Her long, dark, and smooth hair cascaded lazily over her shoulders. Ye Chuqing walked a dozen paces behind Fang Qingze, quiet, unhurried, and steady.
As male classmates passed by, some glanced at her once before instantly looking away and pretending to be nonchalant, though their persistent sideways glances and turning heads completely betrayed them.
Yet others were thick-skinned and bold enough to stare right at her with unblinking gazes.
Yet Ye Chuqing paid them not the slightest attention; her eyes remained fixed the entire time on the slender figure walking ahead.
Fang Qingze exited his chat interface with their homeroom teacher and looked up at the pinned chat labeled "Uncle Zhang's BBQ". He tapped it and typed out a message:
"Uncle Zhang, class is over. I'm heading to the shop now."
Before he had even taken a few steps, his phone vibrated with an incoming voice message.
Fang Qingze looked down and tapped to play it: "Got it! It's pretty busy today, so come on over early."
"Alright, I'll be there soon."
No sooner had he sent the reply than a notification pop-up from his homeroom teacher appeared right at the top: "Understood, make sure you stay safe."
Fang Qingze glanced at it, tapped it, and replied with an "OK" sticker.
He checked the time in the top-left corner of his phone: 5:20 PM. Not too late yet.
Walking from the school to Old Zhang's BBQ shop took only about twenty minutes, and his shifts were from Monday to Friday, six o'clock to nine-thirty every evening.
Arriving at the school gates, he flashed his pass to the security guard.
In fact, the guard had already opened the gate for him as he approached. The school operated under a closed-campus management system, and there were very few day students.
Those who went home to eat at this hour had already left, and those who had finished eating hadn't returned yet, leaving the area virtually free of students.
Fang Qingze happened to be one of the very few students in the entire school who didn't have to attend evening self-study. He was also tall and handsome, making him quite easy to recognize.
Fang Qingze offered a word of thanks and stepped out through the school gates.
The moment he stepped outside, his attention was caught by a black sedan parked by the roadside.
He wasn't particularly knowledgeable about cars, so he couldn't tell the model, but he recognized the emblem: the two "M"s encased in a triangle standing proudly on the hood told him loud and clear that this was a Maybach.
Now that's a luxury car!
Fang Qingze sighed in admiration inwardly, wondering which young master or young miss from the school owned this ride.
No. 7 High School ranked first among the eighteen high schools in City Number Seven, drawing countless proud favorites of heaven.
Naturally, it housed quite a few children of the elite and wealthy—whether they got in on their own merit was another matter entirely.
Owning a luxury car, whether a sedan or a sports car, was practically the dream of every young man's heart.
Fang Qingze was no exception. He too had fantasized about the days when he would drive luxury cars and live in a mansion; hadn't he studied hard all these years precisely for that?
Youths were always full of rosy fantasies about the future. Yet, some things—if you were simply not born with them—would you ever truly have them down the road?
In this era, human civilization and order had barely recovered for less than a century thanks to the Federation's relentless efforts, and most of the technology from the old world had been lost.
Over the past century, even with comprehensive scientific and technological development relying on excavated historical documents from the old world, progress remained stunted.
Hampered by a restricted sphere of activity and limited resources available for the Federation to mine, overall technology had only recovered to about eighty percent of pre-catastrophe levels.
The only things that seemed to far surpass the old era were city defense mechanisms and various military armaments.
In this day and age, basic survival and sustenance were still problems for ordinary people. Within City Number Seven, owning a home of one's own was a rare luxury, let alone an even scarcer luxury car.
And outside the cities, the world beyond the high walls was fraught with danger. Although the number of Desolate Beasts had dropped by ninety percent compared to several centuries ago, no convoy dared travel between cities without Federation security escorts, let alone live in the Wilderness.
Without breaking his stride, Fang Qingze glanced a few times more as he passed the Maybach. A scenario from some old-world novel suddenly popped into his head:
School lets out. A young master named Long Aotian walks out the school gates with his hands in his pockets, a five-figure designer shoulder bag slung over his back.
