When Su Shijie got back that evening, he saw that Lin Ran seemed to be in a bad mood. He figured the guy was upset about something again and asked him about it for ages, but never got a straight answer. There was nothing Su Shijie could do about Lin Ran’s odd temper, so he washed up, climbed into bed, and went back to flirting with girls online. Lin Ran, meanwhile, took care of his game business and then went to sleep.

The next morning, Lin Ran got up early to go for a run. He tried calling Su Shijie, but who knew how late the guy had stayed up chatting up girls last night? He was out like a pig, and no matter how much Lin Ran shouted, he wouldn’t get up. With no other choice, Lin Ran grabbed an apple and headed out for his run by himself.

After leaving the apartment complex, Lin Ran ran into Shen Qingyuan, who was out for a morning jog too. This time, Shen Qingyuan was the one who spoke to him first.

“When did you start going for morning runs?” Shen Qingyuan asked, taking out one of her earbuds.

Lin Ran glanced at her. “When summer vacation started.”

After that, Lin Ran broke into a slow jog, clearly with no intention of continuing the conversation. Shen Qingyuan glanced at him too, but didn’t try to start another conversation. She waited until he’d run some distance ahead before setting off at a slow jog herself.

After finishing two laps, Lin Ran returned to the apartment complex. He spotted Shen Qingyuan downstairs again, feeding ham sausages to the four kittens. She was still wearing her jogging clothes.

Lin Ran also noticed a faint smile on Shen Qingyuan’s face. It was lovely.

In Lin Ran’s memories, his only impression of Shen Qingyuan was that she was good at studying. Even without going to school, she could still take first place in her grade. He remembered that, just before graduation in his previous life, at least three 985 and 211 universities had sent professors to try to recruit her. In the end, even a university from abroad sent people. It sounded absurd, but it wasn’t unusual at Ark City No. 5 High School. Shen Qingyuan wasn’t the first, and she certainly wouldn’t be the last. No. 5 High School’s unusual admissions and teaching system meant that many of its students had excellent grades.

Just as Lin Ran was about to head upstairs, Shen Qingyuan called out to him.

“Lin Ran, could I ask you for a favor?” Shen Qingyuan asked softly.

Lin Ran frowned and said nothing.

“Once I’ve finished taking care of some school business, I’ll be out of town for a few days. Could you look after them for me while I’m gone?” Shen Qingyuan pointed to the four kittens trailing behind her. Little Ju even gave Lin Ran a cute little look.

“Sure.” Lin Ran agreed. He wasn’t doing it for Shen Qingyuan, but for the four little furballs. He had no interest in asking why she liked them so much but didn’t take them home. If it was just a matter of looking after the four little guys, he didn’t mind.

“Thank you!” Shen Qingyuan smiled brightly at him.

“Don’t thank me. I’m not doing this for you,” Lin Ran said flatly. Even he didn’t notice that there was a little less coldness in his voice.

With that, Lin Ran turned and headed upstairs.

By the time they’d had lunch, Su Shijie had received another call from Ye Qingqian. The Student Council president was once again asking them to come and do some heavy lifting. This time, Su Shijie refused right away. But when he heard Shen Qingyuan would be there, he quickly caved—and dragged Lin Ran along to school before he could refuse.

This time, the gate guard didn’t stop Lin Ran. Maybe Ye Qingqian had told him to expect them.

They entered the school and went to the Student Council office. Ye Qingqian and Shen Qingyuan were there, along with two other girls, taking care of some things. When Ye Qingqian saw Lin Ran and Su Shijie, she gestured for them to wait a moment.

Once Ye Qingqian had finished up, she sent the other two girls away.

“Sorry for asking you to come all the way here when you’re both busy. The renovation crew ran into a problem, so for the next few days we’ll have to remove the window frames, fans, and light covers in Teaching Building Three ourselves. The project’s on a tight schedule, so we don’t have much time. The school plans to have the building completely renovated a week before summer vacation ends, and then the administrators will bring a group of people to see it. Don’t worry—our teacher said they’ll treat everyone to a meal once we’re done,” Ye Qingqian said with a smile.

Su Shijie only had eyes for Shen Qingyuan. He nodded eagerly. “No problem, I’m in! Let’s do it! It’s just some heavy lifting, right? Count me in!”

Lin Ran gave a quiet laugh. “I’m not doing it.”

“Why?” Ye Qingqian asked.

“Why? First, I’m not in the Student Council, so this job has nothing to do with me. Second, don’t you think your plan is a little too perfect? Cleaning and removing old fixtures—shouldn’t the school be hiring people to do that? Or shouldn’t the Student Council be responsible for it? To put it bluntly, you’re probably saving quite a bit of money by getting us to do it. Based on Ark City’s rates, a regular cleaner makes 60 yuan an hour. If you assign two cleaners to each floor, they should be able to finish cleaning in four hours. Eight people, 60 yuan an hour, comes to 1,920 yuan. As for removing the windows, it should cost 30 yuan per window. Each classroom has seven windows, so that’s 210 yuan per classroom. There are four classrooms on each floor, three floors in total—that’s twelve classrooms, or 2,520 yuan. Altogether, that’s 4,440 yuan.” Lin Ran looked at Ye Qingqian with a mocking smile.

