Chapter 11: Spinning Around

Jiang Mingzhi took a half step back. “What’s wrong?”

Pei Jinyang suddenly fell silent, staring at her without saying a word.

Impatient, Jiang Mingzhi was about to close the door. “If there’s nothing, don’t disturb my studying.”

Didn’t he know that she had just skipped a grade? The pressure was already high.

Pei Jinyang raised his hand to block the door from closing, his gaze fixed on her face—fresh and stunning without any makeup. She was wearing a white ruffled pajama set, her low ponytail hanging neatly down her back.

It didn’t quite match her cold, impatient expression.

She should smile, like how she smiled at Qiu Tang or Pei Zhaohua—obedient, sunny, with a sweetness that bloomed like a flower.

Pei Jinyang suddenly spoke. “Smile.”

Jiang Mingzhi looked at him as if he were crazy.

“Are you out of your mind?”

Knocking on her door in the middle of the night just to ask her to smile?

If he’s crazy, he should go get treatment.

Pei Jinyang then realized what he had said and lazily, almost teasingly, added, “Has anyone ever told you that when you don’t smile, you look like a demon?”

Jiang Mingzhi didn’t hesitate to roll her eyes. “Crazy.”

Pei Jinyang raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to Class 9?”

Jiang Mingzhi raised an eyebrow in response. “Yes.”

Pei Jinyang wanted to ask why, but the words wouldn’t come out, leaving him feeling somewhat confused.

She released the door handle and crossed her arms over her chest. “I heard Guan Jingxu from Class 9 is really good. Since math, physics, and chemistry are my weak points, I thought I should be closer to the genius. What’s wrong with that?”

The white light in her room merged with the warm light from the hallway, casting a clean yet mysterious aura around her.

Pei Jinyang glanced at her and sneered lightly. “You sure have a lot of weaknesses.”

Bang—

The door slammed shut.

Jiang Mingzhi wanted nothing more than to turn into a whip and lash at Pei Jinyang, spinning him around like a top.

But she wouldn’t stoop to arguing with a childish teenager.

---

The next day, Jiang Mingzhi woke up feeling refreshed and went downstairs for breakfast.

She belonged to the high-energy group of people. When she was starting her business, she could survive on just four hours of sleep every day. Now, considering her health, she slept for seven hours.

Today, she wore the school uniform of First High, which came in three sets for spring. She wore the formal one, with a small suit jacket and pleated skirt, carrying a long down jacket in her hand. She would put it on later when she left so she wouldn’t be cold.

The boy was sitting with his back slightly bent, facing away from the stairs. He wore the same school uniform, the British-style one, which made him look even more elegant and handsome.

Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind: “The school uniform was the first couple outfit we wore.”

In her previous life, she had secretly considered the school uniform to be their couple’s outfit.

Her beautiful mood faded, and she almost wanted to rush over and kick Pei Jinyang.

But she wouldn’t argue with a teenager going through puberty.

Aunt Zhang, the housekeeper, greeted Jiang Mingzhi and placed a cup of hot milk on her usual spot.

Pei Jinyang didn’t even lift his eyelids, eating his soup dumplings, while Jiang Mingzhi had a bowl of wontons in front of her, the kind she had specifically ordered last night.

The wrappers were thin, and the filling was plentiful, with seaweed and shrimp on top, and the broth was chicken soup. Eating it kept her in a good mood for the entire morning.

Of course, it would be even better if Pei Jinyang wasn’t around to ruin it.

Today, he somehow decided not to ride his bike to school and instead took the car with her.

He said, “It’s too cold.”

The temperature in Beijing at the end of May was indeed very low. Jiang Mingzhi muttered under her breath, wondering why he hadn’t frozen to death on the way here a few days ago.

The ride to school was relatively quiet.

Jiang Mingzhi was still reading her book, while Pei Jinyang closed his eyes as if pretending to nap.

As soon as the car stopped, his eyes opened. He smoothly opened the door, got out, and closed it again, all in one swift motion.

Jiang Mingzhi: “……”

She suddenly remembered what Lin Wan had mentioned during their conversation.

“You’re so lucky! You have a rebellious, handsome older brother, and you’ll get to be classmates with the cool, studious genius Guan Jingxu. The sunshine of First High will shine on you!”

