First, regardless of the fact that Lin Xingjie, who was covered in a sad atmosphere, was holding his head and muttering, Zhu Qingyue walked to his side and asked softly.

"Sunny Xu, is this arrangement really okay?"

"......Hmm?"

Sunny Xu was considering, he raised his head and looked at Zhu Qingyue with some confusion.

"In fact, you can completely leave Starry's affairs to me."

She placed her hand on her chest, making a promise.

"With my help, it should be more than enough."

"...You are very confident."

"It doesn't matter whether I am confident or not. I have seen several test papers that Starry Lin has done. For her, the most important thing at the moment is to consolidate her grasp of the knowledge points, so that as long as she performs better in the exam, she will definitely make a leap in the next exam. I believe that with Starry's personality and mindset, there should be no problem..."

Seeing her talk endlessly, Sunny Xu thought to himself that it seemed she was not lying when she said she liked to study.

Halfway through, Zhu Qingyue realized that she was getting off topic and quickly turned the conversation back.

"Didn't we agree yesterday to compete well in the exam? Although my words may sound like self-praise..."

Zhu Qingyue seemed a little hesitant.

"But, if you really want to beat me, you need to work even harder."

"I don't deny that."

Sunny Xu smiled.

Having confidence beyond the goal is the first step, but the most crucial thing is to have self-awareness and understand each other's differences.

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

From the results of the last two exams, Zhu Qingyue is not an opponent that can be caught up with in a short time.

It seems that there is less than twenty points difference, and if it were in a lower ranking like Starry Lin's, a little more effort could close this gap; however, scores have a bottleneck, the higher you climb, the harder it is to improve.

Later on, even a few points difference requires multiple times the effort to improve, especially in subjective and high-scoring topics like composition.

"But, regardless, Starry's results are equally important to me, just as important as my goal to surpass you... Moreover, if you are going to teach her for the next two days, I naturally cannot be idle, so that it can be considered a fair competition, right?"

Zhu Qingyue stared at him for a while, smiling and saying.

"In that case, if you lose later, don't regret it, okay?"

"...The only one who will regret it is you." Sunny Xu snorted, disdainful of this level of provocation. "I think your attitude towards studying on weekdays is really too lax. Sooner or later, you will be surpassed by someone."

"Then it means you've been fooled."

Zhu Qingyue answered seriously.

"In fact, I appear so relaxed at school to deceive others, to make people like you who secretly pay attention to me and plan to take the first place from me, lower their guard. In reality, I have to do homework until two in the morning every night, and get up at six in the morning to study. It's super hard every day."

"Really?"

Sunny Xu's mouth fell open, looking astonished.

He suddenly remembered a question Starry Lin had asked him one day, whether there were any good students who were so bored that they tried to improve their ranking by influencing others. Although he was not interested at all, he did not deny that there might be such people.

"Of course, it's a lie." Zhu Qingyue couldn't help but chuckle. "I usually don't stay up past midnight, I just drink a glass of milk and go to bed. A good routine is the basis for improving learning."

"Well said."

Sunny Xu applauded vigorously.

"The effect of concentrating on studying for an hour is greater than several hours of drowsiness and scattered attention..." He turned around and asked. "Starry, did you hear that? Don't stay up late to finish your homework in the future, make sure to finish it on time according to the set plan."

"I got it~"

Starry Lin answered listlessly, dragging out her words while twirling her hair with her fingers.

"Well, there's no time to lose, let's start implementing the plan from today!"

Sunny Xu clenched his fist, a satisfied look on his face, feeling ambitious.

"Okay, let's see each other later."

Zhu Qingyue waved to the two of them and left the corridor.

*

Starting from the afternoon self-study class, as agreed by the three of them, Zhu Qingyue came to the classroom of Class 1 with a stack of prepared homework materials and spent the whole class teaching her friend Lin Xingjie attentively.

The self-study class is generally managed by the discipline committee, and there are indeed extra desks and chairs in the classroom, so it's just a matter of informing the teacher like Zhu Qingyue did.

However, no one has ever tried this method of studying with students from other classes, and she was the first class monitor to do so.

Although, from a gossip perspective, it may not attract as much attention as Sunny Xu and Lin Xingjie, who used to study and leave school together and were suspected of being in a relationship, but the "sensation" it caused was no less than that time.

Just as Sunny Xu had imagined, no one could guess that these two girls were actually friends, and even the class teacher who received Zhu Qingyue's report would probably be very surprised.On the other hand, for the boys, just watching the two most famous beautiful girls in the school become desk mates was a pleasing sight.

The lazy afternoon sun freely painted the ground, walls, and desks with a golden light, adding a touch of nostalgic haze to the girls' white clothes and dark hair.

In the clean and bright classroom, their slender shoulders and arms occasionally leaned together; when one quietly explained a problem to the other, their pure and beautiful faces would unconsciously come close together, with strands of hair falling from their ears and intertwining...

The usual afternoon self-study time became lively because of their presence; even without hearing their conversation, just this scene was enough to create a fresh and elegant picture, firmly imprinted in the hearts of the young people.

So much so that the boys left in the classroom couldn't concentrate on studying, and couldn't help but turn around to see what was happening.

Then, in the second class, the number of people studying in the classroom suddenly increased, and those who had planned to sneak out to play basketball out of curiosity came back.

When the head teacher came by for patrol, there was actually a smile on her usually gloomy face, it seemed that she was quite satisfied, after all, in the absence of teachers' supervision, the classroom was often empty, and there were always people running out to slack off or play on the playground.

