Chapter 8: 008 The Thorns of the Emperor

Class 15.

Standing before the podium was a middle-aged man with a slightly stout build. His back was a bit hunched, and he leaned his hands against the lectern. "Now, let's look at this problem. What is the first step we should take? We set the coordinates for this moving point M, and then use trigonometric substitution and trigonometric identity theorems, right?"

"And what do we do in the next step? We write out the coordinates of the other points, too! Isn't it obvious then? They are all collinear. Can we write out the coordinates of point P? Can we find the slope of PQ? It’s very simple, isn't it?"

The students in the class were drowsy, offering only scattered, listless responses.

Lu Lingxi knocked on the door. "Teacher Xia, I've brought the new student."

Some students in Class 15 looked up lazily. In the light, the new student wore a simple white cross-collar top, embroidered with a small white poppy at the neckline, paired with a black horse-face skirt.

White top, black skirt, her black hair pinned up neatly and cleanly with a single wooden hairpin. She wore no other accessories.

Her features were beautiful and languid, possessing a temperament that made it impossible to look away.

For a fleeting moment, the math teacher felt as if he had traveled through time; it was as if he were at the Imperial Academy, and the person walking toward him was his most spirited female disciple.

She walked into the classroom and spoke amidst the silence of the room: "Hello everyone, my name is Bai Lian."

"Bang!" The atmosphere instantly exploded.

"May I ask, may I ask, which 'Lian' is it?" A girl sitting in the back raised her hand excitedly to ask.

Bai Lian stood on the podium, poised and refined. Hearing this, she tilted her head languidly. "The 'Lian' from 'Lian Man Di Jia'."

"Wow!"

"Cool!"

Some boys were even slapping their desks and shouting.

Some girls appeared calm as they looked down, but in reality, they were already frantically chatting in their group chats.

"Alright, you bunch of brats, settle down. Bai Lian, you sit in that empty seat in the fourth row," Lu Lingxi said with a smile. She looked at the girl with her head down by the window, her voice softening, "Sit with Yang Lin."

Bai Lian picked up her backpack and walked toward the only empty seat in the class.

"If you need anything, you can ask me," her deskmate Yang Lin said in a soft, thin voice. After speaking, she kept her head down and continued doing her homework.

"Thank you."

**

Lu Lingxi returned to the office.

"Wanxuan, you'll need to write the bulletin board at the intersection later." Ren Wanxuan had studied under famous masters since she was young and had excellent calligraphy; Lu Lingxi had a soft spot for her. "Also, you know about the Jiangjing Preparatory Camp, right?"

Ren Wanxuan nodded. "I know about it."

Not only did she know, but her grandfather was also actively communicating with a doctor in Jiangjing.

"Some schools use the preparatory camp's software to help top students drill problems," Lu Lingxi explained slowly. "Our school recently received a spot. There is only one, so the school will decide who gets it in a month."

A spot in the Jiangjing Preparatory Camp was practically a ticket to becoming a Jiangjing University student. Very few people had access to this software; Ren Wanxuan remembered that even Beicheng No. 1 High School only had ten spots.

She was very surprised that a school in Xiangcheng actually had one. "I understand, Teacher Lu!"

"Leave late after school; there will be training for those of you competing for the spot. That’s all, you can go back now." Lu Lingxi smiled and let her leave.

Lu Lingxi was not only the head teacher of Class 15 and a Chinese teacher for three classes, but she also served as the grade director.

She managed everything, big and small, for the senior year.

"Teacher Lu, I put that transfer student's test paper on your desk," the physics teacher reminded Lu Lingxi.

Lu Lingxi quickly put on her glasses and picked up the paper. "Let me take a look."

The first thing she saw was the handwriting on the paper.

This writing...

Hearing this, Ren Wanxuan slowed her pace.

So that test paper was Bai Lian's?

The physics teacher held his teacup, smiling. "85 points. The paper was simple, so the score is a bit on the low side, but her grasp of the basics is quite good."

Ren Wanxuan stopped at the door, her expression mocking.

She closed the door, thinking nonchalantly—the physics teacher’s way of speaking was truly refined.

