“Wooo~~♪”

After the final part of her performance, the radiant Xia Yuan, holding her skirt, jumped down from the stage to be caught by Mei Fang who was waiting below. Both Lin Youxi and Mei Fang then congratulated her.

“You did amazing!”

But Xia Yuan’s response seemed somewhat disheartened:

“Stop comforting me. My solo guitar performance on stage is really lame.”

“Clearly, as a total beginner, I was so ambitious to attempt a solo guitar performance. I’m really overestimating my abilities…”

“You’re not overestimating yourself. Did you see how enthusiastic the applause was from the audience below the stage?”

“And also…you sitting cross-legged at the end to play ‘Remembrance of Lanshan’ was simply the crowning touch. I saw everyone listening so attentively, completely immersed in your emotions.”

“Ehehe… that’s because the lyrics written by Ah Fang were good. While playing, I got immersed in it too.”

As Xia Yuan spoke, she held Lin Youxi’s hand again. “If you were the one singing this song, Youxi, you would have more emotions and it would be more suitable.”

Lin Youxi smiled and shook her head. “I think you’re great, you can represent me perfectly. I could never reach your level if I sang it myself.”

“No way… if we have the chance, we should perform together on stage. Remember? We used to rehearse together in elementary school and we said we would perform together.”

“Of course, I remember. That was when we started using nicknames for each other.”

“So, you know, the things that we didn’t do in elementary school, we can fulfill it now in high school——”

“Sure,” Lin Youxi didn’t refuse Xia Yuan’s invitation. “As long as you invite me, I will definitely accompany you.”

Mei Fang, satisfied, watched the two girls embrace each other. Then, upon Xia Yuan’s invitation, he joined them to take commemorative photos around various spots on Jiangcheng NOHS’s campus while still in her performance attire.”

After getting Xia Yuan’s permission, Mei Fang, under the identity of an ordinary C Site member with the username 【Heaven Defying Little Fang Fang】, uploaded the over six-minute video of Xia Yuan’s performance to C Site.

Although Lin Youxi had done her best to film it, she was not a professional, so the video quality was average and Xia Yuan’s image was slightly blurry.

Fortunately, Xia Yuan’s performance and singing were perfectly captured in the video, with only minimal background noise during the performance. Just a few minutes after uploading, bullet comments started pouring in, and it also received “one click, three strikes”[1].

【Yuan Yuan is so cool!】

【I love Yuan Yuan the most!】

Mei Fang glanced at the flooding user IDs, noticing one named 【Snow of Penglai】, with a non-mainstream-style profile picture of a girl’s silhouette. Undoubtedly, it was Xia Yuan’s middle school friend, Peng Xue.

When did Peng Xue discover my ID…

After the summer camp closing ceremony, the school also announced the class assignments on its official website.

To reduce their academic pressure in high school, better manage extracurricular activities, and enjoy high school life, Mei Fang, Xia Yuan, and Lin Youxi all chose parallel classes as their first-choice class type before the class placement exam.

After the class placements were announced yesterday, Mei Fang, Xia Yuan, and Lin Youxi were assigned to Class 3, Class 5, and Class 11, respectively.

Lin Youxi took advantage of her top 10 ranking in the graduation and special county students exams to proactively request a transfer to Class 5, where Xia Yuan was placed. Although it might only be one year together in the same class, it could be considered as fulfilling their wish of being in the same class.

On September 1st, Jiangcheng NOHS had its official opening day.

Early in the morning, Mei Fang was awakened by the continuous honking of cars outside the residential community. He got up and looked out of the window towards the direction of the school, only to find that the streets at the school gate were already congested with cars.

The school’s summer camp was mainly organized for county-level students, which meant that the number of classmates they would actually meet would be more than double the number during the summer camp.

After the school officially opened on September 1st, an additional 55% of local students from Jiangcheng and some county-level students who didn’t participate in the summer camp for various reasons would formally enroll.

Although Jiangcheng couldn’t compare to first-tier cities like the capital and Shanghai, it was still a provincial capital city, and the families of local students were obviously of a higher class.

The three of them, along with Liang Meijuan, came to the school to register. As they saw the vehicles coming and going, they could sense the difference.

