Less than 6 o’clock in the morning, Ji Ran woke up with a light sweat on her forehead.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. In her dream last night, she saw Shen Zhi, who was proud and restrained in the previous life, and the arrogant and domineering young man in this life.

Ji Ran closed her eyes and felt like she must be crazy.

When she arrived at school, many of her classmates were playing around. In 4th Middle School, Classes 1 and 2 of each grade were the focus classes, and Class 8 was the last science class. Although, theoretically, all the other classes were the same, Class 8 was a bit different.

After all, the troublemakers in the grade were all here.

Until it was time for the morning self-study, the big shot sitting next to her hadn’t shown up in the classroom. Instead, a few other students arrived late, stepping in to the sound of the bell.

The teacher for the morning self-study was the Chinese teacher, and it seemed like all the Chinese teachers had a mild temperament.

The teacher entered the classroom with teaching materials in hand, sat in the chair behind the podium, and didn’t even bother to look up, so the empty seat next to her remained unattended.

The sounds of students reading during morning self-study filled the air, with most of them reciting English words or lessons.

Ji Ran casually flipped through her English textbook. After graduating from high school, she went to study in the United States, and English was her second language. She not only spoke it fluently but could also mimic a fluent British accent.

All because Pei Yuan thought the American accent was not classy enough.

Even though Ji Ran was once a top student, it had been a whole decade since she last studied high school material. Even the smartest minds forget what they learned for the college entrance examination.

Besides, Ji Ran had already experienced the feeling of outperforming others all the way. She was a top student time and time again.

So she had no intention of studying seriously, and instead, she took out her phone and started playing.

This was a Sudoku game she had just found yesterday. At this time, the functionality of phones was not as advanced as it would be ten years later, and in her previous life, her phone had downloaded every Sudoku app available on the market.

This was Ji Ran’s way of decompressing.

It wasn’t until the second class ended that the seat next to Ji Ran was still empty, but both the teacher and the students in the class seemed used to it.

During the break, everyone stood up and left the classroom. Xia Jiangming and a few other boys went to the mini-mart to buy something.

Wen Qianxia took Ji Ran’s arm and asked, after holding back her curiosity all morning, “Ran Ran, did Shen Zhi not come to class today?”

Ji Ran shook her head. She wasn’t close to him.

“The big shot is truly a big shot. Look at him not coming to class, and the teachers dare not even ask.” Wen Qianxia said it in admiration.

Ji Ran said indifferently, “Probably because they don’t want to ask.”

After all, for a student like Shen Zhi, who was willful, arrogant, and came from a wealthy family, even the teachers had to think twice, afraid of offending him and jeopardizing their own livelihoods.

Perhaps his not coming to class actually makes the teachers more at ease.

Ji Ran suddenly remembered the incident with Shen Zhi and the ‘white moonlight’. She knew that Wen Qianxia was a gossipy person, and she knew about everything, big and small, in school.

Just as Ji Ran was considering how to broach the topic, Wen Qianxia giggled and said, “During the break, I don’t know how many girls will have their hearts broken.”

“Why?” Ji Ran asked.

Wen Qianxia laughed and said, “You don’t know, huh? Although Shen Zhi has a bad reputation, he’s really handsome. His face attracts a lot of attention, and many girls in our school secretly admire him. When he was a freshman, many sophomore and senior girls inquired about him. He’s usually unpredictable, so the break is the only time to ease their lovesickness.”

Ji Ran looked at Wen Qianxia’s vivid expression and suddenly burst into laughter. “Qianxia, your Chinese must be excellent.”

Wen Qianxia widened her eyes. “How did you know?”

“The first time I’ve seen someone wax poetic over a crush like this,” Ji Ran said, then laughed softly.

Wen Qianxia was about to retort and tease Ji Ran but saw her smiling with a softness in her eyes and starlight glinting in her bright, lively eyes. She sighed and said, “Well, for someone as good-looking as you, I won’t argue with you.”

Ji Ran’s laughter became even happier. She hadn’t expected Wen Qianxia to be such a fangirl.

Seeing Ji Ran getting increasingly cheerful, Wen Qianxia not only refrained from arguing with her but also said softly, “Ran Ran, you should smile more; it makes you look prettier.”

Although Ji Ran appeared to be very well-behaved, Wen Qianxia thought she was too quiet.

Indeed, a smile is more charming.

Ji Ran was slightly taken aback by this statement. She looked at Wen Qianxia earnestly, and, to be honest, she had always found friendships between girls to be childish. Even going to the restroom together had to be arranged.

