Outside the school gates of Fu Zhong, numerous private cars were parked to drop off and pick up students, among which quite a few were luxury cars.
As bicycles approached within a hundred meters of the school, they gradually slowed down to weave through the cars. Along the way, quite a few students noticed Jiang Zhi—the school bully who was notoriously aloof—actually giving someone a ride on the back of his bicycle, and a girl at that.
Facing everyone's sideways glances, Chi Wan's expression remained calm and undisturbed, as if the person everyone was looking at and discussing had nothing to do with her.
"Didn't they say young master Jiang doesn't associate with women? Even campus belle Lu has been turned away by him time and time again. Who is this girl?" a student muttered softly to the person beside him.
"I have no idea, but she's pretty. I never expected young master young master Jiang to go for the cold and aloof type."
A boy patted a student from Class 16 walking ahead of him and asked with curiosity, "Hey, Zhang Qin, aren't you right next door to Class 17? Do you know anything about this?"
The student from Class 16 watched the boy and girl ride away and shook his head. "I'm not sure either, but I heard their class got a transfer student this semester. She's from the countryside and has an incredible amount of nerve. As soon as she arrived, she took the seat right next to young master Jiang. You guys know that seat had been empty for a whole year."
He pushed up the thick-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and continued, "Besides, that transfer student put campus belle Lu in her place not long ago."
"No way, so much has happened? This transfer student is that wild? Quick, quick, tell our group all about it..." Several of them slung their arms over each other's shoulders, gossiping away.
Lu Yulin, who had just stepped out of a car only to see the two of them riding intimately together, stood by the vehicle and stared fixedly at that spot. The exquisite and attractive lunchbox she held in her hand almost dropped to the ground, her pretty, large eyes brimming with jealousy and resentment.
"Morning, Yulin! Why aren't you heading in?" A girl ran up with a bright smile on her face and greeted her.
Lu Yulin wore a cold face and ignored her, striding resolutely toward the school gates.
The girl was momentarily stunned. Watching Lu Yulin's arrogant demeanor as she looked down on everyone around her, she couldn't help spitting out a curse, "Tch, I really don't know what she's so stuck-up about. Even looking that pretty, people still can't be bothered with her."
Inside the bicycle shed, Chi Wan stretched out her left foot and effortlessly touched the ground.
She stood to the side and waited for Jiang Zhi to park his bike. Since she had already swaggered into the school riding on his vehicle, there was no point in trying to disassociate herself or clear her name now.
Chi Wan looked at the boy's tall, straight back. Jiang Zhi was undeniably handsome. He always carried a sense of innate arrogance and nobility, paired with the unruliness proper to a youth. Both his family background and his appearance made him someone people flocked to, yet despite all that, he only ever kept Yan Xu by his side, never using his privileges to form cliques at school or indulge in a dissolute and romantic lifestyle.
A sharp snap echoed near her ear. Chi Wan snapped out of her daze.
The boy curled his lips in amusement. "What are you thinking about? You can zone out even in a span like this. Impressive, little master."
Chi Wan gave him a sideways look and walked away.
Jiang Zhi's eyes held a smile as he followed behind.
And so, this pleasing-to-the-eye scene appeared on campus: a slender, tall girl with a black cloth bag slung over one shoulder, wearing a stern expression on her face as she earnestly watched the path ahead, followed closely by a lazy and leisurely boy who occasionally wore a faint smile.
On the third floor of the sophomore teaching building, the student council president's office was situated right in the middle.
Qin Nanyang stood by the window, watching the two figures—one following the other—and murmured, "So she's his person. No wonder..."
Cai Zhenghao, busy working at his desk, looked up at his friend standing by the window and asked in confusion, "Nanyang, what are you muttering about?"
"Nothing." Qin Nanyang smiled.
"There's a new transfer student in Class 17 this semester. This is the information Li Chunhua handed over." Cai Zhenghao pulled a sheet of paper from the student data folder and handed it to him.
Qin Nanyang took it. "Class 17?"
"Yeah. A girl, apparently transferred from a small village under Cong County in Jiang City."
