My sister never calls me brother.

After finishing his speech, Zhang Qiang clapped his hands. "Next, I'd like to introduce a new transfer student, an international friend..."

No way!? More than ten classes can't be that coincidental... Zhou Han wore a poker face.

"Come in!" Zhang Qiang called out to the door.

"Excuse me!" Miyazaki Airi, dressed in her school uniform, opened the classroom door and bowed.

Pfft—! Zhou Han spat it out. That's right! It was such a coincidence!

Airi Miyazaki saw Zhou Han, and the two exchanged a glance, both showing expressions of disgust.

This is terrible! Just what I feared most has happened... Miyazaki Airi's mood plummeted.

Although unhappy, Miyazaki Airi had no other choice. Forcing a smile, she steeled herself, picked up the chalk, and wrote her name, "Miyazaki Airi," on the blackboard.

"Hello everyone! My name is Miyazaki Airi, and I'm from Japan. I hope we can become good friends in the future." Miyazaki Airi bowed. "Please take good care of me!"

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted, and the students seemed to be welcoming their new classmate from a foreign land.

"So cute!"

"Your Chinese is fantastic!"

"A warm welcome!"

"Hey! I can understand guys welcoming a pretty girl, but what's with the girls clapping along?! And don't be fooled by her looks!" Zhou Han thought to herself with a dark expression.

Seeing her classmates' reactions, Miyazaki Airi smiled, quite pleased, and secretly gave Zhou Han a disdainful look.

"Damn it! What's with that look you're giving me?!" Zhou Han raised an eyebrow awkwardly.

"Miyazaki, please find a seat wherever you like. We'll be reassigning seats later," said Zhang Qiang, the homeroom teacher.

Airi Miyazaki glanced down and saw that some nosy male classmates were actually offering their seats to her.

"Tch! A bunch of worthless livestock!" Zhou Han sneered.

Miyazaki Airi felt a little uncomfortable with the male students' enthusiasm. Suddenly, she noticed Lin Nianwei sitting alone by the window and went over to her.

"Excuse me, may I sit here?" Miyazaki Airi asked with a smile.

Lin Nianwei nodded, appearing indifferent, and didn't even glance at Miyazaki Airi, keeping her head down and engrossed in the book "Jane Eyre" in her hands.

Airi Miyazaki's expression stiffened. She slowly sat down, inwardly fuming, "Why is she so cold? What did I do to offend her? Would it kill her to say something? What an rude person!"

Serves her right! Zhou Han was very happy to see Miyazaki Airi get the short end of the stick.

"Alright, alright! Boys, stop looking at those two pretty girls in the back. Look at me, okay?" Zhang Qiang told a lame joke to get the students' attention. "Next, let's arrange the seats. It's a new semester, a new beginning, and we're all on the same starting line. To be democratic, I've decided to respect everyone's opinions on the seating arrangement. Now, please write down your ideal deskmate on a piece of paper."

The students were very excited when they first heard about this seating arrangement, and they all took out paper to write it down.

Zhou Han hesitated before writing. He didn't know who he'd be sitting next to; with his bad reputation, he figured no one would write his name...

After the list was collected, Zhou Han handed in a blank sheet of paper, with no one's name written on it. She looked so pitiful.

Class teacher Zhang Qiang reviewed the students' comments one by one, his expression growing increasingly troubled. He frowned, finally sighed, and said—

"Classmates, your choices are putting me in a difficult position! Most of the girls wrote Gu Bai, and the boys are divided into two camps: one for Lin Nianwei, and the other for the new student, Miyazaki. There are also those who want to have their cake and eat it too, and I won't even mention those who wrote for both Lin Nianwei and Miyazaki." Zhang Qiang paused, then realized he'd missed something. "Oh right! There's also Zhou Han's vote, and two blank votes..."

"Hmph! I am the lonely demon king, I don't need a deskmate or anything like that." The boy with bandages wrapped around his hand said mysteriously.

Zhou Han was speechless. There was another blank sheet of paper. Oh, so it was you who handed it in...

