In the morning, Shen Zhi didn’t come to school, and the teachers were used to his frequent absences. However, the class teacher,Mr. Qiao, took the initiative to call him and even inquire about him from his close friends, such as Xia Jiangming and the others, whom he usually hung out with.

Shen Zhi was originally a student in school who was left to his own devices.

He didn’t want to be involved, dared not to be involved, and had no intention of being involved.

But Mr.Qiao, whether due to his responsible nature or because he was a young teacher, was very attentive to each of his students. Ji Ran, who was reading with her head down, heard him constantly asking Xia Jiangming why Shen Zhi hadn’t come to class.

Xia Jiangming hesitated and couldn’t stand the sudden concern from the new class teacher, finally giving a reason: “Zhi… Shen Zhi is probably not feeling well.”

Little did they know that Mr.Qiao actually nodded and said seriously, “He didn’t come yesterday morning either; it seems that Shen Zhi is really weak.”

Ji Ran didn’t know if this was a sarcastic comment or a genuine concern, but she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Xia Jiangming and the others watched Ji Ran laugh, her bright eyes and eyebrows making her even more beautiful. Suddenly, there was a bit of complexity in Xia Jiangming’s heart; Shen Zhi was called weak by the teacher, and Ji Ran heard it too, and she was laughing so happily.

They didn’t know which of these things would irritate Shen Zhi more.

The morning passed quickly, and Ji Ran and Wen Qianxia didn’t go out for lunch today; instead, they went to the school cafeteria. In fact, the cafeteria at 4th Middle School was not bad at all—a large building with two floors, large enough to accommodate all the students at 4th Middle School eating together.

“Let’s have rice noodles,” Wen Qianxia said enthusiastically.

When they reached the rice noodle counter, they found a long line. Young girls tended to like this kind of messy food, and most of the people in line were girls.

After Wen Qianxia and Ji Ran stood in line, Wen Qianxia suddenly whispered, “Ji Ran, have you noticed that a lot of people are looking at us?”

“Looking at us?” Ji Ran glanced around, and sure enough, some people were caught glancing at her.

Actually, she felt something was off on her way from the classroom building to the cafeteria because people kept looking back at her. Initially, she thought she was overthinking it, but she didn’t expect Wen Qianxia to have the same feeling.

After a while, Wen Qianxia whispered, “They’re looking at you.”

Ji Ran frowned slightly, but she didn’t plan to care; after all, there were no school rules that said others couldn’t look at her. So she took out her phone and continued playing her Sudoku game.

Wen Qianxia also took out her phone, and after a while, she put her phone in front of Ji Ran and shouted, “Ji Ran, I finally figured it out.”

It turns out that this morning, a post was made on the school forum.

“This is the school flower of 4th Middle School, isn’t it?”

Clicking into the post, the first place was Ji Ran’s photo, and there was more than one.

The most attractive one was the first photo, in which she was leaning on the corridor railing and looking to the side, with sunlight falling on her, making her skin appear almost translucent.

Her straight nose, pale pink lips like cherry blossoms, her hand resting on her cheek, and her palm-sized face became even more beautiful with a sense of pure beauty.

The post, although it had been posted just a few hours ago, quickly became a popular post, and the comments below were going wild.

Although there were many questions asking who this was, the original poster came out to clarify, and it turns out this was the recent transfer student who had become quite famous.

There had been rumors about this pretty transfer student in the previous grade.

However, because the school year had just started, few people had seen her, so it had only sparked a small-scale discussion among the sophomores.

As soon as this post was made, Ji Ran became instantly famous.

Wen Qianxia showed her the post and sighed, “No wonder so many people are looking at you today; they must have all seen the post.”

Ji Ran didn’t expect someone to be so bored, and the pictures were obviously taken without her knowledge. So she frowned and asked, “Can this be reported and taken down?”

“Why delete it? Look at how beautiful you are; you outshine people like Xue Yirou and Jiang Yi,” Wen Qianxia said with a mischievous smile.

She mentioned Xue Yirou and Jiang Yi, who were candidates for the school’s school flower title during their freshman year. However, there was no definitive conclusion at that time. Unexpectedly, with Ji Ran’s arrival, she outshone them all.

