All school New Year's Eve galas are held in the afternoon.

And naturally, the morning of that day is spent in class.

Some schools even hold the New Year's Eve gala in the afternoon, disrupting classes, and wish they could make up the missed classes after the gala.

Isn't that right, Si Zi?

Class One of Fourth High School, a class full of the four Golden Standard Grandfathers.

During the fourth period of the morning, everyone was already a little absent-minded.

So, halfway through the class, the English teacher let the students do exercises on their own.

As He Xuan was doing her exercises, the girl sitting next to her poked her arm with a pen and whispered, "Xuan, are you ditching the New Year's Eve gala this afternoon?"

"Why would I do that?"

He Xuan didn't even raise her head, asking back rather calmly.

"Isn't your dad the principal of Eleventh High School?" Her deskmate said with great interest. "Didn't he say he wanted you to go back to his school to watch the gala?"

Many people knew that He Xuan was the daughter of the principal of Eleventh High School, but she hadn't told anyone herself.

The reason this identity was exposed was mainly because some school leaders were friends with the principal of Eleventh High School and often greeted her with a smile, so everyone guessed that she was the child of some leader. After digging deeper, this identity naturally came to light.

Then, everyone would ask, puzzled, "Since your dad is the principal of Eleventh High School, why didn't you go to Eleventh High School?"

He Xuan knew what answers these people wanted to hear.

It was nothing more than that Fourth High School and Eleventh High School were not in the same league at all, so of course, she would choose the better one.

Those teachers and leaders would also ask this question, wanting the same answer.

This would become a topic of conversation at dinner parties and receptions: "Don't look at the fact that the principal of Eleventh High School often mooches off our school, but deep down, he knows he can't compare. Otherwise, why would he send his daughter to Fourth High School?"

She understood all of this.

However, she wouldn't give them the answer they wanted.

Nor would she give them a chance to ridicule Lao He.

So, her standard reply was: "Fourth High School is closer to home."

Then some busybodies would ask, "If Eleventh High School is closer to home, wouldn't you go to Eleventh High School?"

"Yes, that's right."

"He didn't say that, and I guess he doesn't want me to skip class," He Xuan replied.

"Hey, our Fourth High School's gala is so lame. I was hoping to piggyback on your connection and go to Eleventh High School to watch the gala." Then, the girl sighed.

"Why?" He Xuan laughed.

"I heard from my classmates at Eleventh High School that she participated in the auditions this year, and the performances are very interesting. Moreover, there are a lot of handsome guys." Speaking of this, the girl felt sorry for her burgeoning hormones when she thought of her own school. "And when I think of our school, even the male hosts have to be chosen with square faces and thick eyebrows."

"What's wrong with a square face?"

"People like the 'little fresh meat' type or the cool and rebellious type, like Ahn Chilhyun."

"If you want to go, just go. Ask for leave or something," He Xuan said.

"With the principal's daughter around, I'd feel more confident."

"Don't count on it. The principal's daughter has no face at all at Eleventh High School," He Xuan said, making a 'no' gesture.

"Wouldn't there be that kind of 'cool novel' plot where all the school leaders recognize you and greet you with smiles?"

"You should have said so earlier."

Hearing this, He Xuan generously said, "When you sneak into Eleventh High School later, I'll send your photo to Lao He and have all the school leaders shake your hand and offer their condolences."

"Ah?"

The girl felt a chill run down her spine just thinking about that scene: "You devil!"

"Tsk, do your exercises. What are you talking about?"

At this moment, the female teacher on the podium suddenly turned her gaze over, reminding them sternly.

After being scolded, the girl quickly lowered her head, not daring to say another word.

And He Xuan also stuck her tongue out at her deskmate with an expression that said, "See, you got scolded," and then buried herself in her exercises.

Class dismissed.

"Let's go eat."

"Can't you really take me to Eleventh High School?"

He Xuan's deskmate looked at her expectantly, her eyes full of yearning for the 'holy land'.

After thinking for a while, He Xuan crossed her arms in front of her chest, making a somewhat arrogant expression: "Then beg me."

"Please, oh great beauty He," her deskmate said, clasping her hands together, her tone humble.

"Okay." He Xuan made a gesture and nodded, then said, "Alright, I'll tell Lao He to let you in."

"What? You're definitely coming with me. It's no fun for me to go alone."

"But I don't want to go." He Xuan said this quite calmly.

"Just come with me as company." The classmate thought about it desperately, but was afraid of sneaking away alone, so she said particularly humbly, "I'll be your *tongfang丫鬟* (a type of maidservant with access to her master)."

"...Do you even know what a *tongfang丫鬟* is? Don't just say things randomly," He Xuan couldn't help but complain.

