Chapter 2: A New Transfer Student

The girl moved with light, agile steps, tall and slender, her long hair flowing behind her. From the side, even though she was wrapped in heavy clothes, her feminine charm was unmistakable, with curves in all the right places.

She stopped at the podium and turned around. Her pink, moist lips parted slightly as she took small breaths, the corners of her mouth lifting in a faint smile.

Her bangs were wet with sweat, sticking together in strands, and tiny beads of perspiration dotted her cheeks. But none of that could dim the dazzling radiance of her bright, sparkling peach-blossom eyes; instead, it added a touch of naive playfulness to her face.

“So… so pretty…”

A girl in the audience blurted out without thinking, then immediately realized everyone was staring at her. She blushed and slowly lowered her head.

The girl on the stage felt a bit shy too, noticing the heated gazes. She lowered her head slightly, her eyes darting away, and awkwardly twirled a strand of hair around her finger with a forced laugh.

Little did she know that this only made the captivated crowd even more unable to look away.

Liu Ya was the school’s goddess, but the moment this girl stepped into the classroom, everyone sensed that the century-old ranking was finally about to change.

If Liu Ya was like a cold, beautiful ice lotus, then this girl was like a warm winter sun. Long eyelashes, rosy lips, a delicate nose, and big eyes full of warmth and passion, all of it shaped this artwork called “cute.”

“Why is it so quiet? Where’s the applause?”

“Oh, oh!”

The teacher said helplessly, and the audience finally snapped out of it, bursting into applause even more thunderous than before.

The teacher waved for them to stop, and the applause gradually died down.

“Now, introduce yourself.”

“Mhm.”

The girl adjusted her stance, scanned the classroom, and spotted Liu Ya in the far right corner. Seeing Liu Ya looking back at her, Yaqi’s smile faltered.

“Um… hello everyone! My name is Tang Yaqi. I used to live abroad, and I just transferred back.”

Tang Yaqi, 18 years old. She went abroad in eighth grade for her parents’ business, studied in foreign schools, returned to China in senior year, and transferred into Xingcheng Girls’ High School to repeat junior year.

She excelled academically, always ranking first in her foreign middle and high schools. She had a warm, gentle personality and was every teacher’s model student, every male student’s muse. She often received confessions.

“Huh? A returnee?”

“No wonder…”

“But her clothes…”

“Yeah, really tacky…”

Yaqi heard the murmurs and blushed, tugging at her coat.

Just as the classmates expected her to say more, the air fell silent. Yaqi scratched her face awkwardly.

“Um… I don’t know what else to say… Ahaha…”

Seeing her embarrassed and shy, the class felt a little tickled and laughed softly.

“But I hope to be good friends with everyone! Thank you!”

She bowed deeply, and thunderous applause erupted again. But Liu Ya watched her coldly, clapping halfheartedly.

“Alright, alright… Yaqi, I’ve arranged a seat for you. You’ll sit next to Liu Ya, okay? I heard from Liu Ya’s father that you’ve known each other since childhood.”

“What?”

Everyone turned to Liu Ya in surprise. Liu Ya immediately put on her signature smile.

“Really, Liu Ya? You know her?”

“I…”

As everyone stared at her waiting for an answer, Liu Ya looked up at her. Yaqi saw this, bit her lip, and smiled slightly, her eyes full of anticipation. Liu Ya seemed to think for a moment, then gave a sly smile.

“Mhm! We’ve known each other since we were kids. We’re very close!”

“Ah…”

“I see…”

The classmates turned back, disappointed. On stage, Yaqi’s stiff smile relaxed a little. But when she looked at the classmates, she noticed some of them had sharp eyes and openly looked away.

“Alright, quiet down! Besides, what’s it to you if they’re close? Stop making a fuss!”

“But teacher…”

“Enough, enough!”

“Yaqi, go take your seat.”

“Yeah, okay.”

When she reached the seat, Liu Ya thoughtfully pulled out the chair, smiled at her, and patted the seat to indicate she should sit.

