A young boy and girl walked side by side, hand in hand.

They didn’t stop until they reached a fork in the road near the underground parking lot on campus.

Lin Ran turned to Su Qingyan and said,

“Thanks for earlier.”

Although, truth be told, his “tell the teacher” had already more or less solved the problem…

But having the school beauty as a desk mate, showing up in a luxury car to back him up and slap others in the face—especially seeing the stunned and disgusted expressions of Shen Lingshan, Cui Qianqian, and the other two girls from Class 7—was actually quite satisfying.

Hearing Lin Ran’s thanks, Su Qingyan, the school’s beauty, remained composed. Her tone was calm and indifferent.

“It’s nothing.”

“As classmates, we should help each other. No need to make a big deal out of it.”

“You tutored me in class yesterday, so I just did a little something in return. Don’t misunderstand.”

Misunderstanding? No, that wasn’t the case…

But then again, Lin Ran glanced at his left hand, still held by the school beauty.

“Can I let go of this hand now?”

“…”

“Oh.” Su Qingyan’s expression didn’t change, as she casually released her grip. “Sorry, I forgot.”

Lin Ran, as if granted amnesty, quickly nodded at her and said goodbye, rushing to push his bicycle toward the underground parking lot.

If he didn’t hurry, he’d be late for class!

Watching him rush off, Su Qingyan’s previously cold expression melted away. She looked down at her delicate, pale hand, and pursed her lips slightly.

Lin Ran, you’re in such a hurry to let go.

Is it that hard to hold my hand?

But then a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Oh well~

It was already a pleasant surprise to get to hold little Lin Ran’s hand so early in the morning when we entered the school gate together.

I’ve gained a lot.

And all thanks to that Shen Lingshan causing trouble.

She gave me the perfect excuse to hold hands with my desk mate openly.

With this thought, Su Qingyan turned toward the school gate, sending a grateful glance toward Shen Lingshan from a distance.

[Thanks~]

At that very moment, Shen Lingshan at the gate of the school shuddered, vaguely feeling like she had been tricked by some nine-tailed fox.

Meanwhile, Su Qingyan was already whistling a little tune with her hands behind her back, walking briskly toward the classroom.

The school’s underground parking lot was where Lin Ran finally left his bike. He sprinted up the stairs of the teaching building, each step faster than the last, and reached the back door of Class 10 just in time before the bell for the first lesson rang.

He bumped into his best friend, Zhao Ke, who was leaving the back door on his way to the restroom.

Upon seeing Lin Ran, Zhao Ke’s eyes lit up as he pulled him aside, excitedly whispering,

“Ran Ge, big news!”

“Have you heard? Just now, when Su Qingyan got out of her family’s Maybach at the school gate and entered the school, she was holding hands with a guy, walking in together!”

“One of my buddies from the next class just texted me about it!”

“Seems like it’s spreading like wildfire!”

As Zhao Ke eagerly shared the gossip, he secretly studied Lin Ran’s expression, clearly a bit smug.

After all, as his best friend, Zhao Ke had seen several “intimate” moments between Lin Ran and Su Qingyan yesterday, and he was still feeling a little jealous and unconvinced.

But now, it was clear.

Su Qingyan had openly held hands with another guy in front of everyone at the school gate.

Compared to that, whatever interactions Lin Ran had with her yesterday didn’t seem like much at all.

With this thought, Zhao Ke felt much better—sometimes being a best friend means you’re worried your bro might be too lucky, but also afraid he might not be lucky enough. It’s a complicated feeling…

Lin Ran, however, was too focused on getting to his seat as quickly as possible, trying not to get caught by their homeroom teacher, Liu Chun.

So, he couldn’t be bothered to waste time chatting with Zhao Ke.

He simply said,

“Oh, I know.”

“That person was me.”

Then, without another word, he dashed past Zhao Ke and rushed into the classroom.

Zhao Ke stood frozen in place, his mind buzzing.

What? What just happened?

When he finally processed the information, he felt as if the sky had fallen down.

