On the quiet street lined with plane trees, golden sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
A middle-aged man stood nervously by his car, making a phone call: "Hello? Is this 911? I'm at Fuxing Lane near the east gate of Mingli High School. There's been a student in a car accident. The specific injuries... I can't really tell, I'm afraid she might have broken bones, so I haven't dared to move her... How long until you arrive?"
The lane was neither particularly wide nor narrow. The man had been in a hurry and taken this route, seeing it was empty, he'd driven a bit faster than usual. Who would have thought a student would suddenly dart out? He couldn't stop in time, and the unexpected accident left him in a cold sweat.
He mentally noted the first aid instructions given over the phone, when he caught a flash of movement in his peripheral vision. Looking up, he saw the female student who had been lying unconscious on the ground was now sprinting towards the school's east gate at breakneck speed.
The man's eyes widened in disbelief. He quickly snatched up the backpack from the ground and gave chase, shouting, "Miss! You're still bleeding! Miss!!!"
Wen Shuangmu ignored the shouts behind her, instead confirming with the voice in her head: "So I've traveled back in time to my first year of high school?"
Wu Xiaoqi replied, "To be precise, you're about to start your first year. Just a friendly reminder, host, you have only fifteen minutes left before the placement test starts. In your previous life, you missed the test due to this accident and only got into the advanced class through your family's connections and bribery. Please hurry and make the most of this second chance."
Her left arm was still bleeding, both painful and numb.
Wen Shuangmu pressed her hand against it and quickened her pace. "I'm already running as fast as I can!"
The east gate was a side entrance to Mingli High School, closer to the dormitories. It wasn't as wide as the main gate and was mainly used by students after evening self-study sessions, as Fuxing Lane was close to the night market, making it convenient to buy late-night snacks. Now, during the summer break, only the incoming first-years were here for the placement test. The other grades hadn't started classes yet. At the quiet school gate, apart from the ivy covering both walls, there was only a security guard dozing in the gatehouse with a fan blowing.
Mingli High School was a key school in the city. Although the placement test wasn't an official exam, they had still set up banners and barriers, prohibiting outsiders and vehicles from entering to avoid disturbing the test-takers.
Wen Shuangmu couldn't wait for the security guard to come out and let her in. She quickly called out through the glass window that she was a late student, then vaulted over the barrier with one hand.
Wen Shuangmu's vault looked cool, but mid-air she aggravated her abdominal injury. Her moment of glory lasted less than a second before she stumbled and staggered upon landing.
The security guard belatedly ran out of the gatehouse, shouting to catch her. Wu Xiaoqi cheered, "Go, host!"
The eight o'clock summer sun was merciless. Wen Shuangmu had only run a short distance but was already drenched in sweat.
The intense exercise amplified the pain in her abdomen and arm. She didn't have enough hands to cover all the painful spots.
Wen Shuangmu said, "Instead of just cheering me on, how about something more practical? Don't you systems have any pain-blocking functions? It doesn't have to last long, just help me get through the morning test."
Wu Xiaoqi replied, "Sorry, the reward mechanism requires the host to complete tasks and exchange points. We don't provide free services."
Wen Shuangmu glanced at her wound. In her previous life, when she was sent to the hospital, it had only required superficial bandaging, with no damage to tendons or bones. There was no risk to her life. She tried to distract herself from the pain, asking as she ran, "You mentioned earlier that the world I'm in is actually a novel?"
Wen Shuangmu's last memory was of lying in a hospital bed after the car accident. In her coma, she vaguely heard the doctor pronounce her a permanent vegetative state. She desperately tried to open her eyes but couldn't. The next moment, she was back at the accident scene, with a strange entity bound to her mind, telling her this accident wasn't that accident, and that she was now seven years in the past.
Wu Xiaoqi said, "That's right, it's a novel called 'Zhizhi Green Beauty'."
An electronic screen appeared in Wen Shuangmu's mind, displaying glowing text.
Wen Shuangmu had missed the placement test in her previous life, so she was now focused on finding the signposts indicating which building the test was in. She couldn't spare the energy to read the text on the screen carefully, but fortunately, Wu Xiaoqi helped by activating a vivid reading mode.
[Everyone says that Su Qiyan, the school heartthrob of Mingli High, is noble and handsome, cold and aloof, like an unreachable flower on a high cliff. He never gives a second glance to the girls who pursue him.
The students in the spring class bet that this god-like figure would never fall for a mortal girl, graduating pure and untouched.
However, later rumors spread among the students that someone had seen Su Qiyan pressing the beautiful girl from the neighboring class against the back wall of the classroom, bullying her.
Su Qiyan responded,
"How dare I?"
