Mingde Academy was an elite boarding school with a strict residential system.
Its educational structure was rather unusual, functioning as a special institution that combined high school and university.
So even after reaching adulthood, students still had to stay here and complete all their courses before they could enter their families’ businesses and gain the right to inherit them.
Everyone who studied here came from a wealthy or powerful family.
Of course, just like in any other social circle, there was always someone who attracted the most attention, whether because of outstanding looks or an even more impressive family background.
Su Ning happened to have both.
Su Ning was beautiful and had excellent grades.
There were plenty of boys who had secret crushes on her, but because of her habit of putting on airs, plenty of girls disliked her too.
However, because Su Ning’s family was the most powerful among them all, even those who were unhappy with her could only smile and flatter her.
Take her deskmate, Lu Xiaoran, for example.
The moment Lu Xiaoran saw Su Ning walk into the classroom, she went over to her and said ingratiatingly, “Ning Ning, your smoky eye makeup looks so pretty today!”
Su Ning glanced at her.
“These are dark circles.”
Lu Xiaoran continued with a beaming smile, “Then you were just born beautiful, Ning Ning.
Unlike me, even a little dark circles make me look ugly.
But on you, they give you a completely different kind of beauty.”
Su Ning asked, “Really?”
Lu Xiaoran said, “Of course!”
Su Ning sat down at her desk.
She took the mirror Lu Xiaoran handed her and looked at herself for a while.
Then she raised a hand and gently stroked her cheek, looking pleased with herself.
“Indeed.
I really am too beautiful.
If I didn’t exist in this world, who knows how many levels everyone’s standards of beauty would drop?”
People had seen their fair share of narcissists, but they had never seen one this shameless.
Lu Xiaoran was cursing wildly in her head, but the moment Su Ning looked over, she immediately put on an obsequious smile.
Su Ning generously took an eyeshadow palette out of her bag.
“I promised I’d give this to you before.
It’s the limited-edition Mermaid’s Tears.
I only have this one, so don’t tell the other girls about it.
Otherwise, if they come asking me for one, I won’t have any more to give them.”
“I know, I know.”
Lu Xiaoran had wanted this limited-edition eyeshadow palette for a long time, but she had never been able to buy it.
The moment she received it from Su Ning, she hurriedly stuffed it into her bag and said emotionally, “Ning Ning, you’re so good to me.
Having a best friend like you is really my good fortune.”
Su Ning looked at herself in the mirror without the slightest trace of modesty.
“Of course.
I’m beautiful and kind.”
Lu Xiaoran continued showering her with praise.
It was also thanks to her sweet tongue that she had managed to stand out among all the people who fawned over Su Ning and secure the position of Su Ning’s number-one lackey.
Naturally, she had also received quite a few benefits from Su Ning.
Lu Xiaoran said, “Ning Ning, I heard we’re getting a new student in our class.”
Su Ning asked, “A boy or a girl?
Is she good-looking?”
“I heard she’s a girl.
Someone saw her handling paperwork in the teachers’ office last time.
Apparently, she’s pretty.”
Su Ning asked, “Is her name ABB?”
Lu Xiaoran blinked.
“Huh?”
Su Ning said, “I mean, what’s her name?”
Lu Xiaoran said, “It should be Lu Zhizhi.
I heard the teacher call her that.”
Su Ning’s expression turned serious.
She had been in this world for more than a month without a script, and she hadn’t noticed any girl who gave off the aura of a female protagonist.
So she could only guess that the female protagonist had not appeared yet.
Now that Lu Xiaoran said the new transfer student was named Lu Zhizhi, Su Ning guessed that this had to be the female protagonist.
After all, nine out of ten female protagonists in the novels she had read had ABB-style names.
Lu Xiaoran didn’t understand what Su Ning was so concerned about.
She continued telling her the latest gossip.
“Another girl from the class next door has taken a leave of absence.
She and the girl who took leave before both lived in Building B.
Ning Ning, don’t you live in that building too?
Why don’t you apply to change dorms?
I think the rumors are true.
That really is a cursed dormitory building.”
Building B was an old dormitory building, and there had always been unpleasant rumors about it.
For example, there was a girl who had supposedly committed suicide by lying in a bathtub.
There was also someone who had hanged themselves during summer vacation and wasn’t discovered until much later, by which time their head had fallen to the ground.
In short, there were plenty of terrifying rumors.
The school had a history of a hundred years and had always been strictly closed off.
It was difficult for students to even leave the campus for a trip outside.
Although every student looked glamorous on the surface, there were clear social hierarchies among them.
Those who couldn’t fit in could only be isolated.
Beneath the cheerful and friendly exterior, the atmosphere was oppressive.
Any student with a slightly higher status would never live in Building B.
But Su Ning was an odd one.
She didn’t want to share a dorm room with anyone else, so she moved into Building B, where there were plenty of empty rooms for her to choose from.
Lu Xiaoran couldn’t understand how Su Ning could be so fearless.
She asked quietly, “Ning Ning, you’re sleeping there alone.