What the hell!?

It was him again!?

Forget about Zhao Ke’s current state of shock. Lin Ran had already reached his seat at the back row by the window, next to Su Qingyan, his desk mate.

He quickly dropped his bag, took out his textbook, and let out a sigh of relief.

Ding Ling Ling—

The bell for the first class rang on time, and the homeroom teacher, Liu Chun, entered Class 10 with a stern face.

This morning’s reading session was Chinese.

Seeing the teacher enter and begin walking down the aisle, the students of Class 10 quickly took out their Chinese textbooks and started reading aloud in unison.

“Before the emperor’s work was halfway done, he passed away.”

“Today, the world is divided, and Yizhou is exhausted.”

“This is indeed a time of danger, where survival is at stake…”

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The sound of students reading loudly filled the room. The classroom was full of students nodding their heads and reading with enthusiasm.

Seeing this, Teacher Liu nodded slightly, his face showing a trace of satisfaction. He walked around the room, his dignified demeanor commanding attention. Finally, he walked out the back door, leaving the students to continue their reading.

As soon as the teacher left, the classroom’s atmosphere relaxed, and the once organized reading quickly turned chaotic.

Many students pulled out breakfast items from their bags—soy milk, fried dough sticks, buns, or sticky rice balls, eating ravenously.

They had rushed to school so early they hadn’t had time for breakfast, so now they ate heartily during the reading session.

The room was soon filled with the smells of all sorts of breakfast foods.

In the back row, Lin Ran’s stomach growled loudly as the smells of food wafted through the air. Watching his classmates devour their breakfast, he couldn’t help but swallow.

He had been so rushed this morning that he hadn’t brought any food with him. Now, he was definitely hungry.

But he figured he would have to wait until after the second class, during the morning break, to buy something from the school store.

Just as he was thinking this, a delicate, fair hand appeared beside him, holding a sticky rice ball and soy milk.

Lin Ran blinked in confusion and turned to see Su Qingyan, the school beauty, smiling slightly.

“I bought too much for breakfast.”

“I’ll give you some so it doesn’t go to waste.”

Listening to the school beauty beside him explain in her usual calm manner, Lin Ran glanced at the breakfast placed in front of him, then at Su Qingyan, his expression filled with suspicion.

Bought too much?

Could she have really bought one extra serving just now?

He had never heard that his desk mate, the school beauty, usually drank two cups of soy milk and ate two sticky rice balls for breakfast.

Lin Ran couldn’t help but glance at the breakfast on his desk again—

A cup of freshly made soy milk in a plastic cup, still warm.

The sticky rice ball was generously filled with pork tenderloin, sausage, shredded potatoes, and a fried egg, all wrapped in a thick layer of salty sauce.

It looked incredibly appetizing.

Lin Ran swallowed involuntarily.

“Well, thanks.”

Su Qingyan remained indifferent, already turning her attention back to her Chinese textbook as she continued reading aloud.

“No problem.”

“It's what desk mates should do.”

Lin Ran, unable to wait any longer, began devouring his breakfast with gusto, thoroughly enjoying it.

He didn't notice that Su Qingyan, half-hidden behind her textbook, had a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips.

In her mind, a small, pleased voice was giggling with satisfaction:

[Aha~]

[First time feeding my desk mate, and it’s a success!]

In the back row of the classroom, the boy was contentedly eating his breakfast while the girl next to him was engrossed in her reading. Occasionally, she would steal a glance at him, and her smile couldn’t be suppressed.

The warm morning light streamed through the window, casting a serene and harmonious scene across the classroom.

But little did they know,

In a certain seat in the classroom, a pair of eyes were watching the scene with cold malice and jealousy.

The first class on Wednesday morning was English.

As the early reading session neared its end, the group leaders began collecting the previous day’s English homework.

Each group leader walked down the aisles, collecting their classmates’ assignments, while Zhou Hua, the class’s English representative, stood by the podium, slowly making his way down.

When the English homework from all four groups was collected, Zhou Hua casually flipped through the pile of papers in his hand.

