Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 30 The storm is coming

The following day, June 5th, Friday.

Starting today, Tokyo has officially entered its rainy season, which is expected to last for half a month.

When Qiuyue Cheng got up, he found that it was drizzling outside the window and the sky was gloomy, as if something bad was about to happen.

"what……"

He yawned lazily, then got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.

After having breakfast, changing into his school uniform, and getting ready to go out, Akizuki Makoto, holding a black umbrella, stepped into the rain.

Perhaps it was because of the rain, but he wasn't in a good mood this morning. He felt restless and uneasy, with a vague premonition that something bad was about to happen.

He had experienced this feeling not long ago—when Shiina Maki was bullied and missed school.

"This must be my imagination. It's just that the weather is gloomy, which makes me feel bad too..."

Akizuki Makoto comforted himself in this way, otherwise he couldn't believe that something was really going to happen, wouldn't that just make himself miserable?
Thus, he suppressed his inner anxiety and ignored it, and made his way to Ming Sheng High School.

Upon entering the teaching building, he changed his shoes at the shoe locker and was about to go upstairs when he noticed a large crowd gathered on the bulletin board on the first floor.

Faintly, bursts of excited cheers and sorrowful wails could be heard rising and falling.

Akizuki Makoto then remembered that today was the day the results of the monthly exams from a few days ago were announced. No wonder there were so many people gathered at the bulletin board and it was so noisy.

He wasn't interested in looking at his own results, because he had always been a consistent runner-up, with Ji Yexue always holding the top spot.

But after glancing at the thronging crowd a few more times, he realized something was wrong.

In the crowd, there was a small area where no one dared to approach her.

The person had her back to Qiuyue Cheng, only revealing her figure with cascading black hair. But judging from her tall figure and black top, it was undoubtedly Ji Yexue!

"Hey, Vice President, good morning!"

Just then, someone noticed him and greeted him with a smile.

This greeting, like a stone thrown into still water, caused a great stir. Many people standing in front of the bulletin board turned around and began to chatter amongst themselves.
"Vice President, congratulations! You're finally not second anymore! You're first in this monthly exam!"

"That's incredible! To actually defeat the president is truly worthy of being the vice president, a role model for us all!"

"Vice President, we all respect and admire you!"

As Qiuyue Cheng listened to the cacophony of compliments from his classmates, cold sweat broke out all over his body, and his mind went completely blank for a moment.

No, buddy?
Are you guys kidding me?

How did I become the top student in the monthly exam?
So, the ominous feeling he had when he came to school wasn't just overthinking; he really was facing a terrible disaster!

Akizuki Makoto wasn't initially that panicked, until he saw Ji Yexue standing in the center of the crowd, turning her head to look at him, and her already expressionless, ice-cold face filled with extreme coldness. At that moment, two words immediately popped into his mind—"Wan La!"
Ji Yexue glanced at him briefly before turning and leaving.

She said nothing, yet she said everything.

"No, did I really do that well on the test? I should have skipped that one question..."

Akizuki Makoto muttered to himself as he walked to the bulletin board and looked at the name at the top.

"Akizuki Makoto from Class 3-A: 890 points"

"Ji Yexue from Class 3-C: 885 points"

The maximum score for a Japanese high school monthly exam is 900 points. This is the first time that Makoto Akizuki has scored 890 points, which would make him the top student in Japan.

Previously, he had been hovering around 870 points, while Ji Yexue had a very stable score of 890. But unexpectedly, he suddenly burst out and took first place, while Ji Yexue suffered a crushing defeat.

"This is really bad. I'd better lay low during my lunch break..."

Akizuki sighed inwardly in frustration, but on the surface he still had to maintain a gentle facade and deal with the classmates who congratulated him.

On the way from the bulletin board on the first floor to the classroom, all the classmates who knew him, regardless of gender, congratulated him on getting first place and pinning Ji Yexue down.

He could only force a smile, inwardly groaning at his misery.

……

During lunch break, Akizuki Makoto didn't go to the student council room, fearing he wouldn't be able to come back if he did, so he ate in the classroom instead.

It was still raining outside, and he had nowhere else to go. If it weren't raining, he could go to places like the courtyard.

Unfortunately, he could avoid lunch break, but he couldn't avoid after-school club activities.

Having already taken two days off, he felt embarrassed to ask for more leave to escape reality.

What must be faced will eventually have to be faced; the more he tries to escape, the heavier the sword of Damocles will fall.

Furthermore, Ji Yexue couldn't easily lay a hand on him in front of the other members, and he was actually safe during club activities.

However, to his surprise, when he decided to face it calmly, Ji Yexue asked for leave early and did not come to the student council room.

"Hey, Vice President, didn't you know? The President didn't come to the Student Council office yesterday either."

