High Steps Across the Clouds (1)
This notification is really too noisy. After school starts, the changes in the protagonist's and the romance characters' affections will definitely be more frequent, causing the terminals to vibrate and potentially attracting some people's attention.
Shu Ningmiao first went to the game settings and turned off all notifications.
As expected, a third character appeared on the character guide page: her "younger brother," Su Ni.
His current affection level for the female lead is +2.
Finally, I have a positive favorability score... although it's a stingy single digit.
But what level of emotion does this number correspond to? If the maximum score is ten, this progress is considered incredibly fast.
Shu Ningmiao re-examined the page; there should be some explanation.
Sure enough, there was a small question mark button in the upper right corner. Pressing it brought up an explanation pop-up window.
『Affection Level Explanation』
-50-100: Enemies hated to the bone
-1-50: Some annoying strangers
0: Stranger
1-20: Nodding acquaintances
21-50: Can be considered friends
51-80: Trustworthy Best Friends
81-90: Breaking Through the Sentiments of Friendship
91-100: Love that transcends life
It's out of 100!
Shu Ningmiao was speechless and choked with emotion. What role did these two points play? It was only to the extent that they had met once more than strangers.
Although she didn't see how they met, Shu Ningmiao could guess the scene even with her eyes closed.
The change in favorability occurred shortly after she warned Su Ni.
The protagonist meets Su Ni at this point, and based on her understanding of Su Ni, she will definitely use this incident to play the victim. In that case, she may have unwittingly acted as a catalyst between the two, and may have already left a bad impression on the protagonist.
Even though Shu Ningmiao lost control of her strength due to her emotional state at the time, she was still able to maintain her composure.
She did it on purpose.
Because of a genetic disease, Su Ni's skin is extremely prone to scarring. Even if Shu Ningmiao doesn't do anything, he will still go back with a body full of scars that he doesn't know where he got them from.
He didn't say anything, but his family couldn't ignore his injuries. They didn't know if he had been behind it all, but if he did something wrong, she would be the first person suspected of attacking him.
Without evidence, her father dared not openly express his hope that she would not bully her younger brother. So he cast a worried and disappointed look at her, afraid of hurting her and making her angry.
Shu Ningmiao loathed this kind of veiled, ambiguous gaze, so she simply gave in to him. Su Ni wanted to anger her, and she knew that; the more definite course of action would have been to ignore him.
But why should she put up with it? He asked for it; he could cry or play the victim if he wanted, but she didn't care at all.
Su Ni is that kind of person, like a leech that clings to others, sucking their sympathy and love.
The boy in the relief frame raised his hand to cup his face, his eyes slightly red as he stared at the center of the screen. Although his face was cute, his strange gaze gave him a somewhat eerie look. Shu Ningmiao's gaze lingered for a moment before she closed the terminal.
Fortunately, it didn't take too long. There was still plenty of time before the afternoon physical training, so she could have lunch before going. Leaving the escalator, the common lounge on the first floor was already empty; everyone had probably gone to the cafeteria.
String Light Academy has its own cafeteria with a professional chef, but she hasn't been there yet. She walked through the common lounge and heard a soft cough coming from the direction of the sofa next to her. Shi Yu was sitting on the sofa with his coat on the side and a thin vest underneath.
Seeing her approach, Shi Yu raised her hand to greet her.
"Mr. Weston didn't invite you to dinner, did he?"
"Ha." Shu Ningmiao curled her lips: "People like him probably don't have the concept of politeness."
“I think so too.” Shi Yu picked up her coat from her assistant’s hand and stood up. “It seems like it would be better to eat in the cafeteria on the first day of school.”
In the past, at the main school in Cornunos, he had a dedicated nutritionist to prepare his meals. Shu Ningmiao was not as picky and troublesome as him. At most, she just didn't like leafy green vegetables, which was not to the point that she needed to ask the chef to prepare meals separately.
Shi Yu walked side by side with her, deliberately switching his coat to the other hand to free his arm for her to take his arm around.
Shu Ningmiao remembered the few points of goodwill he had lost because the protagonist had accidentally dripped tears onto his sleeve, and immediately moved a little further away in disgust.
Shi Yu: ?
He maintained his smile, turned to look at her, his eyes indifferent, revealing no emotion: "You're acting really strange today. Is there something you can't tell me?"
Shi Yu's senses were truly sharp. Under his probing gaze, Shu Ningmiao crossed her arms and took a few quick steps forward to avoid his sight.
"Have you seen Su Ni?" she asked casually, starting a conversation.
“I saw him.” Shi Yu followed slowly behind her, not intending to ask any questions. “He seems to have made a new friend.”
This friend must be the protagonist, Miss Erici. Shu Ningmiao instantly figured it out and lost interest in the topic: "He'd better not cause any trouble."
“Nothing could be more troublesome than you. Did you pinch him to inflict those marks on his neck?” Shi Yu smiled and squinted. “I heard he applied for off-campus accommodation because of his illness. You should receive a call from your uncle tonight.”
As the only son of the Shi family, Shi Yu never lacked information.
"It doesn't matter."
