Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Qin Ran wasn’t very interested.

She flipped open her book and replied in a low mood, “I don’t know.”

The other people in the class also felt it was strange. Qiao Sheng’s reaction was a little big for a new student, could this student have some kind of background?

“Qiao Sheng, Sister Ran is already here, so stop beating about the bush.” Someone urged him.

Qiao Sheng glanced at Qin Ran, put his feet up on the table, and smirked. “It’s a girl, Meng Xinran.”

“Shit, it’s her?”

“Thank you, Sister Ran. Thank you, Devil Li. Otherwise, how could Meng Xinran come to our class?”

“I remember that she was in Beijing with OST? How come she came to our school?”

“She’s probably back for the college entrance examination.”

Everyone was speechless.

Most people in the class had heard of Meng Xinran.

There was a commotion.

After Qiao Sheng finished speaking, he glanced sideways at Qin Ran. She was still looking down and flipping through her book slowly, her expression unchanged.

Qiao Sheng paused and was quite puzzled. Had he really guessed wrongly?

Maybe Sister Ran wasn’t a fan of OST. Otherwise, how could she not even react to the name Meng Xinran?

The group continued chattering until it was time for the self-study.

Their exam just ended and there had been many new questions on the test paper that were difficult and took a lot of time to solve.

The teachers thought that the time in class wasn’t enough, so they had made use of the evening self-study.

The Physics teacher walked into class 3.9 with his hands behind his back.

He put the papers on the table.

Then, he started talking about the MCQ questions, which not only needed them to analyze various magnetic fields and particle trajectories but also various forces…

It was complicated and tedious. After finishing one question, there wasn’t much time left.

The Physics teacher put the papers down and stopped talking.

He then walked around the class with his hands behind him and finally stopped in the row between Qin Ran and Lin Siran.

Qin Ran still had her book of original poems on her table.

She held her chin in one hand and pinched the side of the book with the other lazily. It was obvious that she was forcing herself to keep her eyes open and looked a little impatient.

The Physics teacher paused, took the test paper in his hand, and nagged earnestly. “If only some people could be better in Physics, wouldn’t it be easy to get first place? If you get a perfect score for Physics, you might even be the provincial top scorer. At that time, numerous famous schools would be waiting for you to pick them…”

The students had been re-attempting the question that the Physics teacher had just explained, but when they heard him start to nag, several people couldn’t help but lie on the table and laugh.

Qiao Sheng took a bite of potato chips from the boy beside him.

After thinking for a while, he poked Xu Yaoguang’s back with a pen. “Young Master Xu, do you think Qin Ran knows Physics?”

Xu Yaoguang’s expression was quite cold, and he paused when he heard Qiao Sheng.

Then, he looked up at Qin Ran and his eyes fluctuated before he finally shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Sister Ran’s method is too much.” Qiao Sheng was silent for a while, then he withdrew his hand and leaned on the back of the chair. “How could she not write a single word? I can’t even tell if her Physics is good or not.”

Of course, none of them could guess if Qin Ran was good in Physics. After all, if she was good at other subjects, she would definitely be good at Physics.

But they didn’t know if her Physics was as impressive as her Mathematics.

Qiao Sheng glanced subconsciously at Qin Ran.

She was still looking at the foreign book.

“Qiao Sheng, when will Meng Xinran come to our school?” Qiao Sheng’s deskmate leaned over and asked.

Qiao Sheng looked away. “I don’t know, you can ask He Wen to ask his uncle.”

**

The Lin family’s house.

“Xinran, eat more, the chef cooked it especially for you.” Lin Qi was sitting in the middle elegantly.

“Thank you, uncle.” The girl was wearing a beige sweater and had long black hair.

The sweater on her arm was pulled up slightly, revealing a delicate silver watch with a few gems of different colors on it.

Her hands were white and slender and extremely delicate.

She didn’t take much, but her speech and movements all held a sense of supremacy.

This was a kind of temperament that the rich families in Yun Cheng didn’t possess.

Ning Qing returned home exhausted after talking to Qin Ran and didn’t speak at the dining table.

Meng Xinran ate a few bites, then put down her chopsticks, pulled out a piece of tissue, and wiped her mouth.

