Chapter 2: The Opponent

room; most everyone else was a local student at No. 1 High School. When they entered fifteen minutes before the start, the locals had barely acknowledged their presence, seeing them as outsiders from...Chapter 2: Rivals

In the year 1999, when karaoke bars and water bars were still dominant, "Dingsheng" Entertainment City was among the earliest KTV establishments in Xiahai City. This mode of entertainment gradually became popular among the masses, but for Su Cen from another life, he didn't encounter it much at this stage.

Firstly, whenever they had free time, he and his buddies would dive into game rooms to play games like "Command & Conquer: Red Alert", "Ocean's Trading", "StarCraft", and "Heroes of Might and Magic". These games were a major part of the recollections of his teenage years and also the cheapest form of entertainment. With only pocket money from him, Xue Yiyang, and Liu Rui back then, they could never afford to go to bars or KTVs; for them, that was extremely luxurious.

Only after he didn't come back to No.1 High School in the future did he understand that by 1999, ordinary high school girls from good families had already begun to indulge in such activities as going to KTV bars.

Dingsheng Entertainment City was located on a bustling bar street in Xiahai City. There were many barbecue and bar stalls along this street, some even selling butter tea. With two portions of boiled peanuts, a dish of soybeans, and a few friends gathered together drinking, the nightlife was very enjoyable; however, this street wasn't as prosperous as it would be in later times but had just started to take shape.

Tang Wu came out by taxi, holding an old Motorola phone, apparently after communicating with her family, she got this convenient mobile phone for easy contact.

Stepping down from the car, Tang Wu was wearing a red coat, skinny jeans, and single shoes that revealed her delicate blue veins on her feet. She stood gracefully there.

A gentle breeze blew, making her ponytail sway lightly behind her amidst those withered leaves swirling in this late winter air.

In that moment of daze, Su Cen felt like he saw a woman who was extraordinary not only in appearance and experience but also in demeanor. Time seemed to have never reversed at this moment, and standing before him was the class monitor from back then, just one look at whom would make him unable to sleep all night and hard to forget even years later.

She appeared older and more mature now; facing those heart-stopping and deceitful realities of life, her gentle words were like a coiling serpent, soaking up the glory of this world.

Now, her icy eyes were like snow, but they also carried a hint of visible timidity.

Su Can was momentarily lost in thought and then snapped back to reality. Tang Wu smiled, causing his heart to race. Anyone who wasn't blind could see how dumbfounded Su Can had been just now, almost drooling. However, no one knew that at that moment, Su Can was using the mentality of a weakling from the future to admire this girl destined for an extraordinary life.

She had yet to immerse herself in worldly affairs. As for himself A failure from his previous life, could he use his own hands to write and stir up this legend in a mundane existence

"Let's go," Tang Wu smiled and only then did Su Can react, walking towards the bustling Dingsheng KTV where the waiters were stationed.

Dingsheng KTV had risen in popularity since this era and even remained popular in the future, for very good reasons. Currently, its interior decoration was extremely luxurious, with many cars parked outside. Although the car models were somewhat outdated, it was still bustling with activity.

A man wearing a black suit and headphones welcomed them inside, while a woman in a black skirt led them into the opulent main hall. The hall already had quite a few people seated; they had just arrived as well, mostly students from City No. 1 High School, but there were also several from Oversea High School. Overseas High was recognized to be second only to City No. 1 in Xiahai City, though it hadn't been rated as a national key school yet. It was now applying for provincial-level status and last year's high school entrance exam champion came from there, making its reputation rise quickly.

Wang Lu wore an extremely short skirt with eye makeup, leaning against a man in a way that made her appear like a little bird dependent on him. This look was quite different from the open and cheerful personality she displayed at school.

The moment Su Can and Tang Wu walked in, Wang Lu giggled and introduced everyone: "This is my boyfriend, Min Junhao, last year's city-level high school entrance exam champion! And this is Tang Wu. This is Su Can; you know him, right He's the one who was honored on TV for his brave act of righteousness! They are all celebrities!"

"City No. 1 High School" Several boys from Overseas High raised their heads to look at Su Can with unfriendly expressions. On one hand, they were jealous that he had come to pick up Tang Wu and saw her in this manner. On the other hand, there was some bias against City No. 1 High School among them; students there only cared about competing and showing off, and it was far from the atmosphere of a national key school. They would rather have Overseas High!

Others joked and praised him as the high school entrance exam champion who even surpassed City No. 1 High School for the first time, but they had never seen such an outstanding student whose actions couldn't be measured by conventional standards.

