It was already 6, almost 7 pm by the time Gu Xiqiao and company arrived in the Imperial Capital. This wasn’t the hour at which you would typically go to the university for a tour; it was obviously much better to find a place to hole up in for the night. And so, it was time for Jiang Shuxuan to flex his financial muscles.

Even before Gu Xiqiao received her grades, he had already bought a house situated near to her university. It was a double-floor building with four bedrooms and a living room. Even its rustic interior design was tailored to fit Gu Xiqiao’s taste. Placed conveniently right across the street from her university, one could easily see its faculty buildings when standing near any one of the many windows.

The first thing Tang Yanling did upon stepping foot into the house was to climb onto one of its beds. She was suffering from a serious case of motion sickness from the long car-ride, which made Gu Xiqiao feel a little guilty.

Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yu proceeded to snatch up a room each for themselves. Though, they were so excited to see their new school that they didn’t remain in their bedrooms long after setting down their luggage. Both universities, A and B, were one of the top places to get an education throughout the whole of China. The duo had been extremely envious of those who could get into these two schools, especially Xiao Yun, who had initially lost all hope of entering a prestigious university after returning to the country. After all, her performance at school had been… lackluster.

She couldn’t believe her eyes when the results of her final exam came in. Xiao Yun stared at her results for a long, long while, before calling up Gu Xiaoqi to express her gratitude.

“So, you two going or not?” asked Wu Hongwen at the doorway, having already changed into his sports tracksuit.

At that moment, Gu Xiqiao was lazily fiddling with her phone on the couch. Without even lifting her head, she muttered a reply, “Uh, I’ll pass. You two go on ahead.”

For a person who knew everything there was to know about these two schools, she was unsurprisingly uninterested.

Knowing that Gu Xiqiao wasn’t the enthusiastic type, neither Xiao Yun nor Wu Hongwen insisted that she go with them. After briefly laying out their stuff, they grabbed their phones and exited the building.

Shortly after, Jiang Shuxuan walked down from the second floor. He had just taken a shower, as evidenced by the wet clumps of hair pasted onto his forehead. This man had a high nose bridge, thin lips, and a pair of slightly drooping eyes, features which made him all the more irresistible. The top button of his shirt was loose, allowing his pronounced collar bone to peek out from underneath.

After coming downstairs, he raised his head, staring straight into Gu Xiqiao’s eyes. The wrinkles on his face gradually faded away as his expression softened up. “I need to go back to deal with something since it’s my first day here. Stay here. If I don’t return by tomorrow morning, you should proceed with the registration with Aunt Tang, okay?”

“…Oh, right.” It took a while for Gu Xiqiao to come up with a response. Of course, she couldn’t just say that she had been enchanted by his sexiness could she?

“Try to be more obedient will you? Someone will send dinner over later so you just remember to open the door.” Jiang Shuxuan’s face then went blank, as if he was trying to recall something, whilst snapping his fingers. At that moment, Xixi, who had been out and about right after getting out of the car, swooped in from the open window.

“Master Jiang, how may I be of service?” With no one around, Xixi could finally let its beak loose.

Jiang Shuxuan ordered, “I’m gonna head back so I need you to watch this place.”

Xixi understood his orders immediately. Jiang Shuxuan’s order actually meant for it to protect his princess from harm. This it knew but if not for the noise complaints earlier on, it would not have left Gu Xiqiao’s side for even one second. After all, it was only while being by the girl’s side could it feel a warmth flowing through its meridian points.

It had been only two months being with Gu Xiqiao and yet it had already successfully leveled up once. The pill that she handed it truly worked wonders. Still, it was, in all respects, indistinguishable from the aura that the girl emitted.

“Don’t be too noisy too.” Jiang Shuxuan remembered to give Xixi a final warning before leaving. He understood that bird down to the bone.

Hearing his intimidating voice, Xixi nodded reluctantly. If someone were to ask, “Who’s your most feared person in this world?” its answer would undoubtedly be Jiang Shuxuan. This man’s moves were unpredictable; with the slightest movement of his fingers, it could die a million deaths. This, Xixi thought, was not worth the risk.

Naturally, Xixi preferred the pretty lass more than this heartless bastard. While Gu Xiqiao might appear to be cold and indifferent, so long as one did not annoy her too much, she was fairly friendly.

After sitting in the car the entire day, Gu Xiqiao felt exhausted. After receiving their dinner at the door, she brought it upstairs where she finished it with Tang Yanling before heading straight to bed.

Early morning, on the second day, it was time for students to register themselves at the university. Both Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yun left to do just this. On the other hand, Gu Xiqiao slept until noon before dragging herself off the bed. Even Tang Yanling panicked at the sight of her sorry state on the first day of university.

