"Before we start this conversation, I would like to ask, did Miss Yun beg you, the Eldest Heir, to personally plead for leniency on her behalf?"
Chen Yichen's eyes got very dark. "I don't need her to beg me for this kind of thing, because I will help her no matter what."
Su Ximan understood the situation now. She hadn't expected that the impoverished Yun family's eldest lady had the ability to make the Eldest Heir personally come forward. How extraordinary!
"If the Eldest Heir is here to talk about this, then we have nothing to say."
Putting down her coffee cup, Su Ximan didn't beat around the bush. Her attitude had always been overbearing and unreasonable.
"The Yun family offended not only the Su family, but also the Feng family. The Feng family might let bygones be bygones this time, but that doesn't mean that the Su family is going to do the same. Any woman who dares try to snatch a man from me, Su Ximan, is digging her own grave.
Su Ximan was tough, but Chen Yichen didn't back down either. "There are no conditions that cannot be negotiated."
"With me, if I say no, then that means no! Eldest Heir, it's not that I'm trying to make things difficult for you, but the Yun family got what it deserved. The person who has stirred up all the trouble hasn't even asked for help yet, so what are you so anxious about?"
"Helping her is my duty."
Su Ximan laughed arrogantly, then looked at Chen Yichen with amusement and ridicule. "I didn't expect the Eldest Heir to be such a romantic."
"My business has nothing to do with you. I am talking to you about the Yun family. What can I do for you to let the Yun family off the hook?"
Su Ximan shrugged, as if she didn't give a d*mn and didn't want to let the Yun family off the hook at all.
Her wealth and power had made her capricious.
"Eldest Heir, our four families have coexisted peacefully for many years. Today, I don't want to offend you because of the Yun family. Since you have personally pleaded leniency today, I have no choice but to let the Yun family off the hook. However, some necessary punishment is unavoidable."
Before she'd gone out that morning, her father had repeatedly reminded her that she shouldn't offend the other three families because of this incident. After all, the Jiang family and the Chen family were backers of the Yun family.
The Chen family had frequently shown support for the eldest lady of the Yun family, so their relationship obviously wasn't ordinary.
It wasn't even that big of a deal, but if, because of the Yun family, they offended the Chen family and the Jiang family, it would be the Su family who would suffer. They didn't want this to happen.
Chen Yichen knew that this was the best concession he was going to get from the Su family, so he didn't pressure them any further.
"Okay, thank you. I'll accept this favor from the Su family."
Feng Yang stood up. He didn't like to see Su Ximan troubling Chen Yichen, nor did he want to see Chen Yichen ruining Yun Xi's plans.
"Eldest Heir, before you help her, have you ever thought that perhaps Yun Xi doesn't need your help?"
As soon as Feng Yang started speaking, Su Ximan's expression turned ugly.
Standing up abruptly, the arrogant young lady bit her lip to suppress her anger, because she didn't dare to vent her anger on him.
"You aren't allowed to mention that girl. Don't think I couldn't tell what really happened. You and she colluded to play out that scene in front of your house yesterday. If you dare to start to like her, I will chop her into pieces and feed her to the dogs."
"Shut up!" Feng Yang wasn't afraid of her threats at all. His cold, handsome face appeared indifferent to her and fearless. "Are you done throwing your tantrum? Even if you want to punish the Yun family, that's all in her plan. Don't try to use this to set up other people."
After listening to Feng Yang's words, Chen Yichen suddenly understood what had happened, and only then did he realize that he, blinded by resentment and jealousy, had forgotten many aspects of Yun Xi's character.
Yes! That girl was so clever, so how could she not have prepared a backup plan for herself?
How could Su Ximan have coincidentally become a witness, causing the Yun Family to offend not only the Feng family, but also the Su family.
She wasn't that careless, so she'd obviously done it all on purpose!
Because of this, both Liang Xiuqin and Yun Yuanfeng had suffered the consequences.
She was planning to use the Su family to pressure Yun Yuanfeng so that he wouldn't let Liang Xiuqin back into the Yun family too soon.
Liang Xiuqin had now been kicked out of the villa complex and forced to live in the health club, which was a good thing for Yun Xi.
