Chapter 35 (035) - Start of School & Transition Chapter [First Update]...

On the first day of the new semester, Wen Fan, for the first time in a long time, paid attention to his appearance.

The original owner's aesthetic sense was at two extremes; her wardrobe consisted of either simple long-sleeved shirts and trousers, or a few dresses that looked somewhat exaggerated. Aside from that, there were some items her mother had recently bought.

Wen Fan rummaged through the items and finally picked out a dress that looked fairly formal.

She wore a white inner layer and a navy blue vest dress on top, simple and elegant, which matched her short hair quite well.

Wen Fan tidied his schoolbag again. Not only had he finished all his summer homework, but he also put in several workbooks that he had only half-finished.

With everything prepared, Wen Fan went to school in the morning.

This place felt both familiar and unfamiliar to her; she walked past the teaching buildings, dormitories, and the playground…

Qunying Middle School covers a large area, with several teaching buildings alone. Over the years, the school has developed, and lush trees and flowers can be seen everywhere on campus. Wen Fan walked around and looked at the scenery. Her only regret was that her parents were busy with their shop business today and could not come with her.

There were also many parents of first-year high school students dropping off their children on campus.

"Hey, you there!"

Wen Fan looked up, and the parent opposite him became even more enthusiastic: "Do you know how to get to the cafeteria?"

Wen Fan was unaware that her attire gave off a strong "good student" vibe, and she honestly replied, "Go straight ahead and turn left... I'll take you there."

It was almost noon. Her mother had told her yesterday that lunchtime was busy and that she shouldn't go to the store for the time being.

“The school cafeteria is convenient for eating. Your dad and I have been working together lately. The shop has all sorts of new stuff, so we always need to keep track of how much to prepare each day…”

Actually, Wen's mother was worried that her daughter would be tempted to help out at the shop when she got home at noon and saw how busy it was. Her daughter's studies were more important, and Wen's mother was determined not to let Wen Fan waste her time on the business.

Wen Fan squeezed her schoolbag. In addition to tuition fees, her mother had also given her several hundred yuan to top up her meal card.

Wen Fan led the two parents and the blushing freshmen to the cafeteria, said goodbye, and then went to find the card recharge window.

After spending two hundred yuan to top up his meal card, Wen Fan began searching for his lunch.

Qunying Middle School has a very large cafeteria, which is worthy of the name of a private school. When it was built, it was touted as "the best student cafeteria in the city".

The cafeteria has three floors and dozens of windows.

Rice and noodle stir-fries, cold dishes and snacks, you name it.

Because it was the first day of school, many windows would only open in the evening, and very few windows were open.

Wen Fan finally stood at the noodle window.

"I'd like a bowl of Sichuan peppercorn chicken noodles."

The weather was still very hot, and after ordering mixed noodles, Wen Fan discovered a new world.

Next to the noodle stall is the milk tea and beverage stall.

Wen Fan happily ordered a glass of iced lemon soda, paired with spicy chicken noodles. After taking a bite, he quietly put down his chopsticks.

Strictly speaking, the food ingredients at the stalls located inside the school are guaranteed, but the taste...

The sauce was too salty, the chili oil wasn't fragrant enough, the numbing flavor wasn't strong enough, and the chicken was overcooked.

Fortunately, although Wen Fan was a picky eater, he cherished food and managed to fill his stomach after a while.

The thought of having to eat in the cafeteria for a long time to come gave Wen Fan a headache.

I wonder if it would be alright to give the cafeteria some suggestions?

With this question in mind, Wen Fan was the first to enter the classroom to register in the afternoon.

Qunying Middle School had already divided students into arts and science classes at the end of the first semester of the first year of high school, and Wen Fan is currently in the science class 2.

She did well in the high school entrance exam; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to become a special admission student at Qunying Middle School.

However, as his grades declined across the board in the first year of high school, Wen Fan did not receive a kind look from the homeroom teacher when he entered the class.

Oh, by the way, this homeroom teacher is also the Chinese teacher that Wen Fan withdrew from during the summer vacation, Teacher Wang.

Teacher Wang said coldly, "Summer homework, semester notice, and tuition fees."

Wen Fan took out each item one by one, thinking of how respected the ancient Confucian scholars were. Wen Fan even used both hands to put things away, so obedient that Teacher Wang couldn't show any dislike at all.

Several students arrived in the class one after another. When they saw Wen Fan arrive first, some people whispered behind him, obviously because the news that Wen Fan had run away from home and was going to elope with someone had already spread.

Teacher Wang frowned and flipped through Wen Fan's summer homework, which surprised her greatly.

All the assignments were filled to the brim.

"...Are you done?"

Every summer vacation, collecting homework becomes a massive crackdown on cheating. There are all sorts of homework assignments: some have just written random answers, some have torn out a dozen pages, and some have even glued some pages together in an attempt to get away with it.

Wen Fan answered yes.

Teacher Wang's expression was complicated: "...Alright, find a seat with your name on it. You need to focus on your studies this semester. Don't think about those other things."

Wen Fan, who had been rambling on, obediently found his seat and sat down in the second-to-last row by the window.

Once all the students had arrived, Teacher Wang stood on the stage and talked about the important points for the new semester, distributed the new books, and then announced that school was over.

When people meet again at the start of the new semester, many are whispering among themselves, exchanging stories about their summer vacations with close friends, gossiping, and lamenting the academic pressure of the new semester.

Wen Fan felt like she was on a deserted island. People would occasionally glance at her and then quickly look away, and the whispers could be faintly heard by her.

Wow, she really did that?

"Tsk tsk, Jin Rui said that she is not a rich girl at all, she just pretends all the time."

“Fu Chuan…”

"Wen Fan..."

