Is it better to keep your eyes open?
These days? Probably the most straightforward days Qiao Yu has had since coming into this world.
She doesn’t have to strain to find excuses to inquire about the intimate details between the male and female leads, nor does she have to sneak around, hiding her own thoughts. She even spilled most of the world’s secrets. If it weren’t for that one issue regarding satisfaction that hasn’t been resolved, Qiao Yu feels she could very well say she’s reached the pinnacle of her life.
This issue has plunged both her and Lin Qing into a tough battle. Luckily, the situation isn’t too pressing at the moment. Her readers, as always, cheer her on enthusiastically, completely unaware of the transformative storm brewing beneath this novel—on this matter, Qiao Yu still feels very sorry for them.
“What can be done! It’s not like the Host gave Lin Qing some medicine that led to this situation! If anyone is to blame, it’s the world’s fault!”
…And the system has completely let go of any inhibitions, blatantly promoting the theory that “it’s the world’s fault,” very recklessly. Sometimes, Qiao Yu even worries if it might one day be recalled by a higher-level system for a factory reset or something of the sort.
At the same time, as students in the second semester of their junior year, their study tasks were becoming increasingly heavy. Qiao Yu, the visitor from another world who hadn’t made future plans yet, couldn’t neglect her studies. On days when she did not go to Lin family’s as a guest for meals, she often studied together with Lin Qing in the study room.
“Connecting this line here will make things a lot clearer.”
“Wow, amazing!”
That day, under Lin Qing’s careful guidance, Qiao Yu solved another geometry problem and genuinely exclaimed in admiration.
“Shouldn’t you have learned this before?”
After finishing the question, Lin Qing didn’t immediately move on. Instead, she hinted at something to Qiao Yu with a meaningful tone. Qiao Yu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized Lin Qing was referring to her past in her original world.
Being in the self-study room, with quite a few other students around, Qiao Yu couldn’t speak too directly, so she just gave a wry smile and vaguely said,
“Mm, mm, I suppose I have learned it before…”
After Lin Qing had asked Qiao Yu some days ago whether she had any romantic experiences in her original world, Qiao Yu consciously explained everything about her age and identity back there. Now that Lin Qing knew she was originally a university student, an astonishing fact, from time to time, she would tease her about it.
“If you forget, I’ll explain it to you as many times as needed, but you must remember it well when it’s time for the college entrance examination, okay?”
Lin Qing spoke with a meaningful look in her eyes.
“I can wait for you at any other time, but at that time—I won’t say I’ll wait for you.”
“Of course.”
Qiao Yu nodded calmly, without showing any surprise.
Rather, if Lin Qing were to lose a few marks or, like the jokes on the internet, not write the last major question in the college entrance exam to accommodate her—she couldn’t forgive herself. She’d probably die of shame, banging her head on the ground.
“Don’t wait for me, I will try hard to catch up.”
“…Well, if I really can’t catch up, then as a second choice, going to the same city for university should still be possible, right…”
As soon as she finished speaking, she immediately lost her confidence. Lin Qing was amused by her and said with a smile, “Why are you looking for a backup plan before you even take the exam?”
“No, because you are really amazing…”
Thinking back to the last exam, where Lin Qing even achieved the proud result of being the first in the grade, Qiao Yu felt both admiration and pride for her.
“You know, one thing I’ve learned after studying for so long is that being number one definitely requires some talent.”
“Hmm, is Qiao Yu saying I’m smart?”
“Not entirely, after all, Teacher Lin Qing is both smart and hardworking.”
“…”
Lately, she’s gotten even better at dishing out such comments right on the spot. Lin Qing blushed, let out a soft hum, and turned back to her work, muttering, “…smooth talker.”
Qiao Yu sheepishly touched her nose and redirected her focus back onto the exercise book.
“…Excuse me, do you both remember I’m also here?”
A feeble voice from the front right interrupted Qiao Yu’s concentration. She looked up and saw Cong Ye, his face a picture of emptiness.