Su Shijie was speechless at Lin Ran’s words. Ye Qingqian was still smiling, though she looked a little troubled.

“I think you’ve misunderstood,” Ye Qingqian said helplessly.

Lin Ran chuckled. “Whether I’ve misunderstood or not, I’m not doing this. This is the Student Council’s job, not mine. You asked me to help, and I have the right to refuse. You can use your authority to cross my name off the list, but I also have the right to take this up with a teacher. So, President, stop looking for trouble when there isn’t any.”

“I’m out.” With that, Lin Ran turned and walked off without looking back.

Su Shijie, Ye Qingqian, and Shen Qingyuan watched Lin Ran leave the office, completely stunned.

After Lin Ran left, Ye Qingqian shrugged. “I don’t think I did anything to upset him, did I?”

“No. I’ll have a talk with him later,” Su Shijie replied at once.

“He’s got quite a personality,” Shen Qingyuan remarked coolly.

Su Shijie didn’t like that. In his heart, he cursed Lin Ran, wishing he’d never find a girlfriend in his life. With an attitude like his, who’d ever like him? He was awkward and petty, even with pretty girls. What a piece of work.

Still, Su Shijie knew Lin Ran hadn’t said all that because of the money. Lin Ran wasn’t short on cash—his dad sent him 1,000 yuan every month. Sure, 1,000 yuan wasn’t a lot, but Lin Ran was only a high school student! A thousand yuan a month in pocket money was already plenty. And he’d made a few thousand yuan playing that game every day, too. You could say Lin Ran was capable—he could even make money from a game. But you could also call him an idiot. He didn’t know how to appreciate the chance to spend time with a pretty girl, and instead went and picked a fight with her.

Just wait. If the Night Qingqian fan club heard about what happened today, Lin Ran’s life would be miserable from now on.

Su Shijie was starting to wonder how he’d ended up becoming such good buddies with this guy. Lin Ran was cold toward girls, but he was a great friend. Su Shijie vaguely remembered that one night, he’d had something urgent to take care of and asked Lin Ran to bring him a box of condoms. Lin Ran really had gotten up in the middle of the night, gone out to buy a box, and delivered it to his hotel. Though afterward, the guy had shaken him down for a few dozen yuan.

But the more Su Shijie thought about it, the more he felt like something about that whole situation was a little off...

Su Shijie stayed behind to do the heavy lifting, while Lin Ran went out for a stroll.

Well, by “stroll,” Lin Ran really meant that he went to check out the bookstore near the school. He was almost done with his summer homework, so he figured he’d buy some more practice books and workbooks. Strangely enough, after being reborn, Lin Ran had found that his memory and ability to study seemed to have improved quite a bit. Put simply, he could memorize a passage after reading it a few times, more or less. Math problems that used to give him a headache now felt as easy as elementary-school equations. Once he settled down, Lin Ran had also discovered the joy of studying. He didn’t hate it anymore.

After buying the books and paying, Lin Ran left the bookstore. But at the entrance, a punk girl with dyed blond hair and metal pendants stopped him.

“Hey, handsome, can I add you on WeChat?” the punk girl asked with a grin, raising her phone. The QR code scanner was already open.

Lin Ran glanced at her, then turned and walked away, leaving the punk girl standing there in stunned silence.

“Tsk, tsk, you’re no good at this.” A cool-looking girl dressed like a delinquent came over, sucking on a lollipop and clicking her tongue.

“I don’t think I’m ugly. I’ve had at least two guys chase after me, so why didn’t he even look at me?” The punk girl scratched her head in confusion as she watched Lin Ran’s retreating figure.

The cool-looking girl laughed and ruffled her hair. “Look at what he bought—workbooks and practice tests. He’s a total bookworm. Why bother flirting with him? Come hang out with your big sis tonight. I’ll help you snag a handsome guy!”

The punk girl watched Lin Ran’s figure disappear into the distance, then fell into thought. “Sis Baozi, I think he looks kind of familiar.”

The cool-looking girl’s expression changed instantly. Without a hint of mercy, she pinched the soft flesh on the punk girl’s belly. A piteous scream followed.

......

“I’m telling you, call me Baozi again and I’ll pinch you again!” the cool-looking girl said, raising a fist.

The punk girl rubbed the spot where she’d been pinched, looking aggrieved. She hadn’t noticed she’d said it out loud.

“What did you just say? He looks familiar? Give me a break. You think every handsome guy looks familiar. Instead of recognizing every handsome guy you see, why don’t you go home and study? You’d better start thinking about the placement test at the beginning of next semester,” the cool-looking girl said with a smile.

“Ah, I’m totally doomed, aren’t I? Sis, you’ve gotta help me!” At the mention of the placement test, the punk girl’s face fell.

The cool-looking girl burst out laughing and gave the punk girl’s cheeks another rub.

The punk girl grumbled to herself, ‘You’re not gentle at all!’