"Fang Weiyue..."

Wen Fan sat upright, the ink on her new textbook emitting a pleasant fragrance. She carefully picked it up and wrote her name on the cover.

The two characters "Wen Fan" were written neatly and precisely.

Fu Chuan and Fang Weiyue were two rows in front of her, with one person between them.

Fu Chuan leaned against the desk behind him, tapping his pen on the surface, while Fang Weiyue on the other side had her head down, her long hair occasionally lifting up to reveal red corners of her eyes.

Jin Rui, sitting behind Wen Fanzheng, said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "These two are really something, why are they arguing again?"

His deskmate laughed and said, "His beatings are a sign of affection, and his scoldings are a sign of love."

Wen Fan glanced at the other person.

Jin Rui's voice grew louder: "Some people shouldn't think they have a chance. Even if Brother Chuan breaks up with his girlfriend, it's not his turn..."

Wen Fan: "Can you shut up?"

Jin Rui sneered, "Huh? I'm telling the truth, why can't some people listen? Tsk tsk, lies don't hurt, the truth is the sharpest knife."

Wen Fan suddenly raised his hand.

Teacher Wang: "...What is it?"

"Teacher, Jin Rui keeps talking, I can't hear you anymore."

Teacher Wang was very annoyed: "Jin Rui, go stand at the back."

Jin Rui: ...?

"Teacher, I..."

"What do you mean 'you'? You didn't do a single word of your summer homework, and you're talking as soon as school starts. Did you come here to study or to talk? Stand at the back, I'll call your mom tomorrow!"

...

After a class meeting, Jin Rui gritted his teeth and stopped Wen Fan.

"Are you kidding me?"

"You've been stirring things up between Brother Chuan and Fang Weiyue. Did I say something wrong?"

Most of the students in the class stayed, all listening intently to see what would happen.

Fu Chuan put his hands in his pockets, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.

Fang Weiyue bit her lower lip, her eyes seemingly filled with endless sorrow.

Wen Fan felt a throbbing pain in his temples: "You're very free?"

Jin Rui was furious and was about to retort when Wen Fan coldly said, "Jin, can't you do some homework? I was in the bottom fifteen last semester, and you were last. You have time to be a bystander in other people's love stories, but no time to look at your terrible grades?"

Jin Rui's face flushed red.

But Wen Fan wouldn't let him off the hook. Wen Fan looked around and felt it was necessary to make some things clear today.

"Some people love acting, so they should go and make TV shows instead of constantly adding their own scenes."

Someone muttered, "You're talking about yourself."

Wen Fan said calmly, "Classmates, I was a bit blind before, but I've thought it through now. Studying should be the priority, so please don't start dating too early."

Wen Fan's words, "Don't date too early," shocked the entire class. Watching her graceful departure, Jin Rui was still filled with disbelief.

"What did she say? Am I hallucinating?"

His deskmate patted him on the shoulder: "You're not hallucinating."

"Hey, is she crazy? Why is she suddenly acting all mature and telling people not to date? What era are we living in?!"

"That's not necessarily true. It seems like she's really come to terms with it."

Jin Rui rubbed his hair in frustration: "Damn, I really..."

I was inexplicably lectured by someone I looked down upon.

Fu Chuan leaned against the railing of the corridor outside the door, gazing thoughtfully at Wen Fan's retreating figure. Meanwhile, Fang Weiyue, comforted by the girls around her, had a complex expression on her face.

Wen Fan, once again at the center of the storm, returned to his family's small shop and heard his parents' voices before even entering.

"Is it okay if I don't accompany Xiao Fan to school? I see quite a few parents taking their children to school."

"Those are all parents of first-year high school students. How many second-year students did you see sending gifts?"

"Sigh... I'm afraid that people will gossip about the child once he/she goes to school."

"What should we do then? The school doesn't allow changing classes anymore."

"...Honey, are you still thinking about what happened last year because you won't let me deliver it?"

What happened last year...

Wen Fan suddenly recalled that unpleasant parent-teacher conference from his memory. It was during the first semester of his first year of high school. The original owner of this body didn't want anyone to know what his family did for a living, so he lied and said it wasn't necessary. He then paid someone to impersonate his parents. Later, Wen's mother saw the long line of cars outside the school, found out it was a parent-teacher conference, and rushed to the school, only to find Wen Fan's "fake parents" sitting in the classroom…

After a long silence, Wen's mother finally said, "That was a long time ago. I believe my daughter wouldn't do that now, but..."

"There are too many children with good conditions in the school. We only thought about accompanying them to study, and we didn't expect to put so much pressure on Xiao Fan."

Wen Fan suddenly realized why her parents didn't send her off and let her eat in the school cafeteria—it turned out they had this concern in their hearts.

She pushed open the door: "Mom, I'm home!"

Wen's mother quickly came to greet her, first asking how the start of the school year had gone.

Wen Fan: "It went quite smoothly."

I scolded the gossipy male classmate, got the new book, hmm, that's good.

However, Wen Fan immediately hugged his mother's arm and said in a spoiled tone, "Mom, the food in the school cafeteria is terrible. You have no idea what I ate for lunch."

According to Wen Fan, the Sichuan peppercorn chicken he had for lunch was so bad it was enough to make someone cry.

Wen's mother was puzzled: "That shouldn't be the case. Didn't you eat that for a whole year in your first year of high school?"

Wen Fan: "...Who knows, maybe they've changed staff at all those service windows. I don't care, I'm coming back for lunch!"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wen felt heartbroken: "Then come back to eat. Tell Dad what you want to eat and I'll prepare it for you in advance."

Wen Fan laughed: "Then I want to eat fish tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll go buy it tomorrow morning!"