When Shang Xinglu first entered high school, she was only fifteen years old, and her features hadn’t fully matured yet.

Even so, her beauty was already apparent. Even in just her school uniform, she stood out from the crowd.

Although their school uniform was considered well-designed and good-looking, uniforms were still different from casual clothes—they weren’t as form-fitting, and the style and colors didn’t suit everyone.

On others, the uniform looked like “the warmth of the Party.”

On Shang Xinglu, however, it was a perfect fit, adding a scholarly aura to her, like the classic school goddess from a movie.

But her face—her face was ultimately too stunning.

Her almond-shaped eyes, when not smiling, were already captivating enough. But the moment she smiled, her eyes curved like crescent moons, the ends lifting with an irresistible charm, shimmering like stars in a deep night sky. It made people’s hearts itch with longing.

During student years, people tended to be reserved—too shy to act impulsively.

Even if someone liked her, they would quietly ask around about her before making a move.

Blocking someone in public, even if encouraged by onlookers, was rare.

Yet now, several students had surrounded Shang Xinglu. They hadn’t even done anything yet, but they had already attracted attention.

Shang Xinglu was… utterly confused.

As the freshman representative, she had just raised the national flag. The ceremony had barely ended, and she hadn’t even been to her classroom yet. That morning, her idiotic younger brother had delayed her, nearly making her late for the flag-raising.

She was now lost in the crowd, trying to find her way. But her “kind” classmates had helpfully trapped her in a circle.

Shang Xinglu hadn’t even had breakfast yet and was currently licking a lollipop for some energy.

She didn’t need them to speak—she already knew what they wanted.

After all, these people were around the same age as her foolish younger brother. They were all at that stage in life—arrogant yet insecure.

Shang Xinglu immediately lost her patience.

School was just a miniature version of society.

And the longer she had been away from it, the more she realized that all the things she once obsessed over during puberty were utterly insignificant.

She didn’t want to waste time leading these naïve kids on. There were plenty of ways to make people lose interest.

Sure enough, as soon as she casually blurted out an old-fashioned, completely unrefined fake name, the group fell into stunned silence.

It sounded so outdated, so ridiculous, that they weren’t sure whether she was telling the truth.

Taking advantage of their hesitation, Shang Xinglu slipped away.

First stop—buying food from the school store.

Wait, no—finding her classroom was more urgent.

But just as she turned to leave, she took one step forward and crashed straight into a wall of muscle.

A boy’s chest.

At that time, Shang Xinglu was still growing.

She was only 160 cm (about 5’3″) as a high school freshman. Compared to tall, well-developed boys, she was like a little radish.

Already dizzy from hunger, she was now seeing stars from the impact. She staggered back a few steps.

The boy didn’t catch her.

Nor did he step back.

Instead, he said, with an annoyingly cocky tone, “Li Cuihua? Shang Xinglu, when did you change your name? You even changed your last name?”

Shang Xinglu looked up.

The boy was strikingly handsome, with delicate yet sharp features, brows like ink strokes, and lashes long enough to make anyone jealous.

With a face like that, he could’ve been charming, but the way he looked down at Shang Xinglu was full of arrogant disdain. His expression wasn’t just annoying—it was extremely annoying.

Shang Xinglu didn’t respond.

She only knew that one phrase in the local dialect—if she said anything else, she’d expose her lie.

The boy continued, “If you didn’t want to talk to them, you could’ve just refused. Did you really think it was fun messing with them?”

The group behind them finally reacted—her fake name had been exposed.

But they didn’t embarrass her. One of them said, “Forget it, it was our bad for stopping her.”

Now that she had a moment, Shang Xinglu studied the boy’s face carefully.

School was indeed like a small society. Seniors naturally held an intimidating presence over freshmen.

But Shang Xinglu’s gaze was fearless.

…What was there to be afraid of?

She casually sucked on her lollipop, completely unfazed, and asked, “You know me?”

The way she said it made it sound as if he had gone out of his way to learn about her.

The boy looked even more annoyed. “We just met yesterday at Shi Rui’s birthday party.”

Shang Xinglu blinked.

Then, in the most indifferent tone, she said, “Oh. Sorry, I forgot.”

The boy: “…=皿=”

He wasn’t narcissistic, but he had never needed to boast—he had always been a center of attention.

Shang Xinglu asked, “Where’s the school store?”

Someone behind the boy eagerly pointed in a direction.

She continued, “What about Class 1-3? Which building?”

Another person quickly gave her the location and floor number.

Shang Xinglu smiled. “Thanks. By the way, what are your names? Let’s be friends since this was all just a misunderstanding.”

The group introduced themselves one by one, and she listened with a cheerful expression.

Then, she grinned and said, “I’m Shang Xinglu.”

Gone was her aloof, cold demeanor—she was now full of playful charm, completely stripping away the seductive aura around her eyes.

As if it was just an afterthought, she pointed at the grumpy boy and asked, “And what about this ‘Mr. Unhappy’ over here?”

“He’s Shen Wang,” someone quickly answered.

Shen Wang had just opened his mouth to stop them, but he was too late. His face turned red with frustration.

