Chapter 8: Haven't You Gone Too Far Today?

Lin Qianfan nodded slightly, then turned to look at Xu Qian.
“Xu Qian, you heard that, right? From now on, stay away from me.”
“Otherwise... don’t blame me for being ruthless.” His voice was as cold as ice.

Xu Qian bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Lin Qianfan, you’ll regret this!”
With those words, she shoved through the crowd and ran out of the classroom.

Yong Pan stood beside the podium, glanced toward the door, then looked back at Lin Qianfan with a smirk.
“Hey, Qianfan, this girl’s got quite the flair for drama! She ran off like a scene from a romantic drama.”

Lin Qianfan lowered his head, fiddling with the books on the desk, then shrugged indifferently.
“Let her be. It’s none of my business.”

Yong Pan chuckled, stepped closer, and nudged Lin Qianfan’s shoulder with his elbow.
“Man, bro, you’re bold to stand up to Xu Qian like that—impressive!”
He glanced toward Xia Ruo’s direction, lowering his voice playfully, “Could it be because of the top student over there?”

Lin Qianfan ignored him, casually picked up a book, and turned toward his seat.
“Aren’t you going back soon? The teacher’s coming; you don’t want to stand through class, right?”

Yong Pan scratched his head. “Alright, alright.”

Lin Qianfan didn’t bother responding and sat down. Just as he settled, Xia Ruo gently nudged his arm.
“Um…” She hesitated, unsure whether to speak.

Lin Qianfan glanced sideways at her and flipped open his book lazily.
“If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t beat around the bush.”

At that moment, the class bell rang, and the teacher came in to begin the lesson.

Xia Ruo lowered her head, took a small slip of paper from her bag, and quickly scribbled a few lines.
Then she discreetly passed the note to Lin Qianfan.

He took the paper, unfolded it, and read:
“How did you know it was me who voted for you?”

He glanced over the note, picked up a pen, and wrote a few words in reply:
“I just found out. It was you, right? Thank you!”

After writing, he passed the note back to Xia Ruo.

She took it, read it silently for a few seconds, then wrote a few lines and handed it back.

Lin Qianfan unfolded the paper again, reading:
“Then why... do you still bully me?”

He paused, the pen hovering mid-air, memories of the past life stirring complex feelings inside him.

After a moment’s hesitation, he wrote:
“Sorry, I believed what others said back then. It was my fault.”
“Now that I know the truth, I want to make it up to you.”

He passed the note back.

Xia Ruo took it, read it carefully, then paused with her finger on the paper.
This time, she didn’t write anything more but carefully slipped the note into the book’s inner pages.

Lin Qianfan watched her actions and breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the misunderstanding wasn’t fully cleared, at least the barrier between them lessened somewhat.

This lesson was physics.
The teacher stood at the podium, explaining a spatial geometry problem while Lin Qianfan bent over his scratch paper, scribbling and sketching.
He realized that since his rebirth, his thinking had become clearer. Many physics problems once incomprehensible now made sense to him.

When the dismissal bell rang, the classroom instantly grew lively.
Lin Qianfan packed his books into his bag and prepared to stand up when a classmate from the front row glanced back at him.

“Lin Qianfan, you were amazing today.”

Other students turned to look at him as well.

“Who would have thought that the usually lazy Lin Qianfan could solve the final tough problem?”

“Yeah, I heard from other classes that this news has spread throughout the grade.”

“Everyone’s saying Lin Qianfan is a hidden genius.”

Hearing the chatter, Lin Qianfan shrugged and left the classroom with his bag.

Just as he reached the dormitory building, he saw his roommate Yong Pan standing by the window, waving at him.
“Qianfan, you’re finally back!”

Lin Qianfan smiled and climbed the stairs.
As soon as he entered the room, before he could sit, the others crowded around.

“Qianfan, you’re on fire today!”
“I heard you solved three math competition problems in class. Is that true?”
“Could it be you were pretending all along?”

Seeing his friends so excited, Lin Qianfan shook his head with a helpless smile.
“I just got lucky and happened to know those problems.”

“Luck?” Yong Pan slammed the table, pointing at him with a grin, “Who would believe that? You’re definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”

Lin Qianfan didn’t bother arguing and pulled out a chair to sit down.
“Alright, enough teasing. Let’s go out for some food tonight—my treat.”

Yong Pan’s eyes widened.
“Really? You’re usually so stingy. What’s gotten into you?”

Lin Qianfan smiled, took out his phone, and began typing a message.
“There’s something to celebrate, and I want to invite a special guest.”

The message was simple: “Dinner together tonight. I’ll send you the address later.”
The recipient was Xia Ruo.

After sending the text, he looked up at his roommates.
“So, are you coming or not?”

“Count me in!” Yong Pan was the first to agree. “Your treat, no way I’m missing it.”

The others nodded in agreement.

“Alright then,” Lin Qianfan stood up and clapped his hands. “Let’s go claim a table first.”

The dormitory crew cheered as they headed out.

Lin Qianfan walked behind them, his phone buzzing suddenly.
He looked down to see Xia Ruo’s reply: “Okay.”

They chose a small restaurant near the school.
It wasn’t large but was affordable with generous portions.

Lin Qianfan picked a seat by the window. No sooner had he sat down than Xia Ruo entered, looking a bit shy.

“This way,” Lin Qianfan waved her over.

She came and sat beside him.
“Hello,” she greeted quietly to the others.

The group immediately perked up.
“Oh, the top student is here too!”
“Lin Qianfan really came prepared.”

Lin Qianfan ignored their teasing and told Xia Ruo, “Don’t mind them. Order whatever you want.”

She shook her head.
“I can’t eat much. Something simple will do.”

Without another word, Lin Qianfan picked up the menu and ordered a few dishes.

Soon, the food arrived.
They chatted and ate, the atmosphere lively enough.

The dishes were simple, with only one meat dish—twice-cooked pork—standing out on the table.

Just as Lin Qianfan was about to try a piece, a familiar voice rang out in the restaurant.

“Lin Qianfan!”

He looked up to see Li Yanzi, Xu Qian’s follower, striding over aggressively.
Standing by the table with hands on her hips, she looked down at Lin Qianfan with disdain.

“Don’t you think you’ve gone too far today?”

Lin Qianfan put down his chopsticks, leaned back lazily in his chair, and looked at her.
“How have I gone too far?”

Li Yanzi sneered, “Don’t you know Xu Qian has been crying all day?”
“She hasn’t even eaten, and here you are, happily enjoying your meal?”