The murmurs and discussions on the playground quickly caught the attention of Qin Huai and the other two, who were resting nearby.
"Ye Qiuli is over here!"
Seeing Ye Qiuli looking around cautiously, Qin Huai waved and called out to him.
When he noticed Qin Huai and his friends standing not far ahead to his left, Ye Qiuli hurried over with a light jog.
"Are you feeling all right now?"
Qing Ke pulled Ye Qiuli down onto a folding camp stool and asked.
"I'm fine, Qing Ge! Will I get in trouble for sitting here later? This looks like the instructor's stool!"
Ye Qiuli glanced down at the small green camp stool he was sitting on and asked with a hint of trepidation.
"Of course not! Just rest for now. You can join the others for training this afternoon!"
Ye Long's deep voice rang out.
"Ah?! Oh, oh! Thank you, Instructor!"
Startled by the voice, Ye Qiuli turned his head, caught sight of Ye Long sitting on the ground, and gave a nervous start as he quickly thanked him.
He still remembered Ye Long's face from before he passed out—it was this very man who had saved his life!
"Don't be scared. Instructor Ye Long is a really good guy! He was the one who carried you to the medical station, too."
Li Nuo patted Ye Qiuli comfortingly on the shoulder.
The students in Geography Class 1 also poked their heads out, staring curiously at Ye Qiuli.
"Attention!"
At Ye Long's command, the students of Geography Class 1 snapped into formation instantly. Even Li Nuo, who had been talking to Ye Qiuli just a moment before, hurried back to his spot, leaving Ye Qiuli sitting awkwardly on the stool, completely at a loss.
"All right, everyone, you all performed wonderfully this morning! The head instructor just announced that the best-performing class can be dismissed ten minutes early!"
"Assemble here promptly at two-thirty this afternoon. Dismissed!"
"Whoa! The instructor is awesome!"
Following Ye Long's order of dismissal, the entire class cheered with delight.
The quiet playground was instantly filled with the joyful uproar of Geography Class 1!
"What are you looking at? The other class has already learned several movements by this morning, and you lot still can't even stand at attention properly!"
The instructor from the neighboring class berated his students.
Remarks like this were echoing across various classes before long.
...
"Ye Qiuli, come on, my treat! Let's go to Cafeteria No. 1. I hear the food there is the absolute best!"
Li Nuo grabbed Ye Qiuli, who was getting ready to head back to the dorms, and said.
"No, no! You don't have to treat me, Li Ge!"
Ye Qiuli hastily refused.
"Why are you being so polite? Your Li Ge is made of money!"
Qing Ke threw an arm around Ye Qiuli's shoulders and laughed.
And he wasn't exaggerating—Li Nuo's family ran quite a bit more than just small businesses back in Modu!
"Let's go, let's go. Before the others get dismissed, we can grab the first batch of hot food!"
"By the time our seniors finish their classes, there won't be any food left!"
Li Nuo gloated gleefully.
With that, the four of them went arm-in-arm toward Jing University's Cafeteria No. 1.
"Sister Jiang Ran, where are we going to eat?"
"Cafeteria No. 1!"
The tall, slender figure of a young woman walked slowly in a certain direction.
"But Sister Jiang Ran, don't you usually dislike eating at the cafeterias?"
"I like it now."
"Fine..."
...
"This is good, Ye Qiuli, try some of this!"
Li Nuo picked up a piece of braised pork belly from his own plate and put it onto Ye Qiuli's.
"I already have way too much! I can't finish all this!"
Looking at the mountain of food piled nearly ten centimeters high on his plate, Ye Qiuli said with a look of utter despair.
He had no idea what was wrong with his three roommates—they kept piling all their food onto his plate.
"Hehehe, look how skinny you are, Ye Qiuli. You need to eat more!"
"Yeah, exactly!"
...
"Sister Jiang Ran, are you taking a fancy to some little freshman? I have to admit, that guy with the glasses is pretty cute, too."
The girl sitting next to Jiang Ran whispered.
Just a moment ago, she had noticed that Jiang Ran, usually so cold and aloof, was actually staring in one direction in a daze.
"Eating isn't enough to keep that mouth of yours shut, is it?"
Jiang Ran picked up a chicken drumstick and shoved it straight into the mouth of the chatterbox beside her, replying coldly.
She *was* indeed looking at someone. She kept feeling like she had seen this person somewhere before!
