A few days earlier, Zhao Xuan had bought several sets of clothes and pants from the same brand, and today he was wearing one of them.
The Burberry logo wasn't exactly subtle. Last time he'd worn a fake Canada Goose bought from some street vendor, Bai Lvdi had mocked him openly and subtly for days. Compared to that, her attitude today was downright bizarre.
Even though he figured something weird usually means something's up, Zhao Xuan stuck to his principle of don't start trouble if you're not being bothered. He greeted Bai Lvdi and prepared to head to the villa together.
What surprised him even more was that as she walked over, she slung her small purse over her shoulder, freeing her hands to take half the bags he was carrying in his right hand.
Bai Lvdi was the girl in class who'd targeted him the most, always egging others on to mess with Zhao Xuan behind the scenes.
She thought she was being subtle, but Zhao knew exactly what she was doing.
Over three years, they'd had four or five direct clashes, each ending with homeroom teacher Lu Wenyin stepping in.
He couldn't figure out her motive now, but Zhao held back his usual urge to needle her. After the gaokao and with money in hand, looking back at those three years of school drama felt like watching a silly game of make-believe.
"So you've decided on Jiangcheng University?" After a few minutes of walking side by side, Bai Lvdi finally broke the silence.
Zhao Xuan frowned. Cao Shudong wasn't even here — why bring that up now?
He hadn't forgotten that three days ago, Bai Lvdi had used college choices to stir Cao into targeting him. If it weren't for his system-enhanced body, he would've gotten beaten up.
And though Cao had always been petty, he'd previously been steady — the fact that he'd gone straight for violence this time probably meant Bai Lvdi had pushed him behind the scenes.
Seeing Zhao's frown and silence, Bai Lvdi spoke again a few seconds later. "I was just curious. You and Wan Chujun have always been the top two students, and you happened to get the same score. Thought it'd be too much of a coincidence if you went to the same university."
It still rubbed him the wrong way, but Zhao sensed she was trying to explain her comment from the group chat three days ago.
Bai Lvdi wasn't as popular as Wan Chujun — who the whole grade privately called the school beauty goddess — but she was still a stunner with no shortage of admirers. Zhao had never seen her weakly explain something she'd done.
"Should be. Based on past years, admission shouldn't be a problem." Never punch a smiling face. Since she was keeping things polite, Zhao didn't stay cold, but he stayed on guard.
Soon they reached the villa entrance. When the door opened, they saw Ye Peiqi — petite, delicate features.
She was one of the grade's well-known beauties, up there with Wan and Bai, and her years of dance gave her graceful poise.
Best of all, she was approachable, unlike the arrogant Wan or the spoiled Bai. She was the only girl in class Zhao genuinely liked. Downside: she was short (barely 1.6m) and flat-chested, so her popularity wasn't quite as high.
Seeing Zhao and Bai arrive together, Ye Peiqi blinked in surprise — clearly not expecting two people who hated each other to stand so amicably.
"Come in, you're the last two." Despite her shock, she quickly welcomed them, took the bags from Zhao, and set them on the living room coffee table.
It was a detached villa in a nice area, three floors, nearly twice the size of Zhao's new townhouse. Renting it for 24 hours cost over 10,000 yuan, but the amenities were top-tier — though right now everyone was busy prepping dinner, not playing.
After putting the food down, two men came down from the second floor — a male teacher and a male student.
Zhao recognized them: the teacher was the homeroom teacher of the neighboring class, surnamed Ren (Zhao didn't recall the full name), and the student was Luo Changhao, also from the next class. Luo was smart and well-off — his dad owned a major local seafood company, said to supply over a third of the province's seafood.
Today Luo wore a flashy sky-blue T-shirt with a fancy V-shaped pattern — Versace, a brand Zhao had only learned recently.
They'd met a year ago during a competition. Luo didn't act like a typical rich kid, maybe because his father's business only took off when Luo was in middle school. They got along fine.
"Zhao Xuan? Heard you killed it on the exam," Luo said, recognizing him.
Zhao greeted Teacher Ren first, then noticed both were carrying bags.
"Not bad. How'd you do? Why are you here?"
