Jiahao

The morning sun finally pierced through the thin mist, stretching the boy's shadow long across the running track.

As soon as he walked into the classroom, he saw Li Zihan shrunk in his seat, tightly clutching a sausage in his hand.

"Brother Zhi... why does your face look worse than pig liver?"

Li Zihan shrank his neck and carefully handed over the sausage.

Chen Zhi snatched the sausage, tore open the packaging in a few quick moves, and took a viciously large bite.

"Li Zihan, starting tomorrow, you're going morning jogging with me."

Chen Zhi mumbled unclearly while chewing.

Li Zihan's face instantly fell, and the pen in his hand dropped straight to the floor.

"Don't do this, Brother Zhi... With my physique, I'll fall apart after two steps..."

"Cut the crap. That is an order."

Chen Zhi patted his shoulder, using so much force that Li Zihan nearly ducked under the desk.

Lin Wanwan sat diagonally behind them, resting her chin on her hand, watching the scene with great interest.

Just then, the homeroom teacher, Ms. Wang, walked into the classroom clicking her high heels, holding a notice in her hand.

Wang Qian gently tapped the class roster in her hand against the podium twice, making a crisp sound.

Chalk dust danced wildly in the beams of sunlight, and the buzzing whispers in the classroom were instantly cut off by this action.

"I have looked over the class roster."

Wang Qian rested both hands on the edge of the podium, her gaze sweeping over the tender faces below like a searchlight.

"You are all new students, and military training is about to start. We teachers and students have just met and do not know each other well yet, so the class committee elections will be held after military training."

She paused, tapping her fingertip on the list.

"Right now, we need to elect an acting class monitor to handle errands during this period. Are there any volunteers?"

The previously excited classroom fell silent at once.

The air seemed to freeze, and only the squeaking sound of the ceiling fan spinning overhead could be heard.

The vast majority of the students lowered their heads in tacit agreement, terrified of making eye contact with the homeroom teacher.

Chen Zhi spun the ballpoint pen in his hand out of sheer boredom.

Whoever wanted to do this thankless job could go right ahead.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure moving restlessly to his front right.

Li Jiahao squirmed around on his wooden chair as if he had nails in his bottom.

The kid had half his body leaning into the aisle, his neck stretched long. His restless hands reached in and out of his desk drawer, seemingly wanting to raise a hand but then hesitatingly pulling back.

A classic case of having the desire but lacking the guts.

He wanted to show off and act like a big shot in front of the whole class, but he was afraid of being the nail that sticks out, worried he would be scolded later if he did not do a good job.

Wang Qian waited for half a minute. Seeing the little brats below acting like quails, she let out a soft snort from her nose.

"Since no one is volunteering, I will just assign someone."

In that instant, Li Jiahao's bottom settled completely back into his chair. His shoulders slumped, and he scratched his hair with a look of deep chagrin.

Wang Qian picked up the class roster and drew a circle on it with a red pen.

"The first place in the placement test is Chen Zhi, right? You will be the acting class monitor."

Chen Zhi's pen-spinning abruptly stopped, and the ballpoint pen dropped onto the desk with a smack.

It was exactly what he had dreaded.

Before he even had the time to open his mouth and decline, Wang Qian's voice immediately rang out again.

"The vice monitor will be the second-place student, Pei Ningxue."

"These are just acting positions, primarily to assist me in handling class affairs during military training. Once military training ends, we will hold official elections."

Wang Qian waved her hand in her usual resolute and vigorous manner.

"Alright, monitor and vice monitor, stand up and let everyone put a face to the names."

Chen Zhi sighed and slowly stood up from his seat.

With one hand stuffed into his school uniform pocket, his face practically screamed the words forced to work.

At the same time, another figure slowly stood up.

It was Lin Wanwan's new desk mate.

Chen Zhi turned his head, his gaze passing over several rows of bobbing heads.

Pei Ningxue.

The young girl was tall. The school uniform did not look bulky on her at all; instead, it highlighted a somewhat aloof, slender elegance.

A few loose strands of hair fell by her cheeks. Her skin was so white it was almost transparent, glowing with a porcelain-like luster in the morning light.