Without her mother, the Yun family's life would also be peaceful until her college entrance examination.
What a great strategy to kill two birds with one stone!
When he had finished speaking, Feng Yang turned around and left. With his aloof, detached attitude, he made it clear that he had come to supervise Su Ximan on behalf of Yun Xi. He was only making sure that Su Ximan wouldn't ruin Yun Xi's plans.
No matter how stupid Su Ximan was, she still understood that this wretched girl from the Yun family had not only offended her, but also manipulated her.
She was conceited and clever, but she definitely hadn't expected that Yun Xi would use her own cleverness against her.
Su Ximan quickly chased after Feng Yang.
"Feng Yang, stop and wait for me!"
Unable to run fast on her high heels, Su Ximan stood at the door of the restaurant, panting slightly as she shouted for Feng Yang.
If she had known beforehand that he had only come for that wretched girl's sake, she wouldn't have let him come with her.
She'd even planned on going on a rare date with him. They could've gotten coffee and gone to a movie. Who would ever have thought that he'd only come to monitor her for that wretched girl's sake?
"What did that girl ever give you to make you want to help her so much? I'm your fiancee, yet you turn a blind eye to the fact that she has used me. You also helped her set me up."
She was so angry.
She was his fiancee, yet he had chosen to help that girl of inferior status.
Who did the Yun family think they were? They were just plebs, the lowliest existences in the villa complex.
Feng Yang paused slightly as he opened the door of the car and then turned to look at the woman whom he had once taken seriously.
"How did she manipulate you? Did she force you to punish the Yun family, or did she force you to punish the Eldest Heir?"
Su Ximan's fuming rage still hadn't been vented, so his rebuff basically fueled the flames of her anger. She became so enraged that she shook with anger.
"If you keep on helping her like this, aren't you afraid that I won't help her deal with the Yun family, and instead I'll ruin her plans and allow her family to continue to cause trouble?"
"That would also be in her favor. The Yun family's crisis would be resolved by itself, and since your family wouldn't punish her, she wouldn't need to worry anymore. She would basically kill two birds with one stone."
"You..." Upon being humiliated by him like this, Su Ximan became further infuriated.
No matter whether or not they punished the Yun family, nothing would be a threat to that girl.
From beginning to end, she, Su Ximan, had only been a chess piece in Yun Xi's scheme.
The current situation was that if Su Ximan punished Yun Yuanfeng by holding a grudge, then the pressure from the Su family would achieve the purpose of causing a rift between Yun Xi's parents and discipline Yun Yuanfeng.
But if Su Ximan didn't punish the Yun Family, then the Yun Family would have no trouble at all, and she wouldn't have to worry about the Su family's using underhanded methods.
Yun Xi alone got all the benefits.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. She was the hunter who was trying to catch the oriole.
The more she thought about it, the more angry she got, and she stomped her feet in annoyance. "Aren't you afraid that I'll confront her? If you dare start developing feelings for her, I will chop her into pieces!"
Feng Yang sneered, and he fired back without restraint, "She is smarter than you. If you want to set her up, remember to dig a hole to bury yourself first so that you won't fall into her trap and be unable to climb out!"
"..." How could Su Ximan be willing to lose to Yun Xi, a little girl?
"Get in the car and I'll take you home. Aren't you cold dressing like that in winter?"
Feng Yang glanced at her and thought about Yun Xi, who wrapped herself up like a bear. She wasn't like these heiresses, who were willing to endure the cold just to look good.
Showing her exquisite face and dazzling eyes when wrapped up like a ball made her look especially cute and endearing.
After Feng Yang opened the car door, he went back to the driver's seat and got in the car, regardless of whether she got into the passenger seat or not.
Su Ximan, who had originally been very angry, froze for a few seconds when he said this, and then she rushed into the car with a cheerful smile.
She knew he wouldn't abandon her.
Look, he'd noticed that her legs were bare.
Although his words weren't very pleasant to the ear, he still cared about her.
This stony-faced yet warm-hearted man was simply too adorable.
Ever since offending the Su family, Yun Yuanfeng had been in a bad mood. Yun Xi had heard that someone from the Su family had put pressure on and taken several projects from Yun Yuanfeng.
