All of the male students in the class were captivated by her lively voice.
Lin Yujing's essay was immediately tossed to the side.
Li Zheng was the exception.
"Even though this girl's hairstyle is messy and random, in actuality, each strand of hair has been meticulously arranged. She had to have spent at least an hour dolling herself up before she left her house," Li Zheng thought.
"Her laugh seems naughty and cute, but it's an exaggerated disguise. She's set deep traps. She's not as innocent as she seems."
"She won't be easy to deal with."
"So… So cute…" Liu Xin blinked with his heavy eyelids and grabbed onto Li Zheng. "Brother Li, we finally have a beauty in our class."
Lin Yujing turned her head abruptly. "?"
"I didn't mean that, captain. You're a fairy…" Liu Xin said flusteredly.
Lin Yujing didn't believe him. She had a murderous glint in her eyes.
She raised her hand, then brought it down.
She wasn't someone to be messed with!
Liu Xin swallowed. He grabbed Li Zheng. "Brother Li, please translate her actions for me."
"You're not to be distracted before the mid-semester exams," Li Zheng answered.
"Yes, yes, yes…"
Lin Yujing only turned back around after Liu Xin replied.
In front of the stage, Zhang Xiaoke was secretly examining her classmates from class 2-4.
She couldn't restrain her naughty laughter.
Hehe~
"This really is an average school, an average class," she thought.
Subconsciously, she lifted the corner of her lips.
"Only the discipline mistress knows my true background," she thought.
"It would definitely scare everyone if I told them."
"I'm a high schooler from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University."
"For close to 70 years, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University has consistently placed among the top three high schools in the city."
"The science students' average score for this year's college entrance examination was 644 points!"
"Six of our students scored in the top ten in the city, including first place."
"A total of 157 students entered Tsinghua and Thistle University."
"It truly is an extraordinary school."
"It's so extraordinary that..."
"There's no one normal there."
"A normal person wouldn't be able to survive there."
"Someone always scores last… for every examination."
"Over a hundred points lower than the average score."
Zhang Xiaoke's eyes would always turn red whenever she thought about this.
"At the very least, I was a frontrunner when it came to the intelligence test during elementary school," she thought.
"118 isn't embarrassing, is it?"
"But why did I have to live without dignity in the High School Affiliated to Renmin University?"
"It was truly a life without dignity."
"It wasn't that I was picked on or bullied."
"It wasn't that I was looked down on."
"Instead."
"I was seen as another species."
"That's right. In the High School Affiliated to Renmin University..."
"I wasn't human."
"I was just an animal that coincidentally got into the same class as them."
"Occasionally, someone would shoot a glance at me and throw me some food."
"But no one would speak to me at length."
"Much less discuss their studies with me."
"Who would talk about mentoring and probabilities with an animal?"
"In the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, I was just a puppy that had the body of a human.
"I was often stroked on the head."
"Keep working hard, Xiaoke."
"Don't give up, Xiaoke."
"You have to be strong, Xiaoke."
"Enough!"
"These are the words used to tease dogs."
"Enough!"
"I want to be treated as a human."
Zhang Xiaoke had spent a great deal of effort to finally convince her parents to transfer her to a nearby high school.
Cherry Lake High School was located beside Cherry Lake Park. The surroundings here were elegant. However, perhaps because of the desirable geographical conditions, the grades of the students in this high school always fell within the average of the entire city.
The average score for the college entrance exams this year was just over 500, not even reaching the requirements of universities.
"Even though I will forever be ranked last in the High School Affiliated to Renmin University," Xiaoke thought.
"I shouldn't have any problems infiltrating the top 30 in this average school."
"Sigh…"
Zhang Xiaoke felt much better when she thought about this.
Finally, she could enjoy the feeling of being admired by the average students.
But!
She didn't reveal her glow.
On the entrance examinations, which they had given her on the first day of school, she had deliberately answered the questions haphazardly.
After all, a starving camel was still larger than a horse.
No matter how bad Xiaoke's grades were, she wasn't an ordinary student.
If she gave it her all when she answered the questions, she might accidentally be placed into the elite class.
That would make her transfer meaningless.
She had to give poor answers and enter an ordinary class.
Then, she had to pretend to be mischievous and playful.
She would never study.
Then, during the exams.
Wow!
First!
The entire class would be shocked.
They would all think, "Xiaoke, you're so smart."
"You must be a genius."
"Can you teach me?"
Hmph…
"This feels so good," she thought.
Zhang Xiaoke started to daydream.
"Zhang Xiaoke?" Tang Zhifei was a little worried when she saw the girl's dazed expression.
"I'm here." Zhang Xiaoke replied with a hop. She was filled with energy.