Seeing Wen Qianxia’s happy expression, Ji Ran sighed in helplessness. “I don’t like my photos being posted on the forum.”

Wen Qianxia, sensing that Ji Ran minded this, immediately nodded and said, “Yeah, and these photos seem to have been taken without your consent. Who would be so bored to do this?”

The school’s online forum was usually lively, and now it involved the selection of the school’s beauty queen, which was something everyone cared about.

Until someone replied, “The transfer student not only looks beautiful but also seems to be very rich. I’ve seen her going to school in a Bentley before.”

This reply received many likes. However, not long after, someone responded, “The daughter of a driver dares to pretend to be a heiress? Who does she think she is? Wanting to be the school beauty at 4th Middle School? I think it’s a joke.”

“The driver’s daughter? What’s going on?”

“Ask her yourself. The master of the house kindly let her hitch a ride to school, and she still dares to act like a heiress.”

Because of this topic, people were debating non-stop, and the post was getting more and more attention.

It seemed that most of the school’s students were getting involved.

Ji Ran didn’t pay much attention to the post; she didn’t use her phone while eating and focused on her meal. On the other hand, Wen Qianxia, after taking a few bites of her rice noodles, found that an argument had erupted in the comments.

Upon closer inspection, she discovered that there were comments constantly attacking Ji Ran.

Wen Qianxia indeed hadn’t heard Ji Ran talk about her family background, and she didn’t know if the leaks in the post were true. Still, she felt that even if Ji Ran was indeed the daughter of a driver, it didn’t matter, as there was no rule that school beauties had to come from a wealthy background.

She genuinely felt that Ji Ran was like a fairy with inherent charm.

So, Wen Qianxia was so upset that she stopped eating and started replying to the comments below.

Ji Ran was nearly finished with her meal and, seeing Wen Qianxia still busy with her phone, couldn’t help but ask, “Xia Xia, aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’ll eat after I finish cursing out these jerks,” Wen Qianxia said indignantly.

Ji Ran was curious and asked, “Who are you cursing at?”

Wen Qianxia replied, “Isn’t it the people on the forum…”

Then she suddenly remembered that this was related to Ji Ran, and she knew Ji Ran never used the forum. So, she decided not to tell her to avoid making Ji Ran upset.

“It’s nothing; just some particularly annoying people.”

Ji Ran nodded and pointed to Wen Qianxia’s rice noodles. “You should eat quickly; it won’t taste good when it gets cold.”

Grateful for Ji Ran’s concern, Wen Qianxia thought that a kind-hearted and beautiful girl like Ji Ran shouldn’t be treated like this. She had to protect her.

At a restaurant outside the school, Xia Jiangming and the others had reserved a private room. Shen Zhi arrived after they had already ordered their food.

He looked tired, took a seat, and said nothing.

The private room was originally quiet, but it wasn’t until Xu Yihang exclaimed while looking at his phone, “Hey, have you guys seen the posts on the forum?”

“What posts?” asked Chen Song, leaning in from his seat next to Xu Yihang.

Xu Yihang said, “It’s about the new school beauty at 4th Middle School. Let’s not even talk about how gorgeous our Ji Ran is; she looks stunning even if these photos were taken without her knowledge.”

Chen Song looked at the posts for a while and said, “It’s quite popular.”

Shen Zhi, who had been absorbed in studying Ji Ran’s face in the photos, finally lifted his head upon hearing her name being mentioned. He had a hint of curiosity as he tapped the table lightly with his finger. “What’s all this?”

“It’s the school forum. Zhi Ge, you probably don’t have a forum account, so take a look at mine.” Xia Jiangming, Shen Zhi’s number one lackey, immediately handed his phone over. He had already opened the post, and Shen Zhi immediately saw the image of the girl leaning on the corridor railing.

She was radiant and looked stunning.

While Shen Zhi was still looking at the photos, Xu Yihang and Chen Song had begun discussing, “Why is there such a commotion? Some are saying that Ji Ran is the daughter of a driver.”

They had also seen the mockery of Ji Ran being a driver’s daughter on the forum.

“These people are mean. What’s wrong with being the daughter of a driver? Isn’t beauty about looks?” Xu Yihang scoffed.

