"Direction of twelve o'clock??"
"Her makeup's too heavy. Her neck and face are two different colors. She looks like a mature sister, but she's actually Hextech."
"Direction of one o'clock??"
"Her looks are passable, and she's dressed sweetly. Too bad she has no apparent strength. She's actually flat."
"Direction of two o'clock??"
"Press F to instantly enter the tank."
"Direction of eleven o'clock??"
"I want to have children with her."
Seeing Xiang Guan looking at Xiao Ling like Tom, Mu Feng's eyes flashed with pity. He then drank a mouthful of icy lemonade expressionlessly.
Poor Tom. He was being toyed with by a woman in the palm of her hand.
That was how his life would be.
Other people's student athletes went crazy eating... but as for someone...
Sigh.
He'd behave once Xiao Ling got married to someone else.
Mu Feng shook his head slightly and turned his gaze toward the stage in the middle of the field. It was getting late, and all the lights had already been turned on, illuminating the surroundings as brightly as daylight.
There weren't that many people here to join in the fun. On a weekend night, those experienced sophomores and juniors might prefer going out to stay up all night at an internet café or play pool. Still, quite a few people had come for the beautiful girls, like Xiang Guan.
Besides, there was a band and fireworks.
There was no reason not to watch...
(Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp...)
With her back to the two of them, Hua Xin lowered her head and crouched down, happily devouring the potato chips in her arms.
The place they were in was like a little corner, so there weren't many people around. It was an excellent spot for peeking at beautiful girls and doing some naughty things.
(Xia Yan had specifically reminded him to take Hua Xin somewhere with fewer people.)
The girl had spent the entire afternoon in the dormitory reading a novel, "I'm Never Going to Be Happy Again, Give That Back to Me"????. Xia Yan still hadn't returned even after she finished the final chapter, so she simply followed Mu Feng and Xiang Guan to the field. While she was at it, she familiarized herself with the route to the teaching building.
Then...
You know how it was. Faced with the temptation of "eat as many snacks as you want," Hua Xin had no chance of resisting??.
They were going to have a life-or-death battle with Xia Yan and Lin Qingyu tonight anyway, so she might as well eat her fill first.
Cucumber-flavored chips, Tang Monk meat, Brazilian barbecue, vegetarian steak... She hadn't seen these snacks in several months! If she couldn't grab a coupon, all she could do was stare!
With a grateful heart, the girl gulped down half a cup of cold lemonade.
"Refreshing..."
She hadn't eaten that much, just one of each kind.
After all, Mu Feng and Xiang Guan had bought them. If Xia Yan had paid... Heh heh.
She wouldn't even leave him the plastic bag??.
She secretly took the last few packets of biscuits from her schoolbag and put them into the large plastic bag, then returned the big bag of snacks.
People had to know when they had enough.
But Mu Feng was playing a game, while Xiang Guan was watching Xiao Ling, so neither noticed what she did.
"Bzz."
Hua Xin took out her phone, somewhat puzzled.
Xia Yan: "Look at the stage."
She looked up.
A tall, upright figure and a cool, beautiful woman dressed in dazzling clothes slowly walked onto the stage. They then stood together in the center, the brilliant lights shining down on them. Their appearances and bearing made them look exceptionally well-matched.
"Respected teachers and dear schoolmates..."
They seemed to be in perfect sync, taking turns speaking without the slightest pause or gap. Their equally pleasant voices spread to everyone across the field.
However...
Xia Yan's voice was no longer as gentle and composed as usual. Instead, he had deliberately lowered it, giving it a slightly husky quality...
Hua Xin frowned, then put on her mask.
She felt as if she had heard this voice somewhere before.
"I say, Old Xiang, when will you be able to stand onstage with Xiao Ling, shining as brightly as Brother Yan and Lin Qingyu?"
Xiang Guan seemed to remember his agreement with a certain wicked woman. A determined, confident light flashed in his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Ten days!! I only need ten days to win Xiao Ling over!!??"
Once it was done, he would be able to have dinner alone with Xiao Ling. During that time, there would be ambiguous confessions... drunken blushes... declarations of love... a hotel room key...
As he imagined it, Xiang Guan instantly became lost in fantasy, drool almost dripping from the corner of his mouth??.
"Hopeless."