She had no expression on her face, neither the shyness of being called out, nor the excitement of being selected as a class officer. There was only an indifferent calmness.

This kind of look, this kind of temperament.

Chen Zhi clicked his tongue in his mind.

At a glance, you could tell she was the type who would become the unattainable first love in the hearts of countless men in the future.

It seemed the girls in their class had quite high appearance standards. With Lin Wanwan, Li Zhiyi, and this Pei Ningxue, they were all school-beauty level girls.

It looked like there would be no shortage of people from other classes coming to peek outside their classroom in the future.

The eyes of the entire class darted back and forth between the two of them, and whispering voices began to buzz like flies.

"Sit down."

Wang Qian nodded in satisfaction, seemingly very approving of the grades and images of this golden boy and jade girl pair.

"The rest of you, preview the first lesson on your own. Chen Zhi, come out with me for a moment."

Resigned to his fate, Chen Zhi shoved his pen back into his pencil case and walked out of the classroom under Li Zihan's sympathetic gaze.

In the corridor, Wang Qian handed him a freshly printed form.

"This is the size collection form for the military training uniforms. Take it back and have everyone fill it out. Height, weight, and shoe size must be exact. Do not let them give rough estimates, or when the clothes are distributed and do not fit, I will be the one arguing with the logistics department."

"Got it, teacher."

Chen Zhi took the form, glanced at the categories on it, and replied weakly.

"Look alive! How can a big young man act like he has not eaten?"

Wang Qian slapped him on the back, and her high heels clacked away toward the office.

Chen Zhi held the thin piece of paper and turned back.

Just as he reached the back door of the classroom, he heard a noisy commotion inside.

Below the podium, Li Jiahao was holding a colorful notebook, jumping up and down the aisle like a peacock showing off its tail.

"Hey, hey, everyone write down your QQ numbers! I specifically created a class group chat to make it easier for us to communicate!"

Li Jiahao slapped the notebook onto the desk of a girl in the first row, raising his voice loudly, afraid that others would not know he was doing something big.

"In the future, I will post any homework or notices in the group. We are all classmates, we should help each other out!"

The girl held her pen rather awkwardly, unsure whether to write it down or not.

Seeing this, Li Jiahao became even more energetic. He leaned forward, half his bottom almost sitting on her desk.

"Do not be shy. Um, Lin Wanwan, why do you not write yours down too? If you have any questions you do not understand later, you can ask me in the group."

As he spoke, he stared straight toward Lin Wanwan, spinning the pen in his hand rapidly, thinking himself extremely cool.

Chen Zhi stood at the door, a playful sneer curving the corners of his mouth.

This guy Jiahao was too cunning.

Using the excuse of creating a group chat, his actual goal was to collect the contact information of all the girls in the class.

He was especially targeting Lin Wanwan.

In the eyes of someone like him who had already lived a lifetime, this kind of trick was laughably childish.

If he was really doing it for the good of the class, why did he not step up just now when the class monitor was being chosen?

Now he was jumping out to be an attention seeker.

Chen Zhi strode into the classroom with large steps, walking straight behind Li Jiahao.

Li Jiahao was talking so excitedly that spit was flying everywhere, when he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulder.

A hand pressed heavily against his shoulder blade with such force that half of his body went numb.

"Who is it!"

Li Jiahao turned around angrily, only to meet Chen Zhi's half-smiling eyes.

"Classmate Li Jiahao, keeping busy?"

Chen Zhi's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable sense of pressure.

Li Jiahao froze for a moment, then puffed out his chest and waved the notebook in his hand.

"Oh, Class Monitor. I was just thinking about setting up a group chat to make it easier for everyone to stay in touch, so I'm collecting QQ numbers."

"Collecting QQ numbers?"

Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on the flashy notebook. More than half the page was densely packed with writing, and it was entirely made up of girls' names.

"I don't think you need to worry about this kind of thing, do you?"

Chen Zhi applied a little more pressure with his hand, making Li Jiahao grimace in pain.

"Earlier, when Ms. Wang was selecting the class monitor, I saw your butt glued to your chair. What, now that the teacher is gone, you're suddenly stepping up?"

