Xia Ruan was sure he did it on purpose. It was peak time between classes, and students were rushing to their classrooms. After hearing Lu Yan’s words, many of them couldn’t help but glance her way. Some of them even started to regret, wondering if being a little bolder could have earned Lu Yan’s favor. 

Xia Ruan felt the jealous glares coming from all directions and quickly pinched her brother Xia Fei’s arm. Xia Fei rubbed the spot where she pinched him and looked at her with some grievance. “What’s wrong, Ruan Ruan?” 

“Lu Yan was greeting you,” Xia Ruan said through gritted teeth. 

Xia Fei looked at her in confusion. Lu Yan had obviously been greeting her just now. Although he didn’t understand why Ruan Ruan said that, he was more than happy to have her ignore Lu Yan. He waved his hand towards Lu Yan. “Good morning, Lu Yan.” 

The girls nearby let out a sigh of relief. See? No way Lu Yan would be into a girl like that. 

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow, turned around, and slowly walked toward the classroom with his hands in his pockets. When his figure disappeared around the corner of the staircase, Xia Ruan turned to Xia Fei and said faintly, “Brother, let’s go.” 

Xia Fei looked around and saw that the girls who had been glaring at them earlier had scattered. Only then did he understand what Xia Ruan meant. Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up. “Ruan Ruan, you’re really smart.” 

Xia Ruan cleared her throat. “Let’s go, or we’ll be late.” 

Xia Fei looked at her back, opened his mouth as if to say something, wanting to assure her not to worry about other people’s opinions because he was there. But thinking of what happened with Li Tingting, he closed his mouth and obediently followed Xia Ruan. 

When Xia Ruan entered the classroom, Lu Yan was already sitting at his seat. She casually glanced at him and quickly turned her gaze away. The classmates around them whispered to each other, “Xia Ruan said she was going to change for Lu Yan, but she still came in just before the bell rang.” 

Xia Ruan thought they were just being selectively blind. Lu Yan had only arrived a couple of minutes earlier than her. She got here right before the bell, and he didn’t?  

Hearing these words, Xia Fei shot a cold glance at the two girls who had spoken. They immediately fell silent under his intimidating gaze. 

Xia Ruan took out a tissue from her bag and wiped the desk lightly, then took out the textbook she would need for the class. Her deskmate, Song Mingfang, looked at her in surprise several times. When Xia Ruan noticed her looking again, she smiled gently and asked, “Is there something wrong with me today?” 

Song Mingfang met her gaze confidently and slowly said, “Didn’t you hear what they just said?” 

Xia Ruan shook her head. “I heard. Is there a problem?” 

Song Mingfang chuckled lightly. “You’re quite calm today, not even arguing with them.” 

Xia Ruan didn’t care. “Caring about what others think is just asking for trouble. How they see me has nothing to do with me.” 

Song Mingfang was taken aback for a moment, then slowly said, “Looks like being in the hospital has made you think things through.” 

Thinking of the original owner who was no longer here, Xia Ruan lowered her eyelids, her lashes fluttering. Her tone became a bit more subdued. “Maybe.” 

Seeing her sudden change in mood, Song Mingfang thought she had reminded her of being rejected by Lu Yan. She quickly felt guilty. 

Meanwhile, Xia Fei walked over to Lu Yan’s deskmate and tapped his desk. “Switch seats with me next class.” 

Zhao Yunfan, a somewhat introverted student with average grades, quickly packed up his books and moved to Xia Fei’s seat. 

Xia Fei noticed that Lu Yan didn’t even lift an eyelid during the entire seat-switching process, which inexplicably made him a little unhappy. He glanced at the person writing and slapped Lu Yan’s desk. “Hey!” 

The sudden movement made Lu Yan drag out the last stroke of the character he was writing. He looked up, clearly annoyed. “What do you want?” 

Xia Fei saw the messed-up writing and felt a little guilty. But then he remembered Ruan Ruan and tossed the guilt aside. “Just tell me—did you do that on purpose this morning? Trying to get those girls to keep isolating her?” 

Lu Yan’s expression froze for a moment. He had only done it for a brief bit of amusement and hadn’t thought about this aspect. He looked at Xia Fei clearly. “No, you’re overthinking it. I just wanted to greet Xia Ruan.” 

Xia Fei snorted coldly and, in a tone that sounded almost like a threat, said, “It better be like that, or I’ll make you regret it.” 

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow. This was the umpteenth time Xia Fei had spoken so harshly for Xia Ruan. The siblings had a pretty good relationship. 

Xia Ruan didn’t realize that Xia Fei had changed seats until the bell for class rang. She turned to look at Lu Yan’s seat and saw Xia Fei leaning over, talking to Lu Yan. She couldn’t help but rub her forehead, hoping her brother would remember her previous instructions and not do anything out of line. 

Xia Ruan’s repeated glances caught the teacher’s attention. Before Song Mingfang could kindly remind her, the teacher called out, “You, fourth row, white shirt. Stand up and answer this question.” 