Dragging a luggage bag behind her, Gu Xiqiao and Tang Yanling arrived at the registration desk. Because today was already the third day of registration, there weren’t too many people around so she only had to wait briefly before hearing her name called. The person handling her registration was a man who spoke gently and whose eyes were clear as crystal. He handed her a form. “Welcome. I’ll need you to fill in this form for me please.”

Unlike the students around her, who would immediately bend over and start filling in the blank spaces with the required information, Gu Xiqiao lifted the form up to eye level. Under natural sunlight, the bleached white piece of paper was so dazzling that even Lin Xia’s eyes hurt from looking up.

Once again, she placed the form back onto the table. Picking it up, Lin Xia flashed a gentle smile at her. “So you are Gu Xiqiao. You…” He was not even halfway through his sentence when he stopped and looked up toward the person standing before him.

As a member of the student council, he knew who this Gu Xiqiao was. Even before she arrived here, rumors about this girl had already spread like wildfire among the med students themselves. Apparently, she had obtained near full marks for every subject she had taken, which was a rare feat ever achieved, even in their entire faculty’s history. The dean of the Faculty of Medicine had specifically called him up to make sure that Gu Xiqiao received a warm welcome to this establishment.

Lin Xia was almost sure that she would not come, since it was already the third day. Who would’ve thought that she would make her appearance at the last minute.

He made sure to etch the image of this girl standing before him into his memory. That jade-like face of hers, her subtle expressions and that pair of soft, light eyebrows that appeared so intricate that it was like an ink painting.

“Cough, I’ll guide you through the enrollment procedure.” Finally, his target has arrived. Lin Xia stood up and allowed his junior to stand in for his job.

The people around them started gossiping as soon as the three of them left.

“Did you see the president’s face? That ain’t what you call “calm”!”

“Heh heh, seems like another nominee has arrived for Miss University!”

“Say, you think she’s in a performance troupe or something? I think I’ve stared way too long at her pretty face just now.”

“Watch your mouth boy. You are right about one thing though. Even the white beauty we saw on the first day pales in comparison with this one!”

“…”

As the enrollment procedure was fairly straightforward, and because most of the new students have already registered in the past two days, it took them no more than twenty minutes to complete the entire process.

“Thank you, Senior Lin.” Under the female dormitory building, apart from the luggage she was originally pulling with her, Gu Xiqiao now held a ten-kilogram complimentary package containing daily necessities like a blanket and a thermos bottle to name a few. Despite its weight, the way she held it made it seem like an extremely light load. Effortlessly, she walked upstairs with Tang Yanling. Before she disappeared into the building though, she smiled silently at Lin Xia, which somehow made her seem less of a freshman.

‘She’s pretty cool huh?’ thought Lin Xia to himself. He stood there motionlessly for a while before returning to his station. It’s been such a long time since someone has treated him with this attitude.

He originally thought about leaving her his contact info but it quickly became apparent that it was impossible to create a situation that would make her talk to him naturally. Thus, he could only look down at the form which she had filled in just now.

***

Each dorm in A University was shared by four students. Because Gu Xiqiao had arrived late to the party, the only empty bed left was one situated right beside the door. That did not bother her though. Right after setting her stuff down, she, alongside Tang Yanling, began cleaning up the space.

At the moment, she shared the unit with two other roommates. One appeared sweet, and whenever she smiled, her eyes seemed to do the same too. “Nice to meet you, my name’s Xu Jing. I’m your new roommate.”

Gu Xiqiao would never turn down someone else’s friendly approach. She immediately placed the thing she was holding down and reached out her slender and pale hands. “Nice to meet you too, I’m Gu Xiqiao.”

Her voice sounded cold but Xu Jing wasn’t particularly fazed by it. Her sixth sense had already told her that Gu Xiqiao was a good person. Throughout their exchange, her eyes had been glued onto her new roommate. “You’re really good-looking. Are you in the Faculty of Performing Arts?”

Upon closer inspection, Gu Xiqiao’s skin was radiant and smooth, almost poreless. The shape of her face was like a peach and her cherry-like lips, moist and shiny. Her facial expression reflected her calm personality, which for some inexplicable reason, created a good impression on Xu Jing.

“No, I’m studying medicine,” Gu Xiqiao kept her reply brief but her voice sounded soothing.

Xu Jing looked at Gu Xiqiao with disbelief in her eyes. “You’re a med student? No please, don’t do that. You’re so pretty, why waste it in something like that? You should go into entertainment and media, where people would gladly kneel down and lick your boots!”

