The enthusiastic spectators immediately took on the role of commentators.
“A challenge about grades!”
“Next monthly exam, the top student in Class Six has to compete with him in scores!”
“The loser has to go to the other class and perform!”
Teacher Sun also called over and asked, “Is that okay, Xie Chen?”
After a brief pause, Su Yunluo heard that calm voice respond lightly.
“If you want to compete, then fine.”
Once the words fell, he turned and walked back toward the Class Five classroom.
Casual words.
A cold tone.
Almost carrying a hint of disdain.
Su Yunluo still didn’t know exactly what kind of person he was, but that dismissive attitude only added fuel to the fighting spirit that had just begun to rise in her.
Still… that voice felt strangely familiar.
The next morning, Su Yunluo and a few girls, including Yuan Weining, had just stepped out of the dormitory gate when they saw two tall figures walking side by side toward the school entrance.
Yuan Weining immediately stopped and grabbed Su Yunluo’s sleeve excitedly, lowering her voice.
“Wow, it’s my idol! What a lucky morning—running into him first thing!”
“Oh my god, is that the campus heartthrob from your experimental middle school?”
“Seriously, that face could still be campus-heartthrob level even in high school!”
Su Yunluo followed their gaze.
That “idol” she knew was her junior high school alumnus—Zhou Xubai.
She completely understood their reaction. He really did have an unreal level of good looks—the kind that had once captured almost every girl’s attention in middle school.
Every time Su Yunluo saw Zhou Xubai, she would also glance at him a little longer. But her intention was simple—just appreciating someone good-looking. Nothing more. She had no romantic thoughts, and she would never do things like chasing him or writing letters like other girls did.
It wasn’t pride or aloofness. She just genuinely found it strange to become so obsessed with a stranger purely because of appearance.
Yuan Weining stared at Zhou Xubai for a moment, then suddenly reminded Su Yunluo in a low voice:
“The one walking with the campus heartthrob—that’s your opponent!”
Only then did Su Yunluo shift her gaze to the boy beside Zhou Xubai.
He was about the same height as Zhou Xubai. His appearance wasn’t as strikingly perfect, but he was still clean and sharp-looking—straight nose, phoenix eyes, fair skin.
Her first impression was simple: this boy looked cold.
Cold—and very calm.
“How does Xie Chen know Zhou Xubai?”
“I heard he transferred from Linhe Town. Zhou Xubai is from there too, so they probably knew each other…”
The girls whispered among themselves, their heads turning in unison like sunflowers as they watched the two boys pass by.
Both were tall and long-legged, quickly leaving them behind. Yuan Weining and the others were still admiring Zhou Xubai’s looks, but Su Yunluo’s gaze remained fixed on the boy who would be her opponent.
Then, something suddenly clicked in her mind.
She had seen him before.
Not long ago—during summer break.
At a wedding banquet.
It was a colleague of Su Man’s who was getting married. At first, Su Yunluo didn’t want to go. Ever since Zhu Muhuan’s first birthday banquet, she had lost interest in attending her parents’ social gatherings.
But Su Man persuaded her for several days, saying a leader from the medical system would also attend with his son. That boy had just been admitted to Experimental Middle School, and since Zhu Junqing’s daughter had also qualified for Liang City No. 1 High School, they thought it would be good for the children to meet.
In the end, Su Yunluo agreed.
The banquet was crowded. Su Yunluo sat beside Su Man, listening as her mother soothed Zhu Muhuan and introduced her to others as “the adopted daughter of a relative from the hometown.”
She immediately regretted coming.
She kept her head down, eating quietly, ignoring Su Man’s repeated glances—clearly urging her to talk to the children of officials at the table.
Across from them, a well-dressed woman was speaking warmly to the leader’s child.
“Little brother, if you ever have anything you don’t understand in your studies, just ask your Brother Chen…”
“Yes, his father was just transferred from the town to the Medical Affairs Department at the Health Bureau this year… When Chen Chen starts high school, he’ll live in the dorms near his father’s workplace, not far from your home…”
While speaking, she even called over a tall boy from the neighboring table and introduced him.
“This child also got into Liang City No. 1 High School this year… He’s especially good at science. Math, physics, and chemistry—he often gets full marks…”
Su Yunluo only glanced up once before lowering her head again.
She vaguely remembered the boy called “Chen Chen” was very tall, wearing a clean white T-shirt. At his mother’s signal, he politely greeted the table, immediately drawing waves of praise.
“What a handsome kid!”
“He looks smart at first glance!”
“So calm and polite, really rare!”
The woman’s smile deepened. But when someone casually asked, “What was his entrance exam rank?” her expression froze for a moment.
The boy didn’t answer and simply returned to his seat.
Seeing no reply, the question turned to Su Man instead.
“I heard your daughter also did very well this year. What rank was it again?”
Su Man replied lightly, though her pride was obvious.
“Twenty-second in the city.”
She deliberately left out two ranks. After all, it didn’t matter much.
At that moment, Su Yunluo looked up at her mother in a daze.
It was the first time she had ever heard Su Man speak about her like that.
The table erupted in praise, full of envy. “A real winner in life—both a successful son and such an outstanding daughter.”
The woman across from them never stated her son Chen Chen’s rank. After sitting a while longer, she stood up and left.
“A raised daughter.”
Su Yunluo repeated the phrase silently and let out a cold laugh.
Later, she excused herself to the bathroom, wanting some quiet air. She walked toward the end of the corridor where there was a balcony. Before stepping up, she saw a tall figure in a white shirt standing with his back to her.
The same boy’s mother—who had been praising him earlier—was now standing in front of him. But her tone had completely changed: sharp, strict, and full of accusation.
“You heard what they said, didn’t you? When they asked about rankings, I couldn’t even answer! It’s fine if you didn’t beat your old rival, but you only got 40th in the city? I don’t believe that’s your real level! Weren’t you always neck and neck with him? Even that girl got 22nd! She performed well normally, and yet you embarrassed me like this in such an important exam!”
Then the boy—who had been polite and gentle at the banquet—spoke in a completely different tone. Cold. Detached.
“There’s an easy way to avoid being embarrassed. Do you want to hear it?”
“What way?” his mother asked.
“Just—” his voice turned even colder, “stop talking about my grades everywhere.”
Su Yunluo didn’t want to overhear any more. She turned and walked away.
Now, standing in the morning light on campus, she looked at that receding figure and finally connected the boy from the banquet—the one being scolded by his mother—to the opponent she was about to face.
Even that same cold, dismissive tone matched perfectly.
So the “Little Xie” everyone in Class Five talked about was actually him. She even remembered what Teacher Sun had said—that he looked like someone destined for Tsinghua or Peking University.
Now that she had seen him clearly, she vaguely understood why. He had that kind of presence—calm, steady, composed—the kind that didn’t lose its edge even standing beside someone as eye-catching as Zhou Xubai.
He was nothing like the image she had imagined of a boy being scolded by his mother.
In fact, it made her confidence in this competition waver slightly.
After all, she still wasn’t fully sure she was truly a “top student,” and she still couldn’t explain what exactly had caused her sudden rise in the entrance exam.
But then she thought again—they were still separated by sixteen ranks.
That clear, concrete number steadied her once more, and she pushed the hesitation to the back of her mind.