Ruan Huaning was born in a rural village bound by feudal traditions. She has a younger brother at home, but because she is a girl, her family has never treated her well since she was little. Even her schooling only happened because the village chief forcefully sent her there. Fortunately, Ruan Huaning has always done well in her studies since she was young, always ranking first in her class — and it stayed that way through middle school. However, because of her introverted personality, she was often bullied by her middle school classmates. Yet she couldn't speak up about it; after she told the teacher, she instead suffered even more excessive retaliation from those girls. Because she was bullied and shunned by her classmates, the seat next to Ruan Huaning was always empty, and even the bunk opposite hers in the dormitory was empty. Though Ruan Huaning's bed had only a thin sheet and a cup issued by the school, it was nevertheless very neat and clean. She got into the best high school, City No. 1 High School, but because her family made a fuss and refused to pay the tuition, in the end it was her middle school homeroom teacher who helped her arrange this ordinary high school's fee-waiver policy, which is how she came here. Image by 🍠: Yuyan