He was all vibrant and lively when he eagerly signed up to join the self-study room review squad. How come he looks so wilted now? Without fully understanding the situation, Qiao Yu nodded and asked.
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“Um, of course, we remember. What’s up?”
“No, you just… Is that really what you call remembering?”
His face weirdly scrunched up as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately, he held it back.
“Ah, well, okay then. It’s also fine if you guys want to push me to the back…”
Cong Yan looked at Qiao Yu with a bit of resentment in his expression. Qiao Yu, for some reason, from his expression, read the big words “valuing love over friendship.”
Qiao Yu calmly blinked, taking it as her own imagination.
“Were you just talking about topics related to university entrance exams? You should ask me too.”
Feeling overlooked, Cong Ye could only forcefully bring attention to himself. Qiao Yu, going with the flow, cooperated by passing her pen towards him, pretending it to be a microphone for an interview.
“So, Mr. Cong Ye, what are your plans after the university entrance exams?”
“Uh, I haven’t started thinking about it yet.”
…So, asking him didn’t make any difference, did it? Qiao Yu, unimpressed, took back her pen, deciding to ignore this attention-seeker and focus on solving problems.
“Don’t just ignore me like this, okay!”
Cong Ye made a fuss, crying and making a scene (within the range that didn’t affect other tables), and it was admirable how Lin Qing could continue to write and solve problems without changing her facial expression or even lifting her eyes, completely ignoring him. Qiao Yu was so annoyed by him that she had no choice but to deal with him again.
“What’s gotten into you today? You’re literally acting like a dog that feels neglected after the family gets a cat.”
“That comparison is so mean! But in a way, it kinda makes sense?”
Halfway through his retort, Cong Ye suddenly agreed, then frustratingly slapped the table.
“Qiao Yu, we’re good friends, right?”
“Right?”
“Is that a question?!”
Before achieving any success, he felt like he had already lost. Cong Ye, dejected, slumped onto the desk, his eyes brimming with tears as he accused Qiao Yu.
“You two have been hanging out alone together recently, all mysterious—I can understand that, though.”
“But Qiao Yu, you’ve been quite cold to me lately! That wasn’t how you were last semester! Didn’t you often take the initiative to chat with me?”
“…Um, that was…”
Most of the time, it was to gather material by inquiring about his interactions with Lin Qing… Qiao Yu had already felt Lin Qing’s teasing gaze, and she wisely kept her mouth shut, continuing to listen to Cong Ye’s complaints.
“And now! Have you even forgotten my birthday? You shameless person!”
Wow, he actually said it… Qiao Yu closed her eyes, admitting to his accusations in her heart while also feeling puzzled.
“Your birthday?”
“Yeah! Have you already forgotten?!”
Seeing the other’s face full of sadness and injury, Qiao Yu silently checked with the system, hesitating before opening her mouth to ask.
“…Isn’t your birthday at the end of May? There’s still almost a month left, isn’t there?”
“I don’t care! For your birthday last year, I started preparing your gift way in advance!”
Indeed, for Qiao Yu’s birthday in October, Cong Ye started hinting at her around the end of August, showing how very, very thoughtfully he had prepared a gift, making her look forward to it.
When he finally handed over the gift, Qiao Yu, upon seeing Cong Ye’s gaze fixed on that Kamen Rider suit with envy, couldn’t help but wonder from the bottom of her heart: couldn’t you make one for yourself too?
And facing such an expression from him, Qiao Yu really couldn’t bring herself to say that she actually wasn’t that interested in tokusatsu1 heroes.
“So, for my birthday this year—”
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“I’ve already prepared the gift.”
“You can’t forget, right? ——What?”
“I said I’ve already prepared it.”
“Eh, eh? Really?”
Cong Ye suddenly went from cloudy to sunny, beaming with a mix of surprise and joy, the quick change in mood left Qiao Yu astonished.
“Really, if you want it, I can bring it to you tomorrow.”
“Oh, how could I possibly accept? I should wait a bit longer—what is it?”
