The winter in Ningchang was so cold that even water froze instantly, and the school canceled morning reading sessions.
Before class started, students trickled into the classroom, some sitting down to review their lessons, while others chatted.
The homeroom teacher, who was also the Chinese teacher, arrived on time and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Alright, everyone, quiet down. Before we start the class today, I’d like to introduce a new student who has transferred here. Please give him a warm round of applause.”
As soon as the teacher finished speaking, all eyes in the classroom turned toward the door.
Lin Wangye had never transferred schools before. From the first day of school, he’d always been with the same group of classmates all the way until graduation. As he lingered outside in the hallway, trying to gauge what was going on inside, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.
When he heard the sound of applause from the classroom, Lin Wangye tightened his grip on his backpack straps, took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
Under the eager eyes of the students in Class 7, the door slowly opened, and a fluffy head peeked in, glancing around with curiosity before jogging up to the podium, grinning widely.
“Hi everyone! My name is Lin Wangye—‘Wang’ as in ‘looking far’ and ‘Ye’ as in ‘fields.’ I’m eighteen years old, a Scorpio. I’m new here, so I hope you all will take good care of me and help me fit into this big family. I’m looking forward to becoming good friends with all of you!”
The boy’s bright smile, like a burst of spring air blowing into the classroom in the middle of winter, instantly captured everyone’s attention, leaving the room in a brief but noticeable silence.
Lin Wangye’s looks were already striking—naturally rosy lips, white teeth, and long, thick eyelashes that made his eyes even more sparkling and friendly. On top of that, he had the typical rich-boy flair—his carefully styled hair set him apart from the unkempt high school boys in a way that was impossible to ignore.
As soon as he stepped into the room, more than one girl in the class let out a sharp gasp.
Whispers started spreading almost immediately.
“This one’s mine, I’m calling dibs!”
“No way! He’s totally my type!”
“Forget Lu Chengxuan, this one’s for me.”
“Damn, are we collecting all the F4 members from our school?”
“I can already imagine what our class girls will remember years later—the three white moonlight boys from Class 7 and all the random other boys.”
“Alright, alright, quiet down.” The homeroom teacher lightly tapped the podium, signaling for the class to settle down. Leaning against the desk, he continued, “From now on, Lin Wangye will be a part of our Class 7. Let’s all help him settle in and make him feel at home.”
“Okay!” Lin Shen led the class in a round of enthusiastic applause.
Once the applause died down, the homeroom teacher picked up where he left off. “Now, let’s have Lin Wangye meet our class leaders. Class monitor, please stand up.”
As the teacher finished speaking, Lu Chengxuan, sitting in a very noticeable position in the center of the third row, stood up.
The classroom fell oddly silent for a moment, until the teacher, still looking down at his lesson plan, spoke up.
“Class monitor, please introduce yourself to the new student.”
Lin Wangye and Lu Chengxuan, who had somehow been forced to stand there for a few seconds, exchanged glances. Lin Wangye bit his lip, fighting the urge to burst out laughing.
Lu Chengxuan, however, remained calm, his expression indifferent as he spoke. “I’m Lu Chengxuan. Welcome to Class 7.”
Lin Wangye immediately bowed and saluted like a young pioneer. “Hello, class monitor!”
This sequence of actions wasn’t inherently funny, but Lin Wangye’s overly serious expression, paired with Lu Chengxuan’s cool, detached response, made it unexpectedly amusing.
Sure enough, the class erupted in quiet bursts of laughter.
Lu Chengxuan didn’t react much, sitting back down with the same composed expression.
The homeroom teacher moved on with the process. “Now, the class representative for studies, please stand up.”
As he finished speaking, a short-haired girl, sitting next to Lin Shen, slid her chair back and stood up. She brushed the loose hair behind her ear and flashed Lin Wangye a warm, friendly smile, softly saying, “Hello, welcome to Class 7. My name is Fu Xuexue. If you need any help with your studies, feel free to ask me.”
Lin Wangye had already noticed Lin Shen’s deskmate when he first entered the classroom.
To be honest, the class representative was quite pretty—not in an instantly striking way, but in a gentle, refined manner that grew on you.