Taking away these projects was equivalent to cutting off a hefty chunk of his income for Yun Yuanfeng.
The end of the year was approaching, and everyone was at their busiest. This was the time of year when Yun Yuanfeng's department made the most money.
It was a pity that they had offended the Su family at this juncture. He was extremely fortunate to have this position, let alone being able to make a fortune.
But this sort of matter couldn't be predicted or expected, so Yun Yuanfeng had no choice but to keep a low profile for the time being.
He resented Liang Xiuqin for the huge trouble she had brought upon him.
When Yun Xi came back home, she heard that Liang Xiuqin's health club had been smashed up. Frightened, Liang Xiuqin had run back to the compound, but she had been stopped by the sentry and, no matter how hard she begged, no one dared to let her in.
Yun Xi heard that later Liang Xiuqin had run to beg the second aunt to intercede with the old man and let her return to the Yun family's house.
Yun Xi knew that her second aunt definitely wouldn't help her return.
Yao Ying had been bullied by her for so many years. If Liang Xiuqin had had a conscience before, Yao Ying wouldn't have refused to help her.
It was a pity that because of her own actions, she'd destroyed the last shreds of sympathy people had for her.
...
Registration for the middle-school English competition began, and, from the preliminary to the final, the competition lasted two months.
Jing High School put great emphasis on its English curriculum, and the competition results had become an important reference for middle school students in entering high school, receiving bonus points, studying abroad, and priority in college admissions.
Although it was a foreign language, because Jing High School had a rigorous curriculum, its students' English skills weren't bad, and many people signed up for the competition.
The school held a round of quizzes and screenings, then sent those with the best grades to the preliminary round.
English was Zhao Yumo's strength. As soon as the rankings for the entire grade came out, Yun Xi felt a little confused.
Zhou Chengzhe, who was usually ranked first in the entire grade, was ranked fifth.
Yun Xi got first place, Zhao Yumo got second place, Zhou Chengzhe's deputy monitor Xie Wensi got third place, Li Sinuo got fourth place, and Zhou Chengzhe got fifth place.
It wasn't surprising to Yun Xi that Li Sinuo could squeeze in. After all, Li Sinuo's grades weren't bad, and she was repeating the grade, so her Chinese and English grades were better than those of their classmates.
Surprisingly, Zhou Chengzhe fell to fifth place, and she, the second place incumbent, robbed him of first place.
At the same time, the school's test results for the biology competition also came out.
Unlike Zhao Yumo, Yun Xi wouldn't purposely answer questions with Zhou Chengzhe's academic abilities in mind. She didn't know how strong Zhou Chengzhe was academically, so she could only show her true academic abilities.
As soon as the rankings came out, she saw that she had gotten first place and Zhou Chengzhe had gotten third place. She vaguely sensed that this was bad news.
Although just one test didn't mean anything, as soon as class started on Monday, rumors started to spread that Yun Xi and Zhao Yumo had always been academically capable, but they had always gotten second and third places out of pity for Zhou Chengzhe's impoverished family background.
It wasn't a big deal at first, since these kinds of unfounded rumors always started. Individual tests depend on academic strength and academic performance for that specific test, so various factors were at play.
If it had been someone else, they would've treated it as academic stars being competitive toward each other or as pure luck.
But when this sort of thing befell Zhou Chengzhe, who had been born into a poor family, it was always bad news.
Because of his background, Zhou Chengzhe had more pride than anyone else.
He desperately tried to get the highest grades every time because he didn't want to be looked down upon just because of his family background.
Yun Xi had reminded Zhao Yumo early on that she couldn't always be the second place incumbent, lest Zhou Chengzhe find out, and since his pride was too strong, he might even resent her for pitying him.
Occasionally, it was necessary for people to be a little unpredictable, so others wouldn't be able to figure them out.
Now, all hell broke loose because someone started a rumor that they had pitied Zhou Chengzhe and looked down on him because of his poverty.
Wouldn't that be humiliating to Zhou Chengzhe, denying his abilities and shaming him?
Obviously they didn't mean that at all, but with the terrifying power that rumors had, they suddenly became the center of a scandal.
Yun Xi always stayed away from people like Zhou Chengzhe. In her previous life, men like him were usually ruthless social climbers.