Aren’t you really scared?”
“What is there to be scared of?” Su Ning said indifferently.
Lu Xiaoran said, “I heard the lights there often flicker!”
“That’s just the wiring getting old.”
Lu Xiaoran said, “And some senior girls said that a whole bunch of hair suddenly comes out of the sink!”
“That’s just a clogged drain.”
Lu Xiaoran said, “At night, there are knocking sounds coming from the glass windows!”
“That’s my boyfriend…
Ahem.
That’s just tree branches swaying in the wind.
Sometimes they hit the windows.”
Lu Xiaoran stared at Su Ning with a strange look.
Su Ning patted Lu Xiaoran on the shoulder.
“Xiaoran, we have to believe in science.
There are no ghosts in this world.
Look at all the bad things I’ve done, and no ghost has ever come knocking on my door in the middle of the night.”
Lu Xiaoran: “…”
Sometimes, she really felt as though Su Ning and the rest of them lived in two different worlds.
Otherwise, with everyone already terrified, how could Su Ning still act as if she couldn’t sense anything at all?
At that moment, a boy walked over.
He looked somewhat shy as he said to Su Ning, “Su Ning, um…
My birthday is coming up.
Could I take you out for a meal?”
Here we go again.
Lu Xiaoran rolled her eyes.
Although Su Ning had already found an unremarkable boy from the class next door to be her boyfriend, there were still plenty of people who refused to give up and wanted to steal this dazzling rich beauty away from him.
Su Ning asked in confusion, “It’s your birthday, so celebrate it.
Why are you treating me to a meal?”
The boy racked his brain for a while before finally coming up with a reason.
“You picked up the eraser I dropped on the floor for me yesterday.
I should thank you properly!”
Su Ning rejected him without the slightest tact.
“No.
My boyfriend doesn’t like me getting too close to other boys.”
The boy still wanted to say something when someone in the classroom called out, “Su Ning, your boyfriend is at the door!”
Su Ning looked up.
The young man standing at the doorway was tall and slender, his black school uniform accentuating his lean, tall figure without making him look frail.
When his eyes met Su Ning’s, the corners of his eyes curved as he smiled brightly.
“Ning Ning.”
Su Ning stood up, went around the boy blocking her way, and ran to the door with a smile.
“Why are you here?”
Shen Ji said softly, “I have something to give you.”
Su Ning’s eyes lit up with anticipation, but she didn’t want anyone else to see Shen Ji’s surprise for her, so she took his hand and led him into the hallway.
Shen Ji’s smiling eyes casually swept over the boy standing in the classroom.
The boy, who had looked shy just moments ago, was now filled with unwillingness.
Someone walked over and mocked him.
“Look at our class flower.
She could like anyone, but she just had to fall for Shen Ji.
That guy used to get beaten up all the time, didn’t he?
He was as timid as a mouse and would hide whenever he saw anyone.
Now he’s gotten pretty bold.
He even dares to go after the girl our Yuan has his eyes on.”
The others joined in, enjoying the spectacle.
“Exactly!
That guy’s way too bold!”
The boy’s name was Zhao Yuan.
Hearing what his friends said, his expression grew even darker.
Lu Xiaoran silently wondered whether she should warn Su Ning that her boyfriend seemed to be in trouble.
In the stairwell, only Su Ning and Shen Ji were there.
She asked impatiently, “What are you going to give me?”
Shen Ji first took a box of strawberry-flavored yogurt out of his shoulder bag.
He inserted the straw into the carton and handed it to her.
Su Ning took a sip of the yogurt as she watched him pull a glass bottle out of his bag.
It was filled to the brim with paper cranes, all of them pink, overflowing with girlish charm.
Shen Ji held the glass bottle out to her.
His dark, glossy eyes sparkled.
“Ning Ning, I heard couples fold things and give them to each other.
I made these for you.
Next time, I’ll fold stars for you too, okay?”
Folding things to give to someone…
That seemed like a little game popular among young couples many years ago.
What era was this?
Who still folded things anymore?
Su Ning looked up.
The young man’s face was clean and handsome.
His clear black eyes were filled with anticipation, and he stared at her face without wanting to look away for even a moment.
Su Ning naturally knew what he was hoping for.
As she rose onto her tiptoes, the young man had already cooperatively bent down.
She gave him a hard kiss and said with a bright smile, “Thank you.
I love it!”
Shen Ji’s eyes sparkled.
His excitement and delight seemed ready to overflow from his heart.
He blinked, looking pure and innocent.
“Ning Ning, can I have another hug?”
Su Ning stepped forward and hugged him.
She gently patted his back and said indulgently, “All right, all right.
Our Shen Ji is the most lovable.
Even if you didn’t ask, I would have wanted to hug you anyway.”
The young man’s eyes curved into a smile.
Like a little animal seeking affection, he happily rubbed his face against hers.
He was over six feet tall, yet now he bent down with his head resting against the girl’s shoulder, looking almost as if he were acting spoiled.