A Cold and Aloof Top Student Is Relied Upon - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Meet Again

◎The Transfer Student◎

The fervent discussion about the transfer student continued in the classroom. When Gu Zhu walked in, she could still hear all the different speculations. Students were gathered in small groups, so much so that they didn’t even notice her arrival.

She had been called away by her chemistry teacher during last night’s study session, so this was her first time back in the classroom in over half a month.

Because she was tall, her seat was in the second-to-last row, next to the window. Besides her deskmate, the people behind her were almost all boys. Gu Zhu rarely spoke to them, so she wasn’t very familiar with them.

Her deskmate was also not in her seat at the moment. Gu Zhu glanced around and, as expected, saw her deskmate flitting around the various groups like a social butterfly, sharing her latest gossip. The girl spotted her instantly, and before Gu Zhu could motion for her to stop, her deskmate shouted across the classroom:

“Oh my god! Gu Zhu! You’re finally back!”

Instantly, everyone looked over. My deskmate must have the hearing of a ferret, the sight of an eagle, and the voice of a loudspeaker… Gu Zhu calmly clutched her notebook, nodded, and quietly walked back to her seat.

Her deskmate fluttered over on invisible wings. “Bamboo, I’ve been so lonely without you!”

Gu Zhu: …

Gu Zhu didn’t see it.

“You know, without your radiance shining on me, I’ve become dim and lifeless, as if I’ve lost all my strength,” Luo Minmin performed a one-woman play, speaking with deep emotion. “My dear A-student!”

As soon as she said the last two words, Gu Zhu knew what she was after. She grabbed a workbook from her desk and lightly pressed it against the other girl’s mouth. “You should get more calcium if you have nothing to do.”

“Oh.” Luo Minmin swallowed her dramatic speech and took the workbook from Gu Zhu. She giggled twice. “Hehe, you’re the best, Bamboo! I’m sure that under the glorious light of a top student, my homework will be done in a flash!”

Just then, the class representatives for various subjects began collecting homework. This kind of scene was not new to them. One person urged, “Luo Minmin, remember to turn in Gu Zhu’s homework with yours later.”

“Got it, mission accomplished!” Luo Minmin didn’t even look up as she answered. While writing, she grumbled to Gu Zhu, “No one was there for me to copy homework from when you were gone. My hair feels like it’s falling out from all the writing. At market value, my beautiful head of hair has depreciated by a third!”

Gu Zhu was reading her book. Hearing this, she subconsciously glanced at the other girl’s shiny, long hair. It was tied into a thick, neat braid that reached her waist, with a silk flower pinned at the top. It looked lovely and energetic.

Gu Zhu couldn’t see a single difference. She turned her attention back to her book and noticed that Luo Minmin had circled all the parts she didn’t understand in red. She knew that the girl probably had a lot of questions to ask.

Luo Minmin seemed to have a fear of teachers. Despite her outgoing and popular personality, she acted like a mouse seeing a cat every time she saw a teacher, let alone asking them questions. Her mathematical logic had always been poor, and this was reflected in all her science subjects. After struggling with all kinds of problems, she found that Gu Zhu was the only person she could really understand.

And so, this was the result: she’d write what she knew, copy what she didn’t have time to ask about, mark it, and then ask later. Most people didn’t understand their dynamic. Some couldn’t stand it, like their chemistry class rep, Chang Ru. “Luo Minmin, I’m collecting the homework now. Either you hand it all in to me, or I’m putting both of your names down.”

Luo Minmin didn’t look up, clearly not her first time dealing with this. “Then put them down. I’ll hand them to the teacher myself during chemistry class. You’re always making a fuss. Don’t think I don’t know—you’re just jealous of our Bamboo. You didn’t get to go to the competition this time, did you? You’re sad, aren’t you? Are you secretly full of hatred?”

Her focus was actually on the homework, and she didn’t realize what she was mumbling until Gu Zhu tapped her wrist. But it was already too late.

“Bang—”

The sudden sound made everyone in the class look over. Chang Ru had slammed the stack of homework she had collected onto a nearby empty desk. She walked up to Luo Minmin menacingly and put one hand on the workbook she was writing in. “Luo—Min—Min!”

“Here! Present, present, present!” Luo Minmin stood up instantly. “I’m sorry! My mouth is rotten. I was wrong, I was wrong!” She grabbed her mouth with one hand and blinked her big, innocent eyes for mercy.

Chang Ru pointed her index finger at her, speechless. “You!”

The anger she wanted to unleash was stuck in her chest. Chang Ru felt her head and heart ache. Why are there people in the world as shameless as Luo Minmin? “If it happens again, you’re going to get it!” she said before turning to leave, going back to her desk to pick up the scattered workbooks.

Luo Minmin stuck out her tongue, quickly sat down, and continued to catch up on her homework. The book that Gu Zhu hadn’t turned a page in for a while was finally turned.

She had been a bit startled. What Luo Minmin said was really asking for trouble. It was true that she and Chang Ru were rivals, and it was true that Chang Ru wasn’t too fond of her.

But there was a reason for her dislike. Gu Zhu pursed her lips, knowing she was partly at fault. That’s why she sometimes didn’t dare face Chang Ru. Just like now, she knew Chang Ru must be looking at her, but she’d rather be a turtle and not look up.

The transfer student didn’t show up for the morning study session. This study session wasn’t for Chinese or English. Every Thursday, it was for chemistry’s memorization of formulas, a slot their chemistry teacher had specifically gotten from the other teachers.

As the class rep, Chang Ru was in charge. The first name she called was Luo Minmin.

The second name, unsurprisingly, was Gu Zhu.

Gu Zhu’s hand paused as she read her book. She closed the cover and quietly prepared to go up.