In her previous life, Han Yaotian also had low self-esteem because of his status as an illegitimate child, and the slightest bruise to his ego could set off his insecurity.
After second period ended, Zhou Chengzhe ran to Class 3 to find Yun Xi because he simply couldn't stand it anymore.
Throughout the entire grade level, rumors has it that he only got first place because Zhao Yumo and Yun Xi were purposely letting him.
"They are obviously more academically gifted than you, but they get second place every time only because they're purposely letting you!"
"It's probably because they feel sorry for you since you're family is so poor!"
"If you hadn't been their charity case, would you be where you are today?"
"..."
The derisive taunts of their classmates bruised Zhou Chengzhe's ego.
He studied so hard for so long and finally managed to get first place every semester.
He was used to being praised by all his teachers and envied by his classmates. Yet now that the two of them did better than him on the exam, they became smug and arrogant, then deliberately spread rumors that belittled all his past achievements and hard efforts!
His family indeed wasn't as rich as theirs, but how dare they bully him so ruthlessly?
"Yun Xi, what do you and Zhao Yumo mean by spreading such rumors? You two simply did better than me on one test out of pure luck, so do you two need to deliberately slander me like this? One good test score doesn't mean that you'll test well every time. Beware of reaching the sky in one step, lest you tumble to death just as quickly!"
Zhou Chengzhe believed that Yun Xi and Zhao Yumo scored higher than him on this quiz purely out of good luck.
Not only didn't they keep a low profile, but they brazenly seized this opportunity to spread rumors to belittle him and humiliate him!
In his opinion, they weren't as academically gifted as him, but much more haughty and self-complacent han him.
People like them will suffer once they fall down from their high position!
But what he didn't know was that their good grades weren't due to luck, but rather the fact that they were actually much more academically talented than him!
Moreover, they didn't spread the rumors at all even though they really were purposely letting him score higher than them before!
With an innocent expression on her face, Yun Xi stared at Zhou Chengzhe, who had always been too arrogant to talk to them but uttered such astonishing statements upon speaking to her for the first time.
He really was exactly how she perceived him!
Zhou Chengzhe was a narcissistic and pompous social climber that couldn't resist aggressively confronting her as soon as things went wrong.
Moreover, he spoke harshly.
"Mr. Zhou, aren't you overthinking things? We did well in the exam purely out of good luck. When did we slander you? These rumors are all based on hearsay, so who knows who deliberately spread these misldeading rumors to create drama? How could you believe in them?"
"Who else could it be besides you two? Although my family isn't as well off, that doesn't mean I need to become your charity case! I rely on my own abilities, while all you two do is rely on your families. What right do you two have to humiliate me!"
"Mr. Zhou, when you heard the rumors, you immediately came to confront me before you even got the facts straight. When did I humiliate you? When did I make you my charity case? Where is the evidence? When we don't perform as well as you on they exam, you say we're deliberately doing so out of charity. When we perform better than you on the exam, you say we're seizing the opportunity to slander and shame you. Therefore, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Speaking of this, Yun Xi became vaguely aware that someone was secretly using Zhou Chengzhe's bad performance on this exam to create drama.
In the past, when Zhou Chengzhe scored first place in the entire grade while she and Zhao Yumo scored second and third respectively, no one would say anything.
Now that the two of them scored first and second place respectively, rumors that Zhou Chengzhe was their charity case starting circulating.
It was a perfect way to hurt Zhou Chengzhe's pride and self-esteem while manipulating Zhou Chengzhe to attack both of them!
Once things get blown our of proportion or trouble erupts, it is very likely that all three of them will get disqualified from the competition.
If the top three academic stars in the grade year get disqualified, for the rest of the students, the chance of winning would be much greater.
By manipulating the three of them, one could kill three birds with one stone.
There were many suspects for the culprit behind the rumors.
The suspects included all those who were participating in the competition, as well as the top ranking students for this quiz.
Finally, Yun Xi decided to focuse on Li Sinuo.
"The three of us will compete against each other. If you two lose, you two will have to apologize to me in front of all the seniors and explain the matter clearly! Otherwise, I won't let you two off the hook!"
