Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 76 Rules are Sacred (Ninth Update! Requesting Monthly Tickets!)
After school, Cheng Mi went home, while Li Hua, as a boarding student, went directly to the cafeteria.

Li Hua, carrying a stainless steel tray, stood in the long line at the food serving window.

"Next!" the cafeteria lady shouted in a rough voice, banging her iron ladle against the edge of the food bowl.

Li Hua handed over the plate. The older woman deftly scooped a spoonful of rice, followed by side dishes: a spoonful of glistening braised eggplant, a few thinly sliced ​​green peppers stir-fried with meat, and finally a small bowl of tomato and egg soup.

"Auntie, it seems like there's been less meat lately?"

"How would I know? I'm just the one serving food. You should ask the kitchen staff about the food."

Li Hua carried her tray and found a seat by the window.

He poked at the braised eggplant with his chopsticks; the eggplant had been overcooked and lost its shape, turning into a mushy mess when picked up with chopsticks. The slices of meat in the stir-fried green peppers and pork were as tough as rubber to chew.

Amid the noise of the cafeteria, Li Hua heard a boy at the next table complaining, "Is this meat from last week? It's so tough you can't even chew it."

Li Hua picked up another piece of eggplant and put it in her mouth, immediately frowning at the saltiness—this piece seemed to have too much salt.

Li Hua sighed and continued with his dinner. He picked out all the green peppers from the stir-fried green peppers and pork and placed them on the side of his plate, only eating the pork slices and rice. He couldn't drink the soup, so he put it aside.

The ceiling fans in the cafeteria turned slowly, bringing no coolness but instead mixing the smells of cooking oil from all the windows together.

Just as Li Hua was considering whether to go to the convenience store to buy some bread, Luo Fan sat down opposite him with a bowl of instant noodles.

The rich aroma of the braised beef noodles immediately overpowered the smell of the cafeteria food, making the food on Li Hua's plate seem even more meager.

This is what you call delicious food! Who said instant noodles are junk food?
"You're going to eat this?" Luo Fan pointed to the almost untouched food on Li Hua's plate, a look of sympathy on his face.

Li Hua nodded with a wry smile, but his gaze couldn't help but drift towards Luo Fan's instant noodle bucket. It looked a hundred times more tempting than the food in front of him.

"Why do you eat instant noodles?" Li Hua asked.

"I bought it from the convenience store," Luo Fan smiled. "Too lazy to queue."

“Your taste is just like mine. Cheng Mi told me that Uni-President’s seasoning packets are better than Master Kong’s.”

"Yes, I've heard him say that before that Uni-President's seasoning packets are a bit milder, like the pickled cabbage, which has a refreshing taste and a unique pickled cabbage flavor but isn't greasy."

"You didn't get paid to advertise, did you?"

"Honestly, if there are any ads, please send them to me. My payment QR code is here. By the way, just a reminder, when you go back to the dorm today, you'd better be prepared. Yesterday was the first day of school, and all the senior students were assigned English essays. You know... they were all written for you, Li Hua."

Li Hua was speechless.

He ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Luo Fan, do you... like Lin Xiaoyu?"

Luo Fan paused for a moment, his ears turning slightly red.

“Cheng Mi said she saw you slip a letter into her desk yesterday morning,” Li Hua continued.

Luo Fan was silent for a moment, then smiled wryly: "This... I later realized it was absurd, so I took it out."

Li Hua didn't ask any further questions, but the aroma of instant noodles wafted over, and he suddenly felt that his meal was tasteless.

"Never mind, I'll go buy a bucket too." He stood up.

Li Hua pushed open the door and went inside the convenience store.

The boss isn't here today; only the boss's wife is busy at the counter.

She looked to be in her mid-thirties, with slightly mature-looking curly hair, wearing a floral shirt, and a ballpoint pen tucked into her apron pocket.

At dinner time, the convenience store was packed with people.

"Boss lady, I'd like a bucket of braised beef noodles."

The proprietress was tidying up the shelves on tiptoe when she heard this and turned around.

"Instant noodles again?" she muttered as she took the noodles off the shelf. "You kids...do you really like this kind of fast food that much?"

Li Hua touched his nose: "The food in the cafeteria is awful."

A student nearby chimed in, "Boss lady, how can we patronize your business if we don't buy fast food? The food in the cafeteria is really awful."

"Try to eat regular meals and eat less instant noodles." The proprietress placed the instant noodles on the counter, then suddenly took out a braised egg from under the counter. "Add this, it's free for you."

"Huh? No need..."

"Here, take it. Look how skinny you are. Sigh, why didn't you come with your classmate this morning?"

You mean Cheng Mi?

"Yes, he bought a can of Coke. Oh, and he came with a little girl with long hair."

"A girl with long hair?" A thought flashed through his mind. Could it be that Cheng Mi had a boyfriend behind his back?
So he took out his phone, found last year's class photo from their agricultural trip, and asked, "Auntie, who are you talking about?"

The proprietress leaned closer and pointed to one of them: "That's her, a rather pretty young girl."

Li Hua was stunned when he saw it.

The person she was referring to was Lin Xiaoyu!

But Lin Xiaoyu clearly didn't come to school this morning!

"You...you're not seeing things, are you?"