Chen Song added, “They’re probably just jealous.”

While they were discussing, Shen Zhi suddenly tossed his phone onto the table and remained impassive. He asked in a cold tone, “Who posted this?”

The other three were momentarily stunned and exchanged glances.

Xia Jiangming cautiously inquired, “What are you planning to do, Zhi Ge?”

“I want to find out who posted it,” Shen Zhi said as he pinched his brow. He wanted to know which idiot dared to take so many pictures of her without her consent and post them on the forum.

When Ji Ran and her friends returned to the classroom, there was a brief silence in the otherwise lively room.

Ji Ran pretended not to notice and went straight to her seat.

After a while, a girl went to the water dispenser at the back of the classroom. As she passed by Ji Ran, she suddenly spoke, “Ji Ran, I have something to ask you, but please don’t get upset, okay?”

The girl’s voice was soft and sweet.

Ji Ran looked up, and, after half a month of school, she recognized most of her classmates. The girl was named He Mingshan, and she was quite pretty but had a somewhat arrogant personality.

Ji Ran had hardly spoken to her before.

He Mingshan whispered, “Is it true that your dad is really someone else’s driver?”

Her voice wasn’t particularly loud, but almost the entire class heard it.

He Mingshan had been the class beauty before, and she was initially delighted on the first day of school when she didn’t see any competition for the title. However, a new transfer student had suddenly arrived.

Not only did she steal the position of class beauty, but she had now become famous throughout the school.

He Mingshan naturally felt resentful, but now she finally had a chance to regain some face. However, after she spoke, she pretended to be concerned and said, “Ji Ran, don’t be sad. We all support you being the school beauty; after all, your family background shouldn’t determine that, right?”

When Wen Qianxia heard He Mingshan’s statement, which was both praise and disparagement, her eyes nearly rolled up to the sky.

Ji Ran found it somewhat amusing. A driver? Since when did Ji Qingli become a driver?

However, before she could say anything, a few people entered through the back door. Shen Zhi walked at the front, and because He Mingshan was standing in the aisle, she happened to block their way.

Shen Zhi tilted his head and stared at He Mingshan for quite some time, examining her thoroughly. He was taking it quite seriously.

He Mingshan blushed as he stared at her, and her heart raced like a frightened deer.

It wasn’t until Shen Zhi made a slight mocking sound, looking at her with a smile that wasn’t a smile, that he said, “You really have a lot of free time, don’t you?”

Xia Jiangming and Xu Yihang exchanged a glance, not very surprised by this turn of events. They had all heard what He Mingshan said at the back door just before they entered the classroom.

This scene startled many people in the class.

In the past half a month, they have come to know Shen Zhi to some extent. They knew he had a bad reputation, but he wasn’t one to randomly bully others. He was relatively low-key in class, not much different from a regular student aside from occasionally dozing off during class.

This was the first time he had been so rude to classmates.

He Mingshan’s face turned bright red, and her eyes were teary. She lowered her head and returned to her seat, but after a while, she covered her face and ran out of the room. It seemed like she was going to cry.

After Shen Zhi sat down, the entire classroom fell into a deathly silence.

Ji Ran kept her eyes on her book in front of her but didn’t absorb a single word. She remembered the incident with the school’s forum in the morning, so she couldn’t help but turn her head slightly. However, as she did, her gaze met Shen Zhi’s pitch-black eyes.

He frowned slightly, and there was a touch of hostility on his face.

A sense of “strangers not welcome” hung in the air.

Ji Ran quietly gazed at him. She had initially intended to speak, but after a long silence, she reached into her pocket and, in a hushed tone, said, “Shen Zhi.”

He looked at her but didn’t say anything.

Until Ji Ran softly uttered, “Extend your hand.”

Shen Zhi was slightly surprised, but the next moment, he indeed placed his palm on the table. Ji Ran extended her hand and placed what she had been lightly holding in her hand into his palm. As she let go, it rolled a couple of times.

When he lowered his gaze, he saw a milk candy wrapped in white paper in his hand. The sunlight shone through the window and fell directly on the candy’s wrapper.

For a moment, a faint, milky scent seemed to fill the air.