“What about you? What are you majoring in?” Gu Xiqiao opened her mouth unexpectedly.

Xu Jing stopped her babbling instantly. “I’m majoring in the Chinese language. Geeky, I know.”

“Oh.” Having finished unpacking her stuff, Gu Xiqiao began wiping the dust that had collected off the furniture in their dorm room.

“Ahh, let me help you with that!” Xu Jing picked up her own rag. “This is what I use, but if you think it’s…”

Before she could finish talking, Gu Xiqiao grabbed the rag from her hand, dipped it into a bucket of water and began wiping the tabletop.

Seeing her work like that, Xu Jing felt more intrigued by her new roommate.

“It’s alright. Let me do that for you. Go fill your thermos with hot water. I’ll rinse it off with the water later afterward,” said Tang Yanling as she walked over with a water tub. Seeing Gu Xiqiao wiping the table, the lady had to put down the tub she was holding in order to stop Gu Xiqiao from continuing.

It was through sheer effort that they managed to keep her hands so pretty. Tang Yanling was not prepared for her precious Qiao Qiao to return to what she was back then. After all, a young girl’s hands must be at all times, in a pristine condition.

“Nice to meet you, auntie. My name’s Xu Jing. I’m Miss Gu’s roommate.” Xu Jing smiled sweetly but more importantly, innocently.

Tang Yanling smiled back at her. “Oh, Jing Jing, would you be so kind as to bring Qiao Qiao to fetch some hot water over?”

“Hey, I was about to do just that!” Xu Jing flashed Tang Yanling a smile before turning toward the bed right beside the window. “Sun Jiajia, would you like some water too?”

Sun Jiajia was a bespectacled girl. She wasn’t as pretty as Gu Xiqiao, nor was she as sweet as Xu Jing. She only shot Xu Jing a glance before shifting her gaze over to Gu Xiqiao’s T-shirt.

“Nope.”

The boiler room was just downstairs after all. Sun Jiajia was a surprisingly talkative girl.

“Gu Xiqiao, are you a local?”

“No.” Gu Xiqiao lifted the water as if it was nothing but a pile of feathers.

“Since you’ve arrived late, I figured you weren’t a local. Well, let me brief you on the situation here.” Xu Jing began explaining while she walked. “Remember the bed inside? When that girl came, she’d even brought with her an entire team of personnel, including her butlers. Her surname’s Bai so I guess she’s from the Bai family, which is pretty well-known in the capital. Military drills start tomorrow so I guess she’ll be returning by tonight. Sigh, I don’t think you truly know what I’m talking about. Anyway, I’m going to give you a good lesson once the time is right.”

Gu Xiqiao nodded her head in silence. Without saying a word more, she returned to finish up her job. After that, she went down and sent Tang Yanling back to their apartment. Finally, it was time to meet up with Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yun.

By the time she returned to their dorm room, it was already night time. All eyes were on her the moment Gu Xiqiao pushed open the door to their unit.

A University had a long history, hence why a strict system was imposed campus-wide. The military drills they held every year was as unforgiving as the real deal. Unless there was a valid reason, it was impossible for one to leave the campus whimsically. This was also why everyone would be present in their rooms every night.

Bai Xinran’s eyes narrowed. Even without squinting, her overall demeanor was already plenty intimidating. Her eyes scanned Gu Xiqiao up and down, especially the jeans and t-shirt combo she was sporting. Finally, she spoke, “I don’t think we’ll make it tonight. I’m gonna treat you guys out to dinner a few days later, when the drills end. It’ll be at the Royal Hotel next door.”

Sun Jiajia’s eyes glimmered. “Really? But I heard it’s only open for members. Xinran, do you really think we can enter that place?”

As if she had seen this look on others’ faces plenty of times before, Bai Xinran smiled nonchalantly. “It’s just the Royal Hotel okay?”

“Xinran, m’lord,” said Sun Jiajia with her hands clasped together as if making a prayer.

Bai Xinran then whipped her imported junk food package out before pouring it all on her bed.

“Take whichever you want.”

Sun Jiajia picked up a random bag on which there was an English label. And so, the naive young girl had been bought over through a few packs of junk food. Even the way she spoke changed so dramatically. “Xinran, you’re such a saint.”

The other two did not respond to her bribery. That, however, did not seem to bother Bai Xinran. She then pulled out her very own Apple laptop and began surfing the web with it resting on her lap. To mere mortals like Sun Jiajia, Apple was a luxury brand, and was more of a status symbol than anything else, which earned Bai Xinran even more of her respect.

