Lin Zhinuo’s eyes lit up. She only knew that Meng Siyu’s older sister was an excellent student; she hadn’t known that she was in the Lingyun Class.
“Really? My brother is in the Lingyun Class too.”
“Is that something to be proud of?”
Meng Siyu’s face looked as though she had just eaten a bitter melon.
“Ever since we were little, there have been five or six cousins in our family. My sister is the only one who’s the pride and joy of the older generation. The rest of us are treated like worthless pieces of trash. Every time we make a mistake, they drag my sister out and compare us to her, using her as an example to lecture us. The only reason I was able to get into the affiliated high school this time was thanks to my sister. My parents value the educational resources here in Yucheng, so they specifically bought a house here…”
Lin Zhinuo gently held her hand, not knowing how to comfort her for a moment. Thinking of how things had ended for her in her previous life, she couldn’t help feeling a sting in her nose.
This time, she not only had to protect her family, but also make sure her best friend stayed far away from that scumbag.
When Meng Siyu saw the beautiful new deskmate suddenly turn red around the eyes, she assumed Lin Zhinuo was empathizing with her situation and quickly changed the subject.
“Zhinuo, do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Only after asking did Meng Siyu realize that she hadn’t really changed the subject at all.
Lin Zhinuo, however, thought about it seriously before giving a slight nod.
“I have an older brother. But… he’s really good.”
That evening, after taking a shower, Lin Zhinuo lay on her stomach on the bed and messaged Xu Qingyan right on schedule.
Yucheng No. 1 High School had three Lingyun Classes, one competition class, and eleven regular classes.
The school had specially arranged exceptionally well-equipped four-person dormitories for the students in the Lingyun and competition classes. The upper bunks were for sleeping, while the lower bunks had desks.
Compared with the ordinary dormitories, they were quieter and had a much stronger atmosphere for studying.
Xu Qingyan was a transfer student in the second-year Lingyun Class. Since all the other dormitories were already full, he had no choice but to squeeze into the competition class’s dormitory.
His roommates were two second-year competition students and one third-year competition student.
After washing up, Xu Qingyan returned to the room, put down his washbasin, and went to the small balcony to hang up the school uniform he had changed out of.
“Bang!”
He instinctively turned his head.
Two second-year competition students were standing beside his bed. The basin that had just been sitting on the floor had somehow been kicked over.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to.”
One of the boys with a buzz cut didn’t even look up as he stepped over the overturned basin.
Xu Qingyan lowered his eyes, walked over, and crouched down to set the basin upright.
The toothbrush case inside had fallen onto the floor.
It was cylindrical. When opened, it could be used as a rinsing cup, while also storing both a toothbrush and toothpaste inside.
The cup was white and translucent, with a cute little bear printed on it.
Lin Zhinuo had specially picked it out for him at the supermarket the night before.
The dormitory floor wasn’t particularly dirty, and the toothbrush had remained safely inside the case without falling out.
Still, Xu Qingyan picked up the toothbrush case and silently walked out of the dormitory.
Seeing him leave without saying a word, the buzz-cut boy lifted his foot and viciously kicked the washbasin on the floor again, grumbling curses.
“Yucheng No. 1 High School is really getting more and more shameless. They’re even stuffing transfer students into the competition-class dorms now.”
Zhou Zijia tried to calm him down.
“Take it easy. He’s from the Lingyun Class, after all.”
Mentioning that only made Lu Chengyang even angrier.
“I asked around. Apparently, this kid transferred here from some small county in the north. A place with backward educational resources what kind of grades could he possibly have? He’s probably just like that piece of garbage from last year, another student who pulled strings through some relative who made something of himself and got him shoved into the Lingyun Class.”
“Tsk. If his brains aren’t good enough, he’s still just a piece of shit even after getting into the Lingyun Class.”
Outside the dormitory door, Xu Qingyan stopped in his tracks, his expression impassive.
“Don’t take it to heart. They’re always like that.”
A warm voice suddenly sounded.
A refined-looking boy wearing glasses stopped in front of him.
“You’re the new roommate, right? My name is Li Ming’en. I’m a third-year student.”
Xu Qingyan gave a slight nod.
“Hello. Xu Qingyan.”
“Come on in. We can still do half an hour of practice problems before lights-out.”
As he spoke, Li Ming’en pushed open the door and walked inside.
The two people in the room casually glanced toward the doorway before pulling out their chairs and sitting down.
After sitting, Li Ming’en immediately lowered his head and began working through practice problems.
The phone in Xu Qingyan’s pocket vibrated.
It was a text message from Lin Zhinuo.
