r18novel Chapter 66 Xia Anqi
Chapter 66 Xia Anqi
Xia Anqi's grades have consistently ranked among the top three in her grade. In the entire school, only Zhang Xueling from Class 2 and Tong Xiaowei from Class 3 can truly rival her.
As for Tong Xiaowei's background, it will be explained later.
Xia Anqi's usual conduct is entirely commensurate with her outstanding academic achievements.
After arriving at school, she almost never left the classroom, burying herself in her books and never wandering or playing around on campus.
As a top student whom the school is focusing on cultivating and aiming for Tsinghua and Peking Universities, she has always been given special protection by the school, and no one dares to disturb her rashly.
Over time, she became shrouded in a cool and mysterious veil in everyone's mind.
But today, she surprisingly moved from Class 1 on the first floor to Class 5 on the third floor.
This incident was so unusual that it caused quite a stir. Students from all classes rushed out of their classrooms to watch the excitement, and in a short while, the third-floor corridor was packed with people.
Jiang Yiqing and Xu Lingjing also walked to the classroom door and quietly watched the situation unfold.
There were very few people in the entire school who could make the proud and arrogant Xu Lingjing feel somewhat inferior, and Xia Anqi happened to be one of them.
Even though everyone could see that Lu Yuan's heart had already turned to Ye Yixian, Xu Lingjing remained confident, believing that with her charm, she would be able to win Lu Yuan back sooner or later.
But if her opponent were Xia Anqi, she wouldn't have that same confidence.
Under everyone's gaze, Xia Anqi's eyes were fixed on Lu Yuan from the moment she appeared, and she walked straight toward him without hesitation.
Lu Yuan was slightly taken aback. Although he didn't know the other party's intentions, he subconsciously turned to the side and protected Ye Yixian behind him.
Even though he knew Xia Anqi wouldn't do anything outrageous, he instinctively wanted to keep Ye Yixian out of this inexplicable turmoil.
Soon, Xia Anqi stopped three steps away from Lu Yuan, calmly sizing him up. After confirming she hadn't mistaken him for someone else, she spoke in fluent, standard English: "You're Lu Yuan?"
This is a simple and straightforward statement; even someone with a poor command of English can understand its general meaning.
Everyone was puzzled. Why did she have to speak English instead of speaking normally? It seemed too deliberate and made people think she was showing off.
Are you trying to show off?
Lu Yuan, however, saw through her thoughts.
She was clearly testing his English skills, after all, he had won first place in the grade for English in the mock exam, taking away the position that originally belonged to Xia Anqi.
Want to use spoken language to gauge each other's abilities and compete?
Lu Yuan smiled slightly, thinking to himself that this girl had really messed up. He then calmly replied in English, "That's right, I am Lu Yuan."
The simple question-and-answer session wasn't difficult; even someone like Gao Zhe, who was a complete novice in English, could understand it, so you couldn't really tell what his true level was.
Then, Xia Anqi spoke slowly in fluent English, her tone slightly lowered: "The first lesson in life is to learn honesty. Especially during the school years, the real results earned through hard work are the most meaningful. As Shakespeare said in Hamlet: 'He who is true to himself will not deceive others.'"
The underlying meaning of her words was quite obvious; she was openly questioning the legitimacy of Lu Yuan's grades and suspecting that he had obtained high scores through cheating.
In every major exam in the past, she had always been the top scorer in English. But this time, she was suddenly overtaken by Lu Yuan, who used to be at the bottom and whose total score was less than 300 points. She couldn't accept it at all and was full of resentment.
After the meeting, she made a point of inquiring about Lu Yuan's past achievements. The huge discrepancy made her even more convinced that something was amiss, which is why she went to his door specifically to test him in person using her spoken English and knowledge.
Her speech, a mix of English and famous quotes, left most of the onlookers completely bewildered.
"What was she saying? I couldn't understand a word she was saying."
"Is there anyone good at English who can translate this quickly?"
A murmur rippled through the corridor, everyone looking bewildered.
Jiang Yiqing looked bewildered and turned to Xu Lingjing beside her: "Lingjing, do you understand?"