The security guard eagerly opens the gate for him, while a dozen luxury cars and sports cars wait lined up outside.
Mercedes-Maybachs, Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bugattis, and so on...
Flanking each luxury car stand two burly men in black suits and dark sunglasses.
Several bodyguards and a butler in a tailcoat step forward.
The butler takes the young master's backpack and bows respectfully. "Young master, dinner is being prepared. Everything you love to eat is on the menu."
Without looking back, the young master lets out a lazy hum. One of the bodyguards uses one hand to pop the scissor door of a super sports car.
Once the young master climbs inside, the car engines roar, and the convoy speeds away from the school...
Fang Qingze chuckled softly. He suddenly realized he did share one thing in common with that so-called young master:
The security guard would actively open the school gate for him.
Though the nature of it was different, the result was still the same!
Shifting his gaze forward, he walked past the black Maybach without a single trace of lingering attachment.
Luxury cars and young masters and all that... were temporarily none of his business.
As for him, he was an outstanding young man of the new era. Not only could he earn his own living starting at age fourteen, but he also excelled at his studies.
Even in a high school as intensely competitive as No. 7 High School, he managed to consistently rank in the top five of his grade year after year.
Walking along the water-absorbing brick pavement by the road, red and yellow tiles alternated.
The amber-orange rays of the sunset spilled over his fair and sharply defined face. Squinting slightly, Fang Qingze reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his earphones.
He sighed. The earphone cord, which had been neatly wrapped just a moment ago, was now tangled into a hopeless knot...
After fussing for half a day, Fang Qingze ultimately gave up.
He failed to untangle the cord, but he managed to pull one of the earbuds free from the knot. Whatever, it didn't matter; he only planned to wear one side anyway.
The piano intro began to play, and Fang Qingze instantly felt his whole body relax.
"It's a kind of blue melancholy~
I wake up on a desolate Earth,
New York sits in a corner of the ocean floor,
And sunlight turns the earth into a desert.
........."
This was a song he loved very much. Although the old era had been destroyed in a catastrophe, many of its creations had been remarkably well-preserved thanks to the Federation's efforts, including countless musical tracks.
The roar of an engine sounded beside his ear. Fang Qingze looked back to see that the black Maybach had started moving at some point.
As it was about to pass him, Fang Qingze subconsciously stepped a bit further inward. The flood control work in this area wasn't very good, and there were quite a few puddles along the roadside; he didn't want to get splashed.
Yet the black Maybach deliberately slowed its speed, only accelerating again after it had overtaken Fang Qingze.
Fang Qingze let out an immediate sigh of relief, silently wanting to give the driver a thumbs-up—you deserve to drive a luxury car.
"New Earth, that's what they call it,
Faces without smiles, speaking in a foreign tone,
New Earth, they are so proud,
Yet their eyes dart away, intentionally or not
......"
The sound of the engine faded as the Maybach drove into the distance, and the song wrapped around Fang Qingze's ears once more.
Ye Chuqing sat in the backseat of the Maybach, her face pressed against the car window, watching the receding figure without blinking an eye.
The woman in the driver's seat wore a formal suit and possessed striking good looks.
Her eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses were bright and sharp, her demeanor extraordinary, giving off a very mature and steady vibe.
Glancing through the rearview mirror at the young girl in the back, she followed the girl's gaze, her brows knitting together slightly.
That boy by the roadside was certainly good-looking, with clean and refined features. Wait a second! Could it be... was her little Qing fond of him? Running off to study at No. 7 High School out of nowhere—could it be because of him?
And right when the car was about to pass that boy, why had she specifically blurted out, "Sister Xu, drive a bit slower"?
She wasn't just letting her imagination run wild; after more than a decade together, Ye Chuqing certainly knew her driving habits. Even without being told, she would have naturally slowed down.
"Little Qing?" Xu Wenjuan watched Ye Chuqing, who was practically plastered against the rear windshield, and after a moment of thought, decided to speak up.
