A Historic Meeting

"Luo Kai, Luo Kai, someone's looking for you!" A girl's voice rang out from the doorway of Class 2, Grade 10, during recess.

Luo Kai, who had been chatting with Li Zhiqun and the others, looked up.

Li Zhiqun asked, "Who is it?"

"Senior Chu Yifan!" The girl delivering the news sounded excited.

The girls in the classroom also let out a chorus of gasps upon hearing that name.

At this school, there were always a few names that could draw such reactions from the students. Among the boys, the name that excited them was "Tang Xiuyuan," the school beauty in the hearts of every boy at Dongchuan Middle School.

Among all the girls in the school, however, the name that drew the most attention was "Chu Yifan," because he was the school heartthrob in the eyes of every girl at Dongchuan Middle School. Of course, in the eyes of the girls from Class 2, Grade 10, the next school heartthrob could only be their class's Luo Kai.

Chu Yifan from Class 2, Grade 12, was also the captain of the school football team. With only two days left before the team's recruitment, his visit to Class 2, Grade 10, to find Luo Kai excited the boys as well.

Hearing that it was Chu Yifan, Luo Kai stood and walked out of the classroom.

At the door, he specifically smiled and nodded at the girl who had told him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome..." The girl who had been thanked blushed shyly, and her voice softened to a mosquito's buzz.

The moment Luo Kai stepped out, he saw Chu Yifan standing not far away. The tall Chu Yifan smiled first when he saw him. "Luo Kai, this isn't our first meeting, so I won't bother with pleasantries."

Luo Kai was a little surprised. "But this is my first time meeting you, Senior Chu."

Chu Yifan smiled. "I've watched your matches. Your Class 2 has already swept through all of Grade 10 without a single rival."

While Luo Kai and Chu Yifan were talking, the front and back doors of the Class 2 classroom, along with the three windows in the middle, were packed with people. Boys and girls alike craned their heads out to watch.

Bright sunlight fell across the two equally tall and handsome boys. Even the school tracksuits, so often mocked and despised by the students, somehow looked good on them.

They stood face-to-face, both smiling as they talked.

"What a scene of heroes appreciating heroes! It's practically like something out of a comic..." Song Jiajia clicked his tongue, then nudged Hu Lai beside him. "Hu Lai, take a good look. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

"What the hell does that have to do with me..." Hu Lai replied in a foul mood.

He was already irritated.

The whole classroom was focused on the historic meeting between the current school heartthrob and the next one. The gears of fate had begun to turn; everyone felt honored to be witnessing history. Everyone except him.

He was worried.

Ever since that damn system had given him an unreliable mission at the start, followed by a fairly decent reward, it had seemed to vanish over the past dozen or so days, falling into dormancy.

If he hadn't still been able to open that crude system interface in his mind and see the official store—which had nothing but lottery tickets—he would have seriously suspected that the strange encounter he had experienced was just a daydream from falling asleep in class.

He had always assumed the system would continuously issue him missions, let him earn rewards and points, buy lottery tickets from the store, and then draw some powerful, awesome item to help him rapidly improve his strength and ultimately make it onto the school team.

But now, with only a week left until the school team trials, the system was lying there like a dead dog, without issuing a single mission.

Wasn't this supposed to be a cheat-enabled life?

Where was the cheat?!

Did it just use a newbie gift pack to trick a new player in, then fucking abandon him?!

Those unscrupulous game companies at least knew to use a series of events to retain players. But this lousy system just tossed its player into a pit and left him there without a care?

Hu Lai was furious. He couldn't care less about the gears of fate or some historic meeting. What did any of that have to do with him?

"The school team trials are next Monday. With your ability, I'm sure making the team won't be a problem. I play midfield, and you're a forward. I hope we can work well together then. I'll do everything I can to support you."

With that, Chu Yifan took the initiative to extend his hand to Luo Kai.

"Sure."

Luo Kai extended his hand as well. The two handsome boys clasped hands tightly, smiling as they looked at each other.

At the sight of this, the girls could no longer hold back and burst into cheers.

In their eyes, this was the current school heartthrob handing things over to the next school heartthrob.

The boys cheered too. In their eyes, this was the current school team captain handing things over to the next school team captain.

This truly was a historic moment!

Amid the cheers, Hu Lai lay sprawled across his desk, his hands clenched into fists inside the desk drawer, still consumed by his anger at the system playing dead.

Chu Yifan left under the girls' reluctant gazes, and Luo Kai returned to the classroom.

The moment he entered, the excited boys surrounded him.

As the school team captain and the school heartthrob, Chu Yifan had personally come to see Luo Kai and told him, "I'll do everything I can to support you." It made the boys of Class 2, Grade 10, feel immensely proud.

That was one of the biggest names in the whole school, yet he'd been so humble before our Brother Kai!

Brother Kai is fucking awesome!

Surrounded by the crowd, Luo Kai wore a calm smile, as though Chu Yifan coming to see him was nothing worth showing off.

Yet the more he acted that way, the more excited everyone else became.

