All the people who like me are other people’s girlfriends! ?

“Excuse me, do you have time to take on bullying right now?”

His tone was a little frivolous, but since the other party had adopted a similar attitude, he let go of his concerns.

What surprised Qingye was that the message came back quickly.

"I still have half an hour until bedtime."

It's really high and mighty...

And sleeping at this time, are you an elementary school student?

"Just so you know, my comments will be a bit harsh. If you can't handle it, it's better to give up early, okay?" Xue gave him a heads-up.

"As long as we can make progress, it's not a problem. Come on!"

Qingye was full of enthusiasm and sent the new plot to the other party, while he took this time to continue studying the submission requirements of the library.

Fifteen minutes later, Xue's comments pierced his screen like frost.

"Snow": "Having the Grim Reaper use an invisible scythe to sharpen a pencil to save the heroine—this level of expressiveness is as incongruous as adding curry powder to red bean soup."

"Snow": "Additional reminder: If the old-fashioned pocket watch produced during the Meiji period really ran two minutes and seventeen seconds per hour as stated in the article, then the "fifteen minutes alone" offered by the Grim Reaper to the heroine at the end of Chapter 3 should actually have lasted twenty-two minutes and nine seconds (attached with a Tokyo University mechanical engineering thesis)."

"Xue": "For a true god of death, time is undoubtedly linked to the soul. His time management is so chaotic. It would be better for him to just stop the heroine's heartbeat."

Qingye sucked in a breath of cold air, and couldn't help but look away, rubbing his arms with his hands - that was the embarrassment and awkwardness of being tortured.

It seems that this guy was showing mercy to a stranger when he made the comment last time, and this is when he is at full power!

To be honest, he felt a little uncomfortable when his carefully created work was denied so bluntly. However, compared with this insignificant negative emotion, he felt more joy in his heart - problems meant that he could make progress, which was definitely a good thing!

It’s better to accept criticism now than to be completely denied by the editor when you go to the battlefield, right?

This is a rare talent!

He looked at the message on the screen with shining eyes and forgot to reply for a moment, and his reaction seemed to be misunderstood by the other party.

"If you can't even accept this level of opinion, you can't be a novelist."

"No, no, please continue."

——I couldn't help but use the honorific.

"I understand the author's obsession and admiration for high school girls, as well as his obscene thoughts, but eyes that have truly witnessed hundreds of deaths shouldn't focus on the second button that broke off the heroine's uniform."

"No, no, no, everyone will care about this! This is an aspect of campus themes that must be appreciated!" Qingye finally found a point of rebuttal.

"Is that so? I think it's the author's own thoughts at work, you know? But... this description does have a good comedic effect. Considering the light novel's readership, I'll give it a pass."

"...Also, the dialogue about death and immortality at the end of Chapter 3 is quite brilliant. One line of dialogue expresses the emotions of the Grim Reaper better than ten pages of inner monologue."

This is a compliment... Qingye smiled slightly. After this series of conversations, he almost understood the general personality of this classmate Xue: outspoken, cold, smart, but with hidden concern.

Um……?

This character seems to be becoming more and more familiar?

...

ps: I wrote until midnight yesterday but only finished half of it. This is the first update and there will be more updates to come!

...

029. Strange Eight Views

You really can't blame him for thinking too much, their speaking styles are just too similar!

But Qingye didn't dare to think about it any further. After all, they were separated by the Internet and they were just netizens. What if the other party was actually... then he would want to die.

Next, he discussed the article with "Xue" for more than an hour. In the document returned by the other party, red lines were densely marked with paragraphs and foreshadowing, and there were also comments in larger fonts below - this ability and efficiency amazed him.

When the chat was about to end, Qingye subconsciously glanced at the lower right corner. It was already half past twelve.

"Didn't you say you would sleep for half an hour..."

He muttered quietly, but saying it out loud might cause the other party to be angry, so he decided to keep it in mind.

