Who Told You To Fool My First Love? - Chapter 1

Midsummer in Nanjian City was always unbearably sweltering.

The scorching sun baked every corner of the Third High School campus, making the red “Welcome Back to School” banners pasted on the tiled exterior walls appear even more eye-catching.

Qiao Muyu walked toward the teaching building along the patches of shade. Cicadas hidden in the dense foliage chirped incessantly, making him turn up the volume of the English listening practice playing in his earbuds by another notch.

Simultaneously, several notification pings popped into his ears in quick succession, revealing the sender’s urgent desire to share.

Qiao Muyu glanced at his phone screen and casually tapped into the pinned three-person group chat named “1+1+1=”.

Du Jingfei: “HUGE NEWS!!!”

Du Jingfei: “I heard a new student is transferring into our class this semester!”

Xu Rongcan: “As expected of you, Du the Melon God. It’s only the first day of school and you’ve already sniffed out such major gossip?”

Xu Rongcan: “But why transfer in his senior year? Is this gossip authentic?”

Du Jingfei: “Guaranteed!”

Du Jingfei: “I just heard a few teachers talking about it in the office. They said it’s a boy.”

Xu Rongcan: “A boy? What does he look like? Is he handsome? [Starry eyes]”

Du Jingfei: “Get out of here. You’re a flower-fanatic who only thinks about looking at handsome guys all day. Can’t you focus on some valuable information?”

Qiao Muyu thought for a moment, tapped his fingertips on the screen, and edited a message to send out.

Qiao Muyu: “A transfer student isn’t that unusual, but why was he assigned to our elite class as soon as he arrived? Are this new student’s grades very impressive?”

Du Jingfei: “I’m not sure about his grades, but…”

Du Jingfei sent a sneaky cat emoji. Two seconds later, a voice message popped up.

His voice was intentionally lowered, sounding quite suspicious: “I heard Director Huang say this guy’s family is quite wealthy. To make his transfer go smoothly, his family even made a donation to the school!”

Xu Rongcan: “Wow, our crummy school actually got a resource player. Truly a live long enough to see anything moment!”

Qiao Muyu didn’t look closely at what else those two chatted about. He put away his phone, carried his backpack, and stepped into the classroom of Grade 12, Class 1.

While he was organizing his desk, a classmate suddenly leaned over the window and called out to him: “Monitor, Old Wan wants you to go to the office. He says he’s looking for you!”

The air conditioning in the office was comfortable, carrying the faint scent of ink and paper.

Today was the opening day of Nanjian Third High. The morning registration process was largely over, and the afternoon classes were about to begin. Several teachers were already at their posts preparing lessons, chatting idly.

After Qiao Muyu gave a report and entered, he walked straight to his homeroom teacher Wan Qianghai’s desk and skillfully flashed a well-behaved smile: “Teacher, were you looking for me?”

Wan Qianghai picked up his eternal Old Cadre style water cup—printed with the school name and logo—drank a sip of cold tea, and spoke slowly: “Xiao Qiao, for the opening ceremony in a couple of days, we need to arrange a representative for the outstanding students to give a speech. Director Huang told me he wants to pick you, to set an example for the juniors in the lower grades. You don’t have a problem with that, right?”

This was a good thing, so Qiao Muyu readily agreed: “No problem. Thank you, Teacher, for giving me this opportunity. I will prepare well.”

“No need to be nervous. Just go back and write a speech of about eight hundred words. The theme should revolve around youth and learning, and the content should be positive. Also—”

Halfway through his sentence, Wan Qianghai’s gaze suddenly bypassed Qiao Muyu and landed outside the window. He smiled and beckoned toward someone: “Hey, Xiao Lu! Come on in!”

Qiao Muyu looked back. The harsh light reflecting off the corridor tiles slightly dazzled his eyes.

In the next second, a tall and handsome figure passed by the window, just barely blocking the sunlight. Then, the office door was pushed open gently. The hand resting on the door handle was clean and slender, with a simple matte black sports watch worn on a well-defined wrist bone.

Qiao Muyu raised his eyes and met the newcomer’s gaze, freezing for a moment: When did Third High get such a striking hottie?

