The basketball court fell into a brief silence.
“What the hell is this girl doing?”
“Isn’t this the same girl who asked Lu Xingyan to clean up last time?”
“YeAh it seems like her name is Shen Xingru, the transfer student everyone was talking about recently.”
“That’s her! Damn, do you think she’s hooking up with Lu Xingyan?”
“Pfft! No way! Dude, your words are ambiguous…”
Other boys nearby regained their senses, lowering their voices as they discussed, looking quite excited. Meanwhile, Xu Chengzhou, standing beside Lu Xingyan, went through a series of emotional rollercoasters from “Wow, this girl is so beautiful” to “Wow, this girl’s crazy about basketball” to “Wow, where did this girl come from,” before his brain went momentarily blank.
Then suddenly, he felt a sense of familiarity with this beauty.
Maybe good-looking people are all the same, Xu Chengzhou initially didn’t think much about it, but after looking for a while, he couldn’t help but discreetly take out his phone and open his photo album.
Lu Xingyan remained silent throughout.
The setting sun’s rays were a bit harsh, so he squinted as he examined Shen Xingru. After a while, he approached her.
Shen Xingruo was 165cm tall, which was normal for a girl, but Lu Xingyan was nearly 20cm taller than her. As he stood closer, he had to slightly tilt his head to meet her gaze.
It was the first time Lu Xingyan had examined Shen Xingruo at such close range.
Her fair skin was flawless, with soft and gentle contours that didn’t give off a sharp, glamorous visual effect. However, she rarely smiled, which, coupled with her cold temperament, easily created a sense of distance.
Seeing Lu Xingyan’s lack of expression, Shen Xingruo had already prepared herself to be grabbed by the collar and threatened with harsh words—”You’d better sweep this damn place.”
But then, Lu Xingyan nodded slightly. “Okay.”
Shen Xingruo waited for a moment, but when she didn’t hear the usual “You wait for me,” she realized that this “okay” seemed to be literal.
“Damn…”
Xu Chengzhou stood aside, his gaze shifting between the photos in his album and Shen Xingruo herself, unable to help but let out a sigh.
“Hey, beauty, you…”
Shen Xingruo didn’t even spare him a glance, didn’t say a word, and just walked away.
Xu Chengzhou was still immersed in excitement. Shen Xingruo had left, and he was still holding onto his phone, grabbing Lu Xingyan’s arm, eager to share his newfound discovery.
“Hey hey hey, isn’t this the girl who splashed water on you in the high-speed rail? Do you remember, she used your water and even gave you five bucks back? Look at this photo, it’s her! So, this is Shen Xingru! What a coincidence!”
Lu Xingyan remained expressionless. “Get me a broom.”
“Excuse me???”
“A broom.”
So, that evening, as students passed by the basketball court, they witnessed an eerie scene: Lu Xingyan, the well-known young master of the prestigious Mingli School, was sweeping the basketball court.
He was tall and slim, his sweeping posture somewhat careless. With the setting sun behind him, only his slender silhouette remained on the basketball court.
Shen Xingruo finished her dinner and went back to the evening self-study. By the side of the playground, she overheard passing girls discussing:
“Isn’t that Lu Xingyan from the sophomore class?”
“Yes, it’s him… Is he sweeping the floor? Oh my goodness.”
Some girls who didn’t know who Lu Xingyan was asked curiously, “Is he famous?”
“You don’t know? His dad is the chairman of Jinsheng.”
“Ohhh… him, I’ve heard about him.”
Jinsheng was the leading real estate company in Xingcheng and a prominent real estate developer nationwide. Even if one didn’t know the specifics, the name alone carried weight.
In Mingli School, coming from a good family background was a standard feature. University professors and corporate executives were common, and only those with special or exceptionally wealthy backgrounds attracted attention in terms of family background.
The girls slowed their pace, continuing their discussion:
“It’s so strange. Why do I see the words ‘repentance’ on him?”
“Where did he go astray? Hey, don’t you think he looks handsome sweeping the floor? Good-looking people are just different, even when sweeping.”
Shen Xingruo glanced towards the playground.
Indeed, he was different. A spot that a normal person could sweep in ten minutes, he had been sweeping for half an hour and still hadn’t finished.
During evening self-study, as darkness descended and the moon cast its faint light through the thin clouds, occasionally glimmering stars, Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan had switched seats to the last row of the fourth group, the most secluded corner.
Shen Xingruo opened the window.
The gentle breeze of early spring brushed through the night, causing pages of books to flutter with a faint rustle. Outside the window, the leaves rustled softly, and the branches swayed, while the bright lights from the buildings across the courtyard flickered intermittently.
During the first session of evening self-study, Shen Xingruo finished her homework and planned to spend the second session practicing math problems. However, as soon as the bell rang for the second session to start, Lu Xingyan casually slung his backpack over his shoulder and strolled in.
Until Lu Xingyan took a seat to her right, Shen Xingruo hadn’t written a single word.
—This young master had way too much presence.
Shen Xingruo glanced at him and noticed that he seemed to have showered, his hair was soft, not completely dry yet, and there was a clean scent of grassy shower gel lingering on him.
Lu Xingyan dropped his backpack and said, “I forgot.”
?
