Miaomiao was wearing a white dress and low-heeled sandals, her eyelashes fluttering as she sat inside a noodle restaurant, staring blankly at her phone.
The noodles here were exceptionally good, a place Miaomiao had visited once before and could never forget.
Most of the people passing by outside were students, and right now, all of their gazes were firmly locked onto Miaomiao.
"Why isn't he here yet..."
Miaomiao frowned and muttered to herself. The time displayed on her phone was already half-past six, more than two hours since she had sent the message to Ansheng.
"Classmate, are you ready to order?"
The owner of the noodle restaurant was a kind, plump woman. Seeing this pretty young girl sitting alone for a long time without ordering, she couldn't help feeling a bit puzzled.
"Ah... sorry, I'm waiting for someone! Am I in the way?"
Miaomiao offered an apologetic smile and stood up, ready to leave the shop.
"It's fine, little girl. There are still plenty of tables, and you can sit here and rest. But we're closing at seven o'clock, you know."
"Oh... thank you!"
The proprietress waved her hand with a kind smile and went back to her work.
Miaomiao sat back down, opened her chat window with Ansheng, and looked at the "OK" anime sticker he had sent earlier, feeling a growing sense of impatience.
"Honestly... why isn't he here yet?"
"Should I message him?"
After a moment of silence, the thought suddenly popped into Miaomiao's head, but she immediately shook her head twice.
"Maybe he's busy? Am I bothering him?"
Her mind wandered with wild thoughts, and she finally decided to wait just a little longer.
"Ten minutes... eating a bowl of noodles should be enough... right?"
Twenty minutes later, at 6:50 PM.
Holding her phone, Miaomiao stood with a dark expression outside the noodle shop.
Behind her, the owner was pulling down the metal shutter. "Sorry, little girl, something came up at home and I have to head back urgently, so I have to close early..."
"It's fine, auntie, go ahead," Miaomiao said, her dark expression instantly vanishing into a bright and polite smile.
"Has the person you're waiting for still not arrived?" the woman asked with some curiosity.
Thinking of Ansheng, who had inexplicably stood her up, Miaomiao felt a surge of irritation.
"Yes..."
"Maybe you should give him a call or something."
The woman waved goodbye, not forgetting to offer a suggestion.
Miaomiao waved back and began to consider the idea. "Call him?"
She opened Ansheng's chat window, her gaze involuntarily drifting to the phone icon in the bottom right corner.
Calling a guy on her own initiative for the very first time...
Dazed for a moment, she pressed the icon on a whim.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
The ringing tone suddenly blasted out, startling Miaomiao so much she almost dropped her phone.
"I clicked it by accident..."
Staring at the call screen, after a dozen seconds of ringing, some muffled sounds came through from the other end.
Hesitating for a moment, Miaomiao pressed the phone to her ear and asked softly,
"Hello?"
***
Ansheng had originally planned to go to his appointment after finishing the anime he had stockpiled. Perhaps because he had spent his entire lunch break playing on his phone instead of taking a nap, the more he watched, the sleepier he became.
Figuring that taking a slight snooze wouldn't be a problem, he tilted his head and fell asleep right on the couch—only to end up sleeping for a full hour or two.
It wasn't until he heard the incoming call alert that sleepy Ansheng finally woke up.
"Mom and Dad...?"
Ansheng wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. The room was dim, and the glare from the phone screen was harsh on his eyes.
He rubbed his groggy eyes and looked at the little cat avatar at the top of the screen.
"Hello?"
Miaomiao's melodious voice already sounded from the other end of the line.
"This is..."
Miaomiao!!
Ansheng's eyes flew wide open. Oh no, he had completely forgotten about this whole thing!
"Damn it, you can skip sleeping during the holidays, but you really have to sleep when school's in session!"
Ansheng snapped to his senses, scratched his head, and began scrambling to get ready in a hurry.
Just as Ansheng was straightening his clothes and preparing to head out to the appointment, Miaomiao's voice came through the phone once more.
"Are you saying you just fell asleep?"
Her voice suddenly turned icy cold.
"?! When did the call connect?!"
Ansheng was startled. Had he accidentally answered it earlier without realizing?!
He coughed and offered an awkward laugh. "Uh, well, I didn't..."
"Go die!"
Before Ansheng could even finish explaining, Miaomiao shouted with extreme anger and abruptly hung up the phone.
Beep, beep, beep—
Ansheng fell silent. "I have a bad feeling something major is about to go down..."
Tap, tap, tap—
A minute or two later, a rapid knocking sounded at the door, startling Ansheng out of his wits.
"Who... who is it?!"
After a few seconds of silence, an icy female voice replied, "It's me."
How was this even possible?! Miaomiao had run all the way from the school gate to his front door already?
Ansheng clumsily stood up from the sofa, walked over to the door, and opened it.
Coming into view was Miaomiao, dressed entirely in white. Her delicate brows were arched in anger, and she glared furiously at Ansheng.
When she saw Ansheng, she froze for a split second, and then burst out shouting,
"You really were sleeping, weren't you?!"
