Students arrived at the classroom one after another. Since the opening ceremony was scheduled for the morning, everyone was uniformly dressed in school uniforms.
"Missed your bro?"
Chen Haoyu rushed in from outside, and Mufeng Su reached out to high-five him—their unique way of greeting each other.
Luoyi Zhao was startled by his sudden movement.
Mufeng Su smiled and asked, "Your competition is over. How did it go?"
"Not bad, I managed to win a second prize, but I still can't compare to you."
At that moment, Chen Haoyu also noticed Luoyi Zhao's presence.
Mufeng Su introduced her: "Oh, right. This is Luoyi Zhao. She transferred to our class this year, and she's my deskmate."
"Hello, I'm Chen Haoyu, Mufeng Su's best buddy and close friend since childhood."
"Hello, I'm Luoyi Zhao, Mufeng Su's deskmate."
Hearing this self-introduction, Chen Haoyu felt a strange, indescribable sensation in his heart.
"Mufeng Su, come out and get ready. Chen Haoyu, organize the class discipline."
"Copy that!"
Yu Zhang came to call Mufeng Su in person to prepare for the opening ceremony, which showed how much importance he attached to it.
Ordinarily, according to the usual rules, Mufeng Su should have attended in his school uniform, but this time was different as it happened to coincide with the school anniversary. To make things look more formal, an outfit had been specially prepared for him.
Chen Haoyu directed: "Students, line up at the classroom door. We're heading to the playground to get ready for the opening ceremony. Remember to wear your school uniforms properly, and keep the line neat when we go downstairs—the whole school is watching." Chen Haoyu had another role as the monitor of Class 2, Grade 2. Although his academics weren't as outrageously good as Mufeng Su's, he was still exceptionally stellar and consistently ranked in the top thirty of his grade.
...
The opening ceremony began.
Speeches were given by the principal, a senior-year teacher, and a senior student to prepare for the college entrance examination and offer encouragement...
"Next, we invite Mufeng Su from Class 2, Grade 2 to take the stage and share his study experiences with everyone."
Instantly, thunderous applause broke out from the audience, along with a few people deliberately heckling.
The grade director glared at a few students who were making a ruckus, scaring them into a cold sweat down their backs.
Normally, sharing study experiences should have been done by the top-performing student of the senior year, especially since they were about to take the college entrance examination. But due to Mufeng Su's stellar grades since entering school, this task naturally fell to him.
"Testing, testing."
As soon as Mufeng Su appeared on the podium, gasps echoed among the students.
"Hey, this senior is so handsome."
"Yeah, yeah. Maybe we just entered high school and didn't realize our school had such a handsome senior."
Some of the girls who had just entered the tenth grade started discussing excitedly.
Originally, Yu Zhang had called Mufeng Su to the backstage just to change his clothes—the school teachers had specially prepared a suit for him. Never did they expect that once Mufeng Su put on the suit, his entire aura would be completely different from usual, as if he had become a completely different person.
The suit fit him, perfectly displaying his hidden temperament. Even the teacher who prepared the clothes for him couldn't help taking a few extra glances.
Standing at one meter eighty-five with a fresh, short haircut and a confident, charming smile at the corners of his mouth, his entrance dazzled everyone.
"Looking pretty sharp today, deskmate."
Ever since Mufeng Su made his appearance, Luoyi Zhao's gaze hadn't left him for a second as she observed him closely.
Mufeng Su's appearance this time practically reaped countless fan girls.
"Top of the grade, tall, and exceptionally handsome—what kind of idol drama male lead is this?!"
"Wow, Mufeng Su is actually so handsome? How come I never noticed before?" said a girl from Class 2.
Qi Yue's reaction was different from everyone else's. She clenched her fists in the audience, gripping her palms tightly.
"Good morning, teachers and fellow students. I am Mufeng Su from Class 2, Grade 2. Next, I will share my study insights with everyone."
"Personally, I think study methods aren't all that complicated: finish the homework assigned by the teachers on time, preview and thoroughly review the material to be learned that day in advance... These are my study methods, and I hope they can help my fellow students. Thank you, everyone."
Mufeng Su bowed deeply to the teachers and students in the audience, then turned and left without leaving a trace.
Mufeng Su's steady performance on stage won Yu Zhang plenty of face.
"Good job."
Yu Zhang patted Mufeng Su on the shoulder affectionately. Yu Zhang had always held exceptionally high expectations for him. Ever since Mufeng Su enrolled, he didn't just treat him like an ordinary student—sometimes, the boy was truly too smart.
Just as he walked back into the classroom, Mufeng Su felt as though all eyes suddenly converged on him, especially the way some girls looked at him, as if they wanted to devour him whole.
Feeling somewhat unaccustomed to being stared at by so many people at once, Mufeng Su hurried back to his seat and let out a long sigh of relief.
Back at his seat, Luoyi Zhao was scrutinizing him closely, leaving Mufeng Su somewhat perplexed.
"Did something happen today? What's wrong with everyone, and why are they all staring at me?"
Luoyi Zhao said with some excitement, "Mufeng Su, has anyone ever told you that you're very handsome? Maybe you usually like to keep your head down so nobody noticed. But look at you now—you've harvested countless little fan girls at today's opening ceremony."
