Lu Yu took the girl to the classroom.
Ms. Zhang had already seen the girl's profile beforehand. As soon as the two entered the door, she recognized her. "Are you the new transfer student, Yan Zhuxi?"
Yan Zhuxi bowed politely. "Hello, teacher. I am Yan Zhuxi."
So her name was Yan Zhuxi.
Lu Yu silently repeated the name in his mind and returned to his seat.
Ms. Zhang pulled Yan Zhuxi inside. "I have an announcement to make. This semester, a new student has transferred to our class. I hope everyone will get along well and help each other out. Yan Zhuxi, please introduce yourself."
Yan Zhuxi's self-introduction was very simple. "Hello everyone, my name is Yan Zhuxi. It's nice to meet you all."
Next, it was time to arrange a seat for the new student.
Ms. Zhang scanned the room, looking a bit troubled.
There were forty students in their class. With eight people per row, it made exactly five rows. With the arrival of the transfer student, a sixth row was inevitable, and it would be a row with just one person.
It wouldn't be very appropriate to make anyone sit alone in the last row.
After thinking for a moment, Ms. Zhang said, "Yan Zhuxi, if you aren't nearsighted, how about you sit in the last row for now? I will rearrange the seating in a while."
"Thank you, teacher. I'm not nearsighted."
"Alright then. Class monitor, please help move this desk over there."
The class monitor, Gao Minglong, carried the desk and chair and placed them directly on the innermost side.
Yan Zhuxi sat down and began to organize her backpack.
"I can't believe the teacher arranged for the new student to sit in the last row. I really didn't expect that."
"It makes sense, I guess. After all, it's our senior year. Nobody wants to sit that far back."
The whispers from the students in the front row were quiet, but Lu Yu still heard them.
He glanced back. Yan Zhuxi was organizing her textbooks.
"Am I blocking your view?" Lu Yu asked.
Yan Zhuxi looked up. "Hmm? What view?"
Lu Yu pointed to himself. "I'm quite tall. Since you're sitting behind me, is it hard for you to see the blackboard?"
Yan Zhuxi glanced toward the podium. If Lu Yu sat up straight normally, it indeed would be a bit inconvenient for her to see the blackboard.
However, she just smiled. "It's fine. I can see."
Lu Yu didn't say anything else.
But the next morning, after class, Ms. Zhang suddenly called out to her, asking her to swap seats with Lu Yu.
Yan Zhuxi quickly shook her head. "There's no need, teacher. I'm fine sitting there." Her childhood experiences made her dislike owing favors or causing trouble for others.
Ms. Zhang smiled. "Just swap. Lu Yu asked for it himself. He was worried that he's too tall and might block your view of the blackboard."
Yan Zhuxi looked up and glanced over. Lu Yu was looking down, working on some exercises. Even from a distance, she could feel the sense of detachment radiating from him.
Yan Zhuxi's first impression of him was that he was aloof and distant. She hadn't expected him to be such a thoughtful person.
Yan Zhuxi thanked Ms. Zhang and stepped down from the podium.
Lu Yu knew what it was about the moment Ms. Zhang called Yan Zhuxi over. Therefore, as soon as Yan Zhuxi returned, he started moving his desk.
"Lu Yu, thank you," Yan Zhuxi said, her eyes curving into a smile.
Lu Yu looked up and met her eyes, then quickly looked away, muttering softly, "It's nothing."
Class One had relatively few girls, only thirteen in total.
Yan Zhuxi was pretty and had a great personality, so she quickly became friends with the girls in the class.
During the long break at noon, the outdoor exercises were canceled due to the rain, so a few girls in the class gathered together to chat.
The teenage girls' topics mostly revolved around grades, celebrities, and gossip. As they chatted, the conversation naturally drifted to the boys in the school.
Girl A mysteriously beckoned to everyone. "Hey, did you guys hear the gossip from a few days ago? A freshman girl cornered our school heartthrob at the restroom door to confess her feelings. She even said that if he didn't go out with her, she would wait at the men's restroom door every day to block him."
"And then? What happened next? How did the school heartthrob handle it?" Student B was extremely curious.
Student A replied, "The school heartthrob told the girl to run faster after class. After all, there are so many men's restrooms in the school, and he wasn't sure which one he would use."
Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this. "And then? Did the girl just give up?"
"The girl burst into tears right then and there, and said—"
Student A pinched her throat, mimicking the girl perfectly. "How could you treat me like this! If you hadn't been so dazzling at the opening ceremony, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you at first sight. If you don't like me, why did you give that speech in the first place? Why did you let me see how handsome you are?"
The group erupted into another fit of laughter.
Yan Zhuxi curled her lips into a smile. "That girl is too cute. Is that school heartthrob really that handsome?"
"You still don't know who the school heartthrob is? Oh, I forgot you weren't at the opening ceremony." Student A immediately pulled out her phone. "Good thing I took a video that day."
Yan Zhuxi leaned over and said in surprise, "It's Lu Yu?"
"Of course." Student B looked proud, as if sharing in the glory. "Lu Yu isn't just the school heartthrob; he's also a top scholar. The kind who ranks first in the grade every single time."
"That's why the student representative at the opening ceremony every year is Lu Yu." Just as Student A finished speaking, a clear sneer suddenly came from the side.
The girls turned around and realized it was Li Xincheng.
"You're wrong. Every grade has a number one student, so why is Lu Yu the only one who gets to be the student representative year after year?" Li Xincheng's eyes carried a hint of contempt. "It's not because his grades are good, but because his family is rich."
Lu Yu and Zheng Binyang walked in just in time to hear this remark.
Zheng Binyang, with his hot temper, immediately rolled up his sleeves. "You little..."
But Lu Yu held him back from behind.
Zheng Binyang was furious. "Don't hold me back, Lu Yu. I've been sick of him for a long time. He's badmouthed you openly and secretly so many times, and he even falsely accused you of stealing his earphones before."
"It's not worth getting physical with him." Lu Yu was angry too, but just then, he remembered the words Shu Qingqing had said to him before.
He stepped past Zheng Binyang and stood in front of Li Xincheng. "In this world, no one can choose their background, which is exactly why one should seize every opportunity to turn the tables against the wind. Since you think I'm not fit to be the student representative, why don't you score higher and snatch my first-place rank?"
Student A chimed in softly, "Yeah, why don't you score a few more points? Why are you always losing to Lu Yu year after year?"
Student B followed suit, "Exactly. Plus, Lu Yu beat you by a full thirty-one points on the last final exam. How do you even have the nerve to say these things?"
Li Xincheng choked on his words, unable to retort, his face turning bright red.
"Also." Lu Yu took a half-step away before suddenly turning back. "Not only is my family rich, but I can also make money based on my own abilities."
Li Xincheng seemed to suddenly find a point of rebuttal. "What abilities do you have to make money?"
Zheng Binyang was just about to say that Lu Yu had helped his mom buy tens of millions worth of goods over the summer vacation, but then he saw Lu Yu give a slight smile—
"Tomorrow morning during the long break, I can let you witness my money-making abilities with your own eyes."
