Bai Tao reached down, gathering the books that had fallen on the ground and dusting them off.
‘Thank goodness for the plastic wrap.’
“It’s okay, I can manage by myself.”
“I’m so sorry, Senior Qi.
I didn’t mean to interrupt your piano practice.”
“I was just looking for a cart.
You can go on…”
She moved to push herself up with her hands, but a sudden, searing sting shot through her, making her furrow her brow even more deeply.
Lifting her hand, she saw that she had scraped her palm when she fell.
It was starting to bleed, and the nail on her ring finger had bent back a little from hitting the ground.
Qi Heting watched the girl, curious to see how she would react.
‘Is she going to cry?’
‘She looks so wronged.’
‘It seems like she’s about to cry.’
‘Will she try to get my sympathy?’
‘Probably.’
‘After all, he was known as the gentlest member of the F5.’
‘How unorigi—’
But in the next second, Bai Tao parted her lips, aiming to put her right ring finger in her mouth.
The tip of her tongue peeked out from between her lips unintentionally.
“What are you doing?” Qi Heting called out.
He instinctively reached out, and winding vines shot up from the ground, clamping around Bai Tao’s arm.
Bai Tao blinked, staring at the green vines wrapped around her forearm.
“I…
I’m disinfecting it.”
Qi Heting walked out of the music room, his leather shoes stepping onto the soft grass, finally stopping in front of Bai Tao.
He knelt on one knee, bringing his gaze level with hers.
“Who taught you to do that?”
Bai Tao guiltily scratched her cheek with her other hand.
“My…
instructor.”
‘She left out the word “assassin.”‘
“My instructor said that when you’re injured, your own saliva is a cure-all.”
“Bear the pain, give it a lick, then let it soak a bit.”
Qi Heting asked again, “And then?”
Without a second thought, Bai Tao replied, “And then, life and death are ruled by fate, wealth and honor by the heavens.”
“Anything else?”
Her mind whirred, and she squeezed out another line, “Whether I live or die is all up to the whims of the underworld.”
Qi Heting listened to the fresh nonsense she was spouting with such a straight face.
“Pfft.” He couldn’t hold it in.
He covered his toothy grin with his right hand, his eyes crinkling shut.
Bai Tao couldn’t bring herself to smile.
‘These young masters, who know nothing of real suffering, actually find someone else’s pain amusing.’
‘Although, he does look really good when he smiles.’
Bai Tao replied mournfully, “Excuse me, Senior Qi, but my fingernail really hurts right now…”
Qi Heting suppressed his laughter.
“Mm, my apologies, Bai.”
He opened his right hand, and the vines slowly guided Bai Tao’s hand to touch his palm.
“This might burn a little.”
When he opened his eyes again, his long, platinum-blond lashes were outlined by a faint red line, and his golden pupils had become slight slits.
“I’ll try to be gentle with you, Bai.”
Before Bai Tao could process what was happening, a cluster of twigs wrapped around her injured ring finger, and new leaves covered the scrape on her palm.
The stinging pain in her fingertip was suddenly amplified, but it lasted for less than two seconds.
Then, the wounds on her hand healed at a visible rate, and the bent nail on her ring finger returned to its original position.
Qi Heting released her hand, and the vines obediently retreated back into the ground.
“That should do it.”
Bai Tao clenched and unclenched her fist a couple of times, still in disbelief.
“Thank you…
Senior Qi.”
With a flick of his finger, Qi Heting arranged the books on the ground into two neat stacks.
“If you’re looking for a cart, Bai, there’s one in the music room on the far right.”
Bai Tao nodded and said “Thank you” again.
DING.
A text message popped up on her phone.
[Hello student, the elective course selection system is now open.
The deadline is tomorrow at 10:00 AM.
Preliminary results will be announced next Monday.]
[All rules and requirements for course selection have been sent to each student’s email.]
A glance at her email revealed a wall of text that Bai Tao had no desire to read.
