Chapter 31: A Welcoming Gift

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“Uno, let’s go get something to eat. The food at the hotel we went to last night was pretty good, so let’s eat there again today.”

Seeing Heiyu Yi’s greedy expression, Miyamoto Tsuneyasu immediately lost interest in continuing the game. Without even picking up his schoolbag, he strode out of the classroom.

“Heh heh. Goodbye, Heiyu. Oh, no—see you.”

Uno Taku waved at Heiyu Yi and followed Miyamoto Tsuneyasu out.

Only three people remained in the classroom.

“Hey, are you all right?”

A hand holding a tissue extended toward Suzumiya Asuka.

Sitting on a chair, Suzumiya Asuka saw the tissue and slowly raised her head. Her slightly long, straight bangs covered her eyebrows and eyes, and her expression was cold.

“What do you mean?”

Her bloodshot eyes stared coldly at Heiyu Yi from behind her bangs.

“Nothing.”

Heiyu Yi moved the tissue a little closer.

“I don’t need your pity!”

Suzumiya Asuka slapped the tissue from his hand. Then she stood up with her schoolbag on her back, shoved past him, and headed for the door.

“Wait.”

Heiyu Yi grabbed Suzumiya by the hand, preventing her from leaving.

“What do you want?”

She struggled fiercely twice, but found that his powerful left hand had her wrist locked in an unbreakable grip. She shouted angrily at him.

“This is yours.”

Heiyu Yi took the money from his pocket, separated half of it, and held it out to her.

“You want to humiliate me too?”

Suzumiya stared wide-eyed at the money in his hand. Her nose trembled slightly, and her lips pressed tightly together.

“No, you’ve misunderstood. I’m only dividing the spoils. Think about it—if it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t have taken this money out, and I wouldn’t have gotten any of it. So you should have a share.”

Heiyu Yi explained with what he considered the utmost sincerity.

Yet his slightly arched brows and the faint smile at the corners of his lips carried a hint of wickedness, always giving people the impression that he was a careless, roguish playboy. Even his supposedly earnest expression seemed somewhat flippant.

Perhaps she had misunderstood him. Suzumiya said nothing, merely standing there coldly and allowing him to hold her hand. No one could tell what she was thinking.

“All right, all right. You did more of the work, so I’ll give you another hundred.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Heiyu Yi took another hundred from his pocket, placed it together with the five hundred in his hand, and held the money out to her.

“Let go of me.”

Suzumiya’s voice trembled slightly.

“Oh.”

Heiyu Yi released her hand.

“Keep your money. Just as he said, go and have a good meal tonight. By this time tomorrow, you may not know whether you’ll ever get another chance to eat.”

Suzumiya cast him a complicated glance. Without taking the money, she turned and ran out of the classroom.

“Uh…”

Heiyu Yi stood where he was, watching her disappear. Her loose hair, her running posture—she looked exactly like the girl who had run out of the director of studies’ office. He withdrew his empty hand and walked toward the front door to fetch the cleaning tools.

“I’ve already cleaned the area around the podium and the aisle. I’ll leave the rest to you. I have something to do, so I’m leaving first.”

Ling Meng Watanabe, who had not taken part in the matter from beginning to end, washed the mop and put it beside the door.

“Mm, all right. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Heiyu Yi answered as he reached for the cleaning tools.

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A soft, smooth touch of skin brushed against Heiyu Yi’s hand. His heartbeat began to quicken again, and in the quiet classroom it seemed especially loud.

Ling Meng Watanabe frowned and withdrew her hand.

“I’m sorry.”

Heiyu Yi smiled apologetically.

“Could you be a little more serious? When you want to help someone, pay attention to your own attitude first. Don’t act as though you don’t care. No one who sees you like that will believe you’re genuinely trying to help.”

Ling Meng Watanabe misunderstood his apologetic smile.

After saying this, she returned directly to her seat, picked up her shoulder bag, and slung it over her shoulder.

“Watanabe, haven’t we met before? Your name and your appearance both seem familiar. I feel as though I saw you somewhere a long time ago.”

Heiyu Yi put away his smile and asked earnestly.

“There are many people in Linchuan City who know me, and many who have heard my name. That doesn’t mean I know all of them. And I only heard the name Heiyu Yi for the first time today. We don’t know each other, so don’t waste your effort. It’s impossible.”

Ling Meng Watanabe immediately exposed the small intention hidden in his heart. She knew very well how attractive she was. Heiyu Yi was not the first person to approach her this way. Ever since she had first begun to show signs of beauty in middle school, quite a few people had tried to strike up a relationship with her by using the same excuse. Without exception, she had rejected them all.

“Uh…”

Heiyu Yi stood there dumbfounded. The thoughts in his heart had been exposed in a single sentence by the girl he liked, leaving him at a loss.

Ling Meng Watanabe paid him no further attention. With her schoolbag on her back, she left the classroom.

“It’s all right. I won’t give up.”

Years of arduous training had forged in him a tenacious will. He knew that Rome had not been built in a day, and that mastery could not be achieved overnight.

Thinking of this, Heiyu Yi vigorously rubbed his chest, which still felt somewhat stifled. Then he picked up the broom and mop and began cleaning.