Jiang Mingzhi responded, “I don’t need that. I’m afraid I’ll get sunburned.”

Lin Wan asked, “Do you know who’s more popular with the girls, Guan Jingxu or Pei Jinyang?”

“I don’t know.”

She knew, but she didn’t say it.

Pei Jinyang was more popular with girls because young girls loved the rebellious and handsome type. As for Guan Jingxu, he seemed more introverted and didn’t speak much. Some would say he had a cold, aloof attitude, but in reality, many girls were intimidated by his indifference.

After getting out of the car and stepping into the school gates, Jiang Mingzhi caught sight of a figure flying toward her.

“Deskmate!”

From the voice, she immediately recognized it was Lin Wan.

Lin Wan shoved a tea egg into Jiang Mingzhi’s hand. “My mom made it, the breakfast shop didn’t have any.”

The warmth of the tea egg seeped through the plastic bag, warming her palm.

“Thank you.”

Lin Wan hooked her arm through Jiang Mingzhi’s as they walked toward the school. “I’ve been waiting for you for a few minutes. I saw you and Pei Jinyang coming together.”

Jiang Mingzhi peeled the egg through the bag, trying to finish it before they reached the classroom.

The first and second-year teaching buildings were on the same side, so the two walked together for a while before Lin Wan reluctantly said goodbye.

“Go study hard in second year! Don’t embarrass us first-years.”

Jiang Mingzhi smiled. “Got it. You study hard too, don’t embarrass your deskmate.”

When they reached the entrance to Class 9 (second-year), Jiang Mingzhi had finished the tea egg.

Her arrival caused quite a stir.

“Is she the one who transferred in? Where did she come from?”

“Yang Huicheng wasn’t lying, she really is beautiful.”

“Hey, she looks kind of familiar, I feel like I’ve seen her around.”

“Stop it, don’t all beauties look familiar?”

Jiang Mingzhi walked to her seat. Before sitting down, she cheerfully greeted Guan Jingxu.

He was reading, his long eyelashes casting a faint shadow on his eyelids. His handsome face wore a cold, unapproachable expression, but with a bit of softness on his cheeks, making him look somewhat cute if you looked closely.

“Guan, what a coincidence.”

The young man pulled his gaze from the book and it landed on Jiang Mingzhi’s smiling face.

The surprise in his eyes was evident, not bothering to hide it.

The new student was her?

He had seen her around school before, but back then she was in another class. Why had she transferred to Class 9?

Jiang Mingzhi winked at him. “I skipped a grade.”

From now on, she would float around Guan Jingxu like a ghost, making sure Pei Jinyang wouldn’t want to go near her.

Hehe.

During morning study time, the class teacher, Mr. Yu, arrived. He stood at the front of the classroom and glanced at Jiang Mingzhi. “We have a new student in our class. She’s from the first year and skipped a grade…”

Before Mr. Yu could finish, there was a burst of murmuring from the students below.

A student skipped a grade? This was news to them. How impressive was she to go directly from first year to the advanced class?

They were all under a lot of pressure right now.

Summary: This new student was impressive.

For a moment, most of the gazes directed at Jiang Mingzhi were full of admiration, with a few others scrutinizing her.

Mr. Yu clapped his hands twice, signaling for everyone to quiet down. “Alright, let’s have the new student introduce herself.”

Jiang Mingzhi walked to the front of the class and stood next to Mr. Yu, calm and composed. “Hello everyone, my name is Jiang Mingzhi.”

She picked up a piece of chalk, turned, and wrote her name on the blackboard.

After setting down the chalk, she continued, “I’m very happy to join Class 9 and become classmates with all of you. I hope we can get along well in the future.”

Once her introduction was done, Mr. Yu didn’t let her sit down, instead encouraging the students to ask her questions.

Normally, self-introductions didn’t include this step, but since Jiang Mingzhi’s introduction was so simple, and because the students below were curious, he figured they would be looking at her throughout the entire class unless they got to know her better.

Yang Huicheng was the first to ask a question. “Jiang, how did you manage to skip a grade?”

Jiang Mingzhi replied, “I’m from Nancheng.”

A girl raised her hand and asked, “What’s your relationship with Pei Jinyang?”