"No way—" Ansheng whistled and looked away, trying to bluff his way through it.
"Your hair is all puffed up like that and you're still lying!" Miaomiao pointed at the messy, sticking-up tufts of hair on top of his head.
It looked as though his hair had just been subjected to carpet-bombing by missiles.
Ansheng choked. Realizing he had been caught, he could only let out a helpless sigh.
"I'm sorry, okay? I was watching anime and got too tired, so I accidentally dozed off... By the way, what did you want to see me about anyway? Were you in such a hurry to invite me to dinner or something?"
"Since I'm right here now, you can just tell me whatever it is."
As soon as Ansheng said those words, Miaomiao choked.
Was she supposed to say she was just looking for an excuse to apologize while eating noodles?
"I... I am!!"
Miaomiao struggled for a long time without managing to get a sentence out, utterly unable to speak her mind straightforwardly.
"Whatever! We'll talk next time!"
Her face growing redder by the second, Miaomiao let out a soft huff, chose to retreat before the awkwardness defeated her, and scurried off next door to her own room, slamming the door shut.
Ansheng frowned, full of confusion. Why was this girl acting so weird?
***
The next day, Ansheng sat in the classroom yawning.
Miaomiao had already arrived at school long ago, her gaze intensely focused as she began previewing the upcoming lessons.
"She's so hardworking..."
Ansheng glanced over and quickly looked away. He hadn't really paid attention to the lectures all day yesterday; maybe he should actually study a bit today.
"Alright, let's do our best today!"
Having made up his mind, Ansheng patted his cheeks, trying to pump himself up with some enthusiasm—though to anyone else, he still looked utterly lifeless and decadent.
The bell rang for the first period, but the person walking into the classroom wasn't the subject teacher; it was Teacher Huacai.
She was still wearing her uniform and a bodycon skirt, but she had added black silk stockings, cut her hair short, and put on high heels.
Seeing the students in the classroom staring at her in bewilderment,
Huacai flashed a smug smile, secretly thrilled inside. "Mission success!"
After being given suggestions by her fellow teachers last time, Huacai had decided to start changing herself from her appearance outward.
She had carefully gathered a lot of information online, and every time she saw a fierce, powerful career woman in black high heels, she felt a sense of dignity and authority. Huacai decided this was the direction she should pursue!
Little did she know, the students whispering beneath her were saying:
"Teacher Huacai looks so cute today!"
"Totally! Her long hair made her look so gentle before, but now she seems so lively!"
In short, after discussing it for ages, not a single person associated her with the words "powerful career woman," "dignified," or "stern."
Ansheng, on the other hand, was wondering: Where was the regular subject teacher?
Huacai cleared her throat happily, picked up a paper bag from her desk, and said,
"Good morning, everyone~ Today, the school has decided to hold a test first!"
A test?!!
Uproar broke out across the room. Huacai pressed her hand down toward empty space to signal for quiet, and then added,
"Teacher knows that everyone who managed to get into Chunhe Middle School is top-tier talent, and most of you already previewed some high school material back in junior high—we also reminded everyone in the admission notices to make sure to study ahead during the break, you know."
Ansheng was utterly dumbfounded. You played around for nearly two months and now you're telling me I have to be tested on junior high knowledge??
You've got to be kidding me!
When on earth was he ever notified?!
Ansheng's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, his parents had handled all his registration stuff before.
Could it be that the notice was sent to them, and they forgot to tell him?
Bzz—
Ansheng's phone vibrated. He secretly glanced down as the screen lit up, his mouth twitching violently.
[Oops, I think I forgot to remind you—the school requires everyone to start self-studying high school knowledge over the summer~ Hang in there, son! (Love from Mom)]
Meanwhile, Miaomiao looked completely calm, a faint gleam of light even shining in her eyes.
She was totally at ease. She had thoroughly previewed a portion of the material during the summer vacation, which was more than enough to handle this test.
Subconsciously, she thought of Ansheng sitting behind her.
Had he... previewed the material?
Miaomiao turned her head, saw Ansheng wearing an expression as unpleasant as if he had just eaten something foul, and quietly turned back around.
This guy definitely didn't review anything.
The morale Ansheng had just managed to muster instantly collapsed the moment he saw his mother's message.
"Yikes—!!"
Huacai, who was walking by to hand out the test papers, was startled when she saw the look of utter despair on Ansheng's face.
"A-Ansheng, are you sick?" Huacai asked, swallowing hard.
"Haha... I'm fine, just hand me the paper, Teacher..."
Ansheng forced a smile and looked at Huacai. Basic politeness still required it, but this time he would simply have to leave his fate in the hands of the heavens.
Little did he know that the smile Ansheng thought was polite looked utterly sinister in Huacai's eyes.
Those deadpan eyes, obscured by his messy bangs, were completely devoid of life, and dark circles hung heavily beneath them.
"S-Sorry!"
Huacai dropped the test paper and fled as if her life depended on it.
This student—was a little terrifying!