It seemed as if, either intentionally or unintentionally, he singled out one particular paper.

As his eyes scanned the contents of the paper, a fleeting, sly smile appeared in his eyes. Then, his gaze swept across the classroom, finally landing on the back row where Lin Ran and Su Qingyan sat.

Holding the stack of papers, Zhou Hua walked straight toward them.

As he reached the back row, the group leader from the fourth row happened to be returning to his seat.

Seeing Zhou Hua approaching, the group leader paused and asked in confusion,

“Is something wrong?”

“Did we finish collecting for our group?”

Zhou Hua nodded slightly, but his tone was dismissive:

“Yeah, it’s all collected.”

“It’s not about you. Go back.”

His tone was full of arrogance, as if speaking to someone beneath him in a workplace hierarchy.

The group leader, still confused, walked away.

Leaving only Zhou Hua standing in front of Lin Ran and Su Qingyan at the back row.

Su Qingyan raised her head, looking at the English representative with a calm expression, as if she didn’t care about his presence.

“Is something the matter?”

Zhou Hua smiled smugly, trying to appear as a gentleman,

“Don’t worry, Su. It has nothing to do with you. Your homework is fine.”

His gaze then shifted to Lin Ran sitting next to her, his smile turning into something colder.

“But the person next to you—”

“Has a big problem!”

His voice rose, attracting the attention of many students who had already finished their reading.

Seeing Zhou Hua’s expression, Su Qingyan’s eyes flashed with a trace of coldness, her anger simmering beneath the surface.

Without needing her experience as a former CEO of a listed company, she could easily see that Zhou Hua was deliberately picking a fight.

Before she could speak, Lin Ran, still puzzled, asked,

“Me?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

Lin Ran was a bit irritated. After all, he had stayed up late last night studying and doing exercises. He had finished his homework meticulously, ensuring the English test was perfect, and even his handwriting was neat enough to almost make him tear up with pride.

So, what could possibly be wrong with it?

Zhou Hua, seemingly waiting for Lin Ran’s question, coldly sneered and pulled out Lin Ran’s test paper. In front of the whole class, he slapped it heavily onto the desk.

“Your paper—”

“Is plagiarized!”

Slap!

The sound of the test paper hitting the desk was loud and clear.

Accompanied by Zhou Hua’s harsh accusation, the noise echoed through the room.

Immediately, more students turned their heads toward the noise, intrigued by Zhou Hua’s words.

Plagiarism?

Lin Ran?

This guy had always been at the bottom of the class, but he was quiet and honest—he didn’t seem like someone who would do something like that…

Could it be that appearances were deceiving?

Lin Ran looked at the test paper slapped onto the desk, then back at Zhou Hua’s smug expression.

“Plagiarized?”

“Do you have proof?”

Zhou Hua looked at Lin Ran with a patronizing expression, as if he had already seen through his trick:

“Lin Ran, stop pretending.”

“As the class rep, I get the answer keys in advance. I’ve looked at your paper. From the multiple-choice questions to the cloze test and reading comprehension, everything is correct!”

“Not counting the essay, your objective questions are all perfect.”

“This is a mock exam from the second-high school, and it’s tough! Even the top students in their advanced classes make at least three or four mistakes.”

“But you, you got everything right?”

“Who do you think you are?”

Zhou Hua smiled triumphantly, as if he had already won.

“There’s only one possible explanation—”

“You copied Su Qingyan’s homework!”

The students in the class listened and quickly pieced things together.

So that’s what happened.

It made sense now!

They had all done the English homework yesterday, and it was indeed difficult. It was almost impossible to get everything right.

Only someone like Su Qingyan, the top student, could have done it.

Lin Ran had always been at the bottom of the class. For him to get everything right, the only explanation was that he had copied Su Qingyan’s homework.

Thud!

Su Qingyan slammed her textbook down.

At that moment, her face was as cold as frost, and she looked at Zhou Hua with piercing eyes.

“Who told you—”

“Lin Ran copied my homework?”