The students of Class Z only realized who she was when they heard her voice—the girl standing before them, looking strikingly transformed, was none other than Li Xu from half a month ago.
Back then, Li Xu looked chubby and round, but now, not only had she slimmed down to a normal figure, she also seemed a bit taller.
The boy who had originally stood behind Li Xu was taller than her before, but now she was level with him.
Although her face still held a baby-soft flush, her defined features and the way her military training uniform hung loosely on her upright frame gave off a completely renewed vibe.
At a glance, ordinariness no longer applied to her.
Even when she spoke, her eyes sparkled with vitality.
“You’re my godfather?? You really lost weight!”
Li Xu replied, “I told you all, but you never believed me.”
“Do you think all that sweating every day is just for show?” she said somewhat mysteriously.
“I’m so envious, and I really regret not believing you sooner.”
“Wow, you really slimmed down like lightning. You’re going to be the face of Class Z from now on.”
“Xu Jie, you look so much better than before. You’re really turning into a big beauty.”
“Can you teach me some clever tips on losing weight and not getting sunburned? You don’t look like you’ve tanned at all.”
Li Xu was soon surrounded by the whole Class Z, with everyone eagerly asking questions. These usually aloof academic elites were now animated, all wanting to glean some Jin Nang Miao Ji from her.
Li Xu answered honestly, “After training every day, I run for an hour.”
At this, everyone was filled with respect.
“Every day, I only eat a fist-sized portion of rice because the cafeteria food is oily.”
“No snacks at all.”
“I drink only two sips of water a day.”
“As for not getting tanned… actually, that’s not true.”
“I already got tanned.”
She rolled up one sleeve to show them, and sure enough, compared to the exposed skin, the skin covered by her sleeve was so pale it practically gleamed, dazzling everyone.
“Whoa, is this what they call true porcelain skin?”
Everyone looked Li Xu over carefully and felt as though she was enveloped in a halo.
Coupled with her past deeds and her now unpretentious, frank attitude, they found her utterly captivating and mysterious—as if she were a Life Simulator Evil Cultivator.
But this subtle feeling passed quickly. None of them could precisely explain their fascination or fondness for Li Xu—they only knew they wanted to talk to her more and grow closer.
She had none of that delicate, untouchable aura. Instead, she exuded an open, free spirit that was oddly alluring… they couldn’t quite put their finger on why, but that’s just how everyone in Class Z felt.
In this class filled with geniuses, Li Xu had finally become the unifying force—mainly because they had been repeatedly humbled by her brilliance; they were numb to it now. Everyone shared this silent kinship.
After military training ended, the counselor called them to a meeting. When they learned Li Xu’s college entrance exam and competition scores, it hit them—this time, they were really up against a monster.
Nearly a full score in the college entrance exam, excelling in all areas of intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor.
Although the college entrance exam wasn’t a big deal to these prodigies, damn it, she had a National Mathematics Competition Gold Medal.
Someone recalled the legendary competition: a prodigy who had wiped the floor with everyone in the second round by solving a mathematical conjecture halfway through the process—a participant from a small town who wrote out the entire procedure, but due to time constraints didn’t finish the last step.
Still, he finished first by a huge margin, far ahead of the second and third places.
One boy remembered this story and immediately checked the official winners’ list online, then showed it hopelessly to his deskmate:
“We’re doomed. Our four years at university will be spent living in Xu Jie’s shadow.”
His deskmate’s face fell, and she sighed repeatedly.
“As expected, the ancients were right. The math competition is full of monsters…”
The counselor, who oversaw Class Z and knew they would head into research early, explained that they didn’t even need to elect class officers.
But they still chose an Honorary Class Monitor, and when the counselor brought this up, everyone’s eyes turned sharply to Li Xu, who felt as if needles were pricking her back, but she lifted her head.
“Hm?”
“I vote for Xu Jie.”
“Li Xu for class monitor…”
“I’m voting for Li Xu too…”
“Ha, Xu Jie has to be the one.”
Li Xu declined, “No way, I don’t have much free time.”
The counselor smiled, “It’s fine, it’s just an honorary position. The school handles meetings and paperwork—I’ll take care of that.”
“No responsibilities for you.”
With that, Li Xu had no excuse. After the meeting, the whole class added her as a friend online.
On the way back to the dorm, a group walked with her, chatting excitedly.
When someone asked about the unfinished conjecture from the math competition, Li Xu recalled, “That conjecture was easy… I was feeling unwell and dizzy halfway through, so I didn’t finish.”
Everyone sighed.
“So, if you hadn’t gotten dizzy, you would have finished it?”
Li Xu nodded, “Theoretically, yes.”
“Has the conjecture been solved since?”
Li Xu said, “The judges helped me write a Paper afterward…”
“Was it published?”
“Published.”