In her previous life, Ji Ran’s youth was spent in competition.

She had no friends because everyone was her competitor.

First place is always first place.

That was the only way to meet Pei Yuan’s expectations.

But in this life, she seemed to realize that she had missed out on something precious, even though it was childish.

So she generously asked, “So many people like Shen Zhi, do you…?”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but Wen Qianxia was about to fall to her knees.

She immediately exclaimed, “Do I have the courage to like that big shot?”

Sure, he’s handsome, but his temper is really bad, and she’s timid, so she’s scared.

“Does Shen Zhi have someone he likes?” Ji Ran finally asked the question she wanted to ask.

Wen Qianxia didn’t think much of it and treated it as just casual girl talk. She said, “Of course not, or else all the girls in the school would go crazy. It’s precisely because the big shot is single that it gives everyone endless imagination. What if they are the destined girl?”

She had watched idol dramas. How many TV dramas like that corrupt young girls each year?

Ji Ran was a bit surprised. Wasn’t it said that Shen Zhi had a white moonlight? Could it be that the other person hasn’t appeared yet, or maybe…

Ji Ran decided not to meddle any further. After all, Shen Zhi’s white moonlight had nothing to do with her. Faced with this unpredictable and aloof young man, she decided to keep her distance.

They were just deskmates.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Shen Zhi arrived at school. However, as soon as he came, he leaned on his desk and fell asleep. At first, his face was towards the window, but after sleeping through one class, he changed his position, and now his face is facing Ji Ran.

The young man’s eyebrows and eyes gently relaxed, and the usual indifference and sharpness on his face disappeared, leaving only a tranquil sleeping countenance. His eyelashes were long and thick, and when he was lying like this, they cast shadows on his eyelids.

For a brief moment, he looked so gentle in his sleep.

Ji Ran’s heart seemed to skip a beat for a second.

It wasn’t until the sleeping young man suddenly opened his eyes that Ji Ran’s heart returned to normal.

His dark eyes collided with hers, and the slight tranquility in his demeanor vanished instantly. His eyes were watchful, like a small beast looking over, but when he saw Ji Ran’s face, whether it was because he was half-awake or because he saw her, he actually smiled.

“Ji Ran.”

His voice was very soft, and he called her name.

His tone was so gentle that Ji Ran was dazed for a long time. When she finally came to her senses, the young man beside her sat up straight in his chair, slightly tilting his head to look at Ji Ran. He asked, “You were just looking at me, weren’t you?”

Ji Ran wanted to deny it, but she was caught red-handed.

The young man smirked and said, “Do you have a secret crush on me?”

Ji Ran’s eyes almost rolled into the sky when she heard this. She admitted that he was very handsome, but she hadn’t expected him to think so highly of himself.

Shen Zhi, who was standing nearby, stared at her expression, and the smile at the corner of his mouth gradually disappeared.

Because she looked like she wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

4th Middle School started evening self-study, but there were also day students. Ji Ran hadn’t applied for evening self-study and was getting ready to go home after school. Wen Qianxia invited her to leave the school together, and Ji Ran didn’t want her to see her getting into a car with Jiang Yi.

So she accompanied Wen Qianxia to the bus stop.

After Wen Qianxia got on the bus and left, Ji Ran slowly walked back.

Unexpectedly, when she reached an intersection, she saw an extremely luxurious car parked on the other side, a car that looked very expensive at first glance.

Ji Ran had initially just glanced casually, not expecting to see Shen Zhi standing with a woman who looked very elegant and mature.

The woman had a mature demeanor, and she should be in her forties, but she maintained herself so well that she gave off an ageless vibe.

Was this Shen Zhi’s mother?

Ji Ran couldn’t help but size up the woman; she seemed vaguely familiar.

Shen Zhi, on the other hand, gazed at the person across from him with a cold and disdainful expression. “My affairs have nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do with me? But you still have to call me’mom,’ don’t you?” The woman smiled gently and had a mild tone.

“Do you deserve it?” Shen Zhi said it coldly, his voice flat.

But the well-dressed woman on the other side of him let out a soft laugh, and her beautiful face revealed a smile that was hard to interpret, whether it was satisfaction or pain. “But what can we do? In everyone’s eyes, we are mother and son. Do you still want to call that crazy woman your mother? Do you think it’s possible?”

Shen Zhi didn’t respond.

But from Ji Ran’s angle, as she watched his back, he sat straight, as if he were at his limit.

Yet the woman’s voice didn’t stop: “I have to take care of your affairs. After all, you’re my precious son.”

