“How come I didn’t know I’m a bit different around Fang Yinan?” 

Xia Ruan held the spot where she got hit and wondered if she should just play dumb or… play dumb. Lu Yan’s mom was really unreliable. How could she sell him out so quickly? At least wait until they made some progress, then she could explain she just had an eye for spotting beauty. 

Xia Ruan decided to play dead for now, pretend she didn’t see the message, and deal with it after tonight. But another message came quickly after: “Don’t tell me you’re already asleep.” 

Xia Ruan felt like his words carried a hidden threat. She thought for a bit and replied: “I think Auntie might have misunderstood what I meant.” 

Lu Yan: “Heh, really?” 

Xia Ruan: “Yes.” 

Lu Yan: “Then go ahead and explain how she misunderstood you.” 

Xia Ruan racked her brain and then made something up: “I said you don’t talk much at school, only someone like Fang Yinan, a top student, can relate to you.” 

Lu Yan hesitated as he read her message. After all, he knew his mom very well—if Xia Ruan said that, it really was possible his mom had misunderstood. 

Seeing there was no reply for a while, Xia Ruan figured he must have believed her excuse. At the same time, she regretted how blunt she had been in front of Lu Yuwei that day. She quickly sent a message saying she was going to bed. 

By the time Lu Yan came back to his senses and saw her message about going to sleep, he suddenly remembered the post he’d seen earlier—she had just gotten back from her grandfather’s birthday banquet. She must be exhausted. 

Sunday was the dreaded day for Xia Ruan and Xia Fei to catch up on homework. As Xia Fei worked and scratched his head, he muttered, “When can I finally stop doing homework?” 

“I saw in the group chat that you guys are having monthly exams right after the sports festival?” Zhou Jingyi walked in with a plate of fruit. 

“Yes, that’s the plan,” Xia Ruan replied softly. 

Zhou Jingyi glanced at Xia Fei, who was buried in his homework, and said, “Then you two better do well. The usual rule still applies. If grades drop, allowance gets cut; if they go up, allowance gets doubled.” 

Xia Fei remembered that Lu Yan had promised to help him highlight key points, so he rubbed his hands together and looked at Zhou Jingyi: “Mom, get ready to give me double the allowance.” 

Zhou Jingyi raised an eyebrow. “So confident?” 

Xia Fei nodded. Of course, that confidence came from Lu Yan, the top student in their grade. 

Monday felt a bit different than usual. Everyone looked excited. Xia Ruan figured it must be because of the upcoming sports festival on Thursday and Friday. To be honest, she wasn’t too familiar with sports festival. She used to use those no-class days for part-time jobs, so this time, she was determined to be the best audience member she could be. 

The cheerful atmosphere around her rubbed off, and Xia Ruan also started to look forward to the event. That was, until she saw Lu Yan walk in carrying his schoolbag—her smile froze for a moment. 

Although Lu Yan looked the same as usual, Xia Ruan still felt he was giving off a gloomy vibe. After all, he hadn’t replied after her last message the night before. She rubbed her forehead—he probably believed what she said, so there was no reason to be nervous now. 

When Lu Yanzhi walked in, he greeted Xia Fei with a smile, “Xia Fei, you guys got here so early?” 

To maintain their fake brotherly bond, Xia Fei also smiled back, “Yeah, we come around this time every day.” 

After Lu Yanzhi left, Xia Fei immediately rushed over to Lu Yan with his book. “Lu Yan, remember what you said on the last day before the break?” 

Lu Yan smirked. “I remember.” 

He patted Xia Fei on the shoulder. “Whether I get double allowance next month depends on you, brother.” 

Seeing how chatty Xia Fei had just been with Lu Yanzhi, Lu Yan chuckled, then pulled a pen from his pencil case and started marking the key points in Xia Fei’s book. 

Xia Fei looked at the number of highlighted sections and started to worry. “This many?” 

Lu Yan didn’t seem to get his concern. He handed the book back and said calmly, “Too many? I’ve already tried to be concise.” 

Xia Fei scratched his head. Well, he had a point. If Lu Jizhou could improve his grades just by following Lu Yan’s key points, then so could he. 

Once Lu Yan finished highlighting, Xia Fei turned to Xia Ruan, who was busy working on practice problems, and whispered, “Ruan Ruan, Lu Yan finished marking mine. Want me to mark yours too?” 

Without looking up, Xia Ruan replied, “No need. I want to know my true level so I can study more effectively.” 

Alright then, his sister clearly had ambition. He didn’t. He’d better just focus on reviewing what Lu Yan had marked. 

Lu Yan’s hand paused slightly when he heard the siblings’ exchange, but then he resumed writing as if nothing had happened. 

Because Lu Jizhou was the sports rep, Lu Yan was roped into several events: the relay, the 3000-meter run, and high jump. 

Every afternoon after school, students who had signed up for events would go practice on the track. Everyone had a strong sense of class pride and hoped to score points by winning. Xia Ruan wasn’t in any events, but Xia Fei had signed up for a ton. Xia Ruan got the feeling he was trying to compete with Lu Yan. 

