Signing Up

Morning sunlight spilled across the school building, streaming through the glass windows and bathing the students at morning self-study in gold.

Chen Ze was asleep at his desk. He had stayed up late writing the night before and hadn't gone to bed until well after midnight.

"Wake up, the teacher's coming!" His deskmate, Zheng Yanxi, nudged him gently under the desk.

Chen Ze sat bolt upright on reflex, grabbed a book, and pretended to read.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted their homeroom teacher, Wu Xin, looking into the classroom with a stern expression. She didn't seem to have noticed him.

After their homeroom teacher left, Chen Ze said gratefully to Zheng Yanxi, "Little Yanxi, thanks! I'll treat you to milk tea another day!"

"You're welcome, Chen. What have you been doing at night these past few days? Why are you so sleepy every day?" the giant loli asked.

"Busy making money!" Chen Ze said.

"Are you short of money?" the loli asked.

"Of course I am. I can barely afford my rent," Chen Ze said.

"If you need money, I... I can lend you some." The loli hesitated, seemingly afraid of inadvertently upsetting Chen Ze.

"No need, but thanks, little Yanxi!" Chen Ze smiled and patted the giant loli on the head.

"There's... there's only a little over a month until the college entrance exam. You should focus on studying, Chen. If you really need money, you can tell me," the little loli said, her cheeks faintly flushed.

Seeing her blushing face, Chen Ze couldn't resist teasing her again. "Little Yanxi, why are you so good to me? Tell me, do you like me?"

"A... a little, I guess!" The loli's face turned bright red as she answered shyly.

"..." Seeing that his joke had gone too far, Chen Ze hurriedly changed the subject. "By the way, I never asked—what does your family do, Zheng?"

"My mom owns a clothing factory," the loli said, looking a little down, apparently disappointed that Chen Ze had deliberately changed the subject.

"Oh, wow, so you're a rich second generation!" Chen Ze exclaimed in surprise.

"By the way, little Yanxi, do you know what a qipao is?" Chen Ze had discovered by chance that this world seemed to have no clothing like qipaos, nor the hanfu and ethnic minority clothing from his previous life. At least, he had never seen anyone here wearing them.

"What's a qipao?" the little loli asked curiously.

"First, tell me, does your mom's factory handle sales?" Chen Ze remembered that some factories only produced and processed orders for customers and didn't handle sales.

"Of course. My mom's factory does everything, from sourcing raw materials to making clothes and selling them. We even have sales outlets in several countries," the loli said proudly.

Chen Ze took out a blank sheet of paper and began to draw. "The qipao has lots of advantages. Mainly, it shows off a woman's figure and her elegant, noble bearing!" he said as he drew, finishing in just a few minutes.

"Isn't this slit a little high?" The little loli pointed at the figure in Chen Ze's sketch. The slit went all the way up to her navel.

"Ahem! Don't mind the details. My drawing was just a little rough. The slit only needs to reach the thigh!" Chen Ze said awkwardly.

"Why is the row of fastenings on the chest slanted? And these don't look like buttons," the loli said.

"Of course they aren't buttons. They're frog closures. As for why they're slanted, don't you think they look better that way?" Unable to explain why, Chen Ze could only give her a haphazard answer.

"If your family can produce this kind of clothing, I'm sure it'll sell like hotcakes!" Chen Ze declared confidently.

"Chen, could you draw it in more detail? I'd like to show it to my mom." The loli looked very interested.

"No problem!" Chen Ze readily agreed. He could consider it thanks for all the help the giant loli had given him!

Their homeroom teacher, Teacher Wu, strolled in with a textbook and smiled at the class. "With the end of the term approaching, the school has decided to hold a graduation party on the tenth of next month. As for the performances, the school requires each class to put on at least one. I hope you'll sign up enthusiastically and win honor for our class. Anyone interested can come to me after class to sign up. The deadline is the thirtieth of this month. Also, you can check the noticeboard for details about the party's prizes. All right, enough talk. Let's begin!"

After class, a group gathered around. Seeing their expectant gazes, Chen Ze asked in puzzlement, "What are you doing? Do you need something?"

"School Flower, are you going to sign up to perform at the graduation party?" It was Zheng Qiang from the neighboring desk, one of the ten boys in their class.

