It was a little past two in the afternoon when Mu Yue got up from her nap and started changing her clothes. The class dinner was scheduled to kick off at six that evening, and the class had planned to spend the earlier hours of the day exploring the People's Park not far from the restaurant, as well as the two adjacent streets nearby.
The People's Park was free to enter, large and spacious, and though it had been around for quite a few years, its facilities had been regularly updated. The trees in the park had grown thick and lush, shading most of the paths with their canopies, so strolling around there wouldn't make you feel sweltering even in summer. The entertainment options, snacks, and small trinkets there were all very affordable and reasonably priced, making it a perfect leisure spot for people of all ages.
It was summer now, so plenty of flowers were in full bloom across the park, making for lovely scenery. There was a small inner lake tucked inside the larger lake, and a flower vine corridor — both of which had long been popular confession spots for young people.
That was exactly why the class had chosen the park as part of their gathering plan. Now that they were graduating, anyone who had a secret crush could take the chance to confess their feelings, so they wouldn't leave with regrets. No one had explicitly said it out loud, but everyone in the class knew exactly what that arrangement was for.
For anyone who thought the park was boring, there was a bustling pedestrian street right across from it. The street had a unified architectural style, and none of the storefronts were very big — the tallest building there only had three floors.
The ground floor was packed with clothing shops, accessory stores, bag and shoe boutiques, all perfectly suited for cash-strapped students. The prices in most of those shops were almost as low as what you'd find online; the most expensive summer dresses there were only around 200 yuan, making the goods both high-quality and budget-friendly.
The second floor was mostly occupied by KTVs, pool halls, nail and hair salons, and arcade game centers. The class had already marked that floor out as their next stop right after the dinner later that night. The third floor only had a chess and card tea house, which wasn't what the students were looking for.
The restaurant where Lin Xiaoxiao worked had a 100-yuan per-person price point, serving self-service hot pot. The ingredients there were all common, everyday items, so you wouldn't find any super expensive delicacies there. But the shop had been open for years, it was a well-established local favorite with a solid reputation.
Mu Yue headed out right after getting ready, not to wander the park with her classmates, but to pick Lin Xiaoxiao up from her shift.
Lin Xiaoxiao had already talked to her manager to take the day off for the class gathering, but when she was leaving work the previous evening, a coworker who said she was feeling unwell asked to swap shifts with her. Lin Xiaoxiao thought the dinner wouldn't start until evening anyway, so she agreed to take the half-day shift.
It was only after she said yes that she found out the coworker who claimed to be sick and wanted to swap shifts was Liu Rongrong — that girl who had been targeting her for no good reason.
Since Lin Xiaoxiao had already agreed to the swap right in front of the manager, she couldn't very well back out now. She had no choice but to swallow her frustration and work the morning shift, which would end at around 2:30 in the afternoon.
That Liu Rongrong knew perfectly well Lin Xiaoxiao was supposed to be off for her class gathering today, but she still deliberately asked to swap shifts just to mess with her — and Lin Xiaoxiao felt like she couldn't say no?
What was there to hold back for? Why not just say outright that she wasn't willing, and let Liu Rongrong ask for leave herself or find someone else to swap with? If she wanted to be a little more sharp, she could even add, "You're always talking trash about me behind my back, so why on earth would I swap shifts with you?"
Then they'd see who ended up embarrassed. The other person was deliberately trying to make her miserable, so why would she save that face for her?
Mu Yue shook her head as she listened to Lin Xiaoxiao's story. She had told Lin Xiaoxiao before that she needed to learn to say no, but it was clear Lin Xiaoxiao still hadn't gotten the hang of it. For one thing, she was too thin-skinned and had an overly strong sense of moral obligation, and for another, she was a little slow to react.
She still needed more practice. If she never mastered that skill, there would be so many more situations in the future that would leave her feeling wronged and stuck.
After changing her clothes, Mu Yue opened her jewelry cabinet to pick out an accessory. Her gaze swept across all the beautiful pieces of different sizes, before finally landing on a gemstone necklace that had just been delivered to her collection the day before.
It was a gift from Cheng Zimin, worth nearly 50,000 yuan. For people their age and financial situation, it wasn't an overly extravagant piece, but it was nice enough not to come off as disrespectful to the occasion.