Cai Zhenghao set down what he was holding and reached out to point something out to him, but his ink-stained finger was avoided just as it was about to touch the paper.
Qin Nanyang glanced at his pitch-black fingertips and smiled with a slightly cool tone, "I see it."
He looked at the one-inch ID photo on the paper. The girl's shoulder-length black hair was loose, and her gaze pierced the lens like a blazing torch, as if she were staring directly at him. He remembered those tear-filled, brilliant eyes and her pitiful appearance when they first met, which contrasted sharply with both this photo and the scene downstairs just now.
Qin Nanyang carefully read the information above: Name: Chi Wan, born June 6, 2006, native of Jinshi, graduate of Longyang Village Junior High School, studied at Cong County No. 1 High School for one year, entrance score: 206 points.
Seeing this score, he couldn't help pausing in surprise, then chuckled softly. He continued reading downward: the relatives section was completely blank, and there was no contact phone number listed either.
"Why wasn't this filled out?" he asked, pointing at the blank space with the paper.
Cai Zhenghao habitually reached out to take a look again, only to be avoided once more as he heard his friend's calm reminder, "Your hands are dirty."
Only then did Cai Zhenghao notice the ink stains on his hands. He curled his lips and pulled his hand back. "Huh? Oh right, so I was planning to send it back and have her fill it out again."
Then he heard Qin Nanyang ask, "Are you taking it to her right now?"
Cai Zhenghao was stunned. "Ah? There's no rush. I can just have someone run an errand later."
Yet he saw his friend holding that sheet of paper and preparing to leave. "I happen to be heading to the cafeteria. I'll just drop it off on the way."
"You're going to the cafeteria? Perfect, can you grab me some breakfast? I've been here sorting out this junk all morning and haven't even had time to eat," Cai Zhenghao called out toward Qin Nanyang, who was already walking out the door.
"Yeah, got it." The clear, refined voice vanished around the corner.
Unlike the quiet and serious atmosphere of Class 1, Class 17 was much more chaotic.
Standing at the front door, Qin Nanyang immediately spotted the quiet girl sitting in the last row. Next to her were his old acquaintances Jiang Zhi and Yan Xu, who seemed to be arguing about something while Yan Xu gestured wildly.
He stopped a girl and asked gently for help, "Hello, classmate. Could you please do me a favor and call classmate Chi Wan from your class?"
The girl, who was just about to enter the classroom, was suddenly called over. Seeing the smiling and gentle boy, she froze for a moment and said nervously, "O-okay."
Then she ran off with a blushing face to fetch her.
Chi Wan, who was sitting at her desk in deep thought, felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up.
The girl delivered the message with a radiant smile, pointed toward the door, and said, "Chi Wan, President Qin is looking for you."
After saying that, she shyly turned her face away. Chi Wan looked in the direction the girl was pointing. The boy was standing against the light, his height of over six feet blocking most of the illumination from the doorway.
Meeting the girl's cool gaze, Qin Nanyang smiled gracefully and gave a nod of acknowledgment.
Chi Wan frowned, stood up, and walked toward the front door.
Yan Xu, who had been talking animatedly, put his hands down. He glared at the boy at the door and muttered frostily, "What is that fellow Qin Nanyang doing in our class? Why is he looking for Chi Wan?"
Jiang Zhi's gaze followed Chi Wan's back as he watched the two people standing at the doorway. Chi Wan had her back turned so he couldn't see her expression, but he saw Qin Nanyang smiling quite cheerfully—which, in his eyes, looked entirely like a peacock spreading its tail to attract bees and butterflies.
He let out a cold sneer and spoke in an icy tone, "So ugly."
"Huh?" Yan Xu was stunned.
Though he also detested Qin Nanyang, calling him ugly... well, since his bro said he was ugly, then he was ugly.
So he chimed in, "That's right, truly ugly."
Little did he expect his good buddy, speaking with a thirty-seven-degree mouth, to deliver words of minus thirty-seven degrees. Jiang Zhi glanced sideways at him and said, "You're ugly too."
Yan Xu felt as though a heavy arrow had pierced his heart. He was just like some innocent dog walking by that got kicked for no reason whatsoever. *Sob...*