His interruption helped Zhu Yaya alleviate the previous awkwardness.
Zhu Yaya looked him over a few times. "My name is Zhu Yaya. And you are?"
"Ah," the boy feigned sadness and sighed, "As expected, beauties only have eyes for handsome guys! Can't see me at all! I'm Li Hao. I'm Brother Yan's little brother."
"Little brother?"
Didn't Xu Baoying say no one at school dared to get close to Yan Heng?
"Yeah," Li Hao scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Although that's a title I gave myself, Brother Yan has never acknowledged me as his little brother."
He stole a glance at Yan Heng, who was sleeping with his head on the desk, and lowered his voice to speak to Zhu Yaya. "Don't be fooled by Brother Yan's icy exterior, he's actually kind-hearted. When I first came to Class 17, I was always getting bullied. Luckily, Brother Yan helped me out. Junior, it's morning reading time right now, what are you doing here?"
Zhu Yaya was somewhat surprised. "How do you know I'm a first-year?"
"Didn't you announce it yourself here a few days ago?"
Zhu Yaya: ... ((٩(//̀Д/́/)۶))
Zhu Yaya cleared her throat and put on a mysterious air. "It's a secret."
Li Hao looked at Yan Heng and let out a meaningful "Oh."
Zhu Yaya waited for a while, but nothing seemed to happen. Remembering the female lead's ordeal in the plot, she still wrote a small note, and when no one was looking, tossed a little paper ball to her.
Xu Chun opened it curiously. It read, "Watch your head, use the back door."
"What's this?" Xu Chun frowned, looking displeased. She happened to need to use the restroom and walked out of the classroom.
Not long after she left, a girl dressed like a delinquent smirked, brought over a stool, stepped on it, and placed a small paper box filled with chalk dust on top of the door. As soon as someone pushed the door open from outside, the box would tip over, dumping the chalk dust on the person entering.
Zhu Yaya pondered, how old are these people, still pulling childish pranks like this? What if the head teacher pushed the door open? But then she thought again, most of the students here came from wealthy families and probably weren't afraid of the school anyway.
Just as her thoughts were running wild, she heard a noise from the front door. Shifting her gaze, she saw Xu Chun covered head to toe in chalk dust.
Zhu Yaya: -_- Didn't she warn Xu Chun?
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she hurriedly pulled a fruit box from her backpack, opened it, and started eating watermelon.
Standing in the doorway, Xu Chun was so angry tears nearly welled up. She scanned the room, everyone was laughing heartily. Filled with grief and indignation, she charged straight towards Murong Beichen, who was laughing the hardest. "Was it you?"
"What the hell?" Murong Beichen sat with his legs crossed on the desk, slouching. "Hey hey, don't go biting people like a rabid dog. I haven't had my shots."
Furious, Xu Chun placed one hand on her hip and pointed at Murong Beichen with the other. "First, my name isn't 'hey,' it's Xu Chun. Second, I'm not a rabid dog, you are. Third, out of everyone here, you're the only one who has a problem with me, so it must be you getting back at me!"
Such familiar lines!
Zhu Yaya, who was eating watermelon: "Pfft! Cough, cough..."
Li Hao, sitting in the front row, heard the coughing and turned around, looking at Zhu Yaya with admiration. "Tsk tsk, choking on watermelon, that's so you!"
Zhu Yaya glared at Li Hao, then turned and saw Yan Heng. He had sat up and was staring at her with a dark expression.
Zhu Yaya: !!! (o￣Д￣)
Was he blaming her for waking him up? Zhu Yaya thought with slight suspicion. Trembling slightly, she extended the fruit box in her hand. "Yan Heng, would you like some watermelon?"
"..."
"It's quite sweet."
Yan Heng glanced at the fruit box, let out a derisive snort, and laid his head back down to sleep.
Crestfallen, Zhu Yaya withdrew her hand.
Brother Yan truly lived up to his reputation, his thoughts were truly unfathomable.
Not far away, the male and female leads were still bickering. Zhu Yaya continued her important work of eating watermelon.
In the end, it was the homeroom teacher, Qiao Wei, who heard the commotion, rushed over, and cleaned up the mess.
Qiao Wei had been feeling a bit of a headache, but when he spotted Zhu Yaya crouching in the back, trying to sneak out the rear door quietly, he was amused.
"Student Zhu Yaya from Class 1, Grade 10, what are you doing in our class during morning reading?"
Caught red-handed, Zhu Yaya froze for a few seconds, then suddenly bolted, trying to escape through the back door.
"Quick! Close the back door." As soon as Qiao Wei's words fell, the student sitting by the door leaped up and shut it.
Qiao Wei smiled with a cunning look. "Where do you think you're escaping to?"
Zhu Yaya feigned composure. "Ah, it's Teacher Qiao, the homeroom teacher of Class 17, Grade 11! To be perfectly honest, I am the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs for Class 1, Grade 10. I am here today to visit and exchange views on the diplomatic relations between our two classes."
"But you don't have a pass for my class. Minister Zhu, this is illegal border crossing! Come, let's go find your homeroom teacher for some tea and have a good talk about the future diplomatic development of our two classes." Qiao Wei smiled kindly.
Zhu Yaya: d(ŐдŐ๑)
I'm done for!
"Minister Zhu?" Chang Wen looked at Zhu Yaya with a half-smile.
"Haha." Zhu Yaya laughed obsequiously on the side. "It was for the future development of our class."
Qiao Wei also added with a smile, "I think Minister Zhu's words make a lot of sense. Our two classes should indeed develop good diplomatic relations and achieve mutual benefits."
"Your Class 17?" Chang Wen scoffed. "Teacher Qiao, I need to discipline my own student now. Please leave."
Qiao Wei rubbed his nose and left. Before going, he said to Zhu Yaya, "Minister Zhu, I've approved a long-term pass for my class for you. Feel free to visit often for exchange and learning!"
"Get out." Chang Wen glared at him angrily.
What followed, as one might imagine, was a stormy session for Zhu Yaya.
After the scolding, Zhu Yaya walked into her own classroom looking as listless as a pickled vegetable.
Fortunately, she once again heard Li Zeyan's voice—
"Congratulations on successfully completing the third task. Reward: three years of lifespan, twenty thousand RMB."
Just then, Xu Baoying sidled over. "You rascal! I was wondering why you weren't at school yet, turns out you went to Class 17, Grade 11 again. Minister of Foreign Affairs? That's so like you."
Zhu Yaya said dejectedly, "Don't make fun of me, I got an earful from the homeroom teacher!"
"Who told you to always skip class and run off to Class 17, Grade 11! Do you like it there that much? The people there aren't easy to deal with," Xu Baoying grumbled. "But if you really want to go there, why not skip a grade!"
"You think I haven't considered it? My parents won't agree!" Zhu Yaya had brought up the idea of skipping a grade before, but Zhu Jianjun and Zhao Jing were always worried she'd be bullied and refused outright.
"Sigh." Zhu Yaya thought again about the upcoming novel plot with its unclear timeline and chaotic narrative, her face full of worry.
"System," she whispered in her mind, "if I don't discover and unlock tasks on my own, do no tasks appear?"
"Correct. You must discover the key to the mission yourself in order to unlock it. Furthermore, you are only responsible for observing the romantic developments between the male and female leads."
It was the voice of Teacher Li Lihong again.
"Oh." This system's function is so useless!
She popped a milk candy into her mouth, wondering, what should she do now? Having only completed two missions, six years of extended lifespan was hardly enough for her to get by on.