The gemstone was a padparadscha sapphire, a stone with a very romantic hue that looked like a streak of pink sunset glow. The stone itself wasn't very big, which made it perfect for a young girl — a gem that was too large would look gaudy and overly grand no matter how simple the design was.
The necklace had a fairly casual, everyday design that went well with most outfits, which was exactly why Mu Yue decided to wear it out today.
Once she was all packed up, Mu Yue headed to Nanhuafang Restaurant. By that time, only one table of guests was left in the restaurant, still drinking and playing finger-guessing games, with no telling when they'd finish. The waiters and waitresses were sitting in small groups at the empty tables nearby resting, but Lin Xiaoxiao was still standing not far from that table of drinking guests.
That group had chosen a seat right by the window, so Mu Yue spotted Lin Xiaoxiao before she even got out of the car. The driver pulled over and parked, and Mu Yue stepped out of the car and walked a few steps towards Nanhuafang. Before she could make it to the door, someone inside pulled it open for her, wearing a big smile, "Are you here to eat too? Perfect, no one's off work yet."
The girl who opened the door wasn't wearing a staff uniform. She had a heart-shaped face with makeup on, but her cosmetics and makeup application skills were subpar, making her face look a little splotchy. Right after the girl finished speaking, Mu Yue noticed the actual front desk hostess force a tired but polite smile, and she gave Mu Yue a slight bow, "Welcome to Nanhuafang, guest. How many people are in your party? It's a little late at this hour, so some of our dishes are already sold out, if..."
"There's no need for that," Mu Yue said to the front desk staff, "I'm just here to wait for someone."
"Alright, make yourself comfortable," the hostess's smile looked a little more genuine now, and when she looked away, she glanced at the girl who had opened the door a moment earlier.
That girl was incredibly forward, "Oh, so you're not here to eat? Then who are you waiting for? I work here too, I just came by to eat today. Maybe I know the person you're here for."
"Is that so?" Mu Yue asked in a cool, calm tone, looking straight at her, "Then tell me, are you a guest right now, or an employee? If you're a guest, we don't know each other at all, so you coming up to chat with me out of nowhere — don't you think that would annoy people? If you're an employee, then I'm a little curious. Are you this overly enthusiastic with every single guest that walks in?"
"Uh..." Liu Rongrong couldn't find a word to say in response.
Right then, Mu Yue added one more line, "It must be so unlucky to be your coworker."
The front desk hostess covered her mouth to hold back laughter, and the other staff members who were cleaning nearby started whispering to each other. Exactly! What was wrong with her? It was almost 3 o'clock already! They ran a self-service hot pot restaurant, and by this late hour, most of their dishes were already sold out, not just a few like the hostess had politely said.
If a normal guest had come in at that time, the staff would have suggested they come back in the evening, or offered an alternative arrangement where the kitchen would use the remaining ingredients to make some extra hot dishes. Otherwise, guests would be paying the full price but getting far fewer dish options, which would make their experience really bad. Nanhuafang was a well-established old restaurant with a great reputation, and they took that reputation very seriously, doing their best to make sure no guest had an unpleasant time there.
If we had to make new dishes now, none of us would get off work on time. We've been rushing around since this morning, and everyone's dying for a break. But Liu Rongrong, she took half a day off today, got to show off in front of her guests, and didn't spare a single thought for the rest of us who are still stuck on shift. And the most telling part? Just yesterday she told the manager she was feeling unwell and swapped shifts with Lin Xiaoxiao, but today she waltzes in with a whole group of her own guests, and their table hasn't cleared out since they showed up at 12 o'clock...
It's hard to even put into words.
Mu Yue found Lin Xiaoxiao still stuck at her post by the dining area. Lin Xiaoxiao sensed someone approaching, turned her head, and the moment she saw Mu Yue, the composure she'd been barely holding on to crumbled completely. Her eyes welled up with tears right away.
Mu Yue patted her back soothingly and handed her a soufflé, gesturing for her to go sit at a spare nearby table to eat it. Hardly had Lin Xiaoxiao sat down when the guests at that table started yelling, "Waitress, bring us two more bottles of drinks!"
Lin Xiaoxiao sighed in resignation and started to push herself up from her chair, but an older auntie who was resting at the empty table next to hers called out first, "Got it, coming right up!"
