Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 131: Chapter 120: The Girl Who Didn’t Join the Elite Class

”Hello? I’m here to pay the enrollment and registration fees.” Luo Qianqian said to the teacher in front of her, looking at Luo’s Mom and her brother in the distance.

”Name?” The teacher, who had met with hundreds of people that morning, pushed up his glasses and looked at the slightly shorter girl in front of him.

”Luo Qianqian.” Luo Qianqian smiled and said. People have said that a smile is the best business card.

”Oh, the youngest one, huh? Do you want to enter the experimental class or the competition class?” Lu You looked at the girl in front of him. This girl had been a topic of discussion in the school since the exams ended. She won a national prize in fourth grade and had maintained the lead ever since, achieving excellent results in the entrance exams. The teachers of the experimental and competition classes had argued several times over getting students, and unfortunately, it was up to the students to decide for themselves.

”Neither; a regular class will do.” Luo Qianqian, thinking of her brother’s pressure, decisively shook her head.

”What? A regular class? You should know that all the good students are in the experimental class, and those with specific subject strengths are in the competition class. Are you sure?” Lu You looked at the girl incredulously.

”Too much exposure can invite trouble, don’t you understand, teacher? In an overly excellent environment, who knows what kind of extreme people one might encounter?” Luo Qianqian smiled nonchalantly, ”I just want to be happy. My mom and brother don’t have such high expectations of me.” As she spoke, she thought to herself that surpassing the competition and experimental classes from a regular class would indeed be a slap in their faces, wouldn’t it?

”Does your family agree?” Lu You asked the girl, who appeared indifferent but whose eyes sparkled.

”I can decide on this myself; my family supports my decisions.” Luo Qianqian, looking at the long queue behind her, whispered, ”Teacher, is it okay if I join the regular class?”

”Okay, okay, okay...” Lu You followed the girl’s gaze toward the long queue at the back and had no choice but to proceed with Luo Qianqian’s request.

Luo Qianqian handed the payment slip to Luo’s Mom and looked at her brother complaining, ”Is joining a regular class even worth complaining about for so long?”

”You almost went unnoticed because of a poor score in the start-of-term test. Tomorrow I’ll also go to register and then there’s military training. See, you’re so lucky not having to do military training.” Luo Shufan shook his head, comforting his sister while twirling her braids, which were not longer than a grown man’s palm.

”Remember to prepare insect repellent, sunscreen, along with diarrhea and cold medicine. Mom would most likely think of everything else.” Looking at her brother, Luo Qianqian felt a bit reluctant. He was going away for a week, and he had never been away from her for that long in his life.

”Mom also told me to bring seven apples, one for each day...” Luo Shufan was speechless talking about Mom’s preparations.

”I think it makes sense, better bring them along for vitamin supplementation and boosting immunity.” Luo Qianqian looked at her brother’s reluctant face and heartily agreed.

”Zhuzi’s high school only has military training at school and you can go home after school. How nice is that?” Luo Shufan looked at the ground under the sun, steaming with heat, and was visibly reluctant.

”If you went to Zhuzi’s school, guess how Grandpa Zhang would treat you?” Luo Qianqian blinked, her face full of mischief.

Thinking of Elder Zhang’s reaction to knowing his sister wasn’t going to Experimental Junior High, Luo Shufan shuddered and said, ”But I see... it’s quieter now, though you’re still safer here.”

—A line for the start of school—

”I’m the homeroom teacher of Class Nine, my name is Xiu Xian, I teach mathematics, 27 years old, still unmarried. Let’s start the self-introductions from the far right column, serpent style, got it?” Xiu Xian stood on the podium, his curly hair messy, but his face clean-shaven and his clothes impeccably worn as a teacher’s uniform with a metal-framed pair of glasses and a set square in hand.

Luo Qianqian sat in the third row by the window, which was just on the teacher’s right side, meaning she would be the third to introduce herself.

”My name is Xia Qi, Gemini, twelve years old, I have been the English class representative for two years, and I like swimming.” The first girl, not very tall, seemed very energetic as she hopped around.

The second boy looked at Xia Qi with a strange glance and said, ”My name is You Yong, twelve years old, Pisces, I like to play chess, Go specifically!”

Luo Qianqian blinked her eyes, thinking how coincidental this was. The entire class burst into laughter, and both Xia Qi and You Yong blushed.

”Luo Qianqian, gender: female, Taurus, hobbies... sleeping in.” Luo Qianqian stood up and gave a brief introduction, not mentioning her age.

