Don't underestimate the poor and elderly; I was thrilled to refuse the class beauty's adva

"Holy crap, they're looking for Zhang Yifan?"

"How could that be? Shen Zhiyi would be interested in him?"

Lin Wanqing also raised her head.

She was already feeling upset because of what had just happened, and had been lying on the table with her head down, barely looking up. Only when she heard the noise did she glance towards the door.

The moment she saw Shen Zhiyi, she unconsciously pursed her lips.

Shen Zhiyi is really beautiful.

That kind of good looks doesn't require a hairstyle, doesn't require unzipping the school uniform a few centimeters lower, and doesn't require a coquettish or ingratiating smile.

She stood there, neither smiling nor speaking, yet she already drew all eyes to her.

Lin Wanqing subconsciously compared herself to Shen Zhiyi, and then felt a slight pang in her heart.

She knew that Shen Zhiyi had never competed with anyone, but when Shen Zhiyi stood in the same space, her aura of "winning without having to do anything" made people unconsciously feel inferior.

Then she turned her head following Shen Zhiyi's gaze and saw Zhang Yifan.

Lin Wanqing's expression froze for a moment.

Shen Zhiyi came to see Zhang Yifan? Someone who'd been a simp for a year? What gives her the right?

An inexplicable sense of unease welled up from the bottom of her heart, making her feel even more suffocated than when she had been exposed in public.

Shen Zhiyi had already entered Class 9's classroom.

She walked at a moderate pace, passing through the aisle next to the podium, and the students along the way automatically made way for her.

Someone whispered something, but she didn't react at all and walked straight to the last row without looking to the side.

She stopped in front of Zhang Yifan's desk.

Zhang Yifan looked up at her, somewhat bewildered.

His impression of Shen Zhiyi was from the first semester of his first year of high school.

Back then, he was a strong contender for first place in the grade, taking turns with Shen Zhiyi, with each side winning and losing.

Every time the monthly exam results were released, their names were almost always next to each other. Sometimes she was first, sometimes he was first, and the difference in scores was usually only three or five points.

Although the two had never spoken, he would subconsciously look for her name on the list every time the results came out, and she would do the same.

It was a tacit understanding that didn't need to be spoken; in the entire grade, only the other person was worthy of being one's opponent.

But ever since he became infatuated with Lin Wanqing, although his grades were still in the top three of the grade, he never reached the top again.

Shen Zhiyi sat alone in the first position for over a year.

Every time the results were released, she would habitually glance at her name, only to see other unfamiliar names instead of Zhang Yifan's.

Once or twice is fine, but after several times in a row, she felt a strange emptiness in her heart.

Even though I won first place, I felt that winning it was bland and tasteless.

At noon today, while Shen Zhiyi was eating in the cafeteria, several girls from Class 9 at the next table were having a lively discussion about gossip in their class.

They said Zhang Yifan seemed like a different person today, publicly rejecting Lin Wanqing and even saying something like, "Consider my previous breakfasts as dog food."

She paused, holding the plate, her face expressionless, but a thought popped into her head like a long-pressed spring.

He's back?

So, does that mean he can get back on the list?

Shen Zhiyi endured it all afternoon, but couldn't sit still any longer as the lunch break was about to end.

She tore a lined sheet from her notebook, wrote a few words, folded it, and then got up and walked towards Class 9.

She looked down at Zhang Yifan, her gaze still cold, without any pleasantries or opening remarks.

She placed the lined paper in her hand on his desk.

"Zhang Yifan".

The sound wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for people in the surrounding rows to hear in the quiet classroom.

"My name is Shen Zhiyi, and I'm in Class 1, Grade 12."

She paused for a moment, then continued.

"Back in our first year of high school, we took turns sitting at the top of the grade. You beat me, and I beat you."

"Then you became a simp. Your grades dropped, and you lost your form. Every time the results were released, I was the only one at the top, which was pretty boring."

Her tone was indifferent, as if she were stating a fact that had nothing to do with her.

But when he said "it's pretty boring," there was still a very subtle fluctuation in his voice.

The classroom was so quiet you could hear the fluorescent lights humming.

Everyone gasped inwardly.

Shen Zhiyi, the school's undisputed ice queen, actually uttered the words "simp."

"I heard you stopped being a simp today, so I came to find you."

She pushed the lined paper forward by half a centimeter.

"Please accept this."

Zhang Yifan glanced down at the paper. It was handwritten, neat and powerful, and the first two characters were "Challenge Letter".

He looked up: "What is this?"

"A challenge." Shen Zhiyi looked into his eyes, enunciating each word clearly, "A challenge for the college entrance exam. There are still thirty-six days left. I want you to give it your all. During the college entrance exam, we'll have a fair and square competition to see who is truly number one in the grade."

The classroom was silent for about two seconds.

Then, the whole classroom erupted.

"A challenge?! Not a love letter! It's a challenge!"

"This is even more explosive than a love letter! Shen Zhiyi came all this way to challenge Zhang Yifan!"

"Wait, what did she say? That in the first year of high school, the top spot in the grade was shared between two people? That Zhang Yifan beat Shen Zhiyi?"

"It seems that's true. Zhang Yifan ranked first several times during his first year of high school, but he dropped out after he started pursuing Lin Wanqing..."

"Holy crap, what kind of prodigal son returning home story is this?!"

The shouts and gasps shattered the last vestiges of peace during the lunch break.

A student who was sleeping on the desk was woken up and asked in a daze, "What happened? What happened?" After hearing the explanation from his deskmate, he also joined the ranks of the shocked students.

Lin Wanqing sat motionless in her seat, her fingers clenched so tightly on the edge of the table that they turned white.

The surrounding chatter flooded into her ears like a tidal wave.

Zhang Yifan beat Shen Zhiyi. Zhang Yifan could have been first in the exam, but he fell behind because he was chasing after her.

Every word felt like a needle pricking her.

Shen Zhiyi didn't look at her once from beginning to end.

Zhang Yifan looked down at the challenge letter on the table, not yet having figured out what expression to use to face this challenge that had fallen from the sky.

【Ding--】

Zhang Yifan paused slightly in the hand holding the challenge letter.

Again.