"Miss Wu, our team have already discussed, and we've concluded that you would no longer be a member of our research team. It was an honour working with someone as young, yet as talented as you. I am sure that you are fully aware of our protocol. Hence, we trust you to keep every information you know confidential."

The voice of the main on the phone call was raspy and stern. It was also cold, cold enough for the room temperature to drop by a few degree.

'Well, I guessed I am officially fired.' Ai Qing said to herself. Even though she saw it coming, Ai Qing still couldn't control her despair.

To herself, she comforted, 'Working with them for almost five years was already a blessing. Not anyone can work at the Top 1 medical research company in the country. It already is an accomplishment; there is no point in getting upset.'

'I need to find a job by the end of this month so that I can pay the house's fee. Ugh... Why did I say that I want to pay for the house fee. Back then, I thought to myself that it was such a mature and logical choice but now that I think of it, I was just being foolish. Thankfully, mum disagreed and had me pay only a third of it.'

On Ai Qing's 13th birthday, her parents bought an apartment under her name because their house was too far away from the region where all the schools and universities gathered. As travelling a long distance every day would be too tiring and time-consuming, Ai Qing moves into the apartment alone as soon as she started high school. Her parents hired a housekeeper to look after her and would often come and visit their daughter now and then.

Ai Qing is the only child so her parents spoil her and cherish her like a princess. However, that doesn't mean that Ai Qing is a spoiled child who is childish, arrogant, and selfish. In contrast, she is way more mature than her peers and is extremely rational. She is not the type who receives gifts from others easily. She always thought of others before herself. When her parent bought that apartment which was half a year's worth of the family earning, she was grateful yet, she also felt really uncomfortable. Although it is natural for parents to want to give their child such thing, she felt like it was too big for her to accept it.

At that time she sat in front of her parents and told them, "Although we have money, there is a limit to our money. Judging from the location, Mum and Dad probably spent a year's worth of dad's total earning just to buy that apartment for me. Since I am the one who lives in it, I should be the one who pays for it."  Of course, her parent immediately denied her proposal. However, after a few more attempts, her parents finally agreed to it. They told her to only pay one-third of the whole price. This is because a teenager like Ai Qing wouldn't be able to earn one and a half of million dollars that easily.

After they reach an agreement, her parents quickly drafted a contract. Ai Qing had expected that they would also have some written agreement of some sort but would never expect that they even contacted a lawyer to made it. 'Well', she thought, 'this is what happened when you make deals with a bussinessman. It does not matter or not if you are their daughter. A proper contarct must be made.' In the contract, Ai Qing was given eight years to completely pay five-hundred thousand dollars to her parent. She has to pay $62 500 every year to be able to completely pay it off.

Thinking about the money again makes her brain a bit fried so she went to the kitchen to eat the leftover cake that she bought this evening. She took out her phone and watch the latest episode of her favourite K-drama and tv shows. Not long after, she no longer felt upset. It's no use crying over spill milk. Ai Qing went back to her room and sat her desk. Then, she bagan to endlessly type something in her laptop for almost three hours before she decided to go to sleep.

************

The first day of autumn has arrived, and so is senior year. Ai Qing woke up at 5:30 and start to preparing herself for school. Before leaving, she ate a sandwich, drank a glass of mixed fruit juice that she made for herself the other day and pack her food for her lunch. Ai Qing also took out a bottle of jasmine tea that she made out of the refrigerator. Not much long after that, she finally set out of her apartment.

She left her place precisely at 6:55 everyday to catch the bus to her school. Additionally, she has to walk for 5 kilometer from the bus stop in front of the gate to her class. This makes sense as the school's main building is situated 5 km away from the main entrance. The school's security level is very high therefore allowing a public bus to enter and pass through is a big fat no. Moreover, it was not considered a problem to begin with, as all the students belong to rich families, hence they would have personal drivers who would drive them to the school's building anyway. Walking to school was ridiculous to begin with and that was also why Ai Qing used to be the only one who walks to school.

Yes, was. It was not known when but many students began to walk to school too. As each years went by, the number of students doubled and by the start of this year half of the students in the school are walking to school. Currently, you can spot other students walking to school too and the morning has indeed became more chirpy due to the laughters and talks between the students. In the past, walking to school was very peaceful and healing for her.

Now that autumn is here, the leaves on the trees along the street have begun to change its colour. Strolling along a street with a serene view like this is remarkably therapeutic to Ai Qing. While appreciating the stunning scenic, she took a sip of the chilled jasmine tea she brought. A refreshing, clean autumn's breeze swiftly glides pass her while the warm sunlight kissed her skin. Currently, her favourite songs started to play, which made Ai Qing's spirit boost to the sky. That particular moment, to herself, she believed, she would be rather content to lives a normal and simple life like this.

While walking, her shoelaces were untied. She spots a corner and heads there to ties her shoelaces. She sits on a little stool that happened to be there. As she bent down her to tie her shoelaces, one of the earbuds fell out of her ear. When the music in her left ear fades, she noticed the sounds of the birds chirping and the sounds of the leaves on the tree shuffling.

