They are still close to me today despite their negative feelings

"...Let's have dinner together."

"Stop trying to salvage your reputation! I feel like my reputation is already worse!"

The reputation-saving plan is actually a summary of some of the efforts An Yu and her classmates made in the new semester.

Out of guilt and self-blame for my current status at school, An Yu, Ge Lanlan, Xu Xingxin, and even senior student Wu Yuehua are all trying to salvage my image.

But hey! In the end, these people are all very popular at school, especially An Yu, who is more like the group's darling and mascot.

When the group's favorite dislikes someone, it's absolutely because that person is utterly wicked; but if the group's favorite praises that person again and says that she was just being presumptuous, the others will watch her with a knowing look—"What a kind child!"

So since the start of the semester, my appearance has hardly changed at all, if not at all.

In addition, there was the AI ​​video that went viral at the time. Although everyone treated it as a joke and supported Chen Di and the others, they also assumed that I deserved to be pranked.

This world is doomed.

"Seriously, if I had just cut my bangs shorter, I wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble wearing contact lenses," An Yu complained.

Ning Ruoxin's school did gain quite a few of my fans, but that was about it. Their occasional online comments were treated as urban legends born from a moment of confusion.

Besides, I'm not planning to debut in high school, so why would I bother to change into a handsome image?

"Squad leader, you should try to persuade him too."

"Just let nature take its course."

Chen Di is different from last semester—he contacts me much more frequently this semester. In fact, it's almost ridiculously so.

"An Yu! Are you leaving already?"

Hu Dan's voice came from the girl's side. An Yu looked at me and Chen Di with expectant eyes.

"go?"

"...let's go."

……

The canteen outside the school has two floors. The first floor mainly consists of self-service meals and a small shop, while the second floor offers various noodles, rice cakes, dumplings, and pancakes.

"Hey here~ Ah, Ning Ruoyu! You and the class monitor are here too~"

As we entered the gate, Ge Lanlan stood up and waved to us from the southeast corner.

Upon hearing the name "Ning Ruoyu," the surrounding noise subsided for a moment.

Very well, I'm still just as disliked as ever today.

"Hey, could you guys save us a seat? We'll go get you some," Hu Dan suggested.

"What would you like, squad leader? How about pork ribs with stir-fried vegetables?" "Or..." "Or maybe I could go upstairs and get you a bowl of noodle soup?"

...Well, handsome guys are great.

No one paid any attention to me, and Chen Di was constantly being questioned. A thick barrier had already formed between us!

An Yu tugged at my sleeve.

"What do you want? — Don't say 'anything'!"

"...You're even answering questions faster now?"

"Hmph~...Fine, I'll make you the same one as mine, okay?"

"Let's reduce the quantity by half."

"You say that again! It's so annoying!" She angrily smacked my arm.

Ge Lanlan laughed beside her.

Soon, the girls joined the line to get their food.

"...I was just wondering why the boys were sitting while the girls went to get the food. It must have been so uncomfortable!"

After experiencing several rounds of people pointing to empty seats and saying "this spot is taken," even someone as insignificant as me felt a bit helpless.

"It feels like the awkwardness I felt when I was a child at the supermarket checkout, and my mom went to get other items and asked me to help her stand in line."

"...Your example is so vivid!"

Chen Di and I waited anxiously in our seats for the girls' group. Soon, the crowd began to stir.

"I see her! I see her!" "Wow, it's her in person! So cute!!" "Junior! Junior! Look over here!!"

Chen Di and I looked over and saw a girl with long black hair carrying a bag on one shoulder walking from the cafeteria toward the door.

Despite the surrounding commotion, the girl seemed oblivious to everything, walking calmly towards the door. Her azure eyes gazed into the distance, as if she had no intention of giving any response.

A draft blowing in from outside ruffled her hair, giving her a slightly disheveled yet stylish and charming look. She resembled a wildcat living in her own world.

"It's quite beautiful."

Even Chen Di couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Hmm." I was also observing this girl named Qiu Luxi. As the one secretly entrusted with this task, I was still fulfilling my responsibilities to some extent.

It's not one of those nominally commissioned but actually a perk mission to pick up girls. I spent the whole night carefully studying the PDF that Uncle Gold Tooth sent me and came to a conclusion.

—I'm actually just a informant who tattles on people's parents. Why bother making friends with celebrities?

I observe from afar and then write "Nothing to do this week" on the weekly report. I slack off, and she relaxes.

The future is bright!

"Ah, that looks like Senior Sister Chu Guyin."

I was basking in my own cleverness and feeling quite pleased with myself when I heard about this, but I immediately snapped back to reality.

"It's a senior!" "Wow! An epic meeting between the top tiers of the two music departments?!" "Help! Wait for me! Let me turn on my camera!!!"

The crowd went wild.

Everyone was curious to see how Qiu Luxi, who could be ignored by others, would react when faced with Chu Guyin, a senior who was no less capable than themselves.