“What are you three majoring in? I’ll start first. My grades were average so I’m in the performing arts faculty.” After playing for a while, Bai Xinran finally decided to break the ice. She looked up from her computer screen and at her new roommates, but mostly at Gu Xiqiao. How could she not be more concerned about a girl who was more attractive than herself?

Sun Jiajia hastily came up with something to suck up to Bai Xinran. “Many of the students in the Faculty of Performing Arts possess skills that are more valuable than superficial knowledge. You’re a genius Xinran!”

“I barely scraped past the minimum grade requirement so I was limited to an unpopular subject to major in.” Xu Jing didn’t care about exposing how bad her grades were. To be able to get into this university was already good enough for her.

Hearing about Xu Jing’s grades, Sun Jiajia was finally able to muster up some courage. She was not very good-looking, nor was her figure the best. The only thing that was beautiful was her grades. “I was the top scholar at my school with 721 points in my exam. Medicine.”

721 points was indeed a pretty high score. Anyone from a place other than the Imperial Capital would be hailed as the top scholar with that score. Even Su Jing and Bai Xinran were stunned upon hearing her insanely-high grades.

Now that the three have introduced themselves, Gu Xiqiao, who was fiddling with her phone responded half-heartedly, “Medicine.”

Medicine was a popular course students aimed for at A University so one had to possess an extremely high grade to be accepted. Realizing that Gu Xiqiao was in the same course as her, Sun Jiajia’s voice increased in pitch. “So we’re coursemates then? What did you score?”

“Above the admission threshold.” Gu Xiqiao didn’t care too much about her grades.

Sun Jiajia sighed in relief upon hearing her reply. With a large bag of crisps in her hand, she plopped back onto her chair and started talking to Bai XInran.

Xu Jing was playing on her computer at her own desk while Gu Xiqiao was scrolling through the internet with her phone on her bed. Suddenly, Xu Jing’s shriek broke the silence.

“Gu Xiqiao! You’re hot news! The entire school forum’s talking about you now!”

“God! Yo-yo-you!” Xu Jing was wide-eyed, staring at one of the many threads talking about her roommate. At that moment, Gu Xiqiao even feared that she would faint out of asphyxiation. Finally, she was able to get over her stutter. “You didn’t tell me you’re the national top ranker! You’re that legendary girl they were reporting on the entire summer! Good heavens!”

As if that wasn’t enough, Xu Jing rotated her computer over in Gu Xiqiao’s direction. “Look at this! You’ve been placed at the top of the “school’s most attractive” list by our male peers. Look! There are threads all about you girl! This is the first time I’ve seen someone being talked about so extensively on this forum!”

Gu Xiqiao glanced at her screen. “They’re talking nonsense.”

Bai Xinran, who had been staring at Gu Xiqiao the entire time, logged onto the school’s forum and started browsing through the many forums talking about Gu Xiqiao. A thread started a few days ago which talked about herself, had already been pushed down into some inconspicuous corner by the new threads that popped up one after another, all related to her new roommate. Bai Xinran bit her lip in resentment.

Hearing Xu Jing’s words, Sun Jiajia rushed over to her side. Coincidentally, she was looking through Gu Xiqiao’s results sheet on which there were three holy digits that neared the ultimate number. Sun Jiajia’s jaws almost dropped to the ground.

“I-Impossible!”

In the next moment, she cupped her hands over her mouth. She knew she had screwed up now. Xu Jing furrowed her brows. “This is official from her school. No way it’s fake.”

Sun Jiajia’s face turned pale in an instant. Then, without making a noise, she returned to her spot. To think that she was flaunting her grades in front of Gu Xiqiao moments ago. She was no clown. No, she was the entire circus.

Xu Jing kept refreshing the forum’s main page. There were only a handful of blurry images of Gu Xiqiao and yet this girl has thoroughly invaded the forum through discussion threads about her.

The most popular thread had only two pictures in it. Here’s how the thread starter posted it.

Heavens of Fire and Ice: “Nuff said. JPEG JPEG No filter, no photoshop. You can thank me later. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination”

The first picture was a close-up shot of Gu Xiqiao’s bare hands. It was extremely detailed, showing her porcelain-like skin as well as the well-defined contours of her bone. Her pale white complexion was contrasted against the dark of the ball pen, underneath which three distinct words were written–Gu Xiqiao!

The second one was a picture of the side of her face. Her lips were moist and glistening and her jaw, sharp. In that photo, her head was slightly lowered and her long eyelashes cast a shadow under her eyes. Her lips were of the color of cherry blossoms and her skin, of freshly-fallen snow. All in all, that photo of her seemed more like an ink painting than an actual photo taken by a camera.

