As the saying goes, "The back row by the window is the hometown of kings." At this moment, Lu Mingfei was sitting in his seat, feeling terribly bored as he twirled a rollerball pen.
"Quiet down, everyone. I'm going to hold a brief homeroom meeting," the head teacher with the "Mediterranean" haircut clapped his hands. Everyone returned to their seats for the opening-day tradition—the homeroom meeting.
"First of all, this semester we are welcoming a new transfer student. She comes from Japan, is a little shy, and I hope everyone will get along well with her." The head teacher clapped his hands again, and a fresh, beautiful young woman walked up to the podium. The classroom instantly became lively.
The girl wore a sailor suit and loafers, with a blunt bang fringe and a high ponytail. She had bright eyes, white teeth, and a lovely face. Her high ponytail swayed with every step—the absolute image of a Japanese anime beauty. It was precisely the red-haired girl in the shrine maiden outfit from the school gates. Having dyed her hair and changed her clothes, if not for those rose-red eyes, Lu Mingfei almost wouldn't have recognized her.
*That shrine maiden outfit suited her better,* Lu Mingfei thought to himself.
"That looks must make her the campus belle for sure."
"I think I saw her at the school gates."
"When I saw her, she seemed to be wearing a shrine maiden outfit with bright red hair," a chubby kid shouted.
"Is the big sis a cosplayer?" Another chubby kid stood up.
"Xu Yanyan, Xu Miaomiao, you two brothers stop making a ruckus," the head teacher motioned for the two to sit down. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."
The girl turned around and wrote her name on the blackboard: "Hello everyone, my name is Uesugi Erii. I'm from Tokyo, Japan." Her voice was soft and gentle, ethereal and crisp, giving people a comfortable feeling.
"That's it?" The head teacher looked at Erii and, finding that she had no intention of continuing, had no choice but to let it go.
"Uesugi-san just went and dyed her hair and changed her clothes, so she's a little late. Are there any students willing to let her sit next to them?"
At Shilan Middle School, seating was first-come, first-served. Wherever you sat on the first day of the semester, as long as it didn't affect anyone else, you stayed in that exact spot for the entire term. The head teacher looked around the room and saw that only one empty seat remained—right next to Zhao Menghua. He frowned slightly. Strange, why was the seat in the very last row unoccupied?
Zhao Menghua acted very eagerly. "Sir, please let Uesugi-san sit next to me. There's an empty seat right here."
"Then sit next to Zhao Menghua," the head teacher agreed, seeing Erii staring fixedly in that direction.
"I want to sit in his seat. Can I?" she asked quietly, but firmly.
The head teacher was a bit puzzled. They were both in the back row; surely there was no difference?
"Alright, then I'll sit over there, and you can take my seat," Zhao Menghua stood up and moved the books from his desk to the adjacent spot.
"Thank you," Erii said as she walked over to her designated seat.
Her gaze flickered toward Lu Mingfei a few times before she smiled slightly, as if seeing a long-lost friend.
Seeing Erii walk toward him, Lu Mingfei chose to turn his head away. Yes, Zhao Menghua originally used to sit right next to Lu Mingfei.
"Hey, hey, hey, look, Lu Mingfei is blushing," Su Xiaoqiang chimed in with a stir. Ever since they became enemies at the start of high school, the "Little Heavenly Queen" always found opportunities to tease Lu Mingfei.
"No I'm not." Lu Mingfei's face actually turned a bit red.
Erii stopped beside her seat and pulled a notebook from her bag. "Hello, my name is Erii."
"Oh, hello there."
Lu Mingfei forcibly resisted the urge to talk trash right now. His luck with women was genuinely terrible, but his luck with campus belles seemed rather good—two of Shilan Middle School's top three campus belles were in his class, and he was quite close to both of them. He never expected the fourth campus belle to be in their class as well, and she even took the initiative to greet him. But Lu Mingfei, who had just suffered through heartbreak, was in no mood to think about such things; he glanced in Chen Wenwen's direction. That girl could never belong to him now.
Seeing that Erii was still looking at him, Lu Mingfei scratched his head. "I'm Lu Mingfei."
"I'm not very familiar with Chinese characters yet. Can you tell me which ones they are?" Erii handed the notebook to Lu Mingfei, seemingly wanting him to write his name in it.
"Oh, oh, starting an autograph book right after arriving? Though since it's senior year, I suppose it's about time to write in them, huh." Lu Mingfei couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark, quickly scribbling down his name. Suddenly, he froze. The feeling was so familiar—the sensation of the pen touching the paper. Lu Mingfei hurriedly checked the brand of the pen; it was entirely in Japanese, and he had never used one before.
