"Bomb! Bomb!"
"Help!"
Group 5 erupted into chaos. Some students even scrambled under their desks.
Fu Mingxuan clutched the object, tears streaming down her face.
As Chu Yin slipped around the corner, she heard Fu Mingxuan sobbing, "It's not me! I—I made you chocolate! What do I do with it? It won't explode!"
Song Zhaolin had just walked over, wide-eyed with fear. "Th-this… is this really a bomb?!"
Lu Zhen frowned, inspecting it carefully. "Fake."
Sure enough, when the fuse burned down, it fizzled out with a sharp hiss. Clearly just a prank. Fu Mingxuan almost collapsed to the ground in relief.
Song Zhaolin's face went slack. The blades this morning had been fake too, but realistic enough to scare anyone at first glance.
Whenever something happened at school, the administrators had to apologize to the Lu family. And Lu Zhen himself was notoriously difficult to provoke—so who dared to keep targeting him like this?
Lu Zhen's eyes darkened, but he didn't pursue the matter.
He glanced past Song Zhaolin and suddenly asked, "The one sitting next to you?"
"Ah, yes—" Song Zhaolin thought of his beautiful new deskmate. He almost blurted out a compliment but remembered her strict warning earlier. Quickly, he swallowed the words: "I was sitting with a new classmate."
Looking back, the seat was already empty.
Song Zhaolin scratched his head. Where did she go? She had just been here!
Chu Yin had climbed onto the rooftop of the teaching building.
The male lead had nearly been killed twice on the first day and finally went home.
Lying on the edge of the roof, Chu Yin watched with mild boredom as Song Zhaolin escorted Lu Zhen to his Bentley.
This year, Lu Zhen didn't yet carry the terrifying aura he would later develop, nor the commanding presence of someone above all. The young man was tall and lean, black hair brushing his neck, pale cold skin, sharp aristocratic features.
From the outside, no one could guess he would grow into a paranoid, obsessive figure in the future.
Chu Yin tapped the system. "Hey, can't I just transfer schools in the script?"
The male protagonist's aura was terrifying. Who knew when this dog of a man might suddenly appear? She couldn't kill him.
System: "I'm not a chicken!! And no, [Transfer to Huiwen Private Middle School] is written on the script page. That part can't be changed~"
Chu Yin: "…Fine." She'd think of another way later.
For now, she couldn't remove her mask. Love at first sight was nothing more than shallow attraction. As long as Lu Zhen couldn't see her face, he wouldn't notice her.
Besides, she had to focus on studying—not just to rewrite Lu Zhen's role in her life script, but to secure a bright, beautiful future of her own.
Pulling her mask back on, Chu Yin left the rooftop.
In the distance, just before getting into the car, Lu Zhen glanced up at the roof.
There was no one there.
"What's wrong, brother?"
"…Nothing."
Chu Yin returned to an empty classroom. Checking her phone, she realized this math period was a public lecture in the hall.
Four classes in total would attend, including the International Class. Thankfully, Lu Zhen had gone home; otherwise she'd have to skip.
She grabbed her textbook, workbook, and pencil case, and walked leisurely to the lecture hall. It was already half full. Quietly, she found a seat in the back row and prepared to study.
The bell rang. The back door opened, and Chu Qiuqiu strolled in, fashionably late. She wore a carefully chosen autumn dress, light makeup enhancing her delicate features. All eyes turned to her.
A girl from the International Class waved from the front row. "Qiuqiu, sit here~"
Chu Qiuqiu smiled but shook her head. She scanned the room and spotted Chu Yin hiding in the corner. Her smile softened further.
She knew her country-bumpkin sister must be shy around so many people.
Chu Qiuqiu walked straight over, dropped her books beside Chu Yin, and said brightly, "Why are you sitting back here, Sister? I'll sit with you. If you don't understand something in class, just ask me~"
Chu Yin glanced at her without comment.
"Wow, Qiuqiu is so kind-hearted!"
"That's the daughter the Chu family brought back from the countryside? She looks so plain."
"Sure enough, Qiuqiu deserves to be the Chu family's daughter."
Hearing the whispers, Chu Qiuqiu basked in the admiring stares. A wave of superiority washed over her. Surely Chu Yin must be squirming in humiliation.