The auntie walked over and whispered to her, "Sweetheart, you take a break, chat with your friend a little. I'll go wait on those little tyrants for you."
"Exactly!"
"None of us are blind, we can all tell they're doing this on purpose!"
"You sit tight, even if the manager shows up he won't say a word to you."
"Thank you." Lin Xiaoxiao's voice was a little wobbly with emotion. She sat back down, scooped a spoonful of the soufflé into her mouth, and gasped in pleasant surprise, "There's ice cream inside!"
"Yep."
"Yueyue, you're the best!" Lin Xiaoxiao leaned over against her, cuddly and warm as she held the treat, "Ugh, this is so good!"
It was soft and sweet, just like a cloud, and the oozing ice cream filling was the perfect finishing touch, instantly melting away all her frayed, irritated feelings.
Right then, Liu Rongrong came over and glanced over at Mu Yue and Lin Xiaoxiao several times. She'd clearly noticed the rest of the staff's simmering resentment, and finally got the group of guests she brought to wrap up their meal. Mu Yue noticed two of the men, completely sloshed, had let their eyes linger on her no less than three times as they staggered past.
She was wearing an off-the-shoulder denim dress that day, which hit just two inches above her knees, with a slightly form-fitting cut and a hem trimmed with wavy white tulle, a total sweet-spicy style. The dress was already beautifully designed, and paired with Mu Yue's looks and easy, bright energy, it was totally normal that it would draw attention.
But Mu Yue could tell perfectly well which glances were just innocent admiration for a nice outfit, and which were the gross, predatory kind.
Mu Yue was seated on the side closer to the aisle, with Lin Xiaoxiao on the inner side of the booth. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the two drunk men lurching over, and subtly shifted her feet further away from the chair, leaving herself plenty of room to move at a moment's notice.
Most of the servers who'd been waiting on that table were busy clearing their dishes right then, and none of them had noticed what the group was up to. But Lin Xiaoxiao did. She saw the men getting closer and tried to tug Mu Yue further into the booth, her gut telling her those guys were up to no good.
But Mu Yue didn't move, and turned to look at her like she had no idea what Lin Xiaoxiao was getting at, asking her what was wrong.
Perfect chance! The two men, completely in sync, stumbled over with their arms slung over each other's shoulders. They first propped themselves up on the back of the booth behind Mu Yue and Lin Xiaoxiao. The two girls turned around at the noise, saw they weren't right behind them, relaxed a little, and turned back to their conversation.
The two men exchanged a glance, grinning like they were about to get away with something, raising their eyebrows at each other to wordlessly argue over who got to go first.
Mu Yue waited patiently. A few seconds later, the two men came over again, pretending to be too wasted to stand straight, reaching out to prop their hands on what they thought was a steady surface -- but their target was clearly Mu Yue.
Lin Xiaoxiao's face went pale instantly. A server not too far away's heart skipped a beat, thinking this was bad.
But before their groping hands could even touch Mu Yue, a sharp scream of pain burst out of one of the men. Mu Yue had grabbed the offending hand and twisted it hard. With a quick spin of her body, before anyone could even process what was happening, the man was flat on the floor. And Mu Yue's sequence of moves wasn't done yet. She lifted one leg high, and the sole of her shoe came crashing down right between the man's legs.
The wavy tulle hem of her denim dress flickered like rolling sea waves, not only keeping her perfectly covered so she didn't flash anyone, but looking stunning as she moved.
Mu Yue didn't even bother to glance down at the twitching, limp mess on the floor, and scoffed coldly, "Sorry about that. I have a stress response to people reaching for me from behind. If you did that by accident, have your people contact my assistant to sort out compensation. If you did it on purpose... heh."
She lifted her leg again, and anyone could tell from the look on her face she was fully ready to stomp down for real this time. The man scrambled away on all fours, not caring at all how ridiculous he looked, almost scared out of his wits. The alcohol was completely gone from his system now, no trace left of that fake drunk act.
Who wouldn't be terrified? That last stomp had been a warning, stopping right before making contact, but this next one wouldn't hold back. Anyone who's felt that kind of terror knows exactly how gut-wrenching it is.
"No no no, I -- I didn't do it on purpose! I'm sorry, I was too drunk! I don't want any compensation, it's my bad eyes, I deserve it!" Both that man and his friend were as pale as sheets, and they ran for the door without looking back. The rest of their group tried to say something, but Liu Rongrong stopped them.
