Cross-City Messages

Chen Miemie took a bite of the berry Old Li had handed him.

Red juice instantly filled his mouth. As he gently chewed and swallowed, his teeth were stained red by the time he opened his mouth after finishing.

"Uncle Li, this is delicious. How much are these berries?"

"Like the Youyou fruit, these are also imported. But they come in large quantities and can be stored for a long time, so the price is much lower. Half an hour for a pound."

Youyou fruit cost ten hours a pound, while these berries were only half an hour a pound. A twenty-fold price difference—no wonder they were given out as free samples.

Chen Miemie's thoughtful silence looked like the hesitation of a cash-strapped buyer in Old Li's eyes.

"Even with a large yield, they are imported after all, so the price is still measured in hours. How about you try these sweet potatoes? They are locally grown and right in season. Just six minutes for a pound."

Old Li was very honest. Sweet potatoes were the cheapest item in the whole shop, and they had good moisture and sweetness.

Chen Miemie took the advice readily and waved his hand grandly, "Alright, give me a pound of sweet potatoes."

Old Li was taken aback by his dramatic flair for buying sweet potatoes. "Sweet potatoes are sold by the piece, starting from one pound."

Chen Miemie casually picked up two and put them on the scale.

"A pound and a half. Nine minutes."

Chen Miemie raised his hand, revealing his watch.

Old Li set the payment amount and tapped his device against it.

A confirmation screen appeared on Chen Miemie's watch: Pay 9 minutes. Confirm?

After he tapped confirm, the screen transitioned: 9 minutes paid successfully. Personal balance: 47 years, 11 months, 3 days, 46 minutes.

"Forty-seven years and eleven months. This time balance isn't just my remaining wealth, is it? What happens if the time runs out?" Chen Miemie didn't voice this question aloud.

"Uncle Li, I have a question to ask you."

It was two-thirty in the afternoon, a slow period for business. Old Li was manning the shop alone, and since he was idle, he didn't mind chatting with Chen Miemie.

"What is it?"

"I recently injured my head and my memory is a bit fuzzy. I don't remember a lot of basic things. A classmate told me to go to class, but I don't know how to get there."

"Class? You're from the school?" Old Li's enthusiasm noticeably increased by a few degrees.

"I think... yes."

"Haha, then I know exactly what to do. My daughter also studies at the school. Do you see that black and white building up ahead?"

Chen Miemie looked in the direction Old Li was pointing.

About three hundred meters away stood an eye-catching, two-toned black and white building.

The building was a bit ugly. From a distance, its exterior was completely sealed, looking like a giant caterpillar lying on the ground.

"Yeah, I see it."

"That's the station. Go there and take any bus with an odd-numbered route ending. Get off at the School station and you'll be there. It's a massive stop, so don't worry about missing it."

"Wait, I haven't even told you the name of my school yet." Chen Miemie didn't even know his own school's name.

Hearing that Chen Miemie had just lost his memory, Old Li was very patient.

"Every city has one and only one school. Here in Sixiang City, we only have Sixiang Academy."

Meeting such a helpful person like Old Li, Chen Miemie hurried to milk him for more information.

"Another question. When I try to reply to someone's message, it keeps prompting 'Please enable permissions before confirming message delivery.' Do you know why that is?"

This seemed to be a rare issue. Old Li thought for a moment before hesitantly asking in return:

"Did you just receive a cross-city message?"

"Cross-city message?"

"Yes, receiving messages is free, but sending them costs money.

Other than special professions, 99.9 percent of ordinary people only send messages to those within the same city. The cost is one minute per message, and anything over fifty words counts as two messages.

There are a hundred cities in the world. Sending cross-city messages immediately skyrockets the cost. The starting price is one year per message, and for the furthest distances, it can even reach a maximum of ten years per message.

Usually, we default to agreeing to pay sending fees. But to prevent people from casually replying after receiving a cross-city message and subsequently going time-bankrupt, the system automatically disables the payment agreement after a cross-city message is received.

You can re-enable it in your payment interface."

Chen Miemie quickly sorted out the situation in his mind: Cross-city? Liu Bo is currently attending class at the school, so the cross-city message must have come from Chen Miaomiao earlier.

With Old Li's help, he re-enabled the relevant permissions and even sent Old Li a test spam message on the spot.

After bothering him for quite a while, Chen Miemie said goodbye to Old Li.

Carrying his two sweet potatoes, he walked toward the caterpillar station.

Entering the station, riding the matchbox-like bus, and arriving at the School station—the entire process went smoothly.

Right after getting off at the stop, he found himself at the school gate.

The four large characters for "Sixiang Academy" should have looked grand, but because they were hung so high up, they appeared a bit small.

The so-called "main gate" was far from the school gates in Chen Miemie's memory.

To him, judging solely by its exterior, calling this place a "school" was less accurate than calling it a "warehouse."

Like all the other buildings, this massive warehouse known as Sixiang Academy was wrapped up tight, showing no intention of welcoming guests.

The word "Entrance" was huge, but the actual entrance door was tiny.

Thank goodness it was broad daylight, and the academy's small entrance door was at least open.

"Halt! Please show your ID!"

A brawny, muscular man standing two meters tall blocked Chen Miemie's path.

Around him was a whole squad of tough guys in bizarre outfits, their peripheral vision locked onto Chen Miemie as if they were ready to roll up their sleeves and brawl at the slightest disagreement.

