Chapter 13: Do You Know How Outstanding You Are?
Seeing Hu Yu Ying blush and fumble, Long Aotian gave her a weird look. “Has no one ever told you you’re pretty?”
Hu Yu Ying froze, unsure how to answer. She got even more nervous.
Her obedient, slightly lowered gaze made her look just like a little white fox from ancient myths—all charm and sneaky innocence, alluring yet seemingly pure.
Every now and then, she would lift her eyes for a quick, mesmerizing glance that could disarm anyone and make them want to conquer her.
“No way?”
“Stop, stop talking,” Hu Yu Ying quickly grabbed a roll of paper—”This question’s easy! I’ve got it all written down in my notebook. Let me find it.”
“These practice questions on the rolls include a lot of key points. I’ll write them out for you and you can practice often. Your grades will definitely go up.”
Watching Hu Yu Ying scramble, Long Aotian laughed inwardly. This girl really was a bear with no sense of humor.
Look at that face turning redder by the second.
Seeing the smirk at the corner of Long Aotian’s mouth, Hu Yu Ying, who had been nervous, felt a bit calmer.
Unknowingly, in their little interactions—which Long Aotian had been deliberately guiding—the awkward feeling on Hu Yu Ying’s part melted away quite a bit.
If it had been before, hearing such words, she’d already have bowed her head and wouldn’t dare to look anyone in the eye.
The ugly duckling turning into a swan, because it is a swan to start with.
Hu Yu Ying was the same. Like the cliché in novels—female protagonists step by step transform, finally dazzling everyone with their beauty.
Right now, what she needed most was confidence.
Destroying someone’s confidence is simple.
But building someone’s confidence? That’s much harder.
At least today was undoubtedly a beautiful day for Hu Yu Ying.
She received more compliments today than in her entire first and second year combined.
Thanks to her big brother.
Thinking of that, Hu Yu Ying secretly cheered herself on—she had to help her big brother improve his grades.
Seeing her so motivated, Long Aotian also got fired up.
Ten minutes later: “Wait a moment, I’m a bit scrambled in the head right now. Let me breathe. Known function f(x)=kx+b…”
Hu Yu Ying patiently waited, but when she saw smoke coming out of her big brother’s head, her eyes widened.
She pointed at Long Aotian in surprise. “Big bro, your head, your head is smoking.”
“Huh?” Long Aotian blinked, stunned. “I can’t see it… Is this what they call brain growth?”
“So, do you still want to learn, big brother?”
“Yeah,” Long Aotian said without hesitation. “I’m like a learning god now, possessed by the learning divine—cannot be stopped!”
After Hu Yu Ying fully conveyed her solution process, she looked at Long Aotian seriously. “Did you learn it?”
“Uh, it’s okay, I guess.” Long Aotian actually hadn’t learned it, but he felt a bit embarrassed to admit it.
His impression of himself right now: domineering, wise, invincible!
If she knew he was actually a dummy, would she still respect him?
Hearing Long Aotian’s words, Hu Yu Ying smiled curvedly, stubbornly resisting a giggle, tilting her head. “Then shall we try again?”
She was holding back her laughter because Long Aotian clearly hadn’t understood but was pretending he did.
His guilty look was like two different people—completely different from how he was before.
A bit silly.
“Okay, okay, let’s do it again. Write it down with your pen.”
“Okay.”
As the top scorner of Class 7, here he was talking about studying with a new classmate.
That’s something he’d never even have dared to dream of before.
But the conversation was also a bit too abstract, right?
Overthinking, smoke coming out of his head, suddenly claiming to be a divine scholar.
He must have been guilty earlier, right? That’s why he said he already understood!
Everyone secretly watched Long Aotian and Hu Yu Ying.
Whispering behind their backs.
Even Wang Shuo looked at Long Aotian incredulously. “Is he serious?” he thought, hardly believing it.
“Could he really have grown a brain? I saw smoke coming from his head just now,” said his desk mate with awe.
As the second and third worst students, they simply couldn’t believe that the bottom-ranked first student was actually willing to study voluntarily—and even made his head smoke from trying.