The Liu Ya now was completely different from the one a moment ago. Yaqi was disoriented but obediently sat down. But before long, she could feel piercing stares from all around.

“Stop looking! Is there something interesting behind you? Sit properly! This is my period for self-study. Take out your textbooks and turn to…”

Yaqi had just transferred and had no books. The teacher lectured, and everyone around took notes. She looked left and right awkwardly, then finally lowered her head and stared at her interlaced fingers, zoning out.

Suddenly, a book slid from the left into her view.

“Here, look at mine first.”

Yaqi instinctively withdrew her hands. Liu Ya quickly leaned in close, leaning her head slightly toward Yaqi. Yaqi froze, looked at the book, then at Liu Ya, then back at the book, not knowing what to do.

Liu Ya glanced at the flustered Yaqi, smirked, raised her voice a little, and said sweetly:

“What’s wrong, Sister Yaqi? Why are you panicking? Didn’t you used to hold me and read books when we were kids?”

Her voice was soft and magnetic, like a green snake coiling around its prey, flicking its tongue to hide the sharp fangs.

Yaqi looked at Liu Ya, who smiled and then turned back to reading. Yaqi was bewildered because that smile was one she’d never seen before. Elegant, stiff, and a little angry?

And it wasn’t just Yaqi affected. Normally, during a teacher’s lecture, the buzz from below should be inaudible. But those words reached at least half the class.

Many had been quietly eavesdropping. The sound of writing mixed with a few whispers.

Liu Ya’s words sounded gentle and soft. But between them was a biting coldness.

Yaqi was completely confused. The Liu Ya now was a far cry from the little follower who used to cling to her as a child. And she was also a far cry from the Liu Ya she’d just seen.

This stark contrast shattered Yaqi’s thoughts. She couldn’t figure out what had caused it.

In her memory, little Liu Ya had never really gotten angry in front of her. At most, she’d throw a tantrum and be easily soothed.

But this situation was beyond Yaqi’s understanding. It wasn’t like anger, nor like sulking. There was a strong sense of incongruity she couldn’t articulate. Yaqi felt Liu Ya was now like a tangled ball of yarn with no end in sight.

After pondering for a while, Yaqi leaned closer to Liu Ya’s face and whispered:

“Um, Liu Ya… I’m a bit careless. Sometimes I might act too hastily…”

“So… did I do something to make you angry?”

“Huh? Why do you say that? Why would I be angry? You haven’t done anything, have you? We’ve just reunited, so what mistake could you have made?”

“Then why are you like this? You weren’t like this before…”

“Before? Hah!”

Liu Ya turned her head abruptly, staring at her. Her smile was clearly cracking, the corners twitching, her voice growing quieter and more venomous.

She was about to speak, then realized she was losing her composure. She quickly looked away and said softly:

“Enough! I’m fine… This school’s curriculum is fast. Don’t talk about irrelevant things!”

“Oh, okay…”

Yaqi stared blankly at the book in front of her, but her mind was a mess, unable to take in anything. They didn’t speak again, muddling through the self-study period.

During lunch break, many students returned to the dorms to sleep. Liu Ya’s class was no exception.

But whether by coincidence or not, the group that usually went back to dorms chose to stay and nap at their desks this time. Only one or two went back.

“Mmm…”

Yaqi woke up after a short nap, needing to pee. She looked around; everyone was sleeping. She turned to Liu Ya, who was sleeping facing the wall. After hesitating, she gently tugged at Liu Ya’s clothes.

“Liu Ya… um, I need to go to the bathroom. I don’t know where it is. Can you take me?”

No response. Just even breathing.

[Forget it. It can’t be that hard to find.]

Thinking this and seeing Liu Ya sleeping soundly, Yaqi didn’t dare call again. She slipped out quietly.

As soon as Yaqi left, a girl in the front row got up and followed. The two girls behind her looked up, whispered, and also left. Liu Ya then turned her head and slowly opened her eyes.

