Lán'ān City's Chunhe Middle School, a newly established private high school in recent years, prided itself on rivaling international schools and maintained a relatively relaxed system.
Ansheng slung his blue backpack over his shoulder somewhat awkwardly as he squeezed into the school gates. A crowd of senior students and new arrivals was gathered around the admission notice board near the entrance, seemingly discussing something.
"Good grief... what's even worth looking at here?"
"Pardon me, please—"
Muttering to himself, Ansheng unhappily carved out a path through the crowd and pushed his way through with some difficulty. He had been admitted, though just barely scraping past the cutoff score.
"Hey, hey! Did you hear? There's an incredible beauty among the new freshmen this year!"
"You're telling me! Word is she's drop-dead gorgeous, and some of the senior guys have already gone to intercept her! The girl's name is... Miaomiao!"
"Never mind her name, what happened to those seniors?!"
"They failed, obviously! This freshman hasn't even officially enrolled yet, and she's already turned down dozens of guy's invitations! Among them was Xun Rui, known as the campus hunk from the senior year!"
"Even senior Xun Rui struck out?! Oh my god!"
"A flower high on a snowy peak! An iceberg goddess!"
Ansheng let out a long sigh. "3D girls are way too much trouble. 2D paper cutouts are the ultimate destination..."
Ansheng clicked his tongue, reminiscing about the room full of figurines and anime posters waiting for him at home.
After exerting a tremendous amount of effort to finally break free from the increasingly animated crowd at the entrance, Ansheng straightened his backpack straps.
"My mom and dad are unbelievable, they didn't even bother to submit my paperwork for me, leaving me to make the trip myself in this heat."
Ansheng shielded his eyes with his hand against the glaring sun overhead. Although it was already late September, the weather remained as scorching as the height of summer.
He couldn't help but complain. His parents had previously hit him with lines like "Ansheng needs to be independent!" and "Mom and Dad have high hopes for you!" before directly enrolling him in this school farthest from home, without even considering whether he'd actually get in.
Fortunately, Ansheng's junior high grades were decent enough that he barely managed to squeak into the school. His parents had quickly and efficiently found him a nearby school district apartment to cover the next three years, leaving him with no choice but to bite the bullet and come here for registration, after which he'd have to report back to the family.
With a heavy sigh, Ansheng pulled out his phone to check the map provided by the school, frowning as he looked at it, his brow twitching uncontrollably.
"Did a toddler scribble this?"
Calling it a map was generous; all Ansheng saw was a jumble of brightly colored blocks.
Sighing once more, Ansheng had no choice but to bite the bullet and start searching.
"Let's see... where's the freshman registration office... it should be this way."
After roughly deciding on a direction, Ansheng walked while checking the map, but it wasn't long before he got lost.
"I can't make head or tail of the floor plan this lousy school gave me! How am I supposed to know which building is which?! The map doesn't even label anything, just uses color blocks—who's supposed to understand this?!"
Ansheng was furious. His backpack was pressed flat against his back, and the prolonged walking had already soaked his shirt. Wearing an all-black outfit on such a blazing sunny day and wandering around for ages without finding the so-called freshman admissions office left him utterly depressed.
"...Guess I've got no choice but to ask the upperclassmen."
After a burst of impotent rage, Ansheng could only wear a conflicted expression. If he had any choice in the matter, he really didn't want to talk to strangers; it always felt awkward and troublesome.
Yet compared to wandering around like a headless fly, this was the only path left to accomplish his goal quickly.
Ansheng raised his head and looked around. A sparse number of students rushed by in a hurry.
He tried to stop passersby a few times to ask for directions, but whenever they caught sight of his deadpan fish-eyes peering out from beneath his gloomy, long bangs, their expressions shifted instantly. Looking awkward, they would casually point a finger in some direction and scurry away.
One bespectacled girl even detoured around him the moment she spotted him from afar, leaving Ansheng with no time to even make his request.
Just as Ansheng was clicking his tongue in annoyance, a girl appeared before him, her back turned to his direction.
She wore a light brown uniform jacket over a black plaid skirt, her jet-black, ink-like hair draped over her shoulders. A pair of slender, flawlessly toned legs glowed white in the sunlight.
Ansheng felt a surge of hope. He'd go ask her—she should be a senior, right? At any rate, she didn't seem to be busy with anything.
"Um... excuse me, classmate, could you do me a favor?"
The girl paused, her dark hair fluttering as she turned around. Her delicate face was utterly impassive.
Her dark pupils gleamed with moisture, framed within a pair of large eyes. Her nose was high-bridged, and her cherry-pink lips were pressed tightly together, revealing a hint of stubbornness and resolve. She looked like a natural-born elf.
