"Yunhua," a voice interrupted her thoughts, "can you answer my question?" Xiao Yunhua snapped back into attention and flashed the teacher an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention and was daydreaming." Everyone in the class gaped because the so-called perfect student never daydreamed and was always on task. Even the teacher was confused but nodded as she asked Xiao Yunhua to solve the question on the board.
Xiao Yunhua stood up from her seat and walked with model-like posture to the board. Using the available chalk, she wrote down the correct answer and showed her work to meticulous lengths.
The teacher nodded in approval as Xiao Yunhua flashed everyone an apologetic look. "Sorry for the earlier incident." Then she sat down in her seat and didn't zone out anymore.
Later, she heard that her mistake actually gained and made her more popular as people saw she made mistakes just like them. Xiao Yunhua didn't bother with how the mind of people worked and focused on her plan.
The high school that Zhou Feng went to was the best of the best in the country. Meanwhile, the high school that Xiao Yunhua went to, under the persona of Han Yunhua, was mediocre and average at best. Although Xiao Yunhua's grades were good enough to place her in the best university, she knew that her adoptive grandmother that she had grown to love like her flesh and blood because of her kindness, wouldn't be able to afford the tuition.
Which meant that before high school was over, she had to make her mission fall in love with her. Xiao Yunhua first used some points to discover the frequent places that Zhou Feng visited. Using that information, Xiao Yunhua dressed in a simple summer dress with the patterns of yellow lilies and a pair of flats. She decided to only wear mascara to enhance her eyes and some lip gloss to add to her beauty.
Her look was simple yet still showed how beautiful she could be if she really tried. The reason that she didn't try to showcase or flaunt her beauty was because Zhou Feng was known for hating those type of women who relied on makeup to attract attention.
Xiao Yunhua was going to begin by attracting his attention by a mere accidental set up. Based on the many novels that she read in her previous life, she knew exactly how to attract a boy like him.
"Meiliang, you want me to meet you at the café? Why?" Her friend told her that she had a surprise for her, so pretending to hesitate, Xiao Yunhua agreed. Han Mi saw her putting on her shoes and closing the door, but before she could leave, she asked, "Xiao Hua, are you going out?"
Xiao Yunhua nodded as her grandmother smiled. "I'm glad."
Xiao Yunhua stopped and walked towards her grandmother in confusion. "Grandmother, what do you mean by that?"
"I wouldn't want for you to study all the time." Her grandmother scolded gently. "Hang out with your friends and have fun."
Xiao Yunhua was going to retort that she did do other things than study, but she couldn't. Really, for the past eight years, she had focused so much on becoming perfect that she neglected her social life. Not that she was exactly sociable from her previous life. She didn't have any friends nor did anyone want to be friends with her. She was the opposite of social; antisocial. But as Han Yunhua, people flocked to her like bees did to honey, only because of her popularity in school and her rank in school. In terms of having true friends, she still felt isolated despite being deemed as perfect in this life.
She pretended to act shy when her grandmother said, "Go on and have a boyfriend! Xiao Hua, you're a beautiful girl."
"Grandmother!" She averted her gaze in embarrassment and shut the door, leaving her grandmother to smile with herself. While she was on her way, she thought about her little lie that she decided to play along for the past eight years.
When Han Mi changed her surname, Xiao Yunhua pretended to wake up suddenly with amnesia and didn't know anything about her past nor her adoption by the Zhou Elder. Han Mi was confused but then she was told that heavy trauma can cause some abnormalities, so she didn't tell Xiao Yunhua the truth. Heavy trauma, Han Mi guessed to be the day that she found Xiao Yunhua being beaten up by the other girls. And to this day, Han Mi assumed that she hadn't gotten her memories back, which Xiao Yunhua knew would help her in her plan.
Meanwhile, Zhou Feng sat with his group of friends with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth in a scowl. He glanced at his friend in annoyance as the girls in front of them giggled and looked at him flirtatiously. Zhou Feng was going to get up and leave, but his friend nudged him to look up. Zhou Feng glanced at the café doors and saw a beautiful girl that looked to be a few years younger than him appear. Her dress was simple and she barely had any makeup.
Her smile was genuine as she regarded another girl which Zhou Feng noticed was one of the girls that sat in front of his friends and him. She walked in her friend's direction but paused when she saw the group of people in front of her friends.
She looked at her friend in confusion until her friend explained to her that this was a blind date. The girl blushed and turned around to leave, but her friend stopped her.
