Xia Ruan raised her eyebrows when she remembered what Xia Fei had said. “Lu Yanzhi, you’re joking. I’m just a simple country bumpkin.” 

The smile on Lu Yanzhi’s lips froze instantly. It was definitely Xia Fei who had tattled on her. He reined in the smile on his face and said sincerely and seriously, “Sorry, Xia Ruan.” 

Hearing his straightforward apology without any messy excuses, Xia Ruan thought a bit better of him. She waved off his apology casually, “It’s okay. What you said back then was the truth.” Back then, what were Xia Fei and she to them if not just a country bumpkin. 

Lu Yanzhi also hated his own sharp tongue at that time. Seeing Xia Ruan’s expression, he knew she had accepted his apology, but he was probably still on her blacklist. 

After saying that, Xia Ruan lowered her head and started calculating the unfinished math problems in her draft notebook. As for why Lu Yanzhi came to Ming’an, it had nothing to do with her. 

In front, Lu Jizhou was so shocked his mouth was wide open like it could fit an egg. He glanced at Lu Yan, who was about to enter the classroom, quickly stood up, and pulled him out of the classroom again. 

Lu Jizhou rapidly repeated the conversation he just heard, then added, “Oh my god, is this a real-life wealthy family arranged marriage? Lu Yan, you have to save our soft girl!” 

Everyone in the class knew about Xia Ruan’s wealthy family; after all, families who donate buildings to the school are rare. 

“Does she need me to save her?” Lu Yan’s tone was flat, and it was hard to tell if he was amused or indifferent. 

Lu Jizhou nodded heavily. “Look, according to their words, Lu Yanzhi used to look down on the soft girl, but recently he’s inexplicably transferred to Ming’an. Isn’t it obvious that he’s after her? Our poor soft girl.” 

Lu Yan glanced at Lu Jizhou, who was playing the drama king, and sneered: “She’s pitiful? Maybe you should feel sorry for your allowance first.” 

Lu Jizhou suddenly remembered his mom said if he didn’t reach the rank she wanted, his allowance would be cut off. Feeling sorry for his own empty wallet, he looked pitifully at Lu Yan: “Looks like the chance to experience brotherly love has come. Help me out, okay? Give me the key points.” 

When Lu Yan and Lu Jizhou returned to the classroom, Lu Yanzhi had already left Xia Ruan’s seat. Xia Ruan was deeply focused on writing something. Lu Yan didn’t know why, but he couldn’t help but think about her. 

He let out a small sneer. 

Lu Jizhou always acted like a matchmaker for her, but she herself now seemed like she didn’t even want to meet his gaze. Lu Yan licked his lips, so her confession to him before was just a joke, right? But at that time, her eyes had been so passionate, even a little crazy, while now, her clear and deep eyes were full of detachment.  

Lu Yan suddenly didn’t know where it had all gone wrong. Maybe it was because of this sudden change that he paid extra attention to her. Lu Yan sat down at his desk, casually opened his textbook, and warned himself not to keep being curious. It was better that she stayed calm and didn’t do anything to attract gossip. But even thinking this, Lu Yan felt like there was a little thorn in his heart that made him want to poke at her whenever he saw her. 

Xia Fei entered just as the bell rang. He glanced at Xia Ruan, but thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice him.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lu Yan deep in thought, his expression serious. Xia Fei snorted lightly. What a sinister guy. It was better to keep a distance until he improved his own strength. 

Fan Shujuan accidentally caught a glimpse of Xia Ruan’s draft paper and was surprised: “Wow, Ruan Ruan, you figured out another way to solve this problem so quickly.” 

Xia Ruan seemed a bit shy and nodded: “I originally just wanted to try writing it down, didn’t expect to actually solve it.” 

Fan Shujuan looked at her admiringly: “You’ve improved a lot recently.” 

A gleam of joy flashed in Xia Ruan’s eyes, “Yeah, I go to tutoring every day.” 

Fan Shujuan nodded knowingly and continued encouraging her: “You’re doing great, keep it up!” 

The first time Xia Ruan saw Fan Shujuan, she thought this girl was quite cold. The more she spent time with her, the more she realized how cute she actually was. The usual coldness was probably just an act. Seeing her pull a serious face again, Xia Ruan was curious: “Class Monitor, you’re obviously soft and cute, why always pretend to be cold?” 

Fan Shujuan looked at her seriously: “Where am I soft and cute? I’m obviously very cold. Xia Ruan, don’t try to challenge the class monitor’s dignity.” 

Xia Ruan laughed at her tone and understood why she pretended to be cold—probably to maintain the class monitor image. 

Since she often tutored high school students, Xia Ruan was familiar with high school material. As the teacher lectured at the front, her gaze shifted to Summer Fei. He was staring at the blackboard with his head tilted back, and before long, his head started to bob like a chicken pecking at rice. Xia Ruan sighed. Well, as long as he doesn’t do anything reckless, I guess he can sleep during class. 