Yun Xi couldn't help but sneere. "How do you want to compete?"
Since Zhou Chengzhe had come looking for trouble, she wouldn't hold back.
With his arrogant personality, he couldn't believe, nor would he admit, that they were more academically capable than him. He simply dismissed it as good luck instead of them being more academically capable.
Having enjoyed the envy of his classmates and being the teacher's pet for so many years, his pride had long been corrupted by vanity and arrogance.
In his eyes, he was number one, and he was extremely smug about it.
Yet now people less capable than him dared to seize the opportunity to make trouble, humiliate, and slander him.
With a huge ego, he was used to being envied and admired by others, so how could he bear this humiliation from people who he thought were inferior to him?
So she decided she would teach him a good lesson and show him what being academically crushed felt like and what real humiliation was.
This was the perfect opportunity to clear her and Zhao Yumo's names, so they wouldn't have to purposely score lower on exams just out of consideration for him.
It would also let their classmates see clearly that they really had been holding back out of consideration for him.
People like him couldn't appreciate their kindness and could only think that they were treating him as their charity case.
If this was the case, why should they be the bigger people?
"Our school's teachers are all biased toward you two. If they used the school's exam questions, couldn't you two have cheated?"
He knew clearly that the school's teachers wouldn't let them cause trouble at this time and affect everyone's motivation. They would definitely use a compromise solution to resolve the situation peacefully.
But this way, nobody would know the truth of the situation.
He just wanted everyone to know that it was impossible for them to keep winning through luck.
Only by humiliating them severely could he alleviate his resentment.
Yun Xi glanced at Zhou Chengzhe and tugged at the corners of her mouth mockingly. "Although your thoughts might be despicable, don't think that everyone else's thoughts are just as despicable."
She glanced at Li Sinuo, who was looking on and said calmly, "The biology competition and the English competition are starting soon. At that time, the competition will be broadcast live, and the participants will be students from various high schools across the country. There will be a big screen outside to broadcast the competition live. The entire third years will watch it. The truth will be there for all to see."
Yun Xi's proposal was just what Zhou Chengzhe had wanted. He didn't even consider it. He nodded right away. "Okay! We will see who can win the school glory! If you lose, you will have to apologize to me in front of all our senior classmates."
"Okay! If you lose, then you will have to accept the reality. You will know your place, and we won't be charitable anymore."
"Don't be so smug. We don't even know if you have that ability."
"Then we'll wait and see."
Yun Xi narrowed her eyes and smirked. She caught a glimpse of Li Sinuo's triumphant smile, and a cold expression flashed through her eyes.
As soon as school ended at noon, Zhao Yumo came to look for her. She immediately started lambasting the outrageous Zhou Chengzhe.
"I have officially accepted his challenge. The truth will come out during the biology competition and the English competition."
"Well done! This sort of person needs to be taught a lesson. With everyone kissing up to him, you would really think that he was number one in the world."
Yun Xi chuckled. People like Zhou Chengzhe had a deeply ingrained inferiority complex. Some of their beliefs were deeply rooted and couldn't be changed.
It was like the saying that "it is easier to change mountains and rivers than to alter one's character". One's natural disposition was difficult to change.
"Yumo, you have to work harder. Don't lose! If we lose, we have to apologize to that ungrateful jerk in front of the entire grade."
"I know! I never should've been sympathetic toward him from the beginning. This sort of person isn't worthy of sympathy. If you pity him, he'll just think you're humiliating him."
Jing High School usually rewarded the top student in the grade with a lot of scholarship money, just to encourage students to study hard and elevate the school's prestige.
Zhao Yumo's family background was better than that of most ordinary people, so she didn't need the scholarship money, nor did she need to use her grades to bring pride to her parents.
Because for people of her family background, even if their children had poor grades, they would be able to send their children to study abroad. There was no fear that they wouldn't be able to go to university because of poor grades.
But Zhou Chengzhe was different. His impoverished background meant that he had to work harder than others in order to achieve success in life.
It was also precisely his impoverished background that caused his extremely low self-esteem.
Along with an extreme arrogance brought about by his excellent grades, when inferiority and arrogance collide, there is always the danger that if something goes wrong, he could lose his rationality.