She held them back partly because she didn't want to make an even bigger scene, and partly because she knew Mu Yue was not someone you wanted to mess with. That girl not only had a short temper, she was also filthy rich! Liu Rongrong had seen the car Mu Yue parked out front, it was insanely expensive.
The second the whole group of them paid their bill and left, the whole dining room burst into cheers. They couldn't be that obvious while the creeps were still around, but now that they were gone, no one was holding back. There are way too many scumbags in this world who drink a couple sips of beer and think they can get away with harassing women, and everyone had been worried the two girls would get hurt today. No one expected Lin Xiaoxiao's friend to be that tough.
That move she pulled just now was so cool! Though, it was also a little scary, to be honest. No one thought such a petite, pretty girl could have that much strength. That guy had to be at least 140 pounds, and she flipped him onto the ground like he weighed nothing. Her moves were so clean and sharp, it was obvious she'd been properly trained.
It was so satisfying! What a rush! May every single one of those creeps get put in their place like that.
But Mu Yue wasn't done feeling satisfied just yet.
She pulled up a virtual shop interface and bought two small items. They were items with negative effects, which were always cheaper and lasted longer than the positive ones. It wasn't the same kind that Qian Lei had used before, but a different little trinket called "Shared Sensation". She typed in the exact feeling she wanted them to experience, and for a good stretch of time after that, every time those two men thought back to what had happened that day, they would feel the full, vivid sensation of getting their groin properly crushed. They could go to every hospital in the world, and no doctor would be able to find a single physical reason for the pain.
Not actually stomping them for real was the only part that felt a little disappointing to Mu Yue.
Lin Xiaoxiao was still trembling with fear, repeatedly saying how terrifying it all was. Of course, she wasn't talking about Mu Yue being terrifying, but how frightening the world outside the school was — there were two-faced people like Liu Rongrong, and total scumbags like those two men they had just run into.
This time, Mu Yue did not reach out to comfort her. Lin Xiaoxiao could not stay a student on campus forever. Everyone had to grow up eventually, and learn to face the world on their own.
Mu Yue could not protect her for the rest of her life. To be honest, if Lin Xiaoxiao only wanted to hide under her wings forever, Mu Yue would have looked down on her. She could understand that Lin Xiaoxiao was still young, and her mind was not yet strong enough, so she could help her out two or three times. But Mu Yue was not Lin Xiaoxiao's mother, and she had her own life to live.
After this little episode passed, Lin Xiaoxiao finished her shift. The two of them wandered around the nearby area for a while. It was a bit hot out on the street, so they picked a bubble tea shop to get some drinks, enjoy the air conditioning, scroll through their phones, and chat. When the time felt right, they headed back to Nanhua Fang.
Before long, their classmates started arriving one after another. Some showed up with bags and bags of shopping, having come straight from the pedestrian street. A group of them were hooting and crowding around a new couple, who had just gotten together after a successful confession in the park.
From that group that had come from the park, someone spotted Mu Yue was already there, and the crowd shifted their teasing away from the new couple to a few boys at the back. Those boys were shoved forward, but every one of them shook their head so hard it looked like their heads were about to roll off. One dark-skinned boy had turned so red he looked like a burning charcoal brick.
Mu Yue did not pay any attention to the little commotion. She was busy replying to Cheng Zimin's message, asking her what time would be best for him to come pick her up.
When Mu Yue lifted her head again, that little stir had died down. Only a few boys were glancing over at her secretly, full of regret. A confession? None of them dared! It was obvious they would get rejected right away. The gap between them and her was so huge that they felt inferior just standing near her. She wasn't blind, after all. Those silly romance tropes where a rich, perfect beauty falls for a plain nobody? Who even believed that kind of sci-fi plot?
They kept saying "what if it works out" as a joke, but really they just wanted to watch their friends make fools of themselves. Everyone in the class knew each other far too well. Calling each other brothers? Total nonsense.
When the teachers arrived, the class reunion dinner officially started. The atmosphere was lively. At first, everyone focused on eating, but once their bellies were full, a wave of sadness washed over the group. The more sentimental ones had already started crying, and Lin Xiaoxiao was among them, clinging to the roommates she had shared a dorm with for the last few months.
