Chapter 40: The Catfish Spirit and the Turtle Spirit

"You're welcome."

It was only then that He Chen realized she had been admitted to the elite sprint class through the waitlist.

"Let me treat you to a meal!" Wang Yidi said happily. "What do you like to eat? Let's consider it a celebration of your rapid improvement in grades."

"No need!" He Chen shook his head. "My family will arrange a celebration."

"Then when is your birthday?" Wang Yidi thought about it and realized he was right; she would also have a family celebration for getting into the sprint class, so he truly wouldn't have time. Her eyes rolled, and she asked again, "I'll give you a birthday present then!"

"Really, no need!" He Chen declined again.

He was all too familiar with this kind of situation. There was no such thing as a sincere gesture of gratitude; it was just a pretext to get closer to him. He never accepted such advances, even if the person in front of him was the only daughter of a listed company's CEO, someone who could save him lifetimes of struggle. He remained completely unmoved.

"Alright then! I'll keep this favor in mind. If you need any help in the future, just come to me. I won't refuse!" Seeing He Chen's firm attitude, Wang Yidi did not pester him further. After stating her position, she waved goodbye, left the Class 7 area, and returned to her own classroom.

As she reached the stairwell, she saw Fang Yifan leaning against the wall, looking at her with a mocking expression. "A catfish looking for a turtle—a perfect match, indeed!"

"Fang Yifan, what are you talking about!" Wang Yidi glared at him.

Indeed, this was not the first time Fang Yifan had mocked He Chen by calling him a "turtle." Before this, he had already given Wang Yidi the derogatory nickname "Catfish Spirit." Because Wang Yidi had large eyes and a wide smile, he claimed she looked like a catfish. As a girl who valued her appearance, one can imagine how humiliating and infuriating it was to be saddled with such an insulting nickname.

However, she was not He Chen. Even though her family background was more than enough to allow her to easily retaliate against Fang Yifan, she did nothing, forced to passively accept the insult. In fact, despite being excellent in many ways, she was never accepted by the circle of "protagonists" led by Fang Yifan. Not only did he insult her, but his childhood friends, Qiao Yingzi and Huang Zhitao, were also cold toward her despite her warmth and competence. For two years as classmates, she had been met with cold shoulders and subtle isolation.

Because of this, she felt a strong sense of empathy for He Chen when he retaliated against Fang Yifan’s "turtle" taunts. Some students whispered privately that He Chen was too extreme—was it necessary to go after a classmate so ruthlessly? They claimed such a person was like a mad dog to be kept at arm's length, neither a friend nor an enemy to be courted. Whenever she heard such talk, she would refute it directly.

If you conduct yourself with integrity and don't provoke He Chen, why would he bother attacking you? Look at those who were targeted—Ji Yangyang, Fang Yifan, Li Tiegun—none of them were mild-tempered, and all of them had provoked He Chen first. Apart from them, who else had He Chen ever targeted? Whenever he met others, wasn't his smile gentle and refreshing?

Conversely, look at Fang Yifan. He ignored others' refusals, constantly pestered the beautiful top students, stirred up trouble, and provoked others at every turn. Calling her insulting names was hardly a one-time occurrence. Why did no one say there was something wrong with him? Now, seeing her talking to He Chen, he had come over to block her path and mock them both—how could he blame anyone for hitting back? She thought he deserved it.

Why did everyone empathize with the perspective of those being "attacked" by He Chen, but never with the perspective of someone like her, who was constantly being bullied, insulted, and mocked by Fang Yifan? Surely that was the perspective most people would actually encounter in life?

"Borrowing a line from the 'Turtle Spirit,' I love telling the truth!" Fang Yifan crossed his arms, his eyes filled with mockery.

"Don't even look at your own grades—you're at the very bottom of the entire grade level. How do you still have the face to come here and stir up trouble!" Wang Yidi retorted. "Hurry back to your foundation class and work on your basics!"

"And you have the nerve to be smug?" Fang Yifan laughed mockingly. "I might be at the back of the class, but you're at best the tail of the phoenix. Either way, we're both tails—who knows, we might even be in the same class in the future! Besides, the reason I did so poorly is entirely because of that bird of a feather you're hanging out with. If it weren't for him, would I have performed this badly?"

"Pah!" Wang Yidi looked at him with disdain. "Your grades have been in a nosedive all year—that's obvious to everyone. Only you are blind enough to think you're still doing well! You said yourself you felt good about this exam, but now that you've hit rock bottom, you're blaming others to make excuses! You should really thank He Chen for hitting you so hard these past few days; at least now you have a scapegoat. Otherwise, with these grades, your mother would be chasing you all over the neighborhood with a slipper! Look at Ji Yangyang—he never takes things seriously. On this placement exam, he even drew a race car on his Chinese essay and got a zero. A Chinese essay! That's a full 60 points! And he got a zero! If we're talking about being affected, Ji Yangyang had it much worse than you. Your father getting into trouble didn't stop you from going to the movies with your crush, but He Chen shattered Ji Yangyang’s dreams and ambitions! And yet, even with that, you were still ranked below him, 'taking the crown' of the bottom spot. How do you have the nerve to speak?"

"You!" Fang Yifan glared at her. It used to be that he was the one mocking her, leaving her speechless. Now, she had become sharp-tongued and biting. Could it be that the toxic sarcasm of that "turtle" He Chen was actually contagious?

"Humph!" Seeing him get angry, Wang Yidi let out a triumphant snort and turned to walk away. The feeling of hitting back and walking away was truly delightful. Why hadn't He Chen done this sooner? If he had, she could have learned from him, and she wouldn't have had to suffer in silence for the past two years.

After school, with the weekend approaching and no night study session, He Chen rode his bike home with Ruan Liuzheng, Lin Miaomiao, and Qian Sanyi. On the way, Ruan Liuzheng couldn't help but ask, "How did you manage to do so well? You clearly spent less than half the time I did on studying!" They were ranked 21st and 28th—only seven spots apart. Although in the college entrance exams a single point could mean the difference of a whole stadium of people, and the gap between ranks was even larger, she had struggled to hover around 21st place despite her best efforts. This time she had improved, but only slightly. He Chen’s improvement was so exaggerated that if it happened again, he would surely surpass her, which shattered her internal sense of their relative standing and left her feeling uneasy.

"Luck, I suppose!" He Chen teased. "Or perhaps it's because these past few days, after hitting back at those people, I've felt refreshed and clear-headed. Maybe I just had an epiphany!"

"Forget it if you don't want to tell me!" Ruan Liuzheng pouted. She stopped dwelling on it, silently resolving to work even harder. She would stick to her yoga practice, too! She knew that He Chen’s transformation had started from his physical training.

When they got home, Ruan Lu was delighted to hear how well they had both done. She indulged Ruan Liuzheng’s playful antics and, calling for He Chen, decided they would all go out for a meal.

"Hot pot! Spicy hot pot!" Ruan Liuzheng cheered, hugging Ruan Lu and urging He Chen. They left the house, heading straight for her favorite Jingge Hot Pot to feast on spicy food.