Chapter 41: Teacher Appreciation Banquet

The next two days were pure calm.

Meng Zhi turned off his phone, focusing solely on climbing ranks.

Perhaps due to his recent abstinence, he was in top form.

The night before the banquet, he hit Radiant.

There weren’t many at that rank yet, and esports clubs had already started contacting him.

He turned them all down.

As he’d said, he played for fun, not to go pro.

Shutting off the computer, he glanced outside.

It was past 5 a.m.

With the banquet that afternoon, he washed up quickly and crashed.

He slept until 4 p.m., waking refreshed, then showered.

Following Chen Xinya’s advice, he put on a sharp outfit he’d bought, even adding a bit of hair wax.

Everything ready, the doorbell rang at 5:30.

Chen Xinya.

“Wow.”

Seeing him open the door, she let out a small gasp, her cheeks flushing as she teased, “You clean up nice.”

“You too.”

She wore a lily-white off-shoulder dress, her makeup light, with pearl earrings.

Heels made her already slender figure taller, her lashes framing bright, starry eyes.

Standing beside him, she looked like a bride in a wedding gown.

“Let’s go. The hotel’s not close.”

“We’ll take a cab.”

She stepped closer, whispering.

He noticed her hand hovering near his arm.

“Okay.”

He nodded.

To her delight, he offered his arm.

She took it gently, a shy smile on her lips.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“I thought… you wouldn’t agree.”

“You said it yourself,” he replied casually.

“You don’t want confessions from others. I’m just helping out.”

“Mm.”

She nodded obediently, gazing at his profile, her eyes full of sweetness.

The taxi stopped in front of a famous hotel in X City.

An entire floor was reserved for the multi-school teacher appreciation banquet.

Stepping out, Meng Zhi felt a bit dazed.

He couldn’t recall the last time he’d attended a classmate gathering.

In past lives, he lived for system tasks, dodging social events whenever possible.

Today, entering the hall, seeing familiar yet strange classmates swarm him with excited greetings, he felt an odd sense of detachment.

“Meng Zhi!? I almost didn’t recognize you dressed like that!”

“Isn’t that Chen Xinya from the next class? So you two…”

“Damn, you hid it well. I thought you were just some clueless introvert, but you quietly nabbed the class beauty next door!”

Their words carried surprise, teasing, envy, and jealousy.

But some were pure, genuine classmate concern.

“You didn’t treat us like brothers, keeping us in the dark!”

“You should’ve said! That chubby guy in the dorm next door’s been crushing on Chen Xinya for years—wasted effort!”

“Really? I had no idea.”

Meng Zhi racked his brain but couldn’t recall the guy.

Then he realized.

These conversations weren’t as annoying as he’d expected.

Maybe this was how normal people lived.

Just seventeen or eighteen, their schemes, grudges, and unrequited feelings were mere grains of sand in youth.

When they scattered to different corners of the world, even the biggest grudges might fade.

High school’s dramas were just fleeting fragments.

He’d forgotten what youth felt like.

But he was that age now.

No tasks, no pointless pressures.

Maybe he should’ve embraced a normal teenage life—socializing, feeling the childish, pure likes and dislikes, envy and frustration.

They say you can’t have youth and the appreciation of it at the same time.

But this life… he could try to chase that nostalgic feeling.

Across the room, Chen Xinya was surrounded by classmates.

Like guys talking about girls, their whispers came with sneaky glances at Meng Zhi.

He didn’t know what they said, but when Chen Xinya looked his way, her smile was sweet, proud, almost childishly boastful.

Like she was showing off a pretty new dress to the world.

The banquet started at 6 p.m.

Until then, classmates who hadn’t seen each other since the exams caught up.

As Chen Xinya predicted, many seized the chance to confess, not wanting to leave high school with regrets.

Meng Zhi saw plenty of it.

To his surprise, two or three girls confessed to him.

He barely remembered their faces or names.

When they shyly handed him gifts or letters and ran off, his heart felt heavy.

‘If I didn’t have system tasks…’

Maybe he’d have noticed their feelings from the start.

At least remembered their names.

Lost in thought, a voice came from behind.

“…You’re Meng Zhi?”

Turning, he saw a tall guy with a square face and gold-rimmed glasses, smiling.

“You know me, right?”

“Lu Ziming?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

He grinned, shaking Meng Zhi’s hand.

“Glad you came.”

“Just now, I was talking about you with the Experimental High president. She asked if you were here, so I came to check.”

“Lin Yuhan?”

Meng Zhi looked around.

“She’s looking for me?”

Before Lu Ziming could answer, a joyful voice rang out.

“Here!”

Heads turned.

Everyone watched as a girl in a black dress, with wavy curls, cute and charming, ran lightly toward Meng Zhi.

And then.

Dove straight into his arms.