Chapter 45

In the morning, the homeroom teacher of Grade 10, Class 5, Chen Rong, hurried into the office. She had planned to wake up early for something this morning.

However, sometimes the more you try to keep something in mind, the easier it is to make mistakes. Although she had set three alarms in her head last night, she still couldn’t wake up this morning.

She carried breakfast to the office, relieved to find that the person she was waiting for hadn’t arrived yet.

After sitting down and resting for a moment, she picked up her cup of tea and stood up to refill it with hot water. When she came back, she saw the girl who had been taking the exam in the office yesterday, standing at the office door with her backpack, lightly knocking on the glass door.

“Yan Ning?” A guess formed in her mind.

“Mm, good morning, teacher. I’m Yan Ning, and I’ve just transferred to Grade 10, Class 5. Is Teacher Chen in?” Yan Ning greeted.

Chen Rong, holding her cup of tea, walked toward her desk: “I’m Teacher Chen. Please come in.”

Yan Ning entered the office, and they handled some of the necessary paperwork.

Grade 10, Class 9.

Chen Wen, carrying his backpack with one hand, walked into the classroom and passed through the aisle near the window to his seat. After taking a couple of steps, he suddenly stopped and looked at the person sitting by the window. “Fengfeng, why are you here so early today? You usually walk in just in time.”

He was one of the few people who could talk to Lu Fengfeng in class, and the two occasionally played basketball together, so he was the first to notice something seemed off.

Lu Fengfeng had his English book open on his desk but wasn’t actually reading it, he was sitting, staring blankly.

Hearing Chen Wen’s voice, he lifted his head: “I woke up early today.”

When Chen Wen saw his expression, he felt something was wrong and decided to pull out the chair in front of him and sit down. “Tsk, something’s off. Back then, no matter how I asked you to join me for breakfast, you’d never come out.”

“You’re overthinking it,” Lu Fengfeng casually replied, his gaze drifting towards the classroom door.

Chen Wen followed his gaze and looked towards the door: “Is something at the door?”

“Nothing. Don’t disturb me while I’m memorizing vocabulary,” Lu Fengfeng lowered his head, hiding the disappointment in his eyes, and began to dismiss him.

Chen Wen felt bored, so he got up and went back to his seat.

Lu Fengfeng’s gaze occasionally swept toward the door, and even after the morning reading session began, he still hadn’t seen the person he was hoping for.

He couldn’t help but wonder, had he guessed wrong?

Or perhaps the class transfer process hadn’t been completed so quickly?

He was so excited that he even forgot that there were fifteen classes in the first year.

Even if Yan Ning was really going to skip a grade, there were still fifteen options, and Class 9 was just one of them.

Meanwhile, in Grade 10 (5), one classroom away from Class 9.

Yan Ning was standing at the podium, briefly introducing herself: “Hello, everyone, my name is Yan Ning.”

The scene was almost identical to less than a month ago, the difference being that last time the classroom was filled with cute little ones from Grade 7, and now it was filled with energetic and lively older students.

If there was one thing unchanged, it was probably the intense glow in the eyes of those sitting below the podium as they looked at her.

This time, the reaction was even more intense than before, accompanied by discussions that were anything but quiet.

“Isn’t this the… the… Dragon Slayer! How did she end up in our class?”

“Is it really her? The Ningning from Number One?”

“She looks so much prettier in real life than she did in the live stream!”

“Some people used to say she’s prettier than the school beauty. I didn’t believe it. Turns out she really is this good-looking…”

“Where is she going to sit?”

“I really want to be her deskmate…”

—

Chen Rong’s gaze scanned the classroom, and there was only one empty seat left in the last row.

Yan Ning wasn’t short, so sitting at the back was just fine.

She pointed to the seat in the second-to-last row of the group closest to the window: “Yan Ning, please sit there for now. After every exam, the seats will be rearranged, and next time you can choose your own seat.”

Yan Ning nodded and walked down from the podium toward the seat Chen Rong had indicated.

As she walked by, the students’ eyes instinctively followed her toward the back, and upon seeing the boy she was going to sit with, envy appeared in their eyes.

Yan Ning bent down slightly, gently pulled out the chair, sat down, placed her bag properly, and then took out the new book she had just received, preparing to write her name on it.

As she flipped open the book, she pulled out a pen from her pencil case, ready to write, when she sharply sensed a gaze from beside her.

She slightly turned her head and saw a boy with a delicate face and particularly beautiful eyes, who was curiously examining her.

Even though she noticed, he didn’t avert his gaze, instead showing her a clear interest with no attempt to hide it.

Yan Ning set her pen down, slightly turned toward him, and smiled politely: “Hello.”

Xu Moyan’s fingers moved slightly on the desk as he looked at her, wanting to say something but then hesitating. In the end, he gave a soft nod: “Hello, my name is Xu Moyan.”

Yan Ning could tell the boy seemed like he wanted to say something, but for some reason, he didn’t say anything in the end.

Everyone else was reading, with a few occasionally glancing over at her.

She quickly wrote her name in the book, tidied up, and then took out her English book to begin reading.

Xu Moyan, listening to the clear and pleasant sound next to him, gradually clenched his fist, trying his best to focus on the book in front of him.

When the bell rang for the end of class, he immediately took out his phone from his pocket and typed a series of words, sending them to a small group for fans of Angel Island No. 4:

【Pocket Meow: The Dragon Slayer is sitting right next to me! She skipped a grade and transferred to our class, and now she’s my desk mate!!!】

【Nightingale and Roses: Meow meow, are you sleeping in class?】

【The Big Hammer of Angel Island: Meow meow is really into her.】

【Long Night’s Bright Lamp: Youth is great, tsk.】

【Pocket Meow: Really! She’s sitting right next to me, and she’s talking to a classmate right now.】

【The Big Hammer of Angel Island: No pictures, no proof.】

Meow meow looked up at Yan Ning. After class, many students glanced toward her, but only Shu Yue, who had met her in a game, came over.

