Chapter 18: Why Are There Stars Around the Object of My Secret Admiration?

Chapter 18: Why Are There Stars Around the Object of My Secret Admiration?

The next class was Chinese. Li Jingkun borrowed the Chinese textbook from Yu Weijie and prepared to take the empty seat in Group One for the lesson.

Yu Weijie was somewhat surprised by his boldness, but in fact, Li Jingkun was very familiar with this classroom; he knew well his deskmate and the students sitting in front and behind from his previous life, so there was no question of daring or timidity.

Wang Zhiming, his deskmate from the past life, groggily woke up and, noticing someone beside him, was a bit puzzled.

“Hello,” Li Jingkun smiled slightly, “Did you stay up all night gaming again? Playing Legend?”

Wang Zhiming replied, “Yeah, do you play too?”

Li Jingkun said, “No, I don’t know how.”

But he knew Wang Zhiming played often and frequently stayed up all night at internet cafes.

Before high school, Wang Zhiming had never even touched a computer, but after entering this school, influenced by classmates and dorm mates, he became addicted to online games, often staying up late at internet cafes and frequently skipping classes.

Even when he didn’t skip, he would sleep through entire classes. Sometimes, he would only wake up when the janitor came to sweep and urged him to lift his feet, then he’d mutter, “Huh? Is class over?”

Li Jingkun and Wang Zhiming had just exchanged a few words when the class bell rang.

Chinese teacher Zhou Fei entered; the students stood up and then sat down as the class began.

Everyone was waiting for the teacher to notice something unusual about the class, but in the first few minutes, she saw nothing. Then, after a short while, she froze slightly.

She glanced at Li Jingkun with suspicion, realizing he wasn’t one of her students, and asked, “Who are you, and why are you in our class?”

Li Jingkun had been prepared for this and stood up. “Hello, teacher, sorry for the intrusion. I’m a student from City No. 1 High School, here to visit a middle school classmate. I also wanted to experience the atmosphere at Quanling Middle School’s classes. If this is inappropriate or inconvenient, I apologize and will leave immediately.”

This explanation had been carefully planned. After all, this was a formal school and would not easily allow strangers inside.

So Li Jingkun clarified that he was a classmate of someone in her class, not a random troublemaker, and that he attended the prestigious City No. 1 High School.

This was crucial because most students at City No. 1 were top academic performers. Good students were more likely to earn trust.

Moreover, his demeanor was impeccable. When questioned, he immediately stood, showing respect and a willingness to leave if unwelcome.

Teacher Zhou Fei felt his respect and, reassured by his identity, lowered her guard. She asked, “Which one in my class is your classmate?”

“Yu Weijie. We both attended Lihe Town Junior High and were classmates in ninth grade,” said Li Jingkun.

Zhou Fei glanced at Yu Weijie, who, unlike Li Jingkun, was not so bold and blushed, lowering his head.

“Today’s Monday; don’t you have classes?”

“Yes, but I took the afternoon off,” Yu Weijie replied.

“Just to come here and find your classmate?”

“Yes. My grades are good, so teachers usually don’t mind if I take a day or two off.”

Teacher Zhou Fei was a little speechless, as were some of the students.

Yet Li Jingkun had no choice; his real excuse was too unbelievable, so he had to make up a more far-fetched one.

Still, the teachers were somewhat curious and somewhat admiring of City No. 1 High School, often exchanging information about each other’s schools.

Zhou Fei asked, “Which lesson are you on in Chinese?”

Li Jingkun said, “We’re four or five lessons ahead of you.”

“Almost a whole unit ahead?”

“About that,” Li Jingkun paused, “Actually, all our subjects move faster than yours.”

He had discussed this with Yu Weijie during the afternoon self-study. Although Yu Weijie hadn’t made it to City No. 1, he was in the top class at their middle school and a good student.

Teacher Zhou Fei and others had heard about these things before; many teachers at different schools knew each other and exchanged such tidbits. Her questioning was just to learn more.

But there was no denying the gap: City No. 1 High School recruited the best students from all the towns. Teachers taught more easily, and students grasped concepts faster, so their progress was naturally faster.

Zhou Fei continued, “You said your grades are good — how good? What rank are you in the entire grade?”

Li Jingkun answered, “In the most recent monthly exam, I barely made it into the top one hundred.”

“That’s not bad at all, your grades are indeed good.”

Zhou Fei was a bit surprised but noticing the puzzled looks on her students’ faces, realizing they had no concept of City No. 1’s ranking system, she added, “With your scores, you’d be first in our class.”

The students finally understood a little about City No. 1’s academic level.

“About the same,” Li Jingkun said, “I should be in the top three of the whole grade.”

Everyone was speechless. Was their school really that far behind City No. 1?

Actually, the gap was huge. City No. 1 was the top high school in the city; Quanling Middle School might not even make the top three.

Li Jingkun’s claim to be in the top three was because every school, no matter how poor, had one or two outstanding students.

In his past life, a few of his classmates made it into first-tier universities.

At City No. 1, that number was over five hundred.

So his ranking here wasn’t exaggerated.

In fact, many from City No. 1 could easily be in the top three or even first here.

But such comparisons were meaningless.

They had to compare themselves to people better than them to make sense.

...

Inside the classroom, Yang Minhan secretly slipped a note to her desk mate, Xu Yueshan, which read: “Alright, I admit it now—he really is pretty handsome—and somewhat cheeky.”

After class, Li Jingkun stood with Yu Weijie in the corridor, admiring the view. Of course, he was very familiar with this scene from this perspective.

Li Jingkun felt he had seen enough and didn't want to continue next period. But since it wasn’t time to leave, the school gates were closed, and it was inconvenient to leave now.

It was fine to wait until dismissal; he could just stroll around campus or play on his phone.

Suddenly, someone called his name. He turned to see two bright and youthful girls looking at him in surprise.

“Is it really you? What are you doing here?”

Both looked at him with astonishment.

Li Jingkun was also surprised. He had just seen his first love and now quickly ran into the girl he’d secretly admired for years.

But he soon relaxed. After all, his secret crush was in the adjacent class in his previous life, so meeting her here made sense.

The two girls were Lin Jingwen and Zhou Manli, both elementary school classmates of Li Jingkun. Both were very beautiful, but his secret crush was Lin Jingwen.

In elementary school, they weren’t very close, and they didn’t attend the same middle school. But over the years, as old classmates, they had some occasions to meet and gradually became more familiar.

Moreover, Li Jingkun had long since become a top student and a notable figure in their year, so they naturally knew him well.

“Aren’t you studying at City No. 1? How come you’re here?” Lin Jingwen’s large eyes looked at him in amazement. Li Jingkun felt a dizzying, enchanting sensation.

He clearly remembered the first time he chatted closely with her; she seemed to be surrounded by stars, which left him stunned and breathless.

Unexpectedly, upon this sudden reunion, the same scene appeared again, as if in a dream.

(End of Chapter)