Xia Yuan family’s Mercedes-Benz and Audi were relatively rare in Baimei County, so one could tell who was driving the car just by looking at it.

But in the eyes of the parents at this school, those cars were just relatively common.

Several new students walking ahead became excited when they saw luxury cars they had never seen before.

“Isn’t that a Rolls-Royce? I saw the little golden man.”

“What little golden man? That’s the Oscar. Rolls-Royce has the flying lady statue…”

Although she was the only adult among the four, it was still Liang Meijuan’s first time coming to the school alone with them.

Liang Meijuan naturally wasn’t more familiar with the campus than the three, who had already studied for a month in the summer camp. She would often get separated from the three due to the crowd of people along the way.

“Aunt Liang, let’s go this way.”

Seeing Liang Meijuan feeling a bit awkward, Lin Youxi took the initiative to step forward and hold her hand, and Xia Yuan followed suit, linking her other arm.

“Aunt Liang, let’s go to the new student registration area first. After completing the payment for tuition and uniforms, we can go directly to our classes.”

“Okay… Have you and Ah Fang brought enough money? If not, I have some extra…”

“We have enough, Aunt Liang!”

With Liang Meijuan’s arms held by the two on either side, she felt much more at ease and began to give various instructions to the trio.

“This is really a good high school. You must study hard and not waste such a good opportunity.”

“And you must help and support each other in this school. The three of you are children from Baimei County, and you are the pride of the people there.”

“In class, never feel inferior to others or keep any grievances to yourselves. Make sure to talk about it to someone…”

“If you feel that Auntie is not the right person to talk to, you can also have heart-to-heart talks among the three of you. After all, you’ve been together for 10 years.”

“Mhm! That’s right! But the classmates in our class are all nice, so we won’t be bullied…”

Although Liang Meijuan spoke about typical parental advice, everyone didn’t find it boring.

Liang Meijuan had an unfortunate past of enduring hardship only to be abandoned in the end. In the minds of these sensible children, she knew that besides telling these words to them, she was also speaking to herself.

After completing the registration procedures, everyone prepared to go to their respective classrooms. At this moment, Mei Fang had to temporarily part ways with the girls.

“Aunt Liang, you go and accompany Youxi and Yuan Yuan. I’ll be fine alone.”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine alone?”

“It’s okay, Aunt Liang. Ah Fang has always been mature since he was young. You don’t need to worry about him.”

Xia Yuan linked her arm with Liang Meijuan’s and said, “Later, I’ll take you on a tour of our teaching building. The scenery here is so beautiful. Last time, we couldn’t go in, which was a pity.”

“Ah… I’ll just take a casual look and go, just a casual look…”

Mei Fang was now in Class 3, while the girls were in Class 5. Although it was only one class in between, it meant a difference of one floor. If they wanted to meet during breaks, they had to descend or climb the stairs.

Although it was not as convenient as before, they would have more time together in school. After all, there was a long period of free time between the end of afternoon classes and the start of night self-study.

Although it is not as convenient as before, the time we can spend together in school will also increase, after all, the break time from the end of the afternoon class to the beginning of the night self-study is long.

Then after that, it’s time to go home.

But now, since school ends so late, going home actually means eating something, washing up, and going to bed. That doesn’t leave much time for work, so we have to wait until the weekend…

But on weekends, I still have to practice guitar, do homework, and spend time with Yuan Yuan and Youxi.

Damn, as a reborn person, why I didn’t get a “system”? It’s increasingly getting hard to manage my time anymore…

Just as Mei Fang was worrying about his future plans, he suddenly felt a strong tap on his shoulder from behind.

“Mei——Fang!”

The weight of this heavy tap on Mei Fang’s shoulder felt like a thousand pounds, and he felt like his shoulder blades were about to shatter.

The last time he received such a memorable tap on the shoulder was in fourth grade, given by Xia Yuan’s grandmother.

And now, at this moment, the powerful tap on his shoulder came from the hand of his deskmate from the summer camp, Xiang Bingbing.

“How is it that the two of us have such a fate? We’re in the same class again!”

“Be gentle, be gentle…”

“Ah, sorry, sorry… I was just too excited. Let me give you a little massage…”

“No need, no need!”

