Su Xiaoqiang

The next day, Lu Mingfei woke up and opened his eyes. He looked at his chubby cousin in the adjacent bed and sighed; he had no idea when he would ever have a space of his own in this place.

"Lu Mingfei, Lu Mingze, get up and eat breakfast right now!" his aunt's voice pierced through from the living room.

Lu Mingfei scrambled out of bed and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was a tangled mess; no matter how good one's foundation was, a bird's nest like this would turn anyone into a loser.

Besides, his demeanor hadn't been great in the past either. It was no wonder no one at school had ever thought much of him.

After washing up, he groomed his hair properly, and it no longer looked as chaotic as before.

In the living room, his uncle and aunt had already prepared porridge and a few side dishes, waiting for Lu Mingfei and Lu Mingze to come out.

As Lu Mingfei emerged, his uncle noticed that he looked different than usual; with his hair groomed, he looked clean and sharp.

Furthermore, he didn't have that usual habit of hunching his shoulders.

"Not bad, not bad. Mingfei looks quite spirited like this," his uncle praised.

Lu Mingfei just smiled at his uncle.

During the meal, his aunt continued to lecture Lu Mingze about not being so sluggish in the mornings, pointing to Lu Mingfei as an example of someone who got up quickly today.

Lu Mingfei felt flattered. Although he knew Lu Mingze hadn't studied at all last night, he repeatedly insisted that Lu Mingze must have stayed up too late studying, which was why he was so slow to rise. Lu Mingze shot him a grateful look.

The breakfast passed amidst this subtle exchange of verbal blades.

Before they left for school, his uncle instructed, "Mingfei, Mingze, I heard there have been a few missing persons cases in the city lately. Get home quickly after school and don't stay out too long!"

The two of them nodded repeatedly.

After Lu Mingfei left the house, his aunt remarked with curiosity:

"Do you feel like Mingfei is a bit different today? He used to always keep his head down when talking to me, making it hard to see his eyes. But today, when I spoke to him at breakfast, he kept looking right into my eyes and smiling."

"True, Mingfei was standing up straight today, too. He looks quite spirited. But he's a teenager, they're all like that. Who knows when they'll suddenly have a breakthrough," his uncle replied while sipping his porridge.

"That's true," his aunt nodded.

At the gate of Shilan High School, Su Xiaoqiang stepped out of the Mercedes S500 that had dropped her off. She was wearing a limited-edition Valentino dress and light makeup. Even at the school gate, pride danced in the corners of her eyes.

After all, Su Xiaoqiang's family were the largest mine owners in the area, and Lu Mingfei used to often mooch snacks off her.

"Morning, Little Goddess," Lu Mingfei said as he arrived at the school gate, greeting her.

"Did the sun rise in the west today? You're actually greeting me?" Hearing the familiar voice, Su Xiaoqiang reflexively took a jab at Lu Mingfei.

She turned her head, ready to throw out a few more taunts, but suddenly froze. Who was this handsome, refined boy before her?

Today, Lu Mingfei's hair was only slightly messy, and his clear eyes seemed to have a magnetic pull, making it hard to look away. Did he actually look... handsome?

Su Xiaoqiang shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind. No, he was her arch-nemesis; she couldn't be fooled by his appearance. But this was too absurd—how could this possibly be Lu Mingfei!

Lu Mingfei watched her strange behavior, feeling that Su Xiaoqiang might have lost her mind today.

"By the way, Lu Mingfei, I heard Chen Wenwen asked you to compile the list for the weekend activity, and you refused?"

Su Xiaoqiang regained her composure and walked toward the classroom side-by-side with Lu Mingfei, asking as they went.

"Yeah. Is that weird? It's not like I don't have my own things to do. I need to go home and study hard," Lu Mingfei spouted nonsense.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it were anyone else, but you're Lu Mingfei! That's Chen Wenwen we're talking about!" Su Xiaoqiang exclaimed repeatedly. Lu Mingfei was already unbelievable enough today, but a Lu Mingfei who would reject Chen Wenwen was even more inconceivable.

"Heh, stop looking at me with your shallow gaze. I am not who I used to be. From now on, please address me as the God of the New World!" Lu Mingfei declared with a bout of middle-schooler syndrome.

