Rong Yi looked around but did not see Fan Xingze’s figure.
Her desk mate was suddenly called by the teacher to answer a question, she anxiously tugged at her sleeve: “Rong Yi! Help me out here!”
Only then did Rong Yi notice that she was wearing loose school uniform—perhaps it should not be called loose, but rather that she had become smaller in size, only about 1.6 meters, her body had not developed, flat as a board, resembling her high school physique.
Perhaps upon entering the scene and hearing the lesson, she subconsciously thought about wearing her school uniform, luckily, she was not wearing a swimsuit exposed to the whole class.
Her desk mate was her high school seatmate, under this familiar control, she answered the question on the paper pointed out by her desk mate without thinking: “Choose d.”
The desk mate followed suit, although they answered correctly, their exchange was noticed by Teacher Lao Wang, the class teacher and math teacher, on the platform.
Fortunately, Lao Wang was an understanding teacher with good relationships with the students, he wouldn’t embarrass students over such minor matters, just chuckling and saying, “See, maintaining good relationships is crucial, it’s a lifesaver at crucial times!”
The classmates chuckled knowingly, the desk mate blushing sat down and softly thanked Rong Yi.
“Ring, ring, ring—” The bell rang, Lao Wang casually threw the chalk and picked up his textbook and triangle ruler, announcing, “Class dismissed!”
Rong Yi immediately left the classroom, looking around for Fan Xingze’s figure.
Someone patted her back, turning around, she saw a thin boy with messy hair looking at her seriously.
Rong Yi burst into laughter, pointing at the layers of thick-bottomed bottle glasses on the boy’s face: “Haha, Fan Xingze! You’re so small!”
Fan Xingze pushed up his glasses, trying to straighten his bean sprout-like figure, “What are you laughing at? You’re quite flat now too.”
Intentionally standing beside him, Rong Yi gestured their heights—surprisingly, Rong Yi was slightly taller.
“Enough!” Fan Xingze pushed her gesturing hand down. Rong Yi looked around and realized that although this place was similar to the high school in Seven Nights Strange Tales, the NPCs from that copy didn’t appear here, instead, it was her former high school classmates.
“Fan Xingze,” Rong Yi said seriously, “You can simulate all your classmates, it’s impressive. But why can you simulate all my classmates as well? Have you ever thought why?”
“Oh dog’s western shoes! You secretly admired me for three years and came to my class every day!” Fan Xingze pushed his glasses, “Because I’m a genius.”
Rong Yi: “Alright.”
Leaning on the corridor railing, Fan Xingze watched the classmates running and playing football in the playground, “This is the last scene, time will be longer. I have set automatic awakening here, so no need to worry about time.”
“The realism in this level will be stronger than the previous ones, be careful not to get hurt,” he smiled, “But what kind of harm can you get in school? I considered this and made this level the deepest, safety is hard to guarantee on a snowy mountain or at sea.”
Thinking about the classroom situation, Rong Yi said, “You’ve done a detailed job with this scene, the interaction with NPCs is great, very realistic.”
Proudly, Fan Xingze raised his head, “You find it realistic because we are in the third-level scene, the perception of reality has reached a high level, it’s hard to distinguish between reality and virtual scenes; also because this place has appeared most frequently in my dreams, so the details are rich. So when doing it, it was very—” Fan Xingze was momentarily stunned by the dazzling sunlight, stuttering halfway through his sentence.
“What’s going on? Feeling comfortable?” Rong Yi continued from where he left off, looking in the direction he was staring at. “What are you looking at?”
The dazzling sunlight momentarily stunned her, leaving her mind blank for a few seconds. When Rong Yi regained her senses, she realized she was standing in the corridor chatting with her classmate and good friend Mo Yuning.
“…So are you free to come to my house after school this afternoon?” Mo Yuning stared at her, “What are you daydreaming about?”
Confused, Rong Yi asked, “…Wasn’t I just talking to you?” How come she remembered it as though she was talking to—someone else?
Mo Yuning pouted, hands on her hips, “You’re daydreaming way too much, sis! Oh, at least humor me even if you’re daydreaming! Ugh, I’m not even in a relationship, yet I have to endure being neglected and brushed off like this, what did I do to deserve this suffering!”
Rong Yi quickly pacified her friend, agreeing to go to her house in the evening to do homework together and treating her to skewers, eventually returning Mo Yuning’s forgiveness with a smile.
