Meng Ting arrived at the classroom early. Only two people were there: the class monitor Guan Xiaoye, who was always the first to open the door, and Hong Hui, the most hardworking student in the class. It was said that Hong Hui studied until eleven every night, yet his grades remained average.
As Meng Ting walked in, Guan Xiaoye was the first to notice her. His pen accidentally drew a thick line on his paper as he stared at her, dumbfounded.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Meng Ting still greeted them gently, “Good morning.”
She took her seat. Hong Hui, noticing someone sitting down beside him, excitedly flipped open his chemistry book. “Meng Ting, you’re here! I’ve been stuck on this element reasoning question since yesterday. After filling in copper sulfate here, I can’t figure out the next step. Could you…”
Meng Ting took his chemistry book. The black ink marks showed evidence of Hong Hui’s repeated attempts. She lowered her long lashes, pondering for a moment. Having found the answer, she took out a piece of scratch paper and said softly, “It’s not copper sulfate here. Look at the series of descriptive reactions mentioned earlier; they don’t match copper sulfate.”
She began writing chemical formulas on scratch paper, her thought process clear. She explained as she wrote, keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing Guan Xiaoye’s studying. Her tone was so soft it was almost tender. Soon, she had solved the reasoning problem.
“Do you understand now?” she asked, looking up to see Hong Hui’s face turning bright red, the blush spreading to his ears.
Meng Ting frowned slightly. Hong Hui stammered, “Y-yes, I understand.”
However, Hong Hui, who was usually so devoted to learning, had for the first time not heard a word she said. Like Guan Xiaoye, he was stunned by an indescribable shock.
Was this really… his deskmate Meng Ting?
Hong Hui still remembered when they were assigned as deskmates. The crude boys in the class had teased, “Oh, Hong Hui, sitting next to her? What a lucky dog!” They had made gestures mimicking a blind person groping around.
Hong Hui had been angry then. “Meng Ting is the top student,” he had retorted.
“All you bookworms care about is grades, haha!”
Before Hong Hui could get angrier, the girls had thrown a book at the boys. “Say another word about Meng Ting, and I’ll report you to Teacher Fan!”
“Tch, how old are you? Still tattling to teachers!” But they had stopped discussing it.
It had always been like this. Every class had its share of underachieving students and troublemakers. Few in their class would make fun of Meng Ting’s eyes; most sympathized with her. But today, Hong Hui suddenly recalled those crude boys’ comments about his “good fortune.”
Good fortune…
Boys their age, no matter how bookish, were sensitive to such matters. Hong Hui’s face flushed red, feeling he could barely stay seated. He absentmindedly picked up the paper, looking at Meng Ting’s neat handwriting outlining the problem-solving process. After a while, he finally calmed down.
He hadn’t noticed before, but now, sitting next to Meng Ting felt oddly uncomfortable. Not unpleasant, just… distracting.
Her eyes were healed, and she was so beautiful!
Meng Ting had started practicing genetic trait reasoning problems in biology. That year, the exam papers hadn’t yet become standardized nationwide, so the high school entrance exam format was quite predictable.
The last big question was always about trait reasoning.
In her previous life, Meng Ting hadn’t taken the college entrance exam. She had studied until the first semester of her senior year when an accident occurred. Disfigured by severe burns, she had spent a long time recovering in the hospital. Just before the exam, her stepfather had gotten into trouble, causing Meng Ting to miss the college entrance exam altogether.
Now that she had a second chance at life, she was determined not to let those things happen again. She wanted to successfully attend university.
Like her classmates, she too held a sacred reverence for university.
Around 7:10 AM, other students started arriving. They all had the same reaction as Guan Xiaoye and Hong Hui. For the first time in over a year of high school, the classroom fell silent as a tomb.
Everyone stared at Meng Ting in disbelief.
If Meng Ting had been this beautiful from the start, people might have stolen glances but wouldn’t have been so stunned. The key was that student ID photo taken at the beginning of their first year—after looking at that eyesore of a picture for a year, suddenly discovering she was a super beauty left everyone dumbfounded by the contrast.
As students arrived one by one, those who hadn’t noticed Meng Ting were nudged by their classmates and directed to look. Their faces showed surprise: “Is… is that Meng Ting?”
Unlike Hong Hui, Zhao Nuancheng was still a sleepyhead in her second year, arriving late. By the time she showed up, munching on a bun, most of the class had already arrived. Worried about the smell, she finished eating outside before entering.