But Chu Yin was used to attention.
In her last life, after transferring to Huiwen, she had been a school beauty. The stares she endured then were far more intense. Later, after entanglement with Lu Zhen, every move was watched. Compared to that, this was nothing.
Reliving it, Chu Yin was calmer now. Even if people stared through her, she could still focus on studying.
At this moment, she chatted with the system in her mind.
"So I only get two permissions a day?" Chu Yin asked, disappointed.
"Yes, for now~ The host's permissions are used up today! But you can't relax. Higher-level learning tasks take time to unlock~"
Chu Yin understood. The system would likely release tasks tied to exam rankings. Although her education was already at university level, she still needed to review high school material. Huiwen wasn't the best school, but it had many strong students. To take first place, she had to work hard.
She pulled out her exercises and focused.
Meanwhile, Fu Mingxuan sat dazed, embarrassed by her humiliation in front of Lu Zhen. If she ever discovered who set her up, she'd make them pay.
Her friends noticed Chu Yin in the back row and sneered: "Xuan Xuan, look, the hillbilly is pretending to be studious!"
Fu Mingxuan glanced over and scoffed. "She's been putting on an act all morning. Who does she think she's fooling?"
The homeroom teacher had warned that the transfer student might struggle and asked classmates to help. And yet she acted high and mighty?
Another girl snickered: "Teacher Zhao will make someone solve the final problem today. If she gets called on, she'll probably cry!"
They all laughed at the thought of Chu Yin being exposed. Fu Mingxuan's mood brightened instantly.
Chu Yin, meanwhile, completed all exercises except the finale, corrected two minor mistakes, and then returned to the final problem. Even if she'd already solved it, analyzing mistakes was effective learning.
Chu Qiuqiu peeked and almost laughed seeing her sister working on the finale. She'd already learned that Chu Yin's previous grades were abysmal. Compared to Huiwen's Class 7, she was worthless.
Chu Qiuqiu smirked inwardly. A scumbag is always a scumbag. She didn't know how hard this problem really was.
As class neared its end, the math teacher spoke: "Alright, let's try the last parametric equation! Anyone volunteer?"
The school designed these exercises without answers. The finale looked brutal—no one wanted to embarrass themselves in front of four classes.
The teacher waited. "If no one volunteers, I'll call someone."
The teacher focused on International Class and Class 5—the strongest students.
Fu Mingxuan and friends prayed Chu Yin would be chosen.
A voice rang out: "Teacher, I'd like to try!"
Chu Qiuqiu raised her hand, smiling. The teacher, knowing her top-ten grade rank, nodded happily. "Good! Come solve it on the board."
Fu Mingxuan frowned. Of course, Chu Qiuqiu wouldn't miss a chance to shine.
But Qiuqiu stumbled on the second step. Chu Yin, having finished her analysis, glanced up and saw Qiuqiu stuck several steps behind.
Fu Mingxuan smirked and fumed, torn between gloating and frustration.
The teacher chuckled. "Stuck? Let's have someone else try." His gaze landed on Chu Yin. "Classmate Chu Yin, why don't you come up?"
Every head swiveled to the back.
Fu Mingxuan and friends nearly fell from their chairs laughing. "Haha! Old Zhao nailed it! She's finished!"
Chu Yin was caught off guard, instinctively glancing to the right.
Her deskmate from Class 5 immediately turned away, pretending not to see. Don't drag me into this!
"Pfft!"
"Did you see? She panicked! Totally panicked!"
Chu Yin was speechless. She actually wanted to ask: when called on, do you go to the board, or can you answer from your seat? The solution was already in her head.
On the podium, Chu Qiuqiu noticed her sister's reaction and felt relieved. Sweetly, she said, "Teacher, my sister… she doesn't know how—"
Chu Yin ignored her. Calmly from her seat, she said:
"Verify the common points of l₁, l₂, and circle c₁. We get k = 4/3. The equation is y = 4/3|x| + 2."
Chu Qiuqiu froze. Fu Mingxuan blinked.
"…Don't tell me she made that up?"
"Maybe she's bluffing."
The teacher's satisfied voice rang out: "Yes! That's correct!"