After the college entrance exam results came out, Leo, a scholarship student in our class, only scored a measly 200 points. Yet, he somehow convinced my two childhood best friends to apply for the worst vocational college with him. Blindly infatuated, they both agreed to go to the same school as him. I tried to reason with them, pouring my heart out, but they accused me of being malicious and jealous of Leo. When my pleas fell on deaf ears, I contacted their parents. Finally, just moments before the deadline, their applications were changed, securing their spots at top-tier universities. Leo ended up at the vocational college alone. But within six months, news broke that he had jumped off a building on campus. After Sarah and Zoe went to collect his body, they returned and kidnapped me to a rooftop. "If you hadn't stopped us from going to the same school as Leo, he wouldn't have been bullied into suicide!" "Now, you're going to join him!" Without a shred of mercy, they pushed me off the edge. I fell to my death, my body shattering on impact. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the moment they decided to follow Leo to vocational college. This time, I’m just going to watch them ruin their own lives. 1 "Leo is right. It's better to be a big fish in a small pond. I've decided to go to vocational college with him." "With our scores, we'll definitely be the stars of the campus there." Hearing Sarah and Zoe agree to go with him, Leo beamed with joy. He then turned his gaze to me. "Ray, come with us too. The four of us have always been a team. I really don't want to be separated from you guys." Looking at the three familiar faces, I instantly realized I had been reborn. I was back to the day the exam scores were released. Sarah, Zoe, and I all scored near 700, enough for the country's best universities. But Leo, the scholarship kid with barely 200 points, was trying to drag us down to a vocational school with him. This time, if they want to go, they can go. I won't say a single word to stop them. I stood up immediately. "Choosing a college is a big deal. I need to discuss it with my parents before I decide." Leo's face fell instantly, looking wronged. "Ray, don't you want to be with us?" I was done with his manipulative act. I didn't want to waste another breath on him. In this life, I just want to stay safe and far away from these three lunatics. I turned to pack my things and leave, but Sarah and Zoe blocked my path. "Ray Shen, what do you mean by that? Leo made a kind suggestion. Just give us a straight answer, yes or no. We don't have all day to wait for you!" "You're eighteen. Can't you think for yourself? Don't you know where you want to go to college?" I looked at them. The image of their twisted faces as they pushed me off a 36-story building in my past life flashed before my eyes. A chill ran down my spine. "Since you put it that way, I'll be direct. My first choice is definitely Tsinghua or Peking University. As for that no-name vocational school, you guys can go ahead without me." As soon as I finished, Leo's eyes welled up with tears. "Ray, what does that mean? Are you looking down on me because I can only go to a vocational college?" Zoe pulled out a tissue to wipe his tears. "Leo, don't cry. Even if you go to a vocational school, we're willing to go with you." "Some people think going to a university makes them special, but they'll just end up working for someone else anyway. I don't know where he gets his superiority complex!" Sarah pointed an accusing finger at me. "Ray Shen, I think you're just jealous of Leo, so you're putting him down on purpose. Apologize to him right now, or don't expect us to ever talk to you again!" 2 Their blind defense of Leo chilled me to the bone. We grew up together. They were like family to me. They once swore they'd always be good to me, that no matter who I chose to be with, they'd offer their sincerest blessings. But everything changed in our junior year of high school when Leo transferred here. He told me he was the scholarship student my family had been sponsoring and brought me sweet potatoes from his village as a thank you. Seeing how simple and sincere he seemed, I introduced him to Sarah and Zoe. I never expected that from then on, they would change. They poured all their attention and care into Leo, constantly using our friendship to force me to bow down to him. I was the fool in my past life, holding onto hope for them, which led to my death. Now, I wish I could be galaxies away from them. "Then let's not contact each other anymore. You go to your vocational school, I'll go to my university. Let's pretend we never knew each