He had just been about to reply when a sarcastic voice sounded from behind him.
“Trash!”
Xu Qingyan said nothing and turned toward the small balcony.
Lin Zhinuo: Brother, how’s the dorm? Are your roommates easy to get along with? Is it hot in the room?
Xu Qingyan: Everything’s fine. It’s not hot. Go to sleep early.
Lin Zhinuo: “I want to talk to Brother.”
Xu Qingyan pursed his lips. He had just typed one character when another message from her came through.
“The dorm is probably about to turn off the lights, right? Go wash up and get some sleep, Brother. Good night.”
The dormitory was quiet. Xu Qingyan put away his phone. As he passed behind Li Ming’en, his gaze fell on the test paper at the corner of the desk, covered from top to bottom with answers.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked softly, “Can I borrow your test paper and take a look?”
“This is a competition problem set.” Li Ming’en didn’t look up. “Go ahead and take it.”
A disdainful “Tsk” sounded from behind him.
“Show-off.”
Xu Qingyan acted as though he hadn’t heard. He took the test paper to his own desk and began studying it seriously.
The previous night, Lin Zhinuo had pestered Lin Jingshan for quite a while before finally getting permission to ride her bike to school that morning.
When she had just arrived at the school gate, she ran into Meng Siyu, who was sweating profusely, and immediately stopped her bike.
“Siyu, why did you run to school?”
Meng Siyu’s round face was flushed from running.
“My sister rode her bike and gave me a lift, but halfway here, the tire went flat. I had to run the rest of the way myself.”
“Wow, Zhinuo, your bike is so pretty!”
Meng Siyu glanced at Lin Zhinuo’s bicycle and couldn’t resist walking around it to admire it.
“Wahhh… I want to have a bike of my own too.”
Lin Zhinuo glanced at the time.
“We’re running out of time. I’ll let you ride it next time.”
“Oh, right. You could buy one too. We live along the same route, so we could ride to and from school together from now on.”
“Forget it. Good things and new stuff never make their way to me.”
Meng Siyu enviously ran her fingers over the cherry-pink frame.
Lin Zhinuo couldn’t understand it. They were both their parents’ children, so how could parents treat their children so differently?
Ever since she was little, it wasn’t just the things she asked for even if she merely looked at something for a little too long, Lin Jingshan would find a way to get it for her.
Even this time, when she had asked Xu Qingyan to come to Yucheng to study, Lin Jingshan had supported her without the slightest hesitation.
After school at five every afternoon, Lin Zhinuo went to the dance studio to practice without fail.
Sometimes, she would also arrange to go with Shen Qianqian, who got out of school earlier.
On Saturdays and Sundays, Xu Qingyan would return to stay at Xinyue Bay.
There was a large desk in the study, which became the place where the two of them did their homework.
Xu Qingyan was extremely focused whenever he worked on problems. His thinking was clear, and he solved them incredibly quickly.
Even after getting a second chance at life, Lin Zhinuo still couldn’t summon the slightest interest in using her brain to solve math problems.
Functions, in particular just looking at them made her feel like her head was about to split in two.
Lin Zhinuo lazily lay sprawled across the desk, resting her chin on her arms. She held a spring-loaded pen in her hand, its tip pointing upward. It made a sound every time it bounced against the desk.
Click.
Bounce.
Click.
Bounce…
Finally, Xu Qingyan lifted his head.
“Don’t know how to do it?”
Lin Zhinuo blinked.
“Brother, can I borrow your brain for ten minutes? It’s just too hard!”
Xu Qingyan reached out and took her test paper. He was about to ask which question she didn’t understand when his gaze landed on the completely blank sheet.
Half an hour had passed, and this girl hadn’t written a single word.
He helplessly let out a soft sigh.
“You don’t know how to do any of them?”
“Not exactly.”
Lin Zhinuo shifted into another position, still lying on the desk.
“It’s just that whenever I do math problems, I get sleepy and want to take a nap.”
“Have you finished the homework for your other subjects?”
Lin Zhinuo shook her head.
“I still have a short English composition to write.”
“Then write the composition first.”
Xu Qingyan gently moved the test paper aside and briefly looked over the types of questions on it again.
Lin Zhinuo gave an obedient “Oh,” took out her English notebook, and began writing.
In her previous life, she had passed the CET-4 English exam, so writing a short composition was no problem for her.
“Finished?”
She had just put down her pen and breathed a sigh of relief when the boy’s calm, understated voice suddenly sounded.
The next second, the test paper covered in function problems was pushed in front of her.
Lin Zhinuo’s little face instantly fell.
“Brother, I want to sleep.”