When Akizuki Makoto entered the student council room, he didn't see Hime Yuki. He asked the other members, only to learn that Hime Yuki had also left early for two consecutive days. Since Hime Yuki was the student council president, she didn't need to apply to anyone to leave early, and it wouldn't be recorded in her attendance record.

Therefore, Akizuki Makoto was unaware that she had taken leave.

"Oh right, congratulations, Vice President! You actually got first place this time, defeating the all-powerful President."

"Ha, ha... just lucky."

What else could Akizuki Makoto say? He could only force a smile and respond before sitting down to deal with the mountain of student letters that had piled up over the past two days due to students taking leave.

The bell rang throughout the campus at six o'clock in the evening, signaling the end of the club activities.

Although tomorrow is a two-day weekend, which means he can stay at home for two days and not see any abnormal women, Akizuki Makoto's heart does not feel relaxed. On the contrary, he is still vaguely uneasy.

He stood at the entrance of the teaching building, looking at the perpetually gloomy sky, feeling that today's rain was very fitting, a sign that a storm was brewing.

……

……

at the same time.

Inside a mansion in Chiyoda Minato Ward that resembles a shogun's residence from an ancient historical drama.

Ji Yexue stepped out of the expensive black car, walked through the spacious courtyard, entered the main entrance hall, and then passed through screens embroidered with mythical birds and flowers before finally arriving at the main room.

The main room features a classic Japanese design, a square-shaped room with four screens embroidered with lifelike white Bifang mythical birds with outstretched wings and pink peonies.

There are two rows of seats on the left and right sides inside. Behind the head seat, there is a mural that almost covers the entire wall, depicting the Himeya family crest—the three-leaf hollyhock.

"Kneel down."

When Ji Yexue pushed aside the screen and entered the Japanese-style room with her head down, she saw an elderly man sitting at the head of the table, dressed in a black kimono, with gray hair but full of energy, who reprimanded her in a deep voice.

In the first row below the old man, there was another middle-aged couple sitting.

The identities of these three people are self-evident. The one at the head is Ji Ye Longjun, the previous head of the Ji Ye family.

The middle-aged couple to the left are the current head of the family and Ji Yexue's parents.

At this moment, they were also looking at Ji Yexue with stern eyes, their expressions not very good.

"...Yes, Grandpa."

Ji Yexue lowered her head, walked to the center of the room, and knelt down, her expression remaining completely obscured.

The reason she left early today was because her grandfather called her back. As for the reason...

Ji Yelong narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice, "I heard you lost to someone else in this exam?"

"……Um."

Ji Yexue nodded slightly in response, thinking to herself that, as expected, they had come to interrogate her.

"Do you think we're making a mountain out of a molehill? It's just a monthly exam; losing is losing, right?"

Himeya Junlong continued to ask questions, but this time Himeya Yuki neither nodded nor shook her head, remaining silent.

Upon seeing this, the old man's voice suddenly rose several octaves, and he shouted, "You're still too naive!"

"As the next head of the Ji Ye family, you must strive for perfection in everything you do. Don't underestimate this setback; as the saying goes, a thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant hole."

"You can lose to others even in a small monthly exam, so what if it's a matter of life and death for the family? Can you still take it for granted and think that if you lose, you lose and you can win next time?"

Faced with her grandfather's aggressive questioning, Ji Yexue remained silent for a while before responding in a low voice: "...It's my shortcoming, and I'm willing to accept all lessons."

"is it?"

Ji Yelong snorted coldly and turned his head to look at the middle-aged couple kneeling below.

"Did you hear that? Teach her a lesson. She can't even make such a basic mistake. I think you've been disciplining her poorly lately."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged couple at the lower seat immediately lowered their heads, saying with trepidation, "Yes! We are very sorry! We have neglected to discipline them. Please punish us as well!"

At this moment, Japan's rigid class system was vividly demonstrated.

Despite being the current head of the family, he has to be obsequious to the previous head, a custom that has continued for hundreds of years.

Ji Yexue couldn't help but feel sad and suffocated by this phenomenon. The thought of being strictly disciplined like this for the next few decades until she became the next head of the family almost made her collapse.

It's no wonder that her personality traits include extreme negativity, misanthropy, and repression.

Even for the smallest mistake, one is subject to severe criticism.

Furthermore, they would be implicated and their parents would also be punished.

She's already tried so hard; she's almost perfect in every aspect. Whatever they ask of her, whether it's academics, sports, or any kind of talent, she's done it all.
But to her grandfather and parents, these were simply things that should be taken for granted, just because she was the next person in charge of the Ji Ye family.

Countless times, she felt utterly disgusted with her seemingly illustrious status.

(End of this chapter)