Hobbies

The movie ended.

The dumbbell in Luo Di's hand was soaked with sweat.

He had no intention of resting at all and immediately changed into running shoes, ready for tonight's run.

20:00

The brightness of the streets was still close to daytime.

This was all thanks to the dense streetlights and the permanent luminous panels attached to every building's surface.

In addition, every street had round-the-clock rotating "sanitation workers." They wore glowing equipment all over their bodies and mainly patrolled corners that were easily missed by the light, while regularly maintaining the streetlights.

Luo Di put on his headphones, his playlist filled entirely with genre-film BGM, and began his night run around a park not far from home.

His pace was three minutes and thirty seconds per kilometer.

Yet not long after he started, he felt a gust of wind rush up from behind.

Another night runner caught up with him, someone a whole level larger than Luo Di in both height and build.

They brushed past each other without exchanging a word, but the corners of their mouths twitched slightly.

The two were actually longtime running friends who had met on the park track half a year ago. Luo Di could not keep up with the other man's pace, but it did not affect his mindset.

Three hours later, in the park restroom,

Luo Di stood before the sink, wringing the sweat from his shirt.

When he raised his head, the mirror reflected a sallow young face. His short, straight black hair was soaked with sweat, and despite being a high school student, he looked somewhat older than his age, as if he were slightly malnourished.

Just then—whoosh!

Something suddenly flew in through the entrance of the Public Restroom.

Luo Di's reaction speed was astonishing. He instantly raised a hand and caught the incoming object securely.

A bottle of vitamin drink.

The running friend he had met earlier also entered the Public Restroom. He squeezed in beside Luo Di at the sink and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel he carried with him. Despite running at such a fast pace, his breathing was almost inaudible.

"Thanks."

Luo Di took large gulps from the nutritional drink with its German label. This new type of energy drink was quite expensive, far beyond what a high school student like him could normally afford.

The mirror reflected a blond man. His handsome, mature face bore traces of stubble, and he was clearly not of the same nationality as Luo Di.

Yet the man spoke Mandarin with a slight accent. "Advancing to higher education next year?"

"Yes."

"What a pity. If you were advancing this year, I could have taken you on directly. Your perseverance and physical condition have already reached our company's average recruitment standard.

Next year will be another matter. We'll discuss it then."

As he spoke, the blond man reached out and squeezed Luo Di's arm, nodding up and down with clear satisfaction.

"By the way, with your qualifications, you should be able to do Social Practice ahead of schedule.

I happen to have an opening here. Are you interested? If you complete it early, you'll only need to focus on training your body and mind next year. It would also prevent the possibility of a 'practice accident' before you advance to higher education."

Luo Di was somewhat surprised. Such valuable practice opportunities had unexpectedly appeared twice in a single day.

"I already have an arrangement. I'll probably start my practice in a week."

"Oh? No wonder. A talented young person like you must be a key cultivation target at school. Can you reveal the general direction of your practice? What category is it?

If it's arranged by the school, it should be relatively conservative."

"I'm not sure."

The blond man had wanted to make another attempt, but he felt that he might be meddling too much. In the end, he merely reached out and patted Luo Di on the shoulder.

"Oh, right—this is for you."

An eggshell-colored business card of moderate thickness was handed to Luo Di. Roman letters on it displayed the man's personal information.

Though the two had known each other for half a year,

they had not exchanged contact information due to the other man's work.

Frederick Luo Fei

Contact number: LOFI-██████

"If you encounter unexpected danger during your practice, call this number. I'll get there as soon as possible. Of course, you can call if you run into any unusual circumstances in everyday life, too.

Of course, only if it's dangerous."

Mr. Luo Fei deliberately emphasized the word "danger" in Russian.

"Thank you."

Although they normally only spoke about running, Luo Di knew very well that Mr. Luo Fei was no ordinary person. Building a connection with someone like him might greatly help with Luo Di's future advancement.

"See you tomorrow night."

Mr. Luo Fei left.

Luo Di continued examining the tasteful business card. Unfortunately, it contained no information related to any company, only a name and phone number.

Tonight's conversation made him look forward even more to the upcoming Social Practice.

There were many different forms of practice, each corresponding to a different level of difficulty.

If he could leave a high-difficulty practice stamp on his personal record, he would have a greater chance of directly entering a "company" after advancing to higher education. In Luo Di's view, someone as outstanding as the class monitor would surely not choose an easy practice project.

By the time he headed home, it was already midnight. The city streets were still brilliantly lit, maintaining the same brightness as daytime.

After returning home, Luo Di routinely checked every corner of the house's curved structures to ensure the long-lasting lights were functioning properly. Only after feeding the Corner Parrot hanging on the balcony did he climb onto his own bed.

The lights needed to remain on even during sleep.

It was not just Luo Di.

Everyone living here was the same. They had long grown accustomed to sleeping in the light; darkness instead made them uncomfortable and unable to fall asleep.

A week passed.

Luo Di was not particularly interested in the concept of vacation. Other than grocery shopping and night running, he stayed home doing the things he enjoyed. Besides watching discs, he also set aside some time for drawing.

He enjoyed and excelled at drawing character designs from movies.

Whenever inspiration struck, he would also design a character himself in the style of a B-movie, placing particular emphasis on mask design. Luo Di hoped that one day, he could wear a mask from his sketches to events such as conventions or Ghost Festival celebrations.

At the moment,

he was staring at the mask design he had created and pinned to the left side of his desk—the one he was most satisfied with so far. He planned to visit a leather shop and have it custom-made on the day he successfully advanced to higher education.

Just as he became engrossed in the mask design,

buzz—the vibration on his wrist pulled his thoughts back to reality. This was also the first call he had received since National Foundation Day.

The instant he slid the green answer button, the voice on the other end practically rushed out.

"Luo Di! Tomorrow is practice day. You need to come out today. We'll meet up in advance, then go buy some things we'll need for the practice."

"Do we need to buy anything?"

"Of course! My practice area is in the Outskirts, so we need to prepare quite a lot in advance."

"Class monitor, can you roughly tell me what we need? If I already have it at home, there'll be no need to buy it."

"Oh, just relax. Since I'm the one asking you all for help, I'll naturally cover all the practice-related expenses. Pick whatever you want, and make sure you pick the good stuff.

The only thing you need to provide is your body. After all, you're the only person in the class whose athletic scores are better than mine.

As long as we pass this practice smoothly, my family might even give you a pretty generous bonus."

"Oh."

"One hour from now. Meet at Terminal Supermarket."

Three updates today, then two updates every day afterward. This new book will be a fairly fresh attempt, a brand-new work blending Yellow Sign and horror—two of A Fei's styles. It will definitely satisfy everyone.