Dean Evans let out a sigh. Seeing that Li Xi did not share Kale’s reckless temperament, he felt a bit better at heart.
He wasn’t in the mood to offer any specific advice, so he arranged for Li Xi to sit on the sofa for a while and went back to his own business.
Half an hour later, a young female Zerg dressed in a sharp professional suit appeared in the office. She gestured to Li Xi, signaling him to head out.
Before leaving, Li Xi bid a polite farewell: “Goodbye, Grandpa.”
Only after they had been gone for a while did Dean Evans, who had been focused on his documents with his head down, move. He slowly looked up, his eyes full of laughter. “Quite polite, actually.”
It was currently between classes, and the corridors were bustling. The sudden sight of a beautiful little male Zerg cub was nothing short of shocking. Walking along, Li Xi was subjected to many scrutinizing gazes. The hallways he passed through went from noisy to silent, and then erupted into an even louder wave of chatter once he was past.
“Has any of you seen him before?”
“A new student! Definitely! He’s not even wearing a uniform!”
“He has black eyes!”
“He’s actually really good-looking.”
“Shame his rank is a bit low.”
“Doesn’t matter, my rank is a perfect match for a little male Zerg.”
“…”
The whispers drifted like the wind into Li Xi’s ears, and curious gazes swept over him repeatedly. Li Xi was used to being a loner, moving silently and rarely being exposed to such intense scrutiny. At this moment, he felt extremely uncomfortable.
He suppressed the urge to turn and run, keeping his head down and doing his best to ignore their stares as he followed closely behind the Zerg leading him.
Ring, ring, ring—
The school bell rang just in time. The students crowded in the hallway retreated to their classrooms, casting glances back over their shoulders with every step. The noisy corridor suddenly fell silent, easing the discomfort in Li Xi’s heart.
Teacher Mo pushed open the classroom door and led the silent cub inside. He introduced him to the students: “His name is Li He. He is a newly enrolled male Zerg cub and your new classmate. Let’s give him a warm welcome.”
After speaking, he took the lead in clapping, but only his own applause echoed in the room.
The students in the class looked at one another, staring at Li Xi as if they hadn’t quite processed the teacher’s words.
The news that “a little male Zerg had enrolled” had reached their ears just moments before the teacher stepped in. They had only discussed it for a sentence or two before the beautiful little male Zerg at the center of the topic appeared right before them. Standing at the very door of their classroom!
“A male cub in our class?” A tiny, uncertain voice broke the eerie atmosphere.
This voice was like a thunderclap, jolting the dazed students awake.
“The teacher said so…”
“Ah—Teacher, I adore you! You actually managed to dig up a little male Zerg for us!”
“Teacher! Is he really a student in our class?!”
“Teacher! Say it quickly! We didn’t hear wrong, did we?!”
“…”
Some shouted, others banged on their desks. It turned into absolute chaos.
Seeing this, Teacher Mo slapped the desk, straining his voice to maintain discipline: “Alright, quiet down!”
At five or six years old, their voices were incredibly piercing. Once they let loose, that sound could drown out everything. Unsurprisingly, his voice was like a pebble dropped into the ocean, failing to stir even a single ripple.
Teacher Mo paused, pressing a hand to his forehead in helplessness. He knew it would be like this. He glanced at the well-behaved cub, gave the students below a cryptic smile, pulled out a small megaphone, and said flatly: “You’re scaring Li He. If Li He gets a bad impression of you, he won’t join our class.”
If a male Zerg cub wanted to change classes, it was an incredibly easy thing to do. He didn’t believe he couldn’t handle these brats!
The silence was instantaneous. The female Zerg cubs who had been making a racket just a second ago all sat up straight and tall. Every gaze focused on the doorway, hoping to leave a good impression on their new classmate.
Li Xi kept his eyes down, staring at the floor and fighting the urge to flee. He did his best to ignore the scorching gazes coming from below.
Well… first lesson of school. I think I can do this.
Teacher Mo smiled with satisfaction and turned to Li Xi, who had pressed himself against the wall at some point. “Li He, don’t be afraid. They are very friendly. You can pick any seat you like.”
