Living in the bubble economy of Tokyo, I became a literary giant through lotteries.

May 1st, morning.

Guan Guyu looked at the route map in her hand and strolled through the campus, looking for the large classroom for bookkeeping (introduction to accounting).

"The red brick main building... Oh, that's it." Guan Guyu carried a tote bag and walked into the teaching building.

"Turn right, go in through the side entrance of Hall 2, the lecture hall on the third floor..." she murmured.

Standing at the entrance of the lecture hall, she carried her tote bag in her left hand and pushed the door open with her right. The door was heavier than she had imagined.

She found a seat in the middle of the classroom, took out the lecture notes she had received from her bag, and began to look through them.

Although these large classes have a large number of students, the attendance rate is not high because teachers rarely take attendance. In addition, most students in private universities are either rich or powerful, so teachers don't want to take responsibility for them.

Although the classes seem relaxed, the final exams are very difficult and the failure rate is high.

The end of each semester is a time for everyone to show off their skills.

Students entered the classroom one after another. A few boys sat in the last row, threw their bags on the ground, and began to discuss the new karaoke bar that opened in Ginza last night.

Two girls sat down a few rows in front of her. As soon as they put their bags down, they started flipping through a weekly magazine together, speaking in hushed tones, saying that a Johnny's idol had been photographed having dinner with an actress the previous night.

Guan Guyu, who was studying the lecture notes carefully, seemed like an oddball, but no one cared about that.

She was actually a little nervous, afraid of the young people around her. They were very close to her, but she didn't know how to respond to their conversations about karaoke, celebrity gossip, and weekend social gatherings.

The last time she sat down and chatted with people her own age was in high school, when she would go to the crepe shop on the shopping street with her classmates after school.

She hasn't chatted with people her own age in a long time.

Hayakawa Mei sang with her friends until the early hours of the morning last night. When she was woken up by her alarm clock this morning, she had only slept for four hours. She spent a long time putting on makeup in front of the mirror before she could barely cover up her dark circles.

When I arrived at my usual seat, I found a new face sitting next to me, intently looking at the lecture notes on the table.

Hayakawa Mei stopped and first looked at the person's clothes. There were no brand logos, but judging from the fabric and fit, they were not cheap.

The Rolex Datejust 16233 she was wearing was a commemorative edition. She wanted to buy it for her birthday, but the store told her that she would have to wait in line and needed a member's recommendation.

But what this person is doing is completely contradictory to her consumerist tendencies.

Diligent study is usually seen in students who got in through special channels and come from ordinary families.

Whose young lady is here to experience life?

Hayakawa Mei didn't think much of it, sat down, and rested her chin on her hand, waiting for class to begin.

A moment later, a professor with thinning hair walked into the classroom and coughed twice.

The chatter in the classroom gradually subsided.

"Alright, let's begin the lesson." The professor turned around and began writing on the blackboard, "Today we'll be discussing the balance of payments statement in international finance."

"In the balance sheet, the most important item is the current account, which is divided into primary and secondary income..."

As the professor began his lecture, a strange force seemed to cause many of the people in the classroom who had stayed up all night to fall asleep.

Hayakawa Mei, too, after struggling with her own mind for a long time, also lay down on the table and fell asleep.

……

"Hey classmate, classmate? Wake up."

In her sleep, Hayakawa Mei felt someone gently nudging her. She groggily looked up and saw that it was the rich girl next to her shaking her.

Before she could even ask a question, she heard the professor's calm voice coming from the podium.

"Next is a pop quiz. Write down the theory of international balance of payments that David Hume proposed, which I just talked about, and hand it in. Then class can end. This will be counted towards your final grade."

Hayakawa Mei instantly snapped out of her daze, staring wide-eyed at the notebook in front of her.

The first line is the balance of payments statement.

The second line is gone; there's only one line left.

She immediately panicked. She had failed several quizzes already, and if she failed again this time, she was afraid she would have a hard time passing the final exam.

She instinctively turned her head to look around for help, only to find that everyone was asleep.

Then she looked to her right, where the young lady was writing.

Hayakawa Mei hesitated for about half a second between dignity and her final grades.

"Excuse me, classmate." She lowered her voice, leaned to the right, and clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

"Can I copy this? I'll buy you coffee after class! There's a coffee shop on campus that has amazing strawberry cake..."

She wanted to say a few more words, but when she saw the other person look up at her, there was no impatience in their eyes, they were just listening quietly.

Hayakawa Mei swallowed the rest of her sentence. For some reason, she felt that this gaze was not the way peers looked at each other.

It's about a more mature person looking at a slightly younger person, slightly taller, but not looking down on them.

Without hesitation, the other person handed her the test paper that was already written on.

"Thank you so much!"

When the bell rang, Guan Guyu packed her handouts and notebook into her tote bag and prepared to leave the classroom.

Hayakawa Mei stood up from her seat and followed behind her, walking quickly with a small red bag slung over her shoulder.

"Excuse me, my name is Hayakawa Mei, a freshman in the Faculty of Commerce this year. Thank you so much for your help earlier!" Hayakawa Mei introduced herself enthusiastically.

Guan Guyu stopped at the corner of the corridor and turned around to look at the outgoing classmate who had followed her all the way from the classroom.

"Hello, my name is Guan Guyu, and I am also a freshman in the School of Business this year."

Hayakawa Mei didn't give her a chance to continue. She grabbed Guan Guyu's arm and pulled her into a coffee shop on the ground floor of an old building.

The environment was nice, and there were quite a few students sitting inside, some chatting, and others sitting together discussing Nikkei.

Hayakawa Mei was clearly familiar with the place. She went straight to a seat by the window, put her bag on the chair, and then went to the counter to order.

She quickly brought back two cups of hot coffee and two slices of strawberry cake.

"Xiaoyu, can I call you Xiaoyu? You can just call me Mei." Hayakawa Mei pushed the strawberry cake towards Guan Guyu.

Guan Guyu took it and smiled slightly.

"Can."

On the way, Guan Guyu was still thinking that she had been away from school for too long and might not have anything in common to talk about, which would make the atmosphere awkward.

But Hayakawa Mei kept talking the whole way, constantly recounting the many great places she had discovered in the area.

"Xiaoyu, let me tell you, there's a super delicious ramen place near Omori Dormitory." Hayakawa Mei took a bite of cake. "Let's go eat there together after school this afternoon."

The dormitories in Omori Dormitory are mostly rented by students. Although they are a bit basic, they are surrounded by university students, so it's easy to fit in. There are also frequent social events between different schools.

Guan Guyu, used to this enthusiasm along the way, took a sip of coffee and said, "Sorry, Mei, I don't live there, so it's not convenient for me to eat here."

Hayakawa Mei was taken aback. "So, where do you live?"

I live near the school.

"It's not somewhere in Roppongi 2-chome, is it?" Hayakawa Mei guessed casually.

Guan Guyu did not answer immediately.

Hayakawa Mei shook her head at Guan Guyu's "How did you know?" expression and pointed with her fork at the watch on Guan Guyu's wrist.

"A young lady like you must live over there," Hayakawa Mei said. "The commemorative watch on your wrist alone is almost as expensive as all of my clothes."