“Ruan Ruan, you’re not doing anything at home anyway, so come practice with me,” Xia Fei suggested. 

Xia Ruan was about to refuse but then considered Xia Fei’s fragile ego. She nodded instead. Otherwise, he’d probably start saying she didn’t care about him again. 

The track was packed, and everyone had divided up the space. Xia Fei dragged Xia Ruan toward the most crowded area. Xia Ruan looked at the multiple layers of spectators and asked, confused, “Brother, what event are they practicing here?” 

“High jump,” Xia Fei replied somewhat disinterestedly. 

Xia Ruan was surprised at first—how could high jump attract such a crowd? But the moment she spotted Lu Yan standing in the middle, she immediately understood why. 

Sweat had dampened Lu Yan’s bangs, and Lu Jizhou was gesturing something beside him. Lu Yan looked a little impatient. Sensing that he might have noticed her gaze, Xia Ruan quickly looked away and casually struck up a conversation with Xia Fei, “Brother, do you think you can place?” 

“Maybe third,” Xia Fei said, still sounding listless. 

“Wow, there’s actually someone better than you?” Xia Ruan said half-jokingly. After all, her brother was considered a sports talent student. 

Xia Fei glanced at Lu Yan drinking water over there and ground his teeth. Lu Yan was probably just born to attract envy—being better academically was one thing, but even better at high jump too. 

Seeing where Xia Fei was looking, Xia Ruan wasn’t really surprised. After all, he was the male protagonist—of course he’d be good at everything. If her brother insisted on competing with Lu Yan, she could only shed a tear of sympathy for him. 

Fang Yinan had been dragged here by Yang Xiaomi. She wasn’t interested in watching any of this; to her, studying was more important. But Yang Xiaomi had kept pestering her nonstop, so she reluctantly came along. 

They arrived just as it was Lu Yan’s turn to jump. When Fang Yinan saw him, she was a bit surprised—he didn’t look like the typical bookworm-type top student at all. 

Yang Xiaomi leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Wow, Nan Nan, look. Those girls are probably going to be disappointed.” 

Following Yang Xiaomi’s pointing finger, Fang Yinan saw a group of girls crowding around Lu Yan to hand him water. But he acted like he didn’t even see them—he just picked up his own school jacket from the side, threw it over his shoulder, and walked off. 

Fang Yinan kept watching him until Yang Xiaomi called her name and brought her back to her senses. “What?” 

“Hey, Nan Nan, Xia Fei did pretty well too. I think he was just looking at you,” Yang Xiaomi said excitedly. 

Fang Yinan glanced at Xia Fei indifferently and replied nonchalantly, “Really?” 

Yang Xiaomi didn’t notice her lack of interest and continued enthusiastically, “Yeah, Xia Fei might not be great at studying, but he’s a really nice guy.” 

Fang Yinan clearly wasn’t in the mood to listen. Pretending to be curious, she asked, “That Lu Yan just now—is he the one who always gets first place in exams?” 

“Yeah! Doesn’t he seem super talented?” Yang Xiaomi said, even winking at her afterward. 

Fang Yinan pretended not to catch the hidden meaning in her words and replied calmly, “Yeah, so we should learn more from him.” 

Yang Xiaomi pouted. “Nan Nan, you’re talking just like our homeroom teacher. Forget it, I think watching them jump is way more fun.” 

Seeing her friend turn away and focus on the practice area, Fang Yinan quietly tried to calm her unexpectedly stirred feelings. What a strange sensation—just one casual glance, and she had felt something flutter inside. 

Xia Fei was a little disappointed that Fang Yinan hadn’t responded. When Xia Ruan and Fan Shujuan walked over and saw his dejected look, they assumed he was upset over being outperformed by Lu Yan, so they tried to comfort him. 

“Xia Fei, you did really well just now. Don’t worry about Lu Yan—he’s not even human to begin with,” Fan Shujuan said. 

Xia Fei gave a helpless smile and looked up at her. “Class monitor, your idea of comfort is worse than saying nothing.” 

Fan Shujuan wasn’t used to comforting people. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Then how about I treat you guys to milk tea?” 

“Sure!” Xia Ruan agreed before Xia Fei could even respond. 

Trailing behind the two girls, Xia Fei muttered under his breath, “I don’t want to drink something so girly…” 

❖❖❖ 

The next morning, when Xia Ruan arrived in the classroom, she sensed something was off. After sitting down, she tugged on Fan Shujuan’s sleeve. “Why is everyone looking at me like that?” 

“You don’t know?” Fan Shujuan looked surprised. The class group chat had exploded with messages the night before. 

Xia Ruan shook her head. “Know what?” 

“It’s about the cheerleading team,” Fan Shujuan said while watching Xia Ruan’s expression. 

Xia Ruan casually asked while organizing her books, “What about the cheerleading team?” She vaguely remembered Xia Fei mentioning that she was the captain? 

“At first, Fang Yinan just asked in the group chat about how to join the cheerleading team. Then everyone started recommending her to be the team captain,” Fan Shujuan explained, carefully watching Xia Ruan’s reaction.