Chapter 1026: The Newcomer Means Trouble

Shi Ran smiled embarrassedly: "I'm fine, it was me who bumped into you, so I'm the one who should be saying sorry."

"You are such a unique girl; other girls wouldn't be like you."

The boy looked very handsome when he smiled, revealing a row of neat, white teeth.

He picked up his books, wiped his hands on his snow-white T-shirt, and reached out to Shi Ran: "Hello, my name is Chen Ran, a student who just transferred to Class 3, Grade 2. May I know your name?"

Usually, many boys try to strike up a conversation with Shi Ran, but she never wants to pay them any mind.

But this boy—she had just knocked his books over, and his name was the same as hers.

More importantly, they were in the same class, so there was no need to hide it.

So she reached out her hand: "Hello, I am your classmate, Shi Ran."

"Shi Ran? What a coincidence, we actually have the same name, and we're in the same class. I'm new here, please take care of me."

"You're too kind. We'll be classmates from now on, let's look out for each other."

Chen Ran took the opportunity to make a request: "I just arrived today and don't know where the classroom is yet. Can I walk with you?"

"Of course you can."

The two of them walked toward the classroom together.

Qi Heng chased after them from behind: "Ranran, I thought about it all night last night..."

"Ahem! I don't want to hear it."

Shi Ran coughed, meaning that there was an outsider present and he shouldn't say these things.

If it were any other time, he would certainly have understood what Shi Ran meant.

But not now.

Qi Heng had been on the phone with his family for the first half of the night; there were too many messy things going on at home, which left him feeling dizzy and overwhelmed.

He spent the second half of the night thinking, and even when dawn broke, he still hadn't figured it out.

Just now, seeing Shi Ran laughing and talking with a boy from afar, he felt a bit anxious.

When he walked up to them, Shi Ran wouldn't let him speak, so he mistakenly thought she was still angry with him.

"No, Ranran, you must listen. You can't be unreasonable."

Shi Ran:...

She tried her best to make her tone sound calm and softened her expression: "A Heng, that matter can't be explained in just one sentence, so can we find a time to sit down and talk about it properly? Let's go to class now."

"Who is he?"

Qi Heng pointed at Chen Ran beside her, his face full of vigilance.

"Chen Ran, a student who just transferred to our class."

"What is your status and background?"

When the boy named Chen Ran faced Shi Ran, he smiled in an innocent and sunny way.

But when facing Qi Heng, his smile carried a hint of provocation!

"Classmate, I don't think I know you that well."

Shi Ran was displeased: "Qi Heng, what is wrong with you? Why are you so hot-tempered early in the morning? Did you eat gunpowder?"

"Yes, I did eat gunpowder. You're coming with me."

He didn't wait for an explanation and dragged Shi Ran over.

"Let go, you're hurting me."

Shi Ran was very angry; she shook him off as if in a fit of pique and said to Chen Ran: "Let's go, don't pay attention to him."

Classroom.

Qi Heng sat at his desk, his eyes fixed firmly on Chen Ran at the podium, his eyes almost spitting fire.

The head teacher was introducing the new student to everyone: "Students, this student is Chen Ran, who transferred from L Country. Starting today, he is a student in our class. Let's welcome him."

Sparse applause broke out in the classroom, sounding very perfunctory.

Next was the self-introduction.

Chen Ran was calm and composed, speaking eloquently: "Hello students, my name is Chen Ran. My father is the Finance Minister of L Country, and my mother is the Chairwoman of the Women's Rescue Association. My parents are usually busy with work and don't have time to accompany me, so I came to A Country to study alone. I'm new here, so if there's anything I've overlooked, I hope you will all be understanding."

"Wow—"

The applause rang out again, and this time it was much more sincere.

The school they attended was the most famous aristocratic school in A Country. Students who could attend this school needed not only good grades but also solid family backgrounds and financial strength.

The school was also a small society.

There were students with poor family conditions who would puff themselves up to look like fat men just to attend, but they would be looked down upon.

Likewise, students with exceptionally good family conditions would be looked at with higher regard!

And "good" and "good" were also different.

"Good" in this small society of the school was divided into three tiers.

The first tier: those with power and money, super-rich, and with government or military backgrounds, were considered first-tier families.

The second tier: those with power but no money.

Of course, this "no money" was only relative to the super-rich, not truly destitute!

Qi Heng was considered second-tier in the class.

Although his father was the Vice President of a small country, he could only be considered second-tier.

The third tier was children born into merchant families; without government or military backgrounds, no matter how rich the family was, they would only be seen as nouveau riche.

But Shi Ran could not be counted as third-tier, because her great-grandparents were so famous in A Country that, even though her background was "not very good," she was still the halo-adorned School Beauty in the school.

After Chen Ran's self-introduction, the students' enthusiasm for him clearly increased.

They went up one after another to introduce themselves, but only two people didn't go.

Shi Ran did not go, because she already knew them.

Qi Heng did not go; not only did he not go, but his eyes were also spitting fire.

He stared fixedly at Chen Ran's back, his gaze full of hatred.

He already found him an eyesore, and now he found him even more so—he was actually the son of the Finance Minister?

Truly, enemies often cross paths.

The two families had always been at odds and had almost no interaction, so he never expected to meet here.

Class was over.

Qi Heng prepared to ask Shi Ran to have lunch together, but Chen Ran stood in front of Shi Ran one step faster than him: "Shi Ran, can we go have lunch together? I am new here and unfamiliar with A Country, and I can't find the Cafeteria."

"To thank you, I will treat you to lunch."

Shi Ran was not very willing, but it was not easy to refuse.

She was just thinking about how to phrase a refusal without making the other person feel awkward.

At this moment, Qi Heng shoved him to the side and coldly refused on her behalf: "She doesn't have time, go find someone else."

"Whoa—"

The classmates burst into laughter.

Someone made a snide remark.

"Qi Heng is jealous."

"Chen Ran, you're new here and don't know, but our School Beauty and School Hunk are a couple; you asking the School Beauty to eat, of course the School Hunk isn't happy."

"He used to be the School Hunk, but now that someone more handsome and with a better family background has arrived, it's uncertain who the School Hunk will be in the future."

Shi Ran's face flushed red; being teased to her face like this, she felt very embarrassed.

"Shut up, all of you. No one will sell you as a Yaba if you don't talk."

"Oh my, he's getting angry from embarrassment."

"Look, Shi Ran is blushing."

"If the School Hunk gets replaced, it's really not certain whose the School Beauty will be..."

These people loved to watch the chaos, and Shi Ran's face darkened: "All of you, shut up. Have you all finished your homework? With the energy you have for gossip, I think I can add some more after-class assignments; you must all be too idle!"

Shi Ran was the Class Monitor and had the authority to assign extra homework to the whole class, though of course, she would have to complete it as well.

Shi Ran was not afraid of doing homework, but others did not think the same way.

This line worked well, and everyone shut up.

Of course, they didn't end up eating lunch together; not only did she not eat with Chen Ran, but she also didn't eat with Qi Heng.

Shi Ran pulled Li Wei and Tao Qingyao along to go to the Cafeteria to eat.

Li Wei and Tao Qingyao were her best friends in A Country, and the three of them were known in the class as the—Iron Triangle.