Anon 1: “Uwahhhh! Hand fetishists unite! You have my respect OP!”

Anon 2: “I think this is the hundredth time I’ve looked at these two photos!”

Anon 3: “And so, I have changed the woman of my dreams! My God, is this girl really a freshman? This must be a sign that the new batch of students will change the course of our school’s history!”

Anon 7: “Yo, anyone here got intel on her? What’s she majoring in? I’m offering a hundred yuan as a reward! Waiting for you online, need the intel urgently!”

Anon 11: “No way she’s studying sciences. OP, you sure these pictures aren’t photoshopped? Look at her hands, those are the hands of an artist. And her long eyelashes, her sexy lips, and that collarbone… where’s this person from? I think she’s a fairy or something magical!”

Anon 16: “It’s true. I have a few photos of her too. Still, they aren’t as clear as the OP’s. Here ya go. JPEG JPEG”

Anon 21: “I hereby declare that I have a non-existent boner even though I’m a girl. How you doin’ boys?”

Anon 88: “Okay, here’s the latest information we got. Brethren! Come forth and say your prayer… wait no! Witness the glory of Gu Xiqiao! JPEG JPEG”

The latest photos shocked all of the students that were following the discussion thread about Gu Xiqiao. On their screens was a series of unimaginably scary digits. This was the grade she got for her final exam, which apparently had a number of extremely tough questions. Even in the previous exams where the questions were much easier, the highest-scoring students obtained not over 740 points. In the world of maths, where questions were getting harder and harder to solve exponentially, this girl managed to score full marks! No mere mortal could ever pull off such a feat!

Right after that was posted, the entire forum exploded with talk about Gu Xiqiao. Beauty, Academic Goddess, these were the two words thrown around most frequently by its users. Either one would have already caused an uproar by itself and to add the two together meant ultimate pandemonium.

It didn’t take long before this discussion spread out from the school’s official forum to the public social media platforms. In the blink of an eye, a post about Gu Xiqiao even reached the top three hottest topics on Weibo’s education related forum.

Pretty much everyone on campus now understood what a “national goddess” meant.

Apart from Gu Xiqiao, her three other roommates were fixated on the device screens. Xu Jing was particularly busy as she typed line after line on one of the live forums.

She typed: “I am sharing dorms with the Academic Goddess herself. If you want a high-definition, non-censored method of contacting the woman, then DM me. The price I’m charging is negotiable.”

Her post spawned hundreds of other responding posts, each being more intense than the other. Thus, Xu Jing earned herself a couple more followers on the forum.

“Dear Miss University, let’s do an interview, shall we?” Xu Jing picked up a booklet and held a pen on her other hand. She then sat down on the edge of Gu Xiqiao’s bed and started asking away. “What is your favorite food?”

“I love everything.”

‘Umm, fine??? I’ll guess she’s a foodie’

“…and your favorite color?”

“As long as it isn’t red.”

“…your birthday?” Xu Jing could feel Gu Xiqiao growing more disinterested by the second.

“I don’t know.”

“…Gu Xiqiao! Be more serious in answering my questions! Let’s be loving roommates!” said Xu Jing with a glare.

It was true that she didn’t know about her own birthdate. Yu Man picked the date on which she was taken in as her birthday, which was right around the start of winter, November the 18th to be exact.

Bai Xinran was already in a foul mood, which was further exacerbated when she started scrolling through the threads. Placing down her laptop, she walked out of the bedroom door.

Sun Jiajia on the other hand, continued reading through the threads in silence. She wanted to know more about Gu Xiqiao. Without saying a word more, she climbed onto her bed and let down the drapes. Quietly she started memorizing English phrases from an extra-thick dictionary.

“Fine.” Xu Jing tossed her phone down onto the bed. Seeing how Bai Xinran had finally left their room, she started talking about her. “Do you know about the Bai family? They’re one of the top five richest families in the capital. Like we’re talking about blocking out the sun with banknotes type of rich. I think that Bai Xinran’s a member of this family.”

Sun Jiajia who was laying on her bed blinked a few times when she overheard their conversation. Then, she plugged her ears with her earbuds and continued studying English phrases.

“Oh.” Gu Xiqiao wriggled off her bed to retrieve her own laptop from her luggage bag. It was an Apple product, and a new model at that! Xu Jing’s eyes lit up upon seeing its iconic logo. “Woah, that looks cool. I bet it’s great at gaming!”

“I’m gonna write a script.” Gu Xiqiao said as she placed the laptop over her laps.

Xu Jing blinked twice. “What script?”