You’ll massage me to the point of breaking my bones, Sister Bingbing!

Xiang Bingbing smiled foolishly while scratching her head. Mei Fang glanced at her and asked, “Since your cast has been removed, is your fracture healed?”

“Mhm! Mhm!” Xiang Bingbing nodded. “it’s almost healed!”

Xiang Bingbing waved her left arm to demonstrate her recovery. “But, as the saying goes, ‘it takes a hundred days to heal a tendon or bone.’ I still can’t exert too much force with my left arm, but it’s so much better without the cast. You have no idea how stuffy and painful it was to sleep in the dorm…”

Mei Fang and Xiang Bingbing chatted about random topics for a while. Then, the students started arriving in the classroom and found their seats one by one.

Unlike the scene at the beginning of the summer camp, the students in the class formed groups as soon as they entered, and the local students immediately started chatting enthusiastically.

On the other hand, the students from other counties formed pairs or trios. It seemed like their enthusiasm had been used up unlike during the self-introduction at the beginning of the summer camp, and only a few, like Mei Fang and Xiang Bingbing, were still chatting lively.

“I noticed that the local students from Jiangcheng seem to know each other before entering the class.”

“Jiangcheng NOHS has a middle school campus. Many people might have come directly from there, so it’s normal for them to know each other in the same year.”

“I see…”

Xiang Bingbing expressed some concern, “I hope the local students won’t bully us.”

It’s possible for them to bully others, but it’s hard to believe they would bully someone like you…

However, since they all managed to get into this high school, even the local students would be the cream of the crop among local students.

Although there’s always a chance of encountering bad people in any environment, the possibility should be relatively low in this school.

At most, you’d come across some strange people——

Finally, someone took the empty seat next to Mei Fang. He was a thin boy, wearing glasses, and carrying a large bag that seemed full of stuff.

His attire looked quite “unique,” with flashy shoes and a T-shirt covered in various anime characters. The T-shirt even had a print saying, “1200 years old can’t easily call mother otherwise will be sduigaidbasjbqyu…”[2]

Wow, this guy is one of the rare otaku types that will be extinct by 2022!

Mei Fang was delighted as if he had discovered an endangered species that had already gone extinct in his previous life.

The boy had just sat down for a short while when he reached out his hand to greet Mei Fang.

“I’m Wan Chaoxiong.”

This guy’s name sounds too domineering…

“I’m Mei Fang. Where are you from?”

Mei Fang smiled and shook hands with him after learning that he was a local student from Jiangcheng. Mei Fang intended to chat with him a bit more, but Wan Chaoxiong suddenly interrupted.

“Wait, I’ll show you a big treasure.”

“A big treasure?”

Mei Fang watched as he took out a chubby orange cat from his bag.

What the! He brought a cat to school!

“The shape of its face… Is this cat Garfield?”

“Yes, it’s an exotic shorthair. This is our Bawang[3], help me hold him.”

Wan Chaoxiong stuffed Bawang into Mei Fang’s arms, and the cat didn’t seem shy at all. It just lay there in Mei Fang’s arms, not moving.

Xiang Bingbing in the back row saw the cat and immediately exclaimed excitedly, “Oh my goodness, you actually brought a cat to school!”

“This cat is so fat! My Ah Hua at home is already the fattest cat in our neighborhood, but this cat of yours is even fatter by several folds!”

“This is the normal body type for an exotic shorthair. Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand. Exotic shorthair just have big faces, but they’re not really that fat…”

“Mei Fang, let me hold him, let me hold him!”

“Oh, wait a moment, let me take a video first.”

Wan Chaoxiong took out his “kidney phone”, iPhone 4, and started recording a video of Bawang while also providing some commentary.

“Today is Bawang’s first day at Jiangcheng No.1 High School. Facing the challenges of a new environment, he appears quite calm, nyan~~”

Although Wan Chaoxiong’s conversation with Mei Fang and Xiang Bingbing was lukewarm, the voice he used during the video was extremely cute, causing Xiang Bingbing to cover her mouth and suppress her laughter.

After finishing the video recording, Xiang Bingbing curiously asked Wan Chaoxiong, “What are you doing? Are you an internet celebrity?”

