Chapter Five: Suddenly Unpleasant to the Eye
Before class, everyone was still discussing the recent Christmas holiday. However, as soon as the bell rang, the students lazily made their way back to their seats.
As the teacher began writing chemical formulas on the blackboard, a boy sitting next to Chen Nuo had already covertly taken out a pirated copy of *The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty* under his desk.
Chen Nuo, on the other hand, flipped open his exercise book, where a map was tucked inside.
Jinling is approximately 1,800 kilometers from Seoul.
So, how to get there?
Obviously, I can't just dive into the Yangtze River and swim all the way out to sea.
Get a boat and sneak across, landing on the coast of South Korea?
As if their navy's coast guard is just for show! If they really spot me, a single gunboat could end my second life with one cannonball.
Out on the vast sea, there'd be nowhere to run.
His gaze swept over the map, finally settling on two locations…
The Yalu River… the 38th parallel…
So, the challenges to overcome would be Kim Jong-un's border forces, and… South Korea's White Tiger Group?
Oh, right, the White Tiger Group was the prototype for that *Descendants of the Sun* show with Song Joongki.
Alright.
Chen Nuo glanced at the boy's copy of *The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty* beside him, then back at the map in front of him.
Suddenly, I feel a little envious.
Being carefree seems nice.
"Luo Qing! You answer!"
The chemistry teacher's voice made the boy beside Chen Nuo jump. However, he skillfully stuffed *The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty* into his desk, stood up, and calmly looked at the chemical formula on the blackboard.
"Um, uh…"
The chemistry teacher glared at him, then turned to Chen Nuo.
"You tell us…"
"..." Chen Nuo stood up and, after a moment of thought, said, "...Pout your lips?"
Well, naturally, he ended up listening to the rest of that chemistry class while standing outside the classroom door.
Before class ended, Chen Nuo, still standing outside the classroom, saw Director Sun strolling towards him from a distance.
"Chen Nuo," Director Sun said, pausing for a moment. "Things were a bit rushed that day. I really should thank you properly. If you hadn't been there to catch her…"
"You're welcome, Director Sun. I just happened to be there," Chen Nuo quickly replied.
"Are you physically all right?"
"I'm fine."
Not only fine, but actually a little thrilled. If School Belle Sun was willing, I wouldn't mind catching her a few more times.
Of course, Director Sun couldn't read minds. He just patted Chen Nuo's shoulder kindly and walked away.
From what I've seen these past two or three days, Old Sun isn't a bad guy. He seems to have a conscience.
Yeah, just a bit old-fashioned.
Sigh. Hopefully, his neighbor isn't surnamed Wang. Good people deserve a peaceful life.
School life was peaceful yet dull.
Ugh, Zhu Yidan, get lost!
School life had that tranquil, uneventful quality.
Having slept soundly through his afternoon classes, Chen Nuo strolled out of the school gates with his hands in his pockets.
He ducked into a supermarket, then immediately turned around and headed back towards the campus.
Teacher Liu from the Academic Affairs Office wasn't really a teacher.
He was just a diligent worker for a private education company.
With reforms on the horizon, No. 8 Middle School, whose promotion rate had plummeted to nearly the bottom of the district, was about to be converted into a private school.
Of course, the investors weren't fools; they only needed the shell of No. 8 Middle School—the license to operate an educational institution.
As for turning it into an international school later, perhaps even shelling out money for a prestigious name like Eton, that was something for a few years down the line.
And this Worker Liu was merely a project manager sent by the education company to oversee academic affairs at the school.
When Chen Nuo knocked and entered the Academic Affairs Office, Worker Liu was sitting at his computer.
As Chen Nuo walked in, Worker Liu seemed to hastily switch off his monitor. But in that fleeting moment, Chen Nuo caught the reflection of the game *Legend* on the windowpane behind him.
Alright, I really want to tell Worker Liu that this game is a notorious money sink, a true pioneer among cash-grabbing online games.
A working man like him should probably steer clear.
That meager salary won't cover the costs.
He'd be better off waiting a dozen years for those notorious, money-guzzling web games advertised by has-been celebrities... Hmm, never mind, those are even bigger traps. He probably couldn't afford them either.
"What can I do for you, student?" Worker Liu's tone was somewhat impatient. Evidently, he was still in the early stages of his game—the classic 'Taoist priest with a dog, conquering the world' phase—and being interrupted was clearly annoying.
Chen Nuo smiled with youthful innocence, his voice gentle. "Teacher Liu, about the school's exchange and competition trip to Yanbian…"
"Registrations are submitted in class," Worker Liu cut him off.
"I didn't sign up." Chen Nuo shook his head. Before Worker Liu could speak, he continued, "I heard there's a spot for a student representative for an observation and exchange visit…"
Worker Liu sized Chen Nuo up, his tone turning cold. "The student representative for the observation and exchange visit must be recommended by their grade level and have signatures from their homeroom teacher and the grade level head."
Chen Nuo, seemingly oblivious to the coldness in his tone, smiled and took a small envelope from his pocket, sliding it across the desk to Worker Liu.
Worker Liu frowned, opened it, and glanced inside.
A supermarket gift card with a five-hundred-yuan value lay quietly within the envelope.
"...However," Worker Liu's demeanor suddenly became amiable. "There are three spots for volunteers. You understand what volunteers do, right, student? They travel with the group, share meals and accommodation, but they also need to assist the other students with various services."
