Chapter 11

As a relatively key school in the county, Maofang Middle School has somewhat strict school rules. The security guard at the gate doubles as an inspector, scanning students to see if their appearance is up to standard, and occasionally, the Dean of Students will also come by to keep an eye on things.

As a reborn person in his original skin, Zhai Da has no issues with his look; he has simple, short hair and no strange accessories he might think are "individualistic," so he passes through safely.

After walking two steps inside, Zhai Da cannot help but look over his alma mater again.

Maofang Middle School has three buildings in total: a U-shaped teaching building, a mahjong-tile-shaped laboratory building, and a six-story dormitory building.

Because dormitories are limited, boarding requires an extra application and is prioritized for students from rural or village areas. Local students like Zhai Da basically never board, and they wouldn't want to anyway.

Another unique feature is that the toilets are not inside the teaching building, but in a bungalow by the playground. The men's room has over twenty squat stalls and a urinal trough more than ten meters long.

Parentheses: the twenty stalls share a single water trough in a long, single-file line, with no partitions on the sides; it takes considerable courage to do one's business in there.

Back in the day, Zhai Da was disgusted for a whole week by Wu Yue saying, "Bro, did you eat enoki mushrooms last night, too?"

Furthermore, the entire toilet is perpetually foul-smelling, with the urine scale almost calcifying into stalactites.

The conditions were so harsh that Zhai Da remembers them vividly; he has forgotten what his own classroom looked like, but he cannot forget the men's room.

As for the women's room, he wasn't that familiar with it, so he has forgotten it entirely.

On the playground, the familiar sights make Zhai Da walk slower and slower.

Sometimes memories are images, and sometimes memories are just an emotion.

Because class is about to start, many people quicken their pace, coming from behind him and heading past him.

The shadow of the laboratory building divides the campus into two parts: light and dark. As the teenagers run past one by one, it is as if they are passing through a wall of time, painted with a bright and clear lacquer.

Zhai Da has a smile on his lips as he joins the army of teenagers.

He doesn't even know what he is smiling about.

But he soon stops smiling.

"Is that the boy who fainted after confessing?"

"From Class 38."

"I was going to say Lin Shuyao was a bit too much, but seeing him in person today, I don't find it strange that she rejected him..."

"How could Lin Shuyao possibly fancy someone like that? She didn't even accept the basketball team's Wang Feng when he confessed..."

Zhai Da isn't actually ugly; he just has the appearance of an average boy. At 177cm, his height is decent enough here in the scattered North, though he is a bit flabby.

It is mainly because their PE teacher has been bedridden since the second semester of his sophomore year, and he has no interest in sports himself, so he has a little bit of fat on his belly, though it doesn't show when he wears his school uniform.

It is just that, compared to the high-profile and dazzling Lin Shuyao, such an ordinary boy is forcibly categorized into the "not so great" side.

A few girls gather at the corner of the corridor, muttering to each other while glancing at Zhai Da from time to time, not even trying to hide it.

Generally speaking, young girls aren't particularly bold.

But when there is a group of young girls... they really dare to do anything.

However, Zhai Da is not the "real student" who stays silent until rumors ferment into something bizarre, eventually evolving into the bottom of the school's ecological chain or even campus bullying.

He is a "fake uncle."

So he walks straight over.

The girls are clearly stunned; they have been gossiping for years and have never seen anyone just walk right over... their voices get quieter and quieter.

Zhai Da smiles kindly: "Seems like you're talking about me? How about we chat together?"

The girls freeze for a moment and immediately lower their heads and scurry away. One girl, whose face is covered in acne, turns bright red.

Not until the girls have completely disappeared does Zhai Da head toward his own class.

Senior Year Class 8, a plain and unremarkable ordinary class, though for some boring reason, it was nicknamed "Class 38."

It really is boring.

Walking into the classroom, many eyes are covertly sizing him up, mostly girls. Zhai Da scans the room and quickly finds his seat, to the left of Wu Yue, across the aisle.

He deduced this last night by contacting the other party on QQ and asking around.

