New partners

Han Xue grew tired of the boring and tedious classes, so she simply took leave and spent her time in the library.

She went straight to the foreign novels section, pulled out "Little Women" from the shelf, and began to read it while leaning against the shelf.

Listening to the story, Bai wandered aimlessly between the bookshelves, trying to find a book that he could get into.

After searching for a long time without success, he noticed Han Xue engrossed in reading a book by the bookshelf, so he went over and struck up a conversation: "Excuse me, what book are you reading?"

Han Xue looked up at him upon hearing the sound, then her gaze returned to the pages of her book. Without saying a word, she picked up the book, turned around, and left, finding a seat by the window.

Bai didn't mind, casually picked up a book, and sat down opposite her.

She reads very quickly, one book after another, and has already opened the second one.

"You read so fast, don't you forget what you read?" Ting Xubai couldn't help but ask her.

"I'm used to it. The more I watch it, the more I discover new things each time," Han Xue replied simply without looking up.

At this moment, Tingyue rushed over after copying the school rules, and was clearly taken aback when she saw Han Xue.

The principal's daughter was indeed different; she didn't have to attend class if she didn't want to... Her thoughts shifted: Could Qi Xu be treated the same way? But she quickly dismissed the idea; Qi Xu was a child from a blended family, and her treatment probably couldn't be compared to that of her biological daughter.

"Brother," she called out, turning to Han Xue, "What are you looking at, Han Xue?"

"Gone with the Wind. Do you want to take a look?" Han Xue showed her the cover.

Tingyue shook her head, thinking: "I remember it was adapted into a movie... but I can't remember the name right now."

Han Xue was about to speak.

"Gone with the Wind, I just watched it last week, have you forgotten?" Ting Xubai blurted out first.

“Yes! I especially like the female lead Scarlett. She never gives up or accepts her fate when she encounters setbacks. Instead, she becomes even more resilient.” Tingyue smiled.

“Especially that line, ‘God is my witness, I will overcome all difficulties and never go hungry.’” Han Xue seemed to have found a kindred spirit, and she immediately opened up and chatted enthusiastically with Tingyue.

Tingyue sat down next to Han Xue, and the two began reading "Gone with the Wind" together.

Watching the two chatting happily, Ting Xubai smiled indulgently and then looked down at his book.

Meanwhile, in the classroom of Grade 11 (8), the English teacher had just finished dictating words when she suddenly had a severe stomachache. She hurriedly borrowed tissues from the students and rushed to the toilet, reminding the group leader to collect the dictation notebooks before leaving.

Qi Xu got up and began to pack. When she reached Hao Nan's seat, she stopped.

Hao Nan was engrossed in writing when he noticed a figure and froze instantly. He hurriedly closed his book and handed over his dictation paper.

The vocabulary section on the paper was completely blank, filled entirely with Chinese definitions.

Qi Xu smiled faintly and pushed the paper back: "Copy it quickly, it will be difficult to copy it when the teacher comes back later."

Hao Nan immediately understood, and openly opened the book to copy it down at lightning speed.

Qi Xu turned her back to him, blocking other people's view, her eyes fixed on the back door.

Suddenly, she saw a familiar figure walking in through the front door: "Hurry! The teacher is here!"

"Don't rush, don't rush!" Hao Nan was still frantically copying.

Just as the teacher was about to step into the classroom, Qi Xu suddenly pulled out a piece of paper, tearing off a corner.

The teacher just walked in and saw Qi Xu standing in the back row: "What are you doing standing there?"

"I...I accidentally tore his dictation paper, and I'm re-dictating it to him," Qi Xu replied calmly.

"Okay, then you can continue." The teacher didn't suspect anything.

Hao Nan had no choice but to tear off a new sheet of paper, grip his pen tightly, and anxiously wait for Qi Xu to report his findings.

“Crucial, essential,” Qi Xu said.

Hao Nan still didn't know, and lowered his voice: "How do you spell it?"

"Take out what you just copied and let's look at it!" Qi Xu's voice was even lower as he secretly glanced at the teacher preparing lessons on the podium.

