Grade 11, Class 17, which was also the former Grade 10, Class 17. The classroom was in an uproar, buzzing with chaotic energy.
"Yan Xu, tell them to keep it down." Jiang Zhi stretched out a leg and kicked the back of Yan Xu's chair.
Yan Xu immediately slapped his desk and shouted at the top of his lungs, "You guys are disturbing my Brother Zhi."
The noisy classroom instantly quieted down. After a moment, whispered murmurs began to spread, and someone glanced toward the single desk by the window in the back row of the classroom, where a boy in black was resting his head on one hand, facing outward.
"Alright, cut the chatter," Lu Yulin said, snapping her small mirror shut and casting a cold glance at the female deskmate beside her who was still whispering.
The female deskmate instantly shut her mouth, looked at her, and sat up straight.
When Li Chunhua walked in, he thought he had gone to the wrong place, so he backed out and stood at the door to double-check the class sign.
"This is Class 17, right?" he muttered, rubbing his thinning hairline.
Standing behind him was a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl with a backpack, looking quiet and demure.
Li Chunhua walked back into the classroom and coughed awkwardly twice. Only a few students raised their heads to look at him before going back to what they were doing, but it was very quiet.
He put down his teaching materials, his smile awkward and forced, and beckoned to the girl at the door. Some students noticed his action and looked in that direction.
In the quiet classroom, murmurs broke out immediately. "Who is that?"
"No idea. A new transfer student?"
"Hey, she's pretty. She looks almost as good as campus belle Lu," said one student, casting a stealthy glance at Lu Yulin in the fourth row.
Lu Yulin was currently looking at the newly arrived female student with keen interest.
"Everyone quiet down for a bit. We have a new student joining our class this semester, and I hope you'll all get along well," Li Chunhua said, turning to look at the girl beside him. With a gentle voice, he prompted, "Come on, Chi Wan, introduce yourself to everyone."
Chi Wan scanned the room and spoke in a clear, detached voice: "Hello everyone, my name is Chi Wan."
Li Chunhua smiled kindly and warmly, waiting for her to continue, his gaze even carrying a hint of encouragement.
From the first moment he saw Chi Wan, he felt that this little girl was definitely an anomaly in Class 17, a pool of clear water in Class 17's murky swamp.
The girl was pretty, but she gave off an extremely well-behaved and obedient impression. She was polite and mild-mannered when answering questions; it was just that her grades weren't good. Still, Li Chunhua thought, nobody in Class 17 had good grades anyway, and at least this girl treated him like a teacher.
He waited, but didn't hear the little girl continue. Taken aback, he asked, "That's it?"
Chi Wan nodded.
"O—okay, let me see where to seat you." Li Chunhua looked around, only to find that every seat was occupied.
"Ahem, well, student Chi, there are currently no empty seats in our class, but we'll be rearranging the seating in a couple of days. Look, why don't you sit here for now?" He pointed to the spot on the left of his podium.
Chi Wan shook her head instead, pointing a finger toward the single desk in the very back row. "Teacher, isn't there an empty seat over there? I'll sit there. It won't block anyone else's view."
When the others saw where she was pointing, they were stunned. Then someone let out a scornful snort.
Li Chunhua was also in a difficult position. He looked at the person who had gone back to sleeping facedown on the desk; no wonder the classroom had been so quiet today.
He looked at Chi Wan hesitatingly, lowering his voice instinctively as he suggested, "Well, student Chi, look at how far that spot is from the blackboard. It'll affect your eyesight. Sitting here is good—you're close to the teacher, and you can ask questions anytime."
"Thank you, teacher, but I won't be staying here very long, so that spot will do." Having said that, Chi Wan ignored the curious and probing gazes of the crowd and walked toward the back.
A few empty desks and chairs were stacked in the corner at the back of the classroom. Chi Wan walked straight over, effortlessly picked up a set amidst everyone's gazes, and placed it right beside that single desk. The classroom's only single seat was now gone.
Yan Xu's gaze had been following the girl ever since she entered the classroom. At first, it was her appearance—her fair skin, delicate features, and those peach-blossom eyes that looked as gentle as water yet carried a natural, unforced detachment. Compared to Lu Yulin's bold and dazzling beauty, she looked more like a piece of raw jade waiting to be carefully carved, making people want to uncover the truth beneath.
Only, this "jade" seemed a bit too daring.
Watching the thin girl, who looked like a gust of wind could blow her away, effortlessly pick up a set of desks and chairs without even breaking a sweat, Yan Xu added a silent mental note: *She's also super strong.*
Lu Yulin shared the exact same thought. Watching the girl actually sit down in that spot, she crushed the piece of paper she was holding; even a beauty frowning possessed its own scenery.
Some watched in appreciation, some mocked, and others simply waited for a good show.
Seeing that the girl was insistent on sitting there and had already seated herself, Li Chunhua said no more, figuring she would eventually move back to the spot he had suggested anyway.
Chi Wan sat down quietly, looking straight ahead as if the sleeping boy beside her did not exist, and took the upcoming textbook out of her school bag.
A hand entered her downward gaze and tapped lightly on her desktop. Chi Wan raised her head as intended.
"Hey, Chi Wan, right? I advise you to pack up your desk and chair and change seats as fast as you can," Yan Xu warned in a low voice. Even though she matched his aesthetic standards, his buddy's temper was more important.
Chi Wan spoke softly: "One month."
Yan Xu didn't catch it clearly. "What?"
"I'm only sitting here for a month. After the exams in a month, I'll leave." Leave this class.
The reason Chi Wan chose this spot was indeed because of Jiang Zhi. In this class, only this location made her feel comfortable and clean.
She looked with detached eyes at the glamorous boys and girls in the classroom. None of these people were to be trifled with, and none of them were any good either.
Relying on their families' power and wealth, they learned to form cliques and bully others under false pretenses at such a young age. Selfish, cold, and cruel.
As for her, she was merely passing through here for a month. Once the first round of exams was over, she was confident she could negotiate with the school to transfer to Class 1. Since she had a choice, she had no desire to wrong herself by dealing with people she disliked. At least at this spot, no one dared to come and bother her.
Chi Wan's gaze met an arrogant and gloomy look coming from ahead. She curved her lips slightly in what looked like a provocation.
The other person froze for a split second, then flashed an expression of exasperation that she quickly masked. Chi Wan chuckled softly and lowered her head, too lazy to look at her anymore.
She recalled how in her past life, she had spent a full year in this class and had been targeted by that group for two whole years, right up until she died in the sea of fire.
Chi Wan touched her face, her lowered eyes filled with mockery and ridicule.
When a person possessed beauty but lacked the ability to protect it, it was no longer a blessing, but a disaster.