When Shu Yue saw Yan Ning giving her self-introduction at the podium, she froze. She never expected Yan Ning to skip a grade and transfer into their class.

Why transfer here? Wouldn’t Class 9 have been a better choice?

But that didn’t affect her mood. As soon as class ended, she immediately ran over to Yan Ning: “Ningning, how come you’re in our class?”

Yan Ning didn’t expect to run into Shu Yue in this class either. The reason she chose Class 5 was actually because she had been in Class 5 in seventh grade.

When the teacher asked her which class she wanted to go to, she simply said she would still prefer to go to Class 5 if possible.

“Well, it’s just a coincidence.” Yan Ning smiled and didn’t explain.

“I can’t believe we’re actually classmates now. Is this fate?” Shu Yue’s mood was still high.

Xu Moyan lifted his phone and pointed it at Yan Ning.

He wanted to talk to her but just didn’t have the courage.

Under the camera, she slightly lowered her eyes, pursed her lips, and smiled shyly.

He hesitated for a moment with his finger on the camera button, then withdrew his phone, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say.

A few minutes later, he finally mustered the courage to speak to her: “Um—”

Yan Ning turned her gaze at the sound, looking at him curiously: “Hmm, what’s up?”

Xu Moyan lowered his eyelids, blinking his lashes several times, then suddenly looked up at her: “Could I take a photo of you? My friends watched your game live stream before, and they really like you.”

Yan Ning thought for a moment and nodded: “Sure.”

After receiving her consent, Xu Moyan inexplicably trembled, feeling an indescribable excitement.

More than taking the photo, what excited him was the fact that he had managed to speak to Yan Ning. She was really his desk mate!

After the photo was sent to the group, it immediately sparked an explosive reaction:

【The Big Hammer of Angel Island: Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Is this for real?】

【Nightingale and Roses: No way! It’s really the Number One cutie! She’s really your desk mate?】

【Pocket Meow: For real, I just talked to her, she’s so nice…】

【Long Night’s Bright Lamp: Damn, I can’t believe there’s really such a coincidence!】

【The Big Hammer of Angel Island: Which school is Meow Meow from? When are we having tea together?】

【Nightingale and Roses: …You two… you’re envious too? Didn’t you say you only liked games?】

【The Big Hammer of Angel Island: I do like games! But the Dragon Slayer during the competition was totally awesome! It’s fine that I didn’t meet her before, but now there’s a chance to meet her, maybe next time we go to the island we can slay dragons too, and ask her for some tips.】

—

In the next classroom, Class 9.

Someone was saying, “I just passed by the hallway and overheard the people from Class 5 talking about how the beautiful girl transfer student moved to their class.”

Others were still asking, “What beautiful girl transfer student?”

Lu Fengfeng had already stood up and walked out of the classroom. Standing at the entrance of Class 5, he immediately spotted her sitting in the last row.

As soon as he appeared, the surroundings suddenly became noisy.

Yan Ning raised her eyes and immediately saw him standing at the front door of the classroom. Her gaze paused, and she stood up to walk outside.

Lu Fengfeng watched her every move as she stepped closer to him. His heart uncontrollably beat faster, pounding loudly, wanting to approach, but feeling like there was no reason to.

Before she had even come close, she was already smiling at him, her expression and gaze no different from usual: “Fengfeng, what are you doing here?”

“Huh? Just passing by, I accidentally walked by,” he said, not knowing why he instinctively lied in that moment.

He could have just told her, he had heard she transferred and came specifically to see her.

Lu Fengfeng furrowed his brows, annoyed at his own cowardice.

But he couldn’t help but wonder, did she not choose to go to Class 9 on purpose to avoid suspicion?

Would his actions now make her feel annoyed?

“Are you on this floor too?” Yan Ning’s gaze showed curiosity, and her voice was as sweet and pleasant as always.

“Yeah. Class 9 and Class 5 are just separated by one classroom.”

Lu Fengfeng’s heart wavered with Yan Ning’s words. If she really wanted to avoid him, she wouldn’t be walking toward him or talking to him now.

So, what exactly was her intention?

Yan Ning was about to say something when the bell rang, interrupting her thoughts.

She looked up again and smiled at him, “Class is starting.”

The two of them stood in the hallway, surrounded by students rushing to their classrooms. Lu Fengfeng knew it was not a good time to continue talking and nodded, “You should go in.”

—

Afternoon, second period.

Class 5 had physical education. The students gathered at one corner of the playground, and after completing some basic warm-up exercises, the teacher dismissed them.

Shu Yue grabbed Yan Ning’s arm, “Ningning, the boys from our class and Class 9 are about to have a basketball game. Do you want to go watch?”

Yan Ning had never played basketball and rarely watched others play, so she wasn’t particularly interested.

However, seeing Shu Yue so enthusiastic, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse and decided to go with her to the basketball court.

The game hadn’t started yet, and both teams were shooting around for practice.

Many people were already standing around watching, and at a glance, most of them were girls.

Yan Ning’s gaze shifted from the crowd to the court, and she immediately spotted Lu Fengfeng in the crowd.

Lu Fengfeng had been talking to a boy next to him. He casually tossed the basketball to the boy, then turned and walked toward the audience area where Yan Ning was standing.