I cultivate the Purple Mansion Golden Elixir Dao on Earth

"What if you only had one day left to live?"

"If the world were to end one day—what would you do on that day?"

The midday sun shone quietly through the window sill into the classroom, illuminating the students chatting idly inside.

The breaks between classes in the senior year of high school are always short.

The students in blue and white school uniforms sat in twos and threes in the classroom, chattering away during their spare time.

The topic was brought up by a girl.

She casually tied her school uniform jacket around her waist, making it look like an apron, rolled up her shirt sleeves, and styled her ponytail high at the back of her head, giving her a clean and neat appearance.

She wasn't the kind of stunningly beautiful girl at first glance, but she possessed a delicate, lively, and refreshing charm with a touch of boyishness, clearly making her the center of a small group in her daily life.

Upon hearing the girl with the ponytail ask this question, several students nearby immediately started discussing it amongst themselves.

"If I only had one day left, I would definitely dress up nicely and spend the whole day at the amusement park... There shouldn't be any queues for the roller coaster and the pendulum ride this time, so I'll try all nine of the most thrilling rides at Happy Valley in one go."

The speaker was a girl who also wore a ponytail, but it was a double ponytail.

She was also wearing a school uniform, but with a jacket on, the zipper stopped at just the right position, making her look inexplicably sophisticated.

The girl with pigtails had a soft voice and a fair and cute face; her eyes sparkled as she spoke.

"I'd still prefer to go out with my family."

Another chubby girl rested her chin on her hands, her face full of anticipation.

"Even if it really is the last day, we have to spend all the money at home and find the best place to have a big meal first."

"Tch... By then, there won't be any fancy meals left to eat."

The boy sitting on the outermost edge suddenly interjected.

The boy had a few pimples on his face, dark skin, and a burly, strong build; he was very noticeable just sitting there.

However, his tone was cold, and it seemed as if he was deliberately trying to dampen the mood.

"If the world really ends, money will be useless, right? The whole world will probably be in chaos. Order and law will all be gone... If it really comes to that, I think a lot of people will indulge their nature, committing murder, arson, and all sorts of evil deeds."

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

The girl with pigtails immediately spat at him.

"Jiang Wanren, are you talking about yourself?"

"Someone like you, if the world really ended, would probably be the first to commit murder and arson on the last day. I think what you're saying is exactly what you yourself want to do!"

She glared disdainfully at the dark-skinned boy.

The boy named Jiang Wanren wasn't angry at all; instead, he laughed heartily.

"Hahaha, guess what? If we really encounter the end of the world, if we really reach some kind of apocalyptic desperate situation... then just watch how I put on my show!"

"You have an antisocial personality!"

The girl with pigtails immediately started arguing with him again.

Her voice was naturally soft, so when she scolded someone, it wasn't very hurtful. Instead, it sounded like a kitten bristling, and even a bit like flirting.

Jiang Wanren argued with her verbally, but he kept smiling. He didn't care about being scolded so harshly, and there was even a hint of enjoyment in his eyes.

All of this was observed by the girl with the ponytail who had initially started the conversation.

She sat half-sitting at the desk, her hands supporting her on the surface. Upon seeing this scene, she immediately understood the secret behind it.

The girl with the ponytail couldn't help but purse her lips in exasperation, but she was too lazy to care and simply shifted her gaze to the other side.

A boy was sitting by the window.

He looked down at his book, his expression quiet, which seemed somewhat out of place among the group of noisy classmates next to him discussing "the end of the world".

Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a soft glow on his profile, as if a thin layer of light separated him from the noise of the classroom.

"Hey, Su Xu, what about you?"

The girl with the ponytail looked at him and asked in a loud voice:

"Tell me your thoughts. If there really was only one day left until the end of the world, what would you do?"

Su Xu didn't even look up, still reading the book in his hands, and simply replied:

"What I do on my last day is not important. However, in my opinion, if you don't do something soon, the 'end of the world' may be just around the corner."

"What do you mean?"

The girl with the ponytail paused for a moment, then her eyes widened immediately.

Even the girl with pigtails and Jiang Wanren, who were still bickering, stopped and looked at Su Xu together.