"No, I have a good eye, it's definitely her."

He stiffly paid, picked up his instant noodles, and quickly left.

So... Lin Xiaoyu really came this morning?
Li Hua ate instant noodles while walking back to his dormitory.

"Hey, isn't this our English composition prince?" Zhang Hao from the next class hooked his arm around Li Hua's neck, grinning mischievously. "I helped you reply to your foreign pen pal again today, shouldn't you show your appreciation?" Li Hua rolled his eyes and was about to break free when another burst of laughter came from behind him.

"Li Hua!" Xia Ming from the next class caught up from behind, waving an English workbook in his hand. "I racked my brains over this 'Li Hua's Letter of Advice to the Zoo Director'! Don't you think you should buy me some milk tea?"

"Get lost!" Li Hua laughed and cursed as he snatched the exercise book. "Who told you to do my work?"

"Oh, are you shy? Come on, listen to me read it to everyone," Xia Ming nimbly dodged aside, opened his workbook, and began to read aloud:
Dear Director,

My name is Li Hua, a student from No. 7 High School. I am writing to share some suggestions regarding our city zoo.

Li Hua wanted to leave, but Zhang Hao stopped her: "What's the rush? Let Xia Ming finish reading!"

First, I suggest improving the living conditions for the animals.

Everyone burst into laughter: "Li Hua must not love animals, that's why he asked Xia Ming to write a letter to the zoo director for him!"

"How shameful! Even writing a letter requires someone else to ghostwrite it!"

"Secondly, it would be helpful to add more educational signs. Mr. Li, don't you agree?"

"Well said!"

Then, Xia Ming suddenly said, "Would you all like to see Li Hua's English essay written by himself?"

"Yes, I want to!"

"Li Hua, I've wanted to tell you this for a long time: you have to do things yourself. You can write English essays, so why do you always make us do them for you!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the corridor. Passing students turned to look, and several girls covered their mouths and chuckled.

"Make way! Make way!" Luo Fan squeezed through the crowd and grabbed Li Hua's shoulder. "Aren't you all bored? You make fun of people's names every day."

Just as Li Hua was about to thank him, Luo Fan continued, "But Li Hua, I am indeed very curious—"

He lowered his voice, his face full of gossip, "Is your dad really named Li Lei? Is your mom named Han Meimei?"

"Hahahaha!" The surrounding area immediately burst into laughter.

Li Hua immediately kicked Luo Fan: "You traitor!"

Luo Fan nimbly dodged, not forgetting to add insult to injury: "See, he doesn't even deny it! It seems to be true!"

"I told you guys, that's enough!" Li Hua shook his head helplessly and quickened his pace towards the dormitory. But how could these mischievous friends let him off so easily?
“Li Hua, to be honest,” Li Di from the next dorm room caught up, looking serious, “do your parents really love learning English? Otherwise, why would they give you such a name?”

“Exactly!” Zhang Hao chimed in, “My elementary school English textbook was full of your name! Things like ‘Li Hua wants to go to the park,’ ‘Li Hua likes puppies,’ ‘Li Hua writes a letter to a friend…”

"Shut up!" Li Hua grabbed a book and was about to throw it at him.

Back in the dorm, Li Hua had just thrown his backpack onto his bed when Xia Ming came over and said, "Hey, Li Hua, do you know how famous you are now?"

"What do you mean?" Li Hua looked at him warily.

Xia Ming mysteriously pulled out his phone: "Look, someone on the school forum has compiled statistics. This semester alone, more than two hundred English essays from the entire grade have used your name as the main character!"

"Congratulations! You actually discovered such a big secret. I think Columbus and Newton will have to come after you."

After a while of making a ruckus, the dormitory finally quieted down.

Li Hua remained oblivious to the fact that Luo Fan was secretly holding an English workbook and writing something on it.

That night, Li Hua lay in bed, listening to his roommates' snoring, and with the strange things that had happened during the day, he just couldn't fall asleep.

However, there's one thing... Li Hua's English level is indeed quite good. He remembers his father personally teaching him English when he was little, with all sorts of tapes, flashcards, and that well-worn copy of *New Concept English*. He didn't object when Liu Yan wanted him to be the Chinese class representative, but if it were the English class representative, he would absolutely take up the post immediately.

Of course, this will probably lead to even more memes being made about him, and the first person to make fun of him is his mischievous friend Cheng Mi.

Thinking of Cheng Mi...

He quickly took out his phone and called Cheng Mi.

"Hey, Cheng Mi, when you went to buy Coke this morning, were you with Lin Xiaoyu? You didn't tell me?"

"No, I haven't seen Lin Xiaoyu this morning."

"you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

"You didn't see her either?"

"No, she definitely didn't come this morning. Do you know why she dropped out of school?"

Li Hua suddenly felt that this matter was strange.

"That's strange..."

Inside the Academic Affairs Office.

Director Chen stood in the dim light, his face terribly gloomy.

In front of him were three empty chairs.

Then, he said in a clear and resonant voice, "Rules are sacred!"

His gaze was fixed on what was ahead, as if something there was silently watching him.

　Ninth update! The tenth update will be released before 10 PM!

　　Do you all want to vent your resentment about writing essays for Li Hua back then?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)