"Ah? What is it, Sister Xu?" Ye Chuqing hurriedly pulled her head back, sat up straight, and fixed her eyes on the tablet mounted on the seat back in front of her.
Her expression was slightly tense, like a cat caught red-pawed stealing a dried fish. She sneaked a glance toward the driver's seat and found Xu Wenjuan watching her through the rearview mirror.
"Who was that on the side of the road just now?"
"A normal classmate!" Ye Chuqing replied with crisp certainty. "He sits behind me in class. I was just checking to see if the water splashed on him."
"..."
Hearing this, Xu Wenjuan looked at her slightly nervous little expression and let out a faint inner sigh, deciding not to press further.
She didn't believe for a second that it was as simple as a normal classmate, but since Ye Chuqing wasn't willing to talk, she wouldn't pry.
Still, looking at it this way—asking me to slow down—was it really out of fear that water would splash the boy? Or just to steal a couple more glances?
"Your mother called today. The 'Pathfinders' team is already on their way back," Xu Wenjuan proactively changed the subject. "They should be back in City Number Seven in about two days."
"Ah?" Ye Chuqing froze for a moment. As the conversation shifted to serious business, her inner tension quickly subsided. "How did it go? Did they find anything?"
"Communications-wise, your mother said the team found some materials inside Laboratory 13 of 'Relic 103'."
Xu Wenjuan paused, observed the expression on Ye Chuqing's face, and continued, "It's related to the 'Transcendent Gene Serum'."
"Transcendent Gene Serum?" Ye Chuqing was startled. "Have they managed to produce any research results from the materials they found this time?"
"Yes. Aside from the data," Xu Wenjuan narrowed her eyes, "the team also recovered three sealed, well-preserved vials of serum."
"Intact serum?" Ye Chuqing's pupils constricted slightly. "What are the effects of this serum?"
"Not entirely sure," Xu Wenjuan shook her head. "However, based on the documents found at the site, it should be related to 'Transcendent Activation'.
It's supposed to give people a certain probability of awakening transcendent abilities, but we'll have to wait until the team returns for the specifics."
"Also, about your transfer to No. 7 High School, I've already spoken with your parents." At this, her tone turned somewhat serious.
Ye Chuqing's breathing hitched, and her voice carried a trace of nervousness: "Wh-what did they say?" Transferring schools on her own authority without discussing it with her parents first...
"They didn't blame you." Well, that scared her! Xu Wenjuan couldn't help letting out a laugh. "Your parents said: you're growing up, and you can make your own decisions about many things, let alone a minor matter like transferring schools."
Ye Chuqing let out a breath of air, then pouted in slight dissatisfaction. "Sister Xu, you scared me again~"
Driving the car, Xu Wenjuan wore a happy smile, then casually spoke up again: "Still, they are quite curious as to why you suddenly decided to transfer."
"Uh, I-I just thought No. 7 High School is so prestigious, and I can test better there." Ye Chuqing lowered her head, her fingers interlocked, her thumbs spinning in endless circles.
Is that so?
Xu Wenjuan smiled, noncommittal, and added mildly, "However, as for your renting an apartment outside, we'll still need to wait until they return to make a final decision."
She thought once more of the boy by the roadside. No big deal—if there really were some scoundrel kid harboring ill intentions and daring to lay eyes on their little Qing, she, Xu Wenjuan, would show him a taste of her palm strike to keep him in line!
The Maybach grew further and further away. Fang Qingze cast a casual glance at the license plate on the rear. Against the glare of the light, he could vaguely make out "Qi A" followed by a string of digits ending in "8", before his gaze shifted to the backseat of the Maybach.
Perhaps the sunlight was a bit too blinding, as Fang Qingze suddenly lowered his head, staring down at his white canvas sneakers stained with water droplets and dust.
His long hair cast a shadow over his eyes, revealing only his thin lips and high-bridge nose, hiding his expression entirely.