We agreed not to date, so why are you crying now that I've become the richest man?

Ye Chen looked at the screen and shook his head.

To be honest, nobody believes me.

He was too lazy to type and was about to set the group messages to Do Not Disturb mode.

An account that's usually lurking for ages suddenly popped up.

Class teacher Liu Haifeng: [Everyone, please be quiet.]

Class teacher Liu Haifeng: [Just received a notification from the Academic Affairs Office. Congratulations to Ye Chen for achieving a total score of 663 in the college entrance examination, ranking first in the entire school for science subjects.]

[Congratulations to Shen Anran for achieving a total score of 643 in the college entrance examination, ranking third in the entire school for science subjects.]

Class teacher Liu Haifeng: [Congratulations to Lin Wanqing for scoring 631 points, ranking fifth in the entire school for science subjects.]

Class teacher Liu Haifeng: [Everyone, please be at the school computer lab at 9:00 AM tomorrow to fill out your college application forms.]

These messages were released.

The entire QQ group for Class 2 of Senior Three fell completely silent.

One minute.

Two minutes.

No one sent a message.

Nobody sent an emoji.

Ye Chen could even imagine how interesting Li Hao's expression must be on the other side of the screen.

After a long while, Zhao Peng slowly uttered a sentence.

Zhao Peng: [@Li Hao, Hao-ge, are you planning to braise or steam your phone? Do you need me to bring you some cumin?]

Li Hao logged off immediately.

The profile picture turned gray.

Zhang Qiang quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Ye Shen is awesome! This is absolutely amazing!"

Wang Tao: [I'm impressed, truly impressed, I bow down to this master!]

The girls in the class couldn't hold back any longer.

[My God, Ye Chen is actually the top science student?! This is unbelievable!]

[They usually keep a low profile, but they're incredibly good at hiding their abilities!]

[He's handsome and academically gifted, how come I never noticed how charming Ye Chen was before?]

The tide has turned in the group chat.

The people who were comforting Ye Chen a moment ago, telling him not to do anything rash, are now all lining up to send "God Ye" messages.

the other side.

Lin Wanqing sat at her desk in the bedroom, staring at the computer screen.

The screen's glow made her face appear somewhat pale.

663 points.

First in the entire school.

She read those words over and over again.

My mind was filled with the image of Ye Chen sitting in the front row a few days before the college entrance exam, handing in his paper in less than two hours.

At that time, she thought Ye Chen had suffered a shock and was giving up on himself.

Later, she scored 147 on a math mock exam, which she thought was due to Ye Chen's exceptional performance.

But now, the college entrance exam results are out.

663 points.

He scored a full 32 points higher than her.

Lin Wanqing's fingers gripped the edge of the mouse tightly.

She realized that she had never truly known Ye Chen.

The boy who used to always follow behind her, whom she could see whenever she turned around, had somehow moved ahead of her.

She walked to a place that was out of her reach.

The girls' comments in the group chat felt like needles pricking her eyes.

Previously, these people all mocked Ye Chen, saying he was a toad trying to eat swan meat.

Now, however, they're all practically begging to be with him.

"Wanqing, come out and have some fruit." Her mother's voice came from outside.

"They're here."

Lin Wanqing replied and casually clicked on Ye Chen's penguin avatar.

The chat window was still showing the long message she had sent a few days earlier.

Ye Chen did not reply.

She paused for a moment, then typed a few words on the keyboard: Congratulations, you did very well on the exam.

Finished.

Deleted again.

Finally, she closed the dialog box.

It's no use posting anything now.

She bit her lower lip hard, feeling empty inside.

I'll be filling out my college application tomorrow, and I'll see him again.

I'll congratulate him in person when the time comes.

Perhaps he's just waiting for me to back down?

Lin Wanqing comforted herself in this way.

the next day.

June 25th.

The day for filling out college applications.

The weather was as muggy as ever, and cicadas chirped incessantly in the sycamore trees.

When Ye Chen arrived at the school's computer lab, it was already full of people.

The teacher provided guidance at the front, while the students flipped through books using the college codes displayed on the computer screen.

Some people are laughing, some are sighing.

Ye Chen pushed open the door and went inside.

The computer lab, which was originally a bit noisy, fell silent as several students near the door spoke.

Then, the area of ​​quiet gradually expanded.

Many people turned their heads and their eyes fell on him.

Ye Chen used to be invisible in class; everyone's only impression of him was "the one who pursued Lin Wanqing."

Today, those gazes are filled with awe and curiosity.

First in the entire school.

These four words are enough to overshadow all gossip.

Lin Wanqing, who was sitting in the third row, turned her head when she heard the noise.

Ye Chen, wearing a simple white T-shirt, walked past her in the aisle.

There was no pause.

No one glanced at them.

He didn't even spare her a glance.

Lin Wanqing watched his retreating figure, her lips pressed tightly together.

In the past, when he walked into the classroom, the first person he would look for was always her.

Now, he doesn't even glance at it.

Zhao Peng sat by the window and waved from afar.

"Chenzi! Over here!"

Ye Chen walked over, pulled out a chair next to him, and sat down.

"You've finally arrived! Old Liu has been looking for you for ages," Zhao Peng said in a low voice, his face full of excitement.

"You're the school's darling now; the principal would probably want to give you a big red flower."

"What does Lao Liu want with me?" Ye Chen turned on his computer.

"What else can you do? I'll advise you to apply to Tsinghua or Peking University." Zhao Peng leaned closer.

As the two were talking, their homeroom teacher, Liu Haifeng, walked in from outside.

He spotted Ye Chen at a glance and quickly walked over.

His usually stern face was full of smiles today.

"Ye Chen, come, come, come out with me for a moment."

Ye Chen got up and followed Liu Haifeng to the office at the end of the corridor.

There were also several other teachers from other classes in the office.

Liu Haifeng pulled up a chair for Ye Chen to sit down, picked up his teacup and took a big gulp, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Ye Chen, your score is basically guaranteed; your ranking in the province is very high!"

Several teachers nearby, who were listening intently, looked on with envy.

Liu Haifeng continued, "However, I have to be honest with you. With your score, you should have no problem getting into Tsinghua or Peking University, but you'll probably just barely make the cut-off. You'll most likely have to accept major adjustments and might end up in some less popular majors."

"If you choose a top-tier 985 university like Shanghai Jiao Tong University, you can pick any of their best programs. What do you think?"

Ye Chen leaned back in his chair, his expression calm.

There was no hesitation.

There are no regrets.

He looked at Liu Haifeng and smiled politely.

"Professor Liu, I've made up my mind. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Computer Science Department."

The office fell silent for a moment.

Liu Haifeng was stunned.

"Are you sure? Tsinghua and Peking University are prestigious names, after all. Even if your major is less popular, you'll still gain valuable connections and resources. Aren't you going to consider Beijing?"

"Teacher Liu, there's really no particularly complicated reason."

Ye Chen scratched his head, smiling brightly with a carefree, boyish air. "I just think that Shanghai is a big place, and there will definitely be more opportunities for development in the future."

"I want to go to a big city to broaden my horizons, and the computer science program at National Chiao Tung University is very strong. If I study there, there will be many job opportunities there in the future."