Lin Qi reached out for a dish with his chopsticks and turned to look at Ning Qing. “Has Yu’er’s performance started?”

“Sister-in-law is already arranging it.” Ning Qing felt quite uncomfortable at the dining table due to Meng Xinran’s presence. She always felt like Meng Xinran was a mirror, reflecting all her inadequacies. “Last night, Old Master Shen also listened to Yu’er perform live. Next week, she’ll have a performance and aim to succeed in becoming an apprentice.”

Ning Qing smiled slightly while speaking of this.

“I also heard from Lin Wan that Old Master Shen liked Yu’er very much.” Lin Qi nodded.

Meng Xinran didn’t speak.

She was indeed awkward with Ning Qing. She was Lin Jinxuan’s cousin, so her sister-in-law had been Lin Qi’s wife, but after she died, it was now Ning Qing.

But when she heard Lin Qi, she raised her head and asked, “The Shen family?”

Ning Qing tightened her grip on the chopsticks and smiled. “Yeah.”

“The Shen family is in the electronic network industry and is rather well-regarded,” Meng Xinran said lightly.

“Madam, Ms. Meng has already been decided on by the Yunguang Consortium and she will definitely work for them in the future. She’s very familiar with the electronic network industry,” Aunt Zhang brought a cup of tea to Meng Xinran and said with a smile.

Yunguang Consortium?

What was that?

Ning Qing was a little stunned, but she was different from Chen Shulan.

She was puzzled, but she hid it and pretended to understand.

She smiled. “That’s great.”

Meng Xinran picked up her teacup and took a sip. She looked at Ning Qing and seemed to see through her thoughts, but she didn’t answer.

The smile on Ning Qing’s face stiffened gradually.

“Uncle, I’m done eating. I’ll go up and rest first. I’m a little tired from the plane ride today.” Meng Xinran finished her tea and put down her teacup before turning to Lin Qi.

Lin Qi nodded and said warmly, “Go and rest. I’ll send you to Director Ding tomorrow morning to check your timetable.”

When Qin Ran came, he had only sent the driver to send her there.

But for Meng Xinran, Lin Qi had put down his work and was sending her there personally. The difference in treatment was obvious.

When Meng Xinran went upstairs, Ning Qing’s expression was still in a trance.

She didn’t know about Lin Qi’s deceased wife. Lin Qi and Lin Jinxuan would go to the deceased wife’s house every year during the New Year, but they never brought Ning Qing along.

She only knew about Lin Qi’s deceased wife through the Lin family.

She heard that she was from a perfect wealthy family, and the family had moved to Beijing in recent years.

Ning Qing knew that she couldn’t compare to Lin Qi’s deceased wife except for her looks, so she attached great importance to Qin Yu’s education.

And Qin Yu also lived up to her expectations.

After so many years, it was Ning Qing’s first time seeing Lin Qi’s deceased wife’s family, so she felt a little uncomfortable and didn’t eat much.

It wasn’t until the evening when she had a video call with Qin Yu that she gradually felt better.

**

The next day, Lin Qi took Meng Xinran to find Director Ding.

“We’ve temporarily transferred Ms. Meng to class 3.9 from class 3.1 because of some matters.” Director Ding carried a cup of tea and smiled. “Mr. Lin, Ms. Meng, is that ok?”

Meng Xinran wore a black coat with her sleeves rolled up and showing her wrist.

“It doesn’t matter what class I’m in. Director Ding, this is my file.” Meng Xinran took out a file and handed it to Director Ding.

Director Ding opened it.

Inside was a very beautiful resume. Meng Xinran was good in foreign languages and had even participated in debate contests. Her other subjects were also outstanding.

She was a dark horse that was likely to compete for the top spot in the city.

If her file had been placed in other schools in Yun Cheng, it would surely be regarded with great importance.

However…

Meng Xinran had come to First Middle School in Heng Chuan, unfortunately.

First, there was Pan Mingyue, the terrifying dark horse who remained silent but was very stable.

Next, there was Xu Yaoguang. He was terrifyingly good in every subject and had followed Gao Yang to participate in Olympic Competitions abroad.

Lastly, there was the super dark horse, Qin Ran, who had emerged suddenly in the midterm exams.

Other than Physics, she was better than Xu Yaoguang in all other subjects in a terrifying way.