How was this just "a bit on the low side"?

The comprehensive science exam at the beginning of the term in Xiangcheng was very simple, consisting entirely of basic questions. The total score was 300, and in their class...

There wasn't a single person who scored below 150!

Inside the office, however, Lu Lingxi was quite surprised.

"85, that's enough," Lu Lingxi said, holding the paper with a smile. "You don't know, Bai Lian transferred from liberal arts to science. I thought if she could score 50, I wouldn't try to persuade her to go back to the liberal arts class."

She didn't have high expectations for Bai Lian; after all, it was a switch from liberal arts to science, and she hadn't expected Bai Lian to score over 200.

Lu Lingxi wasn't obsessed with college entrance rates, either.

"Switched from liberal arts to science? No wonder her handwriting is so neat, even better than a printer," the physics teacher said. He had been preparing lessons earlier and hadn't heard Lu Lingxi's conversation with Bai Lian. "It looks more pleasing than Ren Wanxuan's paper."

He also found it strange that this transfer student had switched from liberal arts to science.

Although the paper was simple and mostly basic knowledge, and she hadn't done many of the long-form questions, the truth was, everything she *did* do...

Was correct, especially the physics.

"She used authentic 'Guan Ge' script," Lu Lingxi, being a Chinese teacher, said. She remarked that the girl was a well-behaved child, and her writing was just as well-behaved. "In the past, scholars used this script during the imperial examinations."

Past top scholars all knew several styles of calligraphy, but they uniformly used the Guan Ge script during the palace examinations.

Lu Lingxi hadn't expected Bai Lian to know several styles; nowadays, it was hard enough for children to master just one.

It was just that very few people studied the Guan Ge script anymore; what they admired now was the Liang style.

"Teacher Lu, don't worry too much," the physics teacher unscrewed his teacup. "Since she wants to study science, she will definitely be motivated. Don't look at the 85 points now; I don't think she lacks aptitude. Just watch, by next year's college entrance exam, she should be able to improve to 170. With some effort, getting into a second-tier university is very possible."

He decided to pay more attention to this transfer student.

Of course, they didn't know.

Switching from liberal arts to science and scoring 85 on a standard-difficulty paper was indeed a sign of aptitude.

In their minds, the hardest part for Bai Lian was the switch itself. After all, it was already difficult to score properly after such a switch. How could they have guessed—

That these 85 points were entirely the result of five days of study!

As for the many questions she didn't answer... that was simply because she hadn't started studying those topics yet.

**

Bai Lian had conquered the Xiangcheng Middle School forum single-handedly.

Today, out of ten posts on the school forum, eight were about the "Lian Man Di Wang."

Bai Lian herself was unaware of this. Although she was beautiful, there was an aura about her that made it hard for others to approach.

Like her deskmate Yang Lin, she was either reading or drilling problems, looking very much like a top student.

With that natural "top student" aura, others didn't dare to strike up a conversation.

After school in the afternoon.

Bai Lian had only been measured for her uniform today, and it wouldn't be issued for another two days. In the sea of school uniforms, she was the only one wearing her own clothes. Being a bit taller than the average girl, clean and cold, she stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens.

Jiang He was squatting in a corner across the street, spotting the shining Bai Lian in the crowd at a glance.

"Why are you alone?" Bai Lian didn't see the people who usually followed Jiang He, so she took him to a milk tea shop around the corner.

"My brother is coming to pick me up later."

School had just let out, and the milk tea shop was crowded. The two waited for a while until the crowd thinned out.

Bai Lian found a quiet table and sat down with Jiang He.

"Student Bai," the clerk handed two cups of cherry fruit tea to Bai Lian. "Your milk tea is ready. The straws are on the left; help yourself."

Bai Lian recognized her—it was her deskmate, Yang Lin.

Bai Lian looked at the fruit pulp in the milk tea, which was clearly more than what others got, and her eyes curved, shimmering and vivid. "Thank you."

She pulled out two straws, her peripheral vision catching a blue-purple bruise on Yang Lin's exposed arm.

