When You Finally Turn Around After Playing Enough, I’ll No Longer Be There - Chapter 4:

Chapter 4: A Young Man Should Carry the Breeze and Moonlight on His Shoulders, Full of Spirit and Ambition

“You’re Chen Luo?” The female teacher looked up in surprise and examined him closely several times. “Alright, your name has been registered. You both may go in.”

Chen Luo naturally walked through the school gate. Su Panyue looked proud, “Brother Luo is so famous.”

“Don’t tease me,” Chen Luo chuckled, glancing at the girl beside him and teasing, “You got in through recommendation. If it were a real exam, it’s not certain you’d outperform me.”

“I don’t have that kind of ability. Brother Luo is the truly amazing one.”

Su Panyue always praised Chen Luo with full effort.

After the two entered, the students at the gate exploded with chatter.

“Oh my god, so that’s what Chen Luo looks like?”

“That face definitely qualifies as a campus heartthrob, right?”

“Obviously! Just look at who’s beside him—Su Panyue from Jiangcheng No.1 High School, the campus belle! I heard she’s super cold and even harder to pursue than Jiang Kewei from No.3 High School.”

…

As the famous campus belle, Jiang Kewei naturally had no shortage of admirers.

Almost as soon as she arrived at school, boys rushed up, eager to help carry her luggage.

The unpleasantness from the morning faded a bit. On the surface, Jiang Kewei still maintained a calm and elegant appearance, but inwardly, she felt much better.

Even without Chen Luo, there were still people who cared for her and cherished her.

She even wanted Chen Luo to see—see her surrounded by boys.

But…

Along the way, she heard many people talking about two names.

Chen Luo, Su Panyue.

Some said Chen Luo and Su Panyue registered together.

Some said Chen Luo and Su Panyue were already in a confirmed relationship.

They said the two were a pair of academic elite and campus belle—a perfect match.

But… wasn’t she also a campus belle?

How did all the spotlight end up on Su Panyue?

If Chen Luo had accompanied her to register today, would all this attention have been hers instead?

For the first time in her life, Jiang Kewei realized just how significant Chen Luo’s presence was.

With heavy thoughts, Jiang Kewei entered Class 1-3 and discovered that Chen Luo was there too.

Seeing the now slimmed-down Chen Luo, she was stunned.

She had heard rumors along the way that Chen Luo had become handsome. She found it strange, but now seeing him… he really had become handsome—very handsome…

Forget it. So what if he became handsome? What did it have to do with her?

She didn’t like Chen Luo anyway.

Jiang Kewei passed by him expressionlessly and sat at her assigned seat according to the seating chart.

This time, Chen Luo didn’t come over to comfort her, didn’t greet her, didn’t even look at her.

Many people gathered around Chen Luo, asking him for study tips, and Chen Luo, with a refined smile, answered each one.

He seemed like the center of the world, just standing there, glowing and dazzling.

Jiang Kewei gripped the pen in her hand tightly. Her nails pressed into her palm, causing pain.

How could this be?

Not long ago, Chen Luo would have driven across the city just because of a single call from her, coming all that way to take care of her.

That time, it was actually Song Qingyu’s idea.

Song Qingyu said the best way to test if a boy truly loved you was to see whether he’d come whenever you called.

The news of her illness was also sent by Song Qingyu.

Even though she didn’t like Chen Luo and didn’t really want to “test” him that way, she couldn’t resist her best friend’s coaxing and eventually agreed, half-heartedly.

And Chen Luo really came.

Traveling day and night, exhausted and dusty, without a single complaint.

But it hadn’t been that long—how had he changed so much? He seemed more distant, and his eyes no longer held her…

Jiang Kewei sank into confusion.

As more and more students arrived to register, the classroom slowly filled.

The homeroom teacher appointed Chen Luo as class monitor. Under his organization, everyone quickly found their seats.

As the number of empty seats dwindled, one on the far left of the front row remained vacant.

His name was written on the seating chart.

Xu Yi.

Chen Luo’s eyes turned cold. In the previous life, Xu Yi was the same—always arriving right before class began. He used this kind of unique behavior to draw attention.

Girls usually liked boys who were a bit rebellious.

Especially ones who were rebellious and good at studying.

There was no denying Xu Yi was clever. On the first day of school, he used little tricks to shift everyone’s attention onto himself.

Even though he only ranked second in the city, he stole all the spotlight from Chen Luo, who ranked first.

Several minutes later, the closed classroom door opened again.

A young man walked in.

He had rosy lips and white teeth, short hair neat and clean, a refined smile, and a stud on his right ear—he looked like he had stepped right out of a comic book.

But Chen Luo quickly noticed that Xu Yi… had makeup on. Though light, wearing any makeup was against the rules in a rigorous high school.

Whether the rules allowed it wasn’t the point—what mattered was that Xu Yi relied on these little tricks to beat him, bit by bit.

As class monitor, Chen Luo had the responsibility to help manage the class, yet Xu Yi blatantly violated the rules. What would the others think?

In the long run, no one would take Chen Luo seriously.

It was the same in the previous life. After Xu Yi arrived, Chen Luo was constantly suppressed by him. Coupled with the blow of losing his longtime crush, Chen Luo collapsed completely and lost to Xu Yi in the very first monthly exam.

After that, he kept falling, until Xu Yi completely trampled him.

Sure enough, upon seeing Xu Yi, the girls were quickly captivated.

“So handsome…”

“That’s Xu Yi, right? He’s also a top student.”

Xu Yi walked to the podium and confidently introduced himself, “Hello everyone, I’m Xu Yi, ranked second in the district in the high school entrance exam.”

“You’re Chen Luo?” Xu Yi looked at Chen Luo and smiled sincerely, “Nice to meet you. It’s an honor to be in the same class. I hope we can study together and make progress together.”

The exact same scene as the previous life.

Back then, when faced with Xu Yi’s warm eyes that hid provocation, Chen Luo chose to back down.

But this time…

Chen Luo stood up, using his height to overshadow Xu Yi slightly, and said arrogantly, “Studying together is fine, but let’s skip the ‘making progress together’ part. After all… if you improve, that means I have to fall behind.”

The diamond stud on Xu Yi’s ear sparkled brightly. Wasn’t he trying to attract attention with this little trick?

Then Chen Luo would outshine him.

Be even prouder.

Be even bolder.

Sure enough, everyone’s diverted attention shifted back to Chen Luo.

Even the teacher looked at Chen Luo with a smiling expression.

By the summer window, the boy stood tall, eyes bright with spirit—he was the very image of youth and promise.

Compared to timid retreat, this kind of confidence that came from deep within was much more likely to win others’ favor.

A young man should carry the breeze and moonlight on his shoulders, full of spirit and ambition.

Besides, no one could fault Chen Luo’s words—he already had full marks, ranked first in the entire school. How could he make further progress?

Xu Yi’s expression shifted multiple times before he finally managed to steady himself.

“Maintaining first place is also difficult. I’ve been first before, but unfortunately, my mindset wasn’t steady enough and I was soon overtaken.”

The implication: Chen Luo was too rash—he’d eventually be pulled down from his throne.

“You were first during the joint exam in the first semester of 9th grade, right?”

“How did you know?”

Chen Luo smiled freely, “I didn’t take that exam because I had something going on.”

Naturally, he couldn’t admit that the “something” was preparing a birthday gift for Jiang Kewei.

As long as it could strike a blow to Xu Yi, that was enough.

On the side, Jiang Kewei, who had kept her head down for a long time, finally looked up.