The next day, the sun shone brightly. Gu Qianran remembered the last time she had slept this well—it had been ages. In her previous life, surrounded by endless scheming and deceit, even a full night's sleep had been a luxury. She thought to herself that indeed, being reborn meant fixing past regrets.
After dressing quickly, Gu Qianran headed toward the school she remembered. Along the way, she saw groups of boys and girls walking side by side, laughing and chatting. Perhaps emotions were contagious, because her mood inexplicably lifted.
"Fifteen years old… how wonderful," she murmured. In her past life, she had been just over twenty, still a big kid, but far too mature for her age. Considering her miserable past, Gu Qianran resolved to live fully this time, to enjoy life.
With a mix of excitement and nervousness, she pushed open the door to Class 5, Grade 9.
The original girl had been an average student, placed in an ordinary class. The knowledge of ninth grade was trivial to Gu Qianran, but she thought about the plot and wondered if she should play dumb. Regardless, this year was going to be utterly carefree. No worries about studying or homework—school was basically playtime.
Gu Qianran squinted with delight. Everything seemed beautiful in her good mood, even the sound of classmates bickering was strangely cute.
A wonderful day began with slacking off at school.
She scanned the classroom and saw no familiar faces. Just as she was about to take a short nap, the system, of course, started acting up. [Please complete Task Two: greet the female lead at her seat.]
Gu Qianran immediately perked up. Female lead? Wasn't the female lead supposed to be a top student? How did she end up in this lousy class? In her eyes, the female lead was the source of all trouble. She hadn't even had a chance to keep her distance yet and now had to provoke trouble? She frowned, thinking of a permanent solution to the problem.
A wonderful day ended with meeting the female lead.
The system seemed to sense Gu Qianran's deep hostility and dryly reminded her, [Host, you cannot harm the male or female lead, nor can you commit suicide. Harming them will be punished by the Heavenly Dao rules. No one can defy the Heavenly Dao rules, so this system suggests you avoid dangerous ideas.]
Even the system couldn't defy those rules? Gu Qianran was intrigued. So the system wasn't all-powerful. Once she knew its weaknesses, she could exploit them. She planned to ditch this system eventually; after all, no sane person would want a pesky fly buzzing around. For now, though, she was still under its control and had to play along, waiting for the right moment to strike. "Fine, fine. She's not the male lead, so she can't do anything to me. Where is she?"
[Two rows ahead of you,] the system replied. Gu Qianran raised an eyebrow. The original girl actually sat that close to the female lead? That was a lot of trouble. How could she enjoy her life now? For the sake of her peaceful life, Gu Qianran patted her class monitor Ji Tang in front of her. "Class monitor, can I change my seat? I want to sit… um, what's her name again?"
Ji Tang gave her a look like she was insane. She didn't even care about the seat change, but forgetting the name of a classmate she had known for three years? What had this person been doing all along?
"I don't care about changing seats. I'm going to sleep, move aside." For troublesome classmates, Ji Tang decisively chose sleep. She withdrew her hand awkwardly. It seemed her hope of keeping distance from the female lead had failed. How did someone so irresponsible become class monitor?
She sighed and, as if marching to her doom, slowly approached the female lead. "Hello, classmate. I'm Gu Qianran."
Bai Ziyuan was busy working on a political science question. She had little impression of Gu Qianran. The original girl had either skipped class or been on the way to skip class; she barely remembered this person even existed. This random approach must have a purpose. Perhaps it was like the friends she used to have. "Hello, I'm Bai Ziyuan," she replied coolly, then returned to her test, battling questions that seemed as ridiculous as asking whether baking soda is really not alkaline.
Gu Qianran was delighted by the icy female lead. She didn't want to get close, and the female lead actively kept her distance? Such an obedient female lead was a treasure! Gu Qianran restrained the urge to perform a rap-dance on the podium and bounced back to her seat. She even proudly flaunted to the system, "The female lead ignored me! That means talking to me is a hassle for her! My task is done, and don't make me talk to her again! Even if you don't care about me, you should care about her!"
System: [...Are you a child?]
Gu Qianran replied righteously, "I'm fifteen. Isn't that being a child? I want to enjoy two lifetimes of childhood! What, small system, got a problem with that?"
The system got a new nickname: [You're the host, you're the biggest. Fine!]
Old lady. Heh.
The familiar class bell rang. Students quickly hid their belongings and sat upright. The greasy middle-aged teacher, Zhang, entered with a scowl, tossing a stack of test papers onto the podium. He ranted, "Look at your scores! What is this? What is this garbage essay in Chinese? I swear, why did I agree to teach this bunch of fools!"
Gu Qianran twitched at the mouth. Even the teacher acted like a shrew.
Zhang continued, "Those who did well are weak in other subjects, so I thought of a solution. From now on, sit with a classmate of opposite ability. If you can't keep up academically, your partner will be punished!"
Gu Qianran gawked. What kind of insane system was this? Isn't doing well supposed to be the result of one's own effort? Why punish the partner? And what is this 'assistance' nonsense? Are we running a national poverty alleviation plan here?
After venting about this ridiculous national policy, Gu Qianran worried about her future partner. What if it was some stinky, lazy boy? She didn't want her cozy corner to reek. A quiet girl would be best.
"Teacher, I want to sit with Gu Qianran. We complement each other well," a familiar pleasant voice called from the front. Gu Qianran felt the voice was familiar.
"Female lead?!" Gu Qianran felt like her world was collapsing. She was doomed—sitting closer to the female lead meant no good days ahead, sob sob…
"Gu Qianran? Fine. Move your things up here." The teacher, a little puzzled, still liked Bai Ziyuan and agreed without much thought. Gu Qianran mechanically moved to sit to Bai Ziyuan's left, looking completely exhausted. Why did the female lead pick her? She even asked Bai Ziyuan directly.
Bai Ziyuan looked perfectly reasonable, thinking she was clever: "You greeted me on purpose this morning, right? You wanted this top student to help you. I can guide you in politics. I'm going to be a lawyer one day!"
Hearing the proud declaration from the icy beauty, Gu Qianran felt something inside shatter. "This was the ice-cold beauty? Really? Who gave you the confidence to think I want to study with you? Female lead aura? Let's see who learns better! Ridiculous."
Yet Gu Qianran was curious about the female lead. The original story gave little background, mainly placing her as the male lead's harem mainstay. Now she realized the female lead also had dreams. Gu Qianran suddenly felt an urge to pull her away from the male lead. Beautiful, intelligent—someone like this shouldn't waste a life on a scumbag.
Gu Qianran laughed at her own thoughts. She had only just met the girl and already wanted to control her life. How was this different from the ridiculous system?
In this life, Gu Qianran resolved to enjoy herself until being reclaimed, choosing to stay in the present and forget unnecessary worries. The events had already happened; it was better to take a nap and recharge.
Just as she was about to sleep, Bai Ziyuan poked her. "Don't sleep, study."
"You actually take this seriously?!" Gu Qianran felt helpless. This female lead was absurd.