Lin Nuonuo soon discovered that Fang Xiyan was a chatterbox.
All the way from the school gate to the teaching building, Fang Xiyan not only introduced the entire layout of the school to her, but she also shared all kinds of little rumors about the place.
Whether those rumors were true or not remained to be seen, but thanks to Fang Xiyan’s explanations, Lin Nuonuo at least gained some basic understanding of the school.
Finally, just before the bell for class rang, Fang Xiyan brought her to the office of Class A’s homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher was a woman not yet forty, surnamed Yang. Her appearance looked kind and gentle, not strict at all— completely different from the tyrant that Fang Xiyan had mentioned in her gossip.
When the teacher saw that Lin Nuonuo had come to report in, she kindly explained the class schedule, the second-grade curriculum, and the rules of Class A.
After that, she led Lin Nuonuo to the classroom of Grade 2 Class A before class officially began.
The moment the students saw a new classmate arrive, the entire room grew excited.
“Everyone, quiet!” At last, the homeroom teacher displayed her tyrannical presence. With a single command, the originally noisy room fell silent.
“This is the new transfer student in our class. Her name is Lin Nuonuo.” The teacher announced.
As soon as she said that, whispers instantly rose from below.
“This is the new student?”
“Did she go to the wrong classroom?”
“She looks so short. Honestly, she doesn’t look like a second-grader at all……”
“Forget second grade, if you told me she’s from kindergarten, I’d believe it.”
A few girls sitting near Lin Zixin whispered among themselves.
If Lin Zixin’s height could be considered tall among her peers, then the girl standing on the podium— Lin Nuonuo— could only be considered…… well, half-sized.
At that moment, Lin Zixin, who was being compared to Lin Nuonuo, widened her eyes in disbelief as she stared in front of the class. She knew they were supposed to send Lin Nuonuo to school as per her grandfather’s instruction. But she never expected Lin Nuonuo to be placed in second grade, and even in her class!
Who did this?!
Lin Zixin gritted her teeth inwardly.
While she was spacing out, the girl beside her nudged her arm.
“Zixin, Zixin, the new girl seems to be looking at you.” She whispered.
Just as Lin Zixin was glaring toward the podium, Lin Nuonuo also spotted Lin Zixin sitting in the center of the crowd like she was naturally born for the spotlight.
“Do you know the new girl?” The girl asked again.
Hearing that, Lin Zixin’s face stiffened unnaturally. Then she immediately denied it, “How could I know someone like that?” Her eyes showed unmistakable disdain as she glanced at Lin Nuonuo.
The girls around her had always been close to her— more accurately, they were essentially her followers. Noticing her displeasure toward the new student, they instantly echoed her attitude.
“I knew it. There’s no way Zixin would know someone like that.”
“She probably kept staring because Zixin is pretty. Anyone would look at Zixin.”
After all, Lin Zixin’s appearance was refined and delicate. She easily became the center of attention wherever she stood.
“Don’t you think she looks…… kind of dowdy?” One girl whispered, matching Lin Zixin’s tone.
Immediately, another chimed in.
“Yeah, not just her vibe, even the clothes……”
Her exaggerated expression made the others laugh.
Since the school hadn’t yet issued a uniform in Lin Nuonuo’s size, she was still wearing the everyday clothes prepared for her by the Lin family’s servants. They were plain— borderline ugly— and certainly didn’t fit the school’s atmosphere.
Listening to the mocking around her, Lin Zixin felt her mood lighten.
But deep down, she was still a little guilty. To avoid letting others find out she was related to Lin Nuonuo, she forced herself to maintain the icy, unattainable persona of the class beauty. She didn’t join their discussion and didn’t even spare Lin Nuonuo another glance.
Lin Nuonuo could see the avoidance in Lin Zixin’s gaze. Knowing she was deliberately pretending not to know her, Lin Nuonuo naturally didn’t approach her.
Because Lin Nuonuo was small, the teacher arranged her seat in the first row, near the center, far from where Lin Zixin sat.
“Everyone should help the new student adjust quickly to our class and our school environment.” The homeroom teacher instructed after settling Lin Nuonuo’s seat.
Right then, the class bell rang. The teacher left the classroom after a few final reminders.
Lin Nuonuo sat down at her new desk and began the very first formal class of her life.
The first period was Chinese.
The teacher entered, checked a few students’ recitation homework, and then began teaching a new text.
Although this was Lin Nuonuo’s first time in a proper classroom, she had taken some basic lessons in the orphanage, and sometimes volunteer teachers came to teach them. So while the new text sounded unfamiliar, she could still follow it.
Compared to the things Lin Chaojiang lectured her on at home— 《The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on the World Order》, 《The Rise of the Fourth Industry》, or 《The Application of The Art of War in Modern Macroeconomics》— this textbook was extremely easy to understand.
The teacher finished explaining the whole lesson, then circled the difficult words and taught them several times.
“Has everyone learned the vocabulary in this text?” She asked.
“Yes!” Everyone answered.
She nodded.
Second-grade material wasn’t hard, especially for Class A. These students almost all had tutors before starting school. Some had even finished the entire semester’s material in advance.
“Then I’ll call a few students to stand and read each section aloud.” She continued.
The teacher scanned the room, just as she was about to call on a few students who were distracted earlier, someone raised her hand and suggested, “Teacher! Since we have a new student today, why don’t we let her read a section?”
“A new student?” The teacher finally noticed the tiny girl in the first row.
“What’s your name?” She asked.
“Teacher, my name is Lin Nuonuo.”
“All right, Lin Nuonuo, please read the first paragraph.”
