Peggy Appears

Though it was called camping, they would not actually be pitching tents in the wilderness. The ranch provided cabin accommodations and dining facilities for students from the five schools, along with a small lake and woodland within its grounds. Overall, it felt more like a vacation resort.

Unlike across the Pacific Ocean, boys and girls from the same school stayed in the same dormitory cabin, just in separate rooms. By coincidence, Link's assigned room was directly across from Iris's.

Iris had long brown hair, long legs, a slender waist, and a perky butt. Aside from her chest not being especially impressive, she was undeniably a great beauty.

The moment Link arrived at school, he had set his sights on her and made her his first target. But this school was different from his previous one.

Wilmott Academy for Gifted Children was tightly managed, with an intensive class schedule. There were not many opportunities to make a move, especially since he had to catch up on courses he had never encountered before. Link had little free time, and after two months at school, he had only made it to second base.

That previous party had originally been a perfect opportunity, but Peggy's situation had delayed things. This camping trip, however, was an excellent chance for Link.

Since there were plenty of dorm rooms and not enough people to fill them all, Link was lucky enough to get a room to himself. After putting down his luggage, everyone soon gathered at the outdoor meeting area.

The place looked somewhat like a tiered lecture hall, except it was outdoors. There were around two hundred students from the five schools combined, and Link sat beside Iris in the front row.

Instead of focusing on the host's speech, Link casually swept his gaze around. It was summer, and most of the girls who had come were dressed rather lightly.

Link quickly spotted several girls with nice figures. While half-listening to the speech, his gaze lingered over their long legs and cleavage. Speaking of which, he really did spot one girl with a particularly ample chest. Her face was a little square, but by Western standards, she was still a beauty.

Just as Link was admiring the scenery around him, Iris suddenly nudged him with her elbow. "Look, there's a little girl over there. Is she a teacher's child?"

Link followed her gaze and could not help but pause in surprise.

"You know her?" Iris asked, noticing his expression.

"What a coincidence. She's Peggy, the one I mentioned before." Link's expression was slightly strange. "Come to think of it, I didn't know Peggy was attending this camping trip."

In truth, Link had told Peggy that he would be attending, but Peggy had never mentioned that she was coming. Still, Link figured she might have simply forgotten to say so at the time. He did not think much of it and planned to greet her later.

Iris did not know what Link was thinking, but she was curious about Peggy as well. Students at Wilmott Academy for Gifted Children, especially those in Class A, were mostly confident in their own intelligence.

Yet after Link arrived, he quickly rose to the top ranks of the school. It was not merely because of his intelligence, but Iris had heard from him that two ten-year-old children, Peggy and Sheldon, were even more exceptional than he was.

Link himself was quite self-aware. In Class A, most students were no less intelligent than him. Some students might not be as intelligent as Sheldon, yet were still somewhat smarter than Link.

The main reason Link had not fallen behind was the experience from his previous life, which made him far more adept at planning and managing his time.

Iris had encountered many geniuses at this school, but Link claimed that none of them could compare to two children. She had long been curious about Sheldon and Peggy, so now that she had seen Peggy in person, she naturally wanted to find out more.

With interest in her eyes, Iris said, "So she's Peggy. I'm curious about her too. When we have free time later, you have to introduce me to her."

"Of course."

At that moment, the teacher hosting the event introduced the camping schedule. The camp would last twelve days, with daily routine training as well as competitive games between the schools.

On the final day, there would be a Symphony Orchestra performance competition, judged by experts invited from a music academy.

The schools that won those games and the Symphony Orchestra performance competition could earn points. Members of the Symphony Orchestra from the school with the highest score would receive a cash prize.

The five schools attending were all well-known private schools in Texas, and most of them had deep pockets. The prize money was generous, and winning at an event like this could also help with college applications, so everyone would do their utmost to win.

The drive there had taken quite some time, and after all that traveling, it was already past four in the afternoon. The host announced free time and said dinner would be ready in the dining hall at six.

Before dinner, Link and Iris found Peggy. "Hi, Peggy. I didn't expect you to be attending this camping trip too."

"I heard you say earlier that you were going camping, and it sounded interesting. Our school's Symphony Orchestra happened to be attending this event too, so I came along."

After saying that, Peggy looked at Iris. "She is...?"

"This is Iris, my friend. Iris, this is Peggy, our neighbor. She's like a little sister to me."

"Hello, Peggy."

"Hello."

The two shook hands, and the three of them quickly began chatting. At first, they discussed ordinary topics, but gradually the conversation turned to musical knowledge.

Link did not know much about that subject. After all, he had only joined the Symphony Orchestra a little over two months ago, and his time was limited. He mostly practiced in his spare time, so he could not compare with Iris, who had been exposed to music since childhood.

What surprised Link, however, was that Peggy was also extremely knowledgeable about music. She could even recount many anecdotes that Iris did not know.

As he watched them discuss it, Link did not interrupt much. Most of the time, he simply listened. Expanding his knowledge in that area would also help improve his charm, so naturally he had no intention of cutting them off.

Iris and Peggy seemed to be having a wonderful conversation. They talked about music for quite a while, but gradually shifted the subject to school life. Then Peggy suddenly asked, "Iris, are you and Link boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Caught off guard by such a question from a ten-year-old girl, Iris was somewhat stunned. "Oh, uh, yes. We are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Link had never been aiming for a serious boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. He had even vaguely made his attitude clear, but Iris obviously had not understood, or perhaps she simply did not see it that way. At that moment, Link could hardly contradict her in front of Peggy.

"I never would have guessed. I heard Link was always very popular at his old middle school and had several female friends he was close with, but none of them ever became his girlfriend."