Qingran and Li Qingmo are not in the same class; one is in Class 1 and the other in Class 3, with Qingran in Class 1 and Li Qingmo going to Class 3.
They have already entered the second half of their senior year, but the academic atmosphere remains so-so.
On the first school day, it had been over half a month since the old classmates last saw each other, and those on good terms gathered around to catch up. Ruan Ruan, Qingran's deskmate, who is quite the chatterbox, started talking non-stop as soon as she sat down.
"Ranran, why did you cut your hair? That's such a pity! Long hair down to your waist looked so good."
Qingran had cut her waist-length hair to shoulder length over the holiday break, just enough to tie it back in a ponytail.
"Taking care of it took too much time, and I can always grow it out again. Right now, studying is more important."
"Pfft," Ruan Ruan clutched her chest and pretended to spit blood, "A lethal blow from a top student to a poor student!"
"..."
Actually, how could there be any poor students in a key class? Ruan Ruan's grades were among the top hundred in the grade and she was also within the top ten in the class, hanging on at the tenth spot.
The lively atmosphere in the classroom didn't last long as the homeroom teacher, Old Wu, walked in on the tail end of the bell, followed by a girl, none other than Wen Shiyi.
Having a transfer student on the first day of school, and such a soft-looking girl at that, surely meant her grades must be among the top to be transferred into a key class. Several spoiled rich kids in the class were overjoyed at the sight of Wen Shiyi's pretty face.
Qingran clearly saw a sparkle in Wen Shiyi's eyes when she noticed her.
Teacher Old Wu pointed out the only empty seat for the transfer student to sit down. Qingran gripped her pen a little tighter and from the corner of her eye watched Wen Shiyi walk towards the only empty seat beside Xie Ying'an after introducing herself, it was to the right of Xie Ying'an.
Xie Ying'an's parents were flying to company in H country tomorrow, so Xie Ying'an wasn't at school today.
As typical of Mary Sue novels, the male lead always has some quirks, quirks that seem magically fixed when facing the female lead.
Xie Ying'an is an example of this. As one of his few female playmates from childhood, Qingran knows Xie Ying'an very well. She doesn't know what got into him, but he had come to believe that keeping a distance of over a meter from girls was the 'safe distance.'
Perhaps he never really saw Qingran as a girl, or maybe because he was too familiar with Qingran, he never mentioned the nonsense about 'safe distance.' Qingran remembers that at the beginning of senior year, Xie Ying'an had even asked her if she wanted to be deskmates. After she rejected him, he was upset for a couple of days and since then, has always sat alone.
Ruan Ruan whispered to Qingran, "Tsk tsk, the teacher actually let the newcomer sit next to the school bully. Everyone knows he keeps his distance from girls. Isn't this sabotaging that poor girl?"
Qingran was a little puzzled, taking advantage of the chaos before class officially started, she leaned closer to Ruan Ruan, lowering her voice like her, "Isn't Xie Ying'an the school prince? I thought Li Qingmo was the school bully, why do people now call Xie Ying'an the school bully?"
"Fuck!" Ruan Ruan cursed, looking at Qingran somewhat incredulously, "You didn't know about Brother An fighting with those jerks from the vocational high school last summer?
"..."
"Brother An and Brother Mo took on ten by themselves and beat those losers so badly they didn't dare cause trouble again, and you didn't hear about it?"
"..."
"Aren't you and Brother An childhood sweethearts? Isn't Brother Mo your actual brother? How could you not know these things?"
Qingran had not yet snapped out of being called the school bully, and now she was taken aback by the sudden jump to Brother An and Brother Mo. She found it hard to believe: "Our school is so far from the vocational high school. Li Qingmo usually loves to stir up trouble, and Xie Ying'an usually doesn't cause any problems. How could they end up fighting?"
"I don't know about that." Ruan Ruan scratched her chin, pretending to look profound. Based on the sporadic gossip she heard, she began to dig deeper: "I suspect it's because of that vocational high school 'school beauty'. I heard she fell in love with Brother An at first sight, was amazed by Brother An's looks, and swore she'd make him hers. Joking, right? Brother An doesn't even care about our school beauty who's so pretty, why would he care about her? She should take a good look at herself in the ditch water. Just being a school beauty doesn't mean everything will go as wished, fancying someone like..."
Qingran listened seriously as Ruan Ruan completed her imaginative soap opera about the love and hate drama between the vocational high school beauty and Xie Ying'an. Qingran could hardly express her feelings and glanced at her deskmate: "Ruannuan, you should become a novelist. You'd be popular."
To be able to fantasize about love at first sight, heartache at the second, loss of appetite, unrequited love, hate borne of love, disappearance from the world, all from bits and pieces of gossip, Ruan Ruan really had a talent.
"Do you think so too, Ranran? I've always planned that if I can't find a job after college, I'll make a living by writing novels."
"..."
What grand aspirations!
During break, Wen Shiyi approached Qingran's empty desk in front, clearly delighted to see Qingran in the same school and class, her cute little fangs appeared as she smiled: "I didn't expect such a coincidence. We ended up in the same class. That day you left before I could properly thank you."
Qingran smiled. No coincidence is coincidental if you're living in a novel, but how would the plot unfold next?
Wen Shiyi's gaze landed on the school emblem on Qingran's chest: "So your name is Qingran. I finally know your name."
"Hey, newcomer!" A cold female voice suddenly interrupted, and Huang Qianyu, hands crossed on her chest, surveyed Wen Shiyi up and down with a strong attitude, "I advise you to leave that seat soon. Xie Ying'an hates it when someone else sits next to his seat."
The face-off between the fourth female side character in the book and the female protagonist just began.
Wen Shiyi blinked twice and asked the unfriendly school beauty in a gentle and warm tone, "Why is that?"
"Tsk–" Huang Qianyu scoffed, pointing at Qingran: "Why? If you want to know, ask Li Qingran."
Wen Shiyi then really turned her head, looking inquiringly at Qingran.
"..." Qingran was completely bewildered.
Meanwhile, the Gossip King, Ruan Ruan, who had just returned from going crazy in the next class, seemed to know some inside information. With a suspicious look, she gazed at Qingran: "Isn't it because Brother Mo doesn't allow Brother An to contact anyone?"
This odd habit of Xie Ying'an had been present since childhood. How did it relate to Li Qingmo now?
As Ruan Ruan watched the two pretty and cute girls seeking knowledge from her, she suddenly felt a wave of responsibility. She straightened her broad school uniform sleeves, about to begin storytelling when, inappropriately, the bell rang for class.
As a good student and school bully, Qingran quickly curbed her curiosity, sat upright, and opened the physics book on her desk. Wen Shiyi also said goodbye and hurriedly ran back to her seat, leaving Ruan Ruan disheveled for the entire period.
But that wasn't the end. After class, Li Qingmo appeared at the Class One doorway and called Qingran out. Qingran didn't return for the classes in the afternoon. With Qingran not at her seat, the transfer student Wen Shiyi didn't come over again, and Ruan Ruan was on the verge of bursting with bottled-up intrigue until school ended.