The dictation went exceptionally smoothly, or rather, for Hao Nan, the copying went very smoothly.

When the bell rang, Xu Sheng was already waiting outside the door with his drawing board, calling Hao Nan to go to the club together, but his gaze kept drifting to Wan Xiaoyi, who was tidying up her desk.

Wan Xiaoyi said goodbye to Qi Xu: "I'm leaving now, club activities are about to start."

"Xiao Yi! Let me explain!" Xu Sheng immediately followed Wan Xiao Yi.

"Go on, I'm listening." She stopped and turned around.

"I'm sorry, this was definitely my fault, I admit it." Xu Sheng suddenly grabbed her shoulders with both hands, his eyes filled with sincerity: "Please forgive me."

Wan Xiaoyi broke free from his hands and said calmly, "Yes, friend." After saying that, she turned and walked towards the club room.

She didn't want to forgive him easily, but faced with his repeated apologies and sincere eyes, she found it hard to refuse.

Upon hearing the word "friend," Xu Sheng jumped up excitedly and quickly chased after him.

Qi Xu and Hao Nan, who witnessed this scene, spoke up at the same time:

"He...jumps really high," Qi Xu exclaimed.

"Yeah, and they run fast too." Hao Nan's tone carried a hint of barely perceptible envy.

"You should go to class," Qi Xu reminded him.

"I've quit the art club, so you don't need to go. I can go with you to... the library."

"How can you skip class? Don't you want to be a cartoonist? This is such a great opportunity. If it were me, nothing would be more important than going to class!"

"If you want to go, I'll give you my spot." Hao Nan blurted out without even thinking.

"Hao Nan!" Qi Xu was almost driven mad with anger. "Did you even listen to me? If you really want to be a cartoonist, this is your path! Your future is more important than anything else!"

Hao Nan pursed his lips, stared at the screen in silence for a long while, and finally managed to squeeze out a single word: "Okay."

He returned to his seat, picked up his art supplies, said goodbye to Qi Xu, and walked quickly toward the clubroom.

Hao Nan set up his equipment in the club room, sat down, and reviewed the basic textbook to reinforce his knowledge.

"Didn't you skip class?" Xu Sheng asked, somewhat surprised to see him as he entered.

"The future is more important than anything else," Hao Nan replied without looking up.

"Wow, you've changed, kid. You're quite ambitious now," Xu Sheng teased.

The teacher walked in, and everyone quickly became immersed in painting.

Hao Nan unconsciously began sketching the outline of Qi Xu with his pencil, but the lines he drew could not keep up with the image in his mind. Although the drawing was far from standard, it was a significant improvement over before.

He was still not satisfied with his work, so he tore up the paper and threw himself back into painting her portrait with focused concentration.

At this moment, completing the portrait of Qi Xu became his clearest goal.

Not long after Hao Nan left, Qi Xu was found by Ting Yue, Ting Xu Bai, and Han Xue.

"Xu Xu!" Tingyue happily rushed over and hugged Qi Xu.

"None of you attend club classes?" Qi Xu asked in surprise, his gaze falling on Han Xue. "Han Xue?"

Tingyue loosened her grip on Qi Xu and explained, "We get along really well with her! From now on, we'll be a four-person sisterhood!"

"Sisters?" Hearing this, Bai thought he had misheard and wanted to confirm again: "What about me?"

“Uh, then we’re the Mingde Friends Group.” Tingyue glanced at her brother with a sly look.

Bai nodded with satisfaction after listening to the story.

Han Xue stared intently at Qi Xu, trying to discern from her expression whether she rejected her.

“No,” Qi Xu said with a smile, “we have seven good friends, a group of seven.” Hearing that “no,” Han Xue’s heart sank, but Qi Xu’s next words made her relax, though she wasn’t sure if she was among those seven.

"A group of seven? How about adding one more to make it a round number?" Xu Bai suggested.

"Tell me your names! There are so many people, who are they?" Tingyue asked, puzzled.