The school was large, as expected of a key private school. Yaqi had worried it would be hard to find, but it turned out the toilet was just at the corner of the south stairs on her floor. She hadn’t noticed because she always used the north stairs.

The restroom was very clean: neat sinks, private stalls with toilets, all spotless. As Yaqi marveled, she recalled her junior high days in China, when her legs would go numb from squatting.

She came out of the stall, washed her hands, and was about to leave when three girls walked in and surrounded her.

“Um… is something wrong?”

“You’re Tang Yaqi, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me, and…”

Before she could finish, the tallest of the three spoke up:

“I’ll be blunt. You need to ask the teacher to change seats. You can’t sit with Liu Ya!”

“Hey, Sister Gongyu, wait… Liu Ya’s known her since childhood. It should be fine, right?”

A girl beside her tugged her sleeve as a reminder.

“That’s the past. Who knows now? And there’s a school-wide rule. Just because they knew each other before, does that mean it’s broken?”

“But…”

“Um, are you Gongyu?”

Yaqi raised her hand weakly, interrupting. The girl disdainfully turned to her.

“Yeah, Nie Gongyu. What?”

Yaqi remembered her. She was a classmate, the one she’d seen on stage earlier.

She had delicate features, a nice figure, tall, and a long ponytail that made her look sharp.

“Oh, nice to meet you!”

Yaqi enthusiastically extended her hand. The three were a bit flustered by the sudden greeting. Gongyu, in front, averted her eyes, blushed slightly, and slowly shook the warm hand.

“Oh, hi…”

The other two girls breathed a sigh of relief, sensing the mood was calm.

“And you two are…”

“Huh?”

Yaqi smiled at the other two. One smoothed her hair and said softly:

“I… I’m Ye Feng.”

“Liu Mengmeng.”

“Oh, nice to meet you!”

Yaqi shook their hands one by one, then clasped her hands together, shook them in front of her chest, and let them fall. With a wry smile, she said:

“Sorry… Please don’t be mad. It’s my first day, and I don’t know the school rules well.”

Seeing Yaqi’s innocent, unsuspecting face, Gongyu blushed even more. She wished she could redo their first meeting.

But it was too late. Since that was the case, she might as well be straightforward. Gongyu awkwardly pushed at her bangs and looked at Yaqi.

“…It’s not a big deal. So, since you’ve known Liu Ya since childhood, you know how famous she is at school, right?”

“I… I don’t know… What’s wrong?”

Gongyu tilted her head in confusion.

“You and Liu Ya have known each other since childhood, and from the way she spoke to you so intimately… why don’t you know?”

“Intimately… huh… haha…”

Yaqi scratched her cheek with a bitter smile. Gongyu didn’t press further. She sighed helplessly.

“…Anyway, Liu Ya is treated like a goddess at school, no exaggeration. She’s top of the class academically, behaves elegantly, and is liked… loved…”

Even though Gongyu was saying good things about Liu Ya, her expression was sour. She stood with one hand on her hip, tapping her foot. Yaqi noticed and didn’t dare interrupt, just listened quietly.

“But that causes a lot of problems… So everyone came to an unspoken rule: no one can sit next to Liu Ya!”

“Why? Has Liu Ya always been alone?”

“Probably. Everyone wants to sit with her, but the trouble it causes is endless.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Right.”

The other two girls chimed in. Gongyu continued:

“Besides, this way she doesn’t mess with others. It’s good.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Nothing… Anyway, this is a compromise everyone made, got it?”

“Is that so…”

Yaqi slowly lowered her head and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Ah, nothing. I was just thinking… I didn’t expect Liu Ya to be so popular.”

“…Can’t deny it. Anyway… you should consider what I said. It’s for your own good.”

“Mm, okay, thank you, Gongyu!”

“You’re welcome.”

After that, the three also used the restroom. Yaqi turned to look at herself in the mirror and zoned out.

From outside the corridor, the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

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