Quan Zhisui arrived late to school at 7:50am as a matter of course.
7:30am was reading time, and by now most students were already seated in the classrooms, with only a handful of stragglers racing through the school gates.
Students who strolled in late as casually as Quan Zhisui were a rare sight, and she drew several curious glances.
Kong Mingze was one of them.
"Hey! Which class are you in?" Kong Mingze was too curious not to double back and ask after jogging several meters.
Quan Zhisui answered honestly: "I don't know."
"Huh?" Kong Mingze was stunned. He looked her up and down: "Haven't seen you before, new first-year?"
Quan Zhisui: "Second year, transfer student. It's my first day."
Kong Mingze glanced behind her: "It's your first day transferring and you came alone? Did you finish the paperwork? Bring your stuff?"
Quan Zhisui nodded: "Mhm, brought it. Excuse me, who should I go see?"
She was truly lost. Her family didn't care at all.
"Then you've found the right person!" Kong Mingze lifted his chin. "I'm a second-year too. Come on, I'll take you to process the paperwork."
It was perfect timing since he was late too. Helping a transfer student with paperwork would be a great excuse to avoid a scolding from the homeroom teacher.
And so, Quan Zhisui smoothly arrived at the head teacher's office.
"Reporting in!" Kong Mingze yelled loudly.
There were two people in the office. Zhang Li was speaking with a student and both looked over when they heard the shout.
Kong Mingze blinked wildly and pulled faces at the student, seeming close.
Wei Shixu's first impression of Quan Zhisui was that she looked tiny and scrawny standing next to the tall Kong Mingze, easy to overlook.
When Quan Zhisui first saw Wei Shixu, her reaction was to frown, even subconsciously taking half a step back.
What a dangerous person!
Now she understood the meaning of 'smiling on the outside while scheming on the inside'.
The corners of his mouth were tilted in a smile, but if you covered the lower half of his face and just looked at his eyes, you would see he wasn't smiling at all. Instead, he looked at people, at everyone, with a cold, even sinister gaze.
But it had to be said, his looks were outstanding enough to be impossible to ignore.
Even knowing he was dangerous, Quan Zhisui couldn't tear her eyes from his face.
Kong Mingze leaned in and whispered: "Handsome, right? His name is Wei Shixu, the school prince."
Zhang Li first glared at Kong Mingze, then gently nodded at Wei Shixu: "You can head back to class first."
"Alright."
Wei Shixu's cold voice rang out. As he walked past Kong Mingze and Quan Zhisui, he lightly nodded in greeting, then left without any hesitation.
Through it all, the smile never left the corners of his lips.
Kong Mingze strode into the office, grinning: "Teacher Zhang, I've brought the transfer student to report in."
"Teacher, I'm Quan Zhisui, the transfer student." Quan Zhisui stepped forward and spoke.
Zhang Li had been about to scold Kong Mingze but swallowed the words back at Quan Zhisui's polite introduction. He smiled at her: "Welcome new classmate. Did you bring your transfer certificate?"
Quan Zhisui took out the documents and handed them over.
Zhang Li quickly glanced through and said some words of warning with a smile: "I know your circumstances. Luoxi High is different from your previous school, so do your best!"
Quan Zhisui: "Yes teacher."
Zhang Li: "You're in Class 2 Year 1, same as Kong Mingze here. Kong Mingze, take the new classmate to your homeroom."
"You got it!" Kong Mingze was casual and enthusiastic.
Once out of the office, Quan Zhisui followed him without a word.
Kong Mingze was very talkative and curious though: "Just now Teacher Zhang said something about different, you didn't go to a normal high school before? Transferred from an international school?"
You couldn't blame Kong Mingze for guessing wildly. The new student was just too unique!
She was nonchalant about being late, transferred schools alone, and had a poise and independence only children of wealthy families who had seen the world possessed.
Quan Zhisui shook her head: "No, I'm from the mountains."
She had gone to a martial arts school for 10 years.
Now it was Kong Mingze's turn to fall silent. He really couldn't continue the conversation, only scratched his head awkwardly.
Which mountains? The kind he imagined - very remote and poor, where even cars couldn't get in?
That couldn't be!
Quan Zhisui's words were too abstract and beyond his understanding.
But what kind of person was Kong Mingze? He quickly found another topic of conversation.
He asked: "Hey, are your parents usually very busy with work? Why didn't they come see you off when you transferred?"
Quan Zhisui: "I don't know. I met my dad for the first time yesterday. My mom died of excessive bleeding giving birth to me."
Snap—
Kong Mingze was petrified on the spot, regretting that he hadn't smacked himself for his tactlessness.
When he looked at Quan Zhisui again, his gaze had taken on a motherly shine, even growing tearful.
Kong Mingze: "Classmate Quan Zhisui, if you have any difficulties in the future, please let me know. I will definitely help you!"
Quan Zhisui: "Alright, thank you classmate Kong Mingze."
By the time the two arrived at the classroom, it was already first period with their homeroom teacher Qian Ya.
"Kong Mingze, you're late again!"
Qian Ya instinctively yelled when she caught sight of the classroom door from the corner of her eye. But when she turned to look properly, she saw Kong Mingze wasn't alone - there was another student with him. She remembered a transfer student was arriving today and realized it must be the one Kong Mingze had brought.
"You're the transfer student right?" Seeing how skinny the girl was, Qian Ya couldn't help softening her voice.
Quan Zhisui: "Hello teacher, I'm Quan Zhisui."
Kong Mingze lifted his chin arrogantly: "Teacher Qian, I didn't arrive late. I was taking the new student to see Teacher Zhang."
Qian Ya rolled her eyes: "I see, you're amazing huh. You'll be even more amazing if you can pass this monthly exam."
"Hehe!" Kong Mingze strode swaggeringly to the last row and sat down, not bothered at all by the teacher mentioning his grades.
Qian Ya clapped to get the class's attention: "Let me introduce the new classmate, Quan Zhisui. Let's give her a warm welcome!"
Some students politely clapped below while others didn't even lift their heads, indifferent.
After a simple introduction, Qian Ya arranged Quan Zhisui's seat: "Quan Zhisui, seating in class is arranged by grades. You can take the empty spot in the last row for now until we rearrange seats after this monthly exam."
Quan Zhisui politely nodded and went to sit in the vacant seat in the corner.
The desks were individual. Kong Mingze was across the aisle from her, waggling his brows at her excitedly.
Quan Zhisui also smiled back at him before taking out her textbook to listen to class. But she quickly realized she couldn't keep up or understand.
Suzhou High was impressive - the second years were already learning third year content!
She turned and was shocked to see Kong Mingze sprawled on his desk fast asleep.
The students' states were polarized. Those with good grades in the front rows were listening attentively while the underperformers in the back were either napping or playing on their phones.
Quan Zhisui's expression gradually became blank. No need to change seats, she was one of the bad students.