Being somewhat absent-minded, she walked in, saw Meng Ting and her face instantly turned red. She instinctively thought she had entered the wrong classroom.
Only after seeing Hong Hui and Liu Xiaoyi did she realize she was in the right place.
Being quite familiar with Meng Ting, she immediately understood this was indeed her friend. Without even wiping the oil from her mouth, she sat down at her desk, her eyes sparkling. “Ting Ting! Your eyes are healed!”
Meng Ting nodded with a smile.
Her smile was beautiful, her large, bright eyes curved slightly, and her eyelashes curled upwards, giving her a naturally shy and pure look.
Zhao Nuancheng was beside herself with excitement. “Holy crap, you’re so beautiful, oh my god!” She had always been careful not to stare at Meng Ting’s eyes before, fearing it might bring up painful memories. Now she couldn’t believe her good friend was such a stunning beauty.
She was so excited she didn’t know what to say.
Heavens, Ting Ting was even prettier than Shen Yuqing from Class 14!
And Shen Yuqing was the acknowledged school beauty!
But Ting Ting’s appearance was exactly what every boy dreamed of in a first love.
The morning self-study session was supervised by Teacher Fan Huiyin. As she entered the classroom with her English textbook, she frowned and put on a stern face. “What did I tell you? No whispering and chatting in the morning! You should be reciting English vocabulary out loud! You’re all in your second year now, you need to take responsibility for your future.”
The chatter immediately turned into a rise and fall of voices reciting vocabulary.
When Teacher Fan saw her English class representative, she too was taken aback for a moment. Then she said to Meng Ting, “Come to the office with me.”
Meng Ting followed her out.
As soon as the teacher and Meng Ting left, the classroom erupted into discussion. Everyone was chattering about Meng Ting and her healed eyes.
In the office, Teacher Fan poured a glass of water and gestured for Meng Ting to sit.
Looking at Meng Ting, her expression remained as stern as ever, but her tone carried a hint of concern. “Meng Ting, are your eyes healed?”
Meng Ting nodded.
Although Teacher Fan felt it wasn’t right to judge by appearances, she still frowned and reminded her, “It’s your turn to give a speech at the flag-raising ceremony today. With your current appearance…”
A bird hopped onto a branch of the plane tree outside, preening its feathers with its beak.
Meng Ting listened attentively to Teacher Fan.
But suddenly, Teacher Fan couldn’t continue. She sighed, “Ah, child, you’ve certainly become quite a looker.” She couldn’t forbid Meng Ting from giving the speech just because she had become beautiful.
“Where’s your speech draft?” she asked.
Meng Ting handed it over for Teacher Fan to review.
After reading it, Teacher Fan nodded in approval. Meng Ting had written a very positive speech; there was nothing to criticize.
Seeing Meng Ting put on her student ID card and wear the blue and white school uniform, Teacher Fan couldn’t help but think what terrible technology had produced such a poor photo. She waved her hand, dismissing Meng Ting back to class.
That year, Qi Zhong High School had a rule: every Monday during the flag-raising ceremony, a student representative would be chosen to give a speech.
By default, this student representative was the top student in the class.
In the first year when it was Meng Ting’s turn, the Dean of Students had hesitated, considering her condition. “Teacher Fan, perhaps you should choose someone else from your class?”
Fan Huiyin had shaken her head in disagreement. “Although Meng Ting’s eyesight is poor, she’s an excellent student. If the school replaces her because of her eyes, it might cause her to develop an inferiority complex.”
So every semester when it was Class 1’s turn, Meng Ting would go up to give the speech.
As there were many classes in the school, each class only had about two chances to give speeches per semester. With different students speaking each time, the audience quickly grew tired of these motivational talks. Apart from knowing about the beautiful Lu Yue from the senior class, few paid attention to Meng Ting, at most giving her a second glance because of her strange glasses.
It was November 20th.
Winter had quietly arrived. Students wore thick winter clothes under their uniforms, looking bulky and plump. From a distance, they resembled a field of cabbages.
Female teachers rubbed their hands and blew on them to keep warm.
Other classes noticed that the students from Class 1 of the second year were particularly strange today, with everyone craning their necks to look at the stage, exuding an inexplicable excitement.
The host’s clear voice announced, “Next, we invite the student representative from Class 1, Year 2, Meng Ting, to give a speech under the national flag.”
A half-hearted applause rose from below.