She suddenly remembered the veteran-level figure beside her, turned her head, and looked at Qi Heting with pleading eyes.
“Senior Qi…”
She blinked earnestly, her head tilted up slightly.
Qi Heting stared for a moment.
Just as he was about to stand up, he found himself, as if possessed, settling back down.
In two minutes, he explained everything to Bai Tao in the simplest terms.
At Heslington, elective course selection was a game of luck in the first round, and a race of speed in the second.
Electives consisted of three parts:
A practical skills course, a physical education course, and an interest-based course.
The F5, however, had the privilege of being exempt from these types of courses.
‘The last two courses are understandable, but what on earth is a practical skills course?’
Qi Heting took her phone, tapped open the practical skills course category, and listed them out.
[Chinese Cuisine, Western Pastries…]
Her eyes scanned the list, and she nearly started drooling.
“I get it now.”
‘So a “practical” course is just learning to cook or make desserts!’
Seeing her brimming with excitement, Qi Heting propped his chin on one hand.
“So which course do you plan on choosing, Bai?”
“Western Pastries is definitely my first choice!
I want to eat little cakes, cream puffs, and also…”
She tapped open the selection for Western Pastries, and her smile froze.
[Western Pastries Capacity: 1512/10]
Bai Tao rubbed her eyes.
‘I’m not seeing things, am I?’
That meant for a course with a capacity of only 10, 1512 people had already signed up!
There were 500 people per grade, which meant more than three-quarters of the entire school had chosen it!
“Who in the world is in this pastry class…?”
Qi Heting lightly touched his chin, pretending to think.
“If I’m not mistaken, I believe I am.”
Bai Tao was stunned.
“But aren’t you exempt…?”
Qi Heting stood up, his eyes narrowed into a smile.
“I am indeed exempt.”
“But I can also choose to take it.”
He turned and walked back toward the music room, giving a polite wave. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Well then, Bai, good luck in the first round.”
“See you at the opening ceremony next Monday.”
「Monday.」
Bai Tao returned from her morning run to the news that she’d been kicked out of the Western Pastries course during the preliminary selection.
All that was left for her was a course called “Japanese Sweets.”
She had no time to digest this terrible news, because the opening ceremony was about to start.
She rushed into the shower, put in her contact lenses, and pinned all of her bangs back, revealing her entire face.
Without a trace of makeup, her face was as pure as a clear spring pool.
Her thick eyelashes were reflected in her limpid, ink-black eyes, and her lips were red, her teeth white.
Though she wore the same style of uniform as everyone else, Bai Tao was tall and slender.
Years of training had given her long limbs lean, linear muscles that were anything but exaggerated, and the cinched waist of the uniform jacket accentuated her figure.
Starting today, she would officially fire the first shot of her grand plan.
Bai Tao took a deep breath and walked out of her dorm.
She followed the map toward the auditorium.
A left turn, then a right.
And then…
Bai Tao looked up, staring at the Heslington School crest statue for the umpteenth time.
She fell into a thoughtful silence.
‘She was lost.’
She pulled out her phone.
The opening ceremony was starting in less than 10 minutes.
“This is so annoying!
Why’d they have to build this school so big!”
Bai Tao huffed, kicking the base of the statue again and again as if to vent her anger at Heslington.
“So noisy.”
A low, gravelly voice, laced with irritation, came from the bushes behind the statue.
Bai Tao froze, craning her neck to get a better look.
A hand wrapped in bandages, looking like something from the idle screen of Plants vs.
Zombies, suddenly shot out and grabbed the edge of the bushes.
She froze for a moment, nearly dropping her phone.
“A ghost!!”
The man got up impatiently.
His wolf-cut hairstyle was messy from sleep, with a small tuft of hair sticking up.
He pressed his hands over his ears, his brow deeply furrowed.
“Bean sprouts, there’s a limit to how rude you can be.”
“Who points at someone’s face and calls them a ghost?”