Chapter 19: A First Love That Ended Before It Began!

The students who heard this instantly quieted down.

The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and no one dared to make another sound.

Sakai Shion’s cold gaze returned to Xia Xia Xia Mujun.

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun, you may continue."

Xia Xia Xia Mujun nodded slightly, his thin lips parting.

He originally had no special hobbies, but thinking that he needed to sign up for a shogi tournament in the afternoon and might need to ask for leave later, he changed his answer on the fly.

"My current hobby is playing shogi, and my dream is to get into the University of Tokyo. That is all."

Upon hearing this, a trace of imperceptible confusion flashed across Sakai Shion’s serious expression.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun likes playing shogi?

She lowered her eyes, her fingertips quickly scanning the "Special Talents and Hobbies" column of the student profile—it was indeed blank.

Her gaze moved down, and when she caught sight of the family information, her eyebrows twitched.

Oh, his father was an amateur shogi player...

She understood, but shook her head inwardly.

With a father who was an amateur player, she figured he couldn't be that strong either.

The data clearly showed that Xia Xia Xia Mujun had never participated in any shogi tournaments.

True excellent players had already made a name for themselves in elementary or middle school, just like the student council president of this school, who had already entered the ranks of the women's professional 5-dan players by her second year of high school—Odo Orime.

And he said his dream was to get into the University of Tokyo?

Sakai Shion’s gaze landed on the glaring "D-" rating in the grades column, and her lips couldn't help but press tight, her expression becoming somewhat strange.

As a graduate of the University of Tokyo, she knew better than anyone how strict the threshold for that institution was.

Even an honor student with an "A-" grade might not be able to get in; those who could reliably get in had to be top students who maintained an "A+" level year-round.

With Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s past "D-" grades, the hope was incredibly slim.

However...

Sakai Shion thought about it, and her gaze softened.

This dream itself was good; it was a positive and upward-looking goal. ===== CHAPTER 39 =====

She had no reason to deny it, and instead silently made a note of it in her heart.

Saionji Nanase, sitting next to him, blinked her lively eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

She also hadn't expected Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s dream to be the University of Tokyo.

Her superior memory immediately made her recall the report card posted on the middle school bulletin board—Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s name always seemed to appear among the last few...

She had a light sweat on her forehead, but she still silently cheered for him in her heart.

Regardless, having a dream was always a good thing.

Soon.

The bell announcing the lunch break rang crisply.

Homeroom teacher Sakai Shion picked up her lesson plan and left the classroom with a calm gait.

As soon as the door closed, the class became as noisy as boiling water, with freshmen seizing the time to get to know each other and chat.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun had wanted to take this opportunity to take out his phone and write.

But as soon as his fingertips touched the cold surface of the screen, he was surrounded by the girls in the class.

The babbling questions came like a tide.

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun, which school did you attend before?" a girl asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun, I have snacks here, do you want to eat some?" another girl asked, blushing as she handed over a pack of beautifully packaged candies.

Several gazes from boys not far away carried obvious envy and undisguised jealousy.

This situation lasted for the entire morning, leaving him not a moment of peace.

By the time lunch break arrived.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun had been thinking about writing the novel *The Devotion of Suspect X* as quickly as possible, so he desperately needed quiet, solitary time to write.

But if he stayed in the classroom during lunch, he feared he would be surrounded by that group of enthusiastic girls again.

He had no choice but to seize the brief gap before the girls could fully surround him, quickly pick up his prepared bento box, and walk out of the classroom as if fleeing.

Saionji Nanase witnessed his hurried back, her lips parted slightly, ultimately turning into an almost inaudible sigh, a trace of regret flashing in her heart.

She had actually wanted to find Xia Xia Xia Mujun to ask him something, but he had been surrounded by layers of girls all morning, and she never found a suitable opportunity.

She had thought she could take the chance to talk during lunch, but it seemed that was off the table...

On the other side, Yukimura Yukimura Yukimura Lingyin, because she had been deeply immersed in the world of books all morning, was oblivious to most of the chatting and commotion around her.

