Chapter 1
"I've been posted on a confession wall?"
"To be precise, it's not exactly a hang-up, it's just that someone confessed their feelings to you."
Li Zhi, beaming with excitement, held the phone up to Yu Miaomiao's eyes.
"It's still under her real name. You remember Lin Zhao from the next class, right? She took classes with us. She's pretty and always has a smile on her face."
Between keystrokes, Yu Miaomiao glanced at her phone screen and saw a strange human male.
"I don't know her." She didn't seem to care.
"Ah, I think his confession was quite sincere."
Li Zhi persisted: "I'll read it to you."
"Yu Miaomiao, I was instantly captivated by you the moment I saw you. Your adorable appearance, your diligent study habits, and the contrast between your personality always surprise me—Waaah, why are you covering my mouth…"
"You're so noisy."
Yu Miaomiao withdrew her hand and continued typing on the keyboard, the sound clicking away, her expression calm, as if nothing had happened.
"Okay, okay, I'm not kidding you anymore." Li Zhi became serious. "I got the information on the top student in the veterinary medicine department that you asked about last time."
The clicking sound stopped, and Yu Miaomiao finally raised her head, a few strands of light brown hair hanging down between her pale eyebrows and eyes. "What information do you have?"
Li Zhi snorted: "I knew you'd be interested in this!"
She turned on her computer and pulled up a photo.
"Look, this is the application form for the top-ranked FA scholarship. Miaomiao, you have no idea how much I spent bribing his roommate. You have to treat me to a meal; I want it at the second cafeteria..."
Yu Miaomiao didn't hear a word that followed.
The moment the photo was fully refreshed, she focused her attention on it and gave Li Zhi a few perfunctory "hmm" responses.
Her brows furrowed slightly with focus, her dark pupils followed the movement of the computer screen, and her lips parted unconsciously, revealing her rosy lips pouted – almost the only color on her excessively pale and petite face.
The girl with curly, afro-like hair, Li Zhi, fell silent, letting out an exaggerated yet silent sigh.
He thought to himself: Lin Zhao, you're wrong. The biggest contrast isn't her cute appearance and serious attitude towards studying, but her cold heart!
The FA Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship at University A, bar none. There are a total of 8 places: 4 for master's students and 4 for undergraduate students. Only one place is available for second-year students. The requirements are very high, and the competition is extremely fierce.
Yu Miaomiao planned ahead and checked all the application information of several strong competitors. The others were not a threat, but she still hadn't gotten the information of the first place in the veterinary medicine major.
She quickly extracted the key information from the registration form:
Male, sophomore, majoring in veterinary medicine, with a GPA of 4.9, ranking first in the department. He has received the University of A Freshman Scholarship, the President's Scholarship, and the National Scholarship. He won first place in the Asian region of the International Animal Medicine Skills Competition. He has published 8 papers in core journals, including 2 as the first author and 4 as the second author, with over 30 citations.
After reading the last line, her gaze moved up to the upper right corner. The one-inch photo on the blue background was slightly blurry, but it was clear that it was a sharp face with a buzz cut, dark eyebrows that swept upwards into the temples. She scanned the line of names:
Jiang Chengyi
With a "click," Yu Miaomiao closed the laptop, startling the drowsy Li Zhi awake.
"Ah, Miaomiao, you've finished reading it? What do you think?" Li Zhi asked sleepily. "Isn't it amazing? I feel like I'm not much different from you."
She counted on her fingers: "You have a GPA of 4.9, first in the department, and he has a GPA of 4.9, first in the department; you won a gold medal at that ICPC, and first prize at the Silver Bridge Cup and GCJ, and although Jiang Chengyi didn't participate in any competitions, he published several papers, which is quite impressive."
"It's okay."
Yu Miaomiao spoke calmly, without any emotion, simply stating a fact.
"Of course, our Miaomiao is definitely the best. Don't forget about me, your spy, when you get the scholarship!" Li Zhi's eyes lit up.
Yu Miaomiao is a top student in the Computer Science Department, and she is well-known throughout the school. Li Zhi, as her best friend and former roommate, is proud of her.
"Okay, I'll share the money with you," Yu Miaomiao said casually.
For her, the FA scholarship wasn't the most important thing; what she wanted was the prestige to help her get into...
"Hey, that's too much. Just treat me to another meal. Wait, someone messaged me."
Li Zhi turned on her phone and shouted, "It's bad, Miao Miao! The informant has the latest information!"
"Jiang Chengyi, in conjunction with the Municipal Small Animal Rescue Center, has launched a TNR (Train the Narrowing) project for stray cats. The school's official WeChat account just posted about it!"
Yu Miaomiao didn't take it seriously; she hadn't even followed the school's official WeChat account. "What's so valuable about this project?"
Of course!
Li Zhi scrolled through the tweets, saying, "Now, when awarding scholarships, it's not just about the papers you've published and the awards you've won; public service is also a very important part."
"Look at so-and-so from last year, his paper was so-so, but he still won the award because he had more than 500 hours of volunteer work and participated in many volunteer projects."
"Finally found it, I'll forward it to you. Wow, they even interviewed the principal."
"With a strong sense of social responsibility, Jiang Chengyi actively promoted public welfare and contributed to the development of animal welfare in City A... Students of University A should take Jiang Chengyi as a role model!"
"Oh no, Miaomiao, I think you're in danger."
Li Zhi fiddled with her fingers, "It seems you haven't done a single volunteer hour..."
"That's not necessarily true."
Yu Miaomiao stared at the tweet full of praise, her long, straight eyelashes drooping to conceal her cold and arrogant gaze. "Just some unorthodox methods."
His tone, however, was unusually solemn.
Li Zhi has an elective class in the evening, and when it's almost time, she grabs her computer and runs off.
Yu Miaomiao finished writing the code, packed up her computer, and left the study room.
She started participating in various programming competitions and writing code for others in high school, earning a lot of money. After her application for off-campus accommodation was approved in her sophomore year, she rented a single room near the school.
Li Zhi had complained to her several times about the loneliness of living alone in the dormitory.
Yu Miaomiao walked out of the teaching building. The school bus would arrive in five minutes, and she strolled aimlessly on the sidewalk.
Next to her was a bulletin board displaying the school-level scholarships; she saw her own photo displayed in the first column.
He had long, straight, light brown hair, a narrow, pointed face, no bigger than the palm of his hand, and dark pupils that stared straight ahead, as if looking through glass at someone.
She vaguely remembered the photo. The photographer hired by the school asked her to retake it many times, repeatedly telling her to smile and soften her expression, but the effect of smiling was worse than not smiling. In the end, the first version was used.
Yu Miaomiao carefully checked her resume on the bulletin board, making sure no major honors were missing, before nodding in satisfaction.
She was about to leave when she caught a glimpse of a somewhat familiar face next to her and stopped.
Under high-definition printing, the face was sharp and menacing, with pure black hair and pupils that were rare even among Chinese people. The eyebrows and eyes were as delicate and clear as if painted with fine brushstrokes. They were languidly closed, with lips slightly pursed, showing clear and straight lip lines, giving off an inhuman indifference.
Next to the photo was a list of honors. Yu Miaomiao looked through them line by line. This was the first time she had ever looked at another person's achievements so carefully.
As she finished reading, she exhaled and uttered the name she remembered clearly even after just a glance, enunciating each word distinctly:
"Jiang, Cheng, Yi"
She said:
"I'll remember you."
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