s. “Jiang Youli, school’s over, and I need to go home. Why did you have to drag me up to the rooftop?”

Ever since Jiang Youli returned from the capital, she had been missing Lu Yaoyi all the time.

She couldn’t contact Lu Yaoyi and thought she could endure it until she graduated from high school to see her in the capital, but she couldn’t help but come and ask Jin Rubing for news about Lu Yaoyi. “I brought you up here to ask about Lu Yaoyi.”

Jin Rubing’s interest was piqued as soon as she heard Lu Yaoyi’s name.

“You’re here to ask me about Yaoyi?”

Jiang Youli: “Mhm.”

Jin Rubing looked at Jiang Youli with interest. “What do you want to ask about her?”

Jiang Youli: “Are you in touch with her?”

Jin Rubing: “Of course.”

Jiang Youli: “Is she… doing well recently?”

Jin Rubing: “Does it have anything to do with you whether she’s doing well or not?”

Jiang Youli suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Jin Rubing: “Do you want her to be doing well, or not?”

Jiang Youli: “Of course, I want her to be doing well.”

Jin Rubing: “Heh.”

Jiang Youli: “…”

Jin Rubing: “I thought you wanted her to not be doing well.”

Jiang Youli frowned slightly. “How is that possible?”

“You hated her so much, why not?” Jin Rubing put on a posture as if she was going to stand up for Lu Yaoyi. “Have you forgotten how you used to bully her?”

Jiang Youli was so choked up that she couldn’t speak for a moment.

“I don’t hate her.”

She softened her expression and her voice was extremely gentle. “I don’t hate her at all.”

Jin Rubing snorted. “Tch.”

If it weren’t for the fact that Lu Yaoyi liked Jiang Youli, she wouldn’t even want to bother with Jiang Youli, who used to always cause trouble for Lu Yaoyi. “Jiang Youli, that’s not what you said before. I remember you even took off her bicycle’s tires last semester.”

Jiang Youli: “It was my fault for bullying her back then.”

Jin Rubing: “So you know it was bad.”

“I’m willing to atone for the things I did in the past,” Jiang Youli looked at Jin Rubing with burning eyes. “I came to you today because I just want to know if she’s doing well.”

Jin Rubing: “Can I take that as you caring about Yaoyi?”

Jiang Youli: “Mhm, I care about her.”

Jin Rubing was a little surprised that Jiang Youli actually admitted to caring about Lu Yaoyi.

Seeing that Jiang Youli’s attitude was good, she softened her tone. Maybe, just like Jiang Youli said, she wanted to atone for the things she did in the past. But she was still very angry about how Jiang Youli used to bully Lu Yaoyi. “Yaoyi is doing very well at Capital High School.”

When Jiang Youli heard that, she smiled. “I’m relieved that she’s doing well.”

Jin Rubing: “Anyway, she’s definitely doing better than you.”

Jiang Youli just smiled without saying a word.

Her hope was for Lu Yaoyi to be doing better than her. She suddenly remembered something and asked, “Oh, by the way, Jin Rubing. What was Lu Yaoyi’s score on this monthly exam?”

Jin Rubing: “Of course, it’s first in her grade.”

First in her grade…

Jiang Youli thought about her score of 125 on this monthly exam and sighed inwardly.

She and Lu Yaoyi were still very far apart…

“You’re studying so hard lately. Are you trying to surpass Yaoyi?” Jin Rubing crossed her arms and looked at Jiang Youli in confusion. “Give up. You can’t surpass Yaoyi. Yaoyi is too amazing. She can even control her scores.”

Jiang Youli: “I’m not studying hard to surpass her.”

But to catch up to her.

She said quietly in her heart.

Jin Rubing: “Then why?”

Jiang Youli: “Because I want to get into a university in the capital.”

Jin Rubing: “Oh…”

Jiang Youli: “Okay, I’m done. Let’s go.”

With that, she turned to leave.

Jin Rubing looked at Jiang Youli’s back and suddenly called out, “Jiang Youli.”

Jiang Youli stopped and turned back. “What’s wrong?”

Jin Rubing walked over to Jiang Youli. She looked up at Jiang Youli and said calmly, “Actually, it’s nothing. I just have a question for you.”

Jiang Youli: “What is it?”

Jin Rubing: “Is it… possible that you’ll like Yaoyi in the future?”

Jiang Youli: “It’s not a matter of ‘possible.’”

Jin Rubing: “What do you mean?”

Her love for the person she liked spread from the corners of her lips to her eyebrows and blossomed beautifully.

Jiang Youli’s smile was breathtaking. “I already like her.”

Liking someone was never a shameful thing.

She would never again deny her true feelings for the sake of her so-called pride.

“…”

Jin Rubing was so shocked by her words that she stared at Jiang Youli, speechless.

“She once told me that she wanted to go to Capital University. I’m studying hard to get into a university in the capital so I can go there and find her,” Jiang Youli’s beautiful eyes shone with the most sincere light. “Please don’t tell her that I like her for now. I want to tell her in person when I get to the capital, so please keep this a secret for me.”

