A few days ago, Bai Xiaoya never imagined she’d have another day returning to campus.
May is the season of waiting for summer vacation.
The campus wasn’t filled with the usual sounds of study.
Aside from some end-of-term group assignments given by certain teachers, everything else was rather relaxed.
After two hours of getting familiar, plus some fragments of memory in her mind, Bai Xiaoya understood her situation at school.
First of all, with thousands of students in the school, everyone had different interests.
Some loved watching anime, while others stuck to tradition, so there were a few girls sharing the title of campus belle.
But no matter what others were called, the “Bai Da Campus Belle” title was unique—only she had the “Da” in the middle.
She was also the only one “recognizable at a glance.”
Walking onto campus, following the greenbelt toward the classroom, she ran into quite a few people greeting her—some were classmates, some she barely knew.
“Bai Da Campus Belle, you’re back to school early.”
“Good morning, Bai Xiaoya.”
“Bai Xiaoya, the new female lead in Wan Huajing looks a bit like you.”
Bai Xiaoya stopped and blinked innocently.
“What’s that, a kind of mirror?”
The boy who spoke hurriedly slipped away, feeling guilty and socially dead.
Entering the classroom, she sat down at her most familiar spot, and two girls came over.
They were the original owner’s closest classmates and dormmates.
One, with short hair and a round face, was named He Lili; the other, with a ponytail, was Gu Yun.
The three formed a small group on campus, going to class, eating, and returning to the dorm together—and doing group assignments for life.
As soon as Bai Xiaoya sat down, round-faced He Lili handed over a bag of snacks.
“Xiaoxiao, why didn’t you log into the game even once during May Day? Were you that busy?”
“Mm, pretty busy.”
Bai Xiaoya mumbled.
Busy fighting a battle of wits and courage with Bai Xia, then busy being beaten after losing.
In short, the history of the May Day holiday needed to be hidden from her roommates.
As for the game He Lili mentioned…
“And also, don’t spend every day playing Genshin. It’s finally a holiday—you should do something productive, or improve yourself a bit,”
Bai Xiaoya pushed the snacks back.
“I’ll pass. I’m eating healthy and nutritious food these days.”
If it’s not nutritious, how would she have the strength to deal with the big pervert?
He Lili nodded as if she half-understood.
“Doing something productive… I get it. Xiaoxiao, you finished the assignments during May Day!”
Bai Xiaoya froze.
“What assignments?”
No doubt, it was the semester’s professional group project.
Now, with just over a month until finals, things that seemed far off suddenly became urgent.
“I knew you guys would have too much fun over May Day and forget all about the assignments,”
The ponytail girl Gu Yun pulled out several A4 sheets from her backpack.
“Luckily, I was prepared. Take a look.”
Gu Yun was a capable girl—unlike He Lili, who only cared about mobile games, or Bai Xiaoya, who only cared about getting beaten.
“I picked out a few good cases from the teacher’s PPT. You two choose one.”
Bai Xiaoya took the papers and flipped through them.
[The rise and fall of the Rain Shelter Tea Shop, a brief discussion on chance and inevitability in market trends.]
[Why did World Top 500 foreign enterprises struggle to adapt in Baiyuan City? In what ways does localization matter?]
They were all familiar business cases.
She quickly lost interest.
“You two pick. They all seem about the same.”
She casually flipped to the last page, about to hand it to He Lili, when suddenly, the title caught her eye and her heart skipped a beat.
“Wait, let me look again.”
The last case read—
[What are the hidden death crises beneath the market? Exploring the sudden collapse of Baiyuan City’s local private enterprise, ‘Bai Bai Foreign Trade’ at its peak.]
Bai Xiaoya felt her breath stop.
She’d heard from Zhang Butler that the company Bai Xia’s previous parents owned was called Bai Bai Foreign Trade.
They were also Bai Xiaoya’s biological parents.
***
At Baiyuan University Affiliated High School, Bai Xia’s school life went smoothly.
At the end of the first year, a beautiful black-haired transfer student appeared in the class, exciting the fifteen- and sixteen-year-old high schoolers.
Beautiful, graceful, polite, and with a mature, mysterious aura—she quickly became popular with most of the class.
But after all, high school isn’t the same as university.
With finals approaching and the second-year class divisions based on grades looming, the pressure was real.
Once the excitement faded, everyone got back to business.
Bai Xia was quite satisfied with this atmosphere.
Classmates were fine as acquaintances; a gentleman’s friendship was light as water.
Getting too close only made her vulnerable.
A little distance between people was best.
So far, the person closest to Bai Xia was Bai Xiaoya.
Mm, -8.5cm… not important—the meaning was clear.
She read for a while.
Keeping up in class was impossible, but the knowledge wasn’t hard to grasp.
Besides, with class divisions next semester, current class content wouldn’t matter anyway.
After a few periods, Bai Xia put down her textbook and picked up another small book.
“Magic Compendium” bought at the school gate’s newsstand…
She wasn’t interested in magic tricks, but practiced a few techniques inside to improve her “magic hands.”
To fill the pages, the book also included various card tricks, which looked interesting too.
“Wow, Bai Xia, your pen spinning is amazing.”
Her deskmate suddenly said.
Turns out, even while reading, Bai Xia’s hands weren’t idle.
She spun a gel pen between her fingers—fast and steady—like a helicopter.
Snap.
With a pinch of her thumb, the pen stopped firmly in her hand.
“Sorry for bothering you,”
She said.
“No, no,”
Her deskmate waved her hands quickly.
“I’m the one bothering you.”
Either way, interrupting classmates preparing for finals wasn’t good—especially when she herself didn’t need to take them.
Bai Xia decided to buy a string and coin after class to practice tricks secretly under the desk.
But after class, on her way to the convenience store, she received an unexpected call.
“Hi, Miss Bai Xia, long time no see.
Heard from the Underground Street folks you’ve been making a fortune lately?”
The raspy, smoke-tinged voice was instantly recognizable.
The caller was also a convenience store owner—but the goods sold were different from elsewhere.
“Cut the small talk,”
The girl switched her phone to the other ear.
“Is there business?”
“Exactly.
The matter you asked someone to look into before—I’ve got a lead.
But as for the price… well, of course, the current Miss Bai wouldn’t care about a bit of small change.”
Bai Xia narrowed her eyes.
She had always been investigating the secrets behind her parents’ business from years ago.
“I’ll come over tomorrow morning.”