"If you don't mind, you can sit in that empty seat first." Tang Zhifei pointed toward the corner of the classroom, just by the wall. "The student sitting in front of you is the class monitor, Jiang Qinghua. You can look to him if you have any problems."
"Yes, alright." Zhang Xiaoke adjusted the straps of her bag, then happily hopped over to the seat she was assigned.
The last row of tables in a classroom was historically reserved for the class clown.
"Great," she thought.
"A decent starting point."
Jiang Qinghua quickly stood up when he saw Mrs. Tang allocate the seat to Zhang Xiaoke.
"Wait a moment. Let me wipe the table for you." Jiang Qinghua took out a paper towel from the pocket of his uniform and quickly started wiping down Zhang Xiaoke's seat.
Zhang Xiaoke placed her hands behind her back and took a slight bow. "Thank you, Mr. Monitor."
A fragrance wafted over to Jiang Qinghua. He couldn't help but peek out from under his arm.
Those tiny leather shoes, those tiny black socks…
Jiang Qinghua instantly turned red from the neck up.
However, he tried his best to collect himself and smile. "We're classmates. You can call me Qinghua."
"Sure. Thank you, Brother Qinghua."
"Aiya… Qinghua is good enough." Jiang Qinghua felt his mouth turn dry.
Zhang Xiaoke silently admired the class monitor's anxiety.
She smiled but didn't speak.
Hehe~
"The monitor is quite suave," she thought.
"But he's not the kind of man I like."
"His personality is too ordinary."
"A man like this is too simple."
"He'll become boring as time goes by."
Just as Jiang Qinghua finished cleaning up the seat and was about to invite Zhang Xiaoke to sit down...
"Whoosh!"
A boy suddenly raised his hand.
"Li Zheng, please speak," Tang Zhifei said, nodding.
Li Zheng stood up. "I request to have Zhang Xiaoke as my deskmate."
"What?"
It wasn't just Tang Zhifei. The entire class exclaimed in surprise.
Especially Liu Xin.
"Brother… What's the meaning of this…" Liu Xin grabbed his chest. He was both shocked and pitiful. "This, this… What am I to you?"
Zhang Xiaoke was even more shocked.
She turned around and looked at the boy called Li Zheng.
"He's clearly an ordinary student," she thought.
"But why does he have such a frightening air about him?"
"I keep having the feeling that this person is very dangerous…"
"Also, he made such a request in public even though this is the first time we've met."
"He… Is he…"
"Confessing his love?"
"Aiya, with my qualities, in such an ordinary school, it's a given that a few dozen boys will confess their love for me."
"But this is too fast."
Without waiting for her to think too deeply into the matter, Li Zheng continued. "I want to fight side by side with my partner during this semester's mid-semester exams. It'll be more convenient if we're seated together."
Everyone finally understood.
If someone else had made the request, the students would definitely have suspected that there was some special reason for it.
However, Li Zheng's request sounded reasonable.
Zhang Xiaoke only now remembered that Tang Zhifei had told her something about forming groups for the mid-semester exams.
"Is this my groupmate?" she wondered.
"Even though he looks ordinary..."
"It seems like his brain is full of nonsense."
"Brother Li… Brother Li…" Liu Xin indignantly pulled on Li Zheng's sleeves. "Clearly… Clearly, I was first…"
"Tch." Li Zheng looked down on Liu Xin, his eyes full of disdain.
"Traitor," Li Zheng thought.
"Betrayer."
"You're already working under Lin Yujing."
"Why would I still give you the chance to steal glances at my notes?"
Liu Xin reacted only now.
"That's right. I'm already on the same team as Lin Yujing," he remembered.
"But."
"Our friendship."
"Is it that brittle?"
In front of the stage, Tang Zhifei asked, "Hm… This… Liu Xin, do you agree?"
Liu Xin looked at Brother Li's merciless expression and laughed.
"Hehe…" He shook his head and unwillingly packed up his stuff. "I understand. Brother Li… Our brotherly love only goes so far."
"We'll sit together again when the mid-semester exams are over." Li Zheng helped him pack his bag. "Qualitatively, I still prefer you as a deskmate."
"Ah… I knew it, Brother Li. You wouldn't abandon me like this." Liu Xin rubbed his eyes. "Deal. We'll stay apart for a month."
"Yes, just a month."
Tang Zhifei said rather awkwardly, "Since that's the case, Xiaoke, can you sit beside Li Zheng?"
"Ah, me?" Zhang Xiaoke was a little flustered.
The hair that she had meticulously arranged felt threatened.
Amidst her internal struggle, Li Zheng stared at her and opened his mouth.
"Come, let us study together."
"Oh God," she thought.
She was even more flustered now.
"Why does it feel like the summons of the God of Death?"