Hearing this, a few girls nearby couldn't help but cover their mouths and giggle.

Li Jiahao's face instantly turned the color of pig liver.

Having his intentions exposed in public and being overpowered by Chen Zhi's nonchalant attitude made him feel like he was losing face.

"I... I'm just contributing to the class to make future communication easier. You're just an acting class monitor, is it any of your business?"

Li Jiahao stiffened his neck and tried to shake off Chen Zhi's hand, only to find that the other party's hand was as unyielding as a pair of iron tongs.

"So you do know I'm the class monitor?"

Chen Zhi sneered, let go, and patted Li Jiahao's shoulder as if brushing off some dust.

"Since I am the class monitor, collecting information is my job. As for your little group chat, just pull a few of your buddies in to play around privately, but don't bring it out in the open to embarrass yourself."

"Go back to your seat."

With those last few words, Chen Zhi dropped his smile and spoke in a calm tone.

Li Jiahao gritted his teeth, staring daggers at Chen Zhi.

He wanted to retort and lose his temper, but looking at Chen Zhi's unfazed expression and the amused gazes of the surrounding classmates, his anger inexplicably deflated by half.

Li Jiahao resentfully slammed his notebook shut, glared viciously at Chen Zhi, and scurried back to his seat in disgrace.

Chen Zhi didn't spare him another glance, taking a form and walking straight up to the podium.

He placed the form on the desk, picked up the blackboard eraser, and knocked it heavily against the surface twice.

Smack! Smack!

Chalk dust flew into the air.

The classroom, which had been buzzing with whispers, instantly fell silent.

Chen Zhi leaned on the podium with both hands, his gaze sweeping across the room.

He showed none of the nervousness or awkwardness typical of someone taking the stage for the first time; his posture was relaxed, as if he were holding a routine corporate meeting.

"Quiet down, everyone."

"First of all, let me clarify that I am just an acting class monitor, essentially a temp."

Chen Zhi's clear voice carried to every corner of the classroom.

"My task is very simple: to run errands and handle miscellaneous chores for Ms. Wang during military training. Please don't treat me like some sort of official; I am just a tool here to serve you all."

A few chuckles came from the audience, and the atmosphere immediately lightened up.

Chen Zhi waved the form in his hand.

"This is the size collection form for the military training uniforms. Please pass it around and fill in your respective columns."

"Height, weight, and shoe size must all be accurate. Don't fake your height or lie about your weight just to save face. When the uniforms are handed out, if your pants are too short or you can't button your shirt, the only one who will be embarrassed is you."

As he said this, his gaze seemingly drifted over a few boys who were just getting ready to write.

The boys' hands froze, and they silently changed the 175 they were about to write back to 168.

"This is just for the next few days, so I hope everyone can cooperate. Once you're done, the students in the last row will collect them and hand them to me."

After Chen Zhi finished speaking, he handed the form to a student in the first row.

From her seat, Lin Wanwan looked up, blinked at him, and mouthed:

So handsome, Mr. Class Monitor.

Chen Zhi rolled his eyes at her in exasperation and turned to walk down from the podium.

Just as he returned to his seat and sat down, Li Zihan next to him leaned over, looking at him with utter admiration.

"Brother Zhi, you were so awesome just now! That Li Jiahao's face turned completely green!"

Li Zihan lowered his voice, so excited he was practically dancing in his seat.

"That guy loves to show off. He was just trying to ask for Lin Wanwan's QQ number earlier. He really needs to take a good look in the mirror."

Chen Zhi pulled his Chinese textbook from his bag, casually flipped to a page, and didn't even lift his head.

"Cut the crap. If you dare to be even one minute late for tomorrow's morning run, I'll show you what a truly green face looks like."

Li Zihan's smile instantly froze on his face. He let out a wail and slumped over his desk, playing dead.

Chen Zhi leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the back of Pei Ningxue in the front row.

The young girl sat with perfect posture, her back as straight as a pine tree. She was looking down, writing earnestly, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with her.

It seemed that this junior high school life was going to be much livelier than he had imagined.