Many people held their breath and pulled out their phones.

"..."

"..."

The senior student looked down and turned to the left, while Qiu Luxi looked straight ahead and turned to the right. The two girls didn't greet each other at all and just brushed past each other, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

"If it were An Yu, she might at least say hello, but for Senior Chu Guyin, this reaction is perfectly normal."

Chen Di said with a smile.

"Yes, what my senior said..."

Before I could finish speaking, I saw my senior walk straight towards our table.

"?"

Since the club was unilaterally disbanded, I haven't had any communication with Senior Chu Guyin. Her reaction now puzzles me.

Looking around, I realized that because of Qiu Luxi's appearance, many people from the second floor had come down to the first floor to join in the fun. At this moment, the table closest to the entrance on the first floor with any empty seats seemed to be ours.

"No way..." I had a bad feeling.

As I expected, Senior Sister Chu Guyin aimed directly opposite me, in the spot that An Yu had just chosen, and sat down.

Then, with his head down, he took out a lunchbox from the bag on his back.

What an exquisite bento box! The dishes inside are a perfect balance of meat and vegetables, and it looks very nutritious and healthy...

Is now the time to consider this?!

Perhaps noticing the silence around her, Senior Sister Chu Guyin raised her head.

"!"

The moment our eyes met, she widened her eyes slightly.

Immediately afterwards, she closed the lunchbox and then practically darted out of the spot like a startled rabbit.

"...!"

Before I could see her expression clearly, I saw her bow as if apologizing, and then immediately run to a table further behind us where there were still empty seats.

The surroundings echoed with comments like, "That scared me to death!", "As expected, the senior wouldn't be sitting next to Ning Ruoyu.", "Chen Di is a good person, and An Yu is just naive and too unguarded..."

It seems that many people were also taken aback by the senior's choice.

But these words don't matter to me; I'm used to them.

"Did she just sit down as soon as she saw an empty seat?" I asked Chen Di next to me.

Chen Di then withdrew his gaze from the surroundings and looked at me with a hint of helplessness.

"You really don't care at all how you're judged?"

"They can talk all they want, and I can't stop them from gossiping." I saw my senior sit down in an empty seat and share a table with someone. The girl opposite her was both shy and excited, constantly looking at Chu Guyin, and even secretly taking out her phone.

“That’s how she always is. She’ll just sit down wherever there’s an empty seat nearby, whether it’s in the library or the cafeteria.” Chen Di and I both looked at Chu Guyin. “She doesn’t seem to ask if anyone’s sitting there; she just sits down directly.”

"Like a self-important young lady?"

"Quite a few people say that," Chen Di said with a wry smile. "Those who like the senior say it's because of her unpretentious personality, but of course, some people have quite a few complaints about it."

"But whether they like it or not, the senior's status and strength are there, and everyone has accepted it."

I watched as the senior student lowered her head and began to eat her lunch properly, and I sighed inwardly.

—Never mind, some things are not my business as someone who has already left the club.

Seeing Ge Lanlan and An Yu return, I suppressed the slight unease that welled up inside me.

……

After school in the afternoon, I packed my things and prepared to leave as usual.

“Ning Ruoyu! I heard from someone that…”

"Don't go."

Interrupting An Yu's spellcasting, I checked my notebook to make sure I had stuffed all of today's homework into my bag.

"I haven't finished speaking yet!"

"I'm not going. I'm super busy these days."

"Liar! You're clearly a member of the 'Homecoming Department' without any clubs, just like me now!" An Yu poked her head in front of me unhappily.

"...My younger sister rarely makes such a capricious request. She said that because she's in her final year of junior high, she wants to move to my rented apartment, which is closer to the school. I have to go back and have a video family meeting with my parents."

I looked at An Yu with a blank expression.

During the latter half of summer vacation, my younger sister seemed to have awakened some extraordinary qualities.

Several times when I woke up in bed, I would see her sitting on the sofa next to the bed, gazing at me with tender eyes, but she just wouldn't wake me up. She would only come over like a puppy the moment she saw me wake up.

They even earnestly suggested several times that putting two beds in such a small rented room would take up too much space. But since we're siblings, using two blankets wouldn't really matter.

...To be honest, it's a little scary.

The thought that my future life might continue in this atmosphere makes me determined to do everything in my power to dispel Ning Ruoxin's thoughts, even if the universe were to explode today.

An Yu opened his mouth slightly, and after a while, he closed his mouth and swallowed.

"...We need to make an effort to hold meetings."

She encouraged me.

"Hey, Ning Ruoyu! Oh, perfect timing, An Yu, you're here too."

However, my escape plan was interrupted again.

Senior Wu Yuehua stood blocking the doorway, smiling and greeting An Yu and me.

"Great, it saves me the trouble of searching one by one!"

Senior Wu Yuehua walked up to us and said very seriously.

"...You two need to find a club to join."

[Next chapter preview: Wait, how did this reason end up back to me again?!]