The next morning, September 2nd.

In the classroom of Grade 1, Class 1.

Four core subject teachers stood on the podium, taking turns introducing themselves to the forty freshmen below.

The freshmen sat listening attentively.

It wasn’t because they were naturally docile, but simply because they weren’t familiar with each other yet, so things felt awkward and they didn’t know what to talk about.

“Alright, everyone, the four teachers have finished introducing themselves. Now it’s your turn to come up and introduce yourselves so that everyone can get acquainted.”

The homeroom teacher’s eyes landed on a girl sitting in the front row on the left and with a smile said, “Let’s start with this student, then go row by row, one after another.”

The girl seemed quite outgoing. As soon as the teacher finished speaking, she stood up with a smile and walked up to the podium.

“Hello everyone, my name is Chu Yuxi, my specialties are music, chess, calligraphy and painting…”

After that, the others followed in order, coming up one by one.

“My name is Zhong Yijia, I like watching anime, I like cosplay and I like sports…”

“My name is Peng Huoguang, I usually stay home playing games when I have nothing else to do…”

“…"

Lin Zichen sat toward the back, listening to the introductions.

While listening, he noticed a strand of hair on Shen Qinghan’s shoulder in front of him, so he reached out to remove it.

Feeling the touch on her back, Shen Qinghan thought Lin Zichen wanted to say something, so she turned around to look at him.

Lin Zichen explained, “I just saw a hair on your back, so I took it off for you.”

“Oh, okay.” Shen Qinghan nodded softly and turned back.

The two were no longer deskmates but sat front and back.

In this class, boys sat with boys and girls sat with girls, unlike in compulsory education when seating was mixed.

After all, most first-year high school students were around sixteen years old, with their gender characteristics fully developed, so mixed seating wasn’t considered appropriate anymore.

Lin Zichen could have used his privilege as a gifted student to continue sitting with Shen Qinghan, but he thought it wouldn’t be good for her growth.

For most of her life, aside from briefly having a white-haired girl as a friend in second grade, Shen Qinghan only ever had Lin Zichen in her circle of peers.

This was far too introverted and not a good thing.

A teenage girl needed more than just her childhood friend as company; she also needed friends of the same age and gender.

Only with peers of the same gender could she share certain topics, hobbies, joys and troubles.

The fastest way for Shen Qinghan to make female friends was for her to have a girl deskmate.

That’s why Lin Zichen agreed to change their arrangement from deskmates to sitting one behind the other.

* * *

As time passed, it was soon Shen Qinghan’s turn to introduce herself.

Because of her outstanding looks, she immediately drew everyone’s attention the moment she walked on stage.

“Hello everyone, m-my name is Shen Qinghan. I usually like… like drawing and… um, please take care of me.”

Under so many stares, she was overwhelmed with nerves. After quickly finishing her simple introduction, she immediately ran off the stage back to her seat.

Beforehand, she had been practicing in her head, determined to give a perfect introduction. But once on stage, her nerves made her forget everything, leaving her frustrated.

After a few more students introduced themselves, it was Lin Zichen’s turn.

The moment he stood up, he instantly caught the eyes of all the girls in the class.

Whispers broke out in the classroom, the girls all talking about how handsome he looked.

Ignoring the voices, he walked calmly to the podium and introduced himself with a straight face, “Hello everyone, my name is Lin Zichen. Please take care of me.”

He said just that one line and then returned to his seat.

It was the shortest introduction so far.

“Is he really that aloof?”

“He’s just pretending.”

“But wow, he’s really handsome, like ten times more than the most popular guy in my old class.”

“…"

Several boys whispered about Lin Zichen, with some unkind comments mixed in, spoken very quietly.

Lin Zichen’s sharp senses picked up every word, but he didn’t care.

Boys of this age, especially new high school freshmen just out of middle school, were always quick to size others up or feel competitive. He was used to it.

* * *

Time passed quickly.

Once the last few students finished, the bell rang for the end of class.

Thanks to the introductions, the class was now much more familiar with each other, no longer as reserved as in the morning.

As soon as the four teachers left, the classroom became lively.

Everyone started chatting with those around them.

The hottest topic was their high school entrance exam scores.

Grade 1, Class 1 was the elite class. Every student here was a top prodigy, competitive and obsessed with grades.

At this moment, many wanted to know each other’s scores to compare.

“Qinghan, how many points did you get on the entrance exam?”

Shen Qinghan’s deskmate, a cute-looking girl in a Lolita dress with twin tails, looked at her curiously.

Shen Qinghan froze.

She had gotten in through the back door and couldn’t reveal her true score.

After a moment of thought, she only mentioned her academic subject score, weakly saying, “I scored 709…”

“Impressive, that’s more than ten points higher than me. I only scored 698.”

Then the twin-tail girl asked, “What about your physical test score? I messed up on mine and only got 95. So bad.”

The full score for the physical test was 100. Scoring 95 already meant you were among the top of the top.

After all, the requirements were strict. Scoring 60 to pass was enough to qualify for the martial arts class.

Scoring 90 guaranteed a spot in the elite class.

Her saying she had done poorly with 95 was just humblebragging.

“I didn’t do well on my physical test either. My score was even lower than yours…” Shen Qinghan said nervously.

She had only scored 79, eleven points below the requirement for the elite class.

That score was impossible to admit. Otherwise, everyone would immediately know she got in through connections.

But the twin-tail girl pressed further, “So what was it? Ninety-four? Ninety-three?”

“Lower…”

Shen Qinghan didn’t want to lie but couldn’t say the real number either, so she tried to be vague.

Unfortunately, the twin-tail girl wasn’t letting it go, continuing to ask, “Was it ninety-two? Ninety-one? Or ninety?”

Shen Qinghan grew more and more flustered, her palms sweating.

Seeing this, Lin Zichen stepped in to save her, smiling as he asked the twin-tail girl, “Um… can I add you on WeChat?”

“Ah, WeChat? Yes, of course! Should I scan you, or will you scan me?”

Shocked that Lin Zichen would ask to add her, the twin-tail girl was so nervous her hands trembled as she pulled out her phone.

Lin Zichen was just too handsome. Talking to him face-to-face made her whole face flush crimson, as if it might drip water. She completely forgot about Shen Qinghan’s physical test score.