Walking closer, he sees that, sure enough, there are books with his name on them in the desk compartment.

Back row by the window, the hometown of kings.

Legend has it that many big shots have emerged from this prime piece of feng shui.

At this moment, the students are busy with their own things—copying homework, asking questions, catching up on sleep, eating breakfast—and for the time being, no one is paying attention to "star Zhai Da."

Zhai Da simply sits in his seat and observes in secret.

He originally thought he wouldn't recognize anyone here.

But when those specific people, events, and objects appear in their former guises, even the most distant memories stir up ripples.

So, in the final analysis, forgetting happens because there is no more meeting again.

Zhai Da pretends to be tidying his desk, but in reality, he is silently reviewing his high school interpersonal relationships and recognizing people.

For example, Lin Shuyao, sitting in the third row in front. Her grades have always been good—at least decent enough for this county high school—and he remembers she got into a second-tier university back then.

To be surrounded by so many suitors, to enjoy it herself, and still maintain grades above the average level...

She is actually a girl with a decent brain.

Zhai Da's deskmate is Yang Fan, the invisible person of the class—not good at studying, not handsome, no friends, no face, no features—a "three-no" person at the lower-middle level of the class ecological chain.

Further to the right is Wu Yue. After his past life spent washing dishes to buy a restaurant, he even video-chatted with Zhai Da once, showing off the beautiful beaches of California and generous white girls, but a few months later, he heard in the class group that Wu Yue had become so thin he looked like he weighed less than a hundred pounds.

He thinks the restaurant he opened must have been a vegan one.

There are quite a few others with vivid impressions, such as a particularly huge figure in the back row, a full 1.95 meters tall, and very fat and strong, who seems to be called Fan Junwei. If Wu Yue is fat in the conventional sense, this one can only be called a "little giant." He doesn't study every day, just sleeps on his desk, and is a bit sloppy, with a strange smell on him.

He isn't well-liked, but with this physique, no one dares to provoke him. Behind his back, he was nicknamed "Meat Mountain." He only found out later that it was a boss in a certain game, equivalent to a big dragon.

After recalling the situation in the class roughly, and especially listening carefully to their conversations to get many people's names, Zhai Da gradually sorted out the situation in his class.

As of now, he just needs to play the role of a "high school student" well, and if there is any behavior that doesn't make sense.

That is also Lin Shuyao's fault.

He suddenly feels this girl is also a bit useful...

Additionally, he discovers that when he is looking around, Lin Shuyao is paying attention to him, whether intentionally or not.

Whenever Zhai Da's gaze sweeps over, Lin Shuyao subconsciously adjusts her angle and movements, appearing quiet and playful.

She is a template for a "white moonlight," and after putting on the school uniform, she actually fits the adolescent aesthetic better than usual.

Yesterday and the day before, her hairstyle style leaned toward "non-mainstream," but today she has honestly tied it into a ponytail, which is much more well-behaved and actually a plus.

It is just that in Zhai Da's eyes, every movement reveals deliberation; with eight movements per second, she could go be a model on Taobao.

It is hard to say what her motive is, but it is definitely nothing good.

For the rest of the day, Zhai Da tries his best to play the role of a "high school student," re-embedding himself into the "new" environment.

Occasionally during breaks, some people come to chat with him, asking about the "confession" in their words, but Zhai Da, acting on the attitude of "explaining but not dwelling," is too indifferent, which leaves these people greatly disappointed.

They actually just wanted to see Zhai Da embarrassed and wanted to let out a loud "Oh~~" when Zhai Da lowered his head in silence.

With the protagonist being so calm, they even start to doubt how much truth there is in the rumors sweeping the school.

This doesn't look like someone who was rejected in a confession... By comparison, it is Lin Shuyao who is a bit pretentious and unnatural today.

What is going on with these two?

In addition, a few well-informed girls vaguely heard a few boys say in the morning that Zhai Da was "fucking awesome."

What is going on? Wasn't it said he just fainted? How is he so badly hurt?