The two girls in the back row were both ranked within the top sixty of their grade. In front of Xie Chen, Shen Nanhao and Zhang Yang were also within the top eighty. His deskmate was even more impressive—a boy named Yan Zichen, who ranked third in the entire grade. As for Shi Ranran, while Su Yunluo’s ranking had been steadily declining throughout first year, Shi Ranran had been climbing upward all along and was now ranked sixty-second.
Su Yunluo stared out the window for a long while.
Then she pulled out a tissue and began wiping her desk.
Perhaps she wasn’t fully focused. As she wiped, her arm moved slightly forward and accidentally brushed against the back of the person in front of her.
She froze.
A faint gray mark appeared on the white T-shirt.
The person in front didn’t move at all. It wasn’t clear whether he had even felt it.
Su Yunluo stared at the back of his head without blinking.
She had already decided that if he turned around and even slightly frowned at her, she would immediately put on a polite smile and apologize—using his own formal style against him.
Treat him the same way he treated others. That was her plan.
From his perfectly neat appearance—hair, clothes, everything spotless—he clearly had some level of cleanliness obsession. She just hoped he wouldn’t make a fuss over such a small mark.
But he never turned around.
Maybe even if he noticed, he simply didn’t want to deal with something so minor.
She quietly let out a breath of relief and returned to wiping her desk half-heartedly.
Fortunately, the discussion about rankings didn’t last long. Soon, Xie Chen and Yan Zichen started talking with the two boys in front about things like “that dungeon boss I cleared three times” and “your gear damage isn’t high enough.”
Not long after, both of them were called to the office by their homeroom teacher, Teacher Gao, to handle enrollment documents.
…
In the office, after Teacher Gao finished giving instructions, she left.
Yan Zichen was sorting through the number of textbooks for each subject while asking casually, “Hey, Xiao Xie, have you noticed something? Aside from the two of us, there isn’t a single top student around us. Everyone else is outside the top fifty.”
Although they had been in different classes in first year, they often sat near each other during exams, so they were already familiar. At first, Yan Zichen also called him “Xiao Xie” like the others from Class Five. Later, when everyone started calling him “Brother Chen,” he considered switching too—but since he was actually two months older, he simply kept calling him “Xiao Xie.”
Xie Chen checked the roster, attendance sheet, and online registration list.
“That’s normal,” he said. “Other top students are arranged the same way.”
“Why did Teacher Gao arrange it like this?”
“Probably…” Xie Chen paused.
“Probably what?”
Yan Zichen noticed his hesitation and looked up, only to see Xie Chen’s eyes fixed on the computer screen.
The cursor paused on a student record.
Su Yunluo. Father: Zhu Junqing. Mother: Su Man.
So she took her mother’s surname.
It wasn’t common to use the mother’s surname.
The thought lingered for only a moment before he continued, “Probably to let us do some good deeds.”
Yan Zichen froze. “Good deeds? You mean helping them improve their grades? That makes sense. I just heard them talking about rankings earlier—everyone around us seems to be students who improved a lot in the two major exams last year.”
Xie Chen thought silently that it wasn’t entirely accurate. There was also one who had dropped significantly.
And she had been falling steadily ever since entering high school.
He still couldn’t quite understand how someone who looked so hardworking could end up with such results.
After finishing the check, Xie Chen gathered the documents, stood up, and casually patted the spot on his back where Su Yunluo had accidentally touched him earlier. Then he and Yan Zichen returned to the classroom.
Back in the classroom, one girl in the back row was still staring blankly out the window, while the other was laughing loudly with someone beside her. As soon as they returned, the laughing girl became even more energetic.
“Xie Shen! I’ve heard about you since first year! Crushing everyone in every exam—you’re amazing! I didn’t expect to be lucky enough to sit in front of and behind you!”
Su Yunluo silently sighed in her heart.
So now she had no choice but to endure Shi Ranran’s well-practiced social performance up close again.
Right in front of her, Shi Ranran enthusiastically redirected her admiration toward “Xie Shen.” She even took out a physics workbook and handed it over with a smile.
“Xie Shen, can you sign this for me? Let me absorb some of your academic luck!”
Xie Chen took the book and exchanged a glance with Yan Zichen. Yan Zichen raised his brows slightly—see, I told you.
First day of school, and someone was already asking for “academic blessings.”
