Unfamiliar Environment, Familiar Presence

Xueye sat silently in the car, watching the buildings as she passed by them. She was inside a car with Liu Bai, on their way to school where they would be spending their high school years; South Ville International School.

She was still thinking about the day she and Liu Bai met with Ceio, now Atty. Zhao. Apparently, Liu Bai transferred some of his shares to her.

"What? Why are you giving me this?" Xueyue asked Liu Bai who only smiled.

Liu Bai immediately got off his seat and kneeled in one knee. "Your Majesty, you saved me and took me in as a child. You took care of me and watched me grew up. I am what and who I am today because of you. At the very least, please let me do something like this."

Xueyue, as the mature person she is, just sighed. She understood where Liu Bai was coming from. The boy basically looks up to her like a child would to his parents. Once he had the means of supporting his family, he would do so.

"Okay. I'll accept this, but no more surprises, okay?" she said and patted his head. "Now stand up. You're ruining a good pair of jeans."

Liu Bai smiled once again and stood up. He sat back on his seat, at the same time as Xueyue.

"Right, there was that." Atty. Zhao said. She then handed Xueyue a black credit card. "This is connected to a bank account Liu Bai opened for you."

Xueyue cautiously took the card and stared at it. She couldn't help but swallow the lump on her throat. She thought that even on her first life as Andrea Fuentebella, she had never used, much less seen, a black credit card. She had money and prestige then but a black credit card was still beyond her.

"Liu Bai?" Xueyue called and gave him a questioning look.

"Well, you own company shares now which generate money for you. You need a bank account to store it and a card to access it." Liu Bai gave her a thumb up partnered with a big smile. "Use it whenever you want, it doesn't have a credit limit."

"No kidding."

Xueyue was still debating whether to use the card or not. She thought a black credit card was too much and suspicious for a high school girl. Then there was Li Weixian who gave her monthly allowances.

'I had never had problems with money before but now I think I have too much money.' she thought.

She did not know how to spend her money. Even in her three previous lives, she had always been frugal with her money.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Liu Bai suddenly said which pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Nothing." she shrugged. "Just wondering what kind of people we'd meet in school."

"I'm wondering about that too. But just remember to enjoy it, okay?"

"I know. You keep telling me, how will I ever forget?"

Minutes later, the two reached South Ville International School.

South Ville International School was owned by a European aristocrat who was big on supporting educational institutions. South Ville International School or SVIS had many branches all over the world and had many outstanding graduates. Of course, the students of SVIS weren't limited to the citizens of the country where the branch was located. It was an international school.

Xueyue and Liu Bai had taken the entrance exam months prior and were very happy to be accepted. Xueyue even ended up taking the second place among the freshmen, while Liu Bai took the sixth place. Of course, she did not mind taking second place, she was rather glad about it.

'Still, the entrance exam was rather high level for a high school entrance exam.' Xueyue thought. 'Whoever snagged the first place is probably really smart.'

Liu Bai was ecstatic when he found out he and Xueyue were in the same class; Class 10-1. He had always dreamed of spending time with his queen once he finds her so he would make sure she had memorable and fun high school years.

But things do not always follow one's plan. Especially when a familiar presence entered the room.

It was a few more minutes before the first day of school officially started. Liu Bai was busy talking to the new friends he made that morning and Xueyue was talking to two girls who approached her to be friends with her.

One was Yu Wuji, a graduate from SVIS' middle school department. The other was Song Tian, a half-American half-Chinese.

Li Erhua and Li Sanhao were also in Class 10-1, but the Li twins decided to stay away from her since the female twin still obviously hated Xueyue's guts.

They were in the middle of a conversation when Xueyue and Liu Bai suddenly stiffened. They just felt a familiar presence they never thought they would ever sense on earth. The two couldn't help but rise from their seats which made the one's they're having a conversation with surprised. Xueyue's and Liu Bai's eyes were glued to the door.

From the door, a student entered. Both demons were baffled when they saw his appearance. Although he was quite tall, his uniform was obviously a couple of sizes bigger than him, his hair was in a shaggy style and he donned a pair of black-rimmed eyeglasses.

'What the heck?' Liu Bai wondered. 'His presence resembles that of the hero, Celan .'

'Gahion?' Xueyue thought. 'But he's…'

"Xueyue?" Song Tian called her new friend. She was worried when she suddenly stiffened in the middle of their conversation.

But Xueyue seemed like she did not even hear anything. She watched as the newcomer looked at the list of assigned seats at the whiteboard, and then made his way to the seats. She was very surprised when he stopped in the seat in front of hers.

"Uhm… Excuse me… That's my seat." said the boy to Wuji who apparently was sitting on his seat.

"Oh… uh… yeah, sorry."

Xueyue and Liu Bai watched as he took a seat and minded his own business.

"Xueyue?" Song Tian called again. This time, Xueyue finally heard her and responded. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… I'm fine Song Tian. I was just- Hey, do you know him?"

"Hmm? Nope."

"Wuji?"

"I'm not sure." Wuji shrugged. "I'm not good with faces."

"Right."

Xueyue wanted to know. She wanted to know if the person with the familiar presence was really the person she knew in her former lives. Just as she was about to tap his shoulder to get his attention, Liu Bai already beat him to it.

"Hey! What's your name? I'm Liu Bai! You can call me Xiao Bai!"

"Oh… uh… I'm Zhang Jiang Ran. You can call me Jiang Ran."

'Hmm? The name sounds familiar.' Wuji thought.

"These are my friends, Lee Hae-song and Feng Xian."

"Nice to meet you."

"This is my childhood friend Li Xueyue."

"Hi." Xueyue said, a little hesitant. "Uhm… these are my friends…"

"I'm Song Tian!"

"I'm Yu Wuji!"

The six of them could tell that Zhang Jiang Ran was obviously uncomfortable at their approach. Almost like he was not used to people crowding around him and introducing themselves to him.

"I remember it now!" Yu Wuji suddenly exclaimed which caught their attention. Well, everyone in the classroom. Yu Wuji couldn't help but shrink in embarrassment.

"Wuji, what did you remember?"

"Zhang Jiang Ran! He's the top scorer in the entrance exam! Xueyue, he's the guy who beat you for the first place!"