Stuck in the middle, can't go up or down.

Then again, now that Li Xingya frequently visited the Jiangnan University labs, it felt like she had a great chance of bagging a handsome guy from Jiang U.

Mainly, it was her looks; the more you looked at her, the more attractive she seemed. Compared to those girls in the math department who constantly schemed to hook a rich guy over there, her aura was on a much higher, classier level.

Could she actually end up snagging one in the end?

Actually, Li Xingya had bought a lot of clothes today. Aside from the outfit she was currently wearing, the rest had been packed up and sent over to the industrial park.

On the office floor that Su Bai rented, there was a private office belonging solely to Chen Yusheng. Whenever Li Xingya needed to change into her other outfits, she could go there.

Li Xingya really didn't dare to bring that huge pile of shopping bags back with her; she felt it would cause an uproar.

Although they weren't top-tier luxury brands, they were still considered accessible luxury. In a Normal University dorm, buying so many nice clothes all at once would be glaringly conspicuous.

After a brief rest, Li Xingya opened her old, worn-out laptop and continued studying.

This girl was truly incredibly hardworking; it was no wonder both Su Bai and Chen Yusheng liked her.

A little while later, two classmates from another dorm came over to hang out with Miss Manicure. They also noticed the change in Li Xingya's appearance and were genuinely stunned, eagerly asking her which fashion blogger she was learning from.

For most girls at the Normal University, the effort they put into studying clothes with fashion bloggers was probably more than what they put into their academic studies.

Li Xingya stuck to her previous explanation.

At the mention of Teacher Chen, the two girls lost interest... It wasn't exactly a lack of interest, but rather that she was the top-student goddess of the neighboring Jiang U. Even if they wanted to ask for advice, they had no way to get in touch with her.

When they returned to their dorm, they excitedly discussed Li Xingya's jacket. It looked a bit like a trench coat, but the style seemed somewhat different.

It just felt like the design was very unique, not the kind of mass-produced good you could normally buy online.

Truth be told, although many girls hadn't personally experienced it, they still had a pretty good intuition when it came to high-quality clothing.

Hearing their discussion, Huang Ran from the math department chimed in, What are you guys talking about? Li Xingya's jacket?

Yeah, Xingya is dressed so beautifully today. Isn't she studying under that top student Chen from Jiang U now? She said the big shot took her clothes shopping to improve her image.

It looks like she got her hair done, too. It probably wasn't cheap. From the smell of the shampoo, it must be a really high-end one. Ordinary hair salons wouldn't use shampoo of that caliber.

Damn, you've got the nose of a dog to be able to smell that!

Hehe, I work at a hair salon back in my hometown during the holidays, my uncle runs it...

The two girls chatted back and forth, excitedly giving their critiques.

That was just how it was when girls gathered together. If someone's clothing style suddenly underwent a complete transformation, it was bound to be fiercely discussed.

Usually, if someone who wasn't very popular suddenly became exceptionally striking, the girls wouldn't have anything nice to say.

However, Li Xingya's temperament was too well-behaved, and she was known in the math department as a workaholic who had been interning everywhere since her freshman year.

At first, having no experience and being in a lower grade, she could only try out those bitter and exhausting entry-level positions at small companies.

Later, she gradually moved on to positions at regular companies, and eventually, she was able to do short-term internships at some well-known large companies in Jiangcheng.

Everyone saw her hard work, so aside from a few truly dark-hearted gossips, the girls who knew Li Xingya at the Normal University generally held a friendly attitude toward her.

Huang Ran didn't originally have any hostility toward her either. The problem was that she and Li Xingya were the two people in the department who currently had the closest ties to Jiang U.

Li Xingya's ties were on a professional and academic level, while Huang Ran had latched onto a wealthy local guy.

That's right, it was Xue Tao, who had just recently treated her to an American BBQ buffet.

Although there seemed to have been a little accident during that meal—running into Xue Tao's girlfriend, with whom he was currently having a cold war—Huang Ran felt that her success in taking down that woman and taking her place was just around the corner.

After all, that woman clearly had a bad temper. She wasn't manipulative enough and didn't know how to coax a man.

Sigh, the girls at Jiang U were generally like that, lacking a sense of service and treating the rich guys at their school like dogs on a leash. The rich guys were just young, not stupid; once they realized what was happening, they would definitely go looking for obedient ones.

In this regard, Huang Ran felt that the other girls in the Goddess Dorm were extremely wise.

Whether in terms of looks or personality, they were far superior to Liu Yuanyuan.

Even so, in front of Su Bai, they didn't put on any airs and could even coexist harmoniously as female confidantes serving the same master.

It was said that the most mature senior in the Goddess Dorm had completely taken off by following Su Bai. At a young age, she was driving a nice car and decked out in limited-edition luxury goods, clearly having achieved a leap in social class.

Huang Ran also wanted to make a leap, which was why she was so warm toward that Xue Tao. Even though Xue Tao's looks were a bit hard to stomach, he was at least at a level she could reach.

Since she and Li Xingya were the only ones in the department running to Jiang U every day recently, she would occasionally pay attention to Li Xingya.

Huang Ran truly admired this girl.

Every day she stayed late in the lab until past ten before returning to the dorm.

She always felt that even though the two of them attended the same university, their learning abilities were not on the same level.

Huang Ran's family circumstances were also very average, but at least she had attended high school in the provincial capital. The school was quite good, and she had access to many famous teachers. Li Xingya, on the other hand, came from an underdeveloped small county. The educational resources they enjoyed were simply not on the same level.

In other words, Li Xingya was actually smarter than her.

Huang Ran had already calmly accepted this in her heart.

But now, Xingya was actually going to exert effort in the realm of looks as well?!

That couldn't be, right?

Unable to suppress her curiosity, Huang Ran quickly found an excuse, pretending to go find Miss Manicure to ask about an on-campus volunteer activity.

Miss Manicure, of course, stated that she had no intention of participating. It was hilarious; apart from the kind of activities that were good for taking photos and posting on video platforms to make herself look caring, Miss Manicure never went to any volunteer activity that actually required physical effort.

Fortunately, that wasn't Huang Ran's true intention anyway.

She mainly just wanted to come and see Xingya.

And this look left her dumbfounded.

It was clearly a very proper and conservative style, yet it perfectly accentuated her full figure, making it alluring without being vulgar.

Coupled with the sight of Li Xingya earnestly working on her laptop, her nearly perfect silhouette could probably become the first love of countless innocent male STEM students, right?

Of course, she wasn't the same style as her Teacher Chen, nor was she as dreamy, but it still gave Huang Ran a strong sense of crisis.

Oh crap, if Xue Tao saw her, wouldn't he change his affections and fall for her?

It definitely felt like something Xue Tao would do...

Even though they had not spent much time together yet, Huang Ran had already pretty much figured out Xue Tao's personality. Simply put, he was mischievous but not rotten to the core, restless but cowardly, wealthy but not exactly filthy rich, and smart enough to get into Jiang University but surprisingly dense at times.

In short, he was neither here nor there, just completely stuck in the middle.