Campus, lawn, under a tree.
After exhaling that long, turbid Qi, Zheng Qing clasped his hands together, returning to his original posture.
The morning sun, as if sensing something, leaped above the horizon and into the sky at that very moment.
Zheng Qing, precisely timing it, took a deep breath, and the first ray of colorful light covering his body transformed into a streak of sunlight, disappearing into his mouth.
“Drink the sun’s essence in the morning, dine on the night’s essence in the evening, and absorb the moon’s essence at the third watch,” Xiao Xiao chanted, swaying his head.
Zheng Qing came back to his senses, observing the students around him; some were relieved, others dejected, their expressions varied.
“What?” he asked curiously.
“It’s just that I didn’t absorb the sun’s essence,” Xiao Xiao, who seemed to have been sitting still on that large rock, said with a sigh, “We do our daily lessons, but not every day’s lesson yields results. We all do morning lessons together, but how many can truly step forward?”
Zheng Qing half-understood, but he was too lazy to fully grasp it.
Poseidon was currently jumping around, teasing him, and he was gritting his teeth, wondering how to crush this Little Elves.
In the distance, Xin Fatty stood outside the sports field, holding a large bag of breakfast, loudly calling out to them.
Zheng Qing rubbed his stomach, looking gratefully at the large paper bag.
…
The Spell Class classroom was in Main Teaching Building East 601.
Since it was the first class, a few of them arrived at the classroom early.
There weren't many students in the classroom; they were all gathered in small groups.
Some wore heavy vision aids, carefully rotating glass spheres in their hands, meticulously observing the distorted light within; others leaned against tables, lazily spinning their spell books, allowing the spell books to emit rays of light, weaving a splendid scene around them; still others, oblivious to their surroundings, sat in meditation, with two streams of white mist continuously exhaling from their nostrils.
Everyone seemed busy with their own affairs.
Zheng Qing paused briefly at the doorway.
This classroom looked like a giant study.
The ceiling had no ceiling, replaced instead by a deep starry sky.
Several white light spheres the size of goose eggs swayed in this small starry space, casting a faint, soft glow.
At the very front of the classroom was a dark green blackboard, where several crudely drawn little figures in colored chalk were excitedly doing somersaults. The chalk dust falling from behind them formed a cursive ‘Welcome’.
A group of Little Elves in gray work clothes sat neatly in a row along the top edge of the blackboard, smiling as they watched the messy classroom.
In front of the blackboard was a podium about half a foot high.
A dark red lectern was placed in one corner of the podium, with a box of chalk and several booklets neatly stacked on its surface.
On the back wall of the classroom, directly opposite the blackboard, a huge beige bookcase occupied the entire wall. The bookcase was filled with densely packed books of varying thicknesses. In the display case near the corner, there were also many globe models of different sizes.
To the left of the classroom was a row of neat experiment tables, their silver-white surfaces gleaming brightly, making one dizzy. A row of clean test tubes and other experimental equipment were neatly arranged against the wall.
To the right of the classroom were two large floor-to-ceiling windows, with silver-gray curtains neatly tied to the side. Through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see the shimmering Linzhong Lake in the distance.
The entire classroom had soft colors and did not appear cluttered.
“Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome.”
A listless voice sounded behind Zheng Qing, startling him.
Turning his head, he found that the speaker was a stick figure drawing.
This drawing must have been hanging behind the door for a long time; the white paper had already yellowed slightly, and the thumbtacks in the four corners of the drawing even had rust.
The drawing paper was empty, with only a small figure outlined in pencil.
The figure's oval head was not completely closed, and the end of the line extended a bit, serving as a single strand of hair on this head. Three to five strands of hair hung sparsely beside it, as if a small breeze could shave him bald.
The eyes were two circles of different sizes, the nose was a triangle, and the mouth was drawn most vividly, yet it was nothing more than a gracefully curved line.
Perhaps the artist's patience had run out after drawing the head.
The figure's body was drawn extremely simply.
An oval not much larger than the head served as the body, and four slender lines extending from the oval were the figure's four limbs.
The artist was even too lazy to add a few more strokes to the lines to give the figure a complete set of hands and feet.
In the bottom right corner of the entire drawing was a signature: ‘MAY’.
Perhaps? May?
Zheng Qing did not know.
But he knew that this figure did not look happy.
Seeing someone turn around, the figure waved its one-line arm and shouted:
“Excuse me! Who can add a hat for me! Winter is coming soon, and it’s quite cold with a bare head!”
Xiao Xiao pressed down on Zheng Qing’s hand as he reached for his pen.
“You decide whether to draw him a hat a month from now,” the short boy said solemnly, “Think twice before you act.”
Zheng Qing shrugged, putting the pen back into his pocket.
Behind the desks, Zheng Qing saw two familiar faces.
Li Meng sat in the very center of the first row, her face drooping. To her left was Liu Feifei, who had a large snake, and to her right was a girl with long black hair.
Liu Feifei was squinting, carefully reading a thick, heavy book.
The girl with long black hair was speaking sternly to Li Meng beside her.
The sound of the classroom door opening caught the Little girl's attention.
Upon seeing who it was, her eyes immediately lit up.
“Sister! That short guy is the freshman first-place student I told you about!” Li Meng exclaimed, tugging at the black-haired girl’s arm, “It’s that watermelon-headed short guy!”
The classroom immediately fell silent.
Everyone who had been busy looked up in unison, gazing at the doorway.
Zheng Qing suppressed a smile, carefully stepping half a pace aside to reveal the short boy behind him.
Xiao Xiao’s face darkened, but he said nothing.
The black-haired girl frowned and pinched Li Meng’s ear with two fingers.
“Manners!” she said sternly to the Little girl.
Li Meng pouted, her face flushed crimson, tears welling in her eyes, but she said nothing.
Zheng Qing pulled Xiao Xiao and quickly walked a few steps, arriving in front of the girl.
“Oh, the University student is crying?” he said with a smile, teasing Li Meng.
“You’re the one crying!” the Little girl yelled fiercely, sniffing, “It’s just windy outside!”
Zheng Qing turned to glance at the floor-to-ceiling windows on the right side of the classroom.
The windows were all tightly closed.
He quickly turned back.
“And this is?” Zheng Qing gestured towards the black-haired girl next to Li Meng.
“My Li Meng's Older Cousin! This year’s freshman third-place student!” The Little girl’s attention was indeed diverted. She looked up, exceptionally proud, at the boys.
Li Meng's Older Cousin showed an embarrassed smile and pinched the Little girl’s ear again.
“My name is Jiang Yu.” The girl blinked her bright eyes, brushed her hair back, revealing a small section of her fair neck: “Mengmeng told me you took good care of her on the special plane. You really went to a lot of trouble for us.”
Li Meng pouted and said nothing.