Sitting in the car, Lu Ming looked at the gazes of the surrounding crowd, feeling so embarrassed that his limbs were stiff.
Like a marionette being toyed with by Lin Hua, Lu Ming stiffly moved down from the car.
As soon as his feet touched the red carpet, the surrounding gazes snapped toward him.
Lu Ming felt the surrounding gazes like countless thin needles, pricking him so much that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
Lin Hua stood behind Lu Ming, watching him feel like he was on pins and needles, and chuckled softly.
Lu Ming saw the surrounding children with their round eyes wide, staring enviously at him on the red carpet and at Miss Maid following closely behind him.
The chattering of several young girls walking to school together reached Lu Ming's ears.
"Wow, he's so handsome! He looks just like the Prince Charming of my dreams!"
Hearing their discussion, Lu Ming didn't feel like a "prince" at all; he only felt his cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg.
Just then, Gian and Suneo, who were walking to school together, saw a circle of people gathered in front of the school gate from afar.
Gian frowned and pushed aside the students next to him: "What's going on? Why are there so many people around the school gate?"
Gian walked up curiously, shoving through the crowd to get to the front, with Suneo following behind him.
Having squeezed to the front, Gian and Suneo finally saw the situation in the center.
Gian frowned with his hands on his hips, looking at Lu Ming with a face full of displeasure. He clearly couldn't stand Lu Ming making such a grand entrance and stealing his spotlight.
"That Lu Ming guy is so annoying! He stole my spotlight as the King of the Kids," Gian complained.
But Suneo beside him was a completely different story.
His eyes sparkled as he stared at the red carpet under Lu Ming's feet, the small speaker constantly playing music, and Miss Maid behind him.
Suneo looked at Lu Ming enviously and whispered in admiration, "Heavens! Such a cool way to show up, why didn't I think of that!"
"No way, tomorrow I'll definitely have my mom help me set up a scene like this."
"That way, I can be just as famous in school as Lu Ming."
Lu Ming's gaze swept over Gian and Suneo in the crowd, making him even more embarrassed, wishing he could bury his head in his schoolbag.
Just as Lu Ming was about to turn into stone from embarrassment, a gentle gaze fell upon him.
Lu Ming followed the gaze and saw Shizuka standing on the outside of the crowd, clutching her schoolbag straps. Her eyes held no mockery from watching the spectacle, but rather a hint of worry.
Shizuka noticed Lu Ming looking over and quietly made a "fighting" gesture to cheer him on.
Shizuka's gesture was like a "lifeline" to Lu Ming, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief...
Lin Hua leaned in again, patted his shoulder, and intentionally shouted in a voice everyone could hear, "Young Master, let's go quickly, the teacher is waiting for you inside!"
As soon as she finished speaking, another burst of whispering broke out around them.
The embarrassed Lu Ming's toes were curling so hard he could have dug out a "three-bedroom apartment" in his shoes.
Lu Ming could only brace himself and shuffle along the red carpet toward the school gate step by step, each footfall feeling like it was treading on his nervous heart.
However, Lu Ming and Lin Hua soon passed the red carpet and disappeared from everyone's sight.
The two walked down the empty corridor. Lin Hua looked at Lu Ming teasingly, "Little Lu Ming, how does it feel to be the center of attention as soon as you arrive at school? Wasn't it great?"
Lu Ming's mouth twitched as he glared at Lin Hua with hollow eyes. "Sister Lin Hua, you have the nerve to ask? I think you're the only one who enjoyed that!"
Lin Hua was momentarily silenced but then said righteously, "I'm just asking, did those little brats look at you with envious eyes or not?"
Lu Ming glanced at Lin Hua, thinking to himself: You can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.
Lu Ming followed Lin Hua and soon arrived at the teacher's office, where they found his teacher, Eiichiro Terakoya.
After Lin Hua handed Lu Ming over to Teacher Eiichiro Terakoya, she left reluctantly.
Lu Ming followed the teacher to the class where Nobita and the others were.
The students in the class started to make a commotion upon seeing Lu Ming. "Look, isn't that the guy who made the high-profile entrance this morning?"
"Yeah, it really is that stuck-up guy from this morning."
The boys looked at Lu Ming aggressively and with great displeasure, but the girls' eyes were shining. "Look at my Prince Charming, he's come to our class to find me!"
"Nonsense, he clearly came for me!"
The teacher coughed as he watched the chaotic scene in the classroom, bringing it to order.
The teacher looked at Lu Ming and said, "This is a new classmate who has transferred from Rabbit Country. Let's have him introduce himself."
Seeing this, Lu Ming said, "Hello everyone, I am Lu Ming."
"I'm glad to meet you all and hope we can become good friends."
Seeing that Lu Ming had finished his introduction, the teacher assigned him a seat as Shizuka's desk mate.
Seeing this, Nobita looked at Lu Ming enviously for being able to sit with Shizuka.
Sitting in the back corner during class, Nobita watched Lu Ming and Shizuka studying seriously and helping each other, feeling more and more upset.
Every time class ended, he would rush over to stop Shizuka and Lu Ming from chatting happily.
The day passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was time to leave school. Shizuka and Lu Ming walked home together, while Nobita followed sneakily behind them.
As they walked, Shizuka couldn't help but ask suddenly, "Lu Ming, what happened this morning?"
"I saw you coming to school in such a high-profile way, but your expression looked very unnatural."
Lu Ming sighed upon hearing Shizuka's question. "I only found out there was such a segment after I arrived at the school gate in the car."
Shizuka looked at Lu Ming in surprise. "Ah, so it wasn't your plan?"
"It wasn't my plan. Do you remember Miss Maid who was following behind me this morning?" Lu Ming asked.
Shizuka thought for a moment. "Of course I remember. Didn't you arrange for her?"
Lu Ming shook his head and said, "Actually, she's the one who planned everything! She's my sister! She did that on purpose to prank me."
Shizuka realized. "So that's how it is! No wonder you seemed so strange when I saw you today."
Nobita watched the two of them chatting and getting further away. He was about to keep following, but then he was lifted up.
Nobita turned around trembling and saw Gian and Suneo.
Gian grabbed Nobita and threatened him fiercely: "Nobita! There's a baseball game in a bit.
Hurry back and get your gear, then meet at the baseball field. And if you drag us down again in today's game, you're finished, Nobita."
Suneo, standing to the side, chimed in, "That's right, Nobita! If you're still as clumsy as before, just wait for Gian's fist."
Nobita agreed tremblingly, and only then did Gian let him down.
After landing, Nobita turned and ran toward home, no longer caring about Shizuka and Lu Ming.
Gian and Suneo watched Nobita's receding figure.
Suneo looked at the receding figures of Lu Ming and Shizuka. "Gian, should we ask Lu Ming to come along?"
Gian took a look at Lu Ming, who had walked far away with Shizuka. "I'm not going to invite that stuck-up guy."