Chapter 19: First Day with a Girlfriend

Xu Chuyao’s plan had been executed so smoothly and naturally that it left Shen Ning completely stunned. It had all happened too fast, and somehow felt… perfectly logical.

It wasn’t until Shen Ning returned to her single dorm room that she began to process a few things—
Even if Xu Chuyao had misheard her, why had she agreed so readily?
Also, was that how the shadow’s earlier mention of a “girlfriend” had come true?

Unfortunately, she didn’t currently need tactical support, and had no leftover achievement points, so the projection wouldn’t appear again.
As for the first question, maybe she’d have to wait until she saw Xu Chuyao again to get an answer.

Shen Ning opened her system and checked the Milestone module. The one-star milestone quests had three objectives. One was already completed, leaving two:

• “First time holding hands”
• “First time saying ‘I love you’”

The first one was easy—just go on a walk holding hands.
The second seemed easy too—except it wasn’t about her saying it. Xu Chuyao had to be the one to say it.

After thinking a while and coming up with nothing, she decided to let it go for now. Tomorrow, she’d try to complete the first task.

With that, she crawled into bed and got ready to sleep.

—

Meanwhile, in another dorm room, Xu Chuyao gleefully announced to her roommate that the “girlfriend tactic” she’d suggested had been successfully put into action.

“I took the first big step and made it official.”

Mi Xiaolu was, of course, curious how she pulled it off.
She thought to herself, Weren’t the two of them called away by the homeroom teacher?
“So did Old Yu just act as their matchmaker?”

“No no, Old Yu had other business. On the way back, I just chatted with Shen Ning a little.”

As she recounted it, Xu Chuyao got spooked all over again:

“I sang her a song, and asked what she thought of me. Then she blurted out that she wanted to—uh—‘do me.’ Scary, right? Luckily, I played dumb, pretended not to hear it clearly, and then acted like she was confessing to me. So I just said yes!”

Then she ran off right after, not even giving Shen Ning time to react.
So exhilarating.

Mi Xiaolu was a little shocked at first, but then realized… this was exactly the kind of stunt her roommate would pull.

“Scary, huh?”

“Of course! She said she wanted to ‘do me’ right to my face!”

“I figured you’d be used to hearing that kind of thing by now,” Mi Xiaolu said seriously. “With your personality and looks, I bet plenty of people have said that to you.”

Wait, really?

Xu Chuyao’s cheeks turned pink, and she nervously rubbed her hands.

“Not that many… I mean, not zero, but definitely not that many.”

Just, you know… the online friends from her previous life—each one probably said it hundreds of times.

But now that she thought about it, Shen Ning was just another one of those keyboard flirts. Nothing to be scared of.

“Thanks, Xiaolu. You’ve been a huge help.”

“Wait, what did I do?”

Mi Xiaolu didn’t know what help she’d given, but it was late anyway, so she got into bed.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, something occurred to her.

“By the way, what was that meeting with the homeroom teacher actually about?”

“Nothing major,” Xu Chuyao replied offhandedly. “The Clown Gang hit again in other major cities. Killed around a hundred students.”

“…Terrifying.”

Now the fear had simply transferred—from Xu Chuyao to Mi Xiaolu.

Zzz…

What is destiny?

Their cultural studies teacher, Ms. Li Xueli, once said that destiny is like the racetrack in a car race:
The direction and general path are fixed. No matter how much you swerve within the lanes, you’re still struggling along a predetermined route.

Shen Ning had never watched a car race, nor read much pre-Cataclysm literature.
But she could feel the track of fate.

Somewhere along the line, people she had once ignored or taken for granted kept coming closer to her life—and things started happening.

The girl who had once invited her to go shopping… died in the mall attack.
The conspiracy-loving Xiao Snow… had influenced her thoughts.
Even that clingy couple who used to be all over each other…

Wait, where were they?

When did they switch seats? She hadn’t noticed.

But on the way to class that morning, Shen Ning happened to bump into the boyfriend from that couple. He had just come out of the neighboring classroom, carrying a small shopping bag packed with stuff and looking miserable.

“Hey, you…”

Shen Ning stopped him—but after racking her brain, couldn’t remember his name. So she asked directly:

“You and your girlfriend switched seats?”

Why talk to him out of the blue?
Maybe it was because now that she had a girlfriend too, she wanted to hear how other couples handled things.

The boy didn’t know her, but he recognized her:

“Oh, Shen Ning, huh? Wow, the sun must’ve risen from the west today. I always thought you never talked to people. I’m Li Renhao, by the way.”

He switched the shopping bag to the other hand and continued:

“Yeah, the seat change was my girlfriend’s idea. She said she didn’t feel comfortable sitting in front of you. I didn’t believe the rumors, of course—I mean, you saved people. But she kept saying stuff like, ‘Even if you saved them, doesn’t mean Shen Ning did nothing wrong.’ In the end, I just moved with her.”

Ah. So when you’re dating, you just… go along with everything your girlfriend says?

Shen Ning asked him about that directly.

Li Renhao gave a wry smile:

“Our case is a bit special, I guess. Normally, no. But it’s true that I have to think really hard about gifts. I never know what she wants, so I just buy a bunch of random stuff and let her choose.”

Fair point. Shen Ning could relate.

Yesterday, Xu Chuyao had tossed out a “bring me a gift” and run off—without saying what gift.
How was she supposed to know what this busty girl liked?

But then she spotted something in Li Renhao’s shopping bag.

“That chocolate milk—mind selling it to me?”

“This one? Sure.” He pulled it out and handed it over. “I got it from the next class over. Paid a little markup, but I’ll give it to you at cost today.”

What a nice guy.

She’d spent a little longer than expected chatting, so by the time she reached class, it was nearly time for the lesson.
But standing at the podium wasn’t the theory or culture teacher—it was Homeroom Teacher Yu Jing.

Because of her presence, the classroom was completely silent.
Most students had a book open on their desks, pretending to study hard.

Once Shen Ning sat down and everyone was present, Yu Jing didn’t wait for the bell. She began immediately:

“Quiet down and listen. Due to recent circumstances, the school has decided to adjust the curriculum and class schedules. Also, we’ll be selecting a few students to participate in a special activity. Anyone interested can sign up with me—but the requirement is Tier 1, late-stage or above.”

This left most students utterly confused.

But that final sentence made them all turn to look at the white-haired girl.

There were a few students who might meet the criteria, but when it came to the strongest in class—maybe even the whole grade—there was no question.

Shen Ning understood. It was probably related to yesterday’s events.

She glanced quietly toward Xu Chuyao—only to find Xu Chuyao looking back at her.
The thunder girl winked and mouthed four words:

“Wait for me after class.”