Su Li opened her eyes again, and she had become the young girl she had seen in her consciousness moments before.
She was dressed in a white shirt and a black pleated skirt, the uniform issued by Shenghua University.
On the desk in front of her was an advanced mathematics textbook spread open.
On the podium, an elder dressed in Tang attire was energetically explaining on the blackboard, but the students below were listlessly doing their own things.
The female students were either whispering about the latest cosmetics and fashion trends or fiddling with their smartphones.
The male students were discussing their recently hooked-up girlfriends with sleazy expressions or the current hot female celebrities.
Apart from Su Li, there were few who were seriously listening to the lecture.
The elderly professor on the podium seemed to be used to it, continuing with his lecture without concern for the situation below, acting as if he saw nothing.
When the bell rang for the end of the class, the professor didn't want to stay a second longer, promptly picked up his textbook, and walked straight out.
In the classroom, there were scattered sounds of chairs dragging and desks being moved.
Next to Su Li, the sound of a chair dragging followed by a shadow cast over her head.
A girl with delicate makeup and a fashionable dress pulled up a chair and sat down next to her.
Her attitude was very friendly, her fair and cute face coming closer with blinking eyes, full of gossip, she asked Su Li, "I heard that An Jiuge confessed his love to you yesterday?"
"It's all around the school now. An Jiuge has made it clear that no matter what, he's determined to win over your heart."
Xia Zhilan held her hands with stars in her eyes, her voice laced with envy, "You have no idea how many people at school are green with envy over you right now."
Su Li looked at Xia Zhilan's girlish demeanor indifferently and said lightly, "I'm not considering these things right now, I'm still young."
Xia Zhilan turned her head silently, a quick flash of displeasure in her eyes that swiftly vanished.
She said loudly with an exaggerated voice, "You're already sixteen; in some countries, that's the legal age for marriage. If this was ancient times, you might already be the mother of several children...."
"And we're at university now. Don't act like a bookworm every day; you should learn to enjoy life... We're just talking about dating, not getting married..."
Su Li let her talk without stop, her hands kept turning the pages of the book, quickly going through the entire advanced mathematics text from start to finish.
"Hey, Su Li, are you even listening to me..." Xia Zhilan dragged her voice, pouting and slightly tugging on Su Li's arm in dissatisfaction.
Without even looking up, Su Li replied faintly, "I wasn't listening... What did you say just now?"
This made Xia Zhilan utterly frustrated. It took several mental readjustments to suppress the anger bubbling inside her.
By the time she managed to force a smile and was ready to talk to Su Li again, the person in front of her had already packed her things and was walking out.
Su Li had no patience to entangle with Xia Zhilan, who thought she had disguised herself well, but all Su Li could see was malice towards her.
Once, the studious Su Li couldn't see through it and even thought they were really close.
It could be said that Xia Zhilan played a significant role in leading the original body to that path.
Su Li returned to her single dorm room, closed the door behind her, and began to seriously contemplate her next steps.
She had already entered Shenghua University and even caught the interest of one of the Shenghua Four Giants, An Jiuge.
With her grades, she could have chosen a better university, but the offer from Shenghua was too good to pass up. Not only was the tuition and living expenses covered, but there was also a generous scholarship available each semester. With this, Su Li wouldn't have to spend money on university, could even earn some, and help to support her family, easing her parents' hardships.
However, the original Su Li hadn't considered the environment she was in; this private elite university essentially served as the playground for children from wealthy and powerful families, simply a place to confine their children without any consideration for their desire to learn.
The original Su Li joining this place was like a little lamb walking into a pack of wolves.
She even became the amusement in their dull and restrained lives.
Su Li, with her incompatible temperament and entirely different status, became their favorite toy for teasing.
Given her current situation, Su Li had no intention of clashing with these people here to the death.
The advantages brought about by status and power were not something she could contend against now.
"Thud thud thud..."
The room door was knocked.
Xia Zhilan's breathless voice came from outside the door, "Su Li, what's the matter with you today? You didn't wait for me when you came back to the dorm."
The dormitories at Shenghua University are all single rooms, but indeed they are suite-style for two people, with Xia Zhilan living right next to her.
"Thud thud thud..."
Xia Zhilan kept knocking on the door without pause.
Swiftly pulling the door open, Su Li asked expressionlessly, "What is it?"
Xia Zhilan took a deep breath, her face stiff, and bizarrely asked, "Su Li, are you feeling unwell today? Why are you acting so out of character?"
Unusual, indeed. In the past, although Su Li wasn't very talkative, she would listen attentively whenever she spoke to her.
And though her face was usually impassive, making Xia feel quite bored, her replies were tempered with warmth, unlike now.
She seemed to be covered in thorns, making others extremely uncomfortable.
If it weren't for... If it weren't for Young Master An speaking up, do you think she would willingly mingle with the poor...
Not to mention she had been choking on her own words several times today.
Su Li reiterated her question, "Was there something you needed me for?"
Seeing Xia Zhilan twisting her face while remaining silent, Su Li assumed she had no real business and slammed the door shut with a "bang".
The door frame almost hit Xia Zhilan's nose, contorting her already twisted face into an even more ferocious grimace.
She carefully covered her nose, fuming.
Her nose, freshly done, had felt like an egg hit and knocked crooked, it was intensely irritating.
In the past, with someone as lowly as Su Li, she would have put her in her place long ago.
But now, she could only persuade herself to endure it, at a time when a few people were genuinely showing interest in Su Li.
After closing the door, Su Li didn't care what Xia Zhilan was thinking on the outside; she pulled out her laptop, thought for a bit, and composed an email to send to Professor Zheng, a Ph.D. supervisor in biology at Jing University.
In the email, she presented some ideas and train of thought regarding the research topics currently studied by Professor Zheng, along with attaching a complete biological structure model.
All of this was effortless for Su Li.
In her past life, although she had always been involved in literary circles, through Xi Muqian, she had also gained in-depth research and understanding of the biological and medical fields.
She thought that if the professor could see this email, he would definitely get in touch with her.