“I can tell you really want it, though.”
Cong Ye’s world is truly simple, black and white; he was quickly cheered up by Qiao Yu’s coaxing, humming a little tune as he began to work on his questions.
But Qiao Yu has encountered a new problem. From her left, a pen was extended towards her, gently poking her hand twice.
“…You prepared his birthday gift so early, huh.”
Oh no, has her female lead’s mood turned from sunny to cloudy now?
This situation is far more serious than the one before, and Qiao Yu suddenly became panicked and hurriedly began to explain.
“No, this is just normal courtesy—”
“My gift was just bought from the store a few days before my birthday.”
“…”
Although the gift Qiao Yu actually prepared for Lin Qing was started well in advance, in the end, it was the pair of earrings that were given, leaving Qiao Yu without a counterargument.
Qiao Yu found herself at fault in this matter, so she could only raise her hands in surrender.
“I’ve actually kept that gift safe, intending to give it to you on a special day. If you want it now, I can give it to you anytime.”
“A special day?”
Pretending to be angry, Lin Qing blinked in surprise and momentarily forgot to be angry, asking curiously, “What day would that be?”
“Ah…”
Qiao Yu suddenly became embarrassed, awkwardly touching the back of her neck, looking around before leaning towards Lin Qing, whispering in her ear.
“… May 20th or, maybe the 21st… something like that.”
“…!”
Stimulated by her warm breath and the content of her words, Lin Qing shivered, and both of them, as if electrocuted, stepped back together. Qiao Yu, in a flurry, didn’t notice that she made the chair emit a somewhat harsh scraping sound, hurriedly bowed her head to apologize to the people who turned their heads towards the noise.
Lin Qing watched as Qiao Yu awkwardly stammered to Cong Ye, explaining that it was an accident, feeling a mix of irritation for always being so easily flustered by her and a secret joy for realizing she harbored such feelings.
Qiao Yu is really…
Her methods might still be naive, but it seems she’s already learning how to be a qualified lover.
“Ah, right!”
Her cluttered thoughts were interrupted by Cong Ye’s voice, and both of them simultaneously turned their gaze toward him, meeting his mysteriously excited expression.
“My mom told me that to celebrate my birthday, although it’s not completely renovated yet, they can make an exception for us to open up some of the facilities for us to try out.”
“…Hm? What did you say?”
“Hey, you couldn’t have forgotten, right?”
Looking at Qiao Yu’s puzzled face, Cong Ye exaggeratedly widened his eyes and lowered his excited voice.
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“It’s ‘City of Dreams’! The ‘City of Dreams’ from ‘Dreams begin with meeting you’!”
“Has this slogan not been changed yet?”
Qiao Yu actually forgot about this matter, after all, many things happened afterward that captivated her attention, making her forget she even owned an amusement park – wow, saying it like this makes her seem quite lavish.
“When does it open?”
“Just tell my mom a few days before we go, and we can invite Lu Yao and Mi Yi to join us, right? Since it’s just a trial visit, there’s no need for a gold card.”
Qiao Yu and Lin Qing exchanged glances and nodded in agreement without objections. Cong Ye was thrilled and immediately began flipping through the calendar to find the most suitable weekend for the outing.
Thinking about it, Qiao Yu realized it seemed like she hadn’t been to an amusement park since elementary school, which made her a bit nostalgic.
But thinking back, she went with her parents when she was little, and now she would go with friends… and with someone she liked. This felt somewhat different, making Qiao Yu suddenly nervous.
What to do? Should she do some homework? Are there any particular things to pay attention to when going to an amusement park?
For example, should you not wear accessories when riding a roller coaster? Should you not eat before going on the pirate ship? Is it a bit childish to ride the merry-go-round at this age?
…And, if, she means if.
When kissing on the Ferris wheel, is it better to keep your eyes open?
LP: A date!!
Footnotes
- Tokusatsu – is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects.
HURRY UP KISS YOUR GIRL!!!