New life, new crisis
The metal tray on the second floor of the cafeteria clattered against the edge of the food counter.
Zhou Yu squeezed through the crowd carrying two servings of sweet and sour pork ribs. Dania had already taken up a corner by the window and was wiping his half of the table for the third time with a tissue.
"If you wipe it any further, the paint will chip."
He put down his plate, Dania's chopsticks were already reaching for the largest piece of pork rib on his plate.
Dania:(๑´ڡ`๑)
This one looks sweeter.
They all came from the same pot.
"The auntie scooped out half a spoonful of extra sauce for your portion."
Looking at her self-righteous gaze, Zhou Yu silently pushed her plate two inches closer to her.
Sigelica walked by carrying a plate of boiled vegetables, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them.
Sigelica: (ㅍ_ㅍ)
She said nothing, but the sound of her military boots hitting the ground grew a third louder.
Linnai emerged from behind her, her wrists still covered in dust.
"Sigelica, your face looks worse than the rag I used this morning."
"Shut up!"
"Oh, by the way, I saved you a seat, right next to Chisaki. She still has a baby voice, so please bear with it."
After Linnai finished speaking, she floated away.
Zhou Yu picked up a piece of pork rib, and out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the entrance of the cafeteria. Suddenly, the old-fashioned digital watch on her wrist flashed.
It wasn't the green light that signaled the hour.
It was a dark red light, like a drop of blood seeping into the edge of the LCD screen, then quickly disappearing.
Dania was engrossed in gnawing on a rib and didn't notice.
Zhou Yu put down her chopsticks, placed her fingers on the watch face, and gently stroked the darkened crack with her thumb.
Linnai leaned over from the next table, her mouth still stuffed with half a mouthful of vegetables.
"Brother Zhou, why are you eating so little today?"
I'll save some room in my stomach.
Why keep your belly full?
"I might need to take care of some trash this afternoon."
Zhou Yu unscrewed the thermos, and the sweet aroma of goji berries mingled with the cooking fumes, causing the conversation to slip away like an eel.
The first period in the afternoon is a general education class.
Dania sat by the window in the lecture hall, her notebook open, covered with stick figures of Zhou Yu holding thermos cups.
The old professor on the podium had a voice that sounded like an old, broken radio.
The back door of the classroom was silently pushed open.
A boy in a dark gray uniform walked in, his hair covering his eyebrows, and his shoes brushed the ground as he walked, like a shadow drifting by.
He sat down in the corner of the last row.
Dania paused for a moment while drawing the stick figure.
It wasn't because of the new classmates.
Her fingertips suddenly felt hot, but the heat was fleeting and then disappeared.
Dania looked down at her hands.
There was nothing there.
When the bell rang, Linnai was the first to rush to the back row.
"Hello, I'm Linnai, the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. May I ask you a few questions?"
The boy looked up; his eyes were a very pale color, like diluted ink.
"Yeqi."
"Okay Yeqi, which college did you transfer from?"
"The Northern Territory."
Linnai's pen tip poked a dot of ink onto the sticky note.
The Northern Territory, that's the territory of the Fractsidus.
"Then why did you choose Flamebearers' Academy?"
Yeqi's lips twitched.
"The person I'm looking for is here."
As he said this, his gaze passed over Linnai's shoulder and landed precisely on the classroom door.
Dania was standing on tiptoe, peering inside, holding a notebook in her hands and a strawberry milk candy given to her by Zhou Yu in her mouth, completely unaware of the gaze coming from the corner.
Linnai closed the notepad, her professional smile unchanged, but she had already taken a half step back.
Welcome to the Flamebearers' Academy! We wish you all the best in your studies.
She turned and walked away, quickening her pace by two stops, almost bumping into Sigelica was walking towards her.
Why are you running?
I'm going to find Zhou Yu.
Why are you looking for him?
Linnai stopped and glanced back at the teaching building.
"The new transfer student has eyes as still as water, and the way he looks at Dania is off."
Sigelica's expression instantly turned alert.
In the Logistics Department's warehouse, Zhou Yu had just given an analysis report an 85 out of 100.
He was writing comments when the warehouse door was kicked open.
Linnai leaned against the doorframe, panting, and slammed her interview notebook onto his table.
"There's a transfer student from the Northern Territory, named Yeqi."
Zhou Yu put down the red pen.
"The Northern Territory?"
"Yes, he said he was looking for someone."
Linnai tapped her finger on that line of text in the notebook.
"He said, 'The person I'm looking for is here,' and then he stared at Dania. I saw it with my own eyes."
The digital watch on Zhou Yu's wrist flashed a dark red light again, this time lasting for two seconds.
He opened the drawer and pulled out a laminated document from the bottom.
"Detailed Rules for the Approval Process of Transfer Students to the Flamebearers' Academy (Revised Edition)"
My finger traced the clauses and stopped at Article 17.
"Transfer students must provide a transfer certificate from their original college and a certificate of no criminal record issued by the local public security committee; both are indispensable."
He closed the file and stood up.
"There are no pacification committees in the Northern Territory."
Linnai blinked.
"So?"
Therefore, his transfer procedures were illegal.
Zhou Yu stuffed the thermos into her pocket and then pulled out the bag of strawberry milk candy from the corner of the drawer.
I'm going to the student records office.
He stopped at the door and looked back at Linnai and Sigelica had followed him.
"You two, if you don't have classes this afternoon, help me sort out the screws in warehouse number three."
Sigelica: "Huh? Why should I?"
"Because of your inopportune appearance on the rooftop that night."
Sigelica:(╬◣д◢)
Zhou Yu went out the door.
The footsteps in the corridor faded away, and Linnai looked down at the rules on the table, letting out a sigh.
"How come he even has this saved?"
Sigelica's voice came from deep within the warehouse, accompanied by the clanging of metal frames.
"He has everything in his drawer. If you tell him you want to get married, he can pull out an appointment form from the Civil Affairs Bureau on the spot."
Linnai shuddered as she imagined the scene.