Chapter Ten: Registration

July 31, Sunday, 8:00 AM.

Lu You changed into the summer school uniform that had been delivered to his doorstep a couple of days prior. He put on the short-sleeved shirt and long trousers, deciding to keep the shorts as pajamas.

The uniform featured a classic blue-and-white color scheme, with the school emblem embroidered on the left chest. The fabric felt soft and smooth against his skin, and it was quite comfortable to wear; it was supposedly pure cotton, though he wasn't entirely sure.

Lu You took a look at himself in the mirror. A month had passed, and he had fully adapted to his current identity.

"This uniform is genuinely not bad."

Lu You rubbed the hem of the uniform with his fingers, offering a small compliment to himself before leaving the room.

Downstairs, his parents were sitting at the dining table having breakfast, while his little sister, Shu, was holding a baby bottle, chasing their cat, Xiaobao, in circles around the living room, chirping in her baby voice, "Kitty! Kitty!"

Compared to a month ago when she could only say single words, she could now speak in coherent phrases.

Lu You walked over to the dining table, poured himself a glass of soy milk, and began to peel a boiled egg in a leisurely manner.

Shen Yuyin looked up at him and asked, "What time are you leaving?"

"I'm meeting Li Yu at the entrance of the residential complex at 8:30 to head to school together."

"Would you like your father to drive you two over?"

"Forget it."

Lu You thought of the various luxury cars in their underground garage. Chunhua was not some aristocratic primary or middle school; if a luxury car showed up, it would undoubtedly attract the attention of everyone. He didn't want to be famous throughout the school before classes even started.

"I feel it might have a negative impact."

"As you wish. When will you be back?"

Lu You pondered for a moment and said, "Around two or three in the afternoon. Li Yu has to attend class in the afternoon, so I won't be coming back for lunch. I'll just grab something to eat with him outside."

"Alright. Is there anything else you need to bring?"

"No, I can complete the registration with just my student ID card. It’s very simple."

Hearing this, Shen Yuyin nodded and added one final piece of advice.

"Once you're at Chunhua, most of the students are quite capable. We won't restrict you; try to make some good friends, okay?"

"Got it, understood!"

...

Elsewhere, at the Tang household.

Tang Wan finished washing up, tied her hair into a ponytail, returned to her room to change into her school uniform, and examined herself carefully in the mirror.

She looked down at her chest, seeing only the gentle curve of her figure covered by the soft fabric; her undergarments were completely hidden.

"As expected of Chunhua, this uniform isn't see-through at all!"

Just for this uniform alone, she already felt it was worth it. Recalling her middle school uniforms—which were translucent, made of garbage material, and left her cold in winter and hot in summer—she couldn't help but shudder.

"Thank goodness I never have to wear those things again."

At that moment, Zhao Huijuan’s voice drifted in from outside the room.

"What are you still dawdling for? Come out and eat your breakfast so we can go. Otherwise, if you go any later, you'll be baked alive while waiting in line to pay the fees."

"Coming!"

Tang Wan replied immediately. She double-checked her appearance in the mirror before opening the door.

The registration process for regular students at Chunhua was a bit more complex than Lu You's. They had to first report to their respective classrooms to sign in and receive their fee invoices, then head to a temporary window on the first floor of the laboratory building to swipe their cards for payment.

Although Tang Wan had been granted a one-year tuition waiver, she still had to go through the motions, even if she didn't have to pay any money.

Mother and daughter sat at the dining table having breakfast—plain rice porridge, pickled vegetables, and fried eggs.

Tang Jing had already finished eating and had gone out to find some classmates. Having finished his tutoring job and received his pay a couple of days ago, he was out today to discuss what kind of computer to build.

After finishing her porridge, Zhao Huijuan turned to her daughter and asked, "One month. 500 for your meal card, 300 for daily expenses—is that enough?"

Thinking that the school also provided a 300-yuan subsidy for the meal card, and that she would have almost no time to go out and play once high school started, Tang Wan nodded and said, "It's enough."

"If you need to buy study materials or clothes or anything else, just tell me, and I'll give you extra."

After breakfast, Tang Wan shouldered her backpack and said, "I'm leaving now. Goodbye."

"Watch your step!"

...

Chunhua was located at the intersection of the city center and the suburbs; on one side were dense residential buildings, and on the other, lush green hills.

Lu You and Li Yu parked their bicycles in the school’s underground garage. Both of them had beads of sweat on their foreheads.

Lu You had originally wanted to ride his electric scooter to school, but his mother had intercepted him on the spot.

"Just drive it around the neighborhood if you must, but you want to take an e-scooter to school? You won't be sixteen for another few months; riding it now is illegal."

"Seriously, I’m sweating like an idiot."

Lu You took a tissue out of his bag to wipe the sweat from his head, complaining as he did so. He handed a pack to Li Yu.

"Do you want one?"

Li Yu snatched the tissue and said testily, "You're the one who doesn't start classes for another month, so shut it!"

"Oh, that’s true. The weather is certainly nice today; plenty of heat."

Li Yu clenched his fists, struggling to suppress the urge to punch him.

The two arrived at the No. 1 Teaching Building.

The ground floor was an open space, furnished with several notice boards and occupied by a few parked electric scooters.

The notice boards were plastered with class assignment lists. One could see several students and their parents searching for their classes.

Lu You looked at a board and said to Li Yu, "Let's go, come with me to check my class. You already know yours, right?"

Li Yu nodded and replied, "I'm in Class 2. They told me when the notification was sent out."

"Good grades really do bring good treatment!"

There was no lack of envy in Lu You's tone, but he immediately changed his tune.

"But having to go to school for an extra month—that's really hard to take."

"Damn you, you’re never going to stop, are you!"

