Cang Wei watched Gu Lai out of the corner of her eye. Her expression was calm.
After taking another couple of steps, Cang Wei’s voice reached Gu Lai from ahead: “There are three standalone teaching buildings in No. 7 High School, and the third-year building is Jingyuan Building.”
With that, Gu Lai and Cang Wei arrived in front of Jingyuan Building.
The white marble exterior walls were already somewhat weathered. Standing five stories tall, it looked solemn and imposing. A scrolling electronic display above the entrance read:
“Take dreams as your steed, live up to your youth.”
Gu Lai gave an unreadable twitch of her lips.
As they neared the entrance of Class 7, Cang Wei paused for two steps: “Why did you want to transfer to Class 7?”
Thinking of the contents of the book, Gu Lai replied, “Isn’t Class 7 the one with the best grades?”
Cang Wei didn’t answer further and pushed the door open to go inside.
A middle-aged female teacher stood at the podium, dressed plainly with an air of refined elegance.
“Class, quiet down. This is our new transfer student—”
As An Xin spoke, she beckoned to Gu Lai: “New student, please introduce yourself.”
Gu Lai walked up to the podium and glanced around. There were around thirty-odd students in the class, and the classroom was spacious. Cang Wei had already walked back to her seat and wasn’t looking at her.
“Hello everyone, my name is Gu Lai.” Gu Lai had never liked this kind of ritual and simply gave a perfunctory greeting.
An Xin pointed to the empty desk on the right: “You can sit next to the podium for now. After the monthly exams, we’ll select seats based on grades.”
Gu Lai indicated she had no objections. She wasn’t here to study anyway; sitting right by the podium didn’t bother her at all.
An Xin resumed her lecture, but seeing that Gu Lai’s desk was completely empty, she sighed inwardly: This child is really something. Coming to school without even a piece of paper or a pen, just like that Cang Wei girl.
Still, acting as a municipal-level excellent teacher, An Xin spoke up: “Class monitor, take the new student to collect her books after class.” With that, she continued her lecture.
[System Prompt: Task Progress 1%]
The system prompt rang in Gu Lai’s ears, and doubt surged in her heart. Wait a minute. When did I complete a task?
Gu Lai called out to the system in her mind, asking repeatedly.
[System BUG: Task reached 1% ten minutes ago.]
Ten minutes ago…
Right when she first saw Cang Wei? Gu Lai was momentarily stunned, wondering what she had done back then.
Gu Lai retraced her thoughts: getting in the car, getting out of the car, seeing Cang Wei, taking the initiative to greet her…
And then?
And then nothing.
Gu Lai was utterly baffled. What did this have to do with the task? She called out to the system in her mind again, but it once more fell silent and vanished.
Playing deaf and dumb, Gu Lai thought with resentment.
Why is my system different from everyone else’s? Other people’s systems are responsive to every request, and what is mine? It always lets me down at the crucial moment.
Gu Lai mentally thrashed the system back and forth, but it did nothing to ease her frustration.
Ding.
The urgent sound of the class dismissal bell rang out.
Soon, a figure blocked Gu Lai’s view, casting a small patch of shadow over her.
“Gu, sorry about this.” A short-haired girl stood in front of Gu Lai with a hint of apology. “My stomach is acting up a bit. You should find someone else to take you to get your books.”
Without waiting for Gu Lai’s reply, she turned and left the classroom with her surrounding girlfriends. Low laughter drifted to Gu Lai’s ears on the cross-breeze.
Gu Lai understood immediately and scoffed inwardly.
She had seen this kind of petty trick countless times in countless books. In a flash, a solution had already formed in her mind.
However, she couldn’t be bothered to waste the effort, nor did she have the heart to bicker with these people.
Still—Gu Lai turned her head to look around—a lot of people had left the classroom, and most of those remaining were asleep, while the few who were awake were pretending to casually glance in her direction.
At this rate, no matter who she asked right now, it would be rather inconvenient, wouldn’t it?
Just as Gu Lai pulled back her gaze, she saw Cang Wei sitting in the front row, very close to her.
Her slender strands of hair were dyed golden by the sunlight, and the warm glow softened the sharp contours of her features.
Cang Wei was looking at her.
The sunlight was streaming directly into the classroom. Although it was winter, it was getting a bit warm inside, and Gu Lai’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“Cang Wei, would you mind taking me to get my books?” Gu Lai asked, meeting Cang Wei’s gaze.
[System Prompt: Task Progress 2%]
The electronic chime rang in her ear.
Confusion flashed in the depths of Gu Lai’s eyes, and she froze in place. Did I trigger the task again?
Before Gu Lai could figure out what was going on, Cang Wei had already stood up, signaling for Gu Lai to follow.
“Whatever, I’ll think about it later.” Gu Lai followed Cang Wei out of the classroom door.
There were quite a few students around, and the hallway was noisy. To dodge the others, Gu Lai had to step a bit closer to Cang Wei, and the two of them walked almost shoulder to shoulder.
A faint fragrance drifted over. Gardenia, Cang Wei thought, then cast an unnoticeable glance at the person beside her.
Being this close, the girl’s features were striking: her brows dark without any makeup, her lips naturally red without any tint.
“You’re very pretty,” Cang Wei said unprompted.
“Ah? Oh, thank you.” Suddenly receiving a compliment, Gu Lai momentarily didn’t know what to say.
It wasn’t that she had never heard others praise her; normally, Gu Lai would respond with poise and grace.
Yet with Cang Wei, Gu Lai always felt things were a little different. She had always felt she could keep a conversation flowing effortlessly with anyone, but in her brief interactions with Cang Wei, Gu Lai always ran out of words, unsure of what to say.