“For a speech as the freshman representative.” Gu Xiqiao was a little saddened as she said that. “A senior told me to have it prepared by tomorrow morning.”

“This is pretty easy. There’s a bunch of them online, and it’s not hard to write at all.” Xu Jing waved her hands, indicating that she was well-trained in whipping up stuff like this.

“Well, I think so too.” Gu Xiqiao opened up a blank document and began typing away while she spoke. Her fingers moved like a well-oiled machine, churning out line after line of cliched, cheesy lines one would typically hear in a speech. “But I wonder how many words I should have.”

“As a freshman rep, I think slightly above a thousand words would be the best. Anymore and they’d start dozing off.” Xu Jing was awestruck. It had just been a couple of minutes and yet there were already 500 or so words on the document. “Hey, say, do you create scripts like this very often?”

Gu Xiqiao smiled silently at her. The ones she typed out weren’t exactly for “this” purpose. It was more to brainwash Gu Enterprises’ accomplices. Still, it seems like her skills could finally be put to good use.

They still needed to print the script out after completing it and Xu Jing, the brave soul volunteered to go with her. The printer room wasn’t far from the female dormitory and so, the duo talked as they strolled to their destination. They bumped into a pair of familiar faces as soon as they opened the door. Naturally, the female face was Bai Xinran’s. As for the guy, even Gu Xiqiao recognized him. He was none other than Xia Zijun whom she had not met for a long time.

‘A University is big,’ thought Gu Xiqiao. And yet, to think that she would bump into a familiar face on her first day here.

“Hey, hear me out.” Xu Jing pulled Gu Xiqiao over to one side. She knew that the girl wasn’t interested in campus gossip so she made sure to keep her well-informed. “You know who that guy beside her is? He’s Xia Zijun! The guy who’s fighting to be the next student council president. He’s a mini-celebrity at the Faculty of Economics but I heard a new challenger has appeared there this year. Still, look at her. Bai Xinran managed to get him on her hook so early on.”

Speaking of Xia Zijun, he was already pretty popular back in senior high. Pretty much half of the school’s female population were his fangirls. He was still as good-looking as before but Gu Xiqiao could not comprehend why he was not as popular in university.

“But you’ve just been here for two days. How do you know so much?” Gu Xiqiao glanced at her.

“Heh heh.” Xu Jing chuckled. “Let’s just say, I’m interested in this sort of stuff. I’ve already infiltrated the school’s intel system during summer break so I’m pretty well-informed. Hey, do you know about the top three studs in our school? You want me to tell you more about them?”

Gu Xiqiao had little to no interest in such things. “Thanks but no thanks.”

***

Bai Xinran had become a member of the student council as soon as she enrolled into this university. And because Lin Xia was an acquaintance of her’s, a shortcut opened up right in front of her.

She was feeling a little bored staying in her dorm room so she went to the student council’s office to help them tidy up their files. Most of the departments have yet to recruit the freshmen so the student council was severely short on manpower. Naturally, they were glad to see Bai Xinran come lend them a hand. They worked until ten at night and as Lin Xia still had something to do at the Faculty of Medicine, he arranged for Xia Zijun to send Bai Xinran home.

Xia Zijun was a peace-loving guy, which was why he did not turn down Lin Xia’s order. However, he still maintained a barrier of formality and politeness between them.

This was enough to satisfy Bai Xinran. Upon reaching her dorm room, she asked for Xia Zijun’s phone number. Subtly, his brows furrowed. Though, because he was going to be a part of the student council in the future, he could not reject her request. Thus, he gave her his phone number.

There were still quite a number of students walking around the dormitory. Xia Zijun was well-known throughout the campus for his good looks and there were even some girls that started snapping away on their phone cameras. Some on the other hand, pointed at Bai Xinran. A great deal of them were talking about how Xia Zijun, who had remained single the entire time he spent here, finally got himself a girl to squeeze.

“Alright. See you around, Senior Xia!” Seeing the attention she had gathered for herself, Bai Xinran felt satisfied.

Xia Zijun nodded lightly and waited for Bai Xinran to enter her room before turning to leave. He was a gentleman, they thought.

To his surprise, the first thing he saw upon turning around was a face he swore that he would never see again in his lifetime. She was standing so close that it broke down the calm expression he was maintaining as if it was nothing but a house of cards. Surprise filled his eyes but his feeling was positive nonetheless. “You’ve managed to get here too?”

“Yep.” Gu Xiqiao frowned upon discovering that they had been spotted by nosy onlookers. She kept her cold demeanor throughout the entire exchange. “I still need to memorize my script so if you’ll excuse me.”