Li Yu raised his hand in a mock strike.

Lu You twisted his waist with agility, successfully dodging the attack; he wouldn't dare provoke him without having some evasion skills.

He trotted over to the notice board to check the lists. Lu You skipped the first two sheets, which looked different—those were the "Rocket Classes." Given his high school entrance exam scores, there was no way he would be assigned there.

Less than a minute later, Lu You found his name in the middle of the third sheet.

"Which class?" Li Yu walked over slowly.

"Class 3, just one floor above you." Lu You replied while scanning the rest of the names in his class.

Hmm, very good; he didn't recognize a single one.

Their previous aristocratic school had a high school division as well, but the vast majority of those students couldn't get into Chunhua. Even if they could afford it, they didn't want to come to a school with such an intense academic atmosphere; they preferred to just coast at their original school and then go abroad to get a degree.

Lu You shifted his gaze to the first two lists. These were different from the others; they listed each student's entrance exam score, ranked from highest to lowest. The other lists didn't have scores, just simple names, sorted alphabetically.

Grade 10, Class 1:
Deng Rui - 767
...

Lu You still didn't see anyone he knew, so he looked at the list for Class 2.

Grade 10, Class 2:
Tang Wan - 762

At first glance, Lu You stopped moving his eyes; he didn't continue looking down.

With a score like that, she really was in the top ten of the city!

He remembered that the first time he met Tang Wan, she had mentioned being in the city's top ten, and Lu You had actually suspected she was just putting on airs, since the scores hadn't been released yet at that time.

He took out his phone, specifically took a photo of Tang Wan's entry, and opened WeChat.

At this moment, Li Yu came to his side, looking at the Class 2 list, wanting to memorize the names of his future classmates in advance.

He saw Lu You taking a special photo of the top-ranked name and score in his class, then sending it via WeChat to someone named "Wan."

"You know this person?"

"Sort of. Met twice, chat on WeChat occasionally."

"A girl?"

"A girl."

Li Yu secretly stretched his neck, constantly trying to peek at Lu You's phone screen.

"What are you doing! What are you doing!" Lu You quickly tilted his phone away. "That's peeping, it's illegal."

Seeing that he wouldn't let him see, Li Yu could only retort stubbornly, "As if I’m that interested! Let's go, let's sign in. I still have to wait in line to pay."

...

On the bus.

Tang Wan and Xu Nian were sitting side-by-side at the back of the bus. They lived in the same residential complex, not far from the school, and there was a direct bus line that took about 15 minutes.

Both were wearing headphones—one was browsing Bilibili to watch gaming videos, while the other was listening to music and watching the view outside the window.

Tang Wan was looking at the scenery, humming along to the song in her headphones, when a WeChat notification pinged.

She pulled her gaze back and tapped the message.

Ly: [Image.jpg]
Ly: Is this you?

Tang Wan was a bit surprised. Was he also at Chunhua?

Wan: ?
Wan: Where did you see this?
Ly: The notice board on the first floor of the Chunhua teaching building.
Wan: Are you at Chunhua, too?
Ly: Yeah, but I didn't do as well as you on the entrance exam. I couldn't get into the Rocket Class. I'm in Class 3, one floor above you.

Tang Wan thought Lu You seemed a bit insecure after seeing her score, so she thought for a moment and decided to comfort him.

Wan: Anyone who can get into Chunhua is basically quite impressive. If you study hard, you'll still have a chance to get into the Rocket Class later.

Lu You looked at this reply, feeling a bit bewildered.

*I didn't get into the Rocket Class, so is she saying I'm bad at this?*

Tang Wan had never thought of Lu You as the "rich kid" her parents had described.

In her impression, Lu You was good-looking, had a gentle personality, and was a responsible cat owner. How could someone like that have bad grades?

At this moment, Tang Wan glanced out the window and could vaguely see the outline of Chunhua. She lowered her head and replied on WeChat.

Wan: Are you done registering?
Ly: Just finished signing in at the classroom.
Wan: I'm almost at school. I envy you; you can go home after registering. I have to go to class this afternoon.
Ly: You have good grades, so the school values you—that's how it is. By the way, the air conditioning is already on in the classroom, so if you come early, you won't be so hot.
Wan: The A/C is already on!

Just then, the bus speaker announced that Chunhua was the next stop. Tang Wan replied quickly and put her phone away.

Wan: Arriving at the stop, gotta get off. Talk later.
Ly: Okay.

Lu You put his phone away. Li Yu had finished signing in and was standing behind him holding the payment invoice.

He sneered, "Heh! I have to deal with the heat as soon as school starts, while she gets to be 'valued by the school' with the A/C already running."

"What else would you have me say? Do you want me to say, 'Babe, be sure to use sunscreen'?"

Lu You looked at him with disdain.

"No need. Just wait in line to pay for me."

With that, Li Yu shoved his bank card and the invoice into Lu You's hand. Before he could react, he turned and bolted.

"You know the PIN! I'll be waiting for you at K-F-C!"

Lu You stood frozen in place until Li Yu disappeared down the stairwell.

"Damn it, you played dirty!"

...

As Tang Wan and Xu Nian got off the bus, a wave of heat hit them.

"I don't really want to go to school anymore. How about we just go home?"

The crowd at the school gate and the stinging sensation of the sun on her skin made Xu Nian really want to just give up.

"You want to skip class? The air conditioning is already on in the classroom. Don't just stand here."

Tang Wan walked toward the school.

Hearing that there was air conditioning, Xu Nian gave up on giving up and immediately followed.

"I feel like going to class is actually a pretty good thing. It’s just this payment thing that’s so stupid. What era is this? We still have to pay in person with a bank card. Can't we use WeChat? Or Alipay?"