Mu Feng immediately complained inwardly and gave up on trying to save Xiang Guan.
He was even more hopeless than those people who watched videos until they became obsessed and imagined themselves as the suited character's husband or wife, or those who played games until they imagined themselves as some character's husband or wife.
Come to think of it...
He sneaked a glance at Hua Xin beside him.
Should he still go follow Xia Yan and check on him? If he waited until Xia Yan finished hosting and performing, wouldn't he end up standing beneath the stage until he turned into a weathered terracotta warrior? His thin arms and legs couldn't take it.
Mu Feng shifted closer to Hua Xin. He lowered his head and asked softly, "Chief, do I still need to go follow... ahem, protect Brother Yan?"
Surprisingly, the girl wasn't afraid. She only shook her head lightly.
"No need."
"Afterward, I'll delete the recording."
As for saying "thank you" for his snacks and lemonade, Hua Xin just couldn't bring herself to say it.
She was always like this. She couldn't even express what she truly wanted to say.
Who had that much free time to guess what she was thinking?
"Oh..."
Mu Feng returned somewhat bewilderedly to Xiang Guan's side, but at the same time, the stone weighing on his heart finally fell away.
His life as a spy over the past several days... could be considered a success.
His mood immediately brightened. He felt as if he had completed his mission, and was even slightly reluctant to leave his life as a spy.
Who said a 2D character couldn't be a spy?
Hua Xin sat quietly on the grass, hugging her knees with both arms as she gazed at the two dazzling figures onstage with envy and longing.
It was so dark where she was, while it was so bright over there.
Was Xia Yan trying to tell her that there had always been an enormous gap between them?
The girl lowered her eyes slightly and watched the lively distance and stage.
Actually, it was pretty good.
If not for Xia Yan, she probably wouldn't have had the courage to leave the house. She wouldn't have met Chun Qiu, and she certainly wouldn't have been able to come to a place with so many people and watch the performance she had long wanted to see as a child.
Actually, when she thought about it, it wasn't a big deal. At most, the two of them would laugh at her and bully her a little.
It wasn't as if she hadn't experienced that before.
Hua Xin hugged her legs tighter.
It was all right...
The programs passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the school leaders had finished their speeches. Afterward, with Xia Yan and Lin Qingyu hosting, one student performance after another began: singing, dancing...
There were so many wonderful performances.
The girl stared intently with her beautiful eyes as the boys and girls onstage radiated youth. Some were nervous, others composed, but they all enjoyed being watched by everyone.
The sky gradually darkened further.
Yet the cheers and lively discussions remained deafening.
At some point, Xia Yan had changed out of his host's outfit and put on a more form-fitting white suit, eliciting bursts of excitement from the many fangirls who had come for him.
It had to be admitted that he was handsome. No matter what he wore, he looked good.
Hua Xin rubbed her eyes. Whether from yawning or rubbing them, the corners had reddened slightly. She then pushed aside the hair covering her vision and stared blankly at Xia Yan onstage.
Without her hair blocking the way, her vision was exceptionally clear.
It would be over after this, right?
She heard the rhythmic background music begin. She saw Xia Yan raise the microphone.
(What are you laughing at...)
(You always pretend to be kind and gentle... but you're so disgusting behind everyone's back...)
Hua Xin curled her lips.
Then, as the lyrics played out one line after another, she froze. Her little head slowly lifted on its own as she looked at Xia Yan's serious expression.
This wasn't a love song sung for Lin Qingyu, nor was it the kind of rap boys liked, much less a simple, childish pop song.
She had never heard this song before.
What the lyrics at the beginning were, what they were in the middle—she heard none of them, as if they had gone in one ear and out the other.
But she heard the final few lines.
She was no longer lowering her head and curling herself up.
"Discovering that I'm actually fragile, but afraid to say it"
"When I turned my back to the starry sky"
"Continuing to grope my way forward"
"Where in this boundless universe is the life I want?"
"It turns out it takes a very, very long time to understand the hundred ways of living"
The girl straightened up and extended her hands from her sleeves. She subconsciously gripped the artificial grass beneath her, softly murmuring the final line. Reflected in her eyes, bright as flowing light, was only Xia Yan's bowing figure:
"My hundred ways of"
"Living..."
Before you continue