Chapter 22

Zhao Ran glared fiercely at Li Xue, then looked at the pastry in her hand. She opened her mouth but couldn’t bring herself to speak.

Qian Jianing noticed the direction of her gaze and quickly looked up. Zhao Ran shrank back and shifted her eyes away, glaring resentfully at Li Xue before turning around with red eyes, covering her mouth.

Li Xue looked baffled. She nudged Qian Jianing with her elbow and stared at Zhao Ran’s back in confusion. “What kind of expression is that? It’s like I’m the villain just because I won’t share my pastry.”

Qian Jianing flipped through her English textbook and chuckled softly. “That’s called princess syndrome. If you don’t give it to her, it’s your fault.”

“Pft, spoiled nonsense. I’m a princess at home too.” Li Xue popped the last bite of the pastry into her mouth, happily licking the crumbs off her fingers, then rubbed her head contentedly against Qian Jianing’s arm. “Jianing, I must’ve done tons of good deeds in my past life, that’s why I get to be friends with you in this one. I feel so lucky.”

The delicious smell of the heavenly pastry distracted the classmates around them from their early reading, and upon hearing those words, they instinctively pondered, “Did I not do good deeds in my past life? Otherwise why am I being tortured like this—can’t eat it and the aroma keeps drilling into my nose. How’s anyone supposed to study?”

Li Xue noticed her classmates staring at her like wolves and tigers, so she cautiously closed the lunchbox lid, stuffed it into her backpack, and zipped it shut. She glanced around the room, still uneasy, and made a difficult decision after some thought. “Jianing, we can’t go to the bathroom together after class. We’ve got to take turns, so I don’t have to worry about them stealing my snacks.”

Qian Jianing gave her a helpless look. “Aren’t you overthinking it a bit? No one’s going to dig into your bag.”

Li Xue sighed in feigned agony. “I’m afraid they won’t be able to resist the temptation. We should guard the gate ourselves—can’t go inciting crime.”

Qian Jianing couldn’t help but laugh. “How come I never noticed you were such a drama queen before?”

Ring-ring-ring…

The bell rang, and Wang Yarong appeared at the classroom door right on time, hugging a stack of test papers. She slammed the papers heavily onto the podium, her expression thunderous. “This beginning-of-term math test was terrible. Only twelve students passed, only five scored above seventy. Three-quarters of the class failed, and five didn’t even score ten points. Looks like your hearts wandered far over the summer.”

As Wang Yarong spoke, her anger grew. She slammed her hand down on the desk, and everyone instinctively lowered their heads.

“I’m handing out the papers now. If you failed, take your paper and stand at your seat! Chen Kai, eight points!”

Chen Kai, his face bruised and swollen, walked to the podium with his head down. Wang Yarong had planned to scold him more, but seeing his face, bruised with green and purple marks, she didn’t know whether to feel annoyed or sympathetic.

She threw the paper at him without another glance and continued handing out the rest.

“Zhang Hua, thirty-eight!”

…

“Zhao Ran, sixty-nine!”

Zhao Ran’s face turned pale instantly. She had known she didn’t do well, but never expected to get only sixty-nine. Wang Yarong was furious. “Look at your score. And you still have the nerve to be class rep? You better reflect on this.”

Zhao Ran bit her lip and walked back with her paper. Seeing Li Xue craning her neck, waiting for her score, her mood soured even more. Ms. Wang usually handed out the lowest scores first. That meant Li Xue did better than her. Just as Zhao Ran sat down, she suddenly turned to look at Qian Jianing. Her pupils shrank involuntarily—Qian Jianing’s test hadn’t been handed out either. Could she also have scored higher than her? No way!

“Li Xue, seventy-two!”

“Liu Mei, eighty-four!”

As the stack of papers grew smaller, Zhao Ran’s expression grew darker. Soon, Wang Yarong was holding only one paper. A heavy feeling sank into Zhao Ran’s chest. She knew that was Qian Jianing’s, but she still harbored some hope—maybe Jianing had bombed it, and the teacher was holding her paper back to scold her.

