Making Amends for Regret

Soon, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan arrived at the principal's office.

As soon as they entered, they saw the room was packed with teachers, so crowded that there weren't enough seats, and half of them were standing.

"Come, Zichen, let me introduce you."

"This is your homeroom teacher, Mr. Guan Feng."

"This is your math teacher, Mr. Bai Yuanhe."

"This is your physics teacher..."

Seeing Lin Zichen walk in, Principal Chen immediately stood up and walked over, enthusiastically introducing him to the various subject teachers of his class.

The class he was assigned to was an elite class; they began learning physics and chemistry as early as the first year of middle school, and there were even additional competition courses, making the study intensity very high.

"Zichen, the school thinks very highly of you, and we hope that in the next three years, you can bring countless honors to this school."

After finishing the introductions, Principal Chen patted Lin Zichen on the shoulder, placing high expectations on him.

He then let Lin Zichen go and have a proper chat with the teachers while he turned back to continue talking with his parents.

On the other side, Shen Qinghan's family sat in the corner of the office, ignored by everyone, with no presence at all, appearing completely out of place.

Regarding this, Shen Jianye and Xu Meng felt very anxious.

Their daughter was smart and pretty, but compared to Lin Zichen, who was currently being treated like the moon surrounded by stars, she seemed too ordinary, or even completely unremarkable.

With such a large gap, the two children would sooner or later drift apart, until they became people from two different worlds.

What should they do?

Unlike her parents, Shen Qinghan never thought about these issues; she only felt that Lin Zichen was amazing, and as his closest childhood sweetheart, she felt very proud.

Look, this boy is not only handsome but also talented in both literature and martial arts—he is exceptionally outstanding.

You might not believe it, but he is my childhood sweetheart; we grew up together, and our relationship is super, super close.

Are you envious?

Lin Zichen didn't have much to talk about with the teachers.

Because by this time, he had already self-studied all the courses for middle and high school, and had even finished advanced mathematics.

Under the blessing of the [Heavenly Human Wisdom Root], he had reached an extremely high level in everything he studied.

Take the subject of mathematics, for example; he could easily score full marks on every exam.

Thus, Lin Zichen only exchanged polite pleasantries with the teachers to become familiar with them, then found a random excuse to leave with Shen Qinghan.

After the two children left.

Lin Yansheng noticed that Shen Jianye and Xu Meng were feeling awkward in the corner and realized he had been negligent.

He had been too engrossed in chatting with the principal just now and had forgotten about his two friends.

Realizing this, he immediately took the initiative to steer the conversation toward his two friends, saying to the teachers, "Teachers, our Xiao Chen and their Hanhan are best friends. They made a pact since they were little to attend the same middle school and the same university. I hope you can look after both of them."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanxin also added, "Xiao Chen has been stubborn since he was a child; if he says he will do something, he will definitely do it. He and Hanhan have agreed to be together through middle school and university. Even if Hanhan performs poorly and can only go to some ordinary school, that child will definitely follow her. I leave them in your hands, teachers."

Principal Chen was a shrewd man; he understood what they meant and immediately smiled at the teachers, saying, "As their teachers, you must pay extra attention to both children and make sure they don't fall behind in their studies."

After saying this, he took the initiative to step forward and chat amicably with the Shen couple to learn more about Shen Qinghan's situation.

Seeing this, the surrounding teachers also began to chat with Shen Jianye and Xu Meng.

Shen Jianye and Xu Meng felt flattered, both glancing toward Lin Yansheng and Zhang Wanxin, keeping the favor of their two friends in their hearts.

School playground.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan sat on the grass.

The two watched the students coming and going, enjoying this moment of tranquility.

Soon, they would also become students of this school, spending three years of middle school life here.

"Xiao Chen, look over there! There's a badminton court. It just so happens that my dad has a set of badminton rackets in his car. Should we go play?"

"Sure."

The two were of one mind, immediately setting off to return to the principal's office to get the car keys from Shen Jianye, then retrieving the badminton rackets from the car.

Following that, they arrived at the badminton court.

"Xiao Chen, we are so lucky! There's only one empty court left, and we actually managed to grab it!" Shen Qinghan said excitedly.

Seeing her so happy, Lin Zichen couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

This girl is so easy to satisfy; even the smallest good thing can make her happy enough to fly.

"Xiao Chen, watch my Fairy Curve Shot!"

"Xiao Chen, I have another move: the Magical Girl Deception Shot!"

"Xiao Chen, don't get too cocky! You definitely won't be able to catch my Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers Shot!"

On the court, Shen Qinghan was like a child who refused to grow up, shouting out various childish move names with a brilliant smile plastered across her delicate face.

Watching Shen Qinghan's childish display, Lin Zichen couldn't help but laugh, finding her inexplicably adorable.

Just as the two were having a great time, two older boys who couldn't find an empty court for badminton walked into their space without a word.

The two boys said nothing; they simply walked in and started playing their own game, treating Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan like air.

"What are you doing? We were already playing here!"

Shen Qinghan looked at them with a face full of dissatisfaction.

However, the two boys didn't take her seriously at all.

In particular, the boy with the crew cut on her side of the court retorted bluntly:

"Tch, play if you want, or go cool off on the sidelines if you don't."

This was a blatant case of hijacking a court, something especially common in elementary and middle schools.

Some older students, often relying on their age and larger stature, liked to take over courts from younger students whenever they wanted to play basketball, badminton, or table tennis and couldn't find an empty spot.

In his past life, Lin Zichen had seen plenty of this bad behavior.

Back then, he lacked the ability to stop it, so he could only choose to mind his own business or swallow his pride when it happened to him.

But today was different from the past.

It was time to make up for the regrets of his youth.

With that thought, Lin Zichen seized the moment. When the crew-cut boy on the opposite side hit the shuttlecock over, he lunged forward in a single stride and smashed the incoming shuttlecock, sending it flying far out of the court!

He had held back on this strike, using less than ten percent of his strength.

Yet, the shuttlecock flew dozens of meters away in an instant, taking quite a while before it finally drifted to the ground.

Seeing this exaggerated display, the two boys who had come to hijack the court were left stunned.

Lin Zichen pointed his racket at them and asked with an expressionless face, "Still want to play?"

Both of them shivered at the sound of his voice, looking at Lin Zichen as if he were a monster, and soon they slunk away without a word.

Lin Zichen picked up his shuttlecock and smiled gently at Shen Qinghan on the other side of the court.

"Hanhan, let's continue."

"Oh, oh, okay, let's continue."

Shen Qinghan snapped out of her daze and replied, picking up her racket to resume the game with Lin Zichen.

She had been shocked by what she just saw.

But once she remembered that Lin Zichen had been able to instantly incapacitate two adults in an alleyway back when he was only a second-grader, she quickly felt that it was only natural.