"Yunhua, stop being so modest. We're both teenage girls, yet you act like a nun!" Her friend whined as the girl, Yunhua, sighed and agreed. She looked at the empty seats and noticed there was only one. When she raised her eyes to see who the person sitting across from the seat was, her eyes met with Zhou Feng's eyes.
He stared at her intensely as she dodged his stare with an embarrassed look. She quickly sat down and ordered a vanilla cappuccino. Her leg was crossed over the other and her posture was straight and correct. Zhou Feng suddenly felt very skeptical and thought that she could have been a young miss from a well-distinguished family that came here on the intent of seducing him. Otherwise, how could a commoner have such remarkable upbringing and aura?
He glanced at her with sharp eyes and noticed that she was frozen and stiff in her movements. Once he pretended he wasn't looking at her, she relaxed and sipped her drink.
"So, what school do you girls go to?" He suddenly asked, quieting down the conversation amongst the others. Everyone was shocked because the cold young master of the Zhou family spoke something on his own accord!
"B School in XX street." One of the girls answered as she stared at Zhou Feng with adoring eyes. Zhou Feng scoffed internally as he ignored the lovestruck girl and turned his attention back to the girl in front of him who still avoided his gaze.
"You included?" Before the girl could answer, one of the other girls interrupted. "Ha! Han Yunhua doesn't just attend our school, she's the best!"
All the boys looked at a very embarrassed Xiao Yunhua in curiosity until the other girl elaborated. "Ever since primary school, she's been ranked the best in terms of grades and exams—"
Xiao Yunhua nudged the girl with her arm as she whispered for her to stop. Her face was already red from embarrassment as all the boys, particularly Zhou Feng, stared at her. They, except for Zhou Feng, were amazed at her intelligence while Zhou Feng was trying to decipher her real identity.
If she was truly a commoner girl, then Zhou Feng didn't mind to hang out with her much more often. But if this was an act, he would make sure for her family and herself to feel the wrath of lying to him and attempting to make a fool out of him.
Xiao Yunhua could sense his skepticism and internally sighed. Really, the novels made this task of hers too easy. In every book featuring this scenario, the male protagonist would immediately take interest in the girl despite her identity. Yet this man was hesitating and even thought of her as someone suspicious.
Xiao Yunhua knew that she had to rely on whatever method she could think of so that he could at least leave with her phone number. Out of the corner of her eye, and thanks to her observation skill, she saw that the black coffee that he had ordered was being delivered to their table. She stood up to excuse herself to use the restaurant, but as she turned around, the coffee spilled all over her in an abrupt manner.
She frowned and flinched in pain as the barista apologized profusely. She flashed the group an apologetic smile as she ran off to the restroom to clean her dress, leaving her phone and bag at the table. Once she cleaned up whatever she could, she sighed when she saw her red, burned arms.
Xiao Yunhua knew that she had to go to the hospital to check them out, in case it was a severe burn. But right as she exited the restroom, she bumped into a strong, muscular chest. A pair of strong arms stopped her from moving forward and ignoring the person that she bumped into.
She looked up and saw a pair of dark, phoenix eyes attached to a handsome face that was expressionless. Yet the eyes were filled with curiosity. The face belonged to Zhou Feng that came to check up on the girl that had his coffee spill all over her. Although it wasn't him that spilled it and she was the one that stood up, he still felt partially responsible.
His eyes examined her arms and slightly narrowed when they saw how red her arms were. Her pretty face was contorted into pain that she tried to hide by averting her shy gaze, but he used his hand to lift her face. Her chocolate colored eyes made him feel something in his heart.
For the first time in his life, the cold-blooded young master of the Zhou family, Zhou Feng, found something beautiful.
And they were her pure eyes void of greed and corrupt.
The girl, who he heard was recognized as Han Yunhua, tried to push away his arms as she said, "Please let go of my arms. This is inappropriate."
"I'm taking you to the hospital." He said aloofly, still holding on.
He saw her hesitance as she shook her head. "Not necessary. Please, let go." When she saw that he didn't release her, she pushed him away. He still didn't flinch in pain, but he did release her. He gave her the bag and phone that she had forgotten on the table and left her alone at the entrance of the restrooms.
When Xiao Yunhua bid the rest of the group adieu, she noticed that Zhou Feng was no longer among them. She didn't bother with him much more as she walked to the bus station.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed with a text. It was an unknown number that said, 'Don't forget to get your burn checked.'
Immediately, a small smirk appeared on her face. Thank goodness, her little show hadn't gone to waste.
The fish had taken the bait!
I haven’t decided on whether or not there will be a male lead, but I’m jotting down some ideas and if there is a ML, then he’ll be a plot twist/surprise. Which means MC will rely on herself to save herself 99% of the time.