"What is that?" Bai Lian withdrew her gaze and went back to give the milk tea to Jiang He.

The other boy took out a colorful sphere.

Jiang He took a small sip. "A 7x7 Rubik's cube."

He could already restore the center color blocks, but he wasn't skilled at the rest. Last night, he had watched Jiang Fuli's speed-solving formulas and was trying to replicate them.

Bai Lian opened her backpack and took out a large object. She had never seen a Rubik's cube before. "Are you restoring the colors of this ball?"

Jiang He nodded, dissatisfied with his speed. "My brother can restore it very quickly, but it takes me two hours."

"Pfft—"

A boy who had just arrived with a basketball sprayed his lemon tea.

"No way, little brother," the boy turned his feet, side-stepping. He was wearing a school uniform, his features handsome and sunny. He suggested sincerely, "Don't say things like that in such a calm tone. Have some sympathy for us ordinary high school students."

Jiang He glanced at him and said nothing.

The boy: "..."

What kind of look is that?

What kind of look?

"Hi," the boy was choked by his silence, then greeted Bai Lian, introducing himself: "Student Bai, I am your..."

"Zhang Shize." Bai Lian recognized him; he was the student sitting behind her.

She remembered everyone who introduced themselves to her.

Zhang Shize scratched his hair. "Oh, so you heard us talking. Mother Lu said if you need anything in the future, just come to me. I'm the sports committee member!"

Their class called Lu Lingxi "Mother Lu."

As Zhang Shize spoke, he saw the thing Bai Lian had taken out—

It looked like an electric motor?

Bai Lian inserted the straw with one hand and toyed with the motor coil with the other. "What's wrong?"

Zhang Shize: "..."

How could someone carry this in their school backpack?

With a bewildered expression, he said goodbye to Bai Lian and walked out of the milk tea shop.

The group of boys waiting for him outside asked if he had gotten the transfer student's contact information. The transfer student was "armed with beauty," and could only be admired from afar.

"Ask tomorrow," Zhang Shize draped an arm over his shoulder, sighing like a brother: "As long as you guys are in this world, I can rest easy."

The brothers were just about to be moved.

Zhang Shize: "Hehe, it's great, I'm not the only loser."

"..."

**

The sky gradually darkened at the school gate.

The top students who had been receiving training had just finished their classes.

Ren Wanxuan had someone to pick her up every day. She was on the phone with her driver, "I've finished my tutoring session, you come..."

Her gaze caught the intersection at the corner, where a girl was sitting under a streetlamp, waiting for something.

The school was so big, how did she keep running into Bai Lian?

Could it be such a coincidence?

Ren Wanxuan suddenly felt a bit irritable. She looked at the girl's back, pondered for a long time, and instructed the driver: "Drive the car to the back gate, I'll meet you at the back gate."

"What's wrong?" the boy beside her asked.

"Nothing." Ren Wanxuan shook her head, not wanting to mention Bai Lian at all. "Let's go to the back gate."

She turned coldly and re-entered the school gate.

The boy nodded thoughtfully. When he turned, he only glanced faintly at the intersection at the corner. "Then I'll have my driver wait at the back gate, too."

At the intersection.

"When is your brother coming?" Bai Lian sat on the side of the road with Jiang He, watching the passing traffic.

The streetlamps lit up one by one.

Jiang He reluctantly pressed his watch to light it up. "Ten more minutes."

"Okay." Bai Lian leaned lazily against the streetlamp pole, pulling out the coil to fiddle with it again.

When Jiang Fuli came to pick up Jiang He, this was the scene he saw—

The girl was sitting loosely on the side of the road, her ink-black hair casually pinned up with a grayish-brown wooden hairpin. Her hands were exceptionally elegant as she toyed with the motor; the rough motor looked more like a work of art in her hands.

Her features were born extremely well, and her lowered brows and eyes carried a languid air.

In that instant, it seemed as if the moonlight was also favoring her, a hazy beauty soaked in moonlight.

He suddenly thought of a phrase—

Gentleness with a hint of edge.

Sleep early after reading!

Goodnight!