He lowered his eyes to look at the soft beauty in his arms,
Suppressing his urges, his slightly reddened eyes full of madness: "Stop crying."
He paused, his voice hoarse: "If you cry again, I'll give you my life."]
This... isn't it a bit too embarrassing...
Wen Shuangmu felt a bit choked up. Even trying to imagine herself in that situation, she still found it hard to swallow. Moreover, after racking her brains, she couldn't recall any memories related to the description in the text.
Furthermore, Wen Shuangmu asked, "What does this blurb have to do with the title of the book?"
Wu Xiaoqi: "The host doesn't understand the trends in the world outside the book. This is a sweet romance novel, and using a bubble tea name as the novel's title is perfect."
Sweet romance novel...
Wen Shuangmu silently repeated in her mind.
"Is it sweet?"
She could be certain that her life in the past few years had nothing to do with sweetness.
But this was indeed her favorite bubble tea.
The author had put some thought into it.
Wu Xiaoqi didn't see any problem: "Yes, this novel reached the TOP 1 of campus sweet romance as soon as it was serialized. Readers praised it as life-saving sugar in the summer. Moreover, the female lead's name is Zhizhi - Xia Zhili, which ties into the title in various ways."
Wu Xiaoqi thought of something and paused: "If we have to pick something not sweet, it would be you, this supporting character, escaping the original author's control, frequently appearing and messing up the subsequent plot... Otherwise, this novel wouldn't have plummeted in rankings. After all, it was a masterpiece combining red-eye literature, life-giving literature, and wall-pressing literature."
However, Wen Shuangmu seemed not to have heard the latter part. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, staring straight ahead motionless.
Wu Xiaoqi curiously called out twice: "Host? Host?"
Wen Shuangmu seemed to have finally processed it, uttering seven words: "So, I'm not the female lead?"
Wu Xiaoqi never expected the host's self-awareness to be so unclear, and said: "Even if the female lead gets injured, she wouldn't become a permanent vegetative state."
Wen Shuangmu looked at the bright blue sky, her fingertips clenching into her palm then relaxing. She silently let out a long breath.
Mingli High School was too large. The test rules generally stated that students couldn't enter the exam room after fifteen minutes past the start time. Although Wen Shuangmu was upset, she didn't dare delay. But when she ran into the teaching building indicated by the exam room signage, she stopped again.
"Host, what's wrong now?"
Wen Shuangmu looked at the empty corridor, the exam already in progress, and asked: "Which exam room am I in again?"
Wu Xiaoqi: "..."
Wen Shuangmu looked down at her empty hands: "Where are my backpack and admission ticket?"
Wu Xiaoqi: "..."
"They might have been left where you were hit by the car."
Wen Shuangmu raised an eyebrow: "You didn't remind me."
Wu Xiaoqi: "...The system is not omniscient. Many things require the host's own attention."
Wen Shuangmu: "You were the one who told me to run as soon as I woke up."
Wu Xiaoqi fell completely silent.
Wen Shuangmu was very satisfied with its silence. She looked around: "It's too late to go back now. Since this problem was caused by the system's oversight, what do you suggest we do now?"
Wu Xiaoqi chose to remain quiet, opening its program to run and search the database for "how to enter the exam room if a student loses their admission ticket."
Wen Shuangmu cared about this test, and her heart was far from as calm as her outward appearance suggested. It was too late either way, and now her only hope was to bluff her way through, seeing if the system could magically produce a set of stationery and an admission ticket for her.
As the person and the system were at an impasse, two breathless voices came from behind.
"Student, student, your backpack."
Wen Shuangmu turned to look and saw a middle-aged man in a suit and someone dressed as a security guard running into the teaching building, bypassing a flower bed.
The man had followed Wen Shuangmu all the way to the east gate, originally stopped by security and not allowed in. After explaining the situation, he was finally accompanied by the security guard to come find her.
Wen Shuangmu was wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans. The blood flowing from the gash on her left arm had stained her light-colored clothes, looking quite alarming as the color darkened.
The car owner, being honest and kind-hearted, had never been in an accident in all his years of driving. Feeling guilty, he said, "Why don't we go to the hospital first? Don't worry, I'll cover all the medical expenses."
Wen Shuangmu took her backpack, immediately checking the pencil case and exam admission ticket inside. Her expression softened slightly, relieved that the car owner was a good person who had followed her all the way.
"Thank you, but I'm in a hurry for my exam. I'll go by myself after it's over," she said, glancing at the classroom number on her admission ticket. Without bothering to say goodbye, she rushed towards the third floor.
