Chapter 7: Huai City

First day of school.

Ke Miantang stood at the main gate of Chengxin Academy, head tilted back, staring dumbly at the wrought-iron gates wide enough for three cars to drive through side by side. She was awestruck.

This was no university. This was a castle.

The System clicked its tongue in her head. "Host, could you not act like a country bumpkin?"

"You're the country bumpkin. Your whole hometown's full of them." Ke Miantang cursed it out internally, then stepped through.

The iron gates cast crisscrossing shadows over her head. Sunlight leaked through the gaps in the metalwork, scattering flecks of light across her white dress.

The gateposts were solid granite, carved with elaborate clan crests, every groove radiating an air of *I am expensive*.

At the top of each pillar, the school's name was inlaid in gold leaf. It caught the morning light and flashed.

Beyond the gate, a straight ginkgo avenue led into the campus. The leaves hadn't turned fully yellow yet, but their edges were already tinged with pale gold.

At the far end, the outlines of Western classical buildings emerged—gray-white stone facades, spires glowing with a soft warmth in the sunlight.

Both sides of the road were lined with immaculately pruned landscaping. Every fifty meters stood a black cast-iron lamppost, each hung with a basket of seasonal flowers.

The System's educational segment began: "Chengxin Academy. Lingzhou City's number one elite school, spanning kindergarten through university. Total enrollment does not exceed three thousand. Annual tuition is approximately 1.2 million RMB, not including room, board, and extracurricular fees."

Ke Miantang was, admittedly, a little shocked.

This wasn't a school. This was a social club where the children of the powerful came to gild their reputations.

Chengxin Academy's architecture was the understated-luxury kind.

Nothing looked special at first glance. Only up close did you notice the building stone was imported Italian Calacatta marble, the floor-to-ceiling windows were bulletproof, and even the benches along the path were hand-polished from single blocks of teak.

Even the air here felt expensive.

"System, tell me about the whitelist," Ke Miantang said in her head.

"Finally want to hear it?"

"Duh. I'm stuck here for 149 days. I need to know who's the boss and who's the errand boy."

"The Chengxin Academy Whitelist—full name: the List of Untouchables. Thirty slots, evaluated annually by the student council. There's only one criterion: whether the family behind you is strong enough."

"Number one, naturally, is your boyfriend, Rong She. Sole heir of the Nebula Consortium. Three consecutive years at the top. Untouchable."

Ke Miantang thought: *Figured.*

"Number two, Zhou Ran, eldest grandson of the Xijin Conglomerate. You met him yesterday at Cloud Depths."

"Number three, Qi Ying, second daughter of the Anhe Group. Currently on exchange in Switzerland, back next semester."

The System's voice turned pointed. "This one has a storyline with the original supporting female character. I suggest you prepare yourself, Host."

Ke Miantang's eyelid twitched. "What storyline?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

Ke Miantang: "..." Since when did this System learn to be cryptic?

"Numbers four through ten: collateral heirs of the Xijin Conglomerate, the Shiyang Group, the Dongyang Conglomerate, the Ruihan Group, the Baohai Group, and Shanghe. Bottom line—in this school, apart from those ten on the whitelist, everyone else is disposable."

Ke Miantang's step faltered. "Disposable?"

"Literally."

Ke Miantang's brows knitted. "That's a bit much."

"This is a book world. Everything's a bit much."

She didn't ask anything else. She kept walking, fallen ginkgo leaves crunching underfoot.

Today she wore a white square-neck dress with a cinched waist, the hem falling three fingers above the knee, baring slender pale calves.

On her feet: beige ballet flats. Rong She wouldn't let her wear heels—said they were bad for her feet—so she didn't.

Everything on her body right now, Rong She had arranged.

That man's possessiveness showed up in every possible way.

She didn't have to do anything. She just had to wear what she was given. Resisting was pointless.

Chengxin Academy's dorms were ranked by tier.

Ke Miantang lived in Yuehua Hall, a standalone five-story apartment building.

She'd been assigned a suite on the third floor—four bedrooms, one living room. Each girl had her own room, sharing the living room and open kitchen.

The living room had a gray shag carpet, cream-colored sofas, and a vase of fresh hydrangeas on the coffee table.

Ke Miantang had only two roommates now. The third had clashed with the original host right after last semester started, then moved out citing "an inconvenient commute."

Roommate A: Cui Lina, collateral daughter of the Shiyang Group, ranked twelfth on the whitelist. Round-faced, quick to smile, seemed harmless.

Roommate B: Gao Ruoxi, distant relation of the Dazhou Group, ranked eighteenth on the whitelist. Loved gossip.

When Ke Miantang pushed the door open, the two of them were curled up on the sofa eating fruit.

A white porcelain plate on the coffee table held sliced mangoes, next to a dish of macarons.

"Miantang!" Gao Ruoxi spotted her first, face splitting into a grin. "You're finally here! Come over, come over, tell us—"

Cui Lina elbowed her, smiling too.

Ke Miantang changed her shoes, walked over, and dropped into the armchair. She snagged a macaron from the table and took a bite.

"Tell you what?" she said, chewing.

"About you and Rong She!" Gao Ruoxi leaned in, both hands braced on the sofa cushion. "Are you two really dating? My cousin says Rong She's never been like this with any girl. Is he scary? Does he smile when he talks to you?"

Ke Miantang's chewing slowed.

Rong She, scary?

A few blush-inducing images flashed through her mind. The more she thought, the hotter her ears felt.

"Mm, he's okay," she said vaguely, taking another bite to cover her discomfort. "He's just... a pretty normal person."

Gao Ruoxi giggled but didn't push. Her big eyes kept flicking to Ke Miantang's face.

Cui Lina cleared her throat and changed the subject.

Then her gaze landed on the little flap bag Ke Miantang had tossed onto the sofa.

Her eyes went wide. She pointed. "Miantang, is that bag from Rong She?"

"Yeah." Ke Miantang didn't bother denying it.

Gao Ruoxi's eyes went even wider. "That's a limited edition! You can't buy it even with money—fewer than thirty worldwide. Only two came to Lingzhou City. One's with the wife of the Shiyang Group chairman, and the other..."

So it was here.

"Rong She treats you *so* well." Genuine envy colored Gao Ruoxi's voice.

Ke Miantang just smiled.

As the male lead of this book, generosity was the least of Rong She's virtues.

As for his other virtues—well, she had no interest in digging those up.

She already knew how her story ended. Everything she enjoyed now was just a temporary loan.

"He's the type," Ke Miantang said after a moment, offhand, "who's pretty gentlemanly toward women. Doesn't sweat the small stuff."

Gao Ruoxi and Cui Lina nodded. It was true—Rong She was relatively gentlemanly toward the girls at school.

Never initiated. Never approached. Never left anyone room to fantasize.

And that was exactly why, when he broke every rule to get close to one person, it sent shockwaves through the whole campus.