Luo Minmin made a deadpan expression and gave Gu Zhu a secret middle finger. She followed Gu Zhu up to the front half-heartedly. “Bamboo, you have to help me later.”

One mistake, and it’s a hundred times of copying. She absolutely did not want to copy that stuff until she felt sick.

Gu Zhu didn’t say anything. As soon as they got up to the front, Chang Ru made them stand apart, at the left and right edges of the blackboard, with two other students filling in the middle.

“First question, please write the chemical equation for ethanol and concentrated sulfuric acid heated to 140°.”

“Second question, acetaldehyde reacts with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst.”

…

There were only four people up on stage, but they produced all kinds of results. Chang Ru glanced at the stage. On the far left, Gu Zhu was writing at a steady pace. Her handwriting was clear and elegant, and every question was answered perfectly. The person next to her wasn’t bad either. But the two on the far right were a comedy show, making all kinds of small movements and still writing gibberish even after trying to cheat off of each other.

Chang Ru pulled her gaze back from the stage and looked at the students below, urging those who were staring at the blackboard. “Everyone, be more mindful. Don’t copy.” She then continued to draw questions. She had a total of six questions. Four were from this semester, one was from the first year of high school, and one was from the first semester of the second year. But they were all questions that appeared frequently on exams, so they weren’t difficult. Yet, only Gu Zhu got all of them right.

“The correct answers are on the blackboard. Cross-check with your deskmates and pass your work to your group leader, who will hand it to me.”

She didn’t need to say whose answers they were. Everyone in Class 3 knew who had written the correct answers. This was the level of a person who had been out for a competition for half a month and had missed a full two weeks of class. Niubility.

They secretly looked at the person who was always so cold and distant, the one who looked like she wasn’t easy to get along with.

Only Luo Minmin, who had a face like she was a walking corpse after finishing her homework, would dare to get close to a person who wasn’t a mountain of ice but was colder than one.

After the study session, Luo Minmin’s social butterfly wings drooped listlessly, and she could no longer fly over to other students to chat. She miserably handed in her homework. Under Chang Ru’s smile, which suggested that her revenge had been served, she let out a very loud “Humph!” “You’re a mean person!”

Chang Ru ignored her. After collecting the homework, she stared at Gu Zhu, who was reviewing her book, and said as if nonchalantly, “The city-wide preliminary results still haven’t come out. I hope you didn’t fail to even make it to the city finals this time?”

Gu Zhu turned a page and pushed up her glasses, which had slid down her nose. “Ah.”

What does “ah” mean? Chang Ru pouted, grabbing the workbook Luo Minmin had handed her. “Whatever you got wrong today, remember to give it to me during tonight’s study session.”

“You’re using public power for private revenge! You’re a bad person!” Luo Minmin spat at her. Her expression of resentment lasted for a minute before she became lively again. “Bamboo, did you see the group chat? Do you know that our class is getting a new transfer student! I heard she’s a big deal, a rich young lady from a wealthy family!”

As she chattered on about the transfer student, Gu Zhu thought to herself, I not only know, I’ve met her. She doesn’t look like the person you’re describing.

“You know, is she good-looking? The photos show she has a great figure. She feels like a cool older sister type, but since there’s no front-facing photo, we can’t be sure.”

Gu Zhu recalled the transfer student’s face. She was a bit face-blind, but she remembered being amazed when she saw her, so she must be good-looking.

“Oh, right! Do you think when she comes to our school and sees how old and broken our dorms are, she’ll just do what they do in idol dramas and build her own single dorm with a wave of her hand?”

“And what about our cafeteria? The environment is simple, the food is simple, and the menu never changes. Do you think that when the rich young lady arrives, she’ll fire old Luo and hire a Michelin five-star chef to make us a feast every day, like Angus steak or something…”

Old Luo… if Gu Zhu remembered correctly, that was Luo Minmin’s own dad, wasn’t it? Wanting her own father to lose his job… a truly filial daughter. Gu Zhu didn’t say anything, just listening to her ramble, occasionally refuting her internally.

“Oh, class is about to start! Is the transfer student coming?”

The first-period bell rang. Luo Minmin shot up, her eyes full of expectation. Many other students felt the same way. When the subject teacher walked in, she was greeted with a sight of the entire class sitting with their backs straight, their eyes wide like copper bells, staring at her.

Cai Shuya’s steps faltered. She pulled back and looked at the classroom number plate. I didn’t walk into the wrong classroom, did I?

She walked in, looking surprised. “This is the first time I’ve felt such strong, silent enthusiasm from your expressions. It’s so humbling to see you all love physics so much.”

The physics class rep, a boy, couldn’t stand his teacher being mistaken. He stammered, “Teacher, um, they’re enthusiastic about the transfer student, not you. You’re being too presumptuous!”

Cai Shuya rolled her eyes and opened the multimedia presentation, pretending to be heartbroken. “After all these years, it turns out this consort was mistaken!” Then, her tone changed. “Stop expecting things. Take out your monthly exam papers and look at your scores first. I’m embarrassed for you with those few points. Get a move on!”

A wave of groans swept through the class, and the joy instantly vanished.

Gu Zhu took out the complete set of blank papers her teacher had left for her. She quickly scanned them and began to write down the answers while listening, catching up quickly.

Meanwhile, the transfer student they were talking about was sleeping soundly at home. She didn’t know that her new class was eagerly awaiting her arrival, so she had unintentionally made them wait for three full days.

On the fourth day, on a Sunday, as the students were slowly trickling back to school, Bai Tan got out of a car. She stood at the school gate, a suitcase at her feet, and adjusted her baseball cap.

She looked around the school’s surroundings. As she turned her head, her gaze met that of a girl walking slowly around the corner with a bag of things. She let out a small “Hey!” and said happily, “Pretty girl, we meet again~”

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