It was already past nine, but not everyone had arrived yet.
Every few minutes, hurried figures would flash past in the corridor.
Since all the boys were already there, the trio could sit comfortably on the left side, devoting their full attention to scrutinizing each fashionably late girl classmate.
Of course, Shen An had no interest in that. He sat lost in thought, Yang Bin’s earlier intel swirling in his mind.
Yang Bin was undoubtedly the most enthusiastic of the trio about “checking out the girls.” With every new arrival, he would naturally assign a “score.”
“This one’s about sixty points, but the girl next to her is decent—just a bit chubby. If she slimmed down, she’d probably hit seventy.”
“Wow, this one’s seventy-five! Nice figure too, but she’s a little dark-skinned. What a shame.”
Shen An and Li Yun listened to Yang Bin’s nonstop commentary, exchanging helpless glances. They could both see the exasperation on each other’s faces.
The two of them were immensely grateful that all the girls who had arrived so far were sitting on the right side, with a good distance between them.
If the girls had been sitting any closer, they genuinely feared Yang Bin might spark a classroom revolt on the spot.
Gradually, every seat on the right side filled up. Some empty spots remained, but they served as “natural barriers” between different dorms.
For instance, two or three seats in the middle of a row might be empty, with both sides packed. No normal person would squeeze in there.
So the girls who arrived later had no choice but to sit on the boys’ side.
Naturally, they kept a cautious distance from the boys. Even an accidental glance would be met with a polite smile.
With the boys’ trio at the center, the surrounding empty seats seemed cursed—no one wanted to come near.
Yang Bin, however, had clammed up the moment girls started choosing the left side. His scoring routine vanished; he sat with his mouth shut tight.
Seeing this, Shen An nudged his arm. “Why’d you stop?”
Li Yun chimed in with a smirk of disdain. “Yeah, what’s up?”
Yang Bin ducked his head, a bit embarrassed. “Doesn’t feel right if they overhear. We’re classmates—we’ve got to get along for four years.”
“Tsk tsk. So you’re a coward too, huh?”
Li Yun finally had his chance to land a solid jab. That little “too” hung in the air.
Well, Shen An wasn’t about to weigh in.
Slowly, the classroom filled to the brim. A quick count showed they were nearly all there.
Just then, four girls hurried down the corridor, their faces flushed with haste. One of them was muttering something nonstop, but they were too far away for Shen An to make out the words.
The four entered the classroom and instinctively glanced at the podium. Seeing it empty, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
They paused, chatting among themselves as they scanned for seats.
Shen An’s gaze swept over the four girls, landing on the last one in line.
These four were all stunning. If ranked by dorm, theirs had the highest average looks by far.
The girl Shen An fixated on didn’t stand out at first glance among them.
But she had a unique charm. The longer you looked, the more extraordinary she seemed.
She was like a cask of vintage wine, aged for decades in some forgotten cellar—unassuming at first, yet radiating an inexplicable resilience.
Just then, the girl noticed Shen An staring.
Meeting his calm gaze, she flushed with shyness and quickly looked down, at a loss for what to do.
“Hey! Hey!”
Yang Bin slapped Shen An’s thigh under the desk, yanking his attention back.
Shen An turned to him with a puzzled frown. “Huh?”
“Did you see them?”
“Huh?”
“These four! The ones who just came in.” Yang Bin’s eyes were huge, practically bulging.
“Uh, yeah. What about it?”
“Did you see the one in front?”
“The one in front?” Shen An’s initial sweep had drawn his focus to the last girl.
Urged on by Yang Bin, he looked again, zeroing in on the leader.
Huh?
Even Shen An was a little surprised.
The girl in front was gorgeous. Her beauty wasn’t the typical fresh-faced kind. Instead of youthful vibrance, she exuded a poised, elegant grace.
If he had to score her, she’d rank among the highest he’d seen in this world—above Chen Nannan, but just below Zhao Qingyu, Xu Yijing, and that girl he’d saved from jumping.
On closer inspection, though, the gap was negligible. She was in the same league as Zhao Qingyu.
Even more striking was her height—tall and statuesque, easily five-foot-eleven or so. Among girls, she stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens.
Especially those long, fair legs peeking from under her black skirt—like a pair of spears planted firmly on the ground. Straight, perfectly proportioned, neither too thick nor too thin.
“Who knew our class was full of hidden talents!”
Yang Bin stared intently at the girl in front, sighing in awe. “I thought Shen Lianyao was our class beauty, but this one’s the real deal! Tall and stunning.”