But he had his pride, so he simply shoved his hands in his pockets and stayed silent.

Shang Xinglu saw his reaction and nearly burst out laughing.

Ah, tsunderes are so much fun.

But she didn’t call him out on it.

Shang Xinglu couldn’t help but smile at Shen Wang.

Her smile was so genuine that it only made her look even more stunning. A few people nearby nearly lost themselves staring.

After Shang Xinglu left, still sucking on her lollipop, the others nudged Shen Wang.

“Whoa, does this junior have a thing for you?”

“Good looks really are an advantage…”

“So jealous!”

But only Shen Wang knew—he had just been played by Shang Xinglu.

His face was stiff with frustration. He was about to explode.

---

Shen Wang spent most of his high school years by Shang Xinglu’s side, but even by graduation, he never managed to confess his feelings.

From teachers to students, everyone knew he liked her. They were even more anxious about it than he was.

He never confessed, but they never lost contact either. After graduation, he went to the UK for university.

He had assumed that, given Shang Xinglu’s background, studying abroad was inevitable for her.

But to his shock, she chose to stay and take the national college entrance exam.

She got into one of the top two universities in the country.

Then again, considering her chosen major, only a handful of schools even offered it.

When Shen Wang heard this from the UK, he was so frustrated he nearly ascended to another plane of existence.

Through a video call, he gritted his teeth. “Didn’t you say you preferred the UK? That you especially loved Cambridge?”

Shang Xinglu replied, “Yeah, if I were going to study abroad.”

Shen Wang: “…”

Oh.

So annoying.

The top two universities were incredibly difficult to get into, but everyone was sure Shang Xinglu had it in the bag.

Back in her first year of high school, she had gotten lost on campus, entered the wrong exam room, and received the wrong test paper. Halfway through, she got lazy and decided to just go with it, finishing an entire exam meant for a third-year student who was out sick.

When that student returned and saw the results—top of the grade—they were completely stunned.

They even wondered if they had some kind of hidden superpower: sick at home, yet somehow acing an exam.

The incident spread quickly, turning into one of the school’s seven urban legends. Even the school administration was baffled.

After checking the surveillance footage, they saw Shang Xinglu, writing away furiously.

It could only be her—she was the only first-year student who had scored a perfect zero in that particular subject before.

When asked about it, she had simply shrugged.

“…I was too lazy to leave after walking into the wrong exam room.”

Fair enough.

That was how Shang Xinglu became famous.

---

By her third year, she was still relatively relaxed.

Her teachers encouraged her to apply for a direct admission program. She went for it.

But unexpectedly, another student outperformed her.

A boy.

And he was also aiming for the astronomy department.

Both of them were outstanding students, so the admissions director had a conversation with them. The astronomy department head even praised the boy, saying he was exceptionally talented and hardworking—a rare gem.

Shang Xinglu had always known she wasn’t the most hardworking person.

Not in her past life, nor in this one.

In this life, without a real rival, she had grown complacent and lazy, thinking she could coast through life without much effort.

In that moment, it felt like she had been slapped awake.

It wasn’t just about being outperformed or overlooked.

She suddenly realized she was repeating the same mistakes from her past life, feeling smug just because she had retained some extra memories.

She knew what kind of path she had chosen—she had seen it in her previous life.

And because she had seen it before, she now understood how incompetent she really was.

She was merely repeating, not surpassing.

Had she once been a prodigy?

Perhaps.

But as talents gathered, as one selection process after another filtered out the mediocre, she saw that the once-glorious “prodigies” faded into the crowd. Only a select few at the very top continued to shine.

And yet, here she was, unchanged and complacent, basking in empty praise.

Looking at it now, that was the height of arrogance.

Pure arrogance.

Right before the college entrance exam, Shang Xinglu fell ill.

She underperformed.

Despite qualifying for direct admission, she declined the offer for reasons unknown.

Instead, she enrolled in another prestigious but less renowned university.

She spent her first year applying elsewhere in the first half and taking various preparatory courses in the second.

Then, she chose a major completely different from her original aspiration.

Sometimes, people recognize their limits.

Some things you just understand, and some things you don’t—like in a classroom, when a teacher explains a concept, and some students get it while others simply don’t.

There’s a line.

A rare few can break through it. Most cannot.

Shang Xinglu had seen that line in her past life. She chose not to push against it this time, but she still saw it.

She thought, since life has given me a second chance and all the resources I need, why not take a different path? Why not live freely?

So she picked a completely different major.

Because of a close friend at school, she joined a theater club. Later, she worked as an extra and even became a commercial model to pay off her student loans.

She found some enjoyment in it. And so, she followed this path.

After graduation, she made it to Hollywood and finally became a leading actress.

A bright future lay ahead of her.

She picked it up, then set it down.

Having given up astronomy, she found she could study something else. After studying something else, she found she could act. After acting, she thought—maybe I can do something else, too.

So she returned home.

That was when Shen Wang proposed.

She broke up with him.

When people thought she had lost everything, she sat in a quiet garden pavilion—

And met Lin Heng.

The man looked at her and asked, “Will you marry me?”