"Ah? What is it... Isn't it related to girl-on-girl stuff?"

"Of course not. It's obvious you haven't read enough *Dream of the Red Chamber*."

After He Xuan finished laughing and complaining, she suddenly paused: "Wait, you think it's related to girl-on-girl stuff, and you still said you wanted to be my *tongfang丫鬟*?"

"Hehe, *tie tie* (stick stick, internet slang for getting close)." The girl made a movement to rub her face against hers.

"No way."

Then, He Xuan refused seriously.

Although her deskmate was an otaku, a bit of a *er ci yuan* (anime/manga fan), and followed both the Korean Wave and anime, she usually spoke with a kind of... emotional intensity that ordinary people like her couldn't understand, but she wouldn't cooperate.

Fortunately, her deskmate had a good personality and wouldn't get upset when rejected.

Perhaps, that's just what otakus are like.

The girl still looked at her expectantly, begging, "Then I won't *tie tie* (stick stick), but please take me with you."

"This..." He Xuan didn't really care, but the other person had already begged to this extent.

Plus, this was something she could really help with.

It's just that when she got to Eleventh High School, she would be greeted by many teachers...

If only she could do it silently, without letting Lao He know.

But if she didn't let him know, he would be sad when he found out.

In the end, she decided to just do it as a favor.

Then she raised her hand and pointed forward: "Let's go then."

"Really? I love you." Her deskmate revealed starry eyes in gratitude. "Off to Eleventh High School..."

"Shh." He Xuan put a finger to her lips, telling her to stop, then whispered, "Let's go to the restroom first."

"Okay, okay."

Just like that, the two of them walked out of the classroom.

"Shi Yi, go over the chorus one last time. Come quickly after you finish eating, okay?"

Because everyone else ate together in the cafeteria, unlike Shi Yi, who had his parents bring him food, everyone told him before they left.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible."

Shi Yi nodded, then took out a comic book from his bag, preparing to take it to the flower bed to read while he ate. At this moment, He Xuan happened to pass by...

She saw his movement.

After all, this was a forbidden book that he shouldn't be reading, so he was still a little cautious and put it away slightly.

Oh, the top student in the grade... no, the top student in Hai Dong, is actually still reading frivolous books?

She thought that students of this level studied intensely for twenty-four hours a day.

It seems that study time and academic performance are not necessarily related.

However, she was indeed struggling in this class and could only barely reach the middle of the pack.

A score of 674, plus the ten points she gained from the previous math competition, was 684.

This was already very strong in Fourth High School, but it still didn't reach the second tier of top students, and there was still a short distance to Hua Qing and Ji Bei.

Probably about five or six points.

But those five points in the high-score range were too difficult to improve.

And this score, if placed in Eleventh High School, would even be close to fifth or sixth place.

It could only be said that there was still a considerable gap between the top scores of the two schools.

If she was strong enough and had reached the point where she wasn't picky about teachers, she could go to Eleventh High School and add a valuable spot at Hua Qing and Ji Bei for the school. Lao He seemed to value this a lot.

But she wasn't that strong yet.

And her dad also insisted that she go to Fourth High School, saying that Fourth High School was undoubtedly the best school in Xia Hai, and even the entire Hai Dong.

Actually, it didn't really matter anymore.

For students of this level, the school's role was no longer significant. It was mostly up to self-study.

But how should she break through the bottleneck in her studies...?

She was always about ten points away from Hua Qing and Ji Bei.

This time was already the result of a lot of improvement.

Would someone like Shi Yi know any tricks?

"Let's go, let's go."

While she was thinking this, her deskmate started urging her.

So, the two of them went together to the restroom on this floor of the school.

"You go outside and keep watch. If there are any teachers, come in and tell me," He Xuan said.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Her deskmate stood guard outside the restroom.

And He Xuan was preparing to make a phone call in a stall in the restroom.

But they were all occupied.

So, she had to stand outside and take out her phone.

At this moment, a girl with a high ponytail who was particularly beautiful and seemed to have appeared in the school's promotional video walked in from outside the restroom. After carefully observing, she quickly took out her phone, dialed, and then said urgently, "Yuan, I'm coming over now. Buy me two steamed buns."

"I've already asked my aunt to help me ask for leave. She gave me a leave slip, and I can leave school at noon..."

Leaving school at noon?

Was she also going to ditch our New Year's Eve gala and go to another school?

Then, was she planning to go to Eleventh High School?

"Prepare my Eleventh High School uniform, okay? Your school can leave at noon. Have Zhou Fu pick me up... Yes, three people."

Sure enough, she was going to Eleventh High School.

It seemed that there were quite a few students skipping to the neighboring school to watch the gala.