After Qingye sent a "thank you" and "good night", he closed the dialog box, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and began to ponder the document word by word.

*

The next day, Lemon came to see Banai again.

Under Qingye's gaze, the two defeated girls faced each other. Then, Banai's face became solemn. She stared at Lemon, her azure eyes full of majesty. As she spoke word by word, a heavy atmosphere suddenly enveloped the space.

"Sergeant Lemon, please report the battle situation on the front line."

"Yes! Yanai meets the Second Lieutenant!"

Shaoyan Lemon snapped his legs to his feet and struck a standard salute. "Our army wanted to take the initiative, but it suddenly started snowing on the battlefield, so we had to rest for now! Report completed!"

"When will we be able to break through the enemy's fortress?" Banaijian asked slowly.

"We will definitely win in a week!" Lemon patted his chest.

"Very good, now let's eat!"

Banaijian instantly returned to her usual smiling girl.

——You’ve changed from acting in a cute manga to acting in a war movie, right?

Qingye found it a little funny to see the two of them singing in unison, but he couldn't laugh anymore the next second, because he could understand their encrypted conversation without even thinking!

To put it simply, Banaijian was asking Lemon about the status of her relationship, and Lemon said that something unexpected had happened - probably a study-related problem, after all, it was almost summer vacation and there were all kinds of exams.

"Mitsuki has been busy with exams lately and has been staying in cram school even during the holidays. I feel embarrassed to disturb him."

Lemon sat in the corner by the window as usual and sighed deeply.

it is as expected……

As expected, Qingye served them barley tea, wrote down their favorite dishes, and gave instructions to the kitchen.

"Exam..."

Banai was lying on the table listlessly. She was a student with average grades and had been busy with part-time jobs and eating recently. Her academic performance had declined a lot, so she naturally felt her scalp tingling.

It was not until her favorite snacks were served that her eyes regained their vitality and brilliance, as if a doll had been injected with a soul.

"An exam."

Burnt Salt Lemon also sighed melancholy.

If Banaijian can still maintain a middle level, then Shaoyan Lemon is completely a lower level fish and shrimp. However, her focus is on sports and clubs, and she doesn't need to pay special attention to academic performance. Anyway, she is basically admitted to the university through special recruitment.

Lemon picked up the chopsticks and, at Qingye's reminder, pierced a hole in the scalding takoyaki before putting it in her mouth. Then, as if she had thought of something, she pulled out three movie tickets from behind her like a magic trick and said with a smile:

"By the way, Hanano, let's go see the new movie together in two days!"

As for why there were three tickets… The athletic beauty's eyes fell on Qingye who was standing beside her, and she shook the ticket in her hand, "Qing, come along!"

The childhood sweethearts alliance cannot be without Qingye!

Two days later?

The two of them were stunned.

Banaijian put down his chopsticks, stretched out his right hand, gently grasped a strand of his blue hair, slowly twisted it between his fingers, and replied vaguely:

"Sorry, Lemon, I may not have much time these two days..."

Hearing this, Qingye shut up. Banaijian had answered for him. He had submissions due in two days, and he really wasn't in the mood to watch a movie. But what was going on? Was he studying?

"Ah?"

Shaoyan Lemon blinked. She looked at the blue-haired girl, then at Qingye, and considerately did not ask any further questions.

She propped her chin with one hand and picked up the menu on the table with the other, fanning Banaijian gently with it and picked up a random topic:

"By the way, Yanono, haven't you been learning handicrafts recently? How's your progress? If you've mastered it, please teach me. I'm quite interested in it! After all, you see, there are often scenes like this in comics..."

“…Ahem, ahem, that’s from Home Economics class…!”

At this moment, Banaijian seemed to have caught a cold suddenly from being hit by a lemon. Her pretty face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye. She raised her head in panic, stealing glances at Qingye while coughing frantically, hinting at something.

Qingye didn't think too much about it, his thoughts slowly flew to the plot of the novel...

