Xia Chuan Yuan spent the day in a daze. He noticed no teacher had scolded him for spacing out. No one called on him to answer questions. Unlike in novels, where a distracted student gets humiliated with impossible problems...

But in reality, none of that happened.

The third and fourth periods were Chinese class, taught by an elderly man. Judging by his looks, he was over sixty. He wore thick glasses, his hair white and thin. He seemed brimming with knowledge.

Xia Chuan Yuan figured he wasn’t called on because of the teacher’s severe nearsightedness. Those heavy lenses made it obvious.

DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!!!

The bell rang. Classes ended early at four, leaving time for club activities. Sakurano High valued extracurricular enthusiasm. They kept schedules light, reserving hours for clubs.

After school, classmates chatted briefly. Some headed to clubs; others went home. A few skipped clubs entirely, joining the "go-home club" instead.

"Yo, Yuan! A haircut made you this handsome? If I hadn’t known you since childhood, I’d swear you got plastic surgery!"

Xia Chuan Yuan had just finished writing the cleaning roster on the blackboard. Now he sorted through gifts and love letters received that day.

Thanks to his looks, Xia Chuan Yuan was wildly popular at this female-dominated school. His desk and locker overflowed with love letters. Chocolates and candies filled the spaces too.

He organized the letters carefully. Not knowing their senders, he couldn’t just trash them—he might hurt someone’s feelings. He’d take them home to store properly.

As he worked, Songdao Liang and Yumu Taiyi approached. Songdao Liang had spoken first.

Long ago, Xia Chuan Yuan felt insecure around them. He’d thought himself plain next to Songdao Liang’s delicate beauty and Yumu Taiyi’s rugged charm. He’d kept his distance, though they never noticed.

But that was past. Post-haircut, Xia Chuan Yuan’s confidence soared. "Inferiority" no longer applied.

Now, standing together, he wasn’t the background leaf. His sharper looks drew more eyes.

"Eh, it’s just a haircut! I was low-key before, sealing my charm away. Recently, I decided to stop hiding—time to show my true self!" He paused his sorting to reply.

"Brag all you want! Hey, come over later? My sisters miss you—they’ve asked why you vanished all summer."

"Yeah! Mine too—they like you more than me!" Yumu Taiyi chimed in.

"Haha, illusion! Your ‘intentions’ need recharging. Pay me, and your brains’ll reset!"

Money.

Xia Chuan Yuan suddenly recalled the hotel bill he’d covered. The homeroom teacher promised reimbursement but never paid.

*I’ll ask in two days. If her ‘memory’ magically returns, it’ll be harder to collect. Better wait and watch.*

"Sorry, club activities today! Such a shame!"

His body instinctively recoiled at the idea of visiting their homes—a shiver ran through him. He used the club excuse to decline.