other." Sarah and Zoe clearly didn't expect that answer. They stiffened. I ignored them, grabbed my laptop bag, and started to leave. But Leo snatched the bag from my hands. "Ray, I know you've always liked Sarah and Zoe. You're just saying these things out of anger. To stop you from regretting it later, I'll fill out the application for you." Leo opened my laptop, ready to log in to my account and submit the application on my behalf. I panicked and lunged to grab my computer back, but he hid behind Sarah and Zoe, using them as shields. I couldn't get past the two of them alone. I could only watch helplessly as Leo filled out the vocational school application for me. After submitting it, Leo handed the laptop back, unable to hide the smug look in his eyes. "I used up all three modification chances for the application. Now you have to come to vocational school with us." Rage exploded inside me. I raised my hand to slap Leo. "Who gave you the right to decide for me?!" Sarah grabbed my wrist in a vice grip and shoved me hard. I stumbled and fell. She screamed, "Leo did this for your own good! Instead of being grateful, you're biting the hand that feeds you!" Zoe looked down at me haughtily. "The application is submitted. It's a done deal. Just come to vocational school with us quietly." "Leo already promised that once school starts, he'll choose one of us to be his girlfriend. The one who isn't chosen can reluctantly be your girlfriend." I looked up at them coldly. "Do I look like a recycling bin? Only good for picking up Leo's trash?" Sarah and Zoe glared at me furiously. Leo grabbed their arms. "Sarah, Zoe, don't be mad. Ray will understand eventually that we did this for him." "The movie is about to start. Let's go." The three of them turned and walked toward the cinema upstairs. I looked at the submitted application on my screen, feeling a desolate emptiness. Even reborn, could I not escape the fate of being entangled with these three scumbags? I hugged my laptop and went home to find my parents. Seeing them, the floodgates opened. Tears rolled down my face uncontrollably. My mom wiped my tears. "Ray, what happened?" Choking back sobs, I told them everything. My dad slammed his hand on the table, furious. "This is outrageous! That ungrateful wolf Leo! Our family sponsored his education, and this is how he repays us?" My mom was equally anxious. "Ray's application has been changed. What do we do?" My dad immediately called my teacher to ask if a submitted application could be revoked. 3 The teacher said that before the deadline, applications could be modified an unlimited number of times. The "three times limit" was just something teachers said to make us take the process seriously. The application was fixed, but I knew things with Leo and the girls weren't over. Since they wouldn't let me go in my past life or this one, I wasn't going to sit and wait for death again. Once my plan was set, the heavy stone in my heart finally lifted. Leo thought my enrollment in vocational school was a sure thing, so he went on a trip with Sarah and Zoe. He sent me photos of them being intimate every day. [Ray Shen, it must hurt seeing the two women you love simping for me, huh?] [Sarah and Zoe said they'd rather be my backups than choose you. As a man, don't you feel like a total failure?] Facing his provocations, I felt nothing. Because I knew his good days were numbered. When the Tsinghua University acceptance letter arrived, the property management sent a message in the resident group chat. [A student in our community has been accepted to Tsinghua University! The management will award them 100,000 RMB as encouragement. Residents are invited to attend the ceremony tomorrow!] This was a tradition in our community. Acceptance letters from top universities like Tsinghua and Peking were first sent to the management office for a ceremony. The group chat exploded with congratulations. Sarah's mom sent a voice note: "Thank you all for the blessings. My Sarah will work even harder in college!" Residents immediately started flattering her, asking for parenting tips. Then Zoe's mom chimed in with a voice note: "The one accepted to Tsinghua is obviously my Zoe. Sarah's mom, have some shame, don't claim what isn't yours!" Sarah's Mom: "You're the shameless one! Sarah scored 694. She told me she was accepted to Tsinghua." Zoe's Mom: "Zoe scored 697! If anyone got in, it's her. Don't you know one point in the exams separates thousands of people? Let alone three points!" They argued back and forth, both claiming their daughter got into Tsinghua. Watching the messages pop up, I smirked. I wondered if they'd faint from anger if