“Not like you at all.

You’re just not that pretty.”

A simple ten words.

They landed like a dagger, and in an instant, pierced through Shen Ling Shan, leaving her stunned.

“Lin Ran, remember this—I will never forgive you again!”

The once sweet and cute class beauty of Grade 12, Shen Ling Shan, turned on her heels and stormed off, voice cracking as she shouted those words, leaving Lin Ran standing there, unbothered.

Students passing by gave him strange looks, wondering if he was one of those heartless players who had wronged an innocent girl.

But Lin Ran didn’t care.

Was what he said too much?

Compared to what Shen Ling Shan had done to him, both in this life and his past life, his words had been relatively mild.

Besides, everything he said was the truth.

In comparison to his cold and elegant desk partner, Su Qing Yan, a girl who truly had grace and beauty, Shen Ling Shan—who loved to act cute and flirt with naïve boys—was just average at best.

Just as he was reflecting on this, he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning, he saw Su Qing Yan, his desk partner, walking out of the convenience store, a small packet of wet wipes in hand along with a few candies—presumably change from the purchase.

Still as composed and graceful as ever, Su Qing Yan glanced at him.

“Who were you talking to just now?”

Lin Ran replied casually, “Just some random person, not important.”

Su Qing Yan nodded, pretending not to care.

Then, without a word, she handed him one of the candies, saying, “It’s from the change. Try it.”

As Lin Ran unwrapped the candy and popped it in his mouth, a small smile tugged at the corner of Su Qing Yan’s lips. Inside, she couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased.

[Silly fool.]

[His words are pretty sweet.]

[A reward for you.]

The rest of the afternoon passed without incident as they returned to school.

In the classroom, the students had all returned and were scattered across their desks, already drifting off to sleep. After lunch, the drowsiness was inevitable, and Lin Ran soon found himself dozing off on his desk.

Su Qing Yan, sitting next to him, quietly popped a candy into her mouth. She leaned slightly, resting her cheek on her hand as she glanced at Lin Ran, now fast asleep. A faint smile appeared on her face, her heart warming at the sight.

At 1:40 PM, the bell rang for class.

It jerked the students from their dreams, and with groans, they began straightening up in their seats, trying to shake off the sleepiness as they prepared for another round of lessons.

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Lin Ran’s class, Grade 12 Class 10, was a liberal arts class.

After the separation of science and arts, they no longer had physics or chemistry, leaving only the six core subjects: Math, Politics, History, and Geography.

The first lesson was Geography, followed by Politics.

With less than two months until the college entrance exams, they had entered the final review stage. The day was mostly filled with memorizing all kinds of information—values, philosophical concepts, wind currents, mountain ranges, etc.

Two hours of class had left everyone feeling dizzy and exhausted.

Only a few top students, like Su Qing Yan, seemed unaffected, absorbing all the material with ease. They sat at the front, vibrant and energetic, taking notes rapidly as the teacher spoke.

Su Qing Yan wasn’t just the beauty of the school—she was also one of the best students in the entire grade.

Throughout high school, she had always ranked in the top three in her class, and last year, she scored 658 points in the college entrance exam, securing the third place in the province for liberal arts students, and even taking the top spot in her city.

"She really is impressive," Lin Ran thought, glancing at her.

Looking at the focused and composed girl next to him, he couldn’t help but feel a bit awed.

Compared to her, he felt utterly inadequate.

In his past life, he had always ranked in the middle or lower half of the class.

After getting involved with Shen Ling Shan, his focus shifted entirely away from his studies, and his grades plummeted. By the time of the college entrance exams, he was barely scraping by, almost missing the second-tier universities.

But this time, things would be different.

A small smirk appeared on his lips as he felt a surge of confidence.

Just as he was thinking this, a piece of paper was slid over to him.

He glanced at it. The elegant handwriting read:

“Stop grinning and focus on the lesson.”

Lin Ran: “….”

He looked over at Su Qing Yan, who was still attentively listening to the teacher, her expression as calm as ever.

It was clear she was keeping an eye on him.

With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the lesson and reluctantly began to pay attention.

However, just as he turned away, he missed seeing the slight curve of a smile on Su Qing Yan’s lips.

[Silly.]

[You’re really distracted by me.]

[Is my charm really this strong?]

Lost in her thoughts, Su Qing Yan couldn’t help but smile to herself, blissfully unaware of the misunderstanding that was happening.

----------------------------------------

Later, the final class of the day was homeroom.

The teacher, Mr. Liu Chun, stood at the front of the classroom with a serious expression.

“Next week is our mock exam!”

“Everyone better prepare properly!”

“We ranked second to last in the last mock exam!”

“We only had one student in the top ten, and we were behind in the overall ranking of all six liberal arts classes!”

The students went quiet, too afraid to speak, dreading that they might become the target of Mr. Liu’s frustration.

Lin Ran, sitting near the back, nodded, recognizing the situation.

This was nothing new.

In the past, Class 10 had always been near the bottom of the six liberal arts classes, and their performance was closely tied to their teacher’s own performance evaluation. It was no wonder Mr. Liu was so upset.

Just as Lin Ran was lost in his thoughts, a familiar voice snapped him back to reality.

“Lin Ran! Stand up!”

He jumped up reflexively, looking toward the front of the class.

Mr. Liu was glaring at him with fury, while the other students were watching with amusement.

Mr. Liu slammed his hand on the desk and shouted,

“Do you even know how badly you did on the last mock exam?!”