Chapter 16

The next afternoon, Ruan Miao went out to get his hair cut. The original owner of his body already had slightly longer hair than most boys, and after over a month, his bangs were now covering his eyes, making it quite troublesome to manage. He found a random barber shop on the street and got a haircut for fifteen yuan.

When he got home that evening and appeared in the living room, He Shanglu's game console slipped from his hands in shock, and He Shangye stared at him for a long moment.

"You got a haircut?" He Shangye looked up from the TV news with a hint of disapproval in his eyes. "It doesn't suit you."

Ruan Miao touched his hair, which was now almost a buzz cut, and sighed deeply. "I didn't mean for it to be this short. The barber misunderstood my instructions. I told him to cut off five centimeters, but with one snip, my hair was almost gone."

"And he seemed very confident in his skills, cutting here and there until my hair was a mess. In the end, he couldn't fix it, so he just shaved it all off."

He Shanglu looked incredulous. "Didn't you hit him?"

"No," Ruan Miao shook his head. "But I did haggle with him and got a five-yuan discount. It only cost fifteen in the end."

Seeing Ruan Miao's slight pride, He Shanglu was exasperated. "When did you become such a miser!"

"All that for five yuan and you ended up looking like this! It's hideous!"

And not cute at all!

He Shangye surprisingly nodded in agreement.

Ruan Miao didn't care about his looks and went upstairs after saying goodbye. He had also visited a bookstore today and bought some new exercise books. As he was putting everything away in his room, he turned around to find He Shangzhi standing behind him, nearly making him jump.

"Sister?"

At home, Ruan Miao usually addressed He Shangye and his siblings as brother or sister out of politeness, even though they were only half a year older than him. He Shanglu appreciated his sensible attitude, though he pretended to disdain it outwardly.

"Do you need something?" Ruan Miao wasn't sure what He Shangzhi wanted. To him, He Shangzhi was like an emotionless doll, even at home she seemed invisible, rarely communicating even with He Shanglu, and always seemed lost in her own world.

"Don't get too close to Jian Fanyu," He Shangzhi suddenly said out of the blue. "He's not a good person."

Ruan Miao was baffled. Leaving aside whether Jian Fanyu was a good person or not, they hardly had any interaction. Why was He Shangzhi acting as if something was going on between them?

Could she have a crush on Jian Fanyu? Ruan Miao couldn't help but wonder, though it didn't seem likely.

"I won't get close to him, don't worry."

He Shangzhi stared at him. She had rarely made eye contact with Ruan Miao, and they hadn't exchanged more than ten sentences since he arrived. But tonight, she seemed different. Ruan Miao almost imagined seeing a hint of warmth and indescribable nostalgia in her eyes.

But when he looked closer, there was nothing.

"Okay." He Shangzhi nodded expressionlessly and turned to leave.

Ruan Miao stood at his door, puzzled, trying to understand why He Shangzhi had come just to warn him about Jian Fanyu. They barely knew each other, and Jian Fanyu hardly paid him any attention.

But He Shangzhi didn't seem malicious.

Ruan Miao couldn't figure it out.

What he didn't see was He Shangzhi quietly standing by her room door after closing it, her expression unreadable.

The three-day New Year holiday passed quickly, and the first day back at school was the day for posting exam results. Ruan Miao stood nervously in front of the results board, ready to see his scores. He knew his level was far from impressive, so he naturally started from the bottom.

To his surprise, he was ranked sixteenth from the bottom. Although it was still near the bottom of the class and school, it exceeded his expectations. He had thought he would be last, but he had managed to climb a bit higher.

Considering he had barely prepared, this result was a pleasant surprise for him.

No. 2 High School was renowned for its academic rigor, and even being near the bottom here was somewhat respectable in lesser schools. Ruan Miao suddenly felt a surge of confidence, seeing a glimpse of a brighter future.

"What kind of ugly haircut is that? It looks like a tractor chewed on your head," came Xi You's voice from behind him.

Ruan Miao turned to see Xi You standing not far away, a lollipop in his mouth, looking every bit the mischievous schoolboy. "How did your family let you get such a haircut?"

"I got scammed by the barber," Ruan Miao replied casually. "How did you do on the exams?"

Xi You pointed to the board with a smile. "Why don't you see for yourself?"

Ruan Miao looked up. He hadn't seen Xi You's name among the bottom twenty. He kept looking up, and there it was, at the very top, second only to Jian Fanyu.

"Wow!" Ruan Miao exclaimed, unable to hide his shock. "You did that well!"

Xi You was a bit smug, "So, are you a little surprised?"

"Very surprised!" Ruan Miao ran over with a look of admiration, "You never pay attention in class. How did you score so well? Do you have a secret?"

Xi You was so proud that his metaphorical fox tail was practically wagging. He loudly slurped on his lollipop. "There's nothing to it. I just don't like to put in the effort. If I really tried, even Jian Fanyu wouldn't be better than me!"