Chen Miemie thought for a second and raised his watch.

"Beep. Identity verification passed. Graduating class student Chen Miemie, welcome back to Sixiang Academy."

With his identity verified, the guards let him through.

Walking into the academy meant walking into the giant "warehouse."

The information Chen Miemie had just received: he was a student in the graduating class.

He didn't even need to look for his class. A young man with an average appearance, average height, and average vibe—who looked like he deeply understood the doctrine of the mean—ran toward him and immediately punched him in the chest.

The punch was light and wouldn't hurt.

It was probably just a way friends expressed camaraderie.

"You've got some nerve, Chen Miemie, actually showing your face at school! Where have you been, and why didn't you reply to my messages?"

"Liu Bo?"

"What, playing the amnesia card? You don't even recognize your own daddy anymore?" Liu Bo gave Chen Miemie a sidelong glance, pretending to be angry.

"I actually do have a bit of amnesia. I hit my head at home yesterday."

Rather than showing concern, Liu Bo was overjoyed. "Got your head caught in a door, huh? Well, you haven't forgotten the ten years you owe me, have you? Pay up."

Chen Miemie was certain now; the person in front of him was indeed his good friend.

Thick-skinned, with a penchant for kicking a man while he's down and taking advantage of a crisis.

He sneered, "Heh, I borrowed it with my own skills, why should I pay it back?"

Liu Bo gasped in shock. "Overnight, you've become a completely different person! Your level of shamelessness is already on par with mine!"

"Cut the crap. What's the situation? Spill it."

"Hmph, my debt might be easy to dodge, but let's see how you handle the homeroom teacher. You skipped class this morning without a word, and now you show up alive and kicking, not missing any arms or legs. Go turn yourself in to the homeroom teacher."

Chen Miemie felt utterly undisturbed in his heart.

I have already transmigrated, why would I be afraid of a homeroom teacher? What a joke.

"Lead the way."

Liu Bo was puzzled. "Lead the way to where?"

"To the homeroom teacher's office."

"Do you... really have amnesia? Bro, stop acting, your acting skills suck."

"Well, well, well. I was wondering why this voice sounded so familiar. Isn't this Chen Miemie, who has been missing for most of the day? What, did you suddenly get amnesia just to avoid the final combat class?" A new male voice chimed in.

Chen Miemie turned his head and saw that the person mocking him was a fair-skinned young man.

Liu Bo frowned, his face turning cold.

He could joke and curse around with Chen Miemie because they were tight and had no taboos between them. But the class monitor in front of them, Yue Junyang, was genuinely being cynical and mocking.

"Yue Junyang, who asked you to stick your nose in? Go cool off somewhere else!"

Yue Junyang was the monitor of the graduating class, a year older than Chen Miemie and Liu Bo, and he gave off a strong vibe of being worldly and street-smart.

He had his hair slicked back, seemed to be wearing light makeup with fair and translucent skin, and was dressed in a sharp suit and leather shoes, not even missing a tie.

The most eye-catching thing about this class monitor was the belt wrapped around his waist.

It was a sharpened, flexible sword gleaming with a cold light.

"Chen Miemie hasn't even said anything, yet you're getting all worked up, Liu Bo. There's no need for that. After all, as the class monitor, it's only right for me to care about my classmates.

I, Yue Junyang, can accept that a classmate might be lacking in talent, and I will naturally lend a helping hand. But I cannot tolerate someone being lazy, shirking their duties, and then making up wild lies."

At this moment, Chen Miemie's mind was racing.

He used to be a hardcore reader who had devoured thousands of school-life novels, so he knew hundreds of common school-genre tropes inside and out.

Why would a class monitor from the same class show hostility toward him?

Was it a past grudge, a rivalry over exam rankings, jealousy over a school beauty, or some other reason?

Anything was possible. After all, I, Chen Miemie, am so excellent and handsome.

Wait, no, I am getting sidetracked. I have got it!

Chen Miemie gently patted Liu Bo's shoulder, took two steps forward, and stood face-to-face with Yue Junyang.

It was truly face-to-face; the distance between their faces was only a fist's width, less than ten centimeters.

"What are you doing!" Yue Junyang quickly took a step back, looking tough but inwardly flustered. "Chen Miemie, let me tell you, I don't swing that way."

Chen Miemie remained expressionless. "I already know. The person who went to my house last night was sent by you, right?"

Yue Junyang steadied himself, the corners of his mouth curling up.

"I didn't expect you to find out. Not bad. Are you thankful for my arrangements?"

Chen Miemie hadn't expected that a random bluff would actually catch a big fish.

"Thankful? I will be sure to thank you properly later. But since I am standing right here, it means the assassin you sent was pretty useless."

A flash of confusion crossed Yue Junyang's face before he seemed to figure something out.

"An assassin? Perhaps. In their line of work, the highly experienced veterans come from all sorts of backgrounds."

"An assassin!" Liu Bo, who was half a beat slow to react, suddenly exclaimed. "You, you, you! How dare you, Yue Junyang! What kind of grudge do you have that you actually sent an assassin to kill Chen Miemie!"

Yue Junyang's expression turned serious.

"Liu Bo, don't bark blindly if you don't know the facts! I am the dignified class monitor, what assassination? I sent a high-level private bodyguard to protect Chen Miemie!"