Not long after, the peaceful mood was broken down by the honking sound of a car. When Ai Qing turned her face towards the direction of the source, she saw a boy with a senior uniform of her school. She saw his head pops out of the window and then he waved at a boy who was walking not so far behind her.

"Hey, Joseph! Why are you walking to school? You could've let your driver dro-" a boy with blonde hair shouted from the back seat of an expensive black car. But, even before the boy could finish, he stopped midway. Through the corner of his eye, he noticed someone staring at him. As he shifted his gaze, he made eye contact with Ai Qing.

The boy completely froze and was totally packing inside while Ai Qing she shifted her face back to the walkways and continued her journey as if nothing has happened. Honestly, nothing did happen, other than the fact that the mood was ruined.

On the other side, the boy blankly stare at his elder brother who was sitting next to him.

With a shocking expression, the boy mumbled to himself, "Our eyes met. I just made eye contact with the Queen.  How could I forgot about that the Queen walks to school? No wonder that idiot Joseph walks to school too."

"Zheng XingFu, what are you mumbling about?" Zheng Zemin said, as he put down his tablet and focused on his silly brother. "When will you stop being silly and focused on your study?"

After hearing that, XingFu quickly gains his consciousness. He looks at his brother and in a spoiled tone, he said, "Brother, studying is not my style. It is just something that I can never be interested in."

"You have no talents, no skills, no strengths, no ambitions, no willpower, nor does you have any interest. I get that you still can't figure out what you want to do, which is why you should study and have a good grade. At least, that could be your insurance."

"There you go again nagging at me. Your nagging is a lot worse than our grandmother and you are only two years older than me. I think I am the one that should be worried. What should I do with this brother of mine? [sigh deeply] I feel bad for all the girls who fall in love with you. They are all betrayed by that handsome look of yours. For god sake brother-"

As Xing Fu was about to finish, he could feel chill at the back of his spine. There were a few seconds of silence, but it felt like decades. He gulped down his saliva under the intense gaze of his brother. It was at this moment that he knew, he f * up. The driver and his brother secretary also know that Xing Fu has gone over the line this time. They didn't dare to say anything but hold their breath. XingFu quickly told the driver to stop the car, and the driver immediately followed his order. In a blink of an eye, XingFu has already gotten off the car. His shadow was nowhere to be seen while the atmosphere is the car continues to drop.

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Author's rambling Section (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Author: !(•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ Sometimes in life (*inserted inspirational music) when negative things happen, you just have to look at it positively so that you can move on.

Meanwhile the editor: (＠￣Д￣＠；) [caption: why is she acting like this all of the sudden?]

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The high school that Ai Qing is admitted to is the top 3 in the world and the second best one in the continent. Only those who are extremely talented, extremely smart, or has extremely well-known background can be admitted into this school. Those who are qualified as smart or talented does not need to pay the school fee. Ones who got in with their background must pay the full fee. Ai Qing got a scholarship as she did not enter the school using her background but with her skills.

There are only three-year levels in this school: Grade 10 (freshmen), Grade 11 (Junior) and Grade 12 (Senior). The school accepts no more than 375 students a year and the total number of students never exceeds 1125 students. The size of the school could host 30 times more students than they currently do and it would still be spacious, however, they strictly accept only 375 students a year. This is all due to their education system. The school focused more on quality than quantity. The quality of their education system could be one of the best in the world but due to the number of students, their ranking got pushed back.

Currently, at the school, there are a lot more students than usual at this time of the day. This is because today is the first day of school. The welcoming ceremony will be held today so students were instructed to come to school early in order not to obstruct the event. Moreover, things will run more smoothly, if the students find out what class they are in and familiarise their way to their classroom before the school day officially starts. After all the size of the school isn't a joke. It is way bigger than some universities and has many buildings too. The school is only a high school but there are many departments and areas. There are four main departments the natural science department, STEM department, language and iterature department; art, mucis and dance department.

Amongst the crowd, two freshmen catch the other freshmen's attention due to their conversation.

"Hey, hey, have you heard you heard of the ranking system yet?" the girl asked her friend with a voice that was not loud but was enough to let those who would like to pry on their conversation hear it.

"I thought our school does not have a ranking system." the other girl said with a face full of confusion. As the girl said that, a few more freshmen slowly came closer as they were curious yet they did not forget to not make it obvious about the fact that they are prying on the two's conversation.

"I just found out about it yesterday when I was on the phone with Luna. Twenty-one years ago, the students created a system of ranking by themselves for fun. The school started to adopt this system two years ago."

"I chose this school because it was the only school that does not have a ranking. I tried to so hard to convince my parents so that I could come to this school so that I won't be tormented by the rank and now here I am. It felt like I just got a scam!" the girl said with a face full of unjust and some of the students beside them also shared similar facial expressions. The parent in this continent are obssessed about the ranking. Rather than the grades and the accomplishment itself, as long as their kid is above other kids. Ai Qing's school understand the negative effects that the ranking system have on student's mental health and achievements so they abandon it. Destroying children's self-esteem would not help them get anywhere.