“No way… which journal?”
“Guoshu Sub-Journal.”
The room burst into amazed whispers.
Although it was a sub-journal, for a high school student that was an incredible achievement.
“It’s like a god-level accomplishment.”
“That conjecture was just a tiny branch of a bigger series, really not important.”
“You’re too humble. We haven’t even started writing yet, and you already published in an A-class journal.”
“By the way, I heard from the counselor that another student from our class hasn’t arrived yet. He’s in the Physics competition and will be here in a few days… could he be another super prodigy?”
“Is that Zhou Ze?”
“Yeah.”
“That name sounds familiar.”
Li Xu parted ways with everyone downstairs by the dorm.
She had already told the counselor she would move out by tonight. The counselor promised to submit the application to the department, so she didn’t have to worry about anything.
The other three girls in the dorm were sad to hear she was leaving.
Li Xu came out of the bathroom, now wearing a simple T-shirt she usually wore.
While blow-drying her hair, she explained, “My relatives arranged this for me. Because of my studies, I’ll probably be staying up late often, and I don’t want to disturb you all in the dorm.”
“But it’s fine—we can still eat together anytime, and you can come find me whenever you want.”
Xie Tingting looked reluctant. “I thought we’d live together for four years.”
She stepped closer, resting her shoulder against Li Xu’s, her tone a bit downcast. “Feels like once you leave, you’ll be busy all day with academic stuff…”
Xu Zhi said, “Yeah, Xu Xu, we even saw your photos on the forum. You’re the only one from Class Z still training after half a month. Lots of people took pictures of you all alone, and many said you’re getting more and more beautiful.”
Chen Min looked at Li Xu and said, “Xu Xu really is getting prettier and thinner. At first, I thought your talk about losing weight was just typical girl talk, but now… wow, you really lost a lot.”
Everyone admired Li Xu’s discipline. She had slimmed down and become more beautiful. Knowing the details, the three girls in the dorm weren’t jealous at all.
She earned this—while they were exhausted, she still ran; while they drank milk tea, she drank water…
Even now, dressed in that simple, dull black T-shirt, she looked relaxed yet elegant.
It was probably intentionally oversized, giving off a cool vibe.
Her tall, upright figure and long neck, even when silent and looking at people, made even girls feel their hearts race.
Everyone thought this was probably how she was meant to look.
According to the system, she was less than twenty percent transformed.
If her genes were optimized to a hundred percent, she would be downright monstrous.
“Alright, don’t be sad.”
“Tonight’s on me. Let’s go eat out.”
At her words and faint smile, the three girls in the dorm stared at her in a daze.
Before leaving, Xie Tingting reminded Li Xu about the T-shirt.
She also recalled their previous chat, saying, “Didn’t he ask if you were safe? Let’s see what he says this time…”
Thinking about the possible encounter, Xie Tingting almost laughed.
But thinking that Li Xu wouldn’t be in the dorm after today made her want to cry. She leaned in and quietly asked, “Where will you live? If you rent a place, can I share it with you?”
Li Xu said, “No, I’m staying with relatives. It’s not very convenient for you to come over, but it’s fine—I said we can still meet often.”
Xie Tingting shook her head. “It just won’t be the same.”
Xie Tingting had never liked a female friend this much before; Li Xu was the first.
“By the way, when we voted for class officers today, I ran for class monitor too. The boy running against me said girls are too weak… it’s hard for us to carry stuff and all…”
Li Xu smiled and asked, “What did you do?”
Xie Tingting recalled the moment. Sitting in the audience listening to the boy speak, she found his words harsh.
Before, she would’ve said nothing or pretended not to care, because her mother had taught her to be a lady, to keep the right feminine demeanor.
But then she suddenly remembered how Li Xu had protected her at the milk tea shop.
After the boy finished, she stood up, grabbed a huge stack of textbooks from the desk, carried them to the podium, slammed them down in front of the boy, and said, “If it’s a competition, then fine, but do you have to be so sexist?”
The audience was stunned for a moment until Xu Zhi stood up and led the applause, “Well said! Why judge girls so harshly?”
Soon, thunderous clapping filled the room.
Afterward, Xie Tingting thought about how incredible her own actions had been.
In her eighteen years, she had never felt such inner strength and spirit before.
That spirit came from Li Xu; she understood that clearly.
So, Xie Tingting didn’t want Li Xu to leave because she feared she would revert to her old, mediocre, timid self once Li Xu was gone.
“Why did you do that?” Li Xu suddenly asked.
Without hesitation, Xie Tingting answered, “Because I want to be brave like you.”
“I want to be your friend; how can I be a coward?”
As she spoke, her sweet, charming face seemed to melt, revealing the fierce little warrior inside, eager to fight.
Li Xu paused for a moment, then grinned.
“That’s truly… wonderful.”
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