Since this morning, everyone had noticed the change in Ruan Xing.
Without makeup, she was breathtakingly beautiful, and she was actually sitting there attentively listening to class—something unheard of.
Everyone knew Ruan Xing used to either skip classes, take leave, or simply sleep through them. When had she ever paid attention?
What was even more unbelievable was that she spent the entire day studying in the classroom and didn’t go fawning over Huo Jing.
Wu Jiali also noticed the change in her deskmate today. She felt that Ruan Xing seemed completely different from before. The old Ruan Xing was arrogant and domineering, and no one liked her. But now, just sitting there, she was a dazzling presence. After spending the day together, Wu Jiali found herself growing fonder of her deskmate.
By noon, Ruan Xing had become the talk of the school. Someone had secretly taken a photo of her sitting in the classroom, absorbed in her book, and posted it on the school forum. The post exploded instantly.
In the photo, the girl’s face was free of makeup, her skin flawless, her features sharp and distinct. With her head bowed over the book, her gaze was incredibly gentle.
One had to admit the photo was stunning, but since it was Ruan Xing, everyone immediately lost interest.
After the photo was posted, the popularity of the thread skyrocketed, and the comments underneath multiplied at an astonishing rate.
“No way, is this really that ugly freak Ruan Xing?”
“How did she go from being so ugly to so beautiful all of a sudden?”
“Hmph, so what if she’s pretty? Huo Jing still won’t even glance at her.”
“Even if she’s beautiful, her behavior at school is so terrible. No amount of beauty can hide her ugly heart.”
One highly upvoted comment was pinned to the top, standing out prominently.
“So the little fairy I saw at the school gate this morning was Ruan Xing? I’m so disappointed now.”
The boy who had seen that figure at the school gate this morning had felt his heart racing wildly. He had wanted to ask for the goddess’s contact information but never imagined it was Ruan Xing, whom they all disliked.
Unable to hold back, the boy who saw the forum photo left a sighing comment.
Many others who had noticed the girl at the school gate today were equally surprised to learn it was Ruan Xing, so they upvoted the comment.
·······
Although a few comments praised Ruan Xing’s looks, the majority were malicious.
Class Eight.
“Damn, are my eyes playing tricks on me?”
He Qingze was browsing the school forum when he came across the highly popular post. He usually didn’t care for studying and loved killing time with gossip.
But he never expected the subject of the post to be that ugly freak. In the photo, she was stunningly beautiful, and he began to doubt his own eyes.
Chen Ye, who was sleeping beside him, was startled by the sudden movement and looked annoyed.
“What’s wrong? Are you having a seizure?”
Had this guy stumbled upon some boring gossip again?
“You… you need to see the school forum.”
“Another pointless post? No, thanks. Get lost, don’t disturb my sleep.” Chen Ye sneered dismissively and slumped back onto the desk.
But before long, she was pulled back by a forceful tug. Just as she was about to lose her temper, she heard the other person say, “What kind of worthless post is this? That ugly freak Ruan Xing is on the forum. Look at the photo.” He Qingze simply threw his phone directly into his hand.
Chen Ye looked at the person in front of him with an expression of utter disdain, impatiently scrolling through the screen with his thumb.
“Holy shit, is this that ugly freak Ruan Xing? Did she get plastic surgery?” Chen Ye’s eyes widened, his mouth gaping open enough to fit an egg.
“Are you stupid? Did you forget we just hung out a couple of days ago? Could she recover from plastic surgery that fast? You brainless idiot.”
…
Just as the two were heatedly discussing, Huo Jing happened to return from outside.
Seeing Huo Jing back, they timidly asked, “Jing-ge, have you seen the post on the forum?”
Given Huo Jing’s unpredictable temper, they were undoubtedly somewhat afraid of him. Unsure whether he knew about it or not, they could only tentatively ask.
“What?” Huo Jing narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Jing-ge, you should take a look!” Seeing that Jing-ge seemed completely unaware, they immediately understood and handed him the phone directly.
Holding the phone, Huo Jing stared at the photo of the stunningly beautiful girl and was momentarily dazed. This person was actually Ruan Xing. Huo Jing truly hadn’t expected it—it was impossible not to be surprised.
When he saw Ruan Xing’s photo, Huo Jing merely widened his eyes and froze for a few seconds, completely lacking the horrified expressions the other two had worn.
Seeing the dangerous glint in Jing-ge’s dark eyes, the two couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at that moment.
“Don’t show me just any random crap.” After a long pause, Huo Jing spoke with playful amusement.
Ruan Xing still remembered the misery of her previous life. Back then, she had devoted all her energy to Huo Jing and Lu Wan, resulting in her academic performance being a complete mess. On the day of the college entrance exam, she was kidnapped—her life took a drastic turn from that point onward.
As for the kidnapping incident, Ruan Xing didn’t need to think hard to know who was behind it. Aside from Lu Wan, she couldn’t imagine anyone else.
This time, she was determined to study hard and change her tragic fate.
The only thing she felt relieved about now was that she was in the humanities stream. English was her greatest advantage because she had lived abroad for some time and was much better at it than most people. As for other subjects, she wasn’t worried—the only one she was concerned about was math.
For humanities subjects, memorization was key. Since childhood, she had possessed a hidden talent: she could remember anything she saw once, no matter how complex. Almost no one knew about this ability.
As school was about to end, Wu Jiali pulled several notebooks from her desk drawer, hugging them tightly in her arms as she timidly spoke.
“These are my notes—they might be somewhat useful. Would you like to look at them?” Perhaps afraid of being rejected, her voice was very soft.
Throughout the day, she had noticed her deskmate studying diligently. Knowing that her deskmate usually never opened a book during class, she thought the notes might be helpful. Since her own grades ranked in the top ten in the class, they might offer some assistance.
Ruan Xing caught the unease in her deskmate’s eyes.
She must be afraid I’ll reject her, Ruan Xing thought.
In the end, Ruan Xing accepted her deskmate’s kindness, offering her a warm, sweet smile.
“Thank you.”
“It’s… it’s nothing.”
Seeing that she had accepted it, the last trace of unease in Wu Jiali’s heart had long since vanished without a trace. She looked at the girl before her, who seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.