"Me, Hao Nan, Ting Yue, Ting Xubai, Han Xue, Wan Xiaoyi, Xu Sheng," Qi Xu counted on his fingers, "and who's the last one?"

"I disagree! I haven't approved of them yet!" Tingyue suddenly raised her voice, crossed her arms, and looked annoyed.

Hearing her name on the list, Han Xue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Listen to the moon,” Qi Xu’s voice softened, “the more friends you have, the more fun you’ll have. Besides, they’re really nice, you can try getting to know them.”

“We’ve already accepted Han Xue, so we can definitely accept them too,” Ting Xubai chimed in.

"Brother! Why are you taking the side of outsiders too!"

“Qi Xu is not an outsider.” Xu Bai said with certainty.

These words left Tingyue speechless. She stomped her foot angrily, turned around, and ran away.

"Tingyue!" Ting Xubai immediately chased after her.

Only Qi Xu and Han Xue remained, and for a moment they were speechless.

"Are you feeling unwell? I noticed you didn't attend class." Qi Xu broke the silence.

"No, I just don't want to go," Han Xue admitted.

Qi Xu nodded in understanding. Indeed, as the principal's daughter with excellent grades, these courses were nothing to her.

Suddenly, she felt a bit gossipy and leaned closer to Han Xue: "Hey, how did you meet Tingyue and the others? And you became friends so quickly?"

"We met at the library," Han Xue replied simply.

Qi nodded knowingly.

"Tingyue...are you alright?" Han Xue looked in the direction she ran off in, somewhat worried.

"It's alright, she'll be fine in a bit." Qi Xu said confidently, naturally taking Han Xue's hand. "Come on, let's go find them."

Han Xue looked down at her hand being held by Qi Xu, a warm feeling welling up inside her. She smiled slightly and obediently followed her.

At the corner of the corridor, they found Tingyue and Tingxubai. Tingyue still had her face turned away, sulking and refusing to listen to any explanation. Tingxubai stood to the side, sighing helplessly.

Qi Xu's eyes lit up, and a good idea came to mind. He deliberately raised his voice and said to Han Xue and Ting Xubai, "Han Xue, Ting Xubai, let's go to the internet cafe to play games after school, without Tingyue."

That worked. Tingyue froze, then whirled around, her face full of defiance, her eyes a mixture of confusion and grievance: "Why didn't you take me? I don't care! I want to go too!"

"But I'll invite my friends to come along," Qi Xu said, feigning difficulty.

“I! Can! Overcome! And! Live! Peacefully with! Them!” Tingyue said through gritted teeth, each word distinct.

Han Xue and Ting Xubai couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well... I'll reluctantly take you along." Qi Xu pretended to be very reluctant.

"What do you mean 'reluctantly'? You absolutely have to take me with you!" Tingyue emphasized angrily, grabbing Qixu's arm and trying to rush out. "Let's go, let's go now!"

"Wait!" Qi Xu grabbed her. "Let's go after school."

"What are you afraid of! Anyway, these afternoon classes are all club activities, they have nothing to do with us, let's skip class and go!" Tingyue said boldly, pulling her along as they prepared to rush out.

"No way," Qi Xu hesitated. "This school is very strict, and the walls are so high. How could we possibly get over there?"

"Qi Xu, what are you afraid of? The three of us have done this before when we were kids!" Tingyue said dismissively.

“I know a place where we can climb out,” Ting Xubai interjected at the opportune moment.

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Tingyue couldn't wait any longer.

After thinking it over, Qi Xu tried to get Han Xue's support: "Look, Tingyue was just punished today, and now she's like this again... right, Han Xue?"

Han Xue was actually eager to try this unprecedented experience, and said softly, "I think...we can give it a try."

Looking at Han Xue, who had been instantly assimilated, and the expectant brother and sister, Qi Xu was completely exasperated. "Fine, fine, I can't argue with the three of you."

The four of them quietly arrived at a secluded corner of the campus, behind a wisteria trellis, where the wall was indeed shorter than in other places.