On the rooftop of a building across from the teaching block, a high-powered telescope was aimed at the window of Class Five. Several people stood lazily behind the one using it.

“Miyamoto, how is it? Anything special?”

Uno Taku had one hand in his pocket and a cup of milk tea in the other. He watched Suzumiya through the telescope.

“What about the information? Did you find anything?”

Miyamoto moved his eye away from the telescope, accepted a cup of milk tea from a subordinate who looked like a lackey, and took a sip.

“Nothing special. He has no background at all. He’s just a country boy with good grades whom the school bought in. What do you think? Shall we deal with him tonight?”

Uno Taku spoke with obvious contempt.

“He seems interested in our sister-in-law.”

Suzumiya smiled faintly, extended the hand holding the milk tea over the edge of the rooftop, and let go.

“Have them prepare properly. It’ll be a welcome gift for our new classmate.”

After saying this, Uno Taku followed Miyamoto downstairs.

Clang!

The cup of milk tea fell from a height of several dozen meters and struck the ground. The plastic cup burst, sending milk splashing in every direction.

Heiyu Yi heard the crash and raised his head toward the window. Seeing the spilled milk tea below, he curled his lips and glanced at the now-empty rooftop across the way. Then he lowered his head and continued sweeping.

After finishing the cleaning, Heiyu Yi shut the classroom windows and door, put both hands in his pockets, and walked out.

He followed a lush, tree-lined path, breathing in the fragrance from the roadside, listening to birds chirping in the branches, and watching the occasional student leave school for home. The scenery here could not compare with the island, but it could still be considered a tranquil corner of this noisy city.

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He felt the few hundred dollars remaining in his pocket.

Where was he supposed to stay tonight?

If he stayed at an inn tonight, what would he do tomorrow? He had no idea where his next meal would come from either. Thinking about how he had spent several hundred dollars on a single meal at that extortionate place earlier, he shuddered involuntarily.

“Hmm? There’s a pavilion over there. Maybe I’ll just sleep there.”

When Heiyu Yi spotted a pavilion behind the laboratory building, he immediately came up with a brilliant idea for finding a place to stay without spending any money. During his survival training on the island, he had experienced all kinds of harsh conditions. Sleeping outdoors was practically luxurious by comparison.

He rubbed his stomach and felt hungry again. After looking around, he saw that nearly all the students had already left, and there was no one near the pavilion.

He walked to a patch of bushes, inhaled their fragrance, closed his eyes, held his hands out flat, and slowly regulated his breathing. A careful observer would have noticed that every flower was facing Heiyu Yi. Dozens of delicate petals trembled faintly in unison, all vibrating at the same frequency.

“Much better. Though I do feel like eating something.”

After an unknown length of time, Heiyu Yi felt his hunger disappear completely. He opened his eyes and licked his lips with satisfaction. This was a method he had created during hunger training. It eliminated the sensation of hunger, while replenishing the strength his body would normally have gained from food.

After completing the hidden-survival training, Izumi Inoue had expected Heiyu Yi to be extremely weak. After all, he had gone nearly half a month without eating normal food. He had survived on nothing but grass roots and scraps of earth, so Inoue had assumed he would look miserable when he emerged. He had never imagined that, apart from being covered in dirt, Heiyu Yi would show no sign of weakness at all. If Inoue had not inspected his backpack before departure, he would have suspected that Heiyu Yi had secretly brought food with him.

When Heiyu Yi told him about his method, Izumi Inoue had been stunned for a full two minutes. Even though he knew it was impossible, he nevertheless followed Heiyu Yi’s instructions and tried the breathing exercise himself. Apart from feeling somewhat calmer, he experienced none of the effects Heiyu Yi had described. In the end, he attributed the peculiar ability to Heiyu Yi’s extraordinary constitution.

Of course, in order not to waste such exceptional physical potential and to help him develop even more unusual abilities, Izumi Inoue had increased the difficulty of Heiyu Yi’s training again and again. Some of the tasks were impossible even for Inoue himself at that stage, yet Heiyu Yi completed them all as if by miracle.

Sitting on the wooden bench, Heiyu Yi heard nothing but birdsong and the rustling of leaves in the wind. It was terribly boring. Now that he had finally escaped from the island, he naturally had no desire to train again.

He lay on the wooden bench in the pavilion and quietly watched the sky change from blue to gold, the sun sink, and the moon rise.

By the time he had lost count of how many stars had appeared in the night sky, Heiyu Yi closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

Not far outside the gates of Linchuan High School, nearly twenty young thugs stood lazily along the roadside. Their hair was dyed bright green, and they wore earrings and necklaces while smoking cigarettes. Some squatted, while others sat on the roadside barrier, but all of them kept their eyes fixed on the school entrance.

“Damn it, why hasn’t he come out yet?”

“Did he run away?”

“No. I didn’t see him leave.”

“Could he have heard the news and decided not to come out?”

“The boss only just decided to teach him a lesson. How could he have heard anything?”

“Then why isn’t he coming out?”

“Should we go in and look for him?”

“Are you stupid? This is Linchuan Academy, not the dump of a school you used to attend. Go ahead and try walking in.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Wait.”