Since she was a girl, Lin Wangye didn’t want to make things awkward, so he stood up straight and nodded respectfully. “Hello, class rep.”
The homeroom teacher continued. “Now, the physical education representative, please stand up.”
A tall boy sitting two rows behind Lu Chengxuan stood up, smiling broadly and waving at Lin Wangye. “I’m Jiang Bowen. Welcome to the class.”
Lin Wangye gave a respectful fist salute. “Hello, PE representative!”
“Alright, you can go to your seat now.” The homeroom teacher lifted his gaze, tapping the textbook lightly, scanning the classroom before pointing toward Lu Chengxuan. “You’ll sit next to Lu Chengxuan.”
“Huh?”
Just as Lin Wangye was about to step off the podium, he froze. The thought of sitting next to Lu Chengxuan, who practically exuded an air of untouchable coolness, made him feel a little awkward. He hesitantly pointed to an empty seat in the back corner and asked, “How about that seat, teacher?”
“The ceiling there leaks when it rains and hasn’t been fixed yet,” the teacher replied.
Lin Wangye instinctively looked up and saw the faint traces of damp, moldy spots on the ceiling above that spot.
“Alright then.”
With a resigned nod, Lin Wangye trudged to the seat next to Lu Chengxuan, dragging his feet. As he was stuffing his books into the desk drawer, Lin Shen turned around, his face full of mischievous glee.
“Want to know why the seat next to him was empty?” Lin Shen asked, his voice full of amusement.
Curious, Lin Wangye asked, “What’s going on?”
“Whoever sits next to him, their grades just plummet off a cliff,” Lin Shen said, glancing at Lu Chengxuan. “He’s got bad luck. You better watch out.”
As the math teacher entered, the homeroom teacher, still standing at the door, shot a sharp look at Lin Shen and said sternly, “Lin Shen, didn’t you hear the bell? No talking during class.”
For seniors in their third year, every minute and second was precious.
No matter how interested the students were, the teachers didn’t waste time. Before long, the class shifted smoothly into full-on lesson mode.
Lin Wangye, being a liberal arts student, wasn’t great at math.
Back in his previous life, just a few months before the college entrance exam, even with three PhD and master’s degree science students helping him cram, his math score still didn’t pass, managing only to scrape a little over 70.
After the exam, he spent a month partying like crazy, and by the end of it, he couldn’t remember a thing about ‘α’ and ‘β.’
As soon as the bell for class ended, Lin Wangye, who’d just survived two full math lessons, felt like a wilted plant, slumping forward on his desk, staring blankly ahead, his mind a complete fog.
Lin Shen swiveled around in his chair, laughing uncontrollably when he saw Lin Wangye looking like a total mess.
“Don’t get it, huh? You look even dumber than a Garden Baby right now.”
Lin Wangye sighed wearily, burying his head on the desk. “Goodnight, Maca Paca…”
Lin Shen, clearly enjoying his misery, burst out laughing even louder.
Meanwhile, Fu Xuexue, hearing their conversation, turned around and asked softly, “Do you need my class notes? You can borrow them if you want.”
Lin Wangye immediately perked up, sitting up straight like he had just found water in the desert. He eagerly nodded. “Yes, yes! Thanks, class rep!”
“No need to thank me.”
Fu Xuexue smiled gently at him, handing him a notebook with a soft pink and white cover, and just as she glanced at Lu Chengxuan out of the corner of her eye, she quickly snapped her gaze back, as if shocked by something.
The friendships among middle schoolers were often pure and simple.
During the twenty-minute break between classes, the curious classmates couldn’t wait to gather around Lin Wangye’s desk, chattering excitedly and asking him questions.
In the friendly crowd, Lin Wangye had no choice but to put the notebook down and chat with everyone. He was bombarded with a long line of self-introductions and struggled to remember names, trying his best to match faces with them.
One person who left a strong impression was Jiang Bowen, the enthusiastic and straightforward class rep for physical education. He was a big guy with a cheerful personality who immediately got friendly with Lin Wangye after just a few words.
Then there was Zhao Youyou, the girl sitting behind him.