they knew their daughters had applied to the worst vocational school just for a broke boy. Finally, property management stepped in to mediate, confirming only one student got into Tsinghua, and the name would be revealed at the ceremony tomorrow. Because of the argument, a huge crowd showed up for the ceremony. Everyone wanted to see whose kid got into Tsinghua. Before the ceremony started, Leo and the girls came up to me. He looked at me and said, "Ray, you should have reflected enough by now. If you sincerely apologize and promise that your family will continue to sponsor my tuition and living expenses at vocational school, we can still be best friends." "But vocational school is expensive. It can't be 2,000 a month anymore. I need at least 10,000 a month." I almost laughed at his shamelessness. "Leo, let me tell you this: from now on, my family won't give you a single cent!" Leo's eyes reddened, and he looked at Sarah and Zoe. They immediately scolded me. "Ray Shen, don't be ungrateful! Leo accepting your family's sponsorship is giving you face!" "If you don't agree to Leo's request today, don't expect us to look out for you at school!" I sneered at them. "You two should worry about yourselves first!" The host on stage, holding the Tsinghua acceptance letter, shouted, "Please welcome the student from Building 17, Unit 502, Ray Shen, to the stage to receive the Tsinghua University acceptance letter and the 100,000 RMB reward!" Under everyone's gaze, I walked up to receive my letter. Sarah's mom and Zoe's mom rushed the stage, screaming. "Impossible! There must be a mistake! This letter belongs to my Zoe!" "The one accepted to Tsinghua should be my Sarah!" Just then, a postman in green walked to the front of the stage and shouted, "Sarah Zhang, Zoe Guo, your acceptance letters have arrived." 4 The noisy crowd instantly went silent. Sarah's mom and Zoe's mom snapped out of it and rushed off the stage to snatch the letters from the postman. They complained loudly: "What's wrong with you? Why are you slower than everyone else? Were you slacking off?" "Others got their letters ages ago, and you just brought ours today? You almost ruined my daughter's big moment! I'm going to file a complaint!" They grabbed the letters, cursing, and tried to hand them to the host without even opening them. Sarah and Zoe rushed to stop them. "Mom, the letter just arrived. Let's open it at home." "Mom, I want to share the joy with Dad. Let's go home and wait for him." They hadn't dared to tell their families about applying to vocational school. They thought once the letter arrived, the deed would be done, and they'd just get scolded. If people found out now, in front of everyone, their moms would go crazy. But their moms were too focused on outdoing each other to listen. Sarah's mom beamed. "Why be shy? Everyone is here to celebrate your success!" Zoe's mom looked arrogantly at the host. "You said 100,000 for getting into Tsinghua. My daughter's letter was late, but you can't renege on the deal!" The host replied, "It's tradition. If they really got into Tsinghua, the money is theirs." Their eyes lit up. To ordinary working-class families, 100,000 was a year's salary. They eagerly handed the unopened envelopes to the host. Sarah's mom hugged her daughter. "Sarah, you made me so proud! All my hard work paid off!" Zoe's mom looked at Zoe approvingly. "Zoe, this 100,000 is all yours for pocket money." Neighbors chimed in: "I can't believe our community produced three Tsinghua/Peking students this year! What a joyous occasion!" "With three top students, property prices are going to soar!" "The mothers are the real heroes here!" Applause broke out. The moms basked in the praise, oblivious to their daughters' paling faces. The host took the letters, tore open the seals, and pulled out the documents. He announced loudly: "Let us congratulate Sarah Zhang and Zoe Guo on their acceptance to... New West Vocational College?" The crowd buzzed with confusion. "Not Tsinghua? Why is it a vocational college?" "That's not Tsinghua. Look, the letter is different from Ray Shen's." "New West Vocational? Isn't that the worst one in the country? You can get in with 200 points." The moms ran up, snatched the letters, read them repeatedly, then turned to their daughters. "Sarah, what is this?" "Zoe, didn't you apply to Tsinghua? Why is it vocational school?" Sarah and Zoe hung their heads, stammering in silence. Leo suddenly looked at me and spoke up. "Ray Shen, we trusted you so much! Why did you change our applications?"
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "386319", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel