Extra Chapter in a Modern Fantasy Setting
As soon as the summer vacation ended and the new school year began, Hua Yan, a sophomore at Zhengyi High, was utterly bewildered when the driver dropped her off at an unfamiliar place.
“Aren’t I supposed to be going to school? Where are you taking me?”
“Yes, Miss. Your school has changed locations. Didn’t you know? You’ve moved to a new campus next to Tingjian Experimental High. We’re almost there, don’t worry.”
She quickly pulled out her phone and started searching for keywords. She had enjoyed her summer vacation so much that she spent the last few days rushing through her homework, only knowing the start date of the school term and nothing else.
The Zhengyi High School website had a huge red notice.
Hua Yan skimmed through it. The gist was that the school was being renovated and had to change campuses. Tingjian Experimental High had just built a new campus, so the freshmen had already moved there. The vacant buildings were allocated to Zhengyi High by the city, so they had to move to the new Tingjian Experimental High campus.
Ah… this…
When she searched the class group chat, she found that it had already exploded several times.
— Damn, will Tingjian Experimental try to sabotage us in the school buildings?
— Leave cockroaches in the desks?
— Break the chair legs?
— Stick chewing gum on the chairs?
— This is a national disgrace! Zhengyi High will no longer be a nation! We’re being annexed by those shameless Tingjian kids!
— Isn’t this a bit too dramatic?
Both schools had high university entrance rates, and every year they fought fiercely for spots on the top exam rankings. This led to a mysterious sense of competitive animosity from teachers to students. During competition training camps, students from both schools ignored each other, noses in the air.
However, since the two schools were far apart, they only engaged in occasional verbal battles on the school forums. No one had expected that one day they would be directly moved together!
Hua Yan was now very anxious because, after entering the Tingjian gate, she realized something very awkward—how could she tell which side was Tingjian and which side was Zhengyi?
While pondering this, a student walked past her, estimated to be at least 1.85 meters tall, wearing a black school uniform, with an incredibly straight posture, like a tall pine tree swaying by her side.
Without thinking, Hua Yan patted him: “Excuse me. Can I ask you a question?”
He stopped and slightly turned his head. A bit of his fringe swept across his forehead, perfectly accentuating his deep black eyes, which carried a cold and imposing aura. He was quite handsome, but his face was expressionless, without a trace of emotion, making him look like a mannequin, very cold and unapproachable.
It was clearly early in the morning, and the sun was warm and inviting. Yet, when it shone on him, it seemed devoid of any worldly warmth.
Hua Yan paused for a moment.
He also paused for a moment.
They stood in silence for a few seconds.
Coming to her senses, she remembered to continue her question: “Um… where is the Zhengyi High school building?”
He pointed in a direction with his long, well-defined fingers, even his nails were meticulously clean.
“Oh, thank you.” Hua Yan nodded.
As she nodded, she heard him ask, “Anything else?” His voice was cold and icy, with a texture like shattering ice.
For some reason, Hua Yan found it very pleasant to listen to and wanted to hear him speak a bit more.
So, Hua Yan found something to say: “Are you from Tingjian?”
He replied, “Mm.” This time, just a single syllable.
Hua Yan wanted to ask more, but it was almost eight o’clock, so she had to say regretfully, “Well, thank you!”
Anyway, since their buildings were right opposite each other, there would be plenty of chances to meet in the future.
After Hua Yan spoke, he walked in another direction. He was really tall, with long legs, looking like… she thought for a moment and finally found the right description, like an unsheathed long sword, a peerless weapon.
***
“Whoa, that was Lu Chengsha, you really didn’t know!”
Hua Yan was quite surprised, running her fingers through her long hair. “Should I have known…?”
“He’s the top student in Tingjian! He was dragged into competitions as a freshman! They say he finished all the high school material during the summer before his ninth grade, and now he’s juggling competitions and self-studying university courses… He’s practically welded to the top spot in his grade, unmovable…”
Hua Yan blinked. “That’s impressive!”
A boy sitting in front of her turned around, dissatisfied. “It’s not like he doesn’t have weak points. They say his essay writing is pretty bad. Every time he writes an 800-word essay, it’s like he’s forcing it, and he can only write argumentative and expository essays, not lyrical ones at all!”
As soon as he said this, the girl next to him objected.
“Your essay scores aren’t that high either!”
“He scores almost full marks in all three science subjects!”
“Even if his essays are bad, he still came first in the city during the last comprehensive exams!”
The boy, now under siege, turned red with anger and said, “I’m not saying I have to compete with him; I’m just stating the facts. Do you have to react like this? He is from Tingjian, after all. Show some school spirit… Why are you all so shallow, just looking at his face.” The last two sentences were muttered.
“Oh, if you’re not shallow, why were you staring at Hua Hua?”
“Our school’s flower isn’t for you to look at. Turn your face away!”
This made Hua Yan feel a bit embarrassed. Her deskmate leaned over, gossiping, “Hua Hua, what do you think of Lu Chengsha? Everyone over there calls him the ‘Study God Lu,’ but some also call him ‘School Hunk Lu,’ which seems a bit disrespectful to his brains.”
Normally, a beautiful girl like Hua Yan would carry an air of distance and reserve. That was the initial impression everyone had when she first arrived in her first year, but they soon found out she was very approachable and easy to talk to. Hence, everyone had become quite casual around her.
The boy in front wasn’t giving up. “Don’t think everyone is as shallow as you guys…”
Hua Yan said seriously, “I think… he looks quite good! And he seems very nice!”
Everyone around: “…?”
“No way! Are you sure you got the right person? Maybe you mistook him for someone else… With his attitude, can he be considered nice? You don’t know, my middle school classmate is at Tingjian. She said countless girls have had crushes on him but were all scared away by his cold face. They’d stand trembling in front of him, unable to speak. So, to this day, not a single girl has dared to confess to him… And in a whole year, he’s never shown any special treatment to any girl. My friend even suspects he’s asexual, with his mind only focused on solving problems.”
Hua Yan was confused too, “He was really nice to me. He gave me directions and even asked if I had any other questions.”
“…”
“…Didn’t expect, he’s a shallow guy too!”
“Damn, so he doesn’t dislike girls, he just hasn’t met a pretty enough one.”
Hua Yan had to clarify, “He didn’t do anything! He was just being helpful!” She could distinguish between someone being genuinely nice and someone trying to impress her.
“…Helpful Lu Chengsha.”
“That sounds really odd.”
“By the way, isn’t his name quite strange? What kind of parents name their child with ‘Sha’ (kill) in it? Isn’t that considered inauspicious?”
“Wake up, there are plenty of weird names these days. At least his name isn’t something like Lu Shang Lei Bing Jin…”
“…Alright, fair point.”
- ••
To distinguish between the two schools, they put up a few token barriers between the two teaching buildings. However, there was only one entrance, so everyone had to use the same gate, and with Zhengyi High moving over, Tingjian Experimental was forced to share the cafeteria with them.
A few days later, Hua Yan saw Lu Chengsha in the cafeteria. He was alone, but his speed at eating was astonishing. He got his food, sat down, and ate in one swift motion. She had only taken a few bites when she saw him already carrying his tray to leave.
Many girls were sneaking glances at him, but none dared to approach.
Hua Yan could even hear the whispers around her.
“That’s Lu Chengsha, the big shot from the science experimental class.”
“He’s so cool…”
“So handsome, why don’t you go ask for his WeChat?”
“…Why don’t you go! I don’t dare!”
“Me neither…”
Seriously, it’s just asking for a contact, is it really that hard?
Hua Yan suddenly stood up, her deskmate was startled, “Hua Hua, what are you doing…”
“I’ll be right back.”
Hua Yan walked straight towards Lu Chengsha, not caring about the stares from others. She walked right up to him and looked up, “Excuse me, can I get your WeChat?”
Lu Chengsha was just putting his tray away. Hearing her, he turned his eyes to look down at her. His dark eyes fell on Hua Yan, and the noisy cafeteria seemed to quiet down instantly.
Hua Yan wasn’t nervous at all initially, but now her heart skipped a beat, and she inexplicably felt nervous.
Then she heard Lu Chengsha say, “I don’t have it.” His voice was still very clear, with a bit of coolness.
In this day and age, how could someone not have WeChat! It was clearly a rejection!
A normal girl would back off at this point.
But Hua Yan was not a normal girl. She had been pampered and adored since childhood and had never considered the possibility of being rejected. So, instead of thinking “this person is rejecting me,” she believed “he really doesn’t have it.” So, she asked, “What about QQ?”
The boy in front of her thought for a moment and said, “No.”
Hua Yan was shocked, “Then how do you keep in touch with people!”
He actually thought for a moment before answering her, “…Phone number?” He paused and added, “But I don’t use it at school.”
This was a triple rejection.
Even though Hua Yan didn’t mind, she was speechless. “So, is your phone number also…”
“It’s fine.” He said, “Do you have a pen?”
Hua Yan happened to have a gel pen in her pocket. As soon as she took it out, he took it from her. Up close, she realized his fingers were very long, with well-proportioned joints and a callus on his index finger.
Lu Chengsha bowed his head, his dense eyelashes casting shadows. Hua Yan was momentarily dazed and then saw him open his palm to reveal a string of numbers.
——139xxxxxxxx.
After about five seconds, Lu Chengsha asked, “Got it memorized?”
Hua Yan said, “Huh?”
He had already retracted his hand and returned the pen to her.
Huh? What was with this guy!
How could she memorize it so quickly! She didn’t have a photographic memory!
Seeing her stunned, he tried to tuck the pen back into her pocket, but Hua Yan quickly grabbed his sleeve, “…I didn’t memorize it! Write it again! On my hand!”
He was slightly taken aback, seemingly surprised she hadn’t memorized it.
But… He then saw the girl open her palm before him, soft and delicate, with slender fingers that were restlessly moving. Lu Chengsha had never encountered this situation—or such a bold girl.
Suppressing his odd feelings, he wrote the string of numbers on her palm again.
Hua Yan leaned in to closely observe his handwriting. Even the numbers were neat and tidy, like printed text.
After getting his phone number, Hua Yan didn’t think much of it until her deskmate exclaimed in shock, “You actually did it! And he actually gave it to you!”
“…Huh? Is it that strange?” Hua Yan said while entering the number into her phone, “Didn’t I just ask for your number directly too?”
“I’m not the same! That’s Lu Chengsha, the ‘Study God’ of Tingjian.”
Hua Yan said, “I told you, he’s quite nice…”
After saving the number, she tried searching for him on WeChat—there really wasn’t a match!
How retro is this guy.
***
When the new term started, the first small test seemed designed to be a challenge. The questions were extremely difficult, especially the last few problems in math and physics, which hardly anyone could solve.
Hua Yan had spent her entire summer playing, without seriously reviewing or listening in class, so it was no surprise that she did poorly, ending up with mediocre results.
That evening, Hua Yan went home chewing on her pen cap, pondering the test questions. The teacher had asked them to correct their own answers and didn’t seem to plan on going over the questions.
She spent a long time flipping through her study aids to find example problems and managed to solve most of the questions, but the last two major problems still stumped her. They seemed to be from the senior year curriculum. Exhausted, she played on her phone for a bit, finding the class group chat filled with complaints.
Hua Yan suddenly remembered the phone number she had saved for Lu Chengsha—although she hadn’t sent him a single message yet.
Thinking for a moment, she impulsively took a picture of the two difficult problems and sent them to him via MMS. She didn’t expect Lu Chengsha to reply, so she didn’t think much of it after sending the message. To her surprise, she received a reply in less than ten minutes.
It was another MMS.
On a piece of draft paper, the complete solutions to the two difficult problems were written clearly and neatly, as if they were reference answers.
This instantly woke Hua Yan up.
He was such a nice person!
Hua Yan immediately sent a “thank you qaq” message, along with a cute emoji.
He replied simply with “You’re welcome.”
However, Hua Yan, always quick to take advantage of an opportunity, immediately sent another message: “Can I keep asking questions? ovo”
The reply was even shorter: “Sure.”
For some reason, Hua Yan felt a bit curious and quickly started looking for more problems, specifically choosing the ones that looked particularly difficult and troublesome. She took pictures and sent them over, and Lu Chengsha almost always replied with the solutions within a few minutes, like a human homework app.
Previously, people had called him a study god, but Hua Yan hadn’t felt it personally until now. He was so convenient!
As she looked at the answers, she kept sending him messages praising his skills: “You’re amazing! >o<”
This time, it took a while before he replied with a series of ellipses.
Later into the night, Hua Yan needed to get some sleep since she had classes in the morning, so she didn’t reply to his message. After taking a shower and getting ready for bed, she saw that Lu Chengsha had sent another message, and this one wasn’t as simple—it even had five words!
But the content…
Staring at those six words, Hua Yan felt a hint of unspoken, intellectual condescension.
——Lu Chengsha: You can’t solve any of them?
She immediately frowned.