Chapter 7: I’m really not into literature and art.

Is there really a universal solution to all problems in this world?

Lin Yi looked at the already graded math test paper in her hand and pondered the above question.

Bad news: her math score was even worse than at the start of the school term.

Good news: her scores in all other subjects had improved.

Her performance had earned the homeroom teacher’s approval.

She didn’t have to have her parents called in, and she had escaped the position of second-to-last in class.

It should have been double the happiness, so why…

Lin Yi looked toward the seat where Feng Chuyue sat.

Because of her petite stature, she was seated in the second row.

As if sensing Lin Yi’s gaze, Feng Chuyue took advantage of the homeroom teacher writing on the blackboard to turn her head.

Their eyes met.

Feng Chuyue’s face immediately flushed red, as if she’d been caught red-handed stealing a snack by her mother, and she quickly turned back around.

She’s so cute, I want to pinch her cheeks.

This was the third time Lin Yi had thought this.

If only I could sit next to her.

Then, even a whole day of classes wouldn’t feel tiring.

I’d have a constant supply of cute energy.

……

“Unsatisfied desires?”

“Absolutely not!”

Lin Yi immediately denied Yan Jianxing’s statement, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

This was the last class on Friday afternoon, and it happened to be physical education.

It was rare for the PE teacher not to give up the class using some magical excuse.

However, on a Friday afternoon, she clearly had no desire to actually teach either, so she let the students have free activity.

Yan Jianxing, currently Lin Yi’s closest classmate, brought up this topic while they were running together.

Yes, Mr. Nobel Literature Prize Runner-up, when I talk about running, I’m talking about the flavor of youthful feelings.

Her high ponytail swayed in the evening breeze under the setting sun.

Yan Jianxing’s smile seemed capable of melting away any darkness in the world.

“Really? But listening to everything you said, that’s exactly the point you were trying to make, wasn’t it?”

“I had no idea anything I said expressed any viewpoint about having desires?”

Lin Yi stopped running, hands on her knees, panting slightly.

“Here.”

Yan Jianxing handed over a bottle of electrolyte water.

“Isn’t it, though? Of course, getting better grades is a good thing. But you don’t feel happy now. Other than being separated from Goddess Yue, I can’t think of any other reason for your unhappiness.”

“Thanks.”

Lin Yi drank the water, and on second thought, perhaps there really was a problem with how she had expressed herself.

Maybe the reason she felt unhappy was because the results of this Monthly Exam were achieved by consuming a whole can of Awake Black Tea.

It had basically nothing to do with her own effort.

This wasn’t a sustainable direction for effort.

She had to break free from the path dependency of using items to boost her grades, or one day she would stumble badly.

It was definitely not because she was depressed about not being able to sit next to Goddess Yue during the next exam.

Absolutely not.

[Speed: Upgraded from D- to D]

[Attribute level increase detected. Issuing level reward: Durable Sports Shoes (Effect: Reduces partial stamina consumption during exercise. Delivered to locker.)]

—Hah, System, are you agreeing with me?

The system did not answer.

However, the speed of this upgrade was actually within Lin Yi’s expectations.

Because D-rank itself was the lowest tier, and hers had been adjusted to D- due to her long-term vegetarian diet.

As long as she ate a bit more seriously and exercised appropriately, her sixteen-year-old body would naturally recover quickly.

“Lin Yi?”

“Sorry, I spaced out.”

The two returned to the temporary storage area.

Yan Jianxing glanced at Lin Yi and suddenly suggested, “Then, how about this? Tomorrow is Saturday. To celebrate your improved Monthly Exam results, let’s go out for a meal together!”

“Huh? A meal?”

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like that idea?”

Lin Yi quickly waved her hands.

“No, no, it’s just a bit…”

“I get it.”

Yan Jianxing clenched her right fist and slapped it into her left palm.

