Chapter 3: Come Over and Swipe Over Your Card

Shang Ying did not inherit the original host's memories after transmigrating. Everything she knew came from reading the book beforehand, so her understanding of the novel's characters was strictly limited to what she had read. She couldn't recognize faces, and she was completely at a loss when it came to characters who hadn't been described in detail.

However, since this girl called her "Yingying," they were probably on decent terms. Thus, she replied calmly, "It's nothing, I just thought of something happy."

The girl nodded but didn't leave. She looked like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to phrase it. After hesitating for a moment, she carefully examined Shang Ying's expression. Seeing that she was in a good mood, she asked, "Yingying, did you come to school alone today?"

Shang Ying shook her head.

"No, I came with someone else."

From an angle Shang Ying wasn't paying attention to, Xia Zhi bit her lower lip slightly and asked, "With whom?"

Shang Ying looked a bit confused and asked what was wrong.

Xia Zhi forced a smile and shook her head.

"Nothing, it's just that I saw you walking with a boy today."

Shang Ying let out an "Oh," not thinking much of it. Then she stared at Xia Zhi for a moment.

"I don't think I saw you yesterday."

"I was sick yesterday. Sorry, Yingying, I forgot to tell you."

Xia Zhi wanted to ask more, but the morning self-study bell rang, and the homeroom teacher walked into the classroom. She had no choice but to drop it and return to her seat.

Throughout the entire morning, Xia Zhi was restless. The image of Shang Ying and Shang Yi walking together kept flashing through her mind. Why were they together? These two people shouldn't have had any interaction at all.

Amidst this atmosphere, with one who is relaxed and the other is anxious, the morning hours slipped away quietly.

By noon, Shang Ying, who hadn't been to school in ages, had slept soundly. There were four classes in total that morning, two of which were chemistry. The moment words like Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, and Boron started popping up, her drowsiness was instantly triggered.

Since she couldn't understand it anyway, she might as well use the time to catch up on sleep. She was caught once by the teacher during the process, but she still couldn't control herself and fell back asleep. The teacher then made her stand up, but she ended up falling asleep while leaning against the window.

‘The strong never complain about their environment.’

"Yingying, let's go eat pasta today."

A thin female voice rang out. Xia Zhi came over to find Shang Ying to have lunch together, just like usual.

During the break-time exercises earlier, Shang Ying had intentionally borrowed Xia Zhi's chemistry textbook under the pretext of looking at her notes, but in reality, it was just to find out what her name was. After all, if she couldn't even remember her friend's name, that would be way too out of character.

Shang Ying nodded and got up from her seat. Having tried the school cafeteria yesterday, she was thoroughly disappointed. But there was nothing she could do about it. Her standards for food were too high, and few places could satisfy them.

"Why are you wearing the school uniform today?"

Xia Zhi intimately linked her arm through Shang Ying's, but Shang Ying subtly pulled away. Xia Zhi froze for a moment and withdrew her hand.

"Oh, I put on the wrong thing." Shang Ying didn't know why she felt a bit resistant to Xia Zhi's physical contact. "Is there a problem with it?"

"Of course not. You look beautiful in anything you wear."

From these few words, Shang Ying gathered the piece of information that the original host hated wearing the school uniform. She looked down at the red and white uniform she was wearing, which had the four bright red words "Capital No. 1 High School" printed on the chest.

No wonder the original host didn't like wearing it.

Capital No. 1 High School was the top high school in the Capital. It possessed the best teaching resources in the nation, and the horizons and opportunities students could access here were unparalleled. Naturally, the students who could attend this school were anything but ordinary.

They roughly fell into two categories: one consisted of children from wealthy, influential families with prestigious backgrounds, and the other consisted of top-tier students with extraordinary academic achievements. Capital No. 1 High School didn't accommodate useless, profligate second-generation rich kids. Students were selected through fierce incentive-driven competition, and even the eligibility to compete was considered cutthroat in the eyes of outsiders.

Unlike ordinary wealthy families who chose private international schools, what they pursued here was absolute dominance in the mainstream arena, allowing them to better position themselves closer to the future decision-making core of the country, the academic world, and the core reserve forces of major industries.

Furthermore, by studying in such a public school, the disparities in family backgrounds were to some extent neutralized under a unified standard, providing a necessary layer of privacy for certain families so they wouldn't stand out too much.

As a result, even the cafeterias at Capital No. 1 High School were built incredibly luxuriously. There were two buildings, each four stories high, with different cuisines available on every floor, catering to both northern and southern palates.