Until everyone’s gaze fell on Xia Ruan, she suddenly realized the teacher was referring to her. This white shirt had been tucked away at the bottom of her drawer, and she only took it out when organizing her clothes. She didn’t expect to be called on to answer a question the first time she wore it. 

When Xia Ruan stood up from her seat, it seemed that everyone noticed the changes in her over the past few days. She looked much fresher and was noticeably more beautiful than before. The boys were taken aback, surprised that the formerly ‘edgy’ Xia Ruan could now look like the good girl type. The girls, however, were quietly jealous and just waiting for her to mess up so the teacher would scold her. 

Although Xia Ruan had graduated from high school two years ago, she frequently tutored high school students, so she was still very familiar with the knowledge from high school textbooks. She quickly answered the teacher’s question. 

The teacher nodded and motioned for her to sit down, then said, “Even if you know the answer, you should still listen carefully and not look around.” 

Xia Ruan, who was used to receiving praise from the teacher, suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and lowered her head. 

Seeing Xia Ruan answer correctly surprised everyone, and soon their eyes turned to her deskmate, Song Mingfang, as if blaming her for helping Xia Ruan. 

Xia Fei, with a joyful look, turned to Lu Yan and bragged, “Our Ruan Ruan is amazing, right?” 

Lu Yan nodded in agreement. 

Suddenly, Xia Fei remembered the reason behind Xia Ruan’s efforts, and his smile froze at the corners of his lips. 

When the bell for the end of class rang, Xia Ruan eagerly shouted to Xia Fei, “Xia Fei, come here for a moment.” 

Xia Fei casually picked up his book and jogged over to Xia Ruan, saying, “Ruan Ruan, what’s up? Why are you calling me so urgently?” 

Xia Ruan grabbed his book and casually placed it on her desk, then looked up at him. “Let’s talk outside.” 

Xia Fei quickly caught on, guessing she was probably going to settle scores with him. Before she could speak, he explained, “Ruan Ruan, didn’t you tell me to study hard? So, I went to ask the top student in our grade for advice. Since I needed a tutor, I thought I’d ask the best one, right?” 

Xia Ruan crossed her arms and looked at him. “Do you think I’ll believe that?” 

Xia Fei, clearly no match for her, soon lost the stare-down and muttered, “I just asked him if he was doing it on purpose this morning.” 

Xia Ruan furrowed her brows. “Doing what on purpose?” 

“Purposely greeting you. Those girls probably saw it and will isolate you again,” Xia Fei said. 

Xia Ruan frowned even more. She knew Lu Yan had done it on purpose, but she hadn’t thought about it that way. After thinking it over, she looked up at Xia Fei and asked, “What did he say?” 

“He said I’m overthinking it, that he just wanted to say hi,” Xia Fei repeated Lu Yan’s words. 

Xia Ruan nodded. If he said it wasn’t like that, then it probably wasn’t. The male protagonist was the type to hold grudges, but he never lied, so she believed him. Maybe he noticed her attitude toward him had changed and was just messing with her a little. 

After Xia Fei was called away by Xia Ruan, Zhao Yunfan stood beside his seat, clutching his textbook nervously. He glanced cautiously at Lu Yan and said in a quiet voice, “Lu Yan, I’m sorry. I didn’t really want to change seats either, but Xia Fei…” 

Before he could finish, Lu Yan cut him off. “It’s fine. I get it.” 

Zhao Yunfan sighed in relief. Thankfully, Lu Yan wasn’t angry. 

The curious gazes from all directions made Lu Yan feel inexplicably irritated. He was already used to such looks, but today they bothered him. He stood up and walked towards the classroom door. After taking a couple of steps, Lu Jizhou, who had just bought a drink from the vending machine, placed a hand on his shoulder and handed him a can of soda. Then he casually asked, “So, is Xia Fei sitting next to you again because of that whole confession thing with Xia Ruan?” 

Remembering Xia Fei’s warning, Lu Yan just gave a vague sound in response. 

Lu Jizhou laughed and teased, “Why don’t you just go for it with our Xia Ruan? I see she’s changed a lot for you these days. And with that makeover—no more her old, rebellious style—she’s even at the class beauty level now. Don’t hesitate.” 

Lu Yan pressed his lips together, thinking that while her change was real, it probably had nothing to do with him. Still, he wasn’t sure. 

Lu Jizhou, seeing that Lu Yan was unusually silent, excitedly looked at him. “Wait, do you actually have thoughts about her?” In the past, whenever Lu Jizhou brought up such topics, Lu Yan’s glare had always driven him away. 

Lu Yan realized he had misunderstood and coldly glanced at him. “What? Planning to aim for a screenwriting career? But with your grades, it seems unlikely.” 

Lu Jizhou glared at Lu Yan. Every time he couldn’t win an argument, Lu Yan would bring up grades. Moreover, Lu Jizhou was an athlete—wasn’t that comment a little mocking? 

After Lu Yan left, Lu Jizhou was still sulking, realizing that the best sarcastic friend was indeed Lu Yan. Although he had a sharp tongue and said things that weren’t easy to hear, Lu Jizhou still considered him a good friend. He then called over to Xia Ruan, who was getting ready to fill her water cup, “Xia Ruan, let’s talk.”