Chapter Thirty Benefits of Fluff

  Early spring mornings are always so bleak, especially in Korea, which is located at 37.3 degrees north latitude on the northern hemisphere peninsula. The footsteps of spring seem to be delayed for a while before stepping into this land!

  The early spring morning is always late, it's already six o'clock, but the sky still hasn't brightened up. The darkness before dawn still shrouds Seoul, which has slept for a night (Seoul was originally called this, Hancheng is the Chinese name, and Seoul is the translated name). Only the eastern edge remains, where the shining Venus is still twinkling, like a lighthouse in the vast ocean, guiding lost ships towards the correct direction.

  "Good morning! Venus, we meet again today! It's been a long time since I've seen you! Will you appear again tomorrow? I should go make breakfast now!" Muzi Qiu stretched his waist and twisted his neck, shaking off the laziness of having slept for a night, got dressed, and walked out of the room.

  Muzi Qiu's residence was a mid-tier community, with the windows of his room facing east. Outside the window, there were no high-rise buildings. Every time Muzi Qiu woke up in the morning and opened his eyes, he would occasionally see the Venus hanging on the eastern horizon. Gradually, he also became a "friend" who had only one sentence of conversation with it every day.

  "Ah, you must have come back very late last night..." The living room was originally tidy, but now it's piled up with messy women's clothes, jackets, jeans, sweaters, all scattered on the sofa and TV. Muzi Qiu skillfully picked up the clothes, folded them neatly, and walked into another room in the house. As soon as she opened the door, Muzi Qiu frowned, covered her nose, and paused for a moment before walking in. The air, which had been fermenting all night, was slightly sour with a strong smell of alcohol, filling the entire room...

  "Drinking again? Has something happened recently? Or is it just too many social engagements?" Putting the clothes on the sofa in the room, Muzi Qiu covered the woman who was sleeping soundly on the bed with a quilt, turned off the heater and opened the window, letting the fresh air of dawn blow into the room with the cold wind, purifying the sour air.

  "Brrr... it's cold! Mu Qiu, what are you doing? Don't you know how cold it is?" The woman on the bed was blown awake by the chilly wind and immediately sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she looked at Mu Qiu standing by the window. She complained for a moment before shrinking back under the covers and continuing to sleep.

  "Sister, rest well, don't drink so much wine in the future. I've cooked breakfast and left it in the pot, remember to eat when you get up."

  "Got it!"

  Muzi Autumn lightly walked out of the room and into the kitchen, starting to make breakfast.

  Today is the opening ceremony of Mu Zi Qiu's second year in middle school. After eating breakfast, he put on his usual big and somewhat rustic-looking black-framed glasses and went out. The sky was already starting to brighten up, and the morning star in the eastern horizon was gradually fading away! A thin mist enveloped the streets, and the snow that had just started to melt a few days ago could still be seen, dotting the roadside here and there.

  It's not yet the usual time for school or work, and the bus is empty except for the driver who is still yawning, and Mu Zi Qiu sitting quietly in the corner of the back seat. The street signs and scattered pedestrians outside the window flash by, leaving no trace on her large black-framed glasses...

  Muzi Autumn Elementary School did extremely well on the promotion exam, and all the teachers thought he would choose to attend Seoul's best middle school. But unexpectedly, he chose an ordinary middle school that was closest to his home, a tree standing in Gangnam District, a very ordinary junior high school named Tongde Junior High School. Even in the first year of junior high, all the exams were also ranked first in the city.

  He touched the black-framed glasses on his face, let out a warm breath, and walked into this school he had been attending for a year. Muzi Qiu was very resistant to the opening ceremony, no, it should be said that wherever there were many people, he was very resistant. According to his classmates, that was the pride he deserved as a genius! Because Muzi Qiu's academic performance was extremely good, the school teachers generally didn't manage him, and even when he often skipped class, no one said anything, while Muzi Qiu had never lost his first place.

  Because school started today, the faculty and staff had already opened every classroom door. Mu Zi Qiu arrived early, but was still able to enter the classroom. The classroom had been swept clean, with new desks arranged neatly. Following habit, Mu Zi Qiu walked directly to his usual spot in the corner of the room, just about to sit down, when he found that a girl had already occupied the seat before him, and her posture was somewhat indecent...

  "Is it you again?" Muzi Qiu was almost always the first person to sit in the classroom, but there was one special case - a girl who occupied her own seat as if it were a bed. The girl lay sideways on the chair, seemingly unaware that it was early spring and still quite chilly outside, yet she slept very comfortably, her long hair covering her entire face.