“Look at those legs… I’d let her kick me to death happily!”
Shen An chuckled and shot him a sidelong glance. “Love at first sight again?”
Yang Bin snapped to attention, sitting ramrod straight. His lips didn’t move, but a whisper escaped. “Heads up—they’re heading our way!”
Shen An raised an eyebrow. He noticed even Li Yun—who usually ignored girl talk—straightening up unconsciously.
So many beautiful girls…
Shen An felt a touch of emotion. It wasn’t that he was interested; it just struck him as odd.
Ever since arriving in this world, most of the people he’d dealt with were girls.
And the System’s missions? Almost all from female clients.
Did this System have a gender filter? Only healing women?
If so, maybe his arrival here wasn’t pure coincidence…
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”
A clear, crisp voice rang out. The girl from the front had approached, pointing to the empty seats on the other side of the trio.
Her eyes were on Shen An, so she was addressing him.
Shen An was still deep in thought and didn’t react right away.
Yang Bin elbowed him, then flashed what he thought was his brightest smile. “No, no one’s sitting there!”
The girl smiled faintly. “Thanks.”
With that, she led the other three girls to sit down.
Only three empty seats separated the four girls from the three boys.
And the one closest to the most beautiful girl? None other than Yang Bin, crammed against the wall!
His heart pounded like a drum. Time and space seemed to freeze, leaving him rooted in place.
A faint whimper escaped him. Shen An looked surprised.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I… I’m a little nervous,” Yang Bin admitted, turning sideways. His face mixed uncontrollable excitement with indescribable thrill.
“Her smile… it’s so pretty. Did you see? She smiled at me!”
He kept his voice to a hush, terrified of being overheard.
Shen An patted his cheek. “It was just a polite smile.”
“Nooo, it wasn’t like that!”
Yang Bin’s face fell, refusing to accept it.
“By the way, I’m Wang Yuqiong. What’s your name?”
As Yang Bin’s heart twisted in agony, trapped with no escape, the girl’s pleasant voice sounded again.
He jolted and whipped around, beaming. “Yang Bin! The ‘Bin’ from ‘scholarly and martial prowess’!”
His reaction was so over-the-top that his voice came out shrill, echoing through the entire classroom.
The girls on the right, who had been chatting among themselves, froze and turned to stare at Yang Bin.
Even Wang Yuqiong jumped a little, forcing a dry laugh. “Yang Bin, huh? Nice to meet you.”
“Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too…”
Yang Bin felt every eye in the room on him. Far from thrilled, he wished for a ten-meter-deep hole to crawl into.
Li Yun drawled sarcastically, “She was asking Shen An. Why’d you jump in so eagerly?”
Thud.
Real damage—the truest kind.
That ten-meter pit needed to be a hundred meters deep now. Yang Bin’s already strained smile froze solid.
Only then did he realize Wang Yuqiong’s eyes had been on Shen An, not him.
Wang Yuqiong hurried to smooth things over. “No, no, we’re all classmates. Right, what’s your name?”
Her smile packed a punch. Li Yun averted his gaze, mumbling, “Li Yun. The ‘Yun’ from ‘fortune.'”
“Oh, got it. Li Yun.”
Wang Yuqiong nodded, then turned to Shen An. “So you’re Shen An, right?”
Shen An nodded calmly. “Are these all your dormmates?”
“Yep!”
Wang Yuqiong shifted aside a bit, and the other three girls beside her chimed in with greetings.
“Zhang Tong.”
“Li Li.”
“Song Rui.”
Song Rui?
The girl who had been last in line was now on the outer seat. Song Rui—fitting name. “Rui” evoked tender grass: unassuming, yet resilient.
Suddenly, it clicked for Shen An. He’d seen that name somewhere before.
Yes! While handling documents at the Academic Affairs Office, he had been the one responsible for hers.
It was like a key unlocking a chain of memories, one after another—reminders of the documents belonging to Shen Lianyao, Wang Yuqiong, Zhang Tong, and Li Li.
Then, a comical and shrill ringtone blared out abruptly.
The entire classroom fell silent once more, and this time, every pair of eyes turned toward Shen An.
Shen An clutched his pocket tightly, keeping a calm expression on his face. “It’s my alarm clock. Seems like my alarm went off.”
Wang Yuqiong looked surprised at his words, though she couldn’t quite hide her amusement. In a soft voice, she said, “Your ringtone is pretty unique.”
“I like unique things.”
Shen An gave a faint smile, inwardly wishing once again that he could toss the Pink Brick Phone away.
