“Close my eyes and it’s night, open them and it’s day. If I’m not the Protagonist, then who is?”
“But hasn’t my hair grown quite a bit?”
“It’s already been half a month since my last haircut.”
“If I don’t go soon, I’m afraid it’ll be dark even when I open my eyes, and I’ll be forced to surrender my Protagonist title.”
Early the next morning, Ye Zhou got out of bed to wash up. Looking at the bangs in the mirror that were almost covering his eyes, he muttered to himself in a chunibyo-like fashion.
He gave his hair a quick wash, planning to head downstairs for a haircut before going to school.
He didn’t have many classes today. If he had to say, only one class was particularly important.
It was a public National Literature class. Not only was it necessary to earn credits, but it was also a mandatory requirement for a smooth graduation. How could that not be important?
However, just as Ye Zhou threw on his jacket and prepared to head out, a lady’s cigarette fell inappropriately from his chest pocket and onto the floor.
“Huh? Isn’t this the one Senior Lin gave me yesterday? I almost forgot I still had this thing.”
He picked it up and gave it a light blow. At the same moment, the Daily Intelligence in his mind began to refresh.
[Today’s Intel: Lin Shulan is still guiding Su Zhihan’s rehearsal today. In half an hour, her nicotine craving will strike, but upon checking her pockets, she will find them empty. It is obvious she forgot to bring them when she left. Since ordinary cigarette shops do not sell this specific model and her home is too far away, she will become extremely irritable!]
Ye Zhou was stunned, his brow furrowing.
‘Hiss, after learning my lesson from yesterday, I think it’s better not to let Su Zhihan and Senior Lin have another misunderstanding that sours their relationship again.’
‘Especially since Lin Shulan is currently guiding Su Zhihan’s rehearsal. Up until they finally take the stage, they are partners fighting side by side, not rivals, right?’
‘Though I firmly believe Senior Lin isn’t the type of person to vent her bad moods on others…’
‘But it’s hard to say for someone whose nicotine craving is striking without any relief in sight. Such people usually experience both physical discomfort and emotional irritability. Physically, they become restless, and emotionally, they lose patience over the smallest things.’
‘Even if I haven’t experienced it personally, haven’t I seen it before? That kind of negative state isn’t something one can control just because they want to.’
‘And even if it wasn’t at such a critical juncture, as fellow members of the Drama Club, it’s still very necessary for me to help smooth over relationships between the other members.’
‘Man… truth be told, even without intentionally paying attention, I can still tell Senior Lin has quite a heavy addiction. It feels like she either has a cigarette in her hand or one in her mouth.’
‘In her case, smoking forty cigarettes a day shouldn’t be a problem, right? That’s about two packs. Senior Lin really is a chain smoker!’
While shamelessly complaining, Ye Zhou picked up his phone from the nightstand and looked for Lin Shulan’s phone number.
Since Lin Shulan’s craving hadn’t hit yet, he decided to warn her as soon as possible so she could restock in advance, avoiding unnecessary trouble for herself.
However, a cold, mechanical female voice soon came from the other end of the line.
“It looks like Senior Lin turns off her phone during working hours.”
Ye Zhou tried sending a few messages on Green Bubble, but as expected, a minute passed without a reply. Even Su Zhihan, who was being coached by Lin Shulan, was the same.
“Sigh, this is going to be difficult.”
Ye Zhou let out a soft sigh and picked up that single lady’s cigarette. He took a few steps to the window and pushed it wide open. Soft sunlight poured in, feeling warm against his shoulders.
He held it up, observing it closely.
Even though it had been squashed out of shape inside his clothes, it couldn’t hide its original general appearance.
The silver-white thin stick was wrapped in light pink paper, slender enough to be held perfectly between the fingertips.
But that was all he could tell.
‘So, what brand of lady’s cigarette is this, exactly?’
Ye Zhou squinted as he tried to look, his brow gradually furrowing.
To someone like him who never smoked, this felt like trying to solve a scientific mystery. No, he couldn’t say he had never tried it even once; during his rebellious phase in middle school, he had watched those street punks loitering outside the school every day. They were either huffing and puffing out clouds of smoke or smoking three at once, looking incredibly cool.
He had once found an opportunity to buy a pack behind his parents’ backs.
Perhaps it was his lack of experience, but the very first puff of the first cigarette had left his face flushed red as he gasped for air. He had coughed for a long time before finally recovering.
From that moment on, his curiosity toward such new things was shattered, and he avoided them like the plague.
He should have been grateful back then that his parents hadn’t caught him, otherwise, he would have certainly faced a tag-team beating from them.
But he had still been accidentally spotted by his younger sister, who followed him around like a little tail back then. That little girl was anything but well-behaved.
Ever since she grabbed that handle on Ye Zhou, she would intentionally bring it up in front of their parents whenever they had their daily quarrels or whenever she was angry and looking for trouble.
Fortunately, she didn’t have any evidence, so their parents didn’t think much of it. As time passed, it always ended in nothing.
Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Ye Zhou still couldn’t figure out the brand. He simply took a very clear photo of the lady’s cigarette and went to ask the other women in the Drama Club for help.
Senior Chen definitely wouldn’t work. To any discerning eye, her attitude lately showed that she and Senior Lin weren’t exactly on good terms. It would be best not to make Senior Chen explode again because of something related to Senior Lin.
Then he would ask President Jiang. She was a woman of means and surely knew everything.
As for why Ye Zhou subconsciously excluded the Vice President… ahem, those who know, know.
[Ye Zhou: Hello, President Jiang. I have a scientific mystery that I can’t figure out, so I can only come to ask you.]
Only a few seconds passed before Jiang Yingxue responded.
[Jiang Yingxue: Mm-hmm~ Go ahead, our great scientist. What new research direction do you have this time? Or have you finally figured out whose feet are prettier between me and Chen Yuhe?]
[Ye Zhou: Uh… please, President Jiang, stop teasing this pure-hearted college boy. I have a serious question for you.]
[Jiang Yingxue: Alright, what is this scientific question?]
[Ye Zhou: I told you not to… Sigh, forget it. Here, look at this. Image.jpg.]
[Ye Zhou: Because it’s been squashed out of shape, I looked it up online, but the answers were all ambiguous. So I wanted to ask our omnipotent President Jiang!]
[Jiang Yingxue: Pfft~ Forget it. Isn’t this just the mint-flavored Esse Change Pop-Bead? It’s a social currency among young people, you know. But due to its scarcity, most shops are severely out of stock. Why do you ask?]
[Ye Zhou: Then can you tell me which specific shop currently has it for sale?]
[Jiang Yingxue: You aren’t going to tell me you’ve turned into a bad boy, are you? (Expressionless Yellow Emoji)]
[Ye Zhou: Ahaha, it’s not for me. My younger sister asked me about it.]
Ye Zhou felt a cold sweat.
‘My dear sister, think about all the times I’ve taken the blame for you at home since we were little.’
‘So, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to take the fall for your brother just this once, right?’
…
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.