“You must be thinking, ‘On a rare Saturday, just going out for a meal with me is too much of a waste,’ right?”

“Huh?”

Yan Jianxing nodded repeatedly.

“I understand, I understand. Do things thoroughly from start to finish. Then, how about this: let’s go play together on Shamian Island on Saturday! You and me!”

“Huh?”

Shamian Island?

Perimeter: 2.8 kilometers.

Given Yan Jianxing’s personality, she would definitely want to run several laps.

Wouldn’t that mean then…

Farewell, all my fellow work warriors.

Lin Yi will offer up her life this weekend, fighting for the glorious cause of running.

“I knew you wouldn’t have any objections! Then it’s settled!”

Just then, the class dismissal bell rang.

Yan Jianxing picked up her racket, clasped her hands together, and said, “The badminton team has special training today. You haven’t joined the team yet, so I can’t take you along. We’ll talk in detail tonight back at the dorm!”

“Okay…”

Lin Yi waved, watching the beautiful girl brimming with youthful vitality run off.

After a few steps, she didn’t forget to turn back and wave goodbye to Lin Yi again.

“Bye!”

“Mhm, bye.”

It’s really nice, Lin Yi thought.

Whoever marries Yan Jianxing in the future will surely have a life full of drive.

The day students cheered and ran back to the classroom.

For them, the rare weekend break would begin tonight.

Zhuming Girls’ High School only required students to maintain above-average academic performance, with no aim for the top ranks.

Therefore, first-year day students didn’t have to attend evening self-study on Friday nights and weekends.

Boarders participated on a voluntary basis, but in Lin Yi’s Class One, even the boarders would conscientiously attend evening self-study on weekend nights.

As for Lin Yi… Just kidding.

Lin Yi’s favorite thing to do is to study hard while others are playing.

I’ll outwork you all.

It was still early.

She planned to go take a look around the club building to see if there were any other clubs she could join besides the badminton team.

To be fair, having been reborn as a high school beauty from a thirty-something-year-old otaku, she really wanted to continue enjoying the happiness of this youth.

Because a person cannot simultaneously possess youth and the understanding of youth.

And she was probably the only person in the world who possessed both.

Returning to her locker, she saw a brand new pair of women’s sports shoes inside, even the white platform style.

Lin Yi tried them on.

The size and everything fit perfectly, as if custom-made.

The feeling on her feet was very comfortable.

Walking to the club building, Lin Yi saw a girl standing in the garden plot designated by the Gardening Club.

The cut of the blazer school uniform hugged her shoulders, the navy-blue fabric glowing with a subdued luster under the evening light.

Her smooth, ink-black hair lay heavily against the uniform.

Those eyes, which revealed neither joy nor sorrow, were lowered, admiring the violets in the garden plot.

The ultimate solution to all problems, Jian Shuye.

The beautiful girl had changed into black ankle socks today, but what remained unchanged were those slender, delicate legs and the black round-toe loafers.

She wasn’t in Class One, but in the neighboring Class Two.

However, during the several times Lin Yi went to the restroom between classes, she never once saw Jian Shuye.

Rumor had it she was the type who attended class if she felt like it, and if not, she just wandered around the school.

Yet, in this Monthly Exam, she still firmly held the top spot in the grade, over twenty points ahead of second place.

The girl whose charm level in Lin Yi’s mind was A pulled a sketching pencil from her sleeve and approached Lin Yi.

“I like to use forests and cicada songs to describe summer,” Jian Shuye said.

Girl, who asked you?

“Test for you. If it were autumn, what would you use to describe it?”

Lin Yi looked left and right, confirming Jian Shuye was talking to her, then cautiously replied, “Fallen leaves, and… sunset clouds?”

“Ordinary, but not wrong.”

Jian Shuye swept her long hair back, placed her hands behind her back, and tapped the sketching pencil against her palm.

“Follow me.”

“Huh? Where to?”

“Don’t ask. Just follow me.”