"This ranking is different. It is not an academic ranking and they only announce the top 5 female and the top 5 male based on none academic category. None of our parents would say anything if we do not make it on the list. If we do make it, they would be happy. If we don't, they would simply think of it as just a childish ranking."

"Childish?"

"That is because the top six are called 4 queens, 4 kings, an Emperor and an Empress. There are even fan club for each of them. I just join the fan club this morning on the student portal." The girl took out her phone and show her friend her membership number. Other students who listen to their conversation also took their phone out to check the website of the fan club on their student portal. When they got on the website, there was an introduction of the ranking system on the homepage. The students read the information scrolled down and saw pictures of this year's candidate with a description underneath it. When they clicked on a person, it led them to another website full of videos, pictures, and reasons why they got selected. In less than 5 minutes, all of the students in the hall join the fan club.

From the crowd, a male student who seemed to be an exchange student stood out from the crowd. Of course, without a doubt, he would stand out as his height is 187cm. However, it's not just his height that made him the centre of their attention, his proportion, face, his aura and especially his uniform. The uniform he was wearing is the uniform of the top 1 most prestigious high school in the continent and the world!! He was also a part of the crowd. He was standing there quietly listening to the conversation.

"OMG, I just fell in love with our Emperor and did you see the Empress???? She's so beautiful and talented! WOW!" the girl exclaimed and those were around them didn't mind as they, themselves, were also awestruck. After scrolling for a while the girls reach a profile that got no picture on it. She clicked on it and it shows just a little bit of information only unlike the other profile.

"Eh? Who is this? Why is there no picture of her? There's not much justification on how she was chosen to be one of the queens?" The other students around her were also puzzled. By now, they somehow stand close to the two girls and is now openly joined into their conversation. The two girls were startled for a bit when they realized that everyone has been listening to their conversation but the two of them soon recovered.

"This is top secret so everyone please come closer." As she said this she signal everyone to move closer and started to lower down her voice. "The ranking was decided by the student council meaning the school has nothing to do with it. The student council picked her because her accomplishment is only something that is only known to students. This is only known between us students so please promised that we don't spread this out to the teachers or parents." She paused and look at other students to make sure that they promised her this and until she was satisfied with the response only then she continued. "She's the legendary matchmaker, Wu Ai Qing aka. Queen of heart. Every student she helped found love and ended up with their soulmates. So far, none of them breaks up yet. According to her, it's guaranteed that none of them will."

"Eh... I don't believe in that sort of stuff. How are you so sure that these couples won't break up? Also, she's just a high school girl."

"Apparently, she is started this for about 5 years now so you can say that she is experienced. She is extremely smart too. When it comes to science and technology, the Queen of Heart is second only to our Emperor, Wu Xia Ping. I really don't know the full detail but Luna can explain this better since the Queen helped her sister and brother-in-law together."

"Wait - she's the one who brought the two whom everyone in the country said a match made from heaven!"

"They announced their wedding date a month ago and it was still the talk of the city."

"Is Luna here yet? I am really curious."

"She has an appointment this morning. She'll be here at lunchtime. We can find her at lunchtime. I heard the Queen run a school club too and it is secretly when she run consultants and help people. Do you guys want to meet at the end of the school? My homegroup is 10E. We can meet at my homegroup and go to the club room together if any of you are interested."

The exchange student who was also in the crowd look interested. As the students slowly sparsed out, a girl with a jasmine scent walked passed him. She has her earphone on so she couldn't hear what was happening. Out of nowhere, the wind presents itself past the surrounding. The hair of the girl in front of him rustles as the wind makes its way passed it. For a split second, he saw a birthmark on her next behind her right ear. The birthmark strangely resembled a butterfly. As he tried to take another look at it, the wind has stopped blowing and her long silky dark brown hair as already blocked the mark. From his observation, the girl is most likely a senior student from this school.

"Zhen Kang! Where were you?" a girl with a bright and bubbly personality called out. When the boy saw the girl there was a hint of annoyance and irritation in his eye. The girl promised him that she would be his guide around the school but suddenly when somewhere else without telling him.

"Wasn't it you who left me behind? I really don't understand why I have to transfer to this school because of you, Li Bai Hua."

"It wasn't because of me. It was because of your poor grade."

"You actually believed what grandpa said? Do you really think it was because of my grade? For your information, I could easily get first place if I want to."

"But you didn't."

"I said, if I want to, not if I did or not!"

In the meantime, it wasn't just ZhenKang who look at the mysterious girl. There were other students who's sight were on her too. Her skin was pale, however, it was not ghostly pale. Her skin is, nevertheless, flawless. Even with an oval framed glasses, her beauty can not be contained. Her dark brown pupil was as clear as a droplet of water. The girl was also around 170 cm tall and her proportion was every girl's dream. Who would've actually guessed her secret?

Little did they know, the girl was no one else other than the main topic of the conversation, Wu Ai Qing, the love queen.

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Author's rambling (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Hope you enjoy. The editor is a friend of mine. She can't help me that often as she is extremely busy. Hence, I will be the one who edits the story most of the time. Usually, it's harder to edit your own work than to edit others'. I am seriously inexperience so I hope you won't mind with the errors I made.