Friday arrived in the blink of an eye, and the basic laboratory course specifically designed for the liberal arts departments began as scheduled.
Xu Yinian was still in a daze after seeing the notification about the Shen Group scholarship in the self-study room the previous night. She had initially spiraled into a mix of self-consciousness and embarrassment, wondering if this was Shen Ruoshuang’s doing behind the scenes.
However, before she could even draft a reply, she received a call from a staff member offering a sincere apology for the “error.” The gentle voice on the other end invited her to the ceremony with such warmth that it struck Xu Yinian’s softest spot. She felt both overwhelmed and moved, finding it impossible to decline such hospitality.
When she recalled the strained, almost fire-and-water relationship between Shen Ruoshuang and Shen Yi, her logic returned. Even if Shen Ruoshuang wanted to help her, there was no way she would turn to her mother’s company for a favor.
Thinking about how much effort the staff had put into her case, Xu Yinian decided that whether she accepted the aid or not, she should at least attend the ceremony to thank them for their kindness.
Even so, she felt a prickle of shame regarding the fact that she had applied for a scholarship from Shen Ruoshuang’s family in the first place. She didn’t want her roommates—whose family backgrounds were worlds apart from her own—to know about her attendance at Saturday’s ceremony.
As it happened, Sister Ran, the person she spent the most time with, had taken a temporary leave of absence to deal with a family emergency. Xu Yinian didn’t forget to send her a message on WeChat, but Sister Ran didn’t reply until late at night—a rare occurrence. Sensing that she was extremely busy, Xu Yinian didn’t dare disturb her further.
Shen Ruoshuang had become even busier as well. For the past two days, she had only returned to the dorm right as the curfew was about to start. Xu Yinian naively assumed this was simply the result of a genius’s natural diligence and self-discipline. She had no idea that a dark tide was surging all around her, and that the world was about to change.
She was the only one kept in the dark, shielded by everyone’s silent, collective agreement at the very center of the storm.
Inside the laboratory, while everyone else was excitedly making a fuss and poking at the equipment, Xu Yinian quietly flipped through the day’s experimental manual.
These were all familiar, fundamental chemistry experiments. It was rare to find a science student like Xu Yinian in the Chinese Literature Department; most of her peers hadn’t touched physics or chemistry experiments since high school, so their curiosity was only natural.
From a distance, she heard the class monitor—a fellow former science student—showing off. “These are just high school level experiments. You could do them with one hand tied behind your back.”
Xu Yinian said nothing. As usual, she kept her presence minimal, never seeking the spotlight. No one knew that she had earned a perfect score in Chemistry on her college entrance exam.
It wasn’t because of innate talent. It was because she had once heard that the person whose name dominated the gold medal lists for national math and chemistry competitions had chosen the Chemistry Department… It was a small, lingering obsession.
Suddenly, a wave of surprised murmurs broke out at the front of the room.
“Shen Ruoshuang?!”
Along with that familiar name, a figure Xu Yinian never expected to see here suddenly entered her vision.
Clad in a white lab coat, her features were as delicate as a mist-shrouded painting. Her long dark hair was pulled up—a rare sight—revealing a small, eye-catching patch of her cool, white nape. She exuded an air of refined, distant elegance.
Even though it was the same standard lab coat everyone else wore, it looked impeccably crisp and straight on her, buttoned strictly to the very last notch. A mask covered the lower half of her face, making her expression appear even more detached and intensely rational.
“These are basic experiments for those who just finished high school. We went through a lot of trouble to borrow a freshman from the Chemistry Department’s Zhiyuan Honors Class to serve as your Teaching Assistant,” the instructor said with a smile, clearly aware of the weight of Shen Ruoshuang’s charm.
“Shen Ruoshuang. I’ll be the Teaching Assistant for today’s lab,” she introduced herself coolly.
The moment the thought of her being “unreachable” crossed Xu Yinian’s mind, those Peach-blossom Eyes locked onto her with unerring accuracy.
In the split second their gazes met, the ice in the high-altitude flower’s eyes shattered and melted instantly. It was a look of tenderness reserved solely for Xu Yinian.
Though she couldn’t see Shen Ruoshuang’s full expression, the downward curve of her eyes and the faint appearance of her aegyo-sal betrayed a softening, drowning smile.
She was supposed to be the moon in the water, the flower in the mirror—utterly untouchable. Who could have imagined that the moon would come chasing after her?
Xu Yinian’s mask hid the crimson flush of her embarrassment, leaving only her shimmering eyes to curve into a secret, shy smile. Unseen by anyone else, the mere entanglement of their gazes allowed a wild, feverish intimacy to grow.
“I need to select a lab representative to assist the TA. This will count toward your final grade as extra credit. It requires a solid foundation in the subject. To be fair, I’ve simply chosen the science student in your class with the highest chemistry score from the entrance exams.”
As soon as the teacher spoke, everyone’s eyes drifted toward the class monitor. A chorus of teasing broke out; after all, he had just been bragging. The other boys slapped his shoulder, hinting at his lucky chance to work with Goddess Shuang.
The class monitor didn’t decline, either. He waited with a smile for his name to be called.
Then, the smile froze on his face.
“Which one of you is Xu Yinian?”
“A perfect score in Chemistry… I’m surprised you didn’t join us in the Chemistry Department.”
Xu Yinian stood up in a daze, feeling the weight of stunned gazes landing on her from all directions.
“Holy crap, Xu Yinian was a hidden boss? A science student with a perfect score!”
“Look at that guy’s face, it’s turning green! Haha, I was already sick of him acting like a big shot.”
“Serves him right! Didn’t he try to give Classmate Xu a hard time in front of everyone last time?”
In the few months since school started, plenty of people had grown annoyed with the class monitor and were more than happy to see him humbled.
Hearing this, the panic that had flared up when Xu Yinian was called upon began to settle.
![The Villain Is The True Beauty [Quick Transmigration]](https://i0.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/quick-tr.png?resize=151,215 "The Villain Is The True Beauty [Quick Transmigration]")
![The Other Shore [Criminal Investigation]](https://i2.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sh.jpg?resize=151,215 "The Other Shore [Criminal Investigation]")