Luo and Cao Shudong didn't get along — that's why Luo and Zhao had clicked so easily. But even though their classes were neighbors and often shared events, Luo rarely hung with his own classmates.
"Our class is having a party in the villa next door, but we're short on seasoning, so we came over to borrow some. Me? You know my big weakness — lopsided scores. 633."
Zhao knew Luo's math and physics were great, but his Chinese was always terrible — that score was normal for him.
After a short chat, Luo and Teacher Ren left.
"Why's Peiqi's face so red? Crushing on Prince Luo?" Zhao turned to hear Bai Lvdi's teasing right after they left.
Indeed, Ye Peiqi's cheeks were flushed like she'd been drinking. Zhao had only seen that look on Lin Jingjing's face when she'd gone out with cum in her mouth on his orders. Bai Lvdi was hugging her from behind, whispering in her ear.
"No, I've just been running around. Didn't notice before, but now I feel hot," Ye Peiqi explained, breaking free and walking to the fridge for a bottle of water. She pressed it to her face to cool off.
When she reached Zhao, she offered it. "Can you open this for me?"
Zhao twisted it open without fuss. He was probably the classmate closest to Luo, but he didn't buy that she liked him — Ye Peiqi, an artsy girl, was a total looks-person, and Luo was just an average-looking, balding, chubby rich kid. Not ugly, but not the type girls fawned over.
The three went upstairs to help prep dinner. On the stairs, Zhao caught Bai Lvdi staring at Ye Peiqi for a few seconds — her gaze held dislike and… wariness?
Ye Peiqi got along with almost everyone and was even friends with Bai, often shopping together. That look made Zhao wonder if Bai was cooking up another scheme.
Lost in thought, they reached the second floor, where the rest of the class and homeroom teacher Lu Wenyin greeted them.
Zhao wasn't a class favorite, but most didn't dislike him either — he'd scored great on the gaokao, and with Cao Shudong absent, the mood was relaxed.
"We're probably all here now. Zhao Xuan, Bai Lvdi, find a spot to join in," Lu Wenyin said, apron on.
Zhao saw four or five people making dumplings, others chopping meat and veggies for stir-fry, the rest helping out. Xia Siheng was kneading dough, hands covered in flour, looking a bit messy.
"I'll help roll the dumpling wrappers," Zhao said, heading to the restroom to wash up, then putting on an apron and joining the dumpling team.
"You're really skilled, Zhao Xuan," Lu said, picking up filling with chopsticks, placing it on a wrapper, and pinching a neat dumpling — way better-looking than the other two students' clumsy efforts.
Zhao, rolling pin in one hand and dough balls in the other, worked so fast he supplied wrappers for Lu and the other two by himself.
"At home during New Year, I always did this job — practice makes perfect," he explained.
"Ugh, we only had four days off this year. Back to cram school on the fourth day — totally inhuman," someone chimed in, and the topic turned to New Year break.
Lu Wenyin, young and attractive, 1.7m tall with at least a D cup, was the secret crush of countless boys. Everyone in school knew her, and both guys and girls liked chatting with her.
During those three school years, the pressure had been crushing, and home life grim. Zhao had barely interacted with classmates in a fun way. Long-term stress had made his personality edgy, and his poor relationships weren't all others' fault.
Now, with the system boosting him, Zhao felt relaxed and confident — almost a different person.
About an hour later, his neck hurt from bending over the dough, so he looked up and glanced outside.
Each floor had a terrace. The third-floor one was open-air; the second-floor one was enclosed in floor-to-ceiling glass — perfect for dining. Some classmates were setting tables and chairs there.
The villa next door was identical — that's where the other class was partying, prepping dinner, probably planning a rooftop barbecue.
Zhao saw someone in a sky-blue T-shirt waving from the opposite terrace. Couldn't see the face clearly, but it was probably Luo Changhao.
Both his hands were busy, and the gesture didn't look like a greeting — more like posing — so Zhao didn't respond.
Just as he was about to finish the last lump of dough and take a break, Ye Peiqi stumbled nearby, fell to the ground, and sat, one hand bracing herself, the other clutching her lower abdomen. Her face turned that same flushed red as before.