He walked forward and returned the beret to her hand.
“Thank you.”
She thanked him and put the hat back on.
Xiao Hui tilted her head curiously.
Her bright eyes stared at Ling Qing non-stop.
“Hmm? Why is Xiao Hui staring at me? Is there something on my face?”
“Hmm, don't move.”
Unexpectedly, Xiao Hui actually nodded.
She reached out her white hand, raised it above his head, and removed a cherry blossom petal from his hair.
“There really was one?”
Ling Qing was surprised.
After discarding the petal, Xiao Hui asked curiously.
“Why do I always feel like Ling Qing-kun's gaze is focused on my face?”
Xiao Hui was very observant.
She knew from a young age that she had issues with her presence.
Even her parents and sister couldn't escape this.
Ling Qing-kun wasn't a special person.
He would subconsciously ignore her.
And his gaze couldn't focus on her.
This was her own problem.
But...
Ling Qing-kun was still special to her.
Kato Megumi had seen him carve his incomplete name on the table, chair, and every book so he could remember her name.
She had seen him pinch his own thigh to stimulate himself to focus when he was talking to her and his eyes were starting to glaze over.
But today's Ling Qing-kun was even more special.
‘His eyes have never left my face.’
Ling Qing subconsciously reached out and tucked a strand of her hair that had been blown in front of her face behind her ear.
He chuckled softly, "Nothing."
“I just noticed today that Xiao Hui’s beauty is unique.”
“……”
Xiao Hui's expression, which had always been unemotional, remained as calm as ever.
“Thank you for the compliment, let's go to school.”
Even her thanks were calm.
But the red-tinged earlobes and the faint, barely perceptible smile at the corner of her mouth betrayed her true emotions.
The two walked side-by-side towards school.
Down at the bottom of the slope.
A bespectacled boy, leaning against his bicycle, stared blankly at their backs.
He lowered the hand that had been ready to catch the hat.
His heart sank.
His name was Eru Yea-kun.
He was a ‘deadbeat’ in the traditional sense.
Just now, he had witnessed a fateful encounter.
That girl… she was the angel he had been pursuing all along!
The feeling of his heart pounding told him that this was a ‘fateful encounter.’
But he had missed this fateful encounter perfectly.
Because of the man talking and laughing with the girl!
Eru Yea-kun felt like punching himself in the chest.
But soon he cheered up again, stood tall and full of fighting spirit.
That uniform was from the same school as his, he would find her!
……
Who is Eru Yea-kun?
Heh, Ling Qing didn't care to know.
As soon as it was break time, he was called to the office by his friendly homeroom teacher.
Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed at his grades.
“I always thought you could improve your grades, why are you always just a little off?”
Perhaps because Ling Qing was a nice guy and had a face that could be called the top school hunk.
He was handsome, but he also had the sharp eyes and brows of a man.
Even Hayama Hayato, known for his handsome appearance, was outshone by him in the hearts of young girls.
But Ling Qing didn't have the same sense of "real life" as Hayama Hayato.
Especially his grades.
Hiratsuka Shizuka shook her head and sighed at his grades, which were always on the verge of making it into the top 100 in the school.
Ling Qing shrugged, “I can't help it, that's my ability.”
He didn't care much about grades before.
He cared even less now.
Why do other people go to good universities… for better jobs, to make more money.
But he didn't seem to lack money.
Within his own space in the chat group, there were gold bars and jewels that he had taken from Saeko's world.
Money was still useful to him now.
He was planning to go exchange some money today and find a new house to live in.
He couldn’t live in that small, rundown apartment anymore.
At least a three-bedroom, two-living room house.
Hiratsuka Shizuka was helpless as she saw his indifferent expression.
Thinking of something, she asked, “If you want to improve your grades, you can go check out the Service Club, maybe someone there can help you.”
“……”
Service Club.
Ling Qing didn’t think wrong.
He knew where that was.
Yukino Yukinoshita's club.
He replied perfunctorily, “Okay, I’ll go take a look.”
“Since there's nothing else, teacher, I'll go back.”
“Okay, there’s nothing else.”
Ling Qing, leaving the office, naturally wouldn’t really go to the Service Club.
He didn’t need to.
His brain was working well now, he didn't need any of that.
If he really took the exam again, his score would shock everyone.
Ling Qing turned down the corridor.
Destination: Library.
……
“……”
The bunny girl, Sakurajima Mai, wandered aimlessly in the library and sighed helplessly.
Her own problem was getting worse.
Although she was almost invisible, no one would notice if she took things.
But when she bought things to eat, she still put the money on the table.
That was her moral bottom line.
But now she was facing a big problem.
She only had enough cash left for one last meal.
Withdraw money... She only had her bankbook, no one could see her, so she couldn't withdraw money.
Besides, she didn't know if anyone could see her after the camera.
If they couldn't see her, would withdrawing money at random make her a criminal?
If this continued, she wouldn’t even be able to buy things.
She desperately wanted to find a way to recover.
She didn’t want to do anything that crossed her moral bottom line... just like her mother.
Thinking back to when she refused her mother’s unreasonable and bottomless advertising contract, she clenched her fists.
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, she bumped into someone.
She subconsciously apologized, “Sorry!”
But the next second she realized.
She shouldn’t be able to bump into anyone!
She looked up sharply.
Seeing Ling Qing's unfamiliar yet familiar face.
“It’s, it’s you!!!”
He casually draped a jacket over her bunny girl outfit.
“Sakurajima Mai, let's talk.”
……
PS: The picture is of Kato Megumi!
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