Her gaze shifted to Lu Yan, who was holding a pen in his right hand, his head slightly bowed as if deep in thought. From Xia Ruan’s angle, she could only see a bit of his side profile. He really did have that “male protagonist” aura—just his side profile was enough to make others look plain in comparison. 

The person in front seemed to sense her gaze and glanced back lightly. Although Xia Ruan withdrew her eyes as soon as he looked back, her heartbeat still sped up when his eyes met hers. 

They say that beautiful girls are most likely to face jealousy and rejection from other girls, but Fang Yinan was clearly an exception. In just a few days, she had already gotten along with everyone in the class, making Xia Ruan think again about her “female protagonist” aura. 

Looking at all the people surrounding Fang Yinan these past few days, Xia Fei couldn’t help but think back to when he gave her the CD and she invited him to dinner. Things hadn’t gone as he imagined. Fang Yinan had prepaid for everything before he even got there, and there was no chance for him to pay. He thought this was probably a silent rejection. Xia Fei experienced his first rejection like this, and it made him feel a little down. So, top students really don’t like bottom students, huh? Does that mean bottom students don’t have a chance? 

In recent days, besides keeping an eye on Xia Fei to stop him from acting recklessly, Xia Ruan also secretly watched the two leads, hoping they would interact soon and preferably get together early. But seeing Fang Yinan here for almost a week with no interaction between the two, Xia Ruan couldn’t help but worry for them. 

“Xia, can I ask how you solve this problem?” Lu Yanzhi asked seriously, holding a workbook. 

Xia Ruan furrowed her brows slightly. Recently, Lu Yanzhi had been trying to start conversations with her, but she had ignored him. She didn’t want to pay attention to him, but today he seemed to have come up with a new tactic. She glanced at Lu Yanzhi’s smiling face and said flatly, “Don’t you usually find out a bit about the person before asking for help?” 

Lu Yanzhi looked puzzled and asked, “Find out about what?” 

Xia Ruan gave him a sidelong glance, not sure if he really didn’t know or was pretending not to. After all, everyone in class knew that she and Xia Fei could be in Ming’an only because her grandfather had donated a building to Ming’an. The others probably knew this too. Her tone grew colder: “Are you asking me, a bad student, for help on purpose?” 

Lu Yanzhi’s smile didn’t fade.“You don’t know it either? That’s fine. Let’s go ask Lu Yan together.” 

Xia Ruan refused without hesitation: “No thanks, you can ask him yourself.” Then she turned to leave the classroom. 

Lu Yanzhi wouldn’t give up easily after finally getting a chance to talk to her. He quickly closed his workbook: “It’s better to rest during break time. Where are you going? Let’s go together.” 

“The girls’ bathroom. Want to come?” Xia Ruan asked coldly. 

Lu Yanzhi seemed not to notice her change in tone and continued smiling: “Sure, I’ll go next door.” 

Xia Ruan felt like his shamelessness had reached a whole new level. She didn’t bother replying and just walked off. Lu Yanzhi chuckled, shook his head, and headed back to his seat with his workbook. He didn’t follow her. 

Once they both left, Lu Yan finally picked up his pen again, ready to continue where he left off. But his train of thought had been completely interrupted, and now he couldn’t bring himself to focus anymore. 

When Xia Ruan bent down to wash her hands, she caught a glimpse of someone next to her and warned, “That one is broken.” Before she finished speaking, a slender, fair hand had already reached out. The faucet was sensor-activated, and water flowed instantly. 

Xia Ruan: …was this thing mocking her? She had tried that same faucet a bunch of times earlier and it wouldn’t work. She looked up—ah, it was the female protagonist, Fang Yinan. Of course. Just her luck. Xia Ruan was just a background character anyway. No use competing with a lucky charm. 

Fang Yinan met her gaze and gave a polite smile. “Maybe it’s fixed now. I’m done, so I’ll head out first.” 

Xia Ruan had no intention of walking out with her. She just gave a small smile and said, “Alright.” 

Fang Yinan took a few steps then turned back. Xia Ruan was still washing her hands, and for some reason, Fang Yinan just couldn’t feel close to her. Was it because Xia Ruan was too pretty and she was jealous?  

Fang Yinan humorously comforted herself, thinking it wasn’t her fault. Being classmates with someone from a tutoring class was already a special fate, but for some reason, she just couldn’t feel close to Xia Ruan. Maybe Xia Ruan felt the same. Is this the so-called incompatible aura? 

After confirming Fang Yinan left, Xia Ruan stubbornly tried the faucet again. Damn, still no water. 

Back in the classroom, everyone was a little excited because after this class came PE. The two PE classes per week were rare chances for everyone to relax, so on PE days, everyone was in high spirits. 

Xia Ruan didn’t understand what they were excited about. She’d rather have class than run in PE. 

As soon as the bell rang and the teacher left, most people rushed out. Xia Ruan leisurely packed up her desk and walked out with Fan Shujuan. 

At the stairs, she saw Lu Yan and Lu Jizhou ahead of her, and in front of them were Fang Yinan and another girl from class. She became a little excited. Was she about to witness the first interaction between the male and female protagonists?