Su Ning was in Class One, while Shen Ji was in Class Two.
Normally, the two of them would never have crossed paths.
At this school, where social status was everything, Shen Ji’s family background was not particularly impressive, making him an easy target for everyone to bully.
When Su Ning first met Shen Ji, he was in a bad situation.
It was just after Su Ning had transmigrated into this world.
She only knew that she had to pursue someone, but she knew nothing about the plot of this world, so she could only act according to her own judgment.
One summer afternoon, four or five boys cornered the young man in an isolated spot.
The boy leading them casually twirled a pinhole camera in his hand and gave an evil laugh.
“Shen Ji, we’re not making things difficult for you.
We’re just asking you to quietly put this thing in the girls’ restroom.
You’re so inconspicuous that even if you live in this world, you’re just wasting oxygen.
We’re giving your existence a little more meaning now.
Isn’t that a good thing?”
The young man trapped against the wall lowered his head slightly without saying a word.
Another boy stepped forward and pushed the young man’s shoulder without the slightest courtesy.
“Hey, Shen Ji, don’t be so ungrateful.
You should know that no one here can help you.
We’re letting you join in because we think highly of you.
You’d better be smart about this.”
The other boys’ eyes were full of amusement and mockery.
One of them even clenched his fist until his knuckles cracked, making the threat perfectly clear.
The school’s restrictions were far too strict, and they couldn’t go outside to cause trouble, so naturally, they had to find other ways to amuse themselves.
Shen Ji wasn’t the first person they had bullied, and he certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Whenever they had cornered Shen Ji in the past, he hadn’t even dared to say a word.
He would do whatever they told him to do.
But today seemed a little strange.
Shen Ji hadn’t said a single word to them for quite some time.
The boys exchanged glances.
One of them casually picked up a stick from the ground and advanced toward him step by step.
“I think it’s been too long since we’ve played with you.
You’ve even forgotten how to get along with your friends.”
The so-called “friends” was, of course, nothing more than a hypocritical way of putting it.
Shen Ji slowly raised his eyes and looked at the person approaching him.
A strange look gradually surfaced in his otherwise silent eyes.
“What are you doing?”
The sudden voice made everyone turn around.
It was a girl who was almost unnaturally beautiful.
Her skin was as pale as snow, her hair as black as ink, and her features were exquisitely delicate.
With her arms folded across her chest, she looked at people with a lofty, assessing gaze.
Anyone caught by that arrogant gaze would instinctively feel as though they were beneath her.
Clearly, she was a young lady more spoiled and overbearing than anyone else.
And because her appearance was so striking, anyone could guess her identity at a glance.
The academy’s most beautiful flower of wealth and status—the eldest daughter of the Su family, whose status stood above almost everyone else.
Several of the boys had tried to win Su Ning over before.
Whether they genuinely liked her or not was another matter.
As long as they could make her their girlfriend, they would certainly feel that it gave them plenty of face.
The boy holding the stick wasn’t at all shy about it.
He laughed.
“We’re just playing a game with a classmate.
Su Ning, want to stay and watch?”
At this school, boys and girls alike would often form small groups and collectively bully someone.
It wasn’t unusual.
Su Ning glanced at the silent young man.
In that instant, she seemed to see a dark red aura appear around him.
But it vanished in the blink of an eye, as if it had merely been an illusion.
She looked at the others again, but nothing like that appeared around them.
Su Ning understood.
Perhaps this was the cheat ability that the unreliable system had left her with.
It allowed her to distinguish exactly who her target was.
Thinking about it more carefully, a bullied young man trapped in adversity and looking especially pitiful—perhaps he would even become a darkened character in the future.
Wasn’t this exactly the kind of plot she had seen in online novels?
Three days after transmigrating into this world, Su Ning had finally found her target.
She slowly walked over and stood in front of the young man, shielding him.
The boys exchanged looks.
One of them asked, “Su Ning, what do you mean by this?”
Facing a group of people, Su Ning didn’t show the slightest sign of fear.
She smiled slightly, and her exquisite, beautiful face looked even more radiant.
“From today onward, this person is under my protection.”
One of the boys burst out laughing.
“Su Ning, did I hear that wrong?
You said you’re going to protect him?”
Su Ning said, “You heard me right.”
The boy who had been rejected by Su Ning before asked unwillingly, “Why?”
Su Ning replied, “Because I fell in love with him at first sight, obviously.”
The young man looked at Su Ning’s back and tilted his head slightly.