Li Zhiqun stood beside Luo Kai and said in a tone that screamed, "My Brother Kai is just that awesome," "With Brother Kai's level, isn't it perfectly normal for the school team captain to come looking for him personally? If you ask me, it should've been the school team coach who came, telling Brother Kai he didn't need to take next week's assessment and could join the team directly! That would be worthy of Brother Kai's level!"

His words drew a chorus of agreement. "Right, right, right, Li Zhiqun's right!"

"Exactly, why take any team-entry test?"

"If Brother Kai doesn't get straight onto the team, it just means that coach has no eye for talent!"

Li Qingqing, who had merely been watching the commotion, changed expression when she heard that.

You're the one with no eye for talent. Your whole family has no eye for talent!

Although Luo Kai had been enjoying everyone's praise and flattery, his eyes had remained fixed on Li Qingqing. What he wanted most was her reaction.

When he saw her expression change, he realized Qingqing might not like him being so showy. He might have gone a little too far.

So he cleared his throat. "Alright, alright. What nonsense are you talking about? I still have to take the test. Rules can't be broken."

Li Zhiqun nodded repeatedly. "Right, right, right. Brother Kai is upright and honorable, not some petty person who pulls strings and sneaks in through the back door!"

As he said this, he looked directly at Hu Lai and placed particular emphasis on "pulls strings and sneaks in through the back door."

Dongchuan Middle School's spots were highly sought after, and its admission cutoff was high. There had always been cases of people using connections and money to get in through the back door, and this was no secret among the students. After school began, there was a comprehensive exam, nominally a learning ability test, but in truth it mainly allowed the teachers to quickly assess the actual standards of those students who had not entered through the high school entrance exam.

Once the test results came out, everyone could tell that those who scored particularly badly had naturally gotten in by paying money and pulling strings.

Hu Lai's test score at the start of term had been far from ideal, so even though he never said anything, Li Zhiqun was certain that Hu Lai had paid his way in.

Yet Hu Lai seemed to turn a deaf ear to Li Zhiqun's mockery and gave no response whatsoever.

Instead, Song Jiajia, beside him, abruptly stood up and glared at Li Zhiqun with an unfriendly expression. "Li Zhiqun, who are you calling a petty person?!"

Li Zhiqun thought Song Jiajia was standing up for Hu Lai. After all, Hu Lai probably had only this one friend in class. He said disgustedly, "Song Fatty, quit making trouble. What's it got to do with you?"

Song Jiajia planted his hands on his hips. "My old man pulled strings and paid money to get me in!"

Li Zhiqun froze—he had never imagined that the punch he threw at Hu Lai would be caught by Song Jiajia instead. Who would have thought Song Jiajia would admit something like that so directly? After all, people were always somewhat ashamed to talk about getting in through the back door...

The other students in class also stared at Song Jiajia in surprise.

But Song Jiajia paid those looks no mind at all. He puffed out his chest, raised his head, and glared at Li Zhiqun as he demanded, "Who are you calling a petty person?!"

Li Zhiqun had no desire to argue pointlessly with Song Jiajia, so he could only say, "I wasn't talking about you..."

Then he looked at Hu Lai beside Song Jiajia. "Hey, Hu Lai, I'm really looking forward to next week's school team assessment!"

Without even turning his head, Hu Lai said, "Oh. What the hell does that have to do with me?"

"You..." Li Zhiqun glanced at the tall, burly Song Jiajia standing beside Hu Lai. He could bully Hu Lai, but he couldn't beat Song Jiajia.

"Forget it. I'll just wait and watch the show!"

With that, he and the others gathered around Luo Kai and walked away.

Li Qingqing had been watching Hu Lai the whole time and noticed that from beginning to end, the boy had remained sprawled lazily over his desk, looking listless.

"Something's not right!" the companion walking beside Chu Yifan suddenly said.

"What isn't right?" Chu Yifan asked.

"Obviously, both you and I went to find Luo Kai together. So why did he only greet you?"

"Maybe he didn't notice you?"

"Are you kidding? I, Yan Yan, was standing right beside you, large and alive. How could he not notice me?!"

Chu Yifan laughed. "Maybe he wasn't the only one who didn't notice you, Old Yan."

"Hey!" Yan Yan rolled his eyes. In truth, he had encountered this kind of situation plenty of times.

At school, whenever he walked together with Chu Yifan, the vast majority of people's attention would focus on Chu Yifan, automatically overlooking him at Chu Yifan's side.

"Also, Captain Chu, wasn't what you said at the end a little inappropriate? You put yourself too low, didn't you? And look at Luo Kai's attitude—he just accepted it so calmly. That kid should at least have been polite about it!" Yan Yan began speaking up for Chu Yifan.

"Geniuses always have a bit of temper. As long as he can help us make it to the national tournament, I don't mind being the supporting role." Chu Yifan spoke calmly, completely unconcerned.

Yan Yan thought about it. Hadn't he held the same idea before? By this time next year, Captain Chu would have graduated. Logically, he, the vice-captain, should take over as captain. But as long as Luo Kai could help the team reach the national tournament and fulfill Captain Chu's dream, he would willingly hand the captain's armband to Luo Kai.

Thinking of this, Yan Yan sighed. He only hoped that genius would live up to his and the captain's expectations.