A new week began.
On Monday morning, when Qin Jiujiu arrived at the classroom, she was surprised to find that He Yi had arrived earlier than her for once.
He Yi was half-leaning against the windowsill, watching her sit down empty-handed. He tried to recall: lately, he had seen her drinking that carton of chocolate milk every day, from morning self-study all the way until the big break, but for the past two or three days she seemed to have stopped. He wondered if she had run out of money to buy it.
As he was mulling this over, with a thud, a carton of chocolate milk was placed on her desk. Fu Yu winked at her, and she picked it up and smiled back at him.
Seeing this scene, He Yi straightened up instantly and glared at Fu Yu. Fu Yu chuckled and gestured with his phone, signaling to chat on WeChat.
【Fu Yu】: Brother Yi, don't misunderstand. The other day when you played basketball, you lost a bet to the fairy and had to send a week's worth of milk, through Wednesday.
【He Yi】: What bet?
【Fu Yu】: A bet on whether that number 2 free throw would go in. I lost.
【He Yi】: Hm.
Fu Yu sneaked a glance behind him and saw that the two people back there were expressionless, each minding their own business. Figuring they definitely didn't know about the campus forum yet, he continued typing on WeChat.
【Fu Yu】: Let me show you something. The fairy has become famous on the campus forum. It happened over the weekend, and now it's been spread across several grade-wide major group chats and the school-wide major group chat.
【He Yi】: ???
【Fu Yu】: By the way, bro is lighting a candle for you first.
Fu Yu sent a link. He Yi tapped on it, and it opened the Qingshui No. 1 High School forum.
The pinned latest post on the forum: *Shocking! A stunning beauty suddenly spotted in the basketball hall, photos attached, begging for info online!*
Photo.jpg
Logically speaking, such an ancient way of spreading news as a campus forum wasn't very active anymore, but the likes and replies under this pinned post had already exceeded a thousand.
The photo was a straight-on shot of Qin Jiujiu sitting in the stands, watching the game intently. Everyone else around her had been blurred out.
The girl in the photo had an extraordinary presence, and her looks were striking enough to rival a female celebrity accidentally caught on camera.
Her pupils were exceptionally dark, and her gaze held no other emotion besides concentration—like a calm dark sea, beautiful and mysterious.
Because it was a candid snapshot, it caused a particular sensation. It was like something beautiful suddenly exposed to the sunlight, drawing a crowd of eager pursuers scrambling after it.
【Floor 1】: Exactly which class does this god-tier beauty belong to? Waiting online for her vital statistics, home address, and contact info...
【Floor 2】: Report! I know this one! She's the transfer student who just arrived this month in senior year!
【Floor 3】: She's a senior-year upperclassman. Since she's graduating soon, I won't have to worry about violating the school rules against puppy love.
【Floor 4】: Single? Single? Single? Asking three times because it's important.
【Floor 5】: Isn't our school belle also in senior year? Are they going to have a rematch?
...
【Floor 20】: Asking timidly, is she from this car? At the time, I was too excited seeing the Rolls, so I just snapped a random pic. I've been secretly drooling over it for half a month... Photo.jpg
【Floor 21】: Holy crap! Major score! Her family drives a Rolls! The chauffeur wearing white gloves opening the door for the young miss in novels has come to life!
【Floor 22】: Shock! This is the only time in my life I've seen a Rolls in Qingshui City. By extension, doesn't this beauty count as the richest person in Qingshui City?
...
【Floor 55】: Is it her? Is it her? I often see her coming and going from the girls' dormitory. No photo, but I have this picture! I mean, which high school equips student dormitories with a digital keypad lock? I heard it's even a single room... So full of envy, jealousy, and hatred! Photo.jpg
【Floor 56】: This is going too far! Is this really our school dorm??? Suddenly I feel like studying is completely pointless.
【Floor 57】: I think she's missing a boyfriend who can cry inside a Rolls. Do you guys think I look the part? I look pretty good when I cry. Storming-tears emoji.jpg
【Floor 58】: Show-offs, you guys go ahead if you can, I'm retreating to save my skin.
......
He Yi read through them one by one, saving all the exposure photos. He paused for a moment, staring silently at the photo of the chauffeur in white gloves opening the car door for the girl, and then sent it to Fu Yu.
【Fu Yu】: Yeah, these are the pictures. They've been circulating in all the major WeChat groups, so you should be able to see them too.
He Yi opened a few active school-wide major group chats with 99+ unread messages and scrolled up. Sure enough, especially the photo of the Rolls and the digital lock, they had even been turned into memes paired with all sorts of chūnibyō text.
He Yi looked at his phone until it felt like it was about to be crushed in his grip.
【Fu Yu】: Brother Yi, did you receive the candle I lit for you? Heaven treats you well—you get the ultimate difficulty setting right off the bat. Other people need money to date, but you need your life to date.
【Fu Yu】: Hugging emoji.jpg
He Yi didn't reply, nor did he have any mood to reply.