Seeing that he had no reaction, Banai finally felt relieved, but her pretty face was still red. She took the menu from Lemon's hand and kept cooling her cheeks.

After regaining her composure, the blue-haired girl smiled brightly and pulled Lemon to talk in a low voice, while her eyes would occasionally glance at the distracted boy.

really...

...

ps: Update!

...

030. Under the Night Sky

The closer it got to the submission deadline, the calmer Qingye felt - he had already done everything he needed to do, there was nothing to worry about, and the next step was to wait for the results. Even if he failed, it didn't matter, because he had nothing to lose anyway.

As long as your will is strong enough, everything you have now will be the cornerstone of future success.

Having reaffirmed his goal, Qingye's life rhythm returned to normal. He no longer lost his focus easily. Even when he was working, his eyes sparkled under the light, full of positivity...

Nine p.m.

The night sky is clear tonight, the dark clouds have disappeared, the stars and the moon are shining against each other, and the night sky is like a spreading Milky Way.

The sound of bicycle chains sang softly in the quiet residential area. Hanaijian's knees hit his waist every five seconds. The scent of mint antiperspirant spray mixed with shampoo on the ends of her hair came together, as if surrounded by the breath of a young girl.

There is a special atmosphere in the night after get off work, especially when a part-time job ends and there are few people around. The mixture of fatigue and relaxation makes people feel particularly excited, and they can't help but talk loudly about life and dreams.

However, this may be because of this guy. If she went home alone, her heart would probably be filled with fatigue, just like those overwhelmed working people.

It would be painful if I were alone, but it would become a happy time if I were two people together.

Seeing him thinking about these things aimlessly, Ba Nai said, "Will I get off work this late every day in the future?"

"As long as you study hard, you won't."

Qingye replied that it was actually okay to not be good at studying. With Ba Nai Jian's looks, as long as he wasn't blind enough to find a pauper or a pauper who loved to beat up Pa Qingge, he could easily find a good meal ticket and his second half of life would definitely be easy.

"I have a feeling you've misunderstood something..."

Banaijian was speechless. She didn't want to talk about such a realistic and heavy topic!

She poked Qingye's back with her finger, and her voice gradually became quiet: "Tomorrow is the time for you to submit your work, right?"

"Yes."

Qingye's attitude was very calm, but Banaijian took this "exam" very seriously. He had a serious face and his little fists were slightly clenched.

"Are you sure you can pass, Qingye-kun?"

The blue-haired girl asked nervously. She had secretly checked some information online these past few days. Dengeki Bunko receives more than 3,000 manuscripts every year, but only the dozens of them displayed in bookstores are successfully published. The thought of this cruel competition made her feel sick to her stomach.

"It's hard to say. If you fail, just try again."

Qingye smiled in relief, the plastic bag from the convenience store in the basket rustled, and the strawberry daifuku that Yanaijian had bought was sending warmth to him through the packaging box.

Banaijian held his cheek and looked at Qingye's back with a smile. This guy becomes more calm when the moment comes. I can finally put my mind at ease!

But at the same time, a strange emotion was born in her heart - it was an imperceptible anxiety. Adolescent boys and girls always compare themselves with the people around them, and when facing peers who have clear goals and take firm steps, they will involuntarily think of themselves, just like the front and back of a mirror.

Qingye-kun is constantly moving forward, but what about me?

"What am I going to do next?"

The girl's murmurs melted into the wind, and the night breeze blew the hem of her uniform skirt into blooming blue irises.

"Don't you want to be a star?"

——The atmosphere was killed instantly.

The slightly teasing voice made Banaijian roll his eyes and clutch the fabric around his waist. "I'm already a star. Everyone is a star for themselves and their loved ones!"

"That Yanaijian suddenly said something so philosophical!?"

Qingye was shocked, but the bicycle under his feet was still very stable.

"I seem to have a talent for literature! If I devote myself to writing, maybe I can win the next Akutagawa Prize!" Yanaijian had a floating fantasy.