Meng Ting walked onto the stage with her speech notebook and took the microphone. Her voice was sweet and clear: “Hello everyone, I’m Meng Ting from Class 1, Year 2. Today, my speech topic is ‘Cherish Time, Do Not Let the Motherland Down.'”
It was the typical, cliché school-standard motivational speech that usually put people to sleep.
However, some people looked up due to her pleasant voice and standard Mandarin.
Morning dew dripped from the tree branches, and each exhaled breath turned into a white mist in the cold air.
The girl on the stage wore the simplest school uniform: a blue and white jacket with black trousers. Her ponytail was neatly tied back, and her bangs gave her a gentle, calm appearance.
She had a great temperament, but… her face was even better!
Regardless of the era, people have always been defenseless against beauty. Soon, a buzz of discussion spread through the front rows.
The balding Dean of Students, with his beer belly, scolded, “Everyone is quiet! Any class that continues to make noise will lose conduct points!”
Finally, it quieted down.
Those in the back rows who couldn’t see caught the scent of gossip, knowing something must have happened. Unable to see the person on the stage clearly, they felt a bit frustrated.
However, everyone tried to find out more to satisfy their curiosity. Eventually, they reached a shocking conclusion – Meng Ting from Class 1, whose eyes were said to be in poor condition, now had healed eyes and was even prettier than Shen Yuqing, the school beauty from Class 22!
Goodness, this was incredible!
Shen Yuqing’s pride came from her good looks, and everyone acknowledged her as one of the prettiest school beauties in Qi Zhong’s history.
To be even more beautiful than the school beauty meant the title should change hands!
Surprisingly, everyone listened attentively to this peculiar motivational speech.
Lu Yue was shocked. Of course, she remembered Meng Ting, who had defeated her in the Math Olympiad. But back then, she had consoled herself that Meng Ting was just a student with eye problems. Now, she was completely dumbfounded.
What if Meng Ting was not just good at studies?
She remembered how Jiang Ren had impatiently told her to get lost that day, but then smiled and asked Meng Ting to buy water. Her emotions were mixed, and her hand unconsciously clenched into a fist. The seniors standing at the back couldn’t see, but such big gossip about a new school’s beauty spread like an autumn breeze, silently yet swiftly reaching them.
Shen Yuqing from Class 12 felt even worse, her face alternating between pale and flushed.
As Meng Ting left the stage, she sensed the change that had occurred. However, having lived two lifetimes, her mental resilience had grown stronger, and she didn’t care much about these things anymore.
On Monday after school, Teacher Fan Huiyin took over a physics class.
The physics teacher, Teacher Deng, complained, “I’m also rushing to finish my curriculum, Teacher Fan. Couldn’t you have arranged this with other teachers?”
The students of Class 1 also found it annoying: “Teacher Deng definitely won’t last two minutes. Teacher Fan is too dominant.”
Sure enough, after a short while, Teacher Deng left, and Teacher Fan came in, asking everyone to take out their English books.
The students inwardly groaned.
However, when it was time to leave school, they received some unbelievably good news.
Teacher Fan said, “The school has organized a ‘Warm Winter Mountain Climbing’ activity to encourage everyone to exercise. It will be this Wednesday, and we’ll be climbing Wangu Mountain.”
The class erupted in cheers.
Meng Ting, however, was stunned for a moment. She remembered this event from her previous life when their class had gone to climb Wangu Mountain.
Jiang Ren had come along too.
By then, she had already become Qi Zhong’s school beauty, but when Jiang Ren came to talk to her, she didn’t respond at all.
That year, Zhao Nuancheng had said, “Ting Ting, don’t pay attention to him. He’s here to hang out with Shen Yuqing. He’s just trying to chat you up because you’re pretty now. That kind of guy… tch, he’s good for nothing. He just likes to play around with beautiful girls.”
Meng Ting had nodded solemnly.
So much so that in her previous life, she had always thought Jiang Ren was just playing around.
Perhaps it was because he couldn’t have her that he had chased after her for a whole year, doing many crazy things.
Thinking of this, Meng Ting felt a bit worried.
Jiang Ren… he wouldn’t come this time, would he? She thought uncertainly.
Jiang Ren was napping in Licai’s classroom.
The teacher glanced at him several times but didn’t say anything in the end. Whatever, these rich second-generation kids, if they want to learn, they’ll learn; if not, so be it.
He Junming noticed that Ren-ge had arrived particularly early today, immediately falling asleep on his desk.