The girl's brows furrowed slightly, filled with confusion, as crisp, serious words slipped from her lips.
"What is it?"
Seeing such a pretty girl for the first time, Ansheng froze for a moment, but quickly recovered—it was only a brief flash of surprise.
"Oh... I wanted to ask where the freshman registration office is?"
"The freshman registration office?"
The girl paused. For some reason, Ansheng caught a flicker of astonishment in her eyes.
This inevitably left him feeling a bit gloomy. Who could possibly make sense of that doodle the school handed out as a map anyway?
After a brief silence, the girl nodded hesitantly. "I know. Follow me, I'm heading that way anyway."
Crossing her arms, the girl walked off at a steady pace, her black skirt swaying and accentuating her exceptionally striking figure.
Watching her calm demeanor, Ansheng guessed she must be an upperclassman; she certainly acted like she owned the place.
After winding through various paths, the girl led Ansheng to a narrow, three-story administrative building. She raised an arm and pointed straight ahead.
"Right here."
Ansheng looked at the three-story administrative building, nodded, and turned his head to offer his thanks.
"Tha—"
But when he turned back around, the girl had already vanished without a trace.
Clicking his tongue and shaking his head helplessly, Ansheng entered the building and found the designated spot to submit his various documents.
Running back and forth for the better part of the afternoon, he finally wrapped up the tedious procedures, dragging his exhausted body as he stepped onto the path home.
The studio apartment his parents rented for him was a mere ten-minute walk from the school gates, and Ansheng had already dropped off his luggage earlier.
As the sun set, Ansheng waited for the pedestrian crossing light, looking utterly listless.
"Going out really drains all your life force... I just want to go home, blast the AC, take a shower, and read manga..."
Reminding himself that summer vacation was over and he was about to become just another cog in the machine filled Ansheng with melancholy.
He cast a random glance around, hoping to familiarize himself with the neighborhood, when he unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure—it was the girl who had shown him the way earlier.
At the moment, she was standing a few people away in the front-left, holding a black handbag. She had changed out of her school uniform into a simple white T-shirt and denim shorts, yet she still managed to pull them off with an incomparable air of elegance.
"The buff of good looks is genuinely terrifying sometimes."
Ansheng thought silently to himself, having no intention of greeting her. At the same time, he took a few steps backward, hoping she wouldn't notice him.
The crowd surged forward, and Ansheng set off along with the girl. But after a few minutes, Ansheng noticed an incredible problem.
Several minutes had passed, and somehow he and the girl were still walking the exact same route?!
"Could there really be such a coincidence?" Ansheng muttered, forced to slow down his pace to put some distance between them.
Only after her figure was completely out of sight did Ansheng speed up, arriving outside his apartment building shortly after.
The apartment building only had two floors, with an external staircase running up the right side. Ansheng's room was on the second floor.
He grabbed the handrail and walked up the stairs, but the moment his gaze shifted to the hallway, he froze in place once again.
The same girl was standing not far ahead of him, holding shopping bags as if she had just returned.
They lived in the same place too?
Shaking his head, Ansheng had no choice but to bite the bullet, push aside his stray thoughts, and make a beeline for his room to rest.
"Just a coincidence..."
After walking a short distance, Ansheng stopped in front of his door: Room 207.
Just as he reached for the door handle, a sudden thought crossed his mind, stirring his curiosity about the girl. "I wonder which room she's in...?"
"She couldn't possibly be next door, right?"
The thought barely crossed his mind when he instinctively glanced to his left, and instantly froze.
The girl was literally standing right next door at Room 208, and her open door proved her identity as its occupant!
Her brows were furrowed, and she was glaring at Ansheng with an expression of utter disgust.
Slowly parting her lips, she delivered each word with a heavy load of disdain.
"Stalk—er."
Bang—!
Before Ansheng could even offer an explanation, she slammed the door right in his face.
Ansheng snapped back to reality, wearing a bewildered expression. Had she noticed him tailing her the whole time?
But he was just heading the same way...
Ansheng frowned, feeling deeply aggrieved. But figuring he couldn't be bothered to deal with the drama, he decided against explaining himself.
Just as he reached for his door again, he noticed a charm lying on the ground by her doorstep.
Out of curiosity, he picked it up. It was a small white cat doll. Flipping it over, he found a name card dangling from its tail.
It bore only two characters: Miaomiao.
Ansheng's pupils constricted slightly, his mouth falling open a fraction. Wasn't this the "flower high on a snowy peak" everyone was talking about earlier?
And—she lived right next door to him?