The boy in front of him had deep-set eyes and sharp features. The Third High uniform he wore was as neat as new. A black backpack was slung casually over one shoulder, exuding a sense of indifference amidst his relaxed vibe.

While he was dazing, Wan Qianghai patted his arm: “Come, come, Xiao Qiao. It’s perfect, I’ll introduce the two of you.”

Wan Qianghai stood up, pointed at the boy in front of him, and said with a smile: “This is Lu Zhen, the new student who just transferred to our class this semester.”

What a coincidence.

This is that suspected resource player transfer student?

Qiao Muyu couldn’t help but take another look at this person. After their eyes met, he curled his eyes and gave a gentle, polite smile: “Student Lu, welcome to—”

Before the words of welcome were finished, Lu Zhen gave him a brief glance and withdrew his gaze, leaving him with a cold profile. He turned to look at Wan Qianghai and went straight to the point: “Teacher, where do I collect my textbooks and materials?”

“Oh, right! How did I forget about that! Go to the building opposite this one and find Director Chen in the materials room. His office is the last room on the second floor.” As Wan Qianghai spoke, he looked at Qiao Muyu again, “How about Xiao Qiao accompanies him for the trip?”

Before Qiao Muyu could say anything, Lu Zhen already refused: “No need. I can find my own way.”

After saying that, he turned around and left without any extra pleasantries.

Qiao Muyu: “……”

Ha. He was actually treated like thin air.

He couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

Wan Qianghai also noticed Lu Zhen’s cold reaction just now. After a bit of thought, he instructed Qiao Muyu: “Xiao Qiao, this Xiao Lu is a transfer student from out of province. Arriving in a new environment always comes with a bit of maladjustment. But I hope our class can get along harmoniously with this new classmate. Only when the class atmosphere is good can we progress together in our studies, understand?”

Knowing that Wan Qianghai always emphasized class unity, Qiao Muyu naturally nodded along.

Wan Qianghai sipped his tea and added: “You are the monitor and you’re popular in class, so take more care of the new student usually—especially regarding studies. No problem, right?”

Qiao Muyu recalled the new student’s complete lack of willingness to play along with a loving classmate scene and truly felt no goodwill toward him.

In short, a Strong Brother.

But who told him to be the class monitor? Mediating between teachers and students every day and handling all the dirty and tiring work was the only way to earn the title of “Outstanding Class Cadre” in the democratic elections each semester.

His classmates even made up a jingle for him: “Little Fish Monitor is a brick, move him wherever he’s needed quick.”

Though he was reluctant in his heart, Qiao Muyu still gave face and agreed: “Of course, no problem. Don’t worry, Teacher, I’ll take good care of him.”

Wan Qianghai patted his shoulder with great satisfaction: “Thanks for the hard work.”

Qiao Muyu smiled slightly: “It’s not hard work ^^.”

“It’s just a miserable life orz.”

Before long, the class bell rang on time. Students scurrying in the corridors rushed back to their seats, waiting for the start of the first class meeting of the semester.

After Wan Qianghai arrived in the classroom, he didn’t waste much breath and directly announced the news that Class 1 was joining a new member. Then he beckoned toward the door: “Xiao Lu, come and introduce yourself to everyone!”

As soon as the newcomer walked in, a small wave of excited gasps erupted in the classroom.

Lu Zhen ignored the numerous scrutinizing gazes from below, walked onto the podium unhurriedly, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote his name on the blackboard. He then turned to face the crowd, nodded slightly, and spoke with an indifferent expression: “Lu Zhen. I’m new. Please take care of me.”

The crowd didn’t expect his self-introduction to be so brief. After a stunned moment, a round of applause broke out to welcome him.

Many girls looked at Lu Zhen with blushing faces and starry eyes, clapping quite vigorously.

Qiao Muyu followed suit, thinking to himself that he couldn’t blame the girls for being so excited; although he didn’t want to admit it, this guy was indeed obviously handsome.

If Third High ever held some School Grass selection contest, this person would definitely be a strong competitor.

Wan Qianghai scanned the room and finally pointed to an empty seat in the last row of the first group: “Lu Zhen, you sit there.”

Qiao Muyu was startled. Isn’t that the seat directly behind him?