Shi Ranran’s enthusiasm immediately shifted to Yan Zichen as well.
“And you too, genius! Can I borrow some of your luck as well?”
Yan Zichen shrugged. “I’m a genius now too?”
“Of course!” Shi Ranran said confidently. “First and second place in our class—you’re the twin gods of our class! Can I call you ‘Second God’ then?”
Su Yunluo’s lips curled slightly.
To her, it felt like everyone here was suddenly a “god.” If that was the case, then gods were far too cheap.
Xie Chen laughed lightly. “She’s calling you ‘Second God.’”
The rows in front and behind burst into laughter. Most of these students had already been familiar with each other from first year exam halls, so the atmosphere was relaxed.
Yan Zichen protested, “Why is the treatment so different between top students? Xiao Xie is a ‘god,’ but I’m just ‘second’? I want a cooler title too!”
“Hey, ‘second’ is an ordinal number!” Shi Ranran said with a smile. “It’s a compliment! You’re the second god after the main one—the backbone of our class! Okay, Second God!”
Unexpectedly, Yan Zichen didn’t mind and accepted it easily.
Satisfied, Shi Ranran continued, “Both of you gods are so nice! Come on, share some academic luck with me. Second God, sign my chemistry book too!”
The two of them signed and returned the books.
“Xie Shen!” Shi Ranran suddenly complained when she saw his copy. “I asked for your autograph—why did you write my name?”
“If I write my name, people will think the book is mine,” Xie Chen said calmly, capping his pen and handing it back.
“Fine!” Shi Ranran hugged the books tightly, looking both proud and obedient. “Even your handwriting feels lucky! I’m going to use this blessing to boost my grades! Next time I’ll go to the other rocket class and find Ning Shen too—I’ll absorb his luck as well!”
Xie Chen glanced at her.
She was very outgoing—but that energy didn’t seem to extend toward the girl sitting beside her.
Or maybe it was just that Su Yunluo’s aura was too cold.
More likely… there was some conflict between them.
So besides him, she had another “enemy”?
She really collected grudges easily.
“Don’t go looking for Ning Shen,” he said lightly.
“Why not?” Shi Ranran asked.
“He’s hard to find,” Xie Chen replied. “You probably won’t catch him anyway.”
“True, Ning Shen does seem pretty cold,” Shi Ranran said with a smile. “Still, Xie Shen, you’re much more approachable!”
“Xie Shen, are you really close with Ning Shen?” a girl named Yang Qingyuan asked from the back row. “During the first monthly exam last year, I saw you talking together. And Zhou Xubai, the school heartthrob, was there too.”
“We were classmates before,” Xie Chen replied.
Yang Qingyuan widened her eyes. “Seriously? The top two gods in our grade were classmates?”
“You’re only hearing this now?” Shi Ranran chimed in.
Then she turned to Xie Chen. “Xie Shen, I heard you and them were already classmates back in primary school?”
From the front seat, Shen Nanhao asked, “Brother Chen, what kind of school did you go to? A genius factory?”
“Our school was pretty average,” Xie Chen said calmly. “It’s just that our batch happened to have a few strong students.”
Clearly, he didn’t want to continue the topic.
Su Yunluo let out a cold laugh in her heart.
When Xie Chen spoke, he was slightly turned toward Yan Zichen. She shifted her gaze back from the window, and their eyes briefly met.
She gave him a blank, emotionless look.
Of course. He was best at saying pretentious things in the most polite tone.
“Just happened to be strong.”
Wasn’t he one of those “just happened” people himself?
After silently judging him, she still felt nowhere comfortable to look. Looking down felt too weak, so she turned back to the window.
At this point, it wasn’t just bad luck—it felt like being trapped on both sides.
What had she done in a past life to end up sandwiched between two enemies?
Xie Chen’s gaze briefly swept across her profile before he turned back around.
He didn’t like making things awkward. If he knew someone disliked him, he would naturally keep his distance. After what happened in first year, she had treated him like a stranger—and so had he.
But that eye-roll just now gave him a faint, uncomfortable sense of dissatisfaction.
What he said wasn’t wrong. Their batch really was strong enough to compete with top-tier schools like City No. 1 High.
That was just a fact.
If anything, instead of glaring at him, she should worry about herself.
On the very first day of school, she already looked like she was being quietly excluded.