Xu Lingjing rolled her eyes, barely understanding a few words, but unable to fully translate the deeper meaning of the whole passage.
Li Xian and his group, who were watching from a distance, looked at each other blankly, completely unable to understand the two men's English conversation.
In their view, if even they couldn't understand it, Lu Yuan would have even less reason to understand it.
A smug smile crept onto Li Xian's lips as he eagerly awaited seeing Lu Yuan embarrass himself in public.
Although Lu Yuan had never read Hamlet, he understood every word Xia Anqi said and every layer of meaning she conveyed.
He straightened up slightly, his expression calm, and replied in fluent English, neither humble nor arrogant: "I haven't studied Shakespeare's works. For me, English is just a tool for communication. I can understand your questioning of my score, but testing my level in public without any evidence is unwise. Even if I couldn't answer just now, it doesn't change the fact that my English score is higher than yours this time."
"you!"
Xia Anqi's expression froze, and a hint of anger rose in her heart.
She didn't expect that Lu Yuan not only understood her words completely, but also refuted her sharply and without any reservation.
Frustrated, she tested him a few more times, and Lu Yuan answered fluently each time.
In the end, she had to admit that Lu Yuan's English proficiency was genuine and not just for show.
The onlookers watched as Lu Yuan spoke eloquently, leaving Xia Anqi speechless and completely stunned. They felt that Lu Yuan was simply unbelievable.
"Brother Yuan is awesome!"
Gao Zhe took the lead in stirring things up, and the other students followed suit, creating a powerful momentum that completely suppressed Xia Anqi, who had come to provoke him.
Xia Anqi was both embarrassed and angry, her pretty cheeks flushed crimson. Finally, she stopped using English and switched to plain language that everyone could understand, staring at Lu Yuan and saying in a deep voice, "Lu Yuan, don't be too smug. This time I was just careless and underperformed; I only got 144 points in English. I'll definitely get that first place back in the second mock exam!"
"144 points is low? If I could get that score, I'd be laughing in my sleep."
"That's because we lack perspective. Xia Anqi used to get full marks in English. For her, anything below 148 is considered an underperformance."
Hearing the whispers around him, Lu Yuan smiled calmly, his tone nonchalant: "To be honest, I didn't perform well this time, only scoring 146 points. I'll only do better in the second mock exam."
"Wow, isn't Lu Yuan exaggerating a bit?"
Those familiar with Lu Yuan couldn't help but joke that, in everyone's eyes, 146 points was already his peak limit, and it was impossible for him to break through any higher.
"Stop bragging." Xia Anqi's face was full of impatience and disdain. She couldn't stand people who became arrogant and conceited as soon as they made a little progress.
Lu Yuan laughed instead of getting angry: "Didn't you say you wanted to take back first place? You're allowed to say it, but I'm not?"
"I'm not bragging, I'll definitely show you my true strength in the second mock exam and demonstrate the difference!"
"What a coincidence, I wasn't bragging either. I'll show you my skills in the second mock exam."
"You...you're not allowed to mimic my speech!"
Xia Anqi was furious, feeling that Lu Yuan was utterly unreasonable and shameless.
But she seemed to have forgotten that Lu Yuan had never provoked her. It was she who, because she was unwilling to lose first place in a single subject, took the initiative to come to him and provoke him.
Lu Yuan remained calm and composed, and said lightly, "I just like to give someone a taste of their own medicine; it doesn't count as learning from you."
He wasn't flustered at all; on the contrary, he seemed quite relaxed, watching Xia Anqi get speechless after her attempt to pick a fight failed.
"Alright! Let's settle this with our actual scores in the second mock exam!"
"Fine. I'll play along to the end."
Lu Yuan leaned comfortably against the corridor railing, a faint smile playing on his lips, looking relaxed and at ease.
Whether Xia Anqi was challenging him or deliberately provoking him, he remained calm and composed, which made Xia Anqi feel powerless, like punching cotton, with nowhere to vent her anger.
At this moment, she completely remembered Lu Yuan and secretly vowed to defeat him, to completely crush him.