Many of the students assigned to take the exam in Classroom 12 were actual members of Class 12, and the atmosphere inside the room was anything but serious.
Despite the looming monthly exam, the air was filled with the familiar buzz of gossip, banter, and exaggerated groans of despair.
"Hey hey hey, we're playing Five-Man in Honor of Kings again later—we're short one! Any freeloaders willing to get carried?"
"What a fart! Last time you said that, we got wrecked so hard, we were practically kneeling in front of the enemy! You even shouted 'retreat!' while running into a wall!"
"Why did Brother Xuan change his girlfriend again? Which little schoolgirl is it this time? How's her figure?"
At that moment, the classroom door creaked open and Lu Qingyan stepped in.
Someone near the door noticed her first, eyes lighting up as if he'd spotted a rare Pokémon. "Hey… check that girl out. Damn. She's gorgeous. She looks so pure and innocent, like those female leads in school dramas."
"Wait, there's someone that pretty in our grade? Why've I never seen her before?"
"She's from Special Class," someone explained. "Transfer student. Just came this month."
"That explains it. Special Class people don't breathe the same air as us mortals."
"Still, why's someone from Class 1 taking the exam here with us rejects?"
"Because fate is cruel," another student sighed theatrically. "Also, room arrangements."
Meanwhile, Lu Qingyan, blissfully unaware that she had become the main dish on the Class 12 gossip buffet, calmly found her seat near the front.
She took out her Chinese textbook and began flipping through pages, determined to cram a few more idioms into her skull before the exam started.
She didn't even blink when the door slammed open behind her.
Lu Mingxuan didn't expect that in the time that he went to buy some water before the exam started, the class would become so lively.
Furthermore, he didn't expect his cheap sister to be the topic of the lively conversation.
"You don't say, but she's really beautiful, the more you look, the better it gets."
"Okay, but what's the point of being good-looking? Even if someone looked good, if their brain wasn't good, I wouldn't like them."
"Lol. You're not sure yet, beside she was placed in special class.l
"Hahaha, you say it as if you're f*cking smart."
"You can't be sure. If I was in Special Class and had their resources, no matter how bad, I still wouldn't end up here for the exam."
Lu Mingxuan heard this when he came in. He glanced at Lu Qingyan who was seated not too far in front of him.
He loudly closed the door with his backhand. The originally noisy classroom immediately became quiet after the sudden sound of the door.
Gao Jing, who walked in behind Lu Mingxuan, looked at those who were talking and warned them to quickly shut-up.
The people were intrigued as some approached Gao Jing and asked, "What's up, is Brother Xuan in a bad mood today?"
Gao Jing casually found an explanation, "Are you in a good mood when there's an exam?"
Lu Qingyan was using the time left to become more familiar with the literary texts, so she didn't care about the changes in the atmosphere.
And Lu Mingxuan, who had just arrived, sat behind her and stared at her back. He was a little puzzled.
Waiting for her to come running, crying, asking, "Gege, why did you block me? Don't you love me anymore?"
But nothing. Not a single message. Not even a "?" or a passive-aggressive meme. Not even a sudden pop-up on QQ.
What the hell?
He even gave her time. Ample time. He'd unblocked her for exactly fifteen minutes last week just to test the waters.
Still nothing.
Since the last time he saw her fighting capabilities at the internet cafe, both he and Gao Jing were full of doubts.
When they returned, Gao Jing had said, "Is it because your sister has been under too much pressure lately that she decided to learn some martial arts to vent her anger?"
Lu Mingxuan thought for a moment and felt that there was some truth to it.
His expression became slightly prideful, "It's probably because she was blacklisted by me and felt frustrated, so she had to find a way to vent."
Thinking about it some more, he added, "Why did she feel the need to do this? If she came to find me, I might've taken her off the blacklist if I was in a good mood."
Although he said this on the surface, Lu Mingxuan was actually quite puzzled in his heart.
He glanced at Gao Jing, who looked as bored as usual. "Hey," he muttered. "You sure she's not brain-damaged?"
Gao Jing shrugged. "If she is, she's good at hiding it. Maybe she just grew up."
"Or she's plotting something."
"Or maybe," Gao Jing deadpanned, "you're just not that important."
Lu Mingxuan glared at him. "Say that again."
"Didn't say anything."
Lu Mingxuan huffed and turned his eyes back to the girl with the textbook.
Since he saw her, Lu Mingxuan thought that it wouldn't be long before she came to him to ask why she was blacklisted.
Who knew—
He waited so long, but there wasn't a single breath of her.
Strange.
It was really very strange.
He thought that it might be because Lu Qingyan hadn't noticed him, so taking advantage of the time before the proctor handed out the test papers, he paraded around in front of Lu Qingyan with a hand in his pocket. He swayed until he almost created wind, but unexpectedly, she didn't even raise her head.
She didn't look up.
She just shifted slightly to get better lighting.
What. The. Hell.
Lu Mingxuan lowered his hand. Is she ignoring me on purpose?
He leaned closer, trying to peek at the book. Was she really reading? Or faking it?
Yup. Page was upside-down. No, wait. He was upside-down.
He took a step back and flopped into the seat behind her, brooding.
This was weird. This was really weird.
She continued to recite the Chinese book in her arms.
It can't be she studied herself into a fool in Special Class, right?