Truth be told, Zhao Ran had disliked Qian Jianing since middle school. She herself worked so hard, yet her scores were always a little behind Qian Jianing’s. She wasn’t as pretty as her either. Because of that, none of the good things in school ever came her way.

Qian Jianing got to represent the class in speech contests, Zhao Ran was the standby. Qian Jianing competed in the Zibo City dual-subject competition, Zhao Ran was the backup. Even in the solo singing contest to celebrate National Day, the selected one was still Qian Jianing. Zhao Ran was always just the alternate.

She felt like a dusty shadow, forever blocked by the radiant light that was Qian Jianing. Everyone, teachers and students alike, instinctively ignored her. Teachers liked Qian Jianing, classmates revolved around her. No one ever noticed Zhao Ran. Even her mom always had Qian Jianing on her lips: “Look at that Qian Jianing—such a good student, so pretty. Her parents are really blessed.” Zhao Ran could only listen silently, then work even harder in private, hoping to one day surpass Qian Jianing.

After entering high school, they ended up in the same class again. When Zhao Ran found out, she felt like the sky was falling. How could she still not break free of her like a curse? Just when she thought her high school life would be another bleak chapter, the miracle happened—good girl Qian Jianing started a relationship prematurely, and her grades plummeted. In just two months, she dropped from the top three to the twenties. At that moment, Zhao Ran felt as if the weight on her chest had vanished—it was like the sky had cleared.

She no longer lived in Qian Jianing’s shadow. She finally lifted her head high and snatched away Jianing’s class rep title. Her favorite pastime became mocking Qian Jianing in every way possible. Every day, she returned home and relayed Jianing’s antics to her mother, exaggerated with relish. Soon, in Zhao Ran’s mom’s eyes, Qian Jianing went from model student to red-flag cautionary tale, warning her daughter daily, “Look at Qian Jianing, already going bad at such a young age. If I were her mom, I’d be worried sick. I’m telling you, don’t follow her lead. Stay away from her—don’t even talk to her.”

Zhao Ran used to hate her mom’s nagging, but now she hoped for it eight times a day. Every time she heard those words, it thrilled her. For once, she stood on high ground and could stomp Qian Jianing underneath. Qian Jianing, who fell into the muck, wasn’t even worthy of being her shadow.

“Qian Jianing, 120 points!”

Zhao Ran’s heart sank. Her worst fear had come true. The nightmare returned.

Gasps filled the classroom. No one could believe it. All eyes were on Qian Jianing—shocked that someone could score so well, and even more shocked that it was her.

Qian Jianing stood up, walked with composure to the front, and took her paper from Wang Yarong, who looked at her with satisfaction. “You did very well on this exam. I hope you’ll keep it up and maintain this level.”

“Jianing, you’re amazing!” After class, Li Xue waited for Wang Yarong to leave before squealing and hugging Qian Jianing. “I knew you could do it! You’re incredible, Jianing!”

Qian Jianing let her shake her as she liked, a bright smile on her face. “I didn’t expect it either. But at least I’m back on track now, right?” She glanced back at Chen Kai, her voice calm. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”

Chen Kai met her gaze briefly, then turned his head. He had expected his own eight points, but he hadn’t expected Qian Jianing to get full marks. A complicated emotion flickered in his eyes. Since she let go of him, she’d once again become the teacher’s favorite. He felt himself drifting further and further from her.

****

Qian Jianing quickly adapted to the high-pressure pace of high school, and got used to attending school by day and running her shop at night. Luckily, she had been physically strengthened by Treasure Bowl, Food Elder, and Ni Wuge—otherwise, the workload alone would have overwhelmed a regular person.