Ming Junhao is quite tall, around 1.8 meters, but his physique is a bit thin. Due to his height, he doesn't pay much attention to posture, so his back appears somewhat hunched, and he has a prominent nose. He wears gold-rimmed glasses that make his eye sockets appear sunken. Despite this, he looks refined and isn't unattractive; there's also an air of unique charm about him.

However, in Su Can's eyes, if this guy were draped in the mantle of top scorer in the high school entrance exam, his current demeanor would seem rather arrogant. He resembles a spoiled rich kid who doesn't study and is overly familiar with the place, even cozying up to his girlfriend Wang Lu. Such a person being one of the city's top students can only mean he's either a genius or an oddball.

Ming Junhao then extended his hand to shake Su Can’s, gripping firmly while smiling; his mouth was slightly skewed like that of a certain actor named Chen Guanxi. "Oh, back then I was busy with my studies and didn't watch the news about this incident at No. 1 High School. But seeing you in person, it's clear you have the courage to act bravely!"

His words and actions subtly mocked Su Can for only knowing how to "act bravely," while he himself was more cultured and genteel. The contrast between the two highlighted their different levels of sophistication.

The others didn't pick up on this, but girls like Chen Lingshan and Tang Wu, who are sharp-minded, changed expressions slightly.

Su Can ignored all of this; compared to other high school students his age that he had met, Ming Junhao was more cunning in both thought and scheming.

When he saw Su Can and Tang Wu enter the room, jealousy welled up inside him. Now he seized the chance to show off himself: clever though he is, he lacks experience and guile.

Seeing Su Can's indifferent expression, Ming Junhao felt that what he said might have been too profound; this kid from No. 1 High School was just a naive lad after all. It’s too bad his girlfriend beside him is so beautiful, perhaps even if she isn't new to him, he still has a chance.

Originally, Chen Lingshan wasn’t comfortable seeing Su Can pick up Tang Wu; now with Ming Junhao stepping in like this, her thoughts immediately turned towards the latter. Seeing Su Can appear confused under others' scrutiny made her angry but she couldn't call him out directly—she seethed silently.

“My uncle is a VIP here, and some of his friends are also guests today. He’s footing the bill for our private room tonight; it's my treat, ha-ha!” Ming Junhao felt an itch in his heart when he saw Chen Lingshan, and seeing Tang Wu made him feel like a cat on a hot tin roof. As such, towards his girlfriend Wang Lu, he seemed less interested, and though she sensed something amiss, tried her best to please him, but seeing his indifferent attitude made tears well up in her eyes, which she had to hold back in front of her friends.

Upon seeing this, Su Can couldn't help but sigh. Although people were very open-minded in the future, during high school years, most of them remained innocent and pure. He never imagined that he himself was so naive back then; men like Min Junhao, who dated girls and frequented bars, were common even in the late '90s.

This guy has a relatively high IQ but poor character. When seeing Chen Lingshan and Tang Wu, he even let go of Wang Lu, whom he had been hugging earlier. Every private interaction between them was within his sight, which explained why Min Junhao ignored Wang Lu's indifferent attitude towards him. As for how Wang Lu felt about him, there was no need to mention it; she would likely be crying if her old friends weren't around.

Characters like this one were already so promiscuous during high school years with a carefree and irresponsible attitude. Su Can believed he needed to nip such behavior in the bud.

Moreover, just now when he was mocking him for trying to wash his reputation clean, regardless of how magnanimous he might be, there were certain people who deserved no mercy. Regarding someone like Min Junhao, Su Can felt that he must repay any insult and even take advantage of the situation.

This life, he would make sure to thoroughly humiliate his enemies.

Min Junhao's uncle was in his thirties but seemed slick. He waved at everyone, "Follow Min Junhao today; have a good time! Order whatever you haven’t seen before and drink anything you haven't tasted yet! If you get drunk, don’t worry about it. I see that there are just enough of both genders here."

Chen Lingshan and Li Lumei shot Wang Lu a fierce look; they had originally planned to meet up as classmates but ended up bringing their boyfriends along—these people were quite worldly!

Afraid of being caught out, Wang Lu ignored them and leaned on Min Junhao while leading everyone into an intermediate-sized private room.

After the drinks and food arrived, Li Lumei was in a bad mood and whispered to Chen Lingshan and Su Can, "He told us to order whatever we wanted! Yet he’s the one who ordered everything first—how can we even speak up now"

Because they were also wary of Min Junhao's group, Chen Lingshan, Li Lumei, Su Can, and Tang Wu naturally gathered together, forming a united front.e the last twenty-minute bell rang. When he submitted it, the proctor Xiao Rihua couldn't help but look at him twice. Seeing how quickly the boy had finished his math test this morning, he now took mo...