After a round of introductions, Luo Qianqian also got to know the people around her.

Her deskmate was Li Qi, a girl a bit older at thirteen, and sitting next to Luo Qianqian, she was even a full two heads taller. Sitting beside You Yong at the front desk was his good friend Sui Jiao, whose name sounded like ’sleeping,’ a short but food-loving chubby boy. Directly behind was a handsome guy named Pei Yuhao, with a face full of integrity and scholarly air. His deskmate was Pei Yutian, Pei Yuhao’s younger twin brother, a fraternal twin who didn’t have the outstanding looks of Pei Yuhao but was still a very pleasant-looking young boy.

”Let’s keep the seats this way for now. Let’s elect the class leaders. I appoint Luo Qianqian as the Math representative,” Xiu Xian said as he looked at Luo Qianqian chatting easily with her deskmate, and continued after seeing her stunned face, ”Luo Qianqian participated in a national competition during elementary school and even made it to the finals, so I believe there are no objections, right?” Not only did she reach the finals, but she also won a prize. The teachers of the Experimental Class, Xiao He, and of the Competition Class, Liang Zifang, had fought over her, and thinking about it made him happy. This class was complex, though, and he wondered whether it was good or bad for her to be here.

”...” I have objections. Observing the strange looks from around, Luo Qianqian smirked and nodded reluctantly.

Pei Yuhao as class president, Pei Yutian as vice president, the brothers united could cut through metal.

Li Qi volunteered for the position of class committee member and got what she wanted.

The health committee member was Wang Yang near the door, the arts committee member was Xia Qi, and the sports committee member was the tallest in the class, Wang Tianlei.

Aside from Luo Qianqian, who was directly assigned, the other class representatives would wait for the subject teachers to appoint.

”Luo Qianqian?” The girl sitting beside Xia Qi came up to Luo Qianqian as soon as class ended to say hello, ”I’m Sun Xuan. I’ve heard about you from my uncle. Oh, my uncle was your elementary school class teacher. It’s nice to meet you, you’re different from what I expected.” Seeing Luo Qianqian’s indifferent face, Sun Xuan was quite surprised.

”Oh? How so?” Luo Qianqian smiled, remembering correctly that Geng Zhi did have a sister.

Sun Xuan raised an eyebrow, pushing Li Qi, Luo Qianqian’s deskmate, ”Why aren’t you sitting with Du Xue?”

Li Qi looked up at Sun Xuan, somewhat puzzled, as people usually didn’t talk to her much, yet she was particularly talkative today, her face showing impatience, ”I can sit wherever I want. Aren’t there exactly thirty people in the class? How could there be an extra seat?”

”What do you mean by that? As a friend, I was just concerned about you.” Sun Xuan looked at Li Qi in surprise, clicking her tongue softly and muttering, ”That’s really ungrateful.”

Luo Qianqian watched the exchange between Sun Xuan and Li Qi, shaking her head helplessly and placing her book carefully on the desk, meticulously writing her name on it. Regardless, she had to focus on her studies. If she felt uncomfortable in the class, she could always ask to switch classes based on her grades later on. She wasn’t childish enough to squabble over these matters with teenagers.

Sun Xuan didn’t expect Luo Qianqian to ignore her, yes, ignore her. Luo Qianqian wrote her name neatly without even lifting her head, which was hard for her to accept, ”You really know how to pretend, classes start tomorrow, what’s the rush today? Do you think the teacher will like you just because you write your name? Junior high teachers are not like elementary school teachers; they won’t be charmed just because you look cute!”

Luo Qianqian opened her math book, taking satisfaction in the fresh scent of ink from the clean pages and inhaling deeply through her nose.

Sun Xuan, visibly upset with her chest heaving, exclaimed, ”Luo Qianqian, look at me!”

Luo Qianqian lifted her head and quietly looked at Sun Xuan before finally asking, ”Is there something you need?”

”I’m telling you, just because my uncle liked you doesn’t mean everyone does!” Sun Xuan couldn’t believe Luo Qianqian’s response, ”You think just because you’re young you’ll be accommodated? This is a school, not a public bus; there’s no tradition of revering the old and loving the young here!”

”But respect for teachers and emphasis on their teachings, that’s always there,” Luo Qianqian replied calmly with a slight smile, looking at Sun Xuan, ”In learning, there is no order of arrival, and the accomplished are masters.”

Sun Xuan stomped her foot in resentment, but seeing a teacher enter through the door, she turned and went back to her seat.