What made her stand out was that Lin Wangye already knew her. Twenty years later, she would become the CEO of the SSI jewelry brand under the Lin Group.
From Lin Wangye’s memory, Lin Shen and Zhao Youyou didn’t have much interaction—they were just ordinary superior-subordinate. But Shi Yuan was much closer to her. They were very good friends.
She was one of the only two people Lin Wangye had known from his past life, and her connection to Shi Yuan got him excited. Her presence gave him a new lead on Shi Yuan, and he was eager to find out more.
However, with so many people around, Lin Wangye had to put his curiosity aside for the moment, hoping for a better chance to ask later.
The topics his classmates raised were mostly simple questions—like which school he had transferred from or where he lived.
Lin Wangye wasn’t entirely sure about this new identity’s past, and he didn’t want to weave a web of lies that would eventually catch him. So, whenever the conversation touched on things he didn’t know about, he skillfully changed the subject, answering only what he was confident in.
When he revealed that he had previously lived in an orphanage, was adopted by the Lu family, and was currently working part-time at an Internet cafe while living in Lu Chengxuan’s house, the entire class erupted in surprise.
Jiang Bowen, who was always quick to catch gossip, reacted the most dramatically, leaning back as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
“So you’re the rumored girlfriend of Lu Chengxuan?!”
The rumor had indeed been circulating around school, but with Lin Wangye’s obvious gender, calling him a ‘girlfriend’ seemed utterly ridiculous. The whole class burst into laughter.
Lin Wangye couldn’t help but laugh as well. He straightened his back, patted his chest, and proudly declared, “That’s right, it’s me!”
“Are you going to explain or not?” Lin Shen stood up and slammed his hand on the desk. “If you don’t, I’ll start making up my own story.”
Jiang Bowen immediately jumped in, “If you make up stories, I’ll spread them!”
Zhao Youyou chimed in, “And if you spread stories, I’ll believe them!”
Jiang Bowen waved his hand dramatically, “Spread the word, Lu Chengxuan’s fiancee is now attending Class 7!”
With the atmosphere at its peak, the class couldn’t help but burst into laughter again.
The rumor, which had been growing for days at the school and was only getting more exaggerated, was instantly squashed within the class as soon as Lin Wangye transferred in.
Lin Wangye, already with his good looks and friendly personality, plus the amusing mix-up, quickly became a part of the class. There was no awkwardness or feeling of being an outsider.
Meanwhile, sitting right in the center of the chaos, Lu Chengxuan remained completely unaffected. He quietly worked on his problems, completely ignoring the discussion around him.
The next class was history, one of Lin Wangye’s strong subjects.
Unlike politics, where content can vary widely, the material in the history classes was mostly the same.
Once Lin Wangye confirmed that he knew the material the history teacher was covering, he stopped paying attention and began furiously copying his math notes instead.
Anyone who had ever been in class knew that from the podium, the teacher had a clear view of the entire class.
The teacher could see exactly what the students were doing.
Naturally, such an obvious move irritated the history teacher to no end.
After more than twenty minutes of the lesson, with the first half already covered, Lin Wangye was still focused on his math problems. At this point, the history teacher finally couldn’t take it anymore. He raised his hand and knocked on the desk. “The new student in the middle of the third row, stand up.”
The classroom went completely silent, and Lin Wangye, who hadn’t been paying attention at all, didn’t even realize he had been called. He kept his head down, writing furiously as though nothing was happening.
Just as the history teacher’s expression darkened, Lu Chengxuan nudged him with his elbow.
Caught off guard, Lin Wangye’s pen made a long, squiggly line across the page.
Turning to give Lu Chengxuan an annoyed look, Lin Wangye instinctively followed his gaze to the front, meeting the history teacher’s sharp glare.
Even someone as clueless as Lin Wangye couldn’t miss the hint this time.
He quickly stood up, ready to face whatever consequences were coming.
However, the history teacher didn’t immediately call him out for his obvious distraction, as that would waste valuable class time for the other students. Instead, he flipped through the textbook and asked, “We’ve covered Tang culture in this lesson. Now, let’s try a multiple-choice question. The Tang people admired ‘genuine works of worthy men,’ imitating the calligraphy style of the Wang Xizhi family from Jiangnan. After passing the imperial exam, those who wrote their names on the Yan Tower were considered to carry the ‘Jiangnan legacy.’ What cultural characteristic of the Tang dynasty does this reflect?”
