Chapter 40: Yan Zhusheng

The girl who walked in seemed to carry a cold wind with her.

She wore a clean white shirt and faded blue jeans, her legs straight and slender, appearing very tall.

When Li Luo turned to look at her, even at 1.75 meters, he felt he might have to meet her gaze eye to eye.

But he wasn't just looking to see what she looked like.

It was simply because her name felt familiar to him.

When he turned and clearly saw her face, he mentally swore.

"Alright, hand me the acceptance letter and tuition," Kong Junxiang said calmly, pointing to the student list before him. "Just sign here."

"Okay," Yan Zhusheng nodded lightly, her high ponytail swaying gently, the ends brushing her back.

At this point, Li Luo had already looked away, descended from the podium, and sat down at a window seat in the back row, watching the girl bend over to sign her name, thinking how strange it was that such a coincidence could exist.

What was it like to be reincarnated and end up as a classmate with your past-life boss?

Li Luo tugged at his lips.

Who would've thought the music prodigy who needed help just to shoot short videos in her past life had once been a student at Fu No. 1 High?

Looking at her cool, oval face, Li Luo sighed inwardly, then watched Yan Zhusheng finish signing and step down from the podium, walking closer and closer until she reached the seat beside him: "Is this seat taken?"

Li Luo shook his head, indicating no one was sitting there.

But being seated next to his past-life boss—even temporarily—made Li Luo feel oddly uneasy, so he pointed to the empty seat in front and asked: "Why not sit up front?"

Yan Zhusheng shook her head, pulled out the chair, and sat beside Li Luo: "I'm tall. Sitting up front would block others' views."

Hearing this, Li Luo nodded in agreement and said nothing more, slipping briefly into memory.

He vaguely remembered that in his past life, he was already in his early thirties.

The Short Drama market was saturated; competition among scriptwriters had become absurdly fierce, yet income kept dropping.

Eventually, Li Luo started sending out resumes, hoping to find a new job with stable pay.

For some reason, one of his resumes went to a short video production company—and happened to be selected by Yan Zhusheng at the time.

The salary was high: eight thousand a month. Li Luo accepted the job without hesitation.

Only after meeting in person did he realize Yan Zhusheng merely played guitar and practiced singing, occasionally recording and uploading videos, with no special demands.

She simply hated the tedious tasks of recording, filming, and editing, and just wanted to enjoy music, so she'd simply hired someone online to handle it.

The job was easy: just position the camera for her, edit the videos, and upload them.

With plenty of free time, Li Luo could also write Short Dramas on the side for extra income, bringing his monthly earnings to over ten thousand—perhaps the most relaxed and comfortable period of his past life.

Later, Yan Zhusheng discovered Li Luo could cook—and cooked exceptionally well—so she raised his salary to fifteen thousand and asked him to handle daily meals too.

As they grew closer, Li Luo learned guitar for free from Yan Zhusheng, and even picked up playing "Two Tigers" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the piano.

But later, Yan Zhusheng was diagnosed with a heart condition and needed treatment abroad, forcing Li Luo's job to end.

He'd assumed he'd never meet her again after reincarnation, yet on the very first day of freshman year, Yan Zhusheng sat right beside him.

Li Luo stole a glance at Yan Zhusheng, thinking how strange fate could be.

"You're looking at me," Yan Zhusheng turned her head, looking earnestly at Li Luo, as if answering a true-or-false question.

Li Luo: "..."

This blunt innocence was just as she'd always been.

"You're prettier. It's normal to look at you more than once," Li Luo said, knowing exactly how to speak to Yan Zhusheng—he admitted the truth, then gestured around. "Many people are secretly watching you."

"I know," Yan Zhusheng nodded.

He wasn't sure whether she knew she was beautiful—or whether she knew everyone was watching her…

Li Luo chuckled and shook his head, turning his gaze back to the box his mother had handed him.

The small box was rectangular, palm-sized, wrapped in paper.

When Li Luo tore it open, he revealed the phone box inside—and immediately shoved it into his desk drawer, then looked up at the podium to confirm Teacher Kong wasn't watching, before lowering his head again.

An Android phone… touchscreen… probably cost one or two thousand.

Li Luo recalled the joke he'd made at dinner during his high school entrance exam.

He hadn't expected Lin Xiuhong to actually buy him a new phone.

He vaguely remembered that in his past life, his family didn't buy him a smartphone until after the college entrance exam—he'd used a flip phone until then.

Thinking of this, Li Luo pressed his lips together, warmth flowing through his heart.

"Can we bring phones to school?" Yan Zhusheng noticed the phone box in his drawer and asked him.

"Shh, lower your voice," Li Luo whispered. "Technically, phones aren't allowed, but as long as the teachers don't catch you, it's fine."

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng nodded, indicating she understood.

Li Luo pulled the phone box out of his drawer and stuffed it into his backpack, planning to fiddle with it after returning home.

At that moment, the last student from Class Eight had also checked in.

Kong Junxiang tidied his things on the podium, placed all tuition payments into sealed bags, then stood and smiled warmly at the class: "Alright, now all forty of you are here."

? ￠o

"Welcome to Fu No. 1 High. I'm Kong—you can call me Teacher Kong. I'll be your homeroom teacher from now on."

Kong Junxiang gave a brief self-introduction, then outlined today's schedule: "We have three things to do this morning."

"Distribute student ID cards, self-introductions, and elections for class president, vice president, and male and female PE representatives."

"I don't like wasting time, so we'll combine all three into one."

Saying this, Kong Junxiang pulled a chair to the door and sat down, holding a stack of ID cards. "Now, when I call your name, come up and collect your ID card, then step onto the podium for your self-introduction."

"After you've collected your card and finished your introduction, anyone who wants to run for class president, vice president, or PE rep can come up and campaign."

"If you have any questions, ask now."

As he finished speaking, the students glanced at each other—and someone actually raised a hand.

"You speak." Kong Junxiang gestured toward Xu Yinghuan, who had raised her hand.

"Teacher Kong, why are we only electing these few positions?" Xu Yinghuan asked sweetly. "Can I run for study committee member?"

"Other positions will be elected after military training," Kong Junxiang explained with a smile. "We're electing only the four positions I mentioned today because they'll need to serve the classmates during military training. Any other questions?"

Aside from the naturally outgoing Xu Yinghuan, no one else in the class raised their hand.

So Kong Junxiang lowered his head, pulled out a student card, and said: "Who is Hua Xiuxiu?"