But beyond that impulse, he felt a spark of curiosity too.
Had a new mission been issued?
Why would a new mission drop out of nowhere like this?
Or maybe it was some other update?
Under Wang Yuqiong’s watchful gaze, though, Shen An didn’t feel like he could pull out his phone.
“Are you planning to run for office later?” Wang Yuqiong asked.
“Hm?”
“You know, for the class cadre positions. The first class meeting is for electing this semester’s officers. Didn’t you see the message Senior Sister Nannan posted in the group chat?”
Wang Yuqiong blinked her bright eyes. Her smile and voice carried the warmth of a spring breeze and gentle rain in April.
“Oh, I haven’t joined the group yet,” Shen An said lightly.
“Besides, I’m not really interested.”
“I see. Well, could you vote for me later, then?”
Wang Yuqiong gazed at Shen An with expectation, her look carrying an almost magical pull that made it hard to say no.
Before Shen An could respond, Yang Bin nodded eagerly. “Of course, of course! I’ll vote for you. What position are you running for?”
Wang Yuqiong replied softly, “I’m thinking of running for class president. Not sure if I’ll win, though—a lot of classmates want that spot too.”
“Class president… Class president sounds great~ I was planning to run for it myself, but since you’re interested, Classmate Wang, I won’t compete with you.”
Yang Bin perked up at the chance, eager to build rapport with Wang Yuqiong.
His usual overexcitement seemed tempered for once, allowing him to converse with the girl more normally.
With Yang Bin handling Wang Yuqiong, Shen An rose to his feet, intending to slip to the bathroom and check whatever message the System had sent.
Nearby, Li Yun watched Yang Bin’s enthusiasm and muttered to himself inwardly.
“What’s the point of trying so hard? To others, it’s just an eyesore no matter what.”
Li Yun could tell from the start that Wang Yuqiong had only wanted to talk to Shen An.
Her eyes had been fixed on him the whole time.
So he had the good sense not to interfere.
Wang Yuqiong glanced at the rising Shen An, a flicker of dissatisfaction crossing her eyes. But when she turned back to Yang Bin, her expression softened once more into that warm and gentle demeanor.
Shen An ignored her little look and instead turned his gaze to Song Rui, who sat on the outermost edge.
Was it because of her?
Shen An recalled that the System’s prompt had chimed right after her self-introduction.
Song Rui had been staring obediently at her phone when she suddenly sensed his gaze. Confusion and surprise flickered across her face.
She ducked her head again, avoiding eye contact with him.
At the doorway, Chen Nannan had finally finished touching up her makeup and ran straight into Shen An.
Shen An was still lost in thought about the System, so he didn’t notice Chen Nannan right in front of him.
Smack.
They collided head-on, and Chen Nannan nearly tumbled over.
What saved her from falling was Shen An’s lightning-quick reaction. The instant he heard her startled cry, he shot out a hand, grasped her small one, and yanked her back from the edge.
It felt just like the drop on a roller coaster. Chen Nannan blinked in a daze at Shen An, her naive, adorable expression utterly endearing.
The whole class witnessed the scene.
Resisting the urge to pinch her cheek, Shen An cleared his throat lightly. “Senior Sister, you’re so slow.”
Chen Nannan snapped out of it and frowned at once. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“The bathroom.”
“You’re not going anywhere—the meeting’s starting!”
“Nature calls~”
“Just hold it—the meeting comes first~”
Chen Nannan wheedled a little, then pressed a hand to his waist and pushed him back inside.
Shen An grumbled under his breath in protest. Chen Nannan overheard, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
This kid~
But she held off on dealing with him for the moment. By the time Shen An had returned to his seat, Chen Nannan had already mounted the podium.
She clapped her hands, and the class fell quiet.
“Good morning, everyone~”
“We’ve already met once before. Let me reintroduce myself—I’m your assistant class supervisor, Chen Nannan, from second-year Class 1.”
“And this class meeting is the first official gathering for first-year Class 1. I hope you all take the chance to get to know one another and get comfortable.”
“You’re going to be together for the next four years, so make sure you get along.”
Chen Nannan turned to the blackboard and wrote down several phone numbers. “This one’s my number. Call me anytime if something comes up.”
“This is the academic counselor’s number. They had something urgent today and couldn’t make it.”
“And the last one’s for the Academic Affairs Office—you’ll figure out what it’s for when the time comes.”
She turned back with a bright smile. “Any questions?”
Everyone below shook their heads.
“Great! Now, please reseat yourselves by student number. You’re way too scattered like this!!”