They went to the Western restaurant on the second floor. While Shang Ying was waiting in line, she happened to spot Shang Yi. The moment their eyes met, the boy immediately averted his gaze, pretending he hadn't seen her.

…

‘What is the meaning of this? Is their relationship already so bad that they don't even want others to know they're related at school?’

‘Is that really necessary? Not only do they have similar names, but they actually look quite alike.’

The line moved very quickly. Xia Zhi stood ahead of Shang Ying, ordered a portion of tomato meat sauce pasta at the counter, and then turned sideways to look at Shang Ying.

"Lasagna with meat sauce, thank you."

After Shang Ying finished speaking, she stood there waiting for her food. However, what she got in return was the confused look of the cafeteria lady. The air went completely silent for a moment. Xia Zhi's face flushed slightly with embarrassment, and she gently tugged at Shang Ying's sleeve and whispered.

"Yingying, you need to swipe your meal card to pay."

Shang Ying let out an "Oh." So they actually needed a meal card, which was quite high-tech. "I saw you finish speaking without making any move, so I thought you just had to say it out loud."

These were Shang Ying's genuine thoughts, completely free of any sarcasm. Because back when she was in school, they paid for their meals as a fixed monthly fee and never used meal cards. But to Xia Zhi's ears, it sounded a bit grating. Her slender fingers curled up slightly, hiding inside her sleeves.

Shang Ying patted her jacket pockets, then patted her pants pockets, but couldn't find a meal card. Consequently, she could only look at Xia Zhi.

"Can you swipe yours for me first? I'll pay you back when we get face-to-face. Thanks."

"Huh?"

Xia Zhi hadn't expected this twist, and her ears instantly turned red. She stammered for a good while.

"Yingying, I didn't bring my meal card either." Because usually, it was always Shang Ying who treated her to meals, she had long since forgotten where she had tossed her own card.

Hearing this, Shang Ying's brain finally connected the dots. So the original host had always been paying for this friend's meals. The original host was way too generous. If Shang Ying had met such a good person back in her day, she would have married them already.

Since neither of them had a card, the cafeteria lady's gaze toward them became complex. To think that in broad daylight, kids at a key high school were actually trying to get a free meal!

The atmosphere became a bit awkward, and the students behind them were growing impatient. Shang Ying had no choice but to step aside, intending to leave.

If she didn't have a card, she just wouldn't eat. It wasn't like she liked the food anyway.

Coincidentally, just as she turned around, Shang Yi had also just finished purchasing his food. Spotting an acquaintance, Shang Ying raised an eyebrow. ‘Hey, isn't here someone who can pay the bill?’

Thus, she waved her hand and shouted loudly, "Shang Yi! Come over and swipe your card for me."

!

The expression on Xia Zhi's face froze the instant Shang Ying said those words, and she looked at her in utter disbelief.

Hearing the name "Shang Yi," quite a few people around them looked over. First, they were shocked that someone would shout Shang Yi's name so loudly in the cafeteria. Second, they were stunned that someone was actually calling Shang Yi over to swipe his card for them! How could that possibly happen?!

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, Shang Yi, carrying a cold and detached expression, remained silent for a long moment before he actually walked over, pulled out his meal card, and paid the bill.

The onlookers: !!!!

School Forum: “Shocking! No. 1 High School's top student Shang Yi generously pays the bill for a mysterious girl!”

As soon as the post went up, the comment section refreshed frantically. Because it happened to be lunchtime, and the original poster had even attached a photo, the credibility rating was through the roof.

[Reading Books to Please Parents]: Oh? Is the top student in a secret relationship already? Is that the right person, though? Shouldn't it be the school beauty Lu?

[Hey Hey Hey, Call the Police]: Second floor Western dining area of the first cafeteria, it's real! The top student was called out to, and he actually walked over obediently to swipe his card!

[Hermes Doesn't Love Me]: I've never seen Shang Yi speak to anyone other than teachers. Original poster, you must have made up this story without checking the facts!

[Science and Engineering Ruined My Life]: +1, I've always suspected Shang Yi doesn't like living humans because he never communicates with people. Sometimes he doesn't even pay attention to the teachers.

[Let Me Sleep]: Huh? That's not the school beauty? If school beauty Lu sees this, she's going to blow her top, hahaha! Who doesn't know she likes Shang Yi!

[Evil Old Lady]: I was at the scene, it's a true story. Heartbroken already, sob sob sob, I need to find myself a new male god!