That meant the gala that Lao He was putting on was of pretty high quality.

Not bad, not bad.

"Okay, that's it. I'm hanging up."

The girl finished speaking with a smile, then ended with a particularly sweet ending: "Mwah, see you at school."

Hiss... the actress from the promotional video was actually dating?

Impressive.

But it's unrealistic for girls who look this pretty not to have some stories in their adolescence.

Cross-school romance... had they been together since middle school?

After finishing the call, the girl hurried out.

And He Xuan also dialed the phone at this time.

"Xuan Xuan, what's wrong? Still using your phone at school," Lao He asked.

"Dad, my classmate wants to skip the New Year's Eve gala here and go to Eleventh High School to watch it."

"Hahahaha!!" He Hongtao suddenly laughed. "Alright, are you coming with her?"

"Can I? I don't want to skip class."

"There's no class, so it doesn't count as skipping class. Besides, isn't your Fourth High School's gala very, very, very bad? Come over here and have fun. Eleventh High School is putting on a very good show this year. We invested an extra 20,000 in funding."

"..."

He Xuan didn't know what feud Lao He had with Fourth High School that he had to use 'very, very, very bad' to describe it.

《Low-level business warfare》.

"Do you want Dad to drive you?"

"No need." He Xuan didn't like making a big show of things, so she said, "Don't pick me up. I'm just coming over to hang out with my classmate. Anyway, don't come."

"Hey, I got it."

"Alright, then how do I get into the school? I don't know any of the school's gatekeepers," He Xuan said.

"Small matter." He Hongtao said this rather casually. "Then I'll tell the gatekeeper that students in Fourth High School uniforms can be let in."

"Ah?"

He Xuan paused, not quite reacting, and said in surprise, "You're saying that?"

"It's okay, don't worry about it. No Fourth High School student would dare to barge in casually. Just the two of you go straight in. The gatekeeper will know. Speaking of which, is it two people?"

"Yes, it's two people." After He Xuan finished speaking, she especially instructed, "Lao He, don't say that I'm your daughter!"

"Aren't you my daughter?"

"Don't, don't say it!"

He Xuan said anxiously.

It wasn't that she had a bad relationship with her dad.

On the contrary, the two of them had a very good relationship.

She simply felt that it would be too awkward to be greeted and even flattered by those teachers and leaders she didn't know very well because of this identity.

"Alright, alright, then come over. I have things to do."

"Okay."

Just like that, the call ended.

Then, He Xuan came out of the restroom and pulled along her little follower: "Let's go get a leave slip."

………

"Is it really okay not to get a leave slip?" Shen Yating asked.

"It's fine." Liu Chengxi said with considerable confidence, "The gala auditorium is so big and dark, no one will even notice that two students are missing."

But two students with 700 points are missing...

Are you sure it's the same?

"Is it okay for us to barge into Eleventh High School in our school uniforms?" Shen Yating was still not very confident.

"Chen Yuan said that there are a lot of parents delivering food at noon, so we can sneak in with them," Liu Chengxi explained.

"Alright then." Since he had said so, Shen Yating could only choose to believe him, and then said jokingly with a smile, "I feel like we're doing some kind of undercover mission."

When Shen Yating said this, Liu Chengxi really panicked a little.

He hadn't been to Eleventh High School even once before, and he didn't know what kind of school it was.

But although he didn't know what it was like on the inside, it did look okay from the outside.

Simple, yet grand.

After arriving at the entrance of Eleventh High School, Liu Chengxi and Shen Yating walked even closer together because they were nervous, mingling with the crowd of parents. But at this time, only a few parents were coming out of the school, so they were still very conspicuous.

Two students?

The security captain saw them right away.

Today, Principal He Hongtao had personally told him that students wearing Fourth High School uniforms could enter...

But these two were clearly not from Fourth High School.

This uniform seemed to be from First High School.

The words were written on the tailored suits.

First High School was a slightly better school than Fourth High School.

But good or bad had nothing to do with his job.

The instruction he received was that students from Fourth High School could enter.

So, the security captain in the booth stood up and personally shouted at the two students: "You two, students from First High School can't enter."

It wasn't as easy to sneak in as Chen Yuan had said.

And what did he just say?

While Shen Yating lowered her head nervously, Liu Chengxi asked, puzzled, "Is it that outside students can't enter, or that students from First High School can't enter?"

Outside students indeed can't enter, but Fourth High School students can enter today, and you're not from Fourth High School...

The security captain, not knowing how to express himself, simply said impatiently, "Anyway, students from First High School can't enter."

At this, the two of them simultaneously gave a: "?"

What the hell? Why are only students from First High School not allowed to enter?

Eleventh High School, what's wrong with you!

(End of Chapter)