About five or six minutes later, Cafeteria No. 1 was suddenly flooded with a massive wave of freshmen in camouflage uniforms!
"Hey! Look at that guy! Isn't he that monster people were talking about on the confession wall?"
"Crap, I need to stay away from him! I heard his sickness is contagious!"
"How can those handsome guys sit with a monster like that? I don't even dare go over and chat with them now."
...
Before long, the whispering reached Ye Qiuli's ears.
Looking around in a daze, Ye Qiuli realized that all the surrounding gazes were fixed directly on him.
"Don't mind them. Let's just eat our food!"
Qing Ke said, his expression turning somewhat dark.
"Exactly. It's not contagious at all—people just love spreading wild rumors!"
Li Nuo glared with utter disdain at the malicious onlookers around them.
"Qing Ge, Li Ge, you guys don't need to get mad. It's totally normal for people to be scared when they see what I look like! I'm used to it by now!"
Ye Qiuli smiled and said.
He had long since grown accustomed to such stares and remarks; truth be told, he had spent all these years growing up in this kind of environment. Rather than arguing with people, he preferred to stay silent.
Seeing Ye Qiuli's nonchalant attitude, Qing Ke fell silent as well. He actually understood that Ye Qiuli was only pretending to be indifferent on the surface; after all, everyone was a living person with flesh and blood—how could anyone truly not care what others thought of them?
"Don't worry, Ye Qiuli! Since you call me Qing Ge, I'm definitely going to help you out. I know an old doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who is an absolute master! Next time we get a break, I'll take you to visit him. He'll definitely find a way to cure this condition of yours!"
Qing Ke patted his chest in reassurance.
"I'll help you too!"
Li Nuo declared with utmost sincerity.
"Mmh, oi oaw elp ou oo!"
Even Qin Huai, buried deep in his meal, mumbled unintelligibly.
"Thank you guys!"
Ye Qiuli felt his eyes grow moist!
"All right, let's finish eating quickly and head back to rest. The afternoon training is going to be tough!"
"Right!"
...
The afternoon training session passed swiftly, and before long, evening training arrived.
In the evening in Kyoto, the sunset cast its rare rays across the playground, unobstructed by towering skyscrapers, while a gentle breeze swept away the day's heat.
Ye Qiuli had also taken off his jacket, putting on the cooling sleeves Li Nuo gave him to cover the dark spots on his arms.
Compared to the malicious stares of the others, his classmates in Geography Class 1 were much more normal—at least no one openly discussed Ye Qiuli.
"I heard tonight is a talent show! No training required!"
Qin Huai said excitedly, holding his phone.
"Are you serious, bro? A talent show is a talent show, why are you so hyped?"
Li Nuo asked, looking over at him in confusion.
"Bro spent two whole months of summer vacation learning the guitar, plus a rap song. Do you see what's strapped to my back? After tonight, I'm not going to be a nobody anymore!"
Qin Huai pulled the guitar off his back and announced.
"Holy cow! You actually know how to play?"
Qing Ke looked at Qin Huai with a face full of question marks.
"Obviously! Watch, let me hum a few bars for you."
Seeing that Qing Ke didn't believe him, Qin Huai quickly whipped out his guitar.
He took up the instrument with practiced ease and began to play. A deep melody drifted from the strings, shifting instantly into something light and upbeat a second later.
"We're used to the worldly Rashomon, turning into total strangers!"
"Two equally anxious hearts stuffed into the very same Ferris wheel!"
After singing a couple of lines, Qin Huai stopped, looked at the three stunned faces, and said proudly, "Well? Your boy's got skills, doesn't he?"
"No way, bro, you actually know how?!"
Qing Ke slapped his own forehead in disbelief.
Li Nuo tilted his head and stared at Qin Huai, completely dumbfounded.
Only Ye Qiuli gave Qin Huai a thumbs-up.
"Hold on, Ye Qiuli, how come you're reacting so calmly? Do you know how to play too?"
Qin Huai asked, puzzled by Ye Qiuli's mild reaction.
"I'm not that good at this, but I do know a few simple songs."
Ye Qiuli answered with an honest nod.
Even though Qin Huai had only sung two lines, it had to be said that it sounded really nice. Ye Qiuli used to love singing, too; back in junior high during morning and evening self-study, some of his friends would even use studying as an excuse to secretly sing along with him!
"This is definitely the coolest moment ever!"
Li Nuo declared with absolute certainty.