The Competitive Scholars

The next morning, September 2nd.

In the classroom of Class 1, Grade 10.

The four main subject teachers stood on the podium, taking turns introducing themselves to the forty freshmen below.

The freshmen were all very quiet, listening attentively the entire time.

It wasn't because they were naturally reserved, but rather because these students were still unfamiliar with one another, making their interactions stiff as they didn't know what to talk about.

"Alright, students, the four of us teachers have finished our introductions. Now it is your turn to come up and introduce yourselves so everyone can get to know each other."

The homeroom teacher said, looking toward the girl sitting in the first row on the left with a smile. "Let's start with this student, and then we will go row by row in order."

That girl seemed quite extroverted; as soon as the teacher finished speaking, she stood up, left her seat, and walked to the podium with a smile to introduce herself.

"Hello everyone, my name is Chu Yuxi, and my hobbies are playing instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting..."

Following that, the others took turns coming up to the podium in order.

"My name is Zhong Yijia, I like watching anime, playing cosplay, and exercising..."

"My name is Peng Huoguang, and when I'm free, I like to stay home and play video games..."

"..."

Lin Zichen sat in a seat toward the back of the middle row, listening quietly to his classmates' introductions.

As he listened, he noticed a stray hair on Shen Qinghan's shoulder in front of him and reached out to brush it off.

Feeling the touch on her back, Shen Qinghan assumed Lin Zichen had something to tell her and immediately turned around.

Lin Zichen explained, "I just saw a hair on your back, so I reached out to remove it for you."

"Oh, I see." Shen Qinghan nodded softly, then turned back around.

The two were no longer desk-mates, but rather sat one behind the other.

The entire class was arranged with boys sitting with boys and girls with girls, unlike the nine-year compulsory education period where boys and girls sat together.

After all, students in the tenth grade were generally around 16 years old, and with their secondary sexual characteristics well-developed, it was considered inappropriate for boys and girls to sit together.

Originally, Lin Zichen could have used his privileges as a genius to remain desk-mates with Shen Qinghan.

But after some thought, he felt that would not be conducive to Shen Qinghan's growth.

Throughout her life, aside from a brief period in the second grade of elementary school when she had a friend her age named the white-haired girl, Shen Qinghan's social circle had consisted solely of Lin Zichen.

This was too introverted and not a good thing.

A girl in the midst of puberty cannot rely solely on a childhood friend; she needs friends of the same age and gender.

Many topics and interests can only be shared with peers of the same gender, and many joys and troubles can only be confided in them.

The fastest way for Shen Qinghan to make such friends was to have a female desk-mate.

Out of this consideration, Lin Zichen chose to sit apart from Shen Qinghan, changing their school relationship from years of being desk-mates to sitting one behind the other.

As time passed, it was soon Shen Qinghan's turn to introduce herself.

Because of her exceptional beauty, she attracted the gaze of everyone in the room the moment she stepped onto the podium.

"Hello everyone, I... my name is Shen Qinghan. I usually like... like drawing, and... um, please take care of me in the future."

Being watched by so many people, Shen Qinghan was incredibly nervous. After a quick, simple introduction, she immediately fled the podium and returned to her seat.

Before going up, she had been carefully rehearsing in her head, wanting to give a perfect introduction to the whole class, but as soon as she stood there, she got nervous and forgot everything, which left her feeling very distressed.

After a few more people finished their introductions, it was finally Lin Zichen's turn.

The moment he rose from his seat, he instantly captured the attention of every girl in the class.

A wave of whispers broke out among the girls, all remarking on how handsome he was.

He ignored these sounds, walked straight to the podium, and introduced himself with a calm expression:

"Hello everyone, my name is Lin Zichen. Please take care of me in the future."

He said only that simple sentence before stepping down and returning to his seat.

This introduction was the shortest of everyone who had gone up so far, without exception.

"Is this guy really that cold?"

"He's just trying to act cool."

"But he is genuinely handsome, at least ten times more handsome than the most popular boy in my old class."

"..."

Many boys whispered about Lin Zichen, some of the comments being unkind and spoken very quietly.

With his superior senses, Lin Zichen heard every word clearly, but he didn't take it to heart.

Boys at the junior and senior high school age, especially those who had just entered the tenth grade from middle school, were prone to looking down on others or feeling unconvinced; it was just something one had to get used to.

Time passed quickly.

As the last few new students finished their self-introductions on stage, the bell for the end of class rang out.

With the self-introductions just now, the new students in the class were much more familiar with each other, no longer as reserved as they had been when they first arrived this morning.

Once the four main subject teachers left, the classroom instantly became boisterous.

Everyone was chatting with those around them.

Among the topics, the one discussed most was the high school entrance exam scores.

Class 1 of Grade 10 was the elite class; every student assigned here was a top-tier academic high-achiever, particularly concerned with their grades and prone to competitiveness.

At this moment, many people wanted to know others' entrance exam scores to compare them against their own.

"Qinghan, what did you get on your entrance exam?"

Shen Qinghan's deskmate, a girl wearing a Lolita dress with her hair in twin tails and a somewhat cute appearance, looked at Shen Qinghan with curiosity and asked.

Shen Qinghan was stumped by the question.

She had gotten in through the back door; her entrance exam score was simply too embarrassing to mention.

After thinking for a moment, she finally just stated her score for the academic subjects, saying weakly, "I got 709 points..."

"Impressive, that's over ten points higher than me; I only got 698."

After saying this, the twin-tailed girl asked again, "Then what was your physical test score? I underperformed during my entrance exam and only got 95 points; it was such a poor result."

The physical test was out of 100 points, and being able to score 95 already marked one as an elite among elites.

After all, the grading requirements for the physical test were very high; one only needed a passing score of 60 to be eligible to apply for the Martial Arts class.

Scoring 90 points was enough to guarantee entry into the elite class.

The twin-tailed girl claimed on the surface that she hadn't performed well and that 95 points was a poor result, but in reality, she was just subtly showing off.

"I didn't do well on my physical test either, my score was even lower than yours..." Shen Qinghan said, feeling somewhat guilty.

She had only scored 79 points on the physical test, which was 11 points short of the requirement to get into this elite class.

This score was impossible to say out loud.

Otherwise, as soon as others heard it, they would immediately know she had gotten in through the back door.

However, the twin-tailed girl insisted on getting to the bottom of it, asking, "So what was the score? Was it 94? Or 93?"

"It was even lower than that..."

Shen Qinghan didn't want to lie, but she couldn't reveal the specific number, so she could only answer vaguely, attempting to muddle through.

Unfortunately, the twin-tailed girl was a bit dense and wouldn't let it go until she knew the exact score, continuing to press, "Was it 92? Or maybe 91? Or perhaps 90?"

Shen Qinghan was at a loss for what to do, so nervous that her palms were sweating.

Lin Zichen, sitting behind them, saw the situation and had no choice but to step in to help Shen Qinghan out. He smiled at the twin-tailed girl and asked, "Um... could I add you on WeChat?"

"Ah, add me on WeChat? Sure, sure! Should I scan you, or will you scan me?"

Seeing that Lin Zichen had actually taken the initiative to ask for her WeChat, the twin-tailed girl was flattered; her hands even trembled slightly as she took out her phone.

Lin Zichen was so handsome that, while speaking to him face-to-face, the twin-tailed girl's entire face turned bright red, looking as if it were about to drip water, and she had long since forgotten all about Shen Qinghan's physical test score.

PS: Setting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!