Seeing her lack of response, Lu Xingyan impatiently repeated, “I forgot, it wasn’t intentional.”
Oh.
He was talking about sweeping the floor.
Shen Xingruo thought for a moment and asked, “Have you eaten?”
Lu Xingyan glanced at her, seeming to find the topic a bit off, but he instinctively replied, “No.”
Shen Xingruo put down her pen and took out a sandwich from her backpack, placing it on his desk.
“When did you buy this?”
Lu Xingyan glanced at it.
“Last night, it has a three-day shelf life.”
It was a sandwich Shen Xingruo had prepared for herself for breakfast, but she had woken up early today and went to have noodle soup with Zhai Jiajing and Shi Qin instead, so she didn’t eat it.
Lu Xingyan didn’t show much disdain. He picked up the sandwich, inspected it for a moment, then tore open the packaging.
“Remember not to eat during class,” Shen Xingruo reminded me.
Lu Xingyan raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you give it to me?”
“You can eat it after class.”
Lu Xingyan smirked lightly, remained silent for three seconds, then actually put the sandwich down.
During the forty-five minutes of evening self-study, Shen Xingruo finished a set of practice papers, while Lu Xingyan slept for a full forty minutes.
When the bell rang to signal the end of class, he still wasn’t fully awake, leaning against the back of his chair, absentmindedly running his fingers through his hair and yawning.
When he finally came to, he slung his backpack over his shoulder, picked up the sandwich, and casually left.
Was this young master attending evening self-study just to say “I forgot”?
Shen Xingruo was tidying up her pencil case, and seeing him like this, her movements paused momentarily.
A few days ago, Wang Youfu had a burst of anger in class, and ever since then, he hadn’t been particularly friendly towards them, especially during Political Science class.
After about a week, Wang Youfu’s anger finally subsided. Upon reflection, he probably realized that punishing Shen Xingruo didn’t make much sense. So, during class, he went on to praise Shen Xingruo extensively.
Perhaps in a state of confusion, Shen Xingruo hadn’t even achieved a single grade yet, but he started talking as if Shen Xingruo had already mastered everything, even comparing her to someone who could easily find treasures in a bag.
With Wang Youfu leading the way and a bunch of other teachers praising her, Shen Xingru, who had transferred not long ago, had already established herself as a top student in everyone’s minds.
In late March, the second year of Mingli High School welcomed the first monthly exam of the semester.
Starting this semester, exams of all sizes no longer strictly adhered to the syllabus. At most, they included a bit more from the current review material and a bit less from material that hadn’t been reviewed yet.
Before the exam, Shi Qin was extremely nervous. “I heard that this time the math test was set by Baldy, and Baldy’s tests can be crazy! I still remember the test paper from the third monthly exam of the first year, and it was set by him. The pass rate for the whole grade was less than 30%!”
“It’s okay. If you don’t know it, most people won’t know it either. Just relax,” Zhai Jiajing was as comforting as ever.
“That’s easy to say, but my mom said if I fail math again, she’ll deduct half of my living expenses!” Shi Qin said as she tried to solve math problems, but the more she calculated, the more she couldn’t understand, and she was instantly anxious to the point of baldness.
Seeing that Shen Xingruo was already doing sit-ups on her bed, she looked up and asked, “Xingru, does doing sit-ups make you less nervous?”
?
Shen Xingruo paused, pondering for a moment. “In theory, it’s possible. When your body is tired, you don’t have time to be nervous.”
After saying that, she added, “But I just plan on sleeping.”
Now even Zhai Jiajing and Li Ting couldn’t help but turn to look at her.
“Xingru, don’t you plan to review your books again? This time, the Chinese exam was set by the head of the Chinese department, and the classical Chinese analysis part she set is quite difficult,” Zhai Jiajing said.
Shen Xingruo finished a set of sit-ups and spread out her blanket. “I’d rather not. I’m already sleepy.”
Li Ting was curious. “Shen Xingru, I heard you used to often rank first in exams at Huize No. 1 Middle School?”
“Not often.”
She wasn’t outstanding in subjects like physics, chemistry, and biology. In a school like Huize No. 1 Middle School, where even science competition participants scored over 100 if these three subjects were made a bit more difficult, it would put her at a disadvantage.
In the first year, she only ranked first in the final exams for two terms. After she switched to liberal arts in the second year, she was consistently ranked first.
Seeing that Shen Xingruo had calmly laid down, Li Ting wanted to ask more questions, but for a moment, she forgot what she wanted to ask.
When it came to exams, the efficiency of the grade group was always high, and the exam schedule was released two days in advance.
Shen Xingru, as a transfer student, was lucky enough to be assigned to the “Bright Return” hall, sitting in the last seat of the last row of the last exam session.
Lu Xingyan was also in the last exam session, but he managed to sit in the first seat of the first group based on his abilities.
Looking at the seating arrangements, he glanced at Shen Xingru’s seat and said, “We’re in the same exam session.”
Shen Xingruo responded with a simple “Hmm.”
Lu Xingyan added, “But I’m sitting in the first seat of the first group, and you’re sitting in the last seat of the last group.”
“…,” Shen Xingruo glanced at him, unsure if it was just her imagination, but she somehow sensed a strange sense of superiority emanating from Lu Xingyan.