Another day began.
It had been a week now since Shen Tang’s family moved to Nancheng City.
Today, she would be starting at her new school. The most troublesome thing for her wasn’t the unfamiliar surroundings or the new knowledge she’d have to acquire about this place, but rather the prospect of having to make new friends all over again. Just thinking about it made Shen Tang’s head want to explode.
Lost in thought as she walked, she eventually arrived at school. Her home wasn’t too far from school; it only took her 15 minutes to walk there. She also liked exercising, so she had refused her parents’ offer to buy her a bicycle for commuting, because she absolutely hated riding bikes.
She remembered when she was nine and first learned to ride a bike. She kept losing her balance and falling over and over again. From then on, she resolutely added bicycles to her list of most hated things.
This year, she officially entered tenth grade. The school she was attending now was Nancheng High School, which was also a key high school in the city.
Shen Tang had a well-developed figure, coupled with a baby face that contrasted sharply with her alluring physique. In short, Shen Tang was among the top beauties. From childhood, she had always received many compliments, as well as gazes of both admiration and envy. So now, when her classmates’ eyes swept over her, they couldn’t help but look back with a more scrutinizing gaze, and some even stared as if they wanted to devour her.
Because she was so used to those kinds of stares, she didn’t pay much attention and simply walked straight through the school gate.
It was indeed the top school in the city. It was twice, no, three times bigger than her previous school. Shen Tang followed the directions and found her classroom. The moment she stepped through the classroom door, the chatter seemed to freeze, and all eyes turned towards her. She didn’t even need to listen to know what they were whispering about her.
Shen Tang glanced around the classroom. Everyone already had a designated seat.
“Hmm, this school is an integrated middle and high school, isn’t it?”
“Looks like I’ll just have to grab a random seat.”
She looked towards the back of the classroom and indeed, there was one empty seat. Without much thought, she walked straight over and sat down. Only after Shen Tang had settled into her seat did she notice a girl sitting next to her. She had been in such a hurry earlier that she just sat down. Feeling a little awkward, she turned to ask.
“Um… is this seat taken…?”
Before she could even finish her sentence, the other girl quickly replied.
“No, feel free to sit.”
Shen Tang was slightly startled for a moment. This girl seemed quite cold. She hadn’t even looked at Shen Tang once, just focused intently on her book.
A studious classmate, then.
She didn’t think much more about it. She smiled and thanked the girl.
The class bell rang. As soon as the bell stopped, a tall, dignified figure walked in from outside the door.
He had a handsome, youthful face, but his demeanor was like that of an old man.
Zheng Yi stood on the podium, his eyes sweeping around the classroom before he cleared his throat.
“My name is Zheng Yi. Starting today, I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of tenth grade. I will also be teaching your math class. If anyone has any questions, raise your hand. Otherwise, let’s begin class.”
“…” This teacher was certainly concise.
The whole class was silent for a moment, then a hand went up.
“Teacher, aren’t we going to elect class representatives?”
Teacher Zheng Yi said without blinking, his expression matter-of-fact.
“We’ll keep the old Class Representatives. I’ve reviewed their work, and the previous ones did an excellent job, so there’s no need for new elections.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole class began to murmur, and everyone nodded in agreement.
To be fair, Class 10-2 was only second to the honors class. Everyone's grades were excellent, and the old class officers were, needless to say, even better. It was best to keep them on, saving everyone the trouble of new elections.
“Oh, I forgot.
Thẩm Đường, you just transferred and haven’t gotten to know the class yet, have you?
Come on, go up to the front and introduce yourself to your classmates.”
A hint of surprise flashed across her face as her name was called, but she quickly stood up and walked to the front of the classroom.
Her outgoing personality meant she wasn’t shy at all, so she glanced down at the class and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Hello everyone, I’m Thẩm Đường. I hope you’ll all help me out in the future!”
After speaking, she flashed a smile, which silenced the class for a moment before a few boys in the room started cheering.
“Wow, the new classmate is so pretty!”
“The new classmate just smiled and I almost fainted!”
“Does the new classmate have a boyfriend?”
“…”
The sound of a ruler tapping on the table immediately silenced the entire class, who looked towards the front. It turned out to be the homeroom teacher.
“Class, quiet down. Thẩm Đường, please return to your seat.
Everyone open your books, let’s start class.”
As soon as she sat down, two girls at the desk in front turned around, looking at her with sparkling eyes.
How should I put it? They looked a bit like cute puppies.
Thẩm Đường couldn’t help but let out a small, uncontrolled laugh.
Still smiling, she asked,
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
The girl wearing glasses, with big, round, adorable eyes, stared intently at her before speaking.
“You’re in the same dorm as us!” she said, then turned to the girl next to her and continued,
“I’m Tri Tri, and this is Tri Miên. We’re twin sisters!”
Thẩm Đường was a little surprised and looked carefully at the two girls in front of her again.
The two girls only had similar short hair; everything else was different, with only a few small features looking alike. Aren’t twins supposed to be identical?
While she was still deep in thought, the girl not wearing glasses spoke up.
“You think we don’t look alike, right? Everyone says that about us.
We must be a rare case. I look like Mom, and Tri Tri looks like Dad.”
Thẩm Đường raised an eyebrow slightly, understanding, then spoke softly.
“Hello, you two. We’ll be living together from now on, I hope you’ll help me out!” *Hmm, why did that sound exactly like what she’d just said at the podium? Oh well, never mind. It wasn’t her fault she wasn’t rich in vocabulary.*
Tri Miên gently nudged the arm of the girl sitting next to Thẩm Đường, signaling her to speak up quickly.
Only then did the girl take a moment, glancing up at Thẩm Đường, then at the other two girls. With a completely natural expression, she spoke.
“Sorry, this book is just so good, I was reading a bit too intently.”