Finally, Shen Zhi’s voice squeezed out from his throat: “Get lost.”

His voice was icy, and at this moment, all the hostility in his body was fully ignited.

“Want to fight again? It seems that you’re still carrying that woman’s filthy blood in your veins…” The woman gradually peeled away the disguise on her face, her tone becoming extremely bitter.

Shen Zhi turned around without hesitation and walked away.

She just wanted to provoke him again and again. He clenched his fists tightly, every muscle in his body taut, and his eyes were filled with a hatred that wanted to destroy everything.

But he couldn’t let her succeed.

So he turned and crossed the road without hesitation. This crossing didn’t have traffic lights, and he simply walked across.

He didn’t see Ji Ran standing at the street corner until he reached the other side, and her eyes were filled with surprise.

While Ji Ran and Shen Zhi locked eyes, a bad thought rose in her heart. She hadn’t intentionally tried to eavesdrop, but she had walked here to wait for her own driver and happened to witness this scene.

She hadn’t been able to leave in time, and Shen Zhi had just caught her.

At this moment, she had an indescribable feeling. In her previous life, the Shen Zhi she knew was the idol of all investment banking elites, and even female colleagues from the world’s top universities would be infatuated with him.

He was arrogant, composed, indifferent, and appeared all-powerful.

She disliked Shen Zhi because he was just too outstanding and too dominant.

But at this moment, the young man standing in front of her, with surprise and hurt in his eyes, reminded her of an injured little animal.

Ji Ran had an indescribable feeling deep down.

She watched Shen Zhi step by step as he walked towards her, and then he grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.

It wasn’t until she was forcibly pulled by him and brought to a motorcycle that she realized.

“Get on,” he said, placing the helmet in front of her, signaling her to put it on.

Shen Zhi’s motorcycle was not meant to carry passengers, so there was only one helmet, and now he gave it to Ji Ran.

Ji Ran didn’t take it, and she blinked and softly said, “I’m going home.”

After eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation, she was now even unsure of her speaking ability, and she felt guilty.

Shen Zhi suddenly sneered at her. “How much did you see?”

Ji Ran shook her head. “I didn’t see anything.”

She had only seen them arguing.

Her guilty retort made Shen Zhi snort, “Little liar.”

He knew she had seen everything, but from such a distance, she couldn’t have heard their conversation. A cold and distant chill washed over Shen Zhi’s face, pushing people a thousand miles away.

She didn’t hear it, and if she had, she probably would have wanted to keep her distance even more.

Shen Zhi knew what he looked like now. Skipping class, getting into fights, going to bars, drinking alcohol—he had done everything high school students shouldn’t do. A well-behaved girl like her must want to stay away from him as much as possible.

But the more she did that, the less he wanted to let her go.

Shen Zhi’s phone rang, and when he answered it, he glanced at Ji Ran.

“Alright, I’ll be there soon,” he hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice, “Alright, we’ll play that today.”

After ending the call, he didn’t hesitate any longer. He directly placed the helmet on her head. Ji Ran had wanted to resist, but the young man’s strength was too great.

The helmet was originally meant for him, and it was a bit big, so he easily pressed it onto Ji Ran’s head.

Ji Ran looked at him resignedly and said, “Where are we going?”

“Scared?” Shen Zhi smiled casually.

A person who had been full of sharp hostility now smiled. It seemed to have a bit of the carefree arrogance of youth, and that gloomy atmosphere disappeared.

Ji Ran hadn’t wanted to have too much contact with him, but the look of the injured little animal he had just shown her made her unable to resist softening her heart.

When she thought about it, she realized that she didn’t know what kind of experiences seventeen-year-old Shen Zhi had gone through to become twenty-seven-year-old Shen Zhi. Or perhaps twenty-seven-year-old Shen Zhi was just the armor he had put on.

But what kind of changes and experiences did he have to go through for such a transformation?

While Ji Ran was lost in thought, Shen Zhi reached out and tapped her helmet. Despite his seemingly gentle touch, the impact echoed in her head as if her brain were buzzing.

When she raised her head, Shen Zhi’s gaze was piercing.

“In front of me, who are you thinking about?”

Ji Ran looked at him and suddenly smiled. Originally, her lips were slightly pursed, but now her smile spread, and the corners of her eyes lifted slightly, exuding a mischievous air.

In her bright eyes, it seemed like there were stars twinkling.

Who else could she be thinking about but you?

The twenty-seven-year-old you

Ji Ran thought helplessly, but she also found it quite amusing. Perhaps Shen Zhi himself hadn’t expected it.