Li Xi looked up and quickly scanned the room. It was a $4 times 6$ arrangement, with 24 seats in total. He walked to an empty seat by the window, looked back at the teacher on the podium, and asked: “Here… is it okay?”
As soon as he spoke, quiet whispers began again.
“His voice is so soft and cute!”
“What are you even focusing on?”
“Ouch, why did he choose there?”
“…”
Li Xi filtered out the useless noise and extracted the helpful information: this spot was taken.
He switched to another one, walking to a spot toward the back. It was also a vacant seat with brand-new furniture. He turned his head to the teacher, asking silently.
Teacher Mo was about to explain the situation with the empty seats when he spotted two students sneaking through the back door like thieves. He momentarily ignored Li Xi, his anger flaring up. He pointed at the Zerg who had reached their seats in the blink of an eye: “You two?!”
Li Xi followed the sound. The moment he saw the boy, he froze. He felt strange. Was this a coincidence, or had Kale arranged this on purpose?
Yun had just sat down and taken a breath when he heard the displeased inquiry from the homeroom teacher. Si, who had returned with him, stopped halfway through sitting down and stood back up to explain: “Teacher, we went to the basement to deliver a batch of equipment, so we were a little late.”
Yun also stood up, showing a good attitude for admitting a mistake: “I won’t be late next time!”
This wasn’t his responsibility, but he had no choice. Having been caught spacing out during training and punished with several laps, this task had naturally fallen to him. As for Si, he just didn’t want to go back to class and went along for the fun.
Teacher Mo walked up to the podium and waved for them to sit down. His attention shifted back to Li Xi, and his voice turned from stern to gentle. He smiled and said: “The empty seats belong to other male Zerg students; they usually don’t come much. You can pick a seat that’s already occupied; they will give it up for you.”
Li Xi nodded as if he half-understood, but his gaze remained fixed on the back of the child’s head.
Seeing that Li Xi’s eyes were following Yun, Teacher Mo had a change of heart. After a moment of thought, he said: “Why don’t you sit where Yun is?”
Yun was looking for the textbook needed for this period when he suddenly heard someone was to take his seat… Who’s taking my seat?
Li Xi was standing in the aisle of the back row by the window, while Yun’s seat was in the third row on the side near the door. Since Yun had snuck in through the back door with his head down, he hadn’t noticed that a new person had joined the class.
His friend Si, sitting behind him, gave him a hard poke. “Hey, a new male classmate.”
Yun was irritable and didn’t bother to look back. “Why is the teacher making me move?”
Teacher Mo hadn’t expected the usually obedient Yun to openly defy him. He stood on the podium awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
Si was afraid that Yun would offend the male cub, who seemed to have a somewhat gloomy aura. He stood up to smooth things over: “Teacher, let him…”
What was that cub’s name again?
“…let him sit here with me.” Si swallowed hard, hoping the little male Zerg Excellency wouldn’t blame him for forgetting his name.
Li Xi put his hands in his pockets, gripped the hard crystal core, and shook his head, declining the offer. Si, feeling that the other didn’t want to sit with him, shrunk his neck and sat back down.
Yun’s attitude toward male Zerg was about eight degrees colder than usual; it was impossible for him to give up his seat. He propped his head up, leaving Li Xi with nothing but the back of his head.
The cheerful atmosphere of the classroom dropped to sub-zero. A frost swept through, freezing a large number of little female Zerg. The students around Li Xi silently pulled out their textbooks and held them over their heads, cowardly looking to the teacher for help.
Li Xi, however, was thinking that stealing a classmate’s seat on the very first day of school would ruin classmate friendships.
“Can I move a table?” Li Xi pointed toward the door. “Go outside.”
On the way there, he had seen a locked, old classroom with tables covered in a thick layer of dust. Li Xi guessed those were unused. He could just move one for himself; stealing a seat was impolite.
Hearing this, Yun’s body stiffened: “!!!”
That voice… that strange phrasing…?!
It’s him!