  He gazed for a while, then Mu Zi Qiu took a step back and sat down in the second-to-last row, putting down his backpack and leaning against the wall. He began to watch the scenery outside the window, completely ignoring the woman behind him. The position he was sitting in was actually the girl's usual spot, but every time she came, she would sit in Mu Zi Qiu's seat! From elementary school on, Mu Zi Qiu had always sat in the corner of the classroom, a very easy-to-forget position, a very easy-to-disappear position...

  Because of the cold weather, the school's opening ceremony was broadcast on the radio, so students just needed to sit in their classrooms and listen. This arrangement seemed quite humane. Before long, a few students began to trickle into the classroom, including boys and girls, some in pairs or threes, others in groups of five or seven. Gradually, the classroom filled up with students.

  "Good morning, Tae-oh! You're in a good mood today, aren't you? I didn't expect you to come to school." Behind Mok Jae-oh, a bright and cheerful boy with a sunny smile and tall stature walked up - Sung Yoon-ho, who perfectly fit the description of a flower boy.

  "She's here!" Mu Zi Qiu didn't turn his head, still gazing out the window, and hummed a soft response.

  "Wow, what a surprise! You're actually attending school!" Cheng Yunhao didn't hear Mu Ziqiu's extremely soft words. "Ziqiu, I heard that you got first place in the city again this year. That's amazing! You've never lost your title as the top student since elementary school! Last year, when I found out we were in the same class, I was so excited! By the way, my grades improved last semester too. My overall score rose by a whole level, and I have to thank you for pushing me...". Mu Ziqiu felt a bit annoyed with Cheng Yunhao. He wasn't a talkative person and didn't like interacting with people he wasn't familiar with. Although Cheng Yunhao was his classmate, he rarely attended school himself, completing most of the coursework at home except for exams. Of course, there was no way he could have "pushed" Mu Ziqiu. Meanwhile, in this classroom, there was another student like him - a girl named Zheng Xiuyan who occupied his seat. As the students chatted excitedly, filling the room with noise, Cheng Yunhao continued to talk enthusiastically behind Mu Ziqiu's back, seemingly unaware that behind him, a girl was sleeping... and she was someone who hated being woken up from her sleep.

  "Shut up!!" A dolphin-like sound that was almost beyond human limits came from the corner of the classroom, behind Muzi Qiu's back. The entire classroom, like the bustling Dongdaemun Gate, suddenly became as quiet as the Hyochang Park (a famous national cemetery in Seoul). Muzi Qiu still didn't turn his gaze back from outside the window, still looking sideways out of the window.

  "Su-yeon, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" Sung Yoon-ho apologized to the girl who had already gotten up from behind him, covering his ears.

  "Are you ready for class?" With the remnants of sleep still in her eyes, the girl tidied up her disheveled long hair, took out a mirror from her bag which had been used as a pillow earlier, and began to fix herself up.

  "Hmm!" Mu Zi Qiu also didn't know why he responded with this sound.

  Her long hair was pulled open, although she was only thirteen or fourteen, but her future appearance of national calamity and harm to the people could already be seen! Her facial features looked very delicate, seemingly with a hint of mixed blood, her eyes were not big, but also not small, although Mu Zi Qiu didn't look at her, but in the few times they coincidentally attended class together, he understood that this girl was like him, belonging to the iceberg type; The feeling of rejecting people from afar could be seen in every move and gesture; Her nose was very delicate, like the snow in early spring, melting away more than half, leaving only the most essential parts; Her lips were thin, even in today's dry weather, still shining brightly with crystal-like luster.

  "Hey, whoever that is! Next time, and I mean next time, I'll kick your legs off! I'm telling you again, don't disturb me when I'm sleeping!" Zheng Xiuyan tidied up her disheveled hair, put the mirror back in her bag, and gave Cheng Yuhao a cold stare.

  "Yes, Soo-young, I was wrong! My name is Sung Yoon-ho, and this is the thirty-seventh time I've told you my name. Please remember it too. Next time, I won't dare wake you up again, I swear! Really! And...my chair..." Sung Yoon-ho pointed to the chair that Soo-young had used as a makeshift bed.

  "Why don't you go yourself? Don't talk nonsense!" Zheng Xiuyan supported her chin with her hand, imitating Muzi Qiu looking out the window.

  Seong Yoon-ho carefully snuck a peek at Jung Soo-yeon, placed his backpack on the desk and buried his face in it...

  Before long, the classroom returned to its usual bustle of Dongdaemun, and the students in the front row began to make a ruckus again. After a year's experience, they had already gotten used to the strange two icebergs of Class 3, Grade 2, Zhongde Middle School! The corner of the classroom was as quiet as if it had been partitioned off, desolate like a snowy field in the biting cold of winter. Two icebergs, plus one corpse...