As soon as the teacher started reading the question, Lin Wangye noticed Lin Shen frantically flipping through his book, trying to find the answer and subtly hinting at him.
But the history teacher, determined to make an example of him, didn’t ask from the book. He casually placed the textbook on the podium and offered the choices: “A. Jiangnan culture became mainstream. B. The imperial examination helped the flourishing of running scripts. C. Calligraphy absorbed elements from the Six Dynasties. D. There was a strong demand for civilian culture.”
“CCC, I choose C, teacher,” Lin Wangye answered quickly.
The history teacher paused for a moment before responding seriously, “Explain why you picked C.”
“Process of elimination,” Lin Wangye said confidently. “A is definitely not it.”
He stood there obediently, speaking clearly and confidently as he explained his reasoning.
“Throughout history, the economic center has always been in the north, and the economy determines the cultural superstructure. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, Jiangnan developed, and after the An Shi Rebellion, the economic center shifted south, completing the move by the Southern Song dynasty. Clearly, during the period mentioned in the question, Jiangnan culture wasn’t yet mainstream. D is also wrong because ‘civilian culture’ is more down-to-earth and less refined, which doesn’t match the intellectual aesthetic of the time. So the only reasonable answers left are B and C.”
Calling out a student in class for not paying attention and making them answer a tough question—this was a classic move. Middle school and high school teachers did it all the time, both to get their point across and to subtly remind the rest of the class to stay focused.
And the history teacher didn’t pick just any question—he went for a tricky one. Even students who had been listening closely might fall into the trap.
No one expected Lin Wangye to get it right.
Especially not with the way he broke it down step by step, making it sound effortless. There was no way anyone could accuse him of guessing.
Lin Shen whipped his head around, staring at him like he was a complete stranger.
The history teacher’s attitude shifted immediately. His expression softened, and he even smiled kindly. “Alright, then tell me—between B and C, why did you choose C?”
Lin Wangye continued, “Running script had already flourished during the Wei and Jin dynasties. Wang Xizhi’s ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion’ is known as the greatest running script of all time—there’s no need to wait until the Tang dynasty for the imperial exams to push it into its golden age. The ‘Six Dynasties’ refers to the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, followed by the Sui. By the time we reach the Tang, it’s only natural that calligraphy absorbed elements from those earlier periods. That’s why the answer is C.”
“Very good. Seems like you’ve done plenty of preparation. Everyone should learn from him,” the history teacher said, nodding approvingly. Then, flipping through the book, he looked up and asked, “What’s your name? You seem new.”
Flashing a bright grin, Lin Wangye answered, “Teacher, my name is Lin Wangye. I just transferred here today.”
The history teacher waved a hand. “Alright, sit down, Xiao Lin.”
Under the teacher’s praise and the impressed gazes of his classmates, Lin Wangye pulled out his chair and sat down. Then, he buried his head back into his math problems, locked in a fierce battle with numbers.
“Bad at math?” Lu Chengxuan, sitting beside him, turned slightly and asked in a low voice.
Lin Wangye sighed, feeling a mix of emotions. “Yeah.”
Most students were better at some subjects than others.
But for Lin Wangye, his struggles with math weren’t because he hated it or resisted learning it. He simply wasn’t wired for numbers, which made learning math incredibly difficult.
As for history—well, that was a different story.
His love for history came from a much deeper ‘association’.
In his previous life, Shi Yuan had been an internationally renowned designer specializing in traditional Chinese aesthetics.
He had studied at ‘Sigwell’, one of the world’s top art institutions, and then infused his designs with the grandeur of Chinese history, captivating audiences across the globe with the beauty of Eastern culture.
While other kids grew up with bedtime stories from the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen, Lin Wangye’s childhood was filled with stories of emperors, poets, and warriors.
Stories that Shi Yuan would tell him over long-distance calls from across the ocean, his gentle voice weaving China’s past into vivid tales.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