Soon, the first weekend after the new semester arrived. Customers who had tasted Qian Jianing’s food couldn’t wait to line up again—including even Wang Dong and his crew. By rights, they didn’t have the nerve to show up here anymore. But after a week of eating elsewhere, they found nothing tasted quite right anymore. Yet Wang Dong didn’t dare go to Qian Xiaomi’s place either. As he stewed in frustration, Wang Kun brought intel: “Zhao Dazhuang’s planning to lead people personally and wreck the place.”

Wang Dong’s eyes lit up. “Well, that Zhao Dazhuang sure knows what’s what. I hadn’t even come up with an excuse to visit yet, and he delivers the perfect excuse—talk about lucky timing.”

Wang Kun cheerfully lit a cigarette for Wang Dong. “Then let’s go queue early tonight?”

Wang Dong couldn’t stop the grin from creeping onto his face. “Alright. Li Qiang, you line up early. Be first in line. I need to tell Boss Qian what’s going on before the crowds show up.”

Li Qiang beamed. “Don’t worry, bro, I’ll be there by two-thirty.”

Wang Dong nodded, puffed on his cigarette, and recalled the time Qian Jianing had crushed chopsticks into splinters. His hand shook around the cigarette. “You don’t think she’ll throw me out the moment she sees me, do you?”

“No, no,” Wang Kun quickly reassured him, afraid Wang Dong would get cold feet. “The little boss isn’t that petty. She even said ‘welcome next time’ when we left last time.”

“Really?” Wang Dong’s legs still wobbled a bit. He took two deep puffs, then looked at Wang Kun. “Let’s play it safe. You and Zhang Cheng go scope out which people Zhao Dazhuang is bringing. The more info we give Boss Qian, the less likely she is to beat us up.”

Wang Kun and Zhang Cheng had been dreaming of eating Qian Jianing’s cooking again, so they didn’t need more prompting and immediately went off to investigate.

That evening, Qian Jianing opened the courtyard gate and was momentarily stunned to see Wang Dong at the front of the line. She couldn’t help but admire his courage. Wang Dong, terrified that she’d hit him upon sight, greeted her with exaggerated smiles and bows. “Hello, Boss Qian! You’re looking sharp and gorgeous as ever. I’ve got something to report to you.”

Qian Jianing twitched the corner of her mouth and stepped aside. “Come in first.”

Wang Dong heaved a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and rushed inside. After taking the other customers’ orders, Qian Jianing walked over to Wang Dong’s table. He immediately stood up, smiling flatteringly. She gave him an amused look and lowered her voice, “Let’s forget last time. I’m not the type to hold grudges. You don’t need to act like this.”

Wang Dong relaxed from head to toe, smiling even more. “Boss, I’ve got something important to report. Honestly, that scene we caused last time—it was all Zhao Dazhuang, the boss of Meiwei Restaurant. I wasn’t thinking straight and took the job. But after tasting your cooking, I realized he was just slandering you out of jealousy. I beat him up as soon as I left here that day. No way I’d let him ruin the relationship between us.”

Qian Jianing cringed slightly at his words, glanced at him, and said quietly, “Cut to the point. I need to cook.”

“Yes, right! The point is, my guys found out Zhao Dazhuang’s not giving up. He’s planning to come wreck your place personally, bringing people with him.” Wang Dong told her everything he knew. “Apparently, Zhao Dazhuang’s cousin knows a guy named Zhang Hu who runs a nightclub. Since fights are common there, he hires really tough bouncers. Zhao Dazhuang plans to use them to deal with you.”

Hearing that, Qian Jianing looked intrigued. “They’re that good in a fight?”

“Really good. Around Zibo City, regular folks totally avoid them. Even we steer clear.” Wang Dong answered honestly. “I heard Zhang Hu himself once fought ten people alone—and his men are even tougher.”

Qian Jianing’s eyes sparkled. “What a rare opportunity. I’ve trained with Master Ni for so long, finally I get to put it into practice. Wonder when they’re coming—how good they are at taking hits?”