She didn’t know that the child was admitted through connections. Seeing that she was new, she simply thought it would be nice to give her a chance.
Meanwhile, the girl who made the suggestion— along with the ones close to Lin Zixin— looked gleeful. They couldn’t wait to watch Lin Nuonuo make a fool of herself.
“Okay.” Lin Nuonuo stood up with her textbook.
She was nervous, but she didn’t falter.
“Spring brings the green leaves……” She read word by word, steadily, without stumbling once.
Now that shocked Lin Zixin and her group.
They expected Lin Nuonuo to embarrass herself, yet she read it perfectly from start to finish!
Was she trying to show off?!
The girls were silently furious.
The teacher, however, nodded with approval. “Not bad. You may sit.”
It seemed the new student had a good foundation.
────ρя
As soon as class ended, Lin Zixin ran out of the room and dialed Gu Mingming in a deserted corner.
“Xinxin?”
“Why did you put that rustic Lin Nuonuo in my class?!” She demanded.
On the other end, Gu Mingming was stunned.
“You’re saying Nuonuo was placed in your class? The same class?!”
“Mom, you didn’t know?”
“……” She really didn’t.
Gu Mingming had sent Yang Qian to handle the admission, knowing the woman might act perfunctorily. However, she didn’t expect her to intentionally shove the girl into Lin Zixin’s class. Was that not blatant sabotage?!
“Your dad’s secretary arranged it.” Gu Mingming explained.
Hearing that, Lin Zixin’s expression darkened instantly. She knew exactly which overly flirtatious secretary that was. From the first time she saw that woman, she disliked her. That woman was just like those shameless villainesses in romance novels who tried to seduce the male protagonist.
“She didn’t handle this matter well. I’ll talk to your dad.” Gu Mingming said, then added, “If you don’t want to be in the same class, I’ll transfer Nuonuo tomorrow.”
But Lin Zixin hesitated.
“Mom, if it’s too much trouble, she can stay. I was just surprised, but it’s not like I can’t study in the same class as her.” Her tone sounded understanding, though her face was gloomy.
Sure, seeing Lin Nuonuo at school disgusted her. But watching Lin Nuonuo embarrass herself? That was far more entertaining.
Class A’s curriculum moved fast and was harder. She didn’t believe a bumpkin from an orphanage could keep up.
Besides, this would also remind Lin Nuonuo of the truth. They might share a surname and a classroom, but Lin Zixin had parents, while Lin Nuonuo never would.
“All right, as long as you’re fine with it. But if studying with her ever makes you unhappy, tell us anytime.” They could transfer Lin Nuonuo out whenever they wanted.
“Okay. But Mom, can we avoid having the same car pick us up from school? A classmate asked earlier, and I instinctively said I didn’t know her……” After a pause, Lin Zixin added, “I didn’t mean to deny her. I just don’t want my classmates to befriend her only because of me. That wouldn’t be fair to her.”
If Lin Nuonuo had heard that, two words would have flashed through her mind— white lotus[1]a sarcasm for someone who appears sweet and innocent but is actually corrupt, cunning, or deceitful jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1397696_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1397696_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
But Gu Mingming didn’t mind. She simply agreed, “All right, I’ll tell Butler Wang to prepare another car.”
────ρя
Meanwhile, at the agency, Lin Chen sat in his manager’s office, flipping through the script that Chen Yi had given him.
“This script is good.” He said after reading it.
In fact, he was already considering whether Wei Jinchi should directly buy out the entire production.
“It’s good.” Chen Yi agreed, but his tone changed, “However, the filming requirements are a bit troublesome.”
“What requirements?”
“The crew wants realism, so they’re moving the entire set to the desert in J City. Full on-site shooting. That place is desolate, and they’re demanding three months of closed filming. Actors can’t leave without permission.”
Meaning, once they accepted the job, they would be stuck in a desert for at least three months with no other work. And the conditions were harsh.
“I really like the character Li Tianming.” Lin Chen said.
“So……?” Chen Yi had a bad feeling.
Behind him, Zhang Qi— responsible for helping with Lin Chen’s daily life— also sensed danger.
“We’re taking the job.”
“You’re sure?”
Lin Chen shot him a look that meant, ‘What do you think?’
Chen Yi dropped the subject. After all, regardless of his title as manager, Lin Chen always made the final decisions. Once he chose something, not even the company’s big boss could change it unless something catastrophic happened.
“All right then. Take Xiao Qi with you to prepare. You still have to pass the audition, and the crew wants all actors to spend a week experiencing the environment in the desert first.”
That requirement was partly to help actors enter the mindset, and partly to test their endurance. Anyone who couldn’t handle the conditions should quit early.
“I know.” Lin Chen showed no reaction.
He took the script home.
Dinner had already ended. When he entered the house, everyone had finished eating and gone off to do their own things. In the living room, Lin Nuonuo sat with Lin Chaojiang, answering his questions about school.
When she saw Lin Chen come in, her eyes lit up. After saying a few things to Lin Chaojiang, she hurried upstairs after Lin Chen.
“Dad.”
It’s ‘uncle’……
But he no longer bothered to correct her.
“This.” She handed him a small card.
“What is it?”
“It’s the QR code for our class group. The teacher said parents need to join. They’ll send homework, notices, and updates there.”
The teacher didn’t know her family situation. Having not met any parent, she simply gave the card to Lin Nuonuo to bring home.
You should be giving that to Lin Zeyu, not me.
Lin Chen thought that as he looked at her.
But faced with her earnest, almost pleading gaze, he hesitated. In the end, he still reached out and accepted the card.
References[+]