Su Xu then gently turned the page, his tone calm:

"The homeroom teacher arrived just now and has been standing at the door. Didn't you see her?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their heads in unison.

The next moment, everyone gasped.

It turned out that a middle-aged man was already standing at the classroom door.

He stood there like an iron-cast gatekeeper, his face grim and his gaze cold, silently watching the group of people chatting idly in the classroom.

"The bell has rung, why aren't you back in your seat?"

The sound wasn't loud.

But the entire classroom fell into a deathly silence.

The next moment, the students scattered like birds and beasts.

……

Minjiang No. 3 Middle School, also known as "Minjiang No. 3 Middle School", is located in the best school district in Minjiang City.

However, this can be a positive factor at times, but also a negative one at other times.

Compared to Minjiang City's most famous schools, Minjiang Middle School and No. 1 Middle School, No. 3 Middle School is far inferior in both its entrance score and its college entrance examination results.

Compared to international high schools and elite private schools in the same district, No. 3 High School is far inferior in terms of students' family background and financial resources, and it lacks that international flair.

Therefore, students who attend No. 3 Middle School may be able to call themselves "students of key high schools" in other places, or pretend to be top students in front of some ordinary high school students.

However, in this school district, when they see the school uniforms of other high schools in the same district, which are similar in color but have different words, they often feel inferior and unconsciously take a step back.

To some extent, the students of No. 3 Middle School are the "tail end" of the entire school district, much like those high school students who barely make it into the top schools.

This is precisely the part of high school where sixteen- or seventeen-year-old teenagers are prone to feeling depressed.

The class stratification during student years is far from as equal or harmonious as adults imagine.

Precisely because they are teenagers, there are only a few obvious standards for measuring each person: grades, appearance, or social skills.

Such stark standards often lead to a more brutal and obvious class gap, even creating an ecosystem similar to wild animals in the jungle, where survival of the fittest prevails.

That is a monstrous system formed by teenagers who are not quite grown up, whose intelligence and knowledge are gradually approaching that of adults, but who have not undergone socialization and training.

However, not everyone has such keen perception, nor does everyone have such a strong sense of self-awareness.

Therefore, even among the three students, there are still those who, like oil droplets in clear water, seem to get along well with those around them, yet remain a layer apart.

"Su Xu, why are you always such a loner?"

Thirty days have passed, and five classes have been held.

During the rare break between the last class in the afternoon and evening self-study, the afterglow of the setting sun shone down.

On the horizontal bar in the playground, a girl with a ponytail sat on the bar, looking light and graceful, but sighed as she looked at the boy who was leaning against the support of the ladder and flipping through a book.

"During the lunch break today, I was hoping you could get closer to your friends. But when I brought up a topic, you deliberately avoided it. When are you going to make any more friends?"

The boy gently turned a page of the book in his hand.

"Making a lot of friends in high school doesn't really make much sense. We just come from different places, have different families, and are going to different places. We're just temporarily trapped in a place called 'high school,' playing the role of 'classmates'... but in reality, it's more like being cellmates."

The girl completely ignored this argument and sneered:

"According to your logic, isn't the same true for families? Everyone is just temporarily trapped in the identity of 'so-and-so's daughter,' 'so-and-so's son,' or 'a member of so-and-so's family,' trapped for seventy or eighty years, at most a hundred years... After a hundred years, no matter how good the relationship is, the family will still go their separate ways, either buried in the ground or sunk to the bottom of the sea—after all, flesh and blood are fleeting, and that little box is the eternal home!"

The girl's sarcastic voice did not disturb Su Xu's expression.

"That's different."

"What's the difference?"

"The length of time itself is a significant difference. The impact of two, three, and five years on the formation of habits will be completely different. With time, quantitative changes can lead to qualitative changes. But three years is not enough to bring about a qualitative change."

"How long will it take for a qualitative change to occur?"

"It will probably take about ten years."

"Ten years? Besides me, your childhood sweetheart, who else could spend ten years with you?"

The girl patted her chest, but then noticed Su Xu's thoughtful expression.