“Hey, wait up!” Xia Zijun tried to hold himself back but to no avail. “I’ll leave my phone number with you. If you’re facing any problems, feel free to call me.”

He knew that if he was to ask her for her phone number, she would come up with a million excuses before that was done.

He proceeded to report his phone number out loud and left immediately after, as though fearing that Gu Xiqiao might reject his approach.

“…Damn! You’re pretty bold aren’t you?” Xu Jing searched her mind for a long time before finally opening her mouth. “If Bai Xinran finds out about this, she’ll definitely strangle you to death!”

Gu Xiqiao silently gave her a look. “Let’s go, I have to memorize my script.”

Right after stepping foot into their dorm room, a loud conversation between Sun Jiajia and Bai Xinran could be heard. “Really?” she asked. “Xinran you genius!”, she congratulated. The rest had roughly the same meaning.

Gu Xiqiao noted that Sun Jiajia must’ve sucked at linguistics, else why would she keep repeating the same words over and over again? Even if she wanted to flatter Bai Xinran, this was not the way. At the very least, she should get online and look for new phrases instead of relying on the two repetitive praises.

The smile on Bai Xinran’s face faded away as soon as her other two roommates entered the room. “Are you two looking to get into the student council as well? If so, just let me know. I personally know one of the seniors so I can land you a spot there. Jiajia’s agreed to participate too.”

“Thank you, but I have a senior that’s majoring in the news and reporting department. I’d like to follow in her footsteps,” said Xu Jing with an apologetic smile.

Of course, she was not Bai Xinran’s target. Without a word of protest, she turned toward Gu Xiqiao. “What about you? Is there any student department you are aiming to get into? There’s only a handful of seats at the council and competition’s fierce. Though, I can help you if you want.”

“Thanks but I’m really busy. I’ve not the time to meddle with the student council.” Gu Xiqiao replied while turning over to a new page on her script.

“Oh is that so? Too bad I guess.” Bai Xinran was not interested in continuing their conversation. Picking up a variety of different bottles, she entered the bathroom. Knowing that Gu Xiqiao wasn’t interested in the student council made the smile on her face even more apparent.

Xu Jing thought to herself, ‘Is there even a need for Gu Xiqiao to compete!? Look at her face, look at her brain, any place would happily accept her application. Even if she doesn’t work, merely standing at the shop will be enough to attract customers like bees to a flower. I guess Bai Xinran still doesn’t know what she’s up against in this battle.’

Bai Xinran walked out of the bathroom with a bunch of bottles, one of which she said was sunscreen she had bought overseas while on vacation. Sun Jiajia was shocked upon hearing the words “overseas”. To her, going on vacation in another country was an alien concept. And so, the look of admiration in her eyes intensified. At that moment, she solidified her will to curry Bai Xinran’s favor at all costs.

***

There were army drills the next day so Gu Xiqiao slipped into her military uniform and gathered her polished script.

“Hey! Don’t tell me you’re gonna head out without applying anything!” Xu Jing walked over with a bottle of sunscreen in hand. There was a unique appeal about Gu Xiqiao in her military uniform. Still, her complexion was unusually pale for her to be a soldier. “Quick, put this on. I don’t want your pretty face to be destroyed by the Sun’s evil UV rays!”

“I don’t need this.” Gu Xiqiao smiled while waving the script she was holding. “I’m in a hurry. See you later.”

Xu Jing, who had failed to stop her thought to herself: ‘…dammit!’

The military drills the university students were put through was hard. First, they had to stand at attention underneath the blistering hot sun for two hours straight before the chancellor arrived to give a lengthy, boring speech. Then, it was the freshman representative’s turn to speak.

After basking under the sun for two hours, everyone was soaked in sweat. Even the sunscreen the girls applied had been dissolved by sweat into a whitish fluid that rolled down their faces. On the other hand, Gu Xiqiao was as dry as a bone, with no disgusting sweat marks at all. The chancellor stood up to shake her hand as she walked up the stage. Then, he proceeded to introduce the representative to the students, something which had never been done before.

And so, Gu Xiqiao had made a name for herself even before classes had even started.

Her instructor was a strict meathead who made the entire class of students run four laps around the track, without stopping. After standing at attention for two hours, even the boys felt that this was an impossible task to complete. Many of them moaned in pain after completing just one round. Surprisingly, the instructor did not chew up their asses for slacking off like that.

In the end, only Gu Xiqiao was the one left standing.

The skinny-looking girl had not even a sweat mark on her uniform as she soldiered on.