"Not interested!" Whenever Chen Ze saw Zheng Qiang's rouged face and rose-colored lips, he felt like punching him.

"But I heard the other school flowers have all signed up. It wouldn't do for our great School Flower Chen to sit this one out!" A female classmate tried to provoke Chen Ze into it.

"You heard already?" Chen Ze asked, puzzled. The teacher had only just made the announcement, yet they already knew who was participating.

"Actually, the school released the news three days ago," female classmate A said.

"Yeah, yeah! If you don't participate, School Flower Chen, wouldn't that mean you're inferior to the others?" female classmate B said, trying to provoke him again.

"No, no. Whoever wants to go can go!" Chen Ze said indifferently.

"Please go, School Flower Chen! If you don't, people will look down on our class!" Female classmate C tried to appeal to Chen Ze's sense of duty.

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever you perform, School Flower, you'll definitely outshine the other school flowers!" Female classmate D tried to persuade Chen Ze with flattery.

"Ding~ The system has issued the host a new mission. Please sign up for a performance at the graduation party and successfully complete it. Mission reward: 5 points in any attribute and 10,000 empathy points. There is no penalty for failure. Does the host accept?"

"Ding~ The system has issued a new mission. Please perform at the graduation party and successfully take first place. Mission reward: 10 points in any attribute and 50,000 empathy points. There is no penalty for failure. Does the host accept?"

Damn it, system, are you messing with me? Chen Ze cried inwardly.

The system had issued two missions at once. It looked like he had no choice but to participate!

But system, I don't have any special talents!

"Ding~ The system has now introduced a loan program. The host may borrow empathy points at an interest rate of just 25% per month."

Loan shark! What a shady system! Chen Ze accepted in his mind. He had no choice-for those fifteen attribute points, he would go all out!

"What's the prize for first place?" Chen Ze asked his classmates.

"First place gets a laptop, 5,000 yuan in prize money, and a few physical books. Second place gets 5,000 yuan and a few physical books, and third place gets 2,000 yuan and a few physical books. Anyone who doesn't place gets a 500-yuan consolation prize and a few physical books." Classmate B had a good memory and rattled it all off at once!

"For the 5,000 yuan and the laptop, I'm in!" Chen Ze said.

"Yay!" The classmates watching burst into excited cheers.

"What are you planning to perform, School Flower?"

"I'll sing a song!" Chen Ze thought it over. Taking first place wouldn't be easy, so he could only bring out a famous song from his previous life.

Chen Ze went to his homeroom teacher's office, knocked, and walked in.

"Teacher Wu, I'm here to sign up for a performance at the graduation party," Chen Ze said.

"Oh? What are you going to perform, Chen?" An interested expression appeared on Teacher Wu's usually serious face.

"I'll sing a song!"

"What song?" Teacher Wu took out a form and began filling it in.

"It's called 'My Old Classmate.' It's an original song of mine." Even someone as thick-skinned as Chen Ze couldn't help turning bright red!

He had no choice. This world simply didn't have "My Old Classmate," so he could only brazenly claim it as his own.

He had chosen "My Old Classmate" because it fit the graduation party's theme perfectly, and its accompaniment was simple. If Chen Ze wanted first place, he had to do his very best.

"Oh! An original song? How bold of you, Chen! Are you confident?" Teacher Wu asked, a little surprised.

"Don't worry, Teacher Wu. I can't promise first place, but I definitely won't mess it up," Chen Ze said.

"You seem very confident, Chen. I'll put you down for that, then!" Teacher Wu said.

"Okay."

When he returned to the classroom, his classmates gathered around him again.

"How did it go, School Flower Chen? Did you sign up?" classmate A asked.

"I signed up. By the way, can any of you play the harmonica?" Chen Ze wanted to recreate the classic song from his previous life as closely as possible. As for the guitar, he could play it himself.

"I can, I can! Pick me, School Flower!" It was Song Ruoli, the class arts and entertainment representative. She could play not only the harmonica but several other instruments as well, which was why everyone had chosen her as their representative.

"All right, Song, could you accompany me when the time comes?" Chen Chen asked in pleasant surprise.

"Accompany you? No problem!" Song Ruoli said.

The two then agreed on a time to rehearse together. The party wasn't until next month, so there was no rush.