But values like “ladies first,” morally binding, were firmly nailed into society. Not being courteous meant lacking gentlemanly demeanor—at least in high school, where boys tended to have thinner skins.
“Next time.”
Pei Du neither refused nor accepted.
This was his life philosophy—how could he not carry it through to the end?
“Okay.” He Chengxi didn’t get the reply she wanted to hear and felt a little disappointed.
She understood Pei Du had no obligation to accept every invitation from her; they were just ordinary friends who met through an accident.
But people are like that, often holding expectations, and when expectations fall through, they feel sad.
“Classmate Pei, how’s your preparation for Saturday’s exam?”
Back on campus, the girl put on her school uniform again—the school required wearing it while on campus.
“Didn’t prepare.”
Seniors had no holidays on Saturdays, which were designated as unified exam days.
Pei Du truly hadn’t prepared anything.
These exams occurred as commonly as drinking water; why prepare?
“Classmate Pei, are you very confident then?”
“Nope.”
“Okay.”
Young Master Pei Du is really great at conversation.
Walking past the library, surrounded by a circle of flowering Photinia shrubs in full bloom, the smell was so pungent it made one want to vomit.
He Chengxi frowned, covering her nose and mouth.
“If you had a million, how would you spend it?”
Pei Du felt like asking the girl at this moment.
“Cough, a million?! Cough.”
“A million.”
He Chengxi was choked both by the strong Photinia fragrance and the question. Her family was wealthy, her allowance seemingly endless, but it was just a lot of money; her consumption level had always been normal.
Usually, she ate at the cafeteria, had snacks, and drank plain water.
Perhaps her family would buy her brand-name items, property, or exquisite delicacies, but she wasn’t clear on their specific value or how they compared to average standards.
The most expensive thing she’d ever bought herself was probably a ten-thousand-yuan phone.
The girl, quite intelligent in other areas, was surprisingly below the passing line when it came to understanding living standards.
“Hmm… I’d travel.”
He Chengxi didn’t first ask Pei Du why he suddenly asked this, instead seriously thinking about how to answer her friend’s question.
“Transportation, sightseeing, hotels, buying good food… In short, a million would be spent pretty quickly, right?”
Pei Du knew to some extent that the girl’s family was very wealthy—you could tell from her phone, the latest limited edition foldable screen. You couldn’t get that without money or connections.
For an average high school student, a million, while imaginable for many expenses, wouldn’t actually be spent that quickly in reality.
In the girl’s words, a million was like New Year’s lucky money: it would just last a little longer when spent.
“Why did Classmate Pei ask this question?”
“Just asking casually.”
“Oh.”
Talking about travel opened He Chengxi’s floodgates. She started describing which countries she’d been to and what attractions she’d visited.
What impressed Pei Du the most was the girl mentioning going to Hokkaido, Japan, and eating crab with a famous local geisha.
The ‘Sister Yukino Sawashiro’ in He Chengxi’s description, with her graceful attire and excellent figure, performed a locally inherited dance.
She was eating crab, so focused on its delicious taste that she forgot to appreciate the snow, and was teased by her mother as a little monkey who didn’t inherit her artistic cells.
This was when He Chengxi was eight.
Back in the classroom, Pei Du and Zhao Yu heard arguing even before entering.
It was almost shouting, audible even in the hallway.
Students who loved drama pretended to chat by the railing outside, actually listening to the Class 7 quarrel.
“Why do you have to play that disgusting anime?”
“So cringe, right?”
Several girls pointed at the boys opposite, speaking loudly, their expressions as if they’d seen maggots.
Pei Du looked at the whiteboard before returning to his seat.
A website was opened on it, playing the anime “Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.”
The image wasn’t moving, paused at a short segment from the beginning.
He knew of this anime but hadn’t watched it.
The reason was he’d read the light novel; after knowing the plot, he wasn’t that interested.
Pei Du knew this anime had recently stirred controversy on certain platforms—involving male-female topics.
He hadn’t expected it to become the flashpoint for class conflict.
“What’s wrong with watching anime? Would you rather watch some boy band or girl group MV?”
A boy with rather small eyes didn’t care about tearing up relations with the girls, loudly retorting.
Liu Kang had long been annoyed by those few girls in class—not particularly attractive but loved screaming hysterically, monopolizing the whiteboard every day to play some boy band songs.
Since they could use the whiteboard to play MVs, why couldn’t he play some anime?
He knew he had little hope of dating in high school and didn’t care much about image, so he simply argued with the girls to the end.
“Do you guys have no moral compass, watching this kind of anime?”
Yang Mengxin, the girl who first accused the boys, had more flesh on her face, especially around the sides of her nose.
This made her, despite not looking overweight, give off a greasy feeling.
“Polluting the school environment.”
“You’re applying anime morals to reality? Why don’t you bring Qing Dynasty customs to modern times?”
Liu Kang retorted sarcastically. He knew how this anime was criticized on certain platforms.
Saying the protagonist’s father cheated with a maid while the mother was pregnant, a total scumbag, etc.
But applying medieval morals from a virtual world to modern society was clearly just capitalizing on male-female conflict for clicks.
Only these foolish women would hear something and blindly believe it, coming out to disgust people.
“How can you be so shameless?”
“Just endorsing that behavior, I guess.”
Without directly answering, Yang Mengxin started making sarcastic remarks.
She genuinely thought these guys were unreasonable. Ugly was one thing, but so creepy too.
Didn’t they know how much this anime was hated?
Still playing it in class; might as well watch the new group’s MV.
“Yet you watch those boy bands where members either sleep with fans or bully others, and you enjoy it just the same.”
“How dare you! What do you know!”
“I know your mom.”
“Did your whole family die or something?”
…
Listening to their unrestrained cursing, Pei Du finished solving a physics calculation problem.
The pressure high school students endured had long pushed their rationality to the brink of collapse. The slightest spark could trigger all sorts of explosions.
Including but not limited to clique fractures, fights, human bodies attacking concrete from heights…
For now, the verbal battle hadn’t escalated to a serious level; it was fine.
Dongzhong High teachers didn’t oppose students using the whiteboard to play videos for stress relief during breaks—more accurately, they didn’t oppose seniors doing so.
Freshmen and sophomores were strictly prohibited from casual use—though sneaky usage was common.
Seniors could use the whiteboard for videos, provided it didn’t disturb some students’ rest.
Thus, in Class 7 before collective afternoon naps, girls usually used the whiteboard to play MVs or variety shows.
Boys were too embarrassed to fight for it, basically defaulting the noon usage rights to the girls.
Such was the social phenomenon, forcing males to exhibit so-called gentlemanly courtesy, otherwise lowering their perceived social standing.
The subsequent emergence of so-called ‘sigma male’ mentality was merely about refusing under circumstances that harmed their own interests.
But values like “ladies first,” morally binding, were firmly nailed into society. Not being courteous meant lacking gentlemanly demeanor—at least in high school, where boys tended to have thinner skins.
Pei Du never expected that today, over whiteboard usage rights, it could come to such heated arguing.
This class is finished.
But it has nothing to do with him, Pei Du. Let it be however it wants.
Best if they start fighting, so he can enjoy a show while doing his test papers.
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