"I'm such an idiot for having even a shred of expectation for you!" Su Xiaoqiang looked at Lu Mingfei with an expression that said he was beyond saving.

The bell for class rang.

"Oh crap, class is starting!" Lu Mingfei quickened his pace toward the classroom.

"Hey, wait for me!" Su Xiaoqiang grabbed her bag and hurried after him.

Lu Mingfei's seat was in the second-to-last row by the window—a position full of miracles.

Every class had its core group. This class's core consisted of a rich kid named Zhao Menghua, the artistic girl Chen Wenwen, the gentle piano-playing beauty Liu Miaomiao, and the Little Goddess Su Xiaoqiang. Each of them could form their own circle with themselves at the center.

And Lu Mingfei had previously been nothing more than their background character.

But today, Lu Mingfei dropped the entire class's jaws. He just sat there quietly during class, yet his classmates were inexplicably drawn to him.

Lu Mingfei had always been refined, but his previous habit of looking depressed and his failure to groom himself had led to a low assessment of him.

Now, a slight adjustment to his hair had completely transformed him—not to mention that Lu Mingfei had once been a captain of the Gotei 13; no captain ever lacked presence.

His refined face and outstanding aura caused the students in the class to whisper and discuss Lu Mingfei's changes.

"What's up with Lu Mingfei today? Why does he feel so different from before!" the twin chubby boys Xu Yanyan and Xu Miaomiao muttered in their seats. "Boss, what do you think?"

"I'm looking with my eyes!"

Zhao Menghua also felt like he had seen a ghost. How did Lu Mingfei suddenly turn into a handsome guy? They say you should look at a man with new eyes after three days of separation, but Lu Mingfei was a loser just yesterday, and today he had suddenly undergone a super-evolution without giving anyone any time to process it.

Lu Mingfei didn't notice any of this; he was just thinking about how painful it would be to have to take the college entrance exam in the future.

He had spent ten years in Soul Society, where he just slashed his way through any problems he encountered. He had never learned anything like Chinese or math.

During the break, Lu Mingfei sat at his desk thinking about the prospect of college, feeling quite a headache coming on.

A figure walked over.

"Lu Mingfei, I originally wanted to have you compile the list of attendees for the Literature Club activity this weekend, but you left early for something, so I'm doing it now. Are you coming to the activity on Sunday?"

Chen Wenwen walked over and asked Lu Mingfei in a soft voice.

Chen Wenwen had also noticed the change in Lu Mingfei today. She had already found him a bit different yesterday, and today Lu Mingfei had given the whole class a shock; this contrast truly caught her off guard.

Lu Mingfei raised his head, and seeing it was Chen Wenwen, he just smiled and said to her, "I won't be going. You should go compile the list for the others."

"But you're a committee member of our Literature Club. Don't you usually attend these reading sessions at the library?" Chen Wenwen hurriedly pressed him.

The brothers Xu Yanyan and Xu Miaomiao popped up at this moment: "Lu Mingfei, this is a group activity for the Literature Club. It's just going to the library to read on the weekend; what else could you possibly have going on?"

Lu Mingfei felt a headache coming on, pondering how to refuse.

"Hey, hey, if Lu Mingfei doesn't want to go, he doesn't go. Why are you guys meddling?"

Su Xiaoqiang was sitting two rows in front of Lu Mingfei, and seeing these people chiming in with Chen Wenwen, she couldn't hold back anymore.

"And you, Chen Wenwen, can't you tell that Lu Mingfei doesn't want to go!"

Seeing Su Xiaoqiang speak up, Xu Yanyan and Xu Miaomiao immediately wilted.

"I'm sorry, Lu Mingfei, I didn't mean it like that," Chen Wenwen explained, stammering.

"It's fine, I know you didn't mean it that way, and you don't need to explain. I really don't have anything going on this weekend, I just simply don't want to go to the library. If it were some other place, I probably would have gone," Lu Mingfei said, waving his hand.

Chen Wenwen was stunned, not expecting Lu Mingfei to feel this way. Didn't he used to like going to the library to read? She returned to her seat in a daze.

Lu Mingfei shot a "thanks, boss" look at Su Xiaoqiang.

"Hmph~," Su Xiaoqiang tilted her head slightly to acknowledge the thanks.