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nTranslator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

nThe provision shop fell silent at this.

nHalf a beat later: “Pfft.”

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nXiang Huai burst out laughing again. He bent down, lowering his head to her level. Staring at the girl’s pristine, fair skin, he purposely moved closer before saying, “Little kid, what do you think?”

nRight after performing this amorous flirting, he waited for the girl to blush in embarrassment and shyness, but unexpectedly—

nXue Xi blinked her large eyes with a lost expression. She ignored the man’s breath by her ears and pondered this somberly.

nAs though she was a studious student seeking help from her teacher, she answered, “The stages of a relationship should be confession, then holding hands, followed by kissing, hugging, and finally…”

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nAt this point, she turned to look at him in astonishment.

nXiang Huai: “?”

nHer dark irises seemed to constrict as her misty eyes colored with incomprehension. While her face remained stoic, she was actually thinking inside that if Xiang Huai dared to request her to sleep with him, she would immediately serve him a dish of army boxing!

nThe two were in such close proximity to each other that their breaths mingled.

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nUnder her glare, Xiang Huai retracted his gaze and stuffed his hands into his pocket. He then slowly stood back up and said in an exasperated tone, “Don’t worry. Go to school.”

nDon’t worry about what?

nXue Xi silently rebuked inside. Still, she picked up her bag and decided to proceed with caution. At least, she did not feel repulsed by the notion of holding hands for now.

nShe did not notice a certain person’s ears being dyed in a deep red…

nLu Chao had already hidden in the corner, trying to reduce his presence as lowly as possible.

nAs the person who had witnessed his boss trying but failing at flirting, he wondered, Am I going to be silenced?

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n…

nThe moment Xue Xi stepped into the classroom, she already saw her classmates pointing fingers at her. The words “keeping a toyboy” entered her ears.

nWhen she turned her head over, the few people gossiping promptly shut their mouths.

nSomeone even said softly, “Hurry and stop talking. What will we do if we offend her and the Roaring Flame Society comes for us?”

n“…”

nThis was the first time Xue Xi found those few Flames to be useful. At least, they allowed her ears to remain much cleaner.

nAfter six periods were over, she had started packing up to move to the Olympiad extra classes when the Flames from the Roaring Flame Society came over again. Gao Yanchen crossed his arms and stood at the side while Flame Number One sat on Qin Shuang’s seat to speak.

n“Sister Xi, are you going to class again?”

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nWhen she did not answer, he continued, “Are you going to request us to stay here, revise, and do our homework?”

nXue Xi: “Yes.”

nFlame Number One instantly revealed a slack expression. “Huh? Brother Chen, what should we do?!”

nGao Yanchen was also dumbstruck. Do homework? He did not like the idea at all, but when he saw the girl’s calm expression, he quickly responded, “She is the boss now, so listen to her!”

nThis resulted in a series of groans from the Flames as they all dejectedly walked out.

n“And here I wanted to go watch a movie!”

n“Me too. I wanted to go play basketball!”

nGao Yanchen kicked the few complaining. “I’ll check your homework tomorrow. We must fulfill the Boss’s orders.”

n“…Brother Chen, does copying homework work?”

n“What do you think?”

nThe few people left just as quickly as they arrived. Xue Xi watched them disappear at the entrance and could only swallow the words “no need” that she had yet to utter.

nShe was stupefied.

nShe would not interfere in however others lived their lives, just as she did not request for this group of people to dye their hair back. She had also never considered asking the Flames to become a bookworm like her.

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nIn fact, that “Yes” had been an answer to Flame Number One’s first question!

nHowever, she realized that other than Gao Yanchen, she did not even know the names of the rest. Hence, she had no way of informing them one by one either.

nIn the end, she only sighed, carried her books, and left.

nHer actions were slow and she was always unhurried. When she was out the door, Xue Yao spoke to Fan Han while following behind her. “…She personally said that her boyfriend is a hooligan. He agreed to be her boyfriend because she was going to give him money. Fan Han, this type of girl doesn’t have respect for herself. We should stay farther away from her.”

nFan Han stared at Xue Xi for a long while, then retracted his gaze with a profound look.

nXue Yao then entered the Physics class while he followed behind Xue Xi and sat down behind her.

nAfter a long while, he could not resist speaking. “Did you find a random person just because you were too shocked by my reneging on the marriage arrangement?”

nHe frowned when the girl kept her head lowered and did not reply. “Don’t do that. Girls should respect and love themselves more. The toyboy you are keeping just has his eyes on your money…”

nShe continued ignoring him. At this, he could not help but poke her shoulders with his pen.

nHe then saw Xue Xi slowly turning around with a blank gaze. When she met his eyes, she frowned. “What?”

nFan Han: “??”

nShe continued in a frustrated tone, “Don’t disturb me.”

nShe calmly turned back and engrossed herself in her questions.

nFan Han: …So after I’ve spoken so much, she actually didn’t hear a single word of it?

nWhen he felt the curious gazes of the surrounding students, he felt so embarrassed that he quickly lowered his head.

nHe was too prideful.

nWith a grudge in his heart, he looked up and noticed that she had placed the finished paper to the side. They were all foundational questions and were the comparatively easy ones that tested only the key knowledge points.

nHe could not help but mockingly think to himself, Her results for the Mathematical Olympiad are indeed very terrible. That must be why Old Liu gave her such foundational questions, right?

nThe Math Star Competition is this week, so I must definitely score better than she does and show her what true abilities really are!

nThe two periods for the Mathematics Olympiad flew by in the blink of an eye.

nXue Xi did not leave immediately. When she finished the last question and looked up, she found that everyone else had already left.

nShe packed up her books and returned to her classroom to retrieve her bag.

nAlong the way, she kept thinking about the last question and whether she had utilized anything out of the scope of the syllabus. Like this, she dazedly walked into the classroom.

nJust as she entered, she was almost knocked backward by a girl who was rushing out.

nShe looked up and fleetingly saw the girl’s eyes. The girl glared hatefully at her, then quickly left.

nWas that Qin Shuang?

nShe was confused but had a feeling that it was not her…

n…

nAfter Xue Xi and Xue Yao had returned home and were having dinner, Old Master Xue picked up a call. When he returned, his expression had turned solemn as he spoke to Xue Sheng. “I know why Elder Gao is not accepting any gifts now.”

nXue Sheng hurriedly inquired, “Why?”

nThe old patriarch sat down and pondered for a while before saying, “I received some internal news that a big shot has arrived at Bin City!”

nOld Lady Xue was very curious. “What kind of big shot?”

nThe old patriarch shook his head. “I don’t know his exact identity, but Elder Gao is very polite to him, so he is definitely not an ordinary person. On our side, we shouldn’t stand out too much for the time being.”

n“Yes,” Xue Sheng acknowledged, then continued asking, “Dad, do you know this person’s name? If we happen to meet him, we should take care to not accidentally offend him.”

nThe old man nodded. “I was just about to speak on this. Next time, if anyone hears this person’s name, remember to not offend him.”

nRight after he said this, Xue Xi put her chopsticks down and looked at him with a serious look.

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