Sunny Xu didn't pay much attention to anything else, as long as Starry Lin could study well under Seigetsu Zhu's guidance.

Although Starry Lin always complained about studying, she never really slackened in her study plan, so Sunny Xu was still very reassured.

There was a small incident on the way to class for Seigetsu Zhu:

At that time, Sunny Xu noticed that Sun Xiaofang was following her. Just like what Sunny Xu had seen two days ago, the relationship between the two seemed no different from the past.

So during the break, Sunny Xu couldn't help but ask the monitor a question out of curiosity.

Sun Xiaofang spread rumors, and Seigetsu Zhu forced her to apologize in public - after such an incident, Sunny Xu couldn't imagine how awkward the atmosphere would be when these two needed to communicate.

Even if Seigetsu Zhu was broad-minded and willing to accept the apology, Sun Xiaofang would still feel embarrassed, right?

However, what Sunny Xu and the other students of Class 5 had not expected was that these two not only did not alienate each other, but became even closer than before.

How could they handle it to make the awkwardness between them dissolve so naturally?

Sunny Xu once again realized that Seigetsu Zhu's strength was not only in studying, but also in handling interpersonal relationships with ease.

"Before meeting Starry Lin, I had never made a very close friend, because I'm not good at communicating with others."

Sunny Xu said with a hint of envy. The process of becoming friends with Starry Lin was indeed mixed with too many unusual things, not an experience that could be replicated.

"If I could learn from you, I feel like it would be useful in the future."

"Ah, you're talking about Xiaofang...?"

The monitor's expression was a bit strange when he heard this question.

"You've got it wrong, she and I are not friends anymore, just ordinary classmates."

...Is that so?

Sunny Xu glanced at the tall girl with braided hair standing at the door, she hesitated for a long time before leaving.

Seeing her worried look, it was obvious that she was concerned about the monitor's safety.

After all, Starry Lin had a bad reputation, and she had been threatened herself.

Sunny Xu could see Sun Xiaofang's fear of Starry Lin, but she still hadn't given up the idea of silently watching over Seigetsu Zhu... If this didn't count as friendship, then who else could?

However, the fact that the relationship between these two had turned out like this was indeed a bit unexpected. Could it be that Sun Xiaofang, out of guilt, wanted to make amends to the monitor?

Sunny Xu shook his head.

He still couldn't understand their thoughts.

And, compared to Sun Xiaofang, Seigetsu Zhu was obviously more concerned about Starry Lin's affairs, hardly lifting her head. It seemed that the braided girl's vigilance was not even on her radar...

Ah, the interaction between girls is really deep. He couldn't help but feel this way.

Of course, Sunny Xu didn't feel sorry for someone who brought it upon themselves.

He took one last look at the two girls sitting behind him, then turned his attention back to the test paper and textbook in front of him.

Anyway, as long as this continued, their relationship would definitely improve slowly, right?

Their affairs no longer needed his concern.

At this moment, Sunny Xu's only goal was -

To defeat Seigetsu Zhu in the next monthly exam.

As he immersed himself in his studies, Sunny Xu realized that he was entering an unprecedented state of well-being.

The noise in the classroom gradually faded away. The noise from the outside world and other people could no longer disturb him.

He felt as if he was in a pure white space, sitting at the desk, sometimes lost in thought, sometimes writing fervently.Compared to over a month ago, when Sunny Xu had no friends and was alone, he now had a more fulfilling and busy daily life, naturally reducing the time spent on studying.

Some of it was due to dealing with sudden supernatural events, he needed time to calm his somewhat confused mind, learn how to accept a completely new unknown world; and some... naturally because two girls came one after another, breaking into his life, one of them even moved in under the same roof.

However, Sunny Xu did not feel at all lax in his student status.

What studying required was not just time, energy, and physical strength, but also a wear and tear on one's willpower.

Because deep in the hearts of young people, there is a desire for unfettered freedom. Even a standard good student like Sunny Xu, who has been determined to share the burden for adults since childhood and has always worked hard in his studies, will have times of weariness, loss, and loneliness.

But now, things have become different.

He made new friends, gained satisfaction from helping her and being helped by her; as long as she was there, even the most boring conversations would be interesting, and the daily companionship and communication made the previously dull daily life gradually become rich.

It was like a long-abandoned black and white photo, gradually coming to life with color.

It was because of having a vivid and clear life that he could cast aside all other worries and focus wholeheartedly on advancing towards victory.

Every day, he looked forward to the arrival of tomorrow.

Is there a better mindset for learning and growth than this?

The densely packed questions on the test paper turned into monsters blocking his way, waiting for him to defeat them with his pen as a sword, gain experience and grow, and stand on a new battlefield again with a completely new look.

Thinking about the upcoming exam where he could show off his skills, which was only three days away, Sunny Xu was filled with ambition and determination—

*

He lost.

The second week after the end of the monthly exam, during the first class in the morning.

Before the teacher arrived, the study committee distributed the exam results. The classroom was noisy, filled with excited conversations and sighs.

In the end, what most students cared about was still their grades.

Sitting in his chair, Sunny Xu scratched his head and looked a bit disappointed at the exam results in front of him.

"Sunny Xu."

"The difficulty of this exam was higher than the last one, so it's natural for the scores to drop, and the gap between my score and the ones behind me has widened, which means my feeling was right, my condition was indeed better than the last time."

"But, even in this situation, I still lost..."

He looked at the name that was still at the top as always, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Sure enough, I still can't beat her."