"No problem," Chen Nuo smiled.
Worker Liu let out a subtle sigh of relief and discreetly slipped the envelope into a drawer. "Prepare your personal information, copies of your student ID, and ID card…"
Chen Nuo produced another envelope. "It's all in here."
Worker Liu looked somewhat surprised, reassessing the young man before him.
The youth had delicate features and a slightly gaunt frame, giving off an impression of quiet composure.
Opening the envelope and glancing at the documents, Worker Liu nodded. "Alright, you can go. The list of students for the exchange group will be announced this afternoon."
"Thank you, Teacher." Chen Nuo smiled, revealing eight teeth, then turned and left.
This small bribe wasn't entirely illogical. After all, the exchange group was essentially a free student tour. What was there to exchange between two schools with rock-bottom promotion rates? It was merely an attempt by the higher-ups to generate some buzz and create a pretext for the school's restructuring.
Five hundred yuan for a free trip, with food and accommodation included, was a decent deal.
Besides, Worker Liu's salary wasn't high.
And well… *Legend* was quite an expensive game to play.
When school ended that afternoon, School Belle Sun was still in a terrible mood.
She had unfortunately failed the math pop quiz.
Truthfully, she wasn't the type of student who slacked off and hated studying.
To be fair, School Belle Sun was the earnest, hardworking type. She listened attentively in class, diligently practiced problems afterward, and then… after exerting tremendous effort, she would usually manage to score a stable sixty on exams.
But this time, she had unfortunately slipped up. She got the last major question wrong and didn't even make it to sixty.
As she reached the school gate, she glanced at the announcement board displaying the list for the Yanbian exchange and competition group.
The girl suddenly recalled what Chen Nuo had said and instinctively scanned the names.
Then, she saw the boy's name listed among the volunteers.
He's really going to see the snow, huh.
Suddenly, for some unknown reason, School Belle Sun's mood lifted. She skipped happily towards the Director's office.
She pushed the door open.
"Dad, I want to join the Yanbian competition group."
Director Sun, who was engrossed in a book, looked up at his daughter and frowned. "Didn't you say you weren't interested before? Why do you want to go now?"
"To… see the snow."
"All the spots are filled."
"I don't caaaare~~~" School Belle Sun pouted, then an idea struck her. "I can join the school choir and go with them!"
"Didn't you say you disliked singing and quit the choir?"
"...Now I like it again! HUMPH!"
"What are you 'humphing' about?"
"HUMPH!!!"
So, as expected, when they departed on January 3rd, Chen Nuo saw School Belle Sun standing gracefully in line on the train station platform.
The young girl seemed quite excited, dressed in a beige down jacket with a large, white woolen scarf wrapped around her neck, making her small face appear no bigger than the palm of a hand.
"Volunteers, please come and help everyone with the luggage," called a female teacher from the Academic Affairs Office, who was leading the group.
School Belle Sun had already spotted Chen Nuo and waved at him, an irrepressible smile on her face.
Chen Nuo hesitated for a moment, then walked over, just about to help School Belle Sun with her suitcase…
A large hand shot out from the side and snatched School Belle Sun's suitcase.
Whoa? Getting some competition...
Chen Nuo looked up and saw Director Sun's square, somewhat chubby face.
The young man's expression immediately switched to a smile.
"Director Sun, you came to see us off too."
"...Hmm!"
Honestly, Director Sun had originally taken quite a liking to this boy. After all, he had saved his daughter once, whether by coincidence or not. Director Sun felt he owed him for that. Moreover, after looking into Chen Nuo's family background, his gratitude towards the innocently smiling youth was mixed with a measure of sympathy.
But the problem was, just a second ago, the boy he had found rather agreeable suddenly wasn't so agreeable anymore! His daughter had pestered him endlessly to join this exchange group, and now, at the platform, he actually saw this boy?
His daughter was even waving and smiling at *him*?
A sense of unease began to stir within Director Sun.
Were these two youngsters' encounters a bit too coincidental? They bumped into each other when she fell from upstairs, and now they're together on a school trip?
He hoped he was just overthinking it…
"How come you're participating in this group too? I didn't see your name on the announcement," Chen Nuo asked School Belle Sun.
"I'll go if I want to. It's none of your business," she retorted.
"What are you going for?"
"To see the snow. HUMPH~"
Chen Nuo: "..."
Director Sun was walking ahead with the suitcase when he caught his daughter's reflection in the train window. He saw her glaring at the boy.
Though it was a glare, there was a hint of coquettishness in her expression, wasn't there?
Old Sun suddenly felt a knot of anxiety in his stomach.
The precious, tender little cabbage he had carefully nurtured in his garden for so many years…
And now, suddenly, outside the garden fence, there was… there was a damn handsome little piglet sniffing around!
The more he thought about it, the more unsettling it felt!
No one paid any mind to Old Sun's turmoil. A whistle blew, and the train slowly began to move. He watched his daughter smiling and waving goodbye to him from the train window.
Old Sun suddenly regretted it… Why on earth had he turned down the offer to lead this exchange group?
What a rash decision!
As he watched the train gradually recede into the distance, his mind was filled with the image of his daughter glaring playfully at that boy.
He couldn't dwell on it. If he did, more images would surface, images he dared not even imagine…
[Still, I have to ask for recommendation tickets.]