In just one morning, an invisible wall seemed to have been built around her, radiating an aura that kept strangers at bay, and almost no one dared to approach her easily, giving her a sense of coldness as if she were being "ostracized" by the whole class.

Saionji Nanase, as an old acquaintance of Yukimura Yukimura Yukimura Lingyin, had been close to her since childhood.

And now that they were lucky enough to be in the same class and sitting so close.

She smiled and suggested: "Yukimura Yukimura Lingyin, shall we eat lunch together?"

Yukimura Yukimura Yukimura Lingyin’s attitude toward her best friend was completely different; upon hearing this, she immediately raised her face from the book pages and nodded slightly: "Mm."

She closed her book and stood up, preparing to move her desk over to join it with hers.

Just at this moment—

A beautiful girl with short hair and healthy wheat-colored skin appeared at the classroom door.

Fujiwara Aoi poked her head in, her gaze scanning left and right in the classroom, as if searching for someone.

Her appearance was like a stone thrown into a calm pool, causing the originally noisy classroom to quiet down a bit, and many gazes were drawn to her sunny and energetic figure.

Yukimura Yukimura Yukimura Lingyin and Saionji Nanase naturally noticed the commotion at the door.

A boy in the class named Nanmura Tomohiko, who was somewhat handsome, felt his heart race, feeling as if his "first love" had finally arrived.

He couldn't help but raise his hand to tidy his hair, took a deep breath, and took the initiative to walk up with a smile: "Um... who are you looking for? I'll help you!"

Fujiwara Aoi turned her head at the sound and asked curiously: "I'm looking for Xia Xia Xia Mujun, he's in this class, right?"

Hearing this name, the smile on Nanmura Tomohiko’s face instantly stiffened, and then his shoulders slumped like a deflated ball, feeling as if his budding "first love" had ended before it even began.

If she were looking for someone else, he felt that with his looks, he might still be able to compete.

But the person she was looking for was Xia Xia Xia Mujun... that was a gap so wide he couldn't even entertain the thought of comparing himself.

If girls thought a boy was handsome, that might be due to the filter of the opposite sex.

But when a boy also felt from the bottom of his heart that another boy was truly super handsome.

Then, that boy’s attractiveness was beyond doubt.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun was that kind of case.

In fact, it wasn't just him who thought so.

The boys in the class all privately acknowledged it.

And most importantly, this girl had come specifically to find Xia Xia Xia Mujun on the first day of school with a bento, and her intentions were already clear.

He feared that no matter how hard he tried, it would be meaningless.

Nanmura Tomohiko explained in a low voice, his tone carrying some undisguised sadness: "Xia Xia Xia Mujun... he left with his bento as soon as the lunch bell rang, I don't know where he went..."

Fujiwara Aoi was stunned, her face instantly filled with the regret of "arriving a step too late," her shoulders drooping slightly: "Is that so..."

However, she still bowed politely to thank him: "Thank you."

After speaking, she turned and left the classroom, her pace carrying a hint of disappointment.

In the classroom, whispers about the relationship between this strange beautiful girl and Xia Xia Xia Mujun instantly spread like a tide.

Could she be his girlfriend?

This became a question lingering in the minds of many girls.

Today was only the first day of school.

If they hadn't known each other before, how could she come specifically to find someone on the very first day?

And looking at the bento Fujiwara Aoi was carrying, it looked like she wanted to have lunch with Xia Xia Xia Mujun!

But without knowing the truth, many people in the class didn't dare to be sure that this Fujiwara Aoi was Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s girlfriend.

Because he had clearly said himself that he didn't have a girlfriend at the moment.

Saionji Nanase ate her exquisite bento in small bites while blinking her large eyes, watching Fujiwara Aoi’s figure disappear around the corner of the hallway.

And Yukimura Yukimura Yukimura Lingyin only then belatedly raised her eyelids, discovering that Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s seat was already empty.

No wonder the commotion and whispers around his seat that had lasted all morning had quieted down quite a bit.

It was a good thing that it had quieted down.

A trace of understanding flashed in her heart, and she then continued to focus on the action of joining her desk with Saionji Nanase’s. ===== CHAPTER 40 =====