“It’s time to go home. Let’s go.”

After she said that, she smiled and lightly patted Jin Rubing’s shoulder.

Then she turned and walked toward the door.

Jin Rubing stood there, frozen, for a long time before she came back to her senses.

She looked at Jiang Youli’s retreating back in disbelief.

Did she hear that right?

Jiang Youli just told her that she liked Lu Yaoyi? Lu Yaoyi had a crush on Jiang Youli for so many years. If Lu Yaoyi knew, she would be so happy.

She wasn’t going to keep this a secret.

She had to tell Lu Yaoyi that her years of unrequited love had finally been returned.

In the evening,

Lu Yaoyi finished her dinner and went for a walk on the field with a few of her Omega classmates.

After a few laps on the field, they went back to the teaching building.

Lu Yaoyi sat down at her seat. She took out her phone from her desk, wanting to read and listen to some music, but she saw that Jin Rubing had sent her a few messages.

She unlocked her phone and opened the messages.

—Yaoyi, Jiang Youli just told me in person that she likes you.

—She also said that she’s studying hard so she can get into a university in the capital to find you.

—She also asked me if you’re doing well in the capital.

—Yaoyi.

—Jiang Youli told me she likes you!

—She likes you!

When Lu Yaoyi saw these messages, she was at a loss. The words “Jiang Youli told me she likes you” hit her hard, and her heart was in a chaotic state for a long time.

Jin Rubing said Jiang Youli likes her.

Jiang Youli likes her…

Time flew by, and it was soon a new Valentine’s Day.

In the evening,

Jiang Youli went to the beach alone. The cold sea breeze blew toward her, carrying the salty smell of the ocean. She stood on the shore, looking at the brightly lit beach in the distance.

Her slender and thin figure was embedded in the darkness, appearing both lonely and desolate.

Just like last year’s Valentine’s Day, there were many vendors’ stalls on the beach, and the area was still covered with a dazzling array of rose flower baskets and heart-shaped balloons. The shore was crowded with couples in love. Everything was the same at the beach on this Valentine’s Day.

Except…

Lu Yaoyi wasn’t by Jiang Youli’s side.

She remembered clearly that Lu Yaoyi had asked her on Valentine’s Day last year if they would have a chance to come to the beach to watch the fireworks show together this year, but she didn’t answer Lu Yaoyi.

Suddenly,

Her eyes felt a little hot.

If she had said yes,

Then… Lu Yaoyi would definitely be here with her to watch the fireworks show this year.

The night deepened.

Jiang Youli searched the beach for a long time but couldn’t find the lady who sold headbands and gave out Polaroid photos on Valentine’s Day last year, but she did find the old lady who sold roses. She bought a bouquet of the exact same roses from the old lady.

Then she sat alone on the beach far away from the crowd, looking at the sea.

Her longing had already drifted far away with the sea breeze.

At 9 p.m.,

A bell rang in the distance, and the night sky above the sea was lit up by beautiful fireworks.

All those wonderful memories were vivid in her mind.

Jiang Youli sat on the shore, looking up at the slowly rotating Ferris wheel. She hugged the roses in her arms, smiled, and whispered, “Lu Yaoyi, happy Valentine’s Day.”

I miss you so much.

Time flew by, and it was summer again a year later.

The scorching sun was like fire.

Today was the first day of the new school year for the seniors.

Jiang Youli woke up early and came to Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.

After a year and a half of day and night of hellish studying and tutoring, she had already caught up with her studies and had successfully moved from the last in her grade to the top 100. Her current scores could consistently place her in the top 10 of her class.

Jiang Youli looked at the honor roll on the bulletin board and smiled with satisfaction.

She was getting closer and closer to Lu Yaoyi.

After she finished looking at the bulletin board, she went back to the classroom and buried her head in her studies.

Students came into the classroom one after another.

Soon, the once-quiet Class 1 of Grade 3 became lively.

“Boss! Boss!”

Chen Huaian’s voice arrived before he did.

“…”

Jiang Youli stopped writing and turned to look at the back door of the classroom where the voice came from. She saw Chen Huaian rushing into the classroom through the back door. She looked at the out-of-breath Chen Huaian with a strange look. “What’s wrong? Why are you running so early in the morning?”

Chen Huaian clutched his chest and panted heavily.

“Boss… you… guess who I just saw at the academic affairs office.”

Jiang Youli wasn’t very concerned. “Who did you see?”

Chen Huaian: “Lu… I saw Lu Yaoyi…”

Jiang Youli froze. “Lu Yaoyi?”

“Yeah,” Chen Huaian nodded heavily. “Lu Yaoyi… she’s back.”

Lu Yaoyi is back…

Chen Huaian was about to say something else when he saw Jiang Youli run out like a madwoman.

He looked at Jiang Youli’s back as she disappeared from the back door of the classroom.

“Hey! Boss!”