Chapter 84: A Catfish

Li Ye and Wen Leyu arrived at the classroom just as Jiang Xiaoyan and Xia Yue had finished their argument.

Jiang Xiaoyan and Hu Man and the others sat in the back row.

Since it was self-study period and the critical time for college applications, students were drifting between classes, discussing in groups, clustering with their close friends.

Li Ye also spotted He Weiguo from Class Two, surrounded by a crowd, enthusiastically discussing something.

Yet Hu Man and the others were clearly separated from everyone else, sharply divided.

Li Ye glanced at Xia Yue, but she pretended not to see him; even those around her avoided his gaze.

Li Ye walked to the back and sat down, asking Jiang Xiaoyan: “Why were you crying just now?”

Jiang Xiaoyan instinctively wiped her eyes, then realized it was pointless: “I didn’t cry.”

Seeing the tear marks on Jiang Xiaoyan’s eyes, Li Ye didn’t expose her lie, only asked: “What did you argue about?”

Jiang Xiaoyan stayed silent; Hu Man answered for her: “We were copying the admissions brochure when Xia Yue came over and asked Jiang Xiaoyan which school she’d apply to. Jiang Xiaoyan said she hadn’t decided yet, so Xia Yue said...”

Hu Man explained at length, and only then did Li Ye grasp the full picture.

After Lu Jingyao got into Jingwai last year, Jiang Xiaoyan and the others had all made similar vows—I’ll get into Beijing Foreign Languages College too.

But those were just words of self-encouragement, no one took them seriously; Li Ye himself had probably said something similar back then.

Yet now, Xia Yue came over to debate Jiang Xiaoyan, the class top scorer, and the conversation turned into taunting, until finally she said, “Whoever doesn’t apply is a xx.”

It sounded like childish bickering, but Jiang Xiaoyan’s gentle nature and poor verbal skills couldn’t match Xia Yue’s sharp tongue—after a few quarrels, she broke down crying.

Li Ye listened, stunned into silence for a long while.

【Isn’t this exactly what I wanted to do to Xia Yue?】

【I held back out of pity, yet she struck first?】

Li Ye looked at Xia Yue in the front row—and suddenly understood.

In fact, Li Ye had already struck.

When he first crossed over and clashed with Huang Shiren over Xia Yue, he had already acted.

Since last winter, when Li Ye helped Jiang Xiaoyan secure the top spot in the joint exam, he had already acted.

During one preliminary exam, Jiang Xiaoyan outperformed Xia Yue; six of the eight-member group made the top ten, and Li Ye had unmistakably moved against Xia Yue.

The conflict between Li Ye and Xia Yue had already lasted over half a year.

Li Ye thought she was a piece of trash; Xia Yue thought Li Ye was bullying her too much!

Now, after all this back-and-forth, they were approaching the final showdown—wasn’t this just Mount Hua Duel?

Xia Yue’s final move? “I’ll get into Beijing Foreign Languages College. Can you?”

This...

In an instant, Li Ye understood many things.

He, Li Ye, really was the “rebel” Xia Yue called him.

Before Li Ye arrived, the remedial Class One was a warm family; though Xia Yue was domineering, overall it was peaceful.

Everyone just studied books—no materials, no practice tests—everyone relied on brains and talent, no one complained.

But since Li Ye came, everything changed.

Teacher Ke used Li Ye’s practice book to create questions, Li Ye explained problems, and disparities emerged.

Then Jiang Xiaoyan took first place; Xia Yue and the others realized the value of Beijing’s college prep materials and turned to Lu Jingyao.

As Beijing’s exam materials kept arriving by mail, the class’s peaceful environment vanished; everyone plunged into escalating competition.

And all of this stemmed from him—Li Ye.

He, Li Ye, was the first “not helping classmates” outsider; he was the root of all chaos. Today’s childish drama was merely the consequence of the seed he planted half a year ago.

【Am I a bad person?】

Li Ye asked himself, then laughed silently.

Of course not.

Li Ye was a catfish, thrust into the calm school of fish that was remedial Class One.

Charging recklessly, stirring up trouble.

But the consequence of this catfish was the overall improvement of remedial Class One’s performance.

Last winter’s joint exam, Jiang Xiaoyan scored only 345 to become class top.

Now, how many in the class have surpassed 345?

Thirteen.

Li Ye’s arrival gave remedial Class One at least thirteen students who crossed the junior college threshold, even reaching bachelor’s level, plus many more qualified for vocational colleges.

This doesn’t even count Wen Leyu as an exception.

So—is Li Ye a bad person?

No. This catfish, Li Ye, helped remedial Class One shift the gears of fate.

As for Xia Yue and Jiang Xiaoyan’s squabble, their feud with Li Ye—it was like a car repeatedly accelerating in road rage.

The brake pedal? Under Xia Yue’s foot, not Li Ye’s.

Seeing Li Ye remain silent for so long, Hu Man and the others felt guilty.

Li Ye had gone out of his way for them, done so much—but they kept causing him trouble.

“Actually, we shouldn’t have argued...”

The quiet Yan Jinbu said: “It was He Weiguo stirring things up—he said you, Li Ye, now have a new... new goal, so you won’t apply to Beijing Foreign Languages College. That’s why Jiang Xiaoyan argued with them...”

Li Ye’s gaze sharpened, turning toward He Weiguo ahead.

