They only make veiled and insinuating remarks, unlike him, who says whatever comes to mind.

Ming Xiaoxiao, who was following behind Xie Li, also happened to hear Li Chen's words.

She is usually optimistic and generous, but being criticized like this in public still made her eyes well up with tears.

She quickly walked past Xie Li and said softly, "So, this is how you define our friendship?"

Xie Li: "???"

Ming Xiaoxiao: "Is it only if I give you the top score this time that we can continue to be friends peacefully?"

Xie Li finally couldn't hold back any longer: "...Sorry, aren't you overthinking this?"

Xie Li never thought Ming Xiaoxiao had anything wrong with her.

After all, the two were not close friends. Apart from the chances of meeting more often when they were children, they rarely met in the years that followed.

Ming Xiaoxiao is the pride of the entire Shenjia Village, and her every word and action serves as a role model and benchmark. To her, she is just the legendary girl next door.

The two might even try to avoid each other, to the point of not saying hello.

After arriving in Linjiang City, I discovered that Ming Xiaoxiao had such a cheerful and lively personality, even a bit too enthusiastic, and seemed to be talking to herself.

Of course, if you're going to be friends, you have to be tolerant of everything about your friends, and Xie Li didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

Although she was indeed aiming for the 30,000 yuan prize, it didn't matter if she didn't get it; the runner-up in the second prize also received 20,000 yuan.

"I don't necessarily need to be the top scholar," Xie Li said after thinking for a moment.

Ming Xiaoxiao smiled, but the smile seemed somewhat forced.

She didn't believe Xie Li's words.

If she were truly so generous, why did she keep pursuing her like that? And why did she even let Li Chen go out and speak ill of her?

She could understand Xie Li's feelings; after all, he had been outshone by her since childhood, so he must have some resentment in his heart.

She'd seen countless girls like this, from childhood to adulthood.

She just didn't expect that Xie Li, who seemed like a cool girl, would be like this.

Why is there only competition, comparison, and jealousy between girls? Why can't they be as generous, carefree, and unpretentious as boys?

Ming Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and smiled brightly at Jiang Yifan and the others who were waiting for her: "You must have been waiting for a long time. Thank you for your hard work!"

When Jiang Yifan and others pressed for details about the results, he simply smiled and remained silent, saying, "Wait for the results to be announced."

She didn't say much, but everyone else immediately guessed the result. It was definitely her who won the crown, which is why Xie Lifang felt unbalanced and started to gossip.

Several boys gave Xie Li unfriendly looks.

We're all classmates, and winning first or second place should be a cause for celebration, but arguing over a little money and making a scene... don't blame them for speaking rudely at school.

Su Ying observed the reactions of the group of boys.

He turned to Li Chen and asked, "What exactly happened?"

This idiot ranted for ages without explaining anything clearly.

She didn't believe Xie Li was inferior to Ming Xiaoxiao. Given Ming Xiaoxiao's hypocritical behavior... she always felt that Xie Li must have suffered some kind of hidden loss.

Li Chen cleared his throat and described what he had just seen.

She also has a particularly loud voice, especially in the part describing Ming Xiaoxiao holding Xie Li in her mouth, where she raised her voice several pitches.

The awards ceremony was held in the plaza outside the gate in order to attract more customers.

Now that they heard that the champion of the poetry challenge had been chosen, everyone came to watch the spectacle. After hearing Li Chen's description, the look in his eyes when he looked at Ming Xiaoxiao changed from admiration to strangeness.