After crying for a little while, the girls all linked arms and headed to the restroom together.
The moment Lin Xiaoxiao left, Liu Rongrong, who was wearing the restaurant staff uniform for her shift, walked in. She was as overly familiar as ever, pretending to be curious as she asked if the group were all Lin Xiaoxiao's classmates. She went on to say that she and Lin Xiaoxiao were good friends, and asked what Lin Xiaoxiao was like at school, and how good her grades were. When she heard almost every classmate praising Lin Xiaoxiao, an obvious look of displeasure crossed Liu Rongrong's face.
Suddenly, she raised her voice dramatically. "Oh? I never thought she would do so well at school! I always assumed she was…"
She trailed off halfway on purpose, deliberately piquing everyone's curiosity. Some people sensed something off and shut their mouths, but a few less observant ones pressed on and asked, "She was what?"
Liu Rongrong put on a conflicted look, and after a moment of hesitation, she said, "Actually, I met her a long time ago, back when she was still in school. One night after self-study class, I saw her walk into a male classmate's apartment. And after that, I ran into her doing the exact same thing several more times…"
The whole table went dead silent. The classmates exchanged confused, awkward glances, and the person who had asked the question earlier smacked their own forehead in frustration. Why did I have to open my big mouth?
Liu Rongrong gave a fake, awkward smile. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said all that. It just slipped out…"
Then she suddenly turned to look at Mu Yue. "You must be her best friend, right? I know this is none of my business, but you really should be more careful around her. I've heard her say behind your back more than once that you're stingy, and that the gifts you give her are way too cheap. All in all, I can't really say anything bad about her… I'd better get back to work."
Mu Yue leaned back in her chair, smiling faintly, her voice perfectly clear. "Stop. Don't go anywhere. Stay right here. Waiter!"
She called out loudly, and a server rushed in immediately. "Hello, what can I do for you?"
Mu Yue said coldly, "Go get your manager right now."
Liu Rongrong panicked at once, stammering, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I was talking nonsense, I apologize."
"Don't apologize just yet!" A female teacher sitting at the table spoke up, standing to her feet, her voice shaking a little with emotion. She turned to the server and said, "Please, go get your manager for us too."
Seeing that even a teacher had spoken up, Liu Rongrong was properly terrified now.
"What on earth is going on?" The group of girls, including Lin Xiaoxiao, came back from the restroom. Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the crowd in confusion, then spotted the flustered Liu Rongrong, and immediately guessed that this crazy woman must have said or done something stupid again.
Mu Yue tilted her chin at Liu Rongrong. "Repeat exactly what you just said. Not a single word can be left out."
Her tone was firm and commanding, so unapologetically sharp that Liu Rongrong couldn't bring herself to resist. She stuttered through the whole story again.
Lin Xiaoxiao stared at her in shock, about to blurt out "I never—"
But Mu Yue reached out and pinched her mouth shut, turning all her anger and frustration into a muffled, comical sound. Mu Yue gave her a pointed look, signaling: Pay close attention. I'll only show you how to handle this once.
Then Mu Yue turned to Liu Rongrong. "Tell me the exact time, the exact street, the exact apartment complex and floor number. If you claim you saw all that with your own eyes, what did that male classmate look like? Any distinguishing features? What's his full name? Since you're making these accusations, you need to show us proof.
"And the things you said she badmouthed me about? Same thing. Exact time, exact place. What exactly did she say? Which gift of mine did she supposedly say was too cheap? If she complained that it was too expensive, you must have some idea of what price range it was in, right?"
In situations like this, trying to prove your own innocence is the dumbest thing you can do.
"I… she was, it was at…" Liu Rongrong blurted out a random street name and a random boy's name, but when she got to the part about the supposedly cheap gift, she couldn't make up any more details.
Mu Yue told Lin Xiaoxiao to pull out her phone and search right then and there. She looked up if there was any such apartment complex on that street, and what the highest floor of that complex was. Everything Liu Rongrong had said was a total lie.
Liu Rongrong burst into tears and ran out of the private room. The other server at the scene rolled their eyes, looking completely exasperated, and had to hurry after her to make sure she didn't cause more trouble.
