The pressure cooker of Gaokao preparation intensified. The school scheduled practice exams every weekend, the rankings published publicly to spur competition. Ye Xia, despite spending minimal time studying, consistently placed first. Her mind, sharpened by the system and her life-or-death financial battles, found the academic material laughably simple.
Her dominance bred resentment. The teachers were baffled. The girl who had been a mediocre, bullied student was now an untouchable academic goddess. Whispers started again, different from before. Not of mystery and fear, but of cheating. How else could she achieve such scores with so little visible effort?
Ye Xia ignored them. Her focus was split between the looming exam and a more immediate threat: the Mo matriarch. Silas had intercepted communications indicating that Lin Wanwan's family had suddenly received an anonymous infusion of capital, allowing them to stave off complete bankruptcy. The source was a shell corporation that traced back to a Mo family foundation.
It was a declaration of war. The matriarch was making her move.
Ye Xia decided to preempt it. She couldn't stop the matriarch from contacting Lin Wanwan, but she could control the narrative. She had Silas arrange a meeting. Not in a cafe or a park, but in the sterile conference room of a law firm that now represented Ye Xia's interests.
Lin Wanwan arrived, dressed in new but cheap clothes, a pathetic attempt to regain her former glamour. Her eyes held a mixture of hatred and desperate hope when she saw Ye Xia, who was seated at the head of the table, wearing a simple but exquisitely tailored business dress.
"Xiaxia," Lin Wanwan began, trying to sound friendly and failing miserably. "Thank you for seeing me. I… I know we've had our differences—"
"Sit down, Wanwan," Ye Xia interrupted, her voice devoid of warmth. "We're not here to reconcile. We're here to talk about your new benefactor."
Lin Wanwan's face went pale. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"A foundation called 'New Dawn Ventures' just paid off your father's most pressing debts," Ye Xia said, sliding a piece of paper across the table. It was a transaction record. "The money came from the Mo family. They've bought you. What did they offer you? More money? A place in their world? And what did they ask for in return?"
Lin Wanwan stared at the paper, her hands shaking. The facade crumbled. "They want information about you! They think you're… not what you seem. They want me to say you cheated your way to wealth. That you're a fraud!"
"And you agreed?" Ye Xia asked, though she already knew the answer.
"What choice did I have?" Lin Wanwan cried, tears of self-pity welling in her eyes. "My family was ruined! You did that! This is my only chance!"
Ye Xia looked at her, this pathetic shadow of the girl who had killed her. There was no anger left, only a profound disgust. "You always have a choice, Wanwan. You just always choose the path of least resistance and greatest betrayal."
She stood up. "Here is my offer. You will go back to the Mo family. You will tell them you tried to get close to me, but I am too careful. You will feed them small, insignificant truths mixed with plausible lies. You will be my double agent."
"And why would I do that?" Lin Wanwan sneered.
"Because if you don't," Ye Xia said, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "I will release the full financial records of your father's company to the public. I will show not just the bankruptcy, but the years of tax evasion and fraud that preceded it. Your father will go to prison for a very long time. The Mo family won't be able to protect you from that."
Lin Wanwan's bravado vanished, replaced by sheer terror. Ye Xia had her. The trap was perfect.
"You're a monster," Lin Wanwan whispered.
"No," Ye Xia said, walking to the door. "I'm a survivor. And you are a tool. Be a useful one, for once in your life."
She left Lin Wanwan sobbing in the conference room. It was a cold, calculated move, turning her enemy into a pawn. But in the war against the Mo matriarch, sentiment was a luxury she couldn't afford. The Gaokao was a test of knowledge, but this was a test of will. And Ye Xia intended to pass with flying colors.