Shu Ningmiao looked calmly ahead, then suddenly burst out laughing, resting her chin on her hand: "After I came of age, the Pandora mining rights that were previously entrusted to the Shu family have been officially transferred to my name."
Only the benefits you hold in your hands are truly real.
"Congratulations." Shi Yu's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Was I any help?"
"I'll treat you in a bit." Shu Ningmiao twirled the terminal in her hand, raising an eyebrow at him: "As a thank you."
What made the Shu family successful was the mining rights to one of the Pandora springs. By selling Pandora energy, the Shu family was able to become one of the most powerful families in Penelope City.
The mining rights to this Pandora site were jointly held by her mother and father. When her mother passed away, she bequeathed 50% of the mining rights to her in a will, but she had to entrust them to an agent, namely her father, before she came of age.
Before her mother left, she probably didn't think there would be anything wrong with her father acting as her proxy. After all, she was their only child, and everything her father owned would be left to her in the future.
But a week after her mother left, she met her "younger brother".
—Her "brother" who is only three months younger than her.
To outsiders, Su Ni was merely a burden brought along by the new Madam Shu, a stepson without inheritance rights. However, Su Ni did indeed share half the same blood as her and had the same colored eyes; this blood relationship was undeniable.
The father could make a will grant Su Ni the same inheritance rights as her, but according to the laws of Pines, if anything were to happen to the father, she would be entitled to at least 25% of the mining rights based on blood relations. Combined with the 50% left by her mother, she would hold 75% of the rights.
As the undisputed winner, Shu Ningmiao had nothing to worry about. From childhood to adulthood, she had never taken Su Ni seriously. The one who should be anxious was someone else.
The canteen of String Light Academy is located in a small building by the lake. As the flow of people gradually increases, the dining area of the canteen consists of exquisite Baroque-style round tables, where you can help yourself or order food.
Shu Ningmiao and Shi Yu found a table for two and sat down. Dealing with Weston in the morning had exhausted them, and they didn't have time to think about what to eat, so they just ordered two dishes at random.
Surprisingly, the taste was quite good. Shu Ningmiao elegantly used her fork to cut the neatly shaped round pieces of meat on the porcelain plate. They were topped with red sauce and shredded matsutake mushrooms. The original ingredients were not visible. They tasted very tender and had a texture somewhat similar to squid.
"What is youkz? Is it a foreign ingredient?" Shu Ningmiao glanced at the menu she had just casually ordered. It said "stewed and fried youkz," which was not a Pinhian word and was difficult to translate. "I've never seen it before."
"It's imported from Pingyi; it should be considered a type of sea fish," Shi Yu said with a smile as he watched her eat it.
"...Are you kidding me? Pingyi has already been contaminated by experiments."
"Perhaps it's because a new variety has mutated, which has changed the taste," Shi Yu said slowly.
"Alright, stop talking."
This guy did it on purpose.
Shu Ningmiao felt increasingly uneasy. She gave a cold laugh, and with an elegant demeanor, she forked all the pieces of meat from the plate into Shi Yu's bowl, then revealed a sweet smile: "I've cut it for you, eat up, darling."
In a corner of the cafeteria, Eric picked up his plate and glanced at the couple eating in the middle.
The girl had her back to her, her black hair reaching her waist, with the ends styled in a fluffy, voluminous curl like something only a stylist could achieve. Even from a great distance, she could hear Shu Ningmiao's faintly sweet voice. The platinum-haired boy smiled as he watched the girl in front of him pickily push all the food on her plate to him, his expression gentle and indulgent.
As she paused slightly, a girl casually sat down next to her: "There are no seats left, do you mind sharing a table?"
Erice was surprised that someone would ask her to share a table, and she hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's okay, you can sit down, I'm leaving."
"Ah." The girl stared at her: "You don't need to take that plate away, a waiter will come and collect it."
"Okay!" Erice was even more embarrassed. He hurriedly put down the plate, and for some reason sat down again, his face flushed.
The girl sat cross-legged on the stool, oblivious to Erice's ashamed head bowed. As she scooped rice into her mouth, she mumbled, "You're looking at Miss Shu."
Eric seemed to be electrocuted and shouted, "I didn't!"
The people at the next table looked at her with surprise. The girl made a stop gesture: "If there's no such thing, then there's no such thing. My name is Linlu, and I'm in the same row as you in the classroom."
It turned out to be a classmate. Erice replied softly, "My name is Erice."
"oh."
Linlu finished her food in a few bites before speaking again: "I saw you and Su Ni together after class."
“Yes…” Eric’s voice trailed off as he looked at her uneasily.
Linlu scratched her head, thought for a long time, and seemed unsure how to say it. Finally, she reluctantly said, "Let me give you some advice... no, it's not really advice. You'd better stay away from Su Ni. Haven't you noticed that very few people around him go near him?"
“I know.” Erice lowered his head, his pinkish-brown hair sticking up beside his ears like some restless animal. “But he’s really pitiful…”
She wanted to tell Linlu that she had seen Su Ni's injuries, but she was afraid that if it got out, it would hurt him. After hesitating for a long time, she ultimately said nothing more.
Linlu clenched her fist and pressed it against her face, subtly pointing her thumb in Shu Ningmiao's direction: "Don't you know who Su Ni really is?"
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