The drill instructor was obviously perplexed by her performance. Everything about her, from her posture, to her hand-to-hand combat form, to her marching appeared as good as it gets. In fact, he was so impressed that he used her to demonstrate to the students what peak performance looked like.

Morale was greatly boosted, especially among the male students of the other class, whose calls became loud and clear when they marched past Gu Xiqiao.

The students in Gu Xiqiao’s class, unwilling to admit defeat, yelled even louder, drowning out the voices of their rivals as they marched.

Once again, they went back to throwing shadow punches. Seeing Gu Xiqiao’s flawless form, the drill instructor couldn’t help but ask her during break time, “Gu Xiqiao, have you received training before?”

“Yeah, a little bit,” replied Gu Xiqiao with a humble smile.

Underneath the sweltering hot sun, the drill instructor smiled back at her. “I see you’re pretty strong yourself. Come, let’s spar.”

He had a feeling that this girl would not disappoint him.

Gu Xiqiao was taken aback. “Huh?”

“It’s a fight till the end.” The drill instructor knew how bad his reputation would become once he sparred with a girl. Still, he needed to prove his sixth sense right. A girl who does not sweat after running ten laps around the track, if she’s not an expert then she must be an expert’s expert!

The boys started booing the drill instructor but Gu Xiqiao rose up nonetheless. “Your teaching is greatly appreciated.”

The bystanders backed off so that the two had ample space to spar in. Gu Xiqiao squeezed up her fists, pondering how she should lighten her punches. An idea popped up in her mind. She then exclusively used the shadow punching techniques the drill instructor taught them just now, which was a series of foolproof defensive maneuvers.

In the end, the drill instructor admitted defeat. He was a competent soldier from the special forces and his own unique fighting technique. And yet, he was defeated by a girl using his own technique, which humbled him significantly.

“You are very very talented, Gu Xiqiao. If you’re interested, maybe you should consider joining the special forces. I can guarantee that you’ll become the ultimate soldier our nation will ever produce!”

The chancellor, who was strolling by butted into their conversation, “You’re pretty bold aren’t you? How dare you attempt to lure our precious student away? Have you become tired of living?!”

Gu Xiqiao was surprised by the drill instructor’s offer. “I’m sorry sir, but I’ve never thought about joining the military.”

The drill instructor was reluctant to let such a precious asset slip out of his hands. “You are truly talented at this. It’s such a waste for you to remain at school. With your skills, you would be unchallenged in the world of soldiers!”

Gu Xiqiao responded with a gentle smile. “I am talented in other areas too.”

This was true. The instructor opened his mouth but he failed to produce any words. Suddenly, someone cleared his throat loudly from behind.

The chancellor was not amused by his antics.

‘How dare you solicit our students to join the heartless war machine! How dare you ignore my presence here!’

‘…Oh crap.’

And so, the military drills ended. As a whole, Gu Xiqiao felt satisfied with it as she got the chance to get along with her fellow peers. She found out that the students she spoke with were all incredibly intelligent people. Contrary to what many thought, the girls were friendlier toward her than the boys.

Of course, Sun Jiajia was not included among these girls.

***

Just as she had said, Bai Xinran treated the three of her roommates out to dinner at the Royal Hotel after the end of the military drills.

Gu Xiqiao was supposed to turn her down as only Xu Jing had ever treated her nicely. Though, because they were going to live together for the rest of the year, she felt bad for rejecting her offer and so they walked out of the school entrance together.

Suddenly, Gu Xiqiao’s phone rang inside her pocket. Peering down at the caller ID, the cold look in her eyes warmed up, which shocked even Xu Jing, what more to say of Bai Xinran and Sun Jiajia.

“Is that your boyfriend?” asked Xu Jing curiously.

Gu Xiqiao was stunned for a while and was silent while she thought about it, they were something like that, weren’t they? “Sorry guys, I can’t go with you tonight. I’ll treat you guys out next time though.”

“No biggie! As they say, boys over hoes.” Xu Jing wasn’t bothered by it. In fact, her eyes were brimming with curiosity. “Say, when will we meet him?”

Even Bai Xinran and Sun Jiajia turned over, obviously interested in Gu Xiqiao’s “boyfriend”.

Bai Xinran thought about Gu Xiqiao’s lifestyle, which by no means, was as exquisite as her own. Thus, she figured that this boyfriend of hers must be from a rich family.

Gu Xiqiao did not answer her friend’s question. She looked down the street, at a regular-looking army jeep that cruised slowly toward her. Sun Jiajia saw the car and couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Gu Xiqiao, you’re so pretty but it doesn’t seem like your boyfriend’s equally as attractive or anything.”