The teacher, facing 60-plus students, with a single lesson time limit, can’t go into great detail—if they do, the schedule gets all messed up for new lessons, so the teaching isn’t comprehensive.
Hu Yu Ying’s one-on-one guidance, however, explained the problem-solving approach very carefully, very meticulously.
Sometimes Long Aotian didn’t understand, and Hu Yu Ying would quickly switch to another way of explaining—the faster he understood.
“Does that make sense?”
Hu Yu Ying nodded lightly. “Mm.”
“Yes!” she stretched lazily, feeling super awesome.
This problem—no one ever told her how to solve it—she figured it out herself, step by step, based on Hu Yu Ying’s hints.
Genius… she was literally a genius!
Seeing Long Aotian happily, a flicker of light crossed Hu Yu Ying’s eyes. But then, it seemed she remembered something, and the light dimmed again.
Everyone’s happiness seemed so simple.
In the past, when others saw her in a mess, they’d be happy, they’d cheer.
Some people seem domineering, hard to approach, but their happiness was just from solving a basic math problem.
Why was her happiness so hard to reach even then?
She asked for little, just hoping no one would bully her anymore.
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She never actively provoked anyone, just wanted to learn quietly, get into her dream college, earn money, and take care of her family. But why was it so difficult?
If she hadn’t met her big brother, maybe she’d still be getting bullied now.
She took a deep breath, summoned her courage, and looked up at Long Aotian. “Brother Long, if I become your follower, won’t no one bully me anymore?”
Long Aotian fell silent for a few seconds.
Then, meeting Hu Yu Ying’s gaze, he didn’t answer directly. Instead, he said seriously, “Do you know how outstanding you are?”
“Outstanding? Me?” Hu Yu Ying’s eyes flickered with momentary confusion.
“Let me guess—if I guess right, you nod, okay?”
Hu Yu Ying looked at Long Aotian without speaking, then nodded.
“Some of those people who used to bully you—did any of them confess to you but get rejected?”
Hearing that, Hu Yu Ying pressed her lips tightly, but under Long Aotian’s gaze, she still nodded.
Long Aotian chuckled softly. “Looks like I guessed right.”
Did those who bullied her insult her appearance? Say she cheated on exams?
Hu Yu Ying thought of something, lowered her head slightly, her brain subconsciously pressing down. Still, she nodded.
“So, you realize just how outstanding you are, right?”
“Outstanding people always attract each other. But some shallow creatures—those just want to possess you—will go to extreme lengths and drag you into their cesspool.”
“Because you’re so outstanding, some will see you like a swan versus a toad or white clouds versus muddy ground.”
“When a swan turns into a duckling or white clouds get dirtied by mud, then there’s a tiny chance for change.”
At this point, Long Aotian cast a meaningful look at Wang Shuo, who was digging his nose—an obvious hint.
Hu Yu Ying looked toward Long Aotian’s gaze and quickly retracted her own.
“But, equally, jealousy can turn people ugly.”
“The ones who like to chase after someone—they’re easily attracted to your gaze—then their pride starts to flare up. But when they see they’re no match, and refuse to admit you’re more outstanding than them—”
“That’s when trouble starts. They want to show everyone your worst side, make your greatness look tarnished.”
“So, a person covered in dirt becomes less outstanding.”
Long Aotian’s words seemed to guide Hu Yu Ying, but in reality, he was just amplifying her strengths.
As a passionate young man from the new world, Long Aotian was 28 before transmigrating.
In front of this 18-year-old girl, calling himself a big uncle wouldn’t be too much, right?
Having experienced more of society, seeing a lot of human coldness, and the treachery of people, he knew how to comfort others effectively.
Actually, Long Aotian wasn’t entirely wrong.
After middle school, boys and girls entered puberty.
In high school, the attraction between sexes, plus the hormones raging, often sparked special crushes on some attractive girls and boys.
Rejections and grudges became common—even among adults.
Secret crushes and jealousy? That’s perfectly normal too.
The root problem still lies with Hu Yu Ying herself…