Everyone at the table was completely speechless. The manager came over to apologize for the terrible experience, and offered them a big discount on the whole bill. Once the manager left, most of the girls in the class crowded around Lin Xiaoxiao, patting her back and comforting her. What kind of grudge did that woman even have, to go out of her way to ruin someone's reputation like that?
What they didn't understand was that she was a girl too, and she had just been slandering Lin Xiaoxiao, spreading lewd rumors about her! She did it so smoothly, there must have been other girls she had smeared like this before, right? Just thinking about it gave them the creeps.
The female teacher who had spoken earlier sighed, looking at Lin Xiaoxiao with a hint of envy, and took the initiative to say, "Sigh, I overreacted a little just now, and that's because I ran into a similar situation when I was working part-time before. Lin, you're really lucky to have good friends who helped you sort things out. Back then, I... sigh..."
All the other teachers nodded in understanding. This kind of thing sounded unbelievable, but it actually happened more often than people thought. They took this chance to give the students one last lesson. In school, teachers always told students to be honest and well-behaved, but once they stepped out of the school gates, they really shouldn't be too naive and trusting.
The teachers didn't stay to eat and drink with the students until the very end. They left after a while, telling the kids not to stay out too late and to stay safe before they went.
After the teachers left, the group loosened up even more, and the private room got so noisy it was almost deafening. Mu Yue had already decided to leave, since Cheng Zimin would be arriving any minute.
Seeing her heading out, Lin Xiaoxiao stood up to walk her out. As the two of them moved, quite a few other people got up too, and soon the whole crowd ended up at the restaurant entrance.
"What are you all doing out here?"
"No idea, I saw everyone else coming out so I followed along."
"Hey, Mu Yue's leaving, I want to catch a glimpse of her family's car, heh heh. Learning to recognize luxury cars starts with classmates' rides!"
"Haha, same here!"
"Well, you guys won't get to see it. I just asked Mu Yue, her family's driver isn't picking her up today. Their car dropped her off and already headed back."
"Aw?"
"Wait a second, Lin Xiaoxiao, about what happened to you today. If you needed a part-time job, why didn't you work for Mu Yue? You two are such close friends, it would've saved you so much trouble."
Everyone's eyes turned to Lin Xiaoxiao and Mu Yue. Mu Yue had long guessed someone would ask that, so she didn't speak right away, just looked at Lin Xiaoxiao to hear what she would say first.
Lin Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and said, "I don't know how to put it, it just felt really weird. Besides, I can't really help Yueyue out with anything much, how could I accept a salary from her?"
One after another, people chimed in, "That's no big deal," "Mu Yue's loaded, she could totally support you if she wanted to." They were clearly influenced by all the online novels and internet content out there, thinking there was really no issue with that at all.
"You guys are idiots!" Someone in the crowd who was more level-headed cut in sharply, "Alright then, would you want your best friend to be your boss? Working your butt off every single day under their supervision?"
Once they heard that, everyone got it. It was all about the hierarchical pressure! A boss and a friend felt completely different, no matter how close you were!
They'd only been chatting for a minute or two when a car pulled up in front of the restaurant. It was brand new and really nice-looking. The whole group was just trying to guess what model it was when someone stepped out of the driver's seat.
The second the guy came into view, all the boys curled their lips in disdain. Ugh, what a show-off! Dressed all fancy like that, does he think he's some big shot?
Tch, wearing a white shirt with the top two buttons undone. His hairstyle! He definitely styled it on purpose! And a guy with skin that pale, what a pretty boy! He must have put on makeup just like girls do! Ugh, what a scheming jerk!
The girls rolled their eyes at how obviously jealous the boys were, then all looked over at Mu Yue in unison. There was no need to ask who this guy was here for, he was holding a huge bouquet of flowers in his arms after all.
And he looked so familiar, the girls whispered to each other, and quickly figured out exactly who he was. He was one of the featured guests from Bilingual High School in that handsome guys and pretty girls contest at the Cultural Center a while back!
Mu Yue took the bouquet Cheng Zimin handed her. He had a perfect, just-right look of bashfulness on his face right then, and she held back a laugh as she said to Lin Xiaoxiao and the others, "I'm heading out now, you guys keep having fun."
"Okay okay!"
"Wait a second! You're that top talent from Bilingual High, right? You're chasing our classmate Mu Yue, you have to treat all of us to a meal! We're almost done eating anyway, let's all go sing karaoke together!"