Now, all the teachers were worrying over Qin Ran’s Physics results.

Although Meng Xinran’s results were good, she was still inferior to Pan Mingyue as of now. Director Ding had even seen Qin Ran score full marks in a Hou Delong exam paper.

So his expression was quite calm when he saw Meng Xinran’s paper.

He flipped through it at will and then put it aside. “Go to the teacher later to get a set of school uniforms. You can report to class 3.9 tomorrow or next Monday.”

Meng Xinran glanced at her file.

Meng Xinran was a little confused that Director Ding’s expression had been so calm when reading her files. She wondered if he hadn’t read through it seriously, but still hid her shock.

Everyone was still in class and there weren’t many people walking around the campus.

Lin Qi brought Meng Xinran to pick up her school uniform and books, then asked, “Are you coming to class tomorrow or on Monday?”

“Monday.” Meng Xinran put on a pair of wide black sunglasses and replied, “I don’t want to be harassed by a group of people.”

Lin Qi knew she was a little star on campus and chuckled. “Isn’t that because you’re so popular?”

**

The temperature changed greatly at the beginning of November.

In the morning, there was a layer of frost and it was hot in the afternoon.

But the wind suddenly became chilly at night.

Qin Ran only wore a pair of sandals to the school doctor’s office after school.

She wore a long-sleeved shirt inside and her school uniform outside.

Cheng Juan gave her a pair of new slippers from the storeroom and watched her change to them. He leaned against the door, raised an eyebrow, and said, “You’re so casual, Master Ran.”

Qin Ran sniffed and waved her hand. “Just a little.”

Cheng Juan’s face was expressionless as he leaned lazily against the wall. “Do you only have school uniforms in your closet?”

She wore her school uniform in the summer and autumn. It was winter soon and she was still wearing it.

“Yeah, I’m poor.” Qin Ran squinted slightly.

She didn’t like shopping because there were many people and it was too noisy.

Most of her clothes were bought by Chen Shulan.

If she wanted to buy clothes, she would learn from He Chen and just gather a bunch of clothes from a stall and pay for them at once.

When she returned to her dormitory at noon, the sun had been so glaring that she had changed her shoes.

Who knew that it would be so cold at night.

This reason was acceptable.

Cheng Juan was convinced.

But he wanted to know, how could she have given her cousin a bag of clothes from the L store last time at the school gate?

He didn’t speak and just turned around to take a blanket before throwing it at Qin Ran.

Then, he lowered his head again and thought for a while before sending a text message.

The person replied quickly.

Cheng Juan looked at it, then slowly turned to look at Qin Ran. After staring at her for a while, he lowered his head and replied to the message.

Lu Zhaoying was sorting out the medical records when he heard their conversation.

When he turned and looked over, he saw Qin Ran’s broken sandals at one glance.

“Casual. Casual, indeed.” Lu Zhaoying threw the records onto the table.

Cheng Mu and Hao Dui returned after a busy day.

They heard Lu Zhaoying say loudly that Qin Ran had changed her broken sandals. They didn’t know how long she had kept that pair of sandals, but it looked very tattered and old.

The two of them squatted and looked up after a while, wondering just how poor Qin Ran was.

Qin Ran had Cheng Juan’s exclusive blanket wrapped around her as she sat on a chair and poked at a computer.

She was motionless.

Cheng Mu quickly set the table.

“Young Master Lu, when I went out this morning, I think I saw Meng Xinran.” Cheng Mu had helped Lu Zhaoying obtain OST’s tickets, so he was a little familiar with the members. “She seems to have come to First Middle School.”

Lu Zhaoying had been eating casually, but he immediately lifted his head in excitement when he heard this. “Really, you saw her?”

Cheng Juan didn’t move and just ate slowly.

Qin Ran thought about the name “Meng Xinran” in her head and remembered that it was the new student of class 3.9. She looked up and asked casually, “Meng Xinran?”

Lu Zhaoying immediately explained to Qin Ran, “You don’t know Meng Xinran?! She plays on the Kyushu Tour and is the only woman I admit defeat to. She’s a female professional player and is in OST’s second team. She has a very fast hand and can almost catch up to the Sun God. She’s super powerful and amazing, and is ranked No.3 in the OST’s team speed record!”