Yan Wei's lips curled into a derisive smirk. "Only the eighth in the entire grade? Judging by how haughty she acts, I would have thought she was the top student in the whole school!"
Yao Ran's panic bloomed anew. Her lies might get out of hand if she didn't manage them well. "The thing is, my cousin came from the countryside, where she didn't really have a lot of options in terms of education. Based on her background, being among the top ten would already be considered a great achievement, and everyone praised her for that. I would be admiring her, too, if not for all the trouble she caused during her first month here at school..."
Yao Ran drifted off intentionally, though she pretended to look surprised and worried, as if she had just said something she shouldn't have.
"Anyway," she added, "that's the reason behind my cousin's so-called popularity."
Yan Wei took the bait and followed its trail. She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at Yao Ran.
