The next morning, September 2.
Inside the Grade 1 Class 1 classroom.
Four core-subject teachers stood at the front, taking turns introducing themselves to the forty freshmen below.
The freshmen were all quiet, listening attentively the whole time.
It wasn't because they were all reserved by nature. They simply didn't know one another very well yet, and felt a little awkward around each other, unsure what to talk about.
"All right, everyone. The four teachers up here have finished introducing themselves. Now it's your turn to come up and introduce yourselves, so everyone can get to know one another."
As the homeroom teacher spoke, he looked at the girl sitting in the first seat on the left and said with a beaming smile, "Let's start with this young lady. Then we'll go row by row, with everyone coming up in order."
The girl seemed quite outgoing. As soon as the homeroom teacher finished speaking, she got up and went to the front, smiling as she introduced herself.
"Hi, everyone. I'm Chu Yuxi. My strengths are the four arts: music, chess, calligraphy, and painting..."
After that, the others took turns going up to introduce themselves.
"I'm Zhong Yijia. I like watching anime, cosplaying, and sports..."
"I'm Peng Huoguang. When I have nothing to do, I usually stay home and play video games..."
"..."
Lin Zichen sat toward the back of the middle rows, quietly listening to his classmates introduce themselves.
As he listened, he noticed a strand of hair on Shen Qinghan's shoulder and reached out to brush it off.
Shen Qinghan felt the touch behind her and assumed Lin Zichen had something to say to her, so she immediately turned around.
Lin Zichen explained, "I saw a strand of hair on your back, so I reached over and took it off."
"Oh, I see." Shen Qinghan nodded softly, then turned back around.
They weren't desk mates anymore. Now they sat one behind the other.
That was because boys and girls in the class now sat with others of the same sex, instead of mixing as they had during the nine years of compulsory education.
After all, first-year high school students were normally around sixteen, and their physical development was already quite mature. It wasn't appropriate for boys and girls to sit together.
Lin Zichen could have used his privileges as a genius to keep sitting next to Shen Qinghan.
But after thinking it over, he decided it wouldn't be good for her growth.
Apart from a brief time in second grade, when she'd also had a white-haired girl her own age as a friend, Lin Zichen had been the only person in Shen Qinghan's social circle among her peers.
She was far too withdrawn. That wasn't a good thing.
A girl in the prime of adolescence couldn't grow up with only her childhood friend by her side. She also needed friends her own age and of the same sex.
There were so many topics and interests that only friends of the same age and sex could really talk about. And so many joys and troubles that only they could share and confide in one another.
The quickest way for Shen Qinghan to make friends her own age and of the same sex was to have a female desk mate.
That was why Lin Zichen had chosen to sit separately from Shen Qinghan, changing their relationship at school from desk mates for many years to the one-behind-the-other arrangement they had now.
As time went by, it was soon Shen Qinghan's turn to go up and introduce herself.
Her exceptional looks immediately drew everyone's eyes as soon as she reached the front.
"Hi, everyone. I, I'm Shen Qinghan. I usually like, like drawing, and, um... I hope we can all get along."
With so many people watching her, Shen Qinghan was terribly nervous. She rushed through a brief introduction, then quickly escaped the podium and returned to her seat.
Before going up, she had carefully rehearsed what she wanted to say, hoping to give a perfect introduction in front of the whole class. But the moment she got up there, she became nervous and forgot everything, which left her quite frustrated.
After a few more classmates had introduced themselves, it was finally Lin Zichen's turn.
He had barely risen from his seat when he immediately drew the attention of all the girls in class.
A flurry of whispers filled the classroom as the girls remarked on how handsome he was.
He paid no attention to them, walking straight to the front and calmly introducing himself:
"Hi, everyone. I'm Lin Zichen. I hope we can all get along."
That was all he said. He stepped down and returned to his seat.
Of everyone who had gone up so far, his introduction had been the shortest by far.
"Is he always that aloof?"
"He's just putting on an act."
"But he really is handsome. He's at least ten times better-looking than the most handsome guy in my old class."
"..."
Quite a few boys whispered about Lin Zichen, slipping in a few unkind remarks under their breath.
Lin Zichen's senses were exceptionally sharp, and he heard every word perfectly. But he didn't take it to heart.
Boys in middle and high school, especially first-year students fresh out of middle school, were at the age when they looked down on one person and refused to accept another. All you could do was get used to it.
Time passed quickly.
After the last few freshmen had finished introducing themselves, the bell rang.
Thanks to the introductions earlier, the new classmates had gotten to know one another a little better and weren't as awkward as they'd been that morning.
As soon as the four core-subject teachers left, the classroom erupted into chatter.
Everyone was talking with the people around them.
The most popular topic was the high school entrance exam results.
Grade 1 Class 1 was the Elite Class. Every student assigned to it was a top student, and they cared a great deal about their grades. They liked to compete and prove themselves.
At that moment, many of them wanted to find out everyone else's entrance exam scores and compare them with their own.
"Qinghan, what did you get on the high school entrance exam?"
Shen Qinghan's desk mate, a cute-looking girl in a Lolita dress with twin ponytails, asked her with obvious curiosity.
Shen Qinghan was caught off guard.
She'd gotten in through connections, and couldn't bring herself to talk about her entrance exam score.
After thinking it over, she only mentioned her academic-subject score, answering in a quiet voice, "I got 709..."
"Wow, that's impressive. You beat me by more than ten points. I only got 698."
Then the girl with twin ponytails asked, "How about your Physical Fitness Test score? I didn't do well when I took it for the entrance exam. I only got 95. What a terrible score."
The maximum score for the Physical Fitness Test was 100. Getting 95 already made her a top student among top students.
After all, the scoring requirements for the Physical Fitness Test were very strict. A passing score of 60 qualified you to apply for Martial Arts Class.
A score of 90 was enough to secure a place in Elite Class.
The girl with twin ponytails claimed she hadn't performed well and had gotten a terrible score of 95, but really, she was just showing off in a low-key way.
"I didn't do well on the Physical Fitness Test either. I got a little less than you..." Shen Qinghan said, feeling guilty.
She'd only scored 79, eleven points short of qualifying for Elite Class.
She couldn't bring herself to say that score.
If she did, people would immediately realize she'd gotten in through connections.
But the girl with twin ponytails insisted on getting to the bottom of it. "Then what did you get? 94? Or 93?"
"Even lower..."
Shen Qinghan didn't want to lie, but she couldn't bring herself to give the exact score either. All she could do was answer vaguely, hoping to bluff her way out of it.
Unfortunately, the girl with twin ponytails was a little dense. She wouldn't let it go until she knew the exact score, and kept pressing her. "Was it 92? Or 91? Or maybe 90?"
Shen Qinghan was at a loss, nervous enough that her palms began to sweat.
Seeing this from behind her, Lin Zichen had no choice but to step in and rescue Shen Qinghan. He smiled at the girl with twin ponytails and asked, "Um... could I add you on WeChat?"
"Huh? Add me on WeChat? Sure, sure! Should I scan your code, or will you scan mine?"
The girl with twin ponytails was so flattered that Lin Zichen had actually asked to add her that her hands trembled a little as she took out her phone.
Lin Zichen was so handsome that the girl's whole face turned red as she spoke to him face-to-face, as if it were about to drip with water. She completely forgot about Shen Qinghan's Physical Fitness Test score.
P.S. Setting out a bowl and begging for monthly and recommendation tickets!
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