Chapter Twelve: Radiant Splendor

At seven in the morning, Li Mu was roused from bed by his parents. The day before, he had battled on until five in the afternoon, making just over fifty percent progress on his Stone Age Overlord project. After dinner at home, he had collapsed into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Fortunately, he was still young, his health robust and far from the subpar state he remembered from his previous life. One good night’s rest restored him completely.

At eight fifty in the morning, Li Mu took the bus to Haizhou First High School. The mountain bike Chen Wan had given him was too conspicuous, and he didn’t want to ride it to school. The teachers had already notified everyone that the score estimation would begin at nine, so by the time he arrived, most of his classmates were present.

Li Mu’s entrance caused quite a stir in Class Seven of Grade Twelve. The reason was obvious: after just a few days’ absence, he had undergone a remarkable transformation, emerging as a strikingly handsome, cool young man—so much so that the boys were envious and the girls squealed in delight.

Ignoring the astonished gazes, Li Mu instinctively looked around for a particular figure. Among all his memories from three years of high school, the most vivid was of Su Yingxue, the class beauty. All his adolescent fantasies had revolved around this extraordinary girl.

Throughout the twelfth grade, countless boys pursued Su Yingxue—boys from their own class, their grade, other grades, even other schools and outsiders. She lived up to her name: pure and pristine as snow, unmoved by anyone’s advances. Had her father not been the deputy director of the Haizhou Public Security Bureau, who knows how much harassment she might have faced in high school.

In his previous life, Li Mu had nursed a secret crush on Su Yingxue, penning seven or eight love letters to her, if not ten. But he was too timid to deliver even one. After writing a letter, he would leave it in his backpack for a week or so, then, embarrassed, find a secluded spot to tear it to shreds.

Now, reborn, Li Mu no longer clung to that youthful obsession. He merely wanted to see what had become of the girl who’d once held his teenage heart.

Scanning the room, he finally spotted Su Yingxue sitting at a desk in the center of the classroom.

A ponytail and a dress—almost the epitome of innocence for an eighteen-year-old girl. Seeing her delicate profile as she looked down, Li Mu realized his judgment back then had been spot-on. Even through the eyes of someone fifteen years older, Su Yingxue remained flawlessly beautiful.

At this age, Su Yingxue seemed to possess a natural aura of purity. Fashion or the lack thereof meant nothing to her; she radiated an individuality all her own. Li Mu stood, pondering for a while, and finally the word “sacred” surfaced in his mind.

Perhaps it was because, in his past life, he had seen too many so-called beauties crafted by the beauty industry, or too many women feigning innocence. So, in this moment of seeing Su Yingxue again, the word “sacred” seared itself into his thoughts.

Among eighteen-year-old boys, none would dare stare so directly and intently at a girl. Street punks might, but their gaze was driven by instinct. Only Li Mu looked at her with pure admiration.

Sensing this unusual gaze, Su Yingxue suddenly looked up, her eyes meeting Li Mu’s for about a second in surprise.

This time, unlike his habitual reaction during three years of high school, Li Mu didn’t avert his eyes at once. He continued to regard her with that burning gaze.

After three years as classmates, this was the first time Su Yingxue lost a staring contest. She detected something different in his eyes, and when she saw his intense look, she instinctively lowered her lashes.

Li Mu pressed his lips together. This ethereal girl could still make his heart race in this life. Truly, like peach blossoms in their prime—radiant and resplendent!

In his previous life, Li Mu had underperformed in the college entrance exam and entered a second-tier university in the province, while Su Yingxue was admitted to Renmin University in Beijing to study finance. After graduation, Li Mu decisively packed his bags and headed to Beijing, partly for the burgeoning internet industry, partly to be closer to Su Yingxue.

But as fate would have it, just after settling in with a job, he learned Su Yingxue had been accepted into Wharton Business School for her MBA and had gone to study in the United States.

Li Mu looked up Wharton and, realizing it was home to the world’s top MBA program, gave up any hope for Su Yingxue.

After earning her master’s at Wharton, Su Yingxue stayed on in the U.S. to work. When she returned to China in 2012, she was already a senior director for the China region at a major American multinational, with an annual salary of 800,000—US dollars, according to classmates.

Though both were in Beijing, Li Mu never entertained the thought of meeting her again. Beijing was vast, and fate never brought them together.

In 2013, Su Yingxue married in the U.S. Li Mu heard her wedding was incredibly romantic. The groom was a well-known Chinese American fashion designer in high society. After the wedding, Su Yingxue immediately returned to China for work, while her husband remained in the U.S. to build his brand.

At the 2016 Spring Festival, Li Mu attended his high school class’s fifteen-year reunion. Su Yingxue didn’t come, but classmates gossiped that she had a lavender marriage—her husband was a famous designer and openly gay. Su Yingxue had known before marrying, but willingly went through with it, apparently to appease her family. After marriage, she devoted herself to her career; love seemed optional to her.

Learning all this, Li Mu didn’t know whether to pity Su Yingxue or admire her. Even in high school, he had felt she was more clear-headed than their peers. It seemed being a successful career woman was the path she had long set for herself.

In this life, Su Yingxue would likely still attend Renmin University and study abroad as planned.

Li Mu shrugged, thinking to himself that he and Su Yingxue were destined for different worlds. Once the college entrance exam ended, their lives would become two parallel lines, never to cross again.

Standing in the classroom, Li Mu realized he’d forgotten his own seat, but he remembered his desk mate from their senior year. He quickly spotted Hu Guoran, his friend and partner in mischief, and went to sit beside him.

As soon as he sat down, Hu Guoran nudged Li Mu with his elbow. “Not bad, man—just finished exams and now you show up like this. Where’d you get your hair cut? Introduce me, I want to try it too. And did you use mousse on top?”

Li Mu chuckled. “With that long horse face of yours, do you really think this short-on-the-sides, long-on-top, spiked style would suit you?”

“Damn, true,” Hu Guoran said, stroking his chin, which was half as long as Li Yong’s. He sighed and asked, “How’d you do on the exam?”

“Not bad. What about you?”

Hu Guoran grinned. “Should be good for a top-tier university. You too, right? How about Provincial Tech? We can go together.”

Li Mu said nothing, his gaze drifting unconsciously toward Su Yingxue.

Hu Guoran was sharp-eyed. He caught Li Mu’s action instantly and lowered his voice in a warning tone, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Su Yingxue is definitely aiming for Renmin University. She announced it back in tenth grade, and she’ll make it for sure. For us, it’s better to stick with a top university in the province.”

“Yeah,” Li Mu nodded absently.

Three seconds later, he realized something was off. He slapped the table and retorted, “Why should that be?”

Li Mu’s reaction was a bit over the top, and quite a few classmates, including Su Yingxue, instinctively turned to look at him.

Unaware of all the attention, Li Mu wore a look of sudden realization and said with a hint of excitement, “Damn it, if I can get 130 in English, I could make it into Renmin University too!”

The whole class burst out laughing.

Everyone knew each other well—Li Mu’s weak spot in English was notorious. Both the homeroom and English teachers had lost sleep over him. This year’s English exam was considered especially hard, particularly the listening and reading comprehension, with plenty of unfamiliar vocabulary and grammar. If Li Mu could score ninety, that would already be a miracle in their eyes.

Li Mu hadn’t expected to become the class joke so easily. Even at his age, in his thirties, he couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed and fell silent.

He didn’t notice that there was only one person in the class who didn’t laugh at his words—Su Yingxue.