"Ah... okay, thank you for your help, teacher."

They entered the teachers' office one after the other, as all the sunlight streamed in. The sunset, aside from its occasional unpleasantness, was gentle and tender. Actually, this warm color scheme was quite nice; the feeling of high school was completely different from this.

Ozu sat down.

The instruction is probably about to begin.

"You can't start smoking at such a young age! Your physical strength will decline, and your lungs and skin will become ruined! You'll definitely regret it when you grow up!"

"……oh……"

"What are you 'oh'ing about!" Ozu seemed very dissatisfied with the boy's attitude. Didn't he know how to repent for his mistake? Smoking at such a young age, he'll get lung cancer in the future. Young people should do what they're supposed to do.

if not.

You'll regret it later.

"sorry!!"

...He got another scolding, but Lin Yan didn't care. After all, the other party might just be a girl pretending to be mature.

"Mr. Ozu...how old are you?"

"Huh? Why are you asking this all of a sudden? I'm twenty-five years old this year." Twenty-five years old, huh? If you count the time he's spent away from home, then he should be twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old now.

Twenty-five.

He has the demeanor of an adult.

It's really interesting.

"...So young...!"

"So what if you think I'm young and look down on me? Watch out, I'll beat you to a pulp!" Mr. Ozu even clenched his fist as he spoke.

"That's not what I meant!!"

"From a high school student's perspective, isn't 25 already considered an 'auntie'?"

"Does anyone say such a thing? It's so rude. I really want to punch that person!" Lin Yan said with a smile. Society is too harsh on women's age.

"However, I really think the teacher is amazing. Finding such a good job at such a young age, and truly becoming a good teacher. That's really impressive!"

"I really respect you."

“…Thank you.” Ozu was actually quite happy to hear such praise, so he smiled happily.

"But often people are underestimated just because they're young! To be honest, I'm a little happy to hear you say that."

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"Thank you, Lin Yan." Suddenly, Lin Yan recalled something from the past, a person he had met before. That person disappeared from his memory but never disappeared, though he might never see them again. That's life.

"Many times, you don't get a kind look just because you're a woman! Thank you, Lin Yan." The person in front of me smiled, but the smile seemed so lonely.

Lin Yan smiled.

"But!" Ms. Ozu seemed to have not forgotten what the main thing was right now. Lin Yan's report card in front of her brought everything back on track, and her smile disappeared.

Lin Yan could read a kind of confession in Teacher Xiao Jin's eyes and voice: the girl in front of him was trying her best to become a qualified teacher and she was fulfilling her duty. Perhaps many years later, this quality would become very rare.

Everyone is sweeping the snow in front of their own house.

How cold and indifferent people will be back then.

"This is a completely different matter! Come on, write a letter of repentance! I'm only letting you write a letter of repentance since this is your first offense. If you do this again, you might be suspended from school!"

"Ah... yes!"

Lin Yan accepted the paper and used it to write a self-criticism.

Stepping out of the teachers' office, he took a deep breath. Throughout the whole affair, Lin Yan was actually quite calm. Since he couldn't disrupt the original plot, following it was perfectly acceptable, after all, this was a world that didn't belong to him.

So what happened to his world?

Lin Yan occasionally considers this question.

In fact, this world is very familiar to Lin Yan. All the wars are long gone, and people live ordinary lives. All the pressure comes from trivial matters that are not fatal, such as family, career, or personal feelings, and some trivialities of life.

You won't see aliens or armed criminals walking down the street here.

However, this letter of self-criticism really made him both laugh and cry. He never expected to experience something he had never experienced before in another world. The most unfamiliar thing in his student days was the letter of self-criticism. In his student days, although Lin Yan was not a well-behaved child, he was invincible because of his excellent grades.

In the eyes of all the teachers, Lin Yan was perfect.

In the eyes of all his classmates, Lin Yan was the kind of person they wanted to be.

Everything is perfect, just right. That's Lin Yan.

"Ah, someone who stole cigarettes." It was Chizuru Himeragi who saw this, and her words came at just the right time.

They didn't remember Lin Yan's name, but gave him such an inappropriate code name.

"I told you! Don't remember people like that...! Even if you think that way, don't say it out loud! It really hurts me!"

"I'm sorry. Because I don't know your name..."

"Didn't you already introduce yourself?"

"You mean during the class meeting? I only heard it once, so I don't remember it very well..."

"You're clearly very smart?"

"I don't think these can be compared."

"...My name is Lin Yan."

“…I remember. My name is Hida.” Hida Chizuru suddenly remembered, she did have some recollection of the name, and said.

At the same time, he was also very surprised that he remembered his name.

"By the way, how do you know my name... I think you called me around noon."

"I already said...didn't I introduce myself?"

"You remembered it after hearing it only once?" Chizuru was still very puzzled. This was really a strange guy. He was clearly a poor student, otherwise he wouldn't have been carrying cigarettes.

"Yes!"

"...You're clearly an idiot?"

"Ah..." Lin Yan didn't expect the other party to hit the ball so directly, speaking so bluntly. Could this be the legendary innocent words of children?

"Isn't that strange? You could barely accept me being called a smuggler or a delinquent, but what's with calling me an idiot? What makes you say that?!"

"...Based on intuition?"