The car owner was still concerned and was about to follow her when the security guard suggested a compromise: "This placement exam is quite important for new high school freshmen. The girl probably has good grades and takes it seriously. Why don't you leave your contact information? I'll ask the school nurse to check on her, and we'll call you if there's any problem."
The car owner nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Oh, yes, that's good, that's good."
Wen Shuangmu climbed the stairs two steps at a time. As she ran, the area of her waist and abdomen that had been hit by the car throbbed with a bruised, swollen pain. Now, as she exerted herself, the pain almost brought tears to her eyes.
She hurried to find Room 4, where the students had already been taking the exam for quite some time, the classroom silent.
She knocked on the door and spoke rapidly: "Sorry, teacher, I'm late."
The proctor turned to look at her.
Zhou Quan was a veteran teacher at the school and also served as a grade supervisor. He was known for his straightforward manner with students, never hesitating to praise when warranted, but also certain to scold when necessary until the student showed genuine remorse.
Normally, he would at least verbally reprimand late examinees. This time, as his eyes moved to her, the words of rebuke were on the tip of his tongue, but he was stunned by the bloodstains on Wen Shuangmu's clothes. He walked to the door in a few steps: "...Are you alright, student?"
The proctor was to be Wen Shuangmu's future math teacher, but they didn't know each other well yet. Fearing he might not let her in, she said, "It's just a minor injury."
Zhou Quan's gaze lingered on the large gash on her left arm, his words hesitant: "This doesn't look minor..."
Wen Shuangmu gestured towards the clock at the back of the classroom, with only seconds remaining: "Teacher, it hasn't been fifteen minutes since the exam started. Can I come in?"
"Of course, of course." Zhou Quan could guess that some accident had delayed her. He stepped aside and went to the podium to get her an exam paper.
Wen Shuangmu took out her pencil case and admission ticket, putting her backpack in the storage cabinet at the side of the classroom meant for items unrelated to the exam. Following the seat number on her admission ticket, she found her place and sat down.
Many students were absent from the exam venue. The placement test was only to compete for forty spots in the advanced class, and many who felt they had no chance didn't bother to show up.
In all his years of teaching, Zhou Quan had never encountered a student so determined to take an exam. Moved by her dedication and worried she might faint during the test, he couldn't help but advise as he handed her the paper: "If you feel unwell at any point, you can raise your hand to signal me."
"Mm." Wen Shuangmu's attention was already on the exam paper, barely acknowledging him with a soft sound.
Zhou Quan had thought she might ask him to fetch some water to wash the blood off her hands. But this female student seemed incredibly aloof. He stood there awkwardly for a while, but she didn't even glance at him again.
Seeing that the gash on her arm had clotted and was no longer bleeding, Zhou Quan figured it wasn't too serious and finally walked back to the podium.
From the moment Wen Shuangmu knocked and entered, many students had become restless due to her blood-stained, frightening appearance.
Two minutes later, some were still frequently turning to look at her seat, their eyes clearly saying, "Is this guy a werewolf or something?"
Zhou Quan slapped the desk to maintain order: "Everyone be quiet! Have you finished your papers? Do you all think you're guaranteed a spot in the advanced class?"
The new students, having just passed the high school entrance exam to enter Mingli High School, were naturally a bit timid in their new environment with new teachers. They quickly fell silent, adjusting their chairs to sit properly again.
Lu Jing had finished marking the answers for ten multiple-choice questions on his answer sheet, and his mind had entered a state of emptiness.
He was resting his chin on one hand, having already dozed off less than twenty minutes into the exam.
Hearing the commotion in the classroom, he squinted his eyes, glancing around.
With just a fleeting look, he almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, opening them a bit wider.
Wen Shuangmu pressed her marking pen several times, but the lead kept breaking. Noticing the boy next to her looking over, she turned slightly and asked quietly, "Classmate, do you have an extra 2B pencil?"
Lu Jing didn't even have a pencil case on his desk, just one black pen and one 2B pencil. He hadn't even brought an eraser.
Before he could answer, Wen Shuangmu saw this and thought he probably needed to use it himself. She was about to raise her hand to ask the proctor to help her borrow from other students when he held out his pencil to her.
The wooden pencil touched Wen Shuangmu's hand, but the boy didn't let go immediately. He seemed unable to resist commenting, his gaze lingering on the wound on her arm: "...Are you sure you don't need to bandage that first?"
Wen Shuangmu knew her injury only looked scary. She half-raised her arm to show him: "It's fine, it's already dry."
Lu Jing: "..."
After a couple of seconds, Lu Jing pushed the pencil further into her palm and sat up straight.
He looked at his own answer sheet, blank except for the multiple-choice section, then compared it to his injured neighbor's—
It was inspiring.
It was terrifying.