Mufeng Su scratched his head and actually tried to recall: "I think someone might have mentioned it before, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Good looks can't fill your stomach anyway."
Luoyi Zhao rolled her eyes at him. Was he really not putting on an act?
With looks like yours, you could totally make a living off your face, alright?
Luoyi Zhao muttered inwardly.
He didn't change at all because of the attention and adulation from the crowd. During class, he remained as focused as ever, and when teachers called on students to answer questions, it was still basically him—who else was as good at studying?
However, some changes did occur. For instance, during breaks, the doorway of Class 2 was always crowded with girls lingering in the corridor, vying to peek inside the classroom.
This gave the boys in the class a delusion common to most teenagers—that everyone was looking at them—when in reality, these girls were mostly there for Mufeng Su.
Some bolder girls even walked right into the classroom to hand him love letters or ask for his phone number or QQ handle, all of which he declined one by one.
In truth, Mufeng Su was also feeling quite stifled. He wasn't used to so many people suddenly swarming around him either; he just didn't show it on his face, so he looked as calm as usual.
Finally, noon arrived.
"Luoyi, wanna go get lunch together?"
Mufeng Su took the initiative to ask.
"Sure, let's go now then." Luoyi Zhao smiled sweetly.
Even Mufeng Su didn't know why he would ask her; perhaps it was because they had gone together for two days in a row, and he had simply gotten used to eating meals as a pair.
Chen Haoyu was just about to come over and call Mufeng Su to lunch when he found that he and Luoyi Zhao had already left.
Walking side by side on campus, the attention they drew was even higher than before—one was the campus belle, and the other was the campus heartthrob.
The two of them familiarly got their food at the serving window and purposely picked a very secluded little corner. Yet, they still underestimated their classmates' enthusiasm; the moment they sat down, the empty seats around them were instantly occupied by other students.
The two made eye contact and smiled awkwardly.
"Mufeng Su, are you used to being watched by so many people?"
Luoyi Zhao poked the rice in her plate with a spoon and asked offhandedly.
Mufeng Su glanced at the surrounding crowd, wore an awkward expression, and said, "Can't really call it being used to it. To tell you a secret, I actually don't really like people looking at me like that; it makes me feel somewhat uneasy." Mufeng Su said with a hint of grievance.
"And what about you?" Mufeng Su asked in return.
"Me... I've gotten used to it long ago. Ever since I was little, a lot of annoying boys said they liked me and wanted to chase me, but I didn't feel anything about it."
"True, you are very pretty after all," Mufeng Su said subconsciously.
Luoyi Zhao's cheeks instantly turned crimson, and even her earlobes flushed with a rosy hue.
"Mufeng Su, can you tell me about yourself? As your deskmate, I want to understand you a bit better."
Qi Yue's request had long since been cast to the back of her mind.
The one who wanted to understand the person before her was her, Luoyi Zhao.
This was the first time she had ever taken the initiative to want to understand a boy.
After swallowing the food in his mouth, Mufeng Su slowly began, "Actually, other than having slightly better grades, I've just been an ordinary kid since I was little. I wasn't mischievous as a child; I probably matured a bit earlier. Unlike other kids who could play around without a care in the world, from a very young age I started going with my mom to help her sell vegetables. Back then, people probably saw that I was young and couldn't bear to see me freezing outside in the wind, wanting me to go home earlier, so almost everyone would come to our stall to buy vegetables first."
"Back then, I received a lot of care from people."
Mufeng Su spoke about these things casually. He didn't know why he was telling Luoyi Zhao all this, nor did he feel that talking about it was shameful; it was just that he had never shared it with anyone else before.
So this was how he used to get by?
He must have suffered a lot of hardship when he was little, right?
His childhood was completely different from everyone else's, yet he was still so optimistic.
Luoyi Zhao thought to herself: instead of spending a child's childhood playing around with friends, he had to be sensible, take care of the household, and understand his parents' hardships. His childhood must have missed out on that part meant for being a kid.
He must have had a really tough time all along.
Luoyi Zhao's gaze was filled with tenderness and heartache.
"Luoyi? Luoyi? Are you listening?"
Mufeng Su waved his hand back and forth in front of Luoyi Zhao's eyes.
Luoyi Zhao snapped back to her senses, her eyes slightly moist.
"Go on, I'm listening. You must have had a really hard time growing up—wasn't it exhausting?"
Mufeng Su shook his head.
"It wasn't really that exhausting. My parents raised me this big, and they gave me everything they could. I'm extremely grateful to them."
"Right now, I only hope that through my own efforts, I can let them live a good life a little sooner."
"Without having to rise before dawn and toil until late at night, where they can sleep in, eat delicious meals, and have surplus time and money to do what they love without worrying about food and clothing."
When Mufeng Su said these words, his gaze was unwavering; he was determined to make it happen.
"Actually, you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. You're only in the eleventh grade; you should study hard right now and get into a good university before thinking about how to repay them."
Before she knew it, Luoyi Zhao's hand had landed on Mufeng Su's head, gently stroking his hair as if comforting his unsettled emotions.
Both of them froze. Luoyi Zhao instantly blushed furiously, quickly pulling her hand back and not daring to look at him, while Mufeng Su couldn't stop smiling.
"Eat your food, the dishes are getting cold." Luoyi Zhao kicked his shin.
"Got it."