He turned his head and saw Yu Liang, who sat behind him, sitting up straight with a look of surprise: “Hey, I have a deskmate!”

There were 47 students in Class 1—an odd number—and Yu Liang was the tallest boy in class. He had miserably ended up alone when the seats were arranged.

He had sat on a widowed bench alone for two years, usually without even a chance to whisper to someone during class, so he was very satisfied with this air-dropped deskmate arrangement.

After the newcomer took his seat, the class meeting officially began.

Wan Qianghai, matching his PPT—which had no aesthetic sense but was very detailed—focused on analyzing the final exams from last semester, saying they needed to find problems and summarize experiences.

The students who performed well listened with great interest, while those who performed poorly lowered their heads and didn’t dare to make a sound.

Qiao Muyu looked at his transcript from last semester: Total score 686, ranked 1st in the grade.

He was satisfied with this score because he had pulled ahead of the second place by a gap of 16 points, steadily securing his throne as the top of the grade once again.

Qiao Muyu stroked the enviable rank on the paper, feeling a small sense of pride in his heart.

But he knew well that he couldn’t be slack; he had to continue working hard this semester.

After class, Qiao Muyu returned from a trip to the restroom only to see his deskmate Li Tianquan handing him a form: “Monitor, I’ve filled it out. It’s your turn.”

Qiao Muyu took it and saw it was the”Target Grade Statistics Form that Wan Qianghai had mentioned during the previous class meeting.

To put it simply, it was to let the students set a flag for themselves.

Each person had to determine a target score and rank they hoped to achieve for this semester’s midterm exam based on their current learning level, and work hard toward that goal.

To prevent everyone from cutting corners or being overly ambitious, this goal also had to pass the homeroom teacher’s review and approval.

Those who ultimately achieved their goals would receive a physical small reward from Old Wan’s own pocket, while those who failed would be punished by taking turns on cleaning duty—mainly a gentle and harmless incentive.

This was an old-school teaching tactic Wan Qianghai had used for many years. It was highly effective and never failed.

Qiao Muyu held his pen and thought for a moment before the form, finally filling in: Target Score 660, Ranking Top 5 in the grade.

Li Tianquan, who was nearby, couldn’t help but nitpick upon seeing it: “No way, Monitor, you’re only filling in this score? That’s too insincere!”

“Is it?” Qiao Muyu blinked innocently, feigning hesitation, “660 isn’t low, is it?”

“This score would definitely be a huge challenge for us, but for you, where’s the difficulty? Look, you scored over 680 in the last final exam!”

Li Tianquan was an honest person, but his deskmate Qiao Muyu definitely was not.

A student like Qiao Muyu, to put it nicely, was humble in public and studied intensely in private. To put it bluntly, he was a total Academic Bitch—a Green Tea Bitch of academics.

The more he lowered his posture verbally, the more he intended to win gloriously in behavior and results.

Just as now, facing Li Tianquan’s praise, Qiao Muyu smiled and closed his pen cap, replying humbly as usual: “It was just luck. I might not do as well next time.”

“Like hell.”

“Next time, your young master will definitely still be number one!”

Qiao Muyu, a terminal-stage Top-Chaser, silently set his true flag in his heart, then turned around to hand the form to the back seat: “Student Lu, it’s your turn to fill it out.”

Lu Zhen was organizing his desk. Seeing the form handed over by Qiao Muyu, he was momentarily confused: “What is this?”

“Target Grade Statistics Form,” Qiao Muyu explained, “Old Wan mentioned it during the class meeting.”

Lu Zhen took the form and scanned it, it seemed he realized what it was.

“This will be evaluated during the midterms. If you don’t reach it, there will be a punishment, so you should think clearly. You can—”

Before Qiao Muyu’s kind reminder was finished, he saw Lu Zhen had already picked up his pen and started writing without any hesitation.

Curiously, Qiao Muyu lowered his head to look along the tip of his pen, and his eyes suddenly widened.

Because what this person had filled in was—

Name: Lu Zhen.

Target Score: 700 points.

Target Rank: 1st Place.

Qiao Muyu stared at that sharp and elegant handwriting, dumbfounded, losing his ability to speak for a moment.

Holy crap.

Is this guy… serious!?