“I’m a video uploader, a content creator! Blogs are a thing of the past. Sister, does your hometown just recently get internet access?”

“Hehe…” Xiang Bingbing felt a bit embarrassed, “We did get internet installed last year. After all, we’re in Shennongjia, and the internet speed is relatively slow.”

“Wow, you’re from Shennongjia? That’s awesome!”

After hearing this, Wan Chaoxiong immediately became interested in Xiang Bingbing. “For the next episode, I’ll interview you and explore the unsolved mysteries of Shennongjia’s wild people.”

“Come on, we don’t really have wild people there!”

Xiang Bingbing angrily pushed Wan Chaoxiong’s shoulder. Her push had the force of an avalanche. Wan Chaoxiong suddenly felt his whole shoulder bone dislocated, and he almost vomited blood and fell to the ground.

“I… I understand now… You… you’re the… legendary… wild person… from… Shennongjia…”

Mei Fang, while gently stroking the absent-minded Bawang, who seemingly watching Wan Chaoxiong’s over-the-top performance with a dull expression.

“So, where do you upload these videos now?” Xiang Bingbing asked curiously.

“Now? Of course, it’s on C Site. Do you know how influential C Site is?”

“C Site? I think I’ve only heard of A Site (AcFun)… Loituma Girl[4] and such.”

“What you’re referring to is N Site (Niconico)! A Site is already outdated; the realm danmaku video site now belongs to C Site!”

“Oh, it sounds impressive!”

Xiang Bingbing was very interested and asked, “Why is it considered impressive?”

“It’s impressive on various levels! Not only because of the strict membership system, the danmaku environment, and the extensive list of anime, but also because it’s completely ad-free!”

“They don’t even have those 60-second ads at the beginning? That’s really impressive, but how do they make money then?”

“Of course, it’s the site owner who generates revenue with their love and passion!”

Wan Chaoxiong started preaching like crazy, “The site owner of C Site, 【Mountain has Forest】, is rumored to be an incredibly wealthy and an Oppai loli princess. C Site owes its success entirely to her relentless efforts. Princess Lin is the light of C Site!”

“Wait, wait…”

Mei Fang, who had been listening on the side, couldn’t help but complain, “What the heck is ‘Oppai loli’? When did this rumor spread?”

“I don’t know either, but everyone says so! Well, that’s just the world of ACG! Hey, but it seems like you’re also interested in C Site?”

“Me…?” Mei Fang smiled faintly, “Just a casual interest.”

“Do you have an official membership? How many followers do you have? Let’s follow each other?”

“I don’t have many, just around six or seven.”

“No problem, that’s still impressive. What kind of videos do you mainly create?”

“Mainly guitar covers, both by myself and with my childhood sweetheart.”

Wan Chaoxiong bombarded Mei Fang with questions for a while, during which Mei Fang handed the cat over to Xiang Bingbing, who had been pulling on his back.

They only stopped the conversation when their homeroom teacher entered the room. Wan Chaoxiong quickly asked Xiang Bingbing to put the cat, Bawang, on the ground.

Although Bawang looked fat, it moved swiftly, and in a few steps, it slipped away from the teacher’s sight and sneaked out of the classroom.

“Aren’t you afraid the cat will get lost?” Xiang Bingbing asked curiously.

“Bawang has its own great journey,” Wan Chaoxiong replied, entering his chuuni mode again as he watched Bawang leave.

“When it gets tired of these clingy little female cats in the campus, he will return to me on his own.”

Mei Fang brutally added, “But I saw that Bawang has been neutered, so how is it possible?”

“Uh, yeah…”

Wan Chaoxiong trembled and pushed his glasses up, “But it’s Bawang, its imposing presence is enough.”

Translator's Notes:

  1. One click, three strikes – long-pressing the “Like” button triggers a triple function: like, marking as a favorite, and tipping. ↩︎
  2. I have no idea about the reference here. Probably Touhou? ↩︎
  3. “Bawang” means overlord; depending on the context, it can also be translated as “tyrant.” ↩︎
  4. Loituma Girl a.k.a. Leekspin: https://youtu.be/1wnE4vF9CQ4↩︎
  5. <!--Current Schedule: 6 chapters a week. Around 08:00 to 13:00 UTC.

    -->

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