Chapter 002

He Ye is a relatively introverted person. If no one invites her out to play, her activities during summer vacation will probably be confined to her own community.

“Hey, school starts the day after tomorrow. How did summer vacation go by so fast?” Zhu Qing said, holding He Ye’s arm and tilting her head to look at the women’s clothing in the shops they passed.

He Ye replied, “I’m looking forward to the start of school. I’m tired of staying at home every day.”

Zhu Qing responded, “You’re not human!”

He Ye smiled.

In the clothing store ahead, two tall and thin boys were buying clothes. They seemed to be high school students.

Zhu Qing suddenly thought of Lu Jin and asked He Ye, “Have you seen Lu Jin again since then?”

He Ye thought for a moment and said, “I’ve seen him twice.”

Zhu Qing got excited and said, “He must live there too. Could this be fate? It’s like something out of a TV drama!”

He Ye replied, “Then I have too many connections. Besides Lu Jin, I’ve also seen several boys and girls who look familiar. They should all be from No. 2 Middle School.”

Zhu Qing said, “That’s right. There are many wealthy parents at No. 2 Middle School. Yours is a new community, so there must be other parents who bought houses there for their children’s convenience. By the way, does Lu Jin know you? Did he show any special reaction when he saw you?”

He Ye recalled.

The first time she and Lu Jin met in the new community was at the supermarket, where they simply confirmed they were classmates.

The second time was in the morning, when she went downstairs to throw away the garbage. As she approached the garbage disposal point with a bag in each hand, she saw Lu Jin running towards her from the other direction.

She hesitated about whether to say hello, but Lu Jin greeted her with a “hi” and a cold voice before running past.

Zhu Qing was full of excitement, “Why do I feel like Lu Jin treats you differently? I heard he’s quite aloof and doesn’t pay much attention to the girls around him.”

He Ye found this guess amusing, “He didn’t even ask my name; he was just being polite. Besides, I’m not some stunning girl who could make someone fall in love at first sight. I’ve never received a love letter in my life. How could I suddenly attract a school idol like Lu Jin?”

Zhu Qing, originally focused on the women’s clothing in the shop, turned her head and stared at He Ye.

To Zhu Qing, He Ye had skin as white as milk, was youthful, and had no blemishes.

He Ye might not be a dazzling beauty who stops people in their tracks, but her eyebrows and eyes are delicate and her lips are pink and moist—features that can easily arouse others’ desire to kiss her.

Although Zhu Qing is a girl, He Ye often prompts her to imagine intimate scenes between men and women. Sometimes, when she reads romance novels, she unconsciously imagines the innocent heroines as He Ye.

As for He Ye’s looks, she wasn’t crowned the school beauty, but she had been named the class beauty several times over the years.

“Don’t underestimate yourself. You’ve never received love letters because you’re too focused on studying. Boys know you’re not the type to fall in love early, so they didn’t make advances.”

“Whatever. It’s better if no one pursues me. But if someone does, I won’t agree.”

He Ye quickly ended the conversation about this completely meaningless topic.

Maybe some girls are easily inspired to have romantic fantasies at this stage, but He Ye really isn’t interested. Her father works hard to support the family, and He Ye’s only goal for her senior year of high school is to study hard and get into her ideal university.

School starts on September 1st.

He Ye packed her schoolbag and rode her bike out.

The community is only one kilometer away from No. 2 Middle School. Unless the weather is bad, He Ye plans to ride her bike to school, which also serves as exercise.

When she arrived at school, He Ye first went to the bulletin board to check the class assignment notice. No. 2 Middle School changes classes each time students are promoted.

Some classmates were gathered at the bulletin board. Before He Ye approached, a classmate from her sophomore year waved at her: “He Ye, you’re in Class 8, this way!”

He Ye smiled back and asked, “Thank you. Which class are you in?”

“My class is 15, and it’s not on the same floor as mine.”

There were similar conversations all around. He Ye approached the list for Class 8 and scanned it from top to bottom. To her surprise, the first name listed was Lu Jin.

The class numbers were arranged according to the results of the last final exam and were evenly distributed among the twenty science classes. He Ye had guessed that, based on her ranking, she would be somewhere around number five or six in a class. She didn’t expect that the top student in her class would be Lu Jin, who was famous throughout the grade.

After being surprised for a few seconds, He Ye continued to read. Fortunately, her good friend Zhu Qing, who hadn’t been in the same class as her during the first and second years of high school, was finally assigned to the same class this time.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t brought her cell phone, so she couldn’t share the news with Zhu Qing immediately.

After checking the list, He Ye went to Class 8 to report.

She arrived relatively early. There were only two students in the class, both day students, talking to the head teacher.

Report in the morning and start self-study in the afternoon.

After completing the registration procedures, He Ye had nothing else to do at school, so she decided to ride her bike back.

As soon as she rode into the community, she saw Lu Jin riding out alongside a boy.

He Ye, who was not very comfortable with interpersonal interactions, felt a bit nervous.

If she didn’t know Lu Jin at all, she could just ride past him. But now, since they were neither complete strangers nor familiar with each other, wouldn’t it be impolite not to say hello? If she took the initiative to greet him, what if he didn’t want to respond?

Her speed slowed down. He Ye tightened her grip on the handlebars slightly, trying to appear natural, while she observed Lu Jin.

When they were three meters apart, Lu Jin suddenly braked, supporting himself on one leg, and looked directly at He Ye with his narrow and cold eyes.

When the boy next to him saw this, he stopped in front of Lu Jin and looked at He Ye curiously.

He Ye had no choice but to stop.

Lu Jin asked, “Are you back for duty?”

He Ye replied, “Yeah, there aren’t many people here right now.”

