Was your new backpack a matching couple's set with Lu Yuanqiu's?]
Bai Qingxia sat quietly in her seat, diligently working on the homework the teachers had assigned that morning. She seemed not to have noticed that they were the only two left in the classroom.
Since he had promised to study hard, Lu Yuanqiu couldn't just sit beside her and wait.
He took out his math homework and whipped out a pen with a flourish, like a veteran general gripping his sword as he prepared to charge into battle.
But the next second, the confident smile on Lu Yuanqiu's face froze.
Hold on a second... what was a set again?
He blinked his big, innocent eyes, staring solemnly at the first multiple-choice question.
After a long while, Lu Yuanqiu lifted his head and gazed blankly at the blue-green blackboard.
I forgot... I forgot everything!
I'm screwed... completely screwed!
What am I supposed to do?
Zhang Wuji forgetting every move meant he had mastered them, but if Lu Yuanqiu forgot everything he had learned, he could kiss college goodbye!
Only then did Lu Yuanqiu realize something.
Other people who got a second chance at life returned either right after graduating from high school or all the way back to kindergarten. Yet he had landed in the ultimate hell of student life!
The very beginning of senior year!
Was he really supposed to take the Gaokao with a thirty-something brain that held nothing but money and women?
Suddenly, the feeling that he had bitten off more than he could chew welled up inside him, and the idea of dropping out to start a business resurfaced.
If he followed the same path as in his previous life, Lu Yuanqiu believed he would still succeed.
With his family's solid financial foundation, the information advantage he possessed, and his valuable experience building an internet business, success was practically guaranteed.
But this time, he wanted to go to college!
Wouldn't it be a terrible waste to live twice and still never attend college?
No. I'm definitely going to study hard this time. I still have a year, anyway. That's enough!
Lu Yuanqiu immediately took out his textbook and started reading from the beginning, word by word, sentence by sentence.
When a man made up his mind to do something, it meant success was already within reach.
Five minutes later, Lu Yuanqiu's steady snores drifted through the classroom~
Bai Qingxia turned to look at him and found him sleeping soundly. Whatever he was dreaming about, he raised a hand to scratch his nose, then smiled, his snores as loud as ever.
He slept like a little child, with drool trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Bai Qingxia watched him in a daze, only snapping out of it when she noticed his drool was about to drip onto the desk.
She hurriedly took out a tissue, folded it in half, and carefully placed it beside the corner of his mouth.
After setting down the tissue, Bai Qingxia didn't immediately pull her hand away.
She had a secret no one knew.
She had known Lu Yuanqiu since middle school.
Her mind held many memories of this boy, but she also knew he remembered none of them. Perhaps he had never cared in the first place.
But that was all right. She remembered.
At that thought, Bai Qingxia couldn't resist lifting a pale fingertip and touching the tip of Lu Yuanqiu's nose, gently and curiously, as lightly as a dragonfly skimming the water.
When his snoring stopped, she quickly withdrew her hand and sat up straight, gripping her pen in both hands as her heart raced.
Only when Lu Yuanqiu started snoring again did Bai Qingxia breathe a sigh of relief.
After sitting quietly for a moment, she rose softly, put on her backpack, and headed out of the classroom.
This was her usual lunchtime.
By the time she reached the cafeteria, the other students had long since finished lunch. The place was empty, and the cleaners had already begun their work.
Some students boarded at school and others commuted, but either group could eat in the cafeteria as long as they had a meal card.
Bai Qingxia was a commuting student, but she never went home at noon.
She quietly walked around the cleaner's bucket of dirty water and approached the serving window.
The short-haired woman serving food greeted Bai Qingxia warmly. "You again, young lady! How many times have I told you to come earlier next time? Whenever you come this late, all the dishes are gone. There's nothing left but sauce!"
Bai Qingxia gave a shy smile. "That's all right. Plain rice is fine."
"She's top of her year, you know. She must be coming late because she's studying," a long-haired woman beside her pointed out, recognizing Bai Qingxia.
Bai Qingxia lowered her head without a word.
"Oh my!" The short-haired woman immediately looked at Bai Qingxia with glowing enthusiasm. "Just look at you! Pretty as an angel, and such good grades, too. I'd be happy if my son were half as good as you. I'll give you some extra rice, sweetheart, and pour a little meat broth over it."
After serving the rice, the short-haired woman added, "Just fifty cents will do."
"Thank you," Bai Qingxia said quietly.
After swiping her meal card, Bai Qingxia noticed that only five yuan and twenty cents remained. Even fifty cents a meal was a little extravagant for her.
But without eating, she wouldn't have the energy to study. She had tried.
Carrying her bowl of white rice, Bai Qingxia found a seat in a corner and ate slowly, leaving not a single grain behind.
Back in Senior Class 28's classroom.
Lu Yuanqiu suddenly jerked, making his desk shake with him.
Rubbing his eyes, he picked up the tissue that had appeared beside his mouth and gave it a puzzled look, then tossed it aside without another thought.
"Where'd she go?"
Lu Yuanqiu stretched, only then realizing he had slept for almost half an hour.
He muttered a curse and headed for the cafeteria.
It would be a miracle if there were any dishes left at this hour.
Lu Yuanqiu was also a commuting student and usually went home for lunch, but his meal card always had more money on it than he could spend.
When he reached the cafeteria, even the serving staff were putting away the food trays. Lu Yuanqiu hurried over, shouting, "Don't put them away! Don't! Someone's still here!"
The short-haired woman looked puzzled. "Were you studying until now, too?"
"More or less."
Lu Yuanqiu answered shamelessly. He had indeed been exchanging knowledge with his "teachers" in his dreams.
"There's only rice left."
"Then I'll have some rice."
Clutching his growling stomach, Lu Yuanqiu resigned himself to it. Then something occurred to him. "Ma'am, did a pretty girl come here to eat before me?"
"Yes," the short-haired woman said. "That young lady always studies until late. Every time she comes, there's only plain rice left."
Once she had served his rice, Lu Yuanqiu swiped his card for two yuan and said in surprise, "That's cheap."
He found a seat and shoveled rice into his mouth.
Just look.
Bai Qingxia only ate rice for lunch, Lu Yuanqiu mused.
Of course, studying was merely a cover. Bai Qingxia had simply found herself an excuse to eat nothing but the rice everyone else left behind.
Kids her age had a strong sense of pride, and Bai Qingxia was no different. Lu Yuanqiu understood that perfectly.
What puzzled him, though, was where she went after lunch.
It was past one in the afternoon.
Students had begun trickling into the classroom in twos and threes.
Bai Qingxia walked in with her backpack and glanced at the corner of the blackboard.
The names of the students on cleaning duty were usually written there.
[Blackboard and teacher's desk: Lu Bastard]
Someone had obviously messed with Lu Yuanqiu's name. Bai Qingxia walked over, erased "Bastard," and wrote "Yuanqiu" in chalk.
Then she tossed the chalk onto the teacher's desk, her face expressionless.
Just as she stepped down toward the seats, a voice came from the doorway. "Bai Qingxia, I just noticed your new backpack is a matching couple's set with Lu Yuanqiu's."
Bai Qingxia turned and saw Hu Caiwei standing there.