"I can help write too, Uesugi-san." Zhao Menghua had just finished moving all his belongings to his new seat.
Erii took the notebook from Lu Mingfei's hand, closed it, and held it to her chest, completely ignoring Zhao Menghua. When she picked up the notebook, Lu Mingfei saw the cover was inscribed with the words "Erii and Sa...".
So she had someone she liked after all, Lu Mingfei shook his head. As expected, pretty girls were all taken.
"Did you see it?" Erii noticed his gaze, her cheeks turning slightly red.
"No, didn't see a thing," Lu Mingfei said.
"It's okay even if you saw," her voice was very soft—so soft that only Lu Mingfei could hear it.
Zhao Menghua stood to the side, watching them chat and laugh without being able to join in, feeling rather irritated in his heart. In what way was he inferior to that loser? He was the one who gave up his seat, after all!
"Since Uesugi-san is a newcomer and considering cultural differences between China and Japan, everyone should be understanding. Since Zhao Menghua is sitting nearby, please help the teacher keep an eye on our new classmate."
In the eyes of the head teacher, Lu Mingfei—whose grades hovered at the bottom and who frequented internet cafes—was undoubtedly the model of a bad student. Such a heavy responsibility could naturally only be handed to Zhao Menghua. Of course, this was also a welcome outcome for Lu Mingfei.
Erii looked down at the notebook in her hands without even raising her head. "Student Lu Mingfei is a good person."
Hearing this, even Lu Mingfei, the person in question, was completely baffled. What did that mean? Why was she handing him a "good person" card out of nowhere?
"Hahahaha." Someone couldn't help laughing out loud.
Seeing the atmosphere grow somewhat awkward, the head teacher clapped his hands to signal for quiet. "In that case, the job of helping the new classmate get familiar with the class will be given to Lu Mingfei."
"What?" Lu Mingfei's mouth dropped open as he pointed at himself. How did this mess end up falling on him?
"*Yoroshiku onegaishimasu* (Please take care of me)," Erii beamed as she looked at Lu Mingfei.
Damn it, she was definitely doing this on purpose. With that fluent Mandarin and the neat signature on the blackboard, she clearly didn't need him to write her name at all. She was simply taking revenge for hearing Auntie speak ill of her this morning!
Just as he was thinking this, that somewhat familiar notebook was pushed in front of Lu Mingfei—*Can you show me around the school after class?*
Lu Mingfei turned his head and saw the girl staring right at him. "Oh, sure."
"Student Lu Mingfei really is a good person." Along with the notebook, she also handed over a bag of potato chips.
Just as he had easily accepted this strange form of communication using a notebook, he felt he had no way to refuse Erii's request. The girl beside him gave off an incomparably familiar feeling. He tried to compare it in his memories, but found no such person. Well, of course—a Japanese girl, how could a shut-in like him possibly know one? That sense of familiarity was probably just the aftereffect of heartbreak, making him desperate to find a replacement.
Lu Mingfei turned his head to look at Erii, only to witness a scene that absolutely should not have happened in a classroom: the girl pulled a stuffed bear from her bag, placed it on her lap, opened a box of Pocky, and began eating by herself, completely disregarding the gazes of everyone around her.
"*Tap, tap.*" The crisp snapping sound made it completely impossible for Lu Mingfei to concentrate.
Seeming to notice his gaze, Erii held out a piece of Pocky toward Lu Mingfei's lips, and Lu Mingfei hurriedly dodged away.
Erii bit down on the Pocky and wrote quickly in her notebook—*You're not eating?*
"Change it to a different one."
"Oh, oh." Erii picked one from the box and handed it to Lu Mingfei. Only then did Lu Mingfei notice that aside from the stuffed bear, this Eldest Miss's bag was packed entirely with snacks.
"The second item is about the cultural festival. Every class and club must produce a project for it. Students in clubs will follow their club's arrangements, while those not in clubs will be responsible for the class project. If you have any creative ideas, you can find the recreation commissioner." The head teacher motioned toward Su Xiaoqiang.
Su Xiaoqiang shook her head. "Another pain in the neck."
"The third item is about the school sports meet. Originally it should be held next semester, but considering that the fever of the Olympics hasn't faded yet, we are taking this opportunity to hold it early. After all, next semester you won't have the chance to participate." The head teacher clapped his hands to signal for quiet. "Anyone who wants to join sports events should go register with Zhao Menghua. Each event can take a maximum of 5 people, and participating athletes must sign up for at least two events. Submit the registration forms in two weeks. Students, please participate actively."
As a qualified otaku, sports had never been Lu Mingfei's strong suit, so every year he was just a spectator in the stands. He had no interest in these matters.