Huh!? Wait a minute! Zhou Han's head buzzed. Someone actually wrote my name!?

So... someone wants to be my deskmate!?

Chapter Five: I'm a Bad Student

Someone actually wants to sit next to a bad student like me...

Zhou Han pondered for a while, but couldn't come up with a solution. She could only elegantly toss her hair and think narcissistically, "There's really no way to figure this out."

A handsome guy like me always gets inexplicably noticed. No matter how hard I try to hide it, my god-like aura just won't stay hidden. Ugh, it's such a headache. My good looks are just adding to my troubles...

Zhou Han, that idiot, didn't even consider another possibility: that someone pitied him and voted for him.

I never thought that I, this gold hidden in the soil, would finally be discovered. Who is so discerning? I'm even tempted to offer myself in gratitude. Zhou Han started looking around restlessly, trying to see who had written her name.

I secretly glanced at Lin Nianwei...

"Is it her?" Zhou Yao immediately shook her head. "Impossible, impossible. I haven't spoken to her in a long time. How could she possibly write my name?"

I looked at Miyazaki Airi again...

Miyazaki!? Zhou Han was puzzled and couldn't figure out why.

When Miyazaki Airi saw Zhou Han turn to look at her, her expression immediately darkened, her eyes flashing coldly, conveying a single message—

What are you looking at! I'll kill you!

Zhou Han wiped his sweat sheepishly; it seemed it wasn't Miyazaki after all...

Zhou Han glanced again, almost unconsciously, at the hot-tempered girl beside him, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed...

It must have been her. Kicking the table at the beginning was just to get my attention. Honestly, if you like me, just say so! I'm terrible at saying no… cough! Terrible at saying no to requests from classmates. I can't help it, I'm too soft-hearted.

Looking at the fiery girl, Zhou Han's mind wandered—

"Honestly, I've been secretly watching you for so long, kicking the table to get your attention, and even writing 'my ideal deskmate' on your name, why can't you understand..." The fiery girl's eyes revealed a deep affection, "Actually, I... like you!!!"

Zhou Han's narcissistic fantasies made him chuckle incessantly, thinking to himself, "I never expected that beneath that fiery exterior, there's such a gentle, girlish heart hidden. Not bad at all..."

Zhou Han, immersed in the three great illusions of life, "She likes me," was completely unaware that the fiery girl's gradually cooling gaze was already on the verge of erupting like a volcano.

"Hey—!" The fiery girl stood up, pointing her finger at Zhou Han's nose and cursing, "You bastard, you've been staring at me with lewd eyes since just now. Believe me or not, I'll gouge your eyes out and crush them!"

"Ah..." Zhou Han was stunned, not even noticing that she was drooling.

"What the hell?! Wipe your drool before you speak! That's disgusting!!!" The fiery girl was like an angry lion.

Zhou Han was so engrossed in his fantasies that he didn't even notice his lapse in behavior. He quickly wiped the drool from his mouth, his mind racing with frustration.

Why is she so angry? Could I have misunderstood? Who wrote my name?!

"Alright! Alright! On your very first day in the new class, you're already arguing with such energy..." Class teacher Zhang Qiang stepped in to smooth things over.

"Hmph! You're lucky..." The fiery girl snorted and sat back down.

The students' mocking laughter assaulted Zhou Han's ears.

"This is incredibly embarrassing," Zhou Han thought dejectedly.

Airi Miyazaki's face fell. She thought to herself, "So he was this much of a jerk at school...it's disgusting..."

"Alright, everyone, stop laughing." Class teacher Zhang Qiang calmed the restless class down. "Everyone has a similar ideal deskmate in mind, but we can't arrange the seats like this. How about this, I've decided to decide by drawing lots. I'll draw two names each time, and those two people will be deskmates. Does everyone have any objections?"

A chorus of boos erupted from the students, who seemed quite dissatisfied.

"I know you're unhappy, but this is the only way..." Class teacher Zhang Qiang said with difficulty, "So let's begin!"

