A Date with Xia Mi (I)

Although today was the day of their date.

Everything was as ordinary and uneventful as usual.

Perhaps because Xia Mi's packed schedule was downright inhumane—even her weekends were crammed with a full day of electives.

At the back of the tiered classroom, Li Lin opened his laptop and typed "best attractions for couples in Chicago" into Google Chrome.

It was his first time going on a date with a girl. He found himself sincerely trying to learn about fashion, romance, desserts, and love, and soon began to feel like a country bumpkin who knew nothing.

Xia Mi, carrying her backpack, sat down beside Li Lin. She blinked her bright eyes and curiously looked at the webpages appearing on his screen.

"We're heading out as soon as class ends today. Why are you still doing research?"

"What, should I start cramming while we're on the train?"

Li Lin tapped Xia Mi's wrist, stopping her from messing with the mouse.

Xia Mi had actually finished all her preparations for their evening date, but she found it rather amusing to watch Li Lin fumble around at his computer.

So she rested her chin in her hands, admiring the way Li Lin wrestled with Google, and giggled softly.

This elective was Aerospace Engineering, and today was its first class of the semester.

When a burly, silver-haired man with scruffy stubble sneaked into the classroom, even the professor at the podium wore an expression like he was badly constipated.

"Fingel?"

The old man had precisely unleashed the True Name of the "King of Kassel Paparazzi" the moment he opened his mouth.

Fingel, who had been hunched over and trying to sneak toward the back, hurriedly straightened up and laughed ingratiatingly. "Oh my... Professor, you still remember me?"

"If I remember correctly, this is already the fifth year you've enrolled in my class."

"Doesn't that prove I enjoy your lectures?"

"But from your first year until now, you've failed this course every single year."

The students immediately burst into laughter, showing Fingel no mercy. Clearly, he had offended plenty of people during his years leading the News Department.

"All right, hurry up and find a seat, Student Fingel. We're about to begin."

Having received the professor's orders, Fingel looked as though he had been granted a pardon. He dashed toward the back row in a flash.

Li Lin had just found two famous restaurants in Chicago when he suddenly caught a faint smell of rancid grease spreading through the air.

He looked at the student seated in front of him, and sure enough, it was Fingel. That bastard had hidden an overnight KFC Family Bucket in his backpack and was stuffing his face while the professor wasn't looking.

Xia Mi had long since pinched her nose and wanted to drag Li Lin somewhere else, but Li Lin wanted to talk to Fingel, so she could only listen to the lecture in gloomy silence.

"Senior, next week is clearly the second-years' war practicum. Why were Xia Mi and I selected too?"

Li Lin asked Fingel. This senior, who had repeated three years, could always get firsthand intelligence from the Executive Department or Equipment Department, like some spy planted within the Secret Party.

Fingel spat out the chicken bone in his mouth with a miserable expression. "Junior, you can't use me like some 'know-it-all.' Your senior doesn't know everything."

"Really? Senior, dare you put your hand on your conscience and say that again? Back when I finished the 3E test, my Word Spirit hadn't even manifested yet, and I hadn't received a text about my results, but you'd already spread news of my bloodline rank throughout the entire school."

"Damn, that was... that was just a wild guess. You know what kind of work your senior does. Isn't a paparazzo supposed to make things up whenever a story looks juicy?"

"Cut the crap. I'll treat you to a good meal in the cafeteria at noon. Hurry up and give your juniors who are about to head to the battlefield the inside scoop."

At that, Fingel actually hesitated for a moment.

He looked around and found everyone else listening attentively to the lecture, while the professor was too lazy to care about the chatter in the classroom.

So Fingel lowered his voice and spoke to Li Lin.

"Your senior only heard this secondhand, all right? Secondhand. The source isn't reliable, so just treat it as something amusing."

"I'm all ears."

"The Executive Department wants to test how you react when you encounter Dead Servants. At the same time, they want you and Xia Mi to get used to the real combat environment hybrids have to face ahead of time."

"Senior, you really are a spy, aren't you?"

"Shut up. Your senior made it all up. Believe it if you want... but for lunch, I want ham and eggs, a top-grade fried steak with every side dish, all smothered in thick gravy."

Fingel had clearly seized on the fact that the Martial Arts Club really did have a million dollars in activity funding now.

Given how loyal Fingel had been, Li Lin was still willing to treat him to this meal.

Xia Mi, sitting beside him, finally lost all patience. Hugging her backpack, she stood up and left. Seeing Li Lin talk to anyone other than herself annoyed her now.

Fingel blinked, thinking that her jealousy was seriously intense. His junior was probably in for endless suffering in the future.

When Li Lin saw that Xia Mi had actually skipped class, he was just about to chase after her when a text from Xia Mi popped up on his phone.

[Xia Mi: Meet at the train station after class.]

[Xia Mi: I'm going back to the club activity room to take care of something. Little Li, behave and pay attention in class for now!]

Xia Mi really was sulking, but fortunately, she merely hated seeing Li Lin talk to other people and wasn't about to skip their date too.

But Li Lin was in no mood for class now either. Looking at the physics model open on his laptop, he suddenly kicked the back of Fingel's chair.

"Let's go, Senior. Come to the shooting range and practice for a while."

"Young people, trapped by love."

Fingel sighed like that, but he didn't mention anything about failing classes. He decisively slipped out through the back door with Li Lin.

The two spent half the day at the shooting range. Fingel was clearly a perennial bottom-feeder who failed courses year after year, yet when he taught Li Lin how to handle firearms, he looked entirely convincing. He could even pull off one-handed reloads and chambering, making Li Lin wonder whether a legendary dragon-slaying life was hidden beneath those solid muscles.

By the time the shooting range was about to close, it was nearly the time Li Lin had arranged with Xia Mi. He said goodbye to Fingel, returned to his dorm first to change clothes, then grabbed the train ticket Norma had helped him book and rushed toward the school gate.

After dusk, rows of streetlamps lit up outside the train station, as though a Lantern Festival flower market had been moved into Cassel College. On weekends, couples could always be seen leaving campus to shop or watch movies together.

Li Lin walked around the station and scanned the area, but he couldn't find Xia Mi at first. His feelings were as complicated as if he had discovered his cat had run away from home, and he instinctively pulled out his phone, wanting to make a call and issue a "missing pet notice."

"Hey! Little Li, what are you standing there for? Look over here!"

A familiar voice rang out from the platform.

Xia Mi stood beneath the lamplight and waved at him, smiling flawlessly, as though she really was only a girl who had come for a date, rather than a foreshadowing of fate.