"Yeah, treat us! It's only right!"
Mu Yue glanced back. The two or three people who were hooting and hollering had been the same ones who kept pestering her to throw a big birthday party for the whole class before. They really loved mooching off people, even now. She could hear a few people muttering "That's not very nice" but their voices got drowned out by the loud crowd.
Mu Yue didn't say a word, just waited to watch Cheng Zimin pull off his little performance.
Cheng Zimin put on a face of obvious distress. "But, I worked so hard to get this chance today. I waited forever for Mumu to agree to go out with me. We were supposed to go to the amusement park just the two of us. With this many people... my car can't fit everyone anyway."
After saying that, he looked perfectly sincere as he apologized, "I'm really sorry about that."
The second he finished speaking, the girls looked at those few troublemakers with total contempt. They were already being petty and jealous, and now they had no sense of decency at all. Just because someone was rich didn't mean they could treat them like a walking wallet! They even made that nice guy apologize to them? How shameless could you get?
Compared to Cheng Zimin, those guys were total losers in both looks and personality.
Dammit! What the hell! Are you all blind? That guy was clearly mocking us! He was making fun of us! Where was the apology?!
They felt like they'd been openly attacked, but no one believed them. They tried to argue with Cheng Zimin, but he and Mu Yue had already left. All they could do was curse under their breath, dammit, what a scheming jerk!
In the car, Cheng Zimin stopped at a red light, snuck a glance at Mu Yue, and asked, "If I'd really invited all of them to go sing karaoke just now, what would you have done?"
Mu Yue rolled her eyes at him. "Does that even need an answer?" That would have been so stupid, right? She would never date a total idiot like that.
Cheng Zimin burst out laughing, then asked tentatively, "So... do you still want to go to the amusement park for a bit?"
Mu Yue was holding the bouquet, and she turned sideways to look at him. "You've got quite the bag of tricks, don't you?" Cheng Zimin smiled shyly.
"Let's go."
Mu Yue already knew how to drive. She'd finished all her required practice hours right after passing the written exam for her driver's license, and was just waiting for the road test for subject two.
During that time, she leveled up her swimming skill to proficient, and the Top Student system rewarded her with 100 points. Occasionally she would hang out or grab a meal with Cheng Zimin when he asked her out, and other times she would go shopping or watch movies with Lin Xiaoxiao.
After she passed her subject three driving test, the system gave her another 100 points. Even though she'd known how to drive before, her current life was different from her old one, so the system counted it as a new achievement.
Not long after she finished her driving tests, the college entrance exam scores came out, and all the students went back to school to fill out their university applications. Mu Yue got a 657. A University's admission cutoff that year was 632.
When she saw her score, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. All that hard work had paid off, and the big hurdle at this stage was finally behind her. If she'd slacked off when she was only getting 500+ on her practice tests at the very beginning, the whole mission would have been a total failure.
Thinking about that, Mu Yue found it a little ridiculous. Since this was a merged world, the original Mu Yue from the campus romance novel was a bad student, the Mu Yue from the fake and real rich daughter trope got into a top 985 university, the white moonlight character failed the college entrance exam entirely, and the one from the overbearing male lead novel didn't even graduate from junior high.
The systems all said this was a fusion bug, which showed up not just in her academic performance, but in some other areas too. Otherwise, there was no way the difficulty level would be so high that it required binding four systems at once.
Mu Yue had nothing to argue back. Right now, the four systems were each getting more relaxed and lively than the last, and the most energetic one of all was of course that chicken. It had cleared the entire game by unlocking every single Gaokao achievement, and it was over the moon cackling nonstop!
The other three weren't bouncing around wildly like that chicken every single day, but they were all extremely cheerful too, nothing like how they'd been at the very start, slacking off and waiting for the end. After all, their host's strength was obvious to everyone. And now, weren't they about to go take on the stallion novel male lead soon?
On the 30th, Mu Yue arrived at the airport to catch her flight to Country B. There were no direct flights within China to the port city where they would board the cruise ship, so she had to fly first to the capital of Country B, then take a second flight to reach that port city.
She was heading there a few days early to adjust to the time difference, and also take the chance to travel around there, getting a taste of the local culture and cuisine.
