Zhao Mingyue rarely used chat software to talk to others because she had no friends and no family. In her chat app, essentially no one except classmates would message her, and even her classmates didn’t reach out every day. Chatting once a week was considered a lot.
This was something Zhao Mingyue had told Bai Yu before. Considering her actual situation, it was indeed true.
However, during the day at the convenience store, Bai Yu noticed her frequently looking down at her phone, chatting with someone for quite a long time.
Bai Yu glanced at the sunny, handsome selfie of a young man on the profile picture, then vanished from the room.
Zhao Mingyue groggily opened her eyes. A snow-white, slender arm reached out from the blanket and grabbed her charging phone for a quick look. She half sat up. With her movement, the thin blanket slipped from her shoulder, and a strand of black hair fell down. She reached to tuck it behind her ear.
“It’s already eleven o’clock…”
Leaning against the headboard, she pulled the blanket up, but that smooth, snow-white shoulder remained exposed.
Bai Yu wanted to remind her, but then Zhao Mingyue tapped the phone screen, switching the video call to a voice call.
“Hello, Li Nan? What’s up?”
The person calling a girl like Zhao Mingyue for a video chat at eleven at night was named Li Nan. He was Zhao Mingyue’s deskmate. He was also the only one who chatted with her frequently, always initiating the contact. Even Lu Liangting didn’t have his frequency.
As soon as she finished speaking, a man’s voice came from the other end of the phone. It was that kind of deliberately strained voice, meant to sound “magnetic” but just coming off as awkward.
“So sorry to bother you this late. It’s like this, Mingyue, I’m moving soon, right? To the villa district in the City Center. I was just now tidying up the books on the shelf in my study when I found a book you lent me a while back. I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“Ah, look at my memory. This book’s been with me for two months, right? I completely forgot. As compensation, I’ll bring you a little gift at school tomorrow.”
“No thanks, just the book is fine.”
“I insist, don’t refuse. Just a small token of apology.”
“Really, it’s not necessary.”
“Mingyue, if you keep this up, I’ll be upset. We’re friends, aren’t we? It’s perfectly normal.” Li Nan heavily emphasized the word ‘friends’.
“I…”
“Alright, alright, it’s settled then. See you tomorrow, Mingyue~”
Click.
The other party hung up.
Zhao Mingyue opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end only sighed. She put her phone on the nightstand and burrowed back under the covers to sleep.
She was used to it. Li Nan was just like that, always liking to do these meaningless things.
Bai Yu didn’t reappear. Regarding the situation just now, she found it quite normal. With Zhao Mingyue’s figure and looks, it would be strange if no one at school chased after her. If not for her unique circumstances, where her free time was spent either working or on the way to work, even more people would be pursuing her.
After all, as the Female Lead of a School Romance Manga, this girl Zhao Mingyue’s charm was undeniable. Her lethality to young men was absolutely not small. If she dressed up a bit more, the Love Letters she received would probably overflow her desk.
The downside was that among the men chasing her, there would definitely be brainless ones. These simpletons were easy to deal with, but their existence often became a smokescreen for certain people lurking in the shadows.
“Bai Yu, look! Did my strength increase?! Are my arms thicker?!”
In the living room that morning, Zhao Mingyue, who had slept soundly, was brimming with energy. She had woken up at half past six. The very first thing she did after washing up was eagerly pull Bai Yu over and show off her slender arm, which showed no obvious muscle definition.
The reason was that upon waking that morning, she inexplicably felt much stronger.
Then she remembered the reward of [Strength+1] from successfully completing the Quest on the Black Phone yesterday. How could she not be happy?
“Strength+1 increases your strength by about ten percent of your original base. With good talent, it can be up to twenty percent. And in the future, the same strength enhancements will have a much weaker effect. Don’t celebrate too early.” Bai Yu, with her arm pulled by Zhao Mingyue, spoke expressionlessly.
Zhao Mingyue stopped, nodding thoughtfully. “Ten percent is still quite a lot, eh… Hmm… But the thickness of the arm doesn’t seem related to it.”
As she said this, she couldn’t help but glance at Bai Yu’s arm.
She compared them and confirmed that Bai Yu’s arm was even a bit thinner than her own. This girl was practically a doll come to life.
But when it came to pure strength, she still couldn’t beat Bai Yu.
“It’s fine, as long as I can improve my strength. Bai Yu, do you think if I keep completing Quests like this, one day I might surpass you in strength?”
Zhao Mingyue deliberately got very close to Bai Yu, leaning in with a grin. Her eyes held a bit of a mischievous, ill-intentioned look. It was hard not to suspect that her desire to surpass Bai Yu in strength might be for some peculiar reasons.
Bai Yu was 1.5 meters tall, while Zhao Mingyue was 1.7 meters.
Thus, there was a certain impression: Compared to Zhao Mingyue, Bai Yu really was like a little sister, and if anyone tried something strange with her, she could only do a pitiful ‘eep eep eep’.
Bai Yu said nothing and simply stepped into Zhao Mingyue’s Shadow.
At exactly seven o’clock in the morning, Zhao Mingyue left on time.
By the time she reached school, it was already half past seven. The distance from Sunshine Apartment to Zhao Mingyue’s “Linyang Private High School” wasn’t particularly far, but Zhao Mingyue’s mode of transportation wasn’t the best.
Today, Zhao Mingyue’s appearance was quite striking.
A black school uniform paired with a knee-length pleated skirt. Her calves were smooth and straight, her skin snowy white and fine. Below, she wore white stockings and brown Leather Shoes. Her shoulder-length short hair was casually tied back into a ponytail with a hairband behind her head, and a matching black rabbit-shaped hair clip adorned her forehead.
Honestly, it was a perfectly normal student outfit, just the girl’s school uniform. On someone else, this outfit would feel plain, at most making people think “youth is wonderful, the prime of one’s youth and beauty.” But on Zhao Mingyue, it gave off a completely different vibe.
She seemed to possess a kind of magic, drawing the gazes of everyone who passed by. Even in this world where innocence was often linked to scheming, it didn’t make people frown in disgust or think she was fake. Even the crudest person’s first reaction would be:
‘What a pure and lovely girl.’
Perhaps after that first reaction, certain people’s minds would cycle through various embarrassing poses involving Zhao Mingyue, and they’d sigh with regret, thinking: If I could only be that age again, I’d definitely…
Zhao Mingyue was long used to this feeling. Carrying her schoolbag, she returned to the Classroom.
The moment she entered, the first thing she saw was a red, heart-shaped box of Love Chocolate on her desk. A book was tied to the top with a pink ribbon.
At this hour, many students were already in class.
Zhao Mingyue didn’t go straight in. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, both because of the chocolate and because of the murmurs in the Classroom.
Yes, murmurs. Something that had never happened before. Today, several girls and guys were huddled together whispering about her. The moment they saw her enter the Classroom, they instantly shut their mouths, simply staring at her, pretending nothing was amiss.