Her words immediately made them furious and embarrassed.
“Su Ning!
Are you crazy, or am I crazy?”
Su Ning glanced meaningfully at the camera in the boy’s hand and curled her lips upward.
“You should know that if I spread certain things around, there will be plenty of people who would want to figure out how to please me, right?”
The boy hurriedly moved the hand holding the camera behind his back.
Su Ning continued leisurely, “Some things can be very hot to hold onto.
Be careful.
You wouldn’t want to get burned by your own fire.”
The expressions of several boys turned unpleasant.
They knew very well how popular Su Ning was and how much influence she had at school.
They didn’t dare say anything more.
They could only glare fiercely at the person behind Su Ning before turning around and leaving unwillingly.
Su Ning turned around and carefully looked the young man up and down.
She was fairly satisfied with his appearance, so she gave him a genuine smile.
With her eyes curved into a smile, she extended her hand.
“Hello, I’m Su Ning.”
The young man lowered his eyes and looked at her fair, delicate hand.
It was smooth and flawless, slender and perfectly shaped.
After a long while, he raised his hand and took hers.
It was a little soft and a little warm.
The corners of the young man’s lips slowly curved upward.
A hint of light appeared in his pitch-black eyes, which had been as lifeless as a dead night.
His pale, paper-white face suddenly became vivid and lively.
His smile was bright and sunny.
“Hello, I’m Shen Ji.”
Su Ning asked straightforwardly, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Su Ning asked directly, “Then what do you think about me being your girlfriend?”
Shen Ji blinked.
“If you become my girlfriend, can these hands of yours belong to me?”
This kid seemed to have quite a strong sense of possessiveness.
He didn’t want her touching anyone else.
Could it be caused by an inferiority complex?
Su Ning could understand.
After all, not only did she have breathtaking beauty, but she was also exceptionally intelligent.
Any normal man would feel that he wasn’t good enough for her.
With a snap, Su Ning took both of his hands in hers.
“As long as you date me, not only my hands, but my whole self can belong to you!”
Her eyes were clear and bright, her nose small and delicate, and the corners of her lips curved upward.
Her neck was slender, and her hands were fair and delicate.
Beneath the plaid skirt of her school uniform were two long, well-proportioned legs.
Shen Ji’s pitch-black eyes grew even brighter, as if they were filled with starlight.
A huge smile blossomed across his face, pure and innocent.
“Okay.
You can be my girlfriend!”
And just like that, the two of them became a couple the very first time they met.
Now, they had already been together for more than a month.
Su Ning sat on the stairs, counting the paper cranes inside the glass bottle.
Shen Ji held a carton of yogurt.
Whenever Su Ning opened her mouth, he thoughtfully brought the straw to her lips.
Su Ning finished the yogurt in a few gulps.
She looked at him with both admiration and delight.
“How long did it take you to fold so many?”
At that moment, Shen Ji looked like a shy, delicate little girl.
Embarrassed, he tugged at the corner of his clothes and said softly, “I folded them for a whole week.”
Su Ning couldn’t take it anymore.
How could a boy be this cute?
She hugged his arm and didn’t hold back on praising him.
“Shen Ji, you’re amazing!”
He pressed his lips together and smiled softly.
Su Ning hugged the glass bottle to her chest and asked with concern, “Have those people in your class been giving you trouble lately?”
Shen Ji shook his head and said innocently, “They’re all very nice to me now.
Whenever I need help with something, my classmates are all very enthusiastic about helping me.
Everyone is a good person.”
Su Ning reached out and poked his cheek.
“You can’t let your guard down like that.
There might be someone like Jia Renlu!”
Jia Renlu was the person who had previously brought others along and forced Shen Ji to put a camera in the girls’ restroom.
Su Ning muttered, “That Jia Renlu was such a disgusting pervert.
He used to bully you, and he was always writing filthy love letters to harass me too.
Even Heaven couldn’t stand it anymore, so he ended up getting burned until not even a scrap was left.”
That had happened not long after Su Ning and Shen Ji started dating.
In the middle of the night, Jia Renlu had gone to the old boiler room that had been built decades ago, and then an accident happened.
At the mention of this, Su Ning rested one hand against her chin.
“Speaking of which, what was Jia Renlu doing in the boiler room in the middle of the night?”
Shen Ji imitated Su Ning’s gesture, resting one hand against his chin as well.
He followed along with a troubled expression.
“Yeah.
What was he doing in the boiler room so late at night?”
It really was impossible to figure out.