1 – Transferring for Love
This was Xin Jushang’s first day transferring to Hengmu High School.
The scorching sun was accompanied by fierce winds.
“This is Xin Jushang, a student transferring to our school from neighboring Third High School. From now on, she will be a new member of our class. Let’s give her a warm welcome.”
Old Hu stood at the podium, passionately introducing the new student to the class.
Scattered applause echoed from below.
It was clear that most students weren’t particularly interested in this transfer student. One reason was that Xin Jushang wore a mask, covering most of her face. The other reason…
Many were well aware that neighboring Third High School was a notoriously poor-performing institution, completely incomparable to Hengmu in terms of academic standards.
Yet this new student from Third High had managed to transfer into Hengmu’s elite science class during the critical second year of high school—clearly through backdoor connections.
This inevitably left some of the proud top students harboring resentment toward Xin Jushang.
Xin Jushang walked straight to the last row of the classroom, where two empty seats remained. She chose the one against the wall.
After sitting down, she took out a set of math competition problems and immersed herself in studying them.
When the bell rang for the end of class, a round-faced girl in the front row excitedly turned around, blinking her eyes and smiling as she introduced herself: “Hi there, I’m Xu Zhiyan.”
Hearing this, Xin Jushang lifted her gaze and looked at the sweetly smiling girl before her, nodding in acknowledgment.
Xu Zhiyan was naturally outgoing, and even without much response, it didn’t dampen her enthusiasm. “Your eyes are so pretty—they’re the double eyelids I’ve always admired the most!”
Even though Xin Jushang wore a mask, revealing only her beautiful eyes, it didn’t stop Xu Zhiyan from showering her with compliments.
“Thank you.”
Xin Jushang’s reply was polite yet reserved.
Finally hearing the new student’s voice, Xu Zhiyan was thrilled: “Your voice sounds so lovely!”
“Oh, by the way, did you know?” Xu Zhiyan leaned closer to Xin Jushang, deliberately lowering her voice—
“Everyone was guessing that the new student transferring to our class was a handsome guy from neighboring First High School. Rumor has it that his childhood sweetheart is in our school’s elite liberal arts class, and she’s apparently about to be won over by one of the boys here. So, that guy from First High applied to transfer overnight for love…”
Unfortunately, before she could finish, the bell for the next class rang.
This period was still homeroom teacher Old Hu’s class, but he himself was nowhere to be seen.
The math class representative went to the office several times but couldn’t find Old Hu, so they had to announce that everyone should study quietly on their own.
Xin Jushang stared at a challenging math competition problem before her, pondering for a while. She had written nearly half a page of formulas but still hadn’t found a new approach.
Just then, a clear, youthful voice sounded beside her ear—
“Let a+b=t, so you only need to solve for one unknown.”
Following the voice, Xin Jushang looked up in surprise.
What met her eyes was an exceptionally handsome silver-haired boy wearing an outrageously flashy ocean-themed floral shirt, with two buttons deliberately left undone at the collar.
…His outfit was certainly eye-catching.
At the same moment, Old Hu hurriedly entered the classroom through the front door. Spotting the boy standing at the back of the room, he couldn’t hold back his frustration. “The main door is right here—why on earth did you have to use the back door?”
The young man smiled with extreme provocation, carrying a hint of careless self-mockery: “I only got into Hengmu through connections anyway.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a few classmates in the class couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Old Hu had no choice but to personally come over and drag the young man to the podium. Just as he was about to introduce the background of this new transfer student to the students below, the young man took the initiative himself. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote three bold, flowing characters on the blackboard behind him—
Zhou Yuchuan.
After writing, he calmly tossed the chalk back into the chalk box and said with composure, “I transferred from the science experimental class of No. 1 High School next door. If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll be the top student in your class from now on.”
The classroom erupted in an uproar.
What kind of existence was the experimental class of No. 1 High School next door?
—Anyone picked at random from that class was a sure candidate for top-tier universities like 985 or 211.
“Keep it low-key,” Old Hu whispered as a reminder.
Zhou Yuchuan shrugged, pretending to be wronged: “But my abilities don’t allow me to be low-key.”
Old Hu arranged for Zhou Yuchuan to sit at the empty seat next to Xin Jushang.
As soon as Zhou Yuchuan took his seat, he and Xin Jushang instantly became the center of attention.
In front of the whole class, he moved his desk about ten centimeters away from hers and flashed Xin Jushang a cheeky grin—
“Sorry about that, the one at home keeps a tight leash.”
Some people around them snickered softly.
The “one at home” he referred to was undoubtedly his childhood sweetheart.
Xin Jushang pretended not to hear him and continued to lower her head, working on her problems.
She didn’t want to have any connection with a conspicuous young man like Zhou Yuchuan, so she made every effort to avoid direct communication with him.
Over the next three days, Xin Jushang and her new deskmate coexisted peacefully.
During these three days in the new class, no student had ever seen Xin Jushang remove her mask, not even Xu Zhiyan, who spoke to her every day.
Xin Jushang usually kept to herself, eating the lunch she brought in secluded spots around the school at noon and heading straight home after school in the evening, mysterious as if she came from another planet.
Because her only visible feature—a pair of almond-shaped eyes—was exceptionally beautiful, she gradually attracted the interest of many in the class. More and more classmates grew curious about Xin Jushang’s real face hidden beneath the mask.
Naturally, among these classmates was Xin Jushang’s deskmate—Zhou Yuchuan.
It was unclear which boy in the class came up with the bad idea, but a few boys deliberately horsed around near Xin Jushang while she was fetching water.
As luck would have it, one of the boys’ water cups spilled water right onto Xin Jushang’s face.
Fortunately, it was warm water and didn’t cause any real harm. But Xin Jushang’s mask was indeed soaked through.
The gazes of a small group of students in the back rows all focused on Xin Jushang’s face, their eyes filled with barely concealed curiosity.
They were too eager to know what this mysterious female classmate from No. 3 High School really looked like. Many boys, based solely on the pair of eyes she revealed, had already imagined an astonishingly beautiful face.
Facing the probing stares from all directions, Xin Jushang indifferently scanned her surroundings. Her grip on the water cup tightened more and more, before finally relaxing and lowering her hand.
With the mask soaked and clinging to her face, the sensation was extremely uncomfortable.
Just like how she felt at this very moment.
The next second, Xin Jushang decisively pulled off the mask on his face, staring steadily at the few “culprits” who had deliberately splashed water in front of him, his voice devoid of any warmth—
“Is this enough?”