Jiang Ling and Lu Yuyao had made plans that morning to have lunch together.
In the cafeteria.
Each of them carried a meal tray as they found a random empty spot to sit down.
According to the original plot of the book, Lu Yuyao did not yet know that Fang Chenxi had also come to Tianying Middle School, and Jiang Ling naturally had no intention of taking the initiative to tell her.
The two chatted as they ate, speaking of the new things they had seen since starting at the school.
“Ugh, why don’t you guys have to do Military Training… we tenth graders still have to do it.”
Lu Yuyao’s delicate lips glistened with oil, her cheeks puffed out as she grumbled resentfully.
“It’s not so bad. All tenth graders have to do Military Training; I did it before too.”
Jiang Ling put a mouthful of rice into her mouth, swallowed, and added, “Besides, high school Military Training is short, only a few days.”
“How is that short! It’s a whole week! And I saw that the temperatures this week are going to be very high,” Lu Yuyao complained.
This was true.
Although autumn had begun, the temperatures for the coming week hovered around 32 degrees Celsius, with the lowest being 30.
Military Training in such heat would be an ordeal.
Even just sitting there eating felt stifling.
On Jiang Ling’s fair neck, sweat trickled down the lines of her skin, disappearing into the collar of her shirt and sliding into that deep cleavage.
Lu Yuyao’s eyes flickered.
She wanted to look away, but her gaze was unconsciously drawn back, her clean little face turning a flush pink.
“It’s okay. I’ll bring you water when the time comes,” Jiang Ling said with a smile, not noticing Lu Yuyao’s odd behavior.
“How will you bring it? Don’t you have classes?”
“I’ll go during the breaks. For my Eldest Young Lady, I’ll do anything.”
Jiang Ling patted her chest, sending a surge of movement through her front as she gave her guarantee.
Lu Yuyao rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was unstoppable.
“Then I’ll thank Maid Ling in advance.”
The two of them talked and laughed, completely unaware of the corner to their back right, where a heavy aura of resentment was brewing.
Fang Chenxi had been very happy.
She had seen her long-lost best friend, Lu Yuyao.
However, when the sight of the two girls getting along harmoniously fell into Fang Chenxi’s eyes, she became very unhappy.
Fang Chenxi touched her chest, where a sour, bitter feeling flooded her entire ribcage.
She wasn’t sure why she was so unhappy.
Was it because she was a character whose appearances were pre-arranged, living a planned life, or was it because she felt jealous seeing Lu Yuyao and Jiang Ling so close?
Fang Chenxi thought that two months would be enough time for her to digest everything.
She took a deep breath and clenched her fists again; she had still overestimated herself.
Losing her appetite, Fang Chenxi kept her eyes lowered and left her seat carrying her tray.
***
In the afternoon.
After the noon break.
Jiang Ling felt that something was wrong.
Fang Chenxi, who had been full of energy in the morning, was now unnaturally quiet, holding a book with an unknown title and reading it intently.
This period was still self-study.
The sound of chatting in the class hadn’t stopped, and the homeroom teacher hadn’t arrived.
People said she had gone to a meeting.
It was all just for show.
In her memory, Fang Chenxi was a single-cell organism interested only in sports.
As for reading books, Jiang Ling felt that Fang Chenxi must have been possessed.
Over the course of the morning, Jiang Ling had become somewhat familiar with the class, occasionally chatting with the students in front of and behind her to gather information about the school.
The girl sitting behind her with short hair shared some info with Jiang Ling in a low voice.
“Jiang Ling, since you and Fang Chenxi are transfer students, I should tell you that our school has a lot of clubs. You can go and check them out when the time comes.”
Club activities… high school still had clubs?
Jiang Ling remembered her own high school experience; it was nothing but studying and more studying, practically no different from a prison.
But then again, this was a novel world, so it was understandable.
“Can we eleventh graders participate too?”
Jiang Ling asked.
“Of course. The clubs don’t have grade requirements. As long as you can pass the club recruitment, you can go to whichever one you want.”
The short-haired girl added, “I joined the Sports Club in the tenth grade, but it was so boring. I’m planning to switch to a different club this semester.”
Jiang Ling rubbed her chin.
It sounded like these clubs didn’t serve a strictly formal purpose; they were likely just there to help students relieve stress and have some leisure time.
“So when is club recruitment?”
Jiang Ling turned back to ask, saying with a smile, “It sounds very interesting. I might go take a look.”
The short-haired girl blushed for some reason, her eyes darting away as she said, “Probably after this week ends. It was at this time last year.”
Jiang Ling nodded, not paying much mind to the girl’s strange reaction.
She was thinking that joining a club would be fine.
In the original book, being solely focused on preventing Fang Chenxi and Lu Yuyao from getting together, Jiang Ling had followed the two of them every day to cause trouble.
As a result, Fang Chenxi had found Jiang Ling more and more irritating, until things eventually reached a boiling point.
Jiang Ling wanted to join a club and stay invisible; that way, she could probably avoid getting dragged into the mess again.
The sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway.
The homeroom teacher was back.
Jiang Ling immediately sat up straight.
Fang Chenxi, who had been leaning to the side, also turned back.
Jiang Ling glanced at her sideways; the page number of the book was still the same one from before class started.
As expected, this girl hadn’t been reading seriously at all.
“Quiet.”
Teacher Xu came in holding a lesson plan, looking as though she had just come from a meeting.
She clapped her hands.
“Our textbooks have arrived. I’ll arrange for a few people to go and collect them now.”
Then she began assigning the tasks for picking up the books.
This was what class monitors were for.
Teacher Xu also picked out a few other boys to go with them.
Before long, stacks of brand-new books were brought into the classroom.
Fang Chenxi stood up and took the initiative to help the teacher distribute the books.
Language, Math, English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics.
Jiang Ling was a typical science student.
She didn’t know about the original Jiang Ling in the book, but perhaps she had chosen science just to be closer to Lu Yuyao.
The pungent scent of printed paper filled her nose.
Jiang Ling wrinkled her nose but still felt quite nostalgic.
After entering university, the books they were given were usually shoved into dorm lockers, only to be taken out for a few glances during the final days of the semester.
Touching the crisp new textbooks again now, Jiang Ling felt a wave of emotion.
Fang Chenxi felt the same way.
Her phoenix-like eyes were dazed for a moment before she snapped back to clarity.
Falling into memories would only bring her pain.
Right now, there were more important things than wallowing in misery.
***
After the first day of school ended.
Jiang Ling had become somewhat famous in the school.
Because of that head of blonde hair.
Even though this was a novel world where nothing was truly bizarre, the rules of Tianhua Middle School explicitly stated that dyeing one’s hair was not allowed.
People who saw Jiang Ling gossiped privately about the beautiful blonde transfer student who had arrived.
Many were also concerned that she could ignore the school rules and regulations; it was possible her family had a lot of influence…
The same applied to Lu Yuyao and Fang Chenxi.
Even if they didn’t have the same level of buzz as Jiang Ling’s blonde hair, the two extremely beautiful girls still captured many hearts on the first day.
Including those of the girls.
Jiang Ling suddenly realized that in this world, and in this school, the ratio of girls interested in other girls seemed to be very high.
Because.
Standing in front of the classroom locker with the door open, Jiang Ling stared expressionlessly at a beautifully wrapped pink love letter resting on top of her bag.
It was covered in many cute bear stickers and emoticons.
It was undoubtedly from a girl.