She immediately realized what was happening, her face flushed, and she staggered, losing her balance due to the sudden change in her mood.

"oops!"

The girl gasped in surprise, her body leaning backward. In an instant, she was about to fall off the horizontal bar.

It was about to fall to the ground.

But before she hit the ground, a quick embrace arrived just in time to catch her.

"You're not going to read your lousy book anymore?"

The girl fell into Su Xu's arms, but raised an eyebrow and giggled at him.

"Hmm... books are still more important."

As he spoke, Su Xu gently lowered his hand, causing the girl's bottom to fall to the ground.

"Su Xu, you bastard!"

The girl with the ponytail stood up from the ground while rubbing her buttocks, pointing at Su Xu with a flushed face.

"Are you secretly in love with me? But you're too shy to say it, or even touch me!"

"Xu Xiu, if you're really that confident... then so be it."

The boy walked back to where he started, squatted down without looking up, and picked up the book.

The girl named Xu Xiu rubbed her buttocks, but didn't dwell on the topic any further. She simply spread her hands and said casually:

"Speaking of which, Su Xu, next time I'm chatting, could you try to join in a bit? Don't be so realistic all the time. Don't you think discussing imaginative things is actually quite meaningful for life and mental well-being?"

"And I specifically found this topic from that MBTI question bank—it's said that you can analyze what kind of person someone is by looking at their answers to this question!"

"For example?" Su Xu asked casually, having already picked up the book from the ground.

"For example, Jiang Wanren's answers are very logical, but he lacks empathy and only sees the dark side of things. His personality should be that of an ESTP entrepreneur... or an ENTP debater."

"For example, Shang Yin and Chen Fangyuan—when they discussed this topic, their reactions were quite emotional. This proves that their personalities are more like those of INFJ advocates, and they are very empathetic."

As Xu Xiu spoke, Su Xu shook his head slightly.

"What! Am I wrong?!"

Xu Xiu immediately pouted.

"I can't say whether judging someone's personality based on such a simple question is too arbitrary. But..."

He spoke calmly, causing the blush that had faded slightly on the girl's face to return, but this blush carried a very different meaning than before:

"What are you trying to say?!"

Su Xu put the book away, placing it in his school uniform pocket, leaving only a corner sticking out, and then continued:

"Outward expressions and language can reflect some inner thoughts. But personality... at best, is only a manifestation of momentary impulses and immediate conscious impulses, and cannot reflect the deeper elements of personality."

"Jiang Wanren's statements may be the result of a well-thought-out worldview, but they may also just be the result of a teenager's desire to show off, a result of deliberately pursuing 'decisiveness and ruthlessness' after reading too many online novels. It's impossible to judge whether he has any empathy..."

"As for Shang Yin and Chen Fangyuan—"

He said softly:

"Their personalities cannot be discerned from this question, and they certainly don't exhibit the empathy you described as an advocate of INFJs... On the contrary, I think they are somewhat arrogant."

"arrogant?"

These words startled Xu Xiu.

Why do you say that? I can really empathize with their choices.

Su Xu looked at her and said quietly:

"They said one wanted to go to an amusement park, and the other wanted to have a big meal. But if that day were the last day before the end of the world, the amusement park employees and the restaurant chefs wouldn't be working either. The last day before the end of the world would naturally have a very different meaning for the amusement park employees and the restaurant chefs. They would definitely have things they wanted to do and people they wanted to see, rather than just being a cog in the machine at their jobs."

"So that's the problem. Shang Yin and Chen Fangyuan forgot that these staff members are also people with families like themselves. They ignored their feelings and treated them as machines that are fixed next to amusement park facilities or in front of the kitchen stove, which are expected to always be there and always respond to customer needs—instead of people like themselves."

"...So I think they're a bit arrogant."

Su Xu's soft-spoken words surprised Xu Xiu.

"you……"

She stared blankly at the boy's face, wanting to say something, but for a moment she couldn't say anything.

"...Let's go back to class first, evening self-study is about to start."

Su Xu waited for her for a while, but Xu Xiu remained silent.

The boy scratched the back of his head, somewhat helplessly, and said to the girl.