He Junming whispered, “What’s wrong with Ren-ge?” Usually, even after playing games all night, he wasn’t this tired.
He Han pointed at Jiang Ren’s trouser legs.
The young man’s jeans were covered in cold winter mud.
He Junming’s mouth twitched: “Did he go farming in the middle of the night?” As he said this, he found it increasingly funny and finally burst out laughing. The teacher glared at him, “He Junming!”
“Sorry, sorry!” He had forgotten they were still in class and responded in broken English.
When Jiang Ren woke up, school was already over. He lazily leaned back, stretching against the chair’s backrest.
His voice was hoarse: “What time is it?”
He Junming told him the time and asked, “Ren-ge, want to play pool this afternoon?”
Jiang Ren nodded casually.
“Ren-ge, what were you doing last night?”
Jiang Ren didn’t even look at him: “Mind your own business.”
He Junming rubbed his nose; he was just curious.
At lunchtime, when they went to the restaurant to eat, they encountered some students from Qi Zhong.
These rich kids from the vocational high school had money and rarely ate at school. They had tried every restaurant in the nearby food street, and even the owners knew these young masters.
The Qi Zhong students were discussing the morning’s flag-raising ceremony.
As Jiang Ren was going upstairs, he heard the words “Meng Ting” and paused.
He Junming heard it too and clicked his tongue, “Being beautiful makes a difference, huh? It’s only been a day, and I bet she’s already famous at Qi Zhong. Their school beauty will probably be replaced. With a girl that pretty, she must have many pursuers. But I’ve seen girls like her before – they’re very aloof. When I tried to chat with girls like that before, they always gave me the cold shoulder. I wonder who could…”
Fang Tan covered his face, looking at the silent Jiang Ren. He felt utterly hopeless about He Junming’s intelligence.
Even a pig would be smarter than this idiot!
That year, the floors weren’t soundproof, and you could hear conversations clearly if you listened carefully.
Halfway through their meal, Jiang Ren suddenly went downstairs.
He Han asked, “Where’s Ren-ge going?”
Fang Tan shook his head; he didn’t know either.
Jiang Ren went to the table where the Qi Zhong students were sitting. When they saw him, they immediately fell silent.
The reason was simple: this young man was striking, with silver hair and earrings, exuding an aura of trouble. They guessed he might be Jiang Ren, the one expelled from a wealthy family, from the neighboring vocational school.
Jiang Ren smiled, with a hint of laziness and willfulness: “Boss, come over. I’m treating this table.”
He turned to look at the nervous “good students” from Qi Zhong and clicked his tongue: “Don’t be so tense, classmates. I just want to ask you something.”
As he was paying the owner, he casually asked, “Your school is going mountain climbing?”
The boys at the table were a bit intimidated by him, having heard rumors. They quickly nodded: “Yes, from this Wednesday to the weekend, different classes are going separately. We’re climbing Wangu Mountain behind the school.” Seeing Jiang Ren listening attentively, they almost instinctively told him all they knew, “It seems the third-year students aren’t going, but first and second-years are. Starting with the second year, twelve classes form a large group to climb the mountain and make wishes at the hundred-year-old tree at the summit.”
“Thanks.”
Originally, Jiang Ren and his friends were supposed to go play pool in the afternoon, but the group of young men rode their motorcycles, skipping classes to go to the busiest commercial street.
Back then, these young men rode with the wind in their clothes, their motorcycle engines roaring, causing passersby to either stop and watch or quietly curse them as little hooligans.
The cold wind was blocked by his helmet, but Jiang Ren’s mind was filled with He Junming’s inadvertent words.
She must be Qi Zhong’s school beauty now.
She had always disliked him; even when her eyes were problematic, she didn’t like to pay attention to him. Now that she was fair-skinned, well-behaved, and beautiful, who knows how many people liked her?
For the first time in his life, he felt uncomfortable with the contemptuous and annoyed looks from passersby.
As they passed by a fashion store, Jiang Ren suddenly stopped.
He Junming asked, “What’s wrong, Ren-ge?”
Jiang Ren turned his head, took off his helmet, and scrutinized himself in the glass window.
That year, his silver hair was messy, barely covering his brow bone.
He wore ripped jeans.
He wasn’t a good student, exuding an air of inherent badness. He and she were not from the same world.
Jiang Ren pursed his lips and put his helmet back on.
“We’re not going to play pool anymore.”
“Huh? Then where are we going?”
“To the barbershop. Don’t follow me.”