“Actually, I think you’re very good-looking too,” Gu Lai said, watching Cang Wei’s cold expression as her voice dropped slightly. “You’re the prettiest person I’ve ever seen.”
Cang Wei didn’t speak.
Gu Lai let out a soft breath, thinking the school’s heating was really impressive. Even the hallway was a bit warm.
[The Library Archive]
Books were scattered everywhere on the floor, stacked quite high. Cang Wei sorted through and identified them, pulling out around twenty books. “Just these.”
With that, Cang Wei carried away a large majority of them on her own, leaving only five or six for Gu Lai.
Holding the pitifully small stack of books, Gu Lai felt a bit awkward. “I can carry them. Give me some more.”
Cang Wei turned her head slightly. The school uniform wrapped around Gu Lai’s slender waist. Even though everyone wore the same uniform, on Gu Lai, standard attire took on a unique elegance.
Cang Wei answered indifferently, “They’re not heavy.”
Gu Lai gave a helpless nod, then took the initiative to strike up a conversation: “When is the monthly exam the teacher mentioned earlier?”
Gu Lai paid close attention to the monthly exams.
Judging by Teacher An Xin’s words just now, if seats could be selected according to grades, that would be a good thing. She needed her seat to be as close to Cang Wei as possible.
Everything she did was for the sake of saving her own little life.
“Tomorrow.” Cang Wei thought for a moment, then added, “Don’t worry. It’s not a proper monthly exam.”
“What do you mean?” Curiosity stirred in Gu Lai’s heart.
Even though the timeline in the book was closer to around 2010, the educational system shouldn’t be all that different. Gu Lai had never heard of an improper monthly exam.
“The math paper is competition-level, and the other subjects are normal. The top two students in math scores will be chosen to participate in the competition.”
Gu Lai nodded. Leaving everything else aside, changing seats after the exam was a great opportunity.
Even though she was already quite close to Cang Wei, sitting in the teacher’s right-hand protector spot made a lot of things rather inconvenient to do.
As for the difficulty of tomorrow’s exam, Gu Lai wasn’t too concerned. It wasn’t a matter of giving up; she lowered her head as she held her books, the corners of her lips curving slightly upward.
Back in her own high school days, Gu Lai’s college entrance examination score had been withheld from publication.
A third-year high school monthly exam was hardly a major problem for her.
She took her books back to her seat to organize them slowly, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the ranking list posted on the wall.
Using her 24K ultra-clear vision, Gu Lai focused her gaze: Cang Wei’s name was right at the very top.
Number one, huh. For some inexplicable reason, the corners of Gu Lai’s mouth ticked upward.
After two consecutive classes, Gu Lai spent the whole time deep in thought. The task assigned by the system was to save Cang Wei and change the trajectory of her fate, and so far, it had reached 2% progress.
The progress of this task didn’t seem to have much to do with the male protagonist; instead, it was closely tied to her own actions.
Could it be…
Because Cang Wei was too lonely?
Gu Lai recalled the content of the original book. The book briefly mentioned that Cang Wei lived alone and had almost no friends.
So, because she was too lonely in spirit, she had taken the male protagonist as her spiritual pillar, treating all her actions toward him as some sort of self-delusional, sacrificial devotion?
…Stockholm syndrome?
Gu Lai pondered deeply. Right now, because of her friendly and proactive gestures, Cang Wei was feeling warmth, which in turn reduced her obsession with the male protagonist by a fraction—and thus, the trajectory of her fate had changed?
Thinking up to this point, the clouds of doubt in Gu Lai’s heart were swept away, and everything became crystal clear.
That’s right. Exactly this.
As long as she became friends with Cang Wei, warmed her up, and then guided her along the way so she could see the male protagonist’s true colors—
By then, Cang Wei would surely see the reality of the situation and let go of her bizarre obsession. Then the task to save Cang Wei could be successfully completed.
Gu Lai cheered joyfully in her heart, secretly praising herself.
Wait, no. Gu Lai pulled her thoughts back. Just being ordinary friends was definitely not enough. They had to be good friends—exceptionally good friends.
Only by becoming exceptionally good friends could she crack open the cold exterior of this iceberg of a person, thereby cutting off her ill-fated connection with the male protagonist.
The more Gu Lai thought about it, the more excited she became, the joy spreading all the way behind her.
Cang Wei seemed to sense something. She shifted her gaze away from the podium and glanced toward the back, looking at the back of the person in front of her.
“Cang Wei, how should we write the next step?” The teacher currently lecturing suddenly spoke up, calling out to the distracted student.
Cang Wei stood up: “Drop a perpendicular line from point CD.”
With the third ring of the bell, the morning classes finally came to an end.
Lunch at last.
Gu Lai let out a long breath of relief. Before she could make a move, Teacher An Xin walked into the classroom and said gently to Gu Lai, “Gu Lai, are you adjusting well to classes?”
“It’s going well,” Gu Lai replied politely.
“Take your time. No. 7 High School is the best high school in Licheng, and the study atmosphere is also great. Oh right, there’s a seating chart on the podium. Remember to write your name down.”
Catching sight of Cang Wei, An Xin added, “Cang Wei, take Gu Lai to get some lunch together. Look after the new student a bit, you hear me?”
Cang Wei was twirling a pen at her desk. “Got it, Teacher. You should get going.”
An Xin smiled and left, showing not a trace of blame. Gu Lai raised an eyebrow; it seemed Cang Wei and Teacher An Xin had a very good relationship.
Cang Wei walked up to the podium and handed the seating chart to Gu Lai. “Just write it here.”
Cang Wei’s slender fingers pointed at a blank space.
Swish, swish.
The tip of the pen glided across the paper.
Cang Wei watched her, feeling a trace of wonder for the very first time.