"Your prejudice is too much!" Lin Yan didn't want to argue too much, so he changed the subject and said, "What are you doing here? Did you do something bad and that's why you were called here?"

Are you serious?

"...I'm sorry...I was just kidding..."

"There's a part of the exam I don't understand, so I'm here to ask the teacher."

"Wow! No wonder you're number one, you're so serious."

"As expected of a serious yet boring woman?" Lin Yan was quite surprised by Chizuru's innocent remarks once again.

He was speechless.

"...Oh? No, no... It's because I heard you were number one in the grade, so I thought, 'No wonder you're number one.' I'm sorry! If I made you unhappy, I apologize!"

"No... I'm the one who's... I'm so sorry..."

"By the way, why are you using honorifics with me? Are you afraid... that I'm a delinquent... that's why you're using them?"

However, one thing that puzzled Lin Yan was why such a respectful tone was used when speaking to someone who was at least his peer. This made Lin Yan somewhat uncomfortable. In his world, even when facing adults, a teenager wouldn't be overly reserved.

This makes me feel so uncomfortable.

"...There's no particular reason. It's just my habit. I'm like this with everyone, so please don't mind."

"I see..." Lin Yan smiled. He really is a strange child.

Am I difficult to get along with?

"It doesn't matter..."

“From the past until now, I’ve always been told this by the people around me. It’s embarrassing to say, but I’m this age and I don’t have any close friends. Although I’ve always… thought it didn’t matter. But in this world, it seems that many things can’t be done without friends…” At this moment, Chizuru Himeragi’s expression suddenly changed, and her face darkened.

"..."

"What happened at noon today is a good example. You really saved me from a problem. I don't have any friends who would come up to me to talk... Without you, I would have had to do a full-on dogeza with the restaurant lady."

"Hmm... I saw it."

"Although I've always wanted to make a change, I have absolutely no idea where to begin. Since you're meeting me for the first time, could you give me your opinion so I can take a look?" Chizuru asked, her eyes holding something unfathomable.

However, Lin Yan also knew the true identity of the girl in front of him, the shy and even aloof Hida Chizuru.

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Life is a play.

Even so, Lin Yan would cooperate and finish the play. For him, it might be a lighthearted stage play, but he was also very clear that this was the real life of people in this world. Now that things had come to this, Lin Yan wanted to continue acting seriously.

Her voice suddenly sounded somewhat dejected.

Lower your head slightly.

Perhaps at this moment, Chizuru Himeragi has recalled many things from the past. There are many people in this world whose personalities are not so cheerful, such as those with social anxiety or autism.

Social phobia is a subtype of phobia. Phobia, originally called phobic neurosis, is a type of neurosis. It is characterized by an excessive and irrational fear of a certain objective thing or situation in the outside world. Patients are aware that this fear reaction is excessive or irrational, but it still occurs repeatedly and is difficult to control.

Fear attacks are often accompanied by significant anxiety and autonomic symptoms. Patients try their best to avoid the objective things or situations that cause fear, or endure them with fear, thus affecting their normal activities.

Common phobia subtypes include agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobia.

In addition to being introverted, Chizuru Himeragi likely also suffers from mild social anxiety.

Neurosis is a group of mental disorders that are mainly characterized by anxiety, depression, fear, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, hypochondriasis symptoms, or neurasthenia symptoms.

Neurosis is classified into several subtypes, each with its own distinct etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, treatment response, course, and prognosis. However, years of research have revealed that neurotic disorders still share many commonalities.

Am I really that hard to get along with?

"Well, to be honest, they're probably hard to get along with!"

"what happened?"

"Would people usually be this blunt?"

"However, I find you to be quite interesting when I talk to you. After all, it's only the first day we met, so I don't know you very well. But could you smile more often?" Lin Yan smiled warmly. Facing a girl with no ill intentions, a warm smile was the best response.

The world doesn't actually need so many "nice guys." Being difficult to get along with in the eyes of others is actually just one of their true personality traits.

In this slightly morbid world, she may seem out of place, but sometimes she is quite adorable.

"Like this?" Chizuru Himeragi also wanted to give a warm smile, but the smile was too forced; the twitching corners of her mouth didn't look like a smile at all.

"...Were you scared just now?"

"Oh! No! Sorry, it's just that it's not quite what I expected!"

"Then, shall we leave it like this?"

This smile is even more incredible.

It turns out there really are people who simply don't know how to smile naturally when they're nervous. It's really true.

"No, this is exactly the same as before! Forget it! Forget about the smile offensive! You won't make friends this way, you'll only make enemies!"

Chizuru Himeragi looked somewhat disappointed, but this was to be expected. She sighed and then spoke.

"But I want to change who I am now. I can't make friends, and I can't even put on a kind smile. I'm sure this will cause me a lot of trouble when I enter the workforce..."

"No, it's okay! Don't worry, you'll make friends naturally!"

"I've thought that way too." After all, Chizuru Himeragi is no longer a student, but an adult who has entered society. In all these years in society, Chizuru Himeragi still hasn't learned how to get along with people. Apart from being older, she hasn't changed at all in essence.

What is life, really?

There's a saying in traditional culture: "Men should marry when they come of age, and women should marry when they come of age." This is a concept believed and practiced by the vast majority of people. However, as people's spiritual lives become richer and the pressure of material life increases, more and more young people are becoming less willing to "compromise" when it comes to marriage.

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