Daydreaming in broad daylight to this extent was truly unlike her usual self. Probably due to the upcoming monthly exams, she reasoned that she was just too tired from reviewing. Rong Yi reassured herself this way: she’d ask her mom to cook pigeon soup to nourish herself when she got home.
“Fang Xingze! You’re the only one who hasn’t paid this month’s class fee!”
The class monitor tapped on his desk, adjusting the two stripes on his sleeves, “You’re lacking class honor this way!”
Fang Xingze raised his confused eyes, suddenly unable to remember what he was doing just a moment ago. Frantically searching his clothes pockets—empty; trouser pockets—empty; in his school bag—within the pages of his textbook exam, he found a crumpled five-dollar bill.
That was all the money he had on him.
His stomach growled; it was now the third period in the morning, and the bun he had for breakfast couldn’t hold him any longer.
At sixteen or seventeen, during the time when boys were growing rapidly, parents tried various ways to provide their children with proper nutrition.
Ironically, he came from a wealthy family; who would believe he couldn’t afford a full meal?
Clutching the five dollars in his hand, he shyly said, “I… I forgot my money today, can I give it to you tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows are there! Ah, it’s been three days, you keep using this excuse on me every day, is there a bug in your system here?” The class monitor, in a peculiar tone, raised his voice, drawing the attention of classmates around. They looked at Fang Xingze, pointing and whispering among themselves.
Fang Xingze had no interest in hearing what they were saying; it couldn’t be anything good.
After a round of public reprimand, the class monitor finally left his seat. Fang Xingze let out a sigh of relief.
After a fallout with his mother, his allowance was cut off, even the housekeeper was instructed not to cook for him. This was the second month of going hungry; he felt he was starting to understand the survival rules of poor students. And… he could survive.
He could endure, but never compromise.
This was a fifteen-minute break, with the bustling corridor outside, sunlight streaming in as if there were no shadows.
The girl with a high ponytail looked beautiful, leaning on her friend’s shoulder, promising to work on homework together at her place that night, treating her to skewers. A mischievous smile appeared on her friend’s face, seemingly pleased about something.
Their smiles, like sunlight, stung Fang Xingze’s eyes. He lowered his head, silently reviewing his lessons.
Numbers, logic, formulas. These universal truths treated everyone in the world equally.
Though classmates would jokingly say, “I love learning, learning makes me happy,” for Fang Xingze, learning not only made him happy but also made him forget his hunger.
He made it through the fourth-grade political class by cramming, then followed the crowd to the cafeteria.
Different from others who rushed with their meal cards, he had emptied his backpack in advance and wore it on his back.
However, while others lined up at the favorite food windows, discussing whether to choose the today’s special covered rice or clay pot dishes, he was the first to dash to the big bucket of free refilled rice. Ignoring the puzzled look of the lunch aunt, he ordered three bowls of rice, then went to the free clear soup with scattered egg and vegetable leaves and got two bowls.
These five bowls on the stainless steel tray, along with the pickled vegetables he bought earlier for five cents a pack, made up his sumptuous lunch for today.
Nutrition was no longer his concern. He only focused on eating enough.
He indeed felt full; the carbohydrates filled his hungry stomach, giving energy to his brain.
Since he didn’t have to wait in line, he quickly finished his lunch every day at noon in the cafeteria. Then he wandered around, spotting classmates’ leftover drink bottles which he swiftly grabbed and put in his backpack.
He was quite skilled at this; nonchalantly and effortlessly, he even didn’t need to linger near the tables. Like a gust of wind, he swiftly collected the coveted drink bottles unnoticed by the cafeteria staff.
“Huh?” When he turned around momentarily while talking to Rong Yi and Mo Yuning, he found that the last sip of his 7 Up was gone.
Mo Yuning exclaimed, “Looks like you’ve encountered a bottle thief!”
Rong Yi had also heard of this mysterious cafeteria bottle thief, who often took away finished drink bottles left by others, saving them the trouble of disposal. It could be considered a somewhat justifiable theft.
“But I still had a sip left!” Striving for perfection in everything, Rong Yi didn’t like leftovers, feeling uneasy about having that one sip of drink remaining.
The brief lunchtime incident was soon forgotten by her. Rong Yi and Mo Yuning returned to the classroom chatting and laughing, continuing with their day of nap, classes, quizzes, dismissal, going home together, like the flow of habits naturally leaving the body, yet feeling like a blocked passage for a while, unfamiliar yet natural.