No wonder something strange happened today—it was this Class Two troublemaker causing chaos.

He Weiguo had a relative in the education system and claimed insider knowledge on college applications; lately, many had flocked to him, and he’d grown arrogant, thinking he was back on top.

Was he saying Li Ye had a new goal? He was clearly hinting—Li Ye had a new girlfriend.

Li Ye and Wen Leyu’s closeness was obvious to everyone in Class One, but no one dared speak up—except He Weiguo, clueless in Class Two, blabbing carelessly, stirring trouble without realizing it.

“Who’s He Weiguo?”

Before Li Ye reacted, Wen Leyu beside him suddenly spoke up.

Yan Jinbu instinctively pointed forward.

Wen Leyu stepped forward.

Li Ye, seated across the desk, reached out—but couldn’t grab her.

The girl’s long legs moved swiftly, taking a few steps to get ahead of He Weiguo,

Without a word, she swung her small arm.

Her tiny fist clenched tight, pale and delicate, like a little hammer, smashing hard against He Weiguo’s eye.

“Bang~”

He Weiguo, stunned, blinked for a second before clutching his eye and crying out.

“Ow~~ What the hell are you doing?”

Wen Leyu’s cold gaze swept over everyone around, including Xia Yue and Jin Shengli.

“Watch what you say from now on!”

Wen Leyu’s voice was quiet, not loud, clear and cool, not menacing.

Yet not one of Xia Yue’s group dared retort.

Li Ye: “........”

Jiang Xiaoyan: “.........”

Li Dayong and the others: “.........”

The rest of the eight-member group stared at the fierce little girl, all thinking the same thing: “Impressive.”

Only He Weiguo, beaten, felt humiliated and yammered on—but no one paid him any attention, as if watching a clown.

At that moment, a teacher suddenly rushed in through the door.

He Weiguo saw him and rushed forward to complain—but the teacher shoved him aside.

The teacher, panting, said: “Wen Leyu... hurry... to the principal’s office...”

Wen Leyu froze, then bolted out of the classroom.

Li Ye, Hu Man, and the others followed closely.

He Weiguo thought for a moment, then followed too.

The walk from remedial Class One to the principal’s office was far; Wen Leyu ran all the way, gasping for breath.

Inside, she saw her mother standing beside the desk, holding a phone.

Seeing Wen Leyu enter, Teacher Ke extended the handset toward her.

Wen Leyu stared in shock at her mother; after a silent exchange of glances, she suddenly trembled with excitement.

In the past, Teacher Ke had blocked all news from Beijing, fearing the girl would overthink.

So today...

Wen Leyu felt her heart leap—she nervously took the handset and pressed it to her ear.

“Hello... who is it?”

“.......”

The other end fell silent for a second—and that second made Wen Leyu even more tense.

Finally, a voice, choked with suppressed joy, came through.

“Xiao Yu... it’s Dad!”

“Hum~~”

Wen Leyu felt her tiny skull explode.

For thousands of days and nights, Wen Leyu had countless times drifted off in thought, missing her father’s face.

Countless nights, she woke from dreams sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

Now, she couldn’t believe it—was this a dream, or reality?

“Xiao Yu? Xiao Yu? Hello...”

The man on the other end of the phone grew impatient.

Wen Leyu hurriedly said, “I’m here! Dad, I’m here!”

Wen Leyu’s father immediately calmed: “Xiao Yu! Dad’s already arrived in Jingcheng... I just told your mom—tomorrow, you’ll come back to Jingcheng, okay?”

“Tomorrow?”

Wen Leyu froze.

She had dreamed countless times of reuniting with her father; even after waking, the joy of those reunions lingered for a long, long time.

But why now did her heart feel so torn?

Wen Leyu grew flustered, unsure how to answer, and turned to look at her mother.

Teacher Ke smiled silently, tracing two characters on her desk with her finger.

【As you wish!】

Wen Leyu’s heart steadied. She whispered into the phone: “Dad, I miss you too, but I want to... come back after the Gaokao, okay?”

“What?” The voice on the phone rose sharply: “How can you think like your mom? Can’t you take the Gaokao in Jingcheng? I’ll find you the best tutor...”

Before her father could finish, Wen Leyu quickly handed the phone to Teacher Ke.

She dared not provoke her father now—when he doted on her, he was truly gentle, but when he lost his temper, he was terrifying.

Teacher Ke took the phone and said: “Alright, there’s still a month until the Gaokao. If I abandon these students now, it’s irresponsible—their English foundation is terrible...”

“I don’t care how bad they are,”

the man on the other end finally lost his composure, his voice turning bitter.

“Zhiyu, do you know how I’ve survived all these years?”

“It’s because I thought of you, missed you... that I kept going!”

“All these years up north... I think of you and the child every day...

Day and night, I think of you—I’m almost going mad...

Bring the child back to me, tomorrow—no, now, right now!”

“You cowardly brat, get out of here!”

A sharp, aged voice suddenly rang out from the receiver.

Then the caller changed.

“Hello, Xiao Yu, it’s Uncle Peng.”

“Oh, hello, Uncle Peng.”

“Your attitude is excellent. We need people like you—practical, thorough. Keep holding your post until after the Gaokao, and I’ll arrange something for you.”

“That kid Qingsheng isn’t even as good as you!”