After the incident, Ji Nian found out that the gentleman whose shoes had been soaked in golden water was the new Chinese teacher.
After Chen Mo left, their class's Chinese lessons had been handled by substitute teachers.
Now, they had finally found a suitable candidate, but who could have guessed that on his very first day, he would literally step in shit?
"Students, from now on, I will be teaching Chinese for Class One. My surname is Li, and I hope we can get along well," said Teacher Li, standing on the podium. Having changed his lower attire, his face was no longer twisted from the earlier ordeal and instead looked quite amiable.
Ji Nian's spicy strip-loving deskmate leaned over and whispered, "This teacher seems nice. He's not as good-looking as Teacher Mo, but he feels more approachable."
Teacher Mo's niece shot him a sideways glance. "Nice use of a four-character idiom."
Unaware of the sarcasm, the deskmate chuckled.
Given that this was S Elementary, the teaching standards were naturally high. Ji Nian noticed the principal and a few others entering from the back door to observe the class, but Teacher Li showed no sign of nervousness.
However, she couldn't shake the feeling that Teacher Li's gaze occasionally drifted toward her.
But Ji Nian was preoccupied with her proposal and didn't pay much attention to it.
After class, Gu Xiuyuan came to find Ji Nian.
"Is Shen Qingtang still not back?"
Glancing at Shen Qingtang's empty seat, Gu Xiuyuan asked.
Ji Nian shook her head. "Not yet. It'll probably be a few more days."
Gu Xiuyuan thought to himself that she was taking her time. He had recently learned a few new moves and was sure he could beat her in a game.
Then his eyes scanned the room and landed on the short figure sitting at the back.
Perhaps because he had found a goal, He Xiang no longer had that aimless, floating aura about him. He was almost always holding a book, even during class, clutching a self-made vocabulary notebook.
He Xiang excelled in all subjects except English. Most students in their class had grown up in an English-speaking environment, making it almost a second native language for them.
Catching up in such a short time was no small challenge.
Seeing him looking at He Xiang, Ji Nian asked, "How much did you get for those bottles?"
When she had entered the classroom earlier that day, she had noticed a box of Wangzai Milk on her desk.
At first, she thought it was from Yang Xinyu and his gang, but upon reflection, it didn't add up. The date didn't match, and it was just one box, unlike their usual habit of stuffing her desk full.
Since she had arrived early, the only other person in the classroom was He Xiang.
When Ji Nian asked him, he admitted it.
He had bought it.
He Xiang didn't know what was good to drink, so he had simply asked the shopkeeper for a recommendation and ended up with this.
Five yuan. He had gritted his teeth and bought it.
He decided to skip breakfast, pack some rice from the cafeteria for lunch, and eat it with pickled radish for dinner. His grandmother hadn't been eating much lately, so he could finish her leftovers.
The boy, unaware that he was being supported, thought this way.
Ji Nian, being mature on the inside, completely saw through his slight embarrassment and didn't press further. She simply said, "Thank you."
Gu Xiuyuan spat out a number, and from his expression, it was clear he thought it was too little.
"That's not bad," Ji Nian said, thinking it was about what she had expected. She had been right to ask Gu Xiuyuan for help.
The young master, with his noble demeanor, looked like someone not to be trifled with. The people at the recycling station wouldn't dare to cheat He Xiang.
"I need your help with something. What do you want to eat? My treat," Ji Nian said.
Gu Xiuyuan wrinkled his nose. "More bottles?"
Ji Nian waved her hand. "No."
Then she pulled him to a more secluded spot in the hallway.
Seeing Ji Nian acting so mysteriously, Gu Xiuyuan's face turned slightly red.
"...Can't you wait until we get home? Does it have to be here?" he mumbled.
The two of them were so close that if Gu Xiuyuan so much as twitched, Ji Nian would know what color his... well, you get the idea.
She pinched his cheek, leaving a red mark on his face.
"Can you think of something normal for once? How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not interested in your little friend."
In this school, the only one bold enough to pinch Gu Xiuyuan's cheek was Ji Nian.
Shen Qingtang didn't count—she preferred using a ball. She might look sweet and innocent, but when it came to sports, she was downright brutal. Every time, Gu Xiuyuan felt like the gentle girl he had met at a banquet two years ago had been possessed by a demon.
"Hmph," Gu Xiuyuan snorted, clearly not believing her.
He looked exactly like the male lead in a rebirth novel who refuses to believe the female lead when she says she no longer loves him.
"Let me show you something," Ji Nian said, pulling out her notebook from her bag.
S Elementary allowed students to bring electronic devices. In fact, students were even allowed to use their phones to take pictures of the lesson content during class.
Ji Nian had brought her laptop today because she needed to work on her proposal.
Seeing Ji Nian crouch down, Gu Xiuyuan peeked at the screen.
"Huh? Are you working on a proposal?"
Having been groomed as a corporate successor from a young age, Gu Xiuyuan had been learning these things alongside his ABCs.
So he could immediately tell what Ji Nian was up to.
[As expected of the male lead.]
There was a reason Ji Nian got along so well with Shen Qingtang and Gu Xiuyuan.
With their protagonist auras, even in their younger years, the two main characters displayed a maturity far beyond their peers, sparing Ji Nian the feeling of babysitting.
"Yeah, it's just a rough framework," Ji Nian said.
Since she was showing it to Gu Xiuyuan, she had blurred out the part about the antidote, replacing it with code names.
Gu Xiuyuan didn't overthink it. If Ji Tingzhou wasn't planning to have any more children, then Ji Nian would naturally be the heir. He assumed this was an assignment Ji Tingzhou had given her, much like his own father did.
"Here..."
His small finger pointed at the screen, quickly identifying a mistake Ji Nian hadn't noticed.
Previously, Ji Nian had only observed others doing this kind of work. This was her first time doing it herself. Ji Tingzhou thought she was smart, but in reality, she was just relying on her mature soul and strong learning ability to barely manage under Zuo Yi's guidance.
She was still a novice, nowhere near as skilled as Gu Xiuyuan, the real prodigy.
The two kids crouched in the hallway, chattering away in front of the laptop screen. If an adult had walked by, they might have found the scene amusing at first glance.
But once they understood what the kids were discussing, they probably wouldn't be laughing anymore.
It's not advisable for kids to know this kind of stuff—it might hurt the adults' pride.
After their discussion, Gu Xiuyuan's gaze toward Ji Nian had changed.
There was a sense of joy in finding a kindred spirit.
Ji Nian also felt a sense of camaraderie. The princess was too domineering, and Zuo Yi was too obedient. While they occasionally offered guidance, it always came with a sense of reverence. But discussing things with a peer felt entirely different.
Gu Xiuyuan even shared some of his own little tricks for handling data, giving Ji Nian new ideas.
[System: Now you're calling him a peer?]
By the time they stood up, both of their legs had gone numb.
They moved like old men, leaning against the wall and shuffling slowly.
The two kids looked at each other, grinning at each other's awkward movements.
Once they had recovered and stepped out of the hallway, the two who had been laughing with their teeth on display now wore serious expressions—one stern, the other aloof.
"I'm heading back to class."
"I'll come to you if I have more questions."
Gu Xiuyuan nodded with dignity, then sternly told a group of students running down the hall to stop running.
The kids, upon seeing the second-grade student council president, immediately fell silent.
Ji Nian returned to the classroom and had just sat down when she felt thirsty. As she reached for her water bottle, she suddenly paused.
[What's wrong?] Sensing the coldness in her eyes, the system asked.
[Someone's touched my bottle.]
