When the snow clearing began, the kids on the athletic field were well-behaved and orderly at first. But then someone, no one knew who, started it all by packing a snowball and letting it fly. The person who was hit immediately fought back, only to hit the wrong target.

After that, things descended into a total free-for-all.

Qin Jiao threw a snowball, intending to hit Jiang Xiaoyue, but somehow, it ended up hitting Shen Yi instead.

Qin Jiao: "..."

It was a perfect accident. Jiang Xiaoyue had hit Qin Jiao with a snowball, and she was just trying to get some payback. Who would have thought that Jiang Xiaoyue would run over to the boys’ side and, as luck would have it, end up standing right next to Shen Yi?

Qin Jiao quickly rushed over and brushed the snow off Shen Yi’s collar. She said sheepishly, "I’m so sorry, Shen Yi. I didn’t mean to hit you. I was aiming for Jiang Xiaoyue."

Seeing Qin Jiao’s guilty expression, Shen Yi wasn’t angry at all. In fact, he wished she would hit him with a few more snowballs.

Of course, if he said that out loud, Qin Jiao would definitely think he was crazy. So, Shen Yi just said calmly that it was nothing. Then, he packed a snowball from the ground and asked, "Did Jiang Xiaoyue hit you just now?"

"Yeah, I was trying to get revenge on her. That’s how I hit you by mistake."

"Oh. Then I’ll get revenge for you."

"..."

Qin Jiao watched in a daze as Shen Yi easily found Jiang Xiaoyue and hurled a snowball. It hit its mark, and Jiang Xiaoyue let out a yelp.

"Hey! You two are ganging up on me! Not fair, I’m getting my revenge too!"

Class 10’s area erupted with activity. Qin Jiao and Shen Yi were dragged into the fray, and in the end, no one could keep track of who hit whom, but everyone was having a great time.

A smile played on Qin Jiao’s lips as she took in the scene. ’This... this is the youth I missed in my last life.’

The aftermath of the snowball fight was that everyone was covered in snow. Back inside, with the classroom stove lit, the snow melted and soaked their clothes.

Shen Yi took off his jacket, revealing the sweater underneath. He had other clothes, of course, but he just really liked wearing this particular one.

One of the boys asked, "Shen Yi, how come you’re always wearing that sweater?"

Shen Yi glanced at Qin Jiao, his lips tightening slightly. "I just like it."

’This was the sweater Aunt Su had knitted. If Qin Jiao had knitted it for him with her own hands, he wouldn’t even take it off to sleep.’

Once the fun and games were over, the students returned to the classroom, their attitudes turning serious and focused. It was time to hit the books and aim for daily improvement.

Their class’s average score was already approaching that of Experimental Class 2, so the students were all fired up, determined to surpass them.

Of course, that wasn’t their ultimate goal. Their true target was to take down Experimental Class 1!

It was an incredibly difficult, perhaps even impossible, task. After all, the students in Experimental Class 1 were the ones who ranked in the top 50 overall when the classes were formed, while Experimental Class 2 consisted of those ranked from 51st to 100th.

A regular class catching up to an experimental one was practically unheard of at Pingan Middle School. But the academic atmosphere in Class 10 was incredibly intense now, and they wanted to give it their all to see just how much progress they could make this year.

Qin Jiao was just as fired up.

’Her goal was to be number one in the entire grade!’

The day passed quickly. When it was time to go home, it had started snowing again. The school decided to let out early; boarding students would continue with their evening self-study, but day students were allowed to go home.

Qin Jiao and Shen Yi had walked to school that morning, so they had no choice but to walk home as well. At the school gate, however, they saw a few three-wheeled vehicles.

Qin Zhonghui was sitting in one of them. He opened the door and said to the two kids, "Hop in. I’ll take you both home."