Chapter 170: How Strange This Class Is

"Hello everyone, I'm Zhou Yuting, transferred up from Room 303 downstairs."

On the podium, Zhou Yuting gave her self-introduction with poise and confidence.

Jiang Nian propped his head on his hand, glancing at the girl on stage. His face showed no expression; he wondered whether to throw a ball at her face during PE.

Nah, better buy a new car someday and have her check the front headlights.

Their conflict had long been out in the open—enemy meeting enemy, eyes blazing with hatred.

But now they were in the same class; whoever cracked first lost.

"Room 303 downstairs? Isn't that your old class?" Li Hua asked curiously. "Jiang Nian, you were in the same class—why don't you react?"

Hearing this, Zhang Nenzhi tensed up and turned her gaze toward him.

"You two were in the same class?"

Huang Fang and Ceng You in the front rows also turned around, unusually, to look back.

Jiang Nian was speechless, and reluctantly answered.

"Not familiar."

Hearing him say that, everyone turned back.

Zhou Yuting's self-introduction was full of energy—clearly the kind of cheerful, pretty girl.

Her smile and gaze were perfectly calibrated.

Jiang Nian was such a sly, underhanded guy; it wasn't strange he didn't know her.

Ah, no entertainment to be had.

Zhou Yuting's self-introduction earned some applause, but she felt the class wasn't really watching her—or rather, their attention lasted only half a minute.

Most people's gazes, seventy percent of the boys', were fixed on the girl beside her: Yu Zhiyi, beautiful and with an excellent figure.

It was early November; the weather was gradually cooling.

Most still wore long-sleeved shirts with a jacket over them.

Due to their free-spirited love of freedom, many left their zippers open.

When Yu Zhiyi gave her return-to-class introduction, she wore a long-sleeved shirt printed with a smiling face.

Because of her broad-mindedness, the little yellow face on her shirt beamed a bright smile.

Zhou Yuting stood to the side, smiling on her face, but inwardly felt a pang of sorrow.

She wasn't bad-looking herself, and had once bought a similar shirt after seeing videos online.

But she found that the cursed, Sima-like smile simply couldn't be worn properly.

The curve of the little yellow face's smile was pure mockery.

Girls really hate comparisons; Zhou Yuting had dressed up specially for today.

Who could have expected someone to show up and steal every single gaze—and she'd apparently been in this class all along?

Ding ding ding.

The class bell rang; the brief self-introductions ended.

There wasn't much to introduce anyway—Yu Zhiyi had always been in this class.

As for Zhou Yuting, she was merely a new face transferred up.

When Zhang Nenzhi, Jiang Nian, and Yu Tongjie were transferred up, they too gave brief self-introductions.

After that, class resumed—no one cared at all.

Today was special, since Yu Zhiyi had plenty of gossip surrounding her.

This class had no shortage of entertainment-seekers, especially Li Hua and Lin Dong and a few others.

As long as there was entertainment, who needed a bicycle?

As for Wu Jun Gu, Jiang Nian noticed he'd just returned from morning running.

More precisely, ever since Yu Zhiyi entered the classroom, he hadn't lifted his head once.

The morning passed quickly; Zhou Yuting adapted well.

She took Yuan Zhengchuan's seat; all her neighbors were boys, and they got along fine.

Plus, she was skilled at socializing—within a ten-minute break, she'd made friends with two boys.

Huang Cailang seemed rather simple-minded; Yang Qiming was a bit odd.

For some reason, he always seemed to carry a faint sadness in his eyes.

Honestly, it felt fake.

The dismissal bell rang; Zhou Yuting looked around at the scene filled with top students.

A warm current surged through her—this was the Olympiad class? The academic atmosphere of the elite.

Conversations were with learned scholars; no Bai Ding came and went.

Sleeping on firewood and tasting gall—finally, finally, she'd been promoted.

This was her dream class: no hooliganism, no toxic classroom atmosphere, no loser boys.

Everyone was studying hard; she couldn't fall behind.

She silently vowed to integrate into this class, become one of the top students, then visit her old class later and show off to relatives during the New Year.

Small towns really cared about this—comparing fathers, comparing children.

To that end, she set three goals: short-term, medium-term, and long-term.

The ultimate goal needed no explanation: pass the Gaokao and enter Ludao University.

Summer, the sea, fireworks, Ludao University, and Zhou Yuting—perfectly matched.

Back to the point: her short-term goal was to integrate into this group.

The top students' experience was invaluable—except for that one guy; building good relationships would help her long-term studies.

His mid-term goal is to stand out in the next six-city joint exam and defeat that bastard.

His long-term goal is to enter the top ten of this class during the mock exam.

The last two goals can be dealt with later.

Zhou Yuting cares about the first short-term goal, and there are currently two difficulties.

One is her grades; the other is whether Jiang Nian will spread rumors about her.

As for her grades, she hasn't seen this class's joint exam results yet, so she's estimating where she stands.

Jiang Nian is indeed a complete bastard; she never realized how venomous his mouth was, and she couldn't let him maliciously slander her.

As for how to fit into this class, Zhou Yuting decided to rely on her looks.

The surroundings were bustling.