The homeroom teacher started drawing lots, and screams could be heard every now and then. Many students were unhappy with their deskmates, and some boys sitting with other boys were staring blankly at the ceiling, lamenting their high school life. The girls seemed fine, appearing quite happy, but you can't judge a book by its cover; who knows what they're really thinking? Perhaps this situation will arise—

"Hmph! You female dinosaur, from now on, you'll just be my foil, hehehe!"

"Hmph! You slutty, shameless vixen, keep laughing. Once I know all your embarrassing stories, I'll embellish them and spread them around. Let's see if you can still be so slutty then!?"

After a while, most of the seats were assigned...

Gu Bai and Lin Nianwei were deskmates, radiating idol-like brilliance that attracted the attention of the entire class. The chemistry between them was so strong that they seemed like a match made in heaven, making it impossible for anyone to look away.

Many boys and girls suddenly felt ashamed of themselves.

"It's such an honor to be deskmates with Lin Nianwei!" Gu Bai scratched his head and smiled awkwardly. "I hope you can help me out in the future."

Lin Nianwei nodded expressionlessly and turned a page of Jane Eyre in her hand.

Gu Bai chuckled dryly. He had heard about Lin Nianwei's aloof personality before, but experiencing it up close still made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Airi Miyazaki sat next to that annoying blond-haired girl.

The blond-haired boy, unaware of Miyazaki Airi's true nature, thought he had struck gold and kept chattering away.

"I'm so lucky! My mom told me that my birth chart had four 'sixes' in it—I was born on June 6th at 6 AM. Pretty lucky, right? And there's more..."

Faced with the blond-haired boy's rapid-fire remarks, Miyazaki Airi wore a polite smile, but was actually slightly embarrassed.

This guy's talkativeness is really...so annoying! Miyazaki Airi complained inwardly.

The popular music girl and the stylish red-haired girl were classmates.

"Tch! This is so annoying." The red-haired girl looked hopefully at Gu Bai in the distance. "Why am I not Gu Bai's deskmate?"

"Tsk!" The fiery girl clicked her tongue, looking somewhat displeased. "Could you please tone down your female hormones? They're really annoying..."

"Huh?!" The red-haired girl's face darkened, and she continued relentlessly, "Your words are really awful! Don't think you're so great just because you have bigger breasts, you're nothing but a cow..."

"What did you say?! You yourself are clearly a **'s **..." the fiery girl retorted.

The two seemed to have very incompatible personalities and looked like they could start fighting at any moment.

As for the chuunibyou girl with bandages on her hands, she ended up sitting next to a boy.

"I said I didn't need a deskmate..." the chuunibyou boy said with a bitter face, "That's a lie! I also want to sit next to a beautiful girl! As the Demon King of the Dark Continent, how can I not have a queen!?"

Our protagonist, Zhou Han, remained alone on the podium after everyone else had found a deskmate.

The whole class was staring at him, and a strong sense of alienation made Zhou Han feel breathless, as if he were isolated. Although he was used to this feeling, being under the gaze of everyone still made him very uncomfortable.

What's going on?! In the end, I'm the only one left? Zhou Han raised her eyebrows awkwardly.

He glanced at the students below the stage, and a wave of nausea washed over him…

With a smirk and a look of anticipation, an atmosphere of watching the drama unfold swept over Zhou Han.

Zhou Han turned his head away expressionlessly, refusing to look at them. His strong sense of pride led him to choose to escape rather than confront this group of people.

If we face these people who are just there to watch the show, wouldn't that prove that we've given in?

He succumbed to the fact that he had no friends and had been all alone since his parents' divorce.

"Strange? Where did it go?" Class teacher Zhang Qiang kept rummaging through the lottery box, and finally couldn't resist opening it.

All that remained was a crumpled piece of paper, pitifully leaning against the corner. Zhang Qiang picked it up and saw that the name "Zhou Han" was written on it.

"Oh no! You're the only one left, and the seat..." Zhang Qiang looked up and saw that there was only one single table left, but it was next to the trash can.

Whispers gradually rose from below the stage, mixed with mocking laughter, buzzing like flies, harassing Zhou Han's fragile eardrums.