Lu Jin inquired, “Which class are you in?”

He Ye responded, “Class 8.”

Lu Jin said, “I think I’m also in Class 8.”

The boy next to him added, “What do you mean, ‘think’? Lao Li called a few minutes ago and confirmed we’re both in Class 8.”

Lu Jin glanced at him and introduced him to He Ye, “This is Zhou Xiangming. We’ll be classmates from now on.”

He Ye smiled at Zhou Xiangming.

Zhou Xiangming thought He Ye looked pretty. Now that she smiled shyly, like a delicate little flower, he felt a playful urge to tease her.

“Lu Jin and I are close friends. I’ve never seen you before. How do you two know each other?” Zhou Xiangming asked.

While asking, Zhou Xiangming winked at Lu Jin suspiciously and ambiguously. He had never seen Lu Jin take the initiative to greet any girl.

Lu Jin looked at He Ye and said, “No. 2 Middle School is small; we’re bound to run into each other sooner or later.”

He Ye knew he hadn’t yet remembered why she looked “familiar,” so she explained, “We took the exam in the same examination room, but that was only that time. I usually take the exam in the second examination room.”

Lu Jin lowered his eyes, as if recalling something.

Zhou Xiangming looked at He Ye in surprise and said, “Top 100 in the grade? It turns out you’re also a top student!”

He Ye felt embarrassed by this label. A true academic master is someone like Lu Jin.

With nothing more to discuss, He Ye said, “I’m going home now. You guys should finish your registration.”

Lu Jin nodded and rode away on his bike.

Zhou Xiangming waved to He Ye and chased after him.

After turning out of the community gate, Zhou Xiangming looked back and saw that the girl had already ridden away. She was wearing simple sweatpants and a short-sleeved shirt, with a ponytail. Her white arms seemed to glow in the sun.

He retracted his gaze and asked Lu Jin, “Besides the time in the examination room, have you interacted with her anywhere else?”

Lu Jin looked ahead and replied, “The Guangming Supermarket outside the community is owned by her family. I met her there and chatted with her for a while.”

Zhou Xiangming asked, “Did she approach you first?”

Lu Jin responded, “No.”

Zhou Xiangming was shocked, “Is she someone you flirted with?”

Lu Jin replied, “She looked familiar, so I asked.”

Zhou Xiangming said, “We’re all students from No. 2 Middle School. We’re familiar with each other. Why didn’t you just ask other girls?”

Lu Jin seemed not to hear and continued riding his bike.

Zhou Xiangming asked, “Why don’t you go and chat her up? Does she know you?”

Lu Jin answered, “Yeah.”

Zhou Xiangming sneered, “There are more than 50 people in the examination room. The reason she remembers you is because of your face that both men envy and women admire. If it were me, she definitely wouldn’t remember me at all.”

Lu Jin replied, “You can try.”

Zhou Xiangming said, “Come on, I have no chance of being in the top 100 in my lifetime. By the way, what’s her name?”

Lu Jin answered, “I don’t know.”

Zhou Xiangming tilted his bike and stared at Lu Jin in disbelief, “You’ve already greeted her, but you don’t even know her name?”

Lu Jin said, “After all, we’re not familiar with each other.”

The two of them rode into No. 2 Middle School while chatting. After parking their bikes, they went to check the class list first.

Zhou Xiangming stood next to Lu Jin, his finger pointing to the list with black letters on a white background. “Student master, hey, there are three girls in the top five of our class. Which one is she?”

Lu Jin did not respond, but his gaze lingered on the fifth place, “He Ye,” for a few seconds.

He remembered going to the supermarket several times and once hearing a regular customer call her father “Lao He.”

He Ye had lunch at home, then put on her schoolbag and went back to No. 2 Middle School.

The classroom was half full. He Ye walked to the door and looked for Zhu Qing. In the middle row, Zhu Qing was already waving at her with a bright smile.

He Ye smiled and walked straight to Zhu Qing.

As soon as she sat down, Zhu Qing leaned on her shoulder, covered her face with one hand, and whispered in her ear, “Lu Jin is in the same class as us. Isn’t that a coincidence!”

Zhu Qing’s excitement was almost like that of a fan chasing a star.

He Ye murmured helplessly, “It’s just one class. Is it really worth being so excited?”

Zhu Qing replied, “It has nothing to do with me. This is your fate!”

He Ye said, “I don’t need it. Okay, let’s not talk about it. It’s totally irrelevant.”

Zhu Qing snorted and turned back subconsciously.

Lu Jin was very tall and had deliberately chosen a seat in the last row by the window on the south side.

Zhu Qing, shocked, turned back before she could see clearly and said stiffly to He Ye, “The last row on the south side—he seems to be looking at us!”

Instinct is powerful. Even though reason told her not to look back, He Ye found herself glancing in that direction.

Fortunately, Lu Jin was looking down at a book.

He Ye gave Zhu Qing a “speechless” look.

Realizing it was just her imagination, Zhu Qing looked back, feeling a bit embarrassed.

He Ye said, “Don’t make such jokes. There are so many people in the same community and class; it’s not that strange.”

Zhu Qing responded, “I know, don’t worry. I’m just a little excited.”

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the first self-study session officially began. When the head teacher arrived, he asked everyone to line up in the corridor and sit according to their height.

The petite Zhu Qing sat in the first row.

He Ye, who is 1.66 meters tall, was placed in the third row from the bottom.

After everyone was seated, Zhu Qing looked back and noticed that He Ye and Lu Jin were sitting in the same row, with only one student between them.

She squinted and smiled.

Based on her experience, Zhu Qing suspected that there might be something between Lu Jin and He Ye.

If He Ye didn’t want to say anything, Zhu Qing decided to keep it to herself and just think about it.