After school, Chen Yunyun pulled Wang Yuhe toward the classroom door. It was their boarding routine: fetching hot water at noon to wash their hair.

"Hurry up, hurry up, or we won't get a spot!"

Hearing this, Zhou Yuting, still seated, glanced toward the source of the voice.

At first she just thought the voice sounded familiar—(laugh)—turns out even the Olympiad class's top student.

Upon closer inspection, she froze.

On stage earlier, she hadn't carefully looked at any of the people below.

During self-introductions, she'd used the pumpkin method, treating all classmates as pumpkins.

She'd learned this trick from Yi Lin; kids abroad all used it.

Now, looking closely, Zhou Yuting was instantly awestruck.

The girl speaking was incredibly beautiful—more beautiful than the big-chested girl, and she hadn't noticed before.

"Class monitor, are you going home now?" Nie Qiqi once again shamelessly leaned toward Li Qingrong's seat.

Zhou Yuting involuntarily turned toward the voice, then saw an even more exquisite face.

She was utterly baffled—wasn't the class monitor the girl who looked a bit stern?

Does the Olympiad Class Three have two class monitors?

Before she could react, the Standing Deputy Class Monitor and Discipline Committee member Cai Xiaoqing yanked Nie Qiqi back.

"If you're going to talk, keep your distance!"

"Pfft! Who are you to tell me what to do?" Nie Qiqi lifted her chin defiantly. "Why don't you do something about Jiang Nian? He was practically glued to the class monitor during break!"

"He was asking questions—how can you compare yourself to a fox spirit?" Cai Xiaoqing rolled her eyes and dragged away the flailing Nie Qiqi.

Li Qingrong showed no reaction, still lowering her head and doing problems.

She was used to waiting ten minutes after school before standing up to go home, when the hallways and staircases weren't crowded. She could walk slowly to the school gate, enjoying the quiet atmosphere.

Zhou Yuting stared at Li Qingrong's profile, utterly mesmerized.

Why is the class monitor of Class Three so beautiful?

She'd never heard anyone mention it before—even when people complained that the senior class had hardly any pretty girls. She felt a tiny bit smug, after all, rarity makes value.

Now

"Baby Zhizhi, why aren't you leaving yet?" Yao Beibei stepped over Jiang Nian's seat and hugged Zhang Nianzhi. "Why don't you come eat at my place?"

Zhang Nianzhi looked conflicted, whispering softly.

"I'm a bit sleepy—I want to go home and take a nap, or I won't have energy this afternoon."

Zhou Yuting tore her gaze away from Zhang Nianzhi, her mind suddenly churning.

What the hell? How come this class has so many pretty girls? No—better to say, how come the girls in this class are so high-quality?

It completely contradicts her stereotype of top students: a girl with a high ponytail, bright eyes, small stature, and energetic voice—a good girl.

But… what kind of class is this?

In Room 303, she could've ranked first in looks—now, it feels like coming to this class…

Forget top five—with that big-chested girl here, she'd barely make top ten.

What kind of class is this!

Olympiad geniuses? No—Olympiad Class Three has a male-to-female ratio of two to one.

Honestly, all twenty girls in Class Three are quite pretty.

It's not flattery—truthfully, the overall beauty quality of Class Three's girls ranks first in the grade.

Seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girls are naturally at their peak of natural beauty.

Add to that—though this is just Jiang Nian's own sordid speculation—perhaps there are just too many pretty girls here, and the rest unconsciously feel the pressure.

After all, under the oppressive aura of Li Qingrong the Demon Queen, girls naturally pay more attention to their appearance.

They don't necessarily wear makeup, but they wash their hair more frequently, pay attention to daily clothing, hairstyle coordination, skincare, and so on.

The high beauty quality among girls directly leads to more couples. Class Three has three couples total—one broke up, but a new one arrived: Yu Zhiyi.

One out, one in—still three couples.

Jiang Nian thought so, returning from the cafeteria, striding with that arrogant, trouble-attracting gait, stepping over the yin-yang line between the senior building and the ground.

His figure vanished beneath the senior building, climbing the stairs upward.

Just back on the classroom corridor, before entering the room, someone called out to him.

"Jiang Nian."

He turned around, surprised—the senior building was clearly solid, so why did it feel like the floor was shaking?

"What?"

From the back door of the classroom, Yu Zhiyi stepped forward quickly, slightly dazzling.

"Can I ask you something?"

Jiang Nian glanced at her; in the sunlight, Yu Zhiyi looked heartbreakingly fragile.

"No, I'm busy."

"Busy doing what?" Yu Zhiyi refused to give up.

She had switched shifts back, so naturally she needed to deal with her relationship with Wu Jun Gu.

Although they had already broken up, Yu Zhiyi hoped to understand some things better.

It wasn't that she wanted to get back together—she didn't want to date right now.

She just wanted to clear up some matters, didn't want to owe Wu Jun Gu without understanding why. Probably, if they talked it out, they could part amicably.

So she needed to find someone to get the facts; Li Hua in Wu Jun Gu's team was hard to approach.

After thinking it over, only Jiang Nian was the most suitable.

Jiang Nian hadn't expected her to be this persistent—even after being rejected, she still asked.

"Nothing, and I don't want to answer."