Ruan Miao had a natural admiration for such gifted individuals. For someone like him, who had to exert every ounce of effort to achieve passable grades, a genius like Xi You was incredibly appealing.

"Do you want to be my underling?" Xi You grinned. "I can introduce you to my tutor."

Before Ruan Miao could respond, Jian Fanyu appeared with a stern face. He briefly glanced at his own grades on the board and then turned to see Ruan Miao and Xi You together. He suddenly said, "Repeating a grade and still only getting second."

Xi You: "..."

Ruan Miao: "???"

"So you repeated a grade?" Ruan Miao realized.

Xi You rolled his eyes ungraciously. "Jian Fanyu, what's your problem?"

Jian Fanyu ignored him and instead looked at Ruan Miao's short hair for a few seconds before leisurely walking away with his bag, appearing to be in a very good mood. Ruan Miao tried to console Xi You. "Don't be mad. Maybe he didn't mean to target you."

"Who asked you to speak for him!" Xi You stomped on his foot in anger. "Are your roles reversed? Why does it seem like he's the more calculating one now!?"

Ruan Miao, influenced by his previous knowledge, still saw Jian Fanyu as an innocent and gentle prince. Even though he did provoke Xi You just now, he probably said it without much thought. Besides, isn't Xi You's brother good friends with Jian Fanyu? There's no reason for him to target the brother of his friend.

"You're so dumb, it's hopeless!" Xi You grumbled angrily, shouldering his bag and heading into the classroom.

After getting his report card, Ruan Miao carefully marked all his mistakes on his exam papers and took advantage of the break time to organize them into his error book. His best subject was math. Although scoring 92 out of 150 wasn't high, it was still a pass, and he felt he could greatly improve with more time and effort. He believed he could eventually achieve over 140 points.

However, his performance in Chinese, English, and other minor subjects was dismal. The papers were covered in red crosses, making it hard to find even a few correct answers. In the second year, students had to choose between science and arts. Ruan Miao chose science because he was good at math, but his physics and chemistry were weak. He realized he might need extra tutoring to catch up.

He began considering if he should enroll in a tutoring class this weekend, hoping it wouldn't be too expensive.

Unlike Ruan Miao, who cared about grades, most students in Class 3 were relaxed. Many of them planned to study abroad and wouldn't take the national college entrance exam. Most had already passed TOEFL or IELTS and were just waiting to receive offers from their preferred universities next year. They didn't have to compete with thousands of students for a spot in domestic universities.

"Why don't you go abroad too?" Xi You couldn't understand why Ruan Miao was so determined. "Even if He Shangye doesn't like you, he wouldn't refuse to send you to college, right? With a bit of donation money, those schools will accept you. You don't have to compete with so many people."

Ruan Miao refused without hesitation. "No, I don't want that."

"My English is so bad, how could I study abroad? Even if I could buy my way into a school, the road ahead is still my own to walk. With my level, I'd just hold back the others in a good school. Besides, I don't want to spend their money. The cost of buying a place in a school is high, and big brother's money isn't endless."

"Moreover, I'd rather work hard to get into a school I like and choose a major I'm interested in."

Xi You watched Ruan Miao intently, a flicker of something in his eyes. He seemed to be convinced. "I thought you'd just burn out after a few days, but you really want to try. I genuinely admire you now."

"Hmm?" Ruan Miao was busy sorting out his errors and hadn't fully processed Xi You's words. He responded absently, his eyes never leaving the test papers.

Xi You smiled and said nothing more, laying his head on the desk for a nap. He could fall asleep right after the first class, and Ruan Miao admired him for that.

But Ruan Miao soon lost his smile, because the third class was a music class shared with Class 1 in the music room. No. 2 High School valued not just academic scores but also a well-rounded education. Jian Fanyu was a renowned piano prodigy, Sang Wei was a master artist, and the original Ruan Miao had won second place in a calligraphy contest.

However, Ruan Miao himself had no artistic talent. He couldn't draw or understand music theory, and his physical education was so poor that the PE teacher despaired of him.

So when the elegant and beautiful music teacher picked him to perform with Jian Fanyu in front of the class, he felt suffocated.

"Don't worry, just be confident," the beautiful teacher encouraged him warmly.

Ruan Miao tried to pump himself up and sneaked a glance at Jian Fanyu, who was already seated at the white piano, exuding an air of an artist.

Maybe switching bodies would help? After all, being tone-deaf couldn't possibly transfer over, right?

That day in music class became Jian Fanyu's greatest embarrassment. His live performance was completely derailed by Ruan Miao's off-key singing, not a single note was in tune, shocking everyone.

Ruan Miao thus gained another stigma: tarnishing an artist's reputation.

Author's Note: Regarding the side CP (couple), many seem particularly concerned. Let me clarify. First, this story is primarily from Ruan Miao's perspective, and he is undoubtedly the main character. Second, in my writing style, I occasionally include other characters or side CPs. Long-time readers know that even if side CPs exist, they typically occupy less than one-tenth of the narrative. I usually address them in a few lines without taking up much space, so there's no need to worry.