As Rong Yi gazed at the brilliant sunset, she had a moment of realization and shared her feelings with Mo Yuning. Mo Yuning, munching on a snack, backpack hanging over her elbow, walked in a backward manner: “Teenage feelings are always poetic; the hormones of adolescence can make you have dreamlike feelings. Can’t believe I’m telling you this. Ahhhh—I really want to fall in love!”
Rong Yi didn’t feel the urge to fall in love. She had interacted with many boys, some expressing interest, but her feelings towards them were not much different from her female friends.
Embracing? Kissing? She couldn’t even imagine such physical contact. She had no longing for it either.
She took a bite of Mo Yuning’s snack, pondering, “I think it’s because of the upcoming monthly exams, more revision, less exercise. Hey, how about going mountain climbing this weekend?”
“No way!” Mo Yuning yelled and jumped up, “Shopping! Singing! Amusement park! Why climb a mountain on weekends like old folks? We’re two young girls in our prime!”
“… I’m sorry, but today I only have five yuan…”
In the dim alley, a timid plea from a boy was heard.
“Haha! Five yuan? The scion of the Fan family’s group has such a small allowance. Who would believe that?” Four high schoolers wearing uniforms from the neighboring vocational school, with colorful feathers in their hair, stood in front of Fan Xingze.
Fan Xingze clenched the bills in his hand. He had just sold the plastic bottles for six yuan and seven cents at noon, adding to today’s five yuan. He could have had meat and vegetables for tomorrow’s lunch… He knew it was a crucial time for growing taller; he was tired of his frail body and was determined to improve his nutrition to grow quickly and strong, so no one could bully him!
He gritted his teeth, “Really, I have nothing. I had a falling out with my family, and I’m broke now. If you don’t believe me, you can go to my house and ask.”
These unruly delinquents didn’t listen to his reasons. The leader with red hair and acne-covered face sneered, “Mumbling nonsense? Looks like we haven’t beaten you enough.”
After saying that, he gestured to his brothers, “Let’s go! Beat him up and get some cash!”
They rushed over laughing, and Fan Xingze, as usual, squatted down in place, tightly clutching his neck.
It’s okay. He told himself, it’s not the first time anyway, just a beating, he would get through it.
Just like hunger, like his mother’s anger, like the indifference at home… endure it, and it will be fine.
After all, he was always good at enduring.
“What are you doing!”
The expected pain didn’t come. Instead, a clear voice rang out, “Ningning, call the police, there are people here trying to rob us.”
The delinquents stopped, turned to look.
Fan Xingze opened his eyes to see through the gap between them, a beautiful girl with a high ponytail holding a mop like a warrior blocking the alley, the setting sun casting a brilliant golden border behind her.
She seemed to have descended from the heavens.
The delinquents were initially intimidated by “calling the police,” but soon, the experienced red-haired leader sneered, “Play hero? Call the police! We are all minors. At most, the police will just educate us. Let me tell you, I know the station better than you!”
Mo Yuning nervously waved her phone and shouted, “I, I already called the police! They will be here soon! If you’re afraid, then leave now!”
“Ha! Afraid? Let me tell you, it takes at least five minutes for the police to come from the nearest station. Do you think these five minutes are enough for you two girls to scare us away?”
Fan Xingze’s heart pounded! He had been extorted by these people countless times, seen by passersby more than once.
But this was the first time someone came to rescue him.
She was just a girl, though she looked fierce, how could she be a match for four teenage boys?
“…You can go.” He mustered the courage to shout to the girl with the high ponytail, “I’m, I’m fine…”
“Fine?” She laughed in disbelief, “Look at you, so scared, tears are coming out.”
Fan Xingze instinctively touched his eyes—his hand was covered in cold sweat, but there were no tears.
When he looked up again, he saw her swinging the heavy mop in her hand as if wielding an unstoppable halberd—a indescribable scent accompanied her brisk movements, spreading through the alley like a gust of wind.
Mo Yuning covered her nose.
Fan Xingze covered his nose.
Red hair covered his nose.
All four delinquents covered their noses.
Rong Yi had already foreseen the situation and had pulled up the zipper of his school uniform and raised the collar to cover his mouth and nose.
She frowned slightly, holding the mop covered with who knows what from the temporary public restroom, took on an attacking posture against the delinquents, “You’re not leaving? Have any of you heard of this famous saying.”
The red-haired boy was intimidated by her stance, “W-what saying?”
Rong Yi: “…with a mop stained with shit, invincible!”
Author’s Note: Rong Yi’s unconventional approach to problem-solving was developed during her school days.
