S City Qiming High School
This was a key high school in the city, and it was also rumored to be the mecca of college entrance exams by parents in the city.
Basically, those who went to this high school have half a foot in the door of a major university.
And today, this school, will welcome its new batch of students.
Rope sat in the car yawning. Last night he had played games until the wee hours of the morning, and early this morning he had been dragged out of bed by his own mother. Then after freshening up he was shoved into the car. Dad excitedly started the car, and then the family drove towards this school.
"Rope, can you get your act together? Today is your first day of school! Can you leave a good impression on your classmates and teachers!"
On the passenger side of the car, a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, with a head of shawl hair and a sweet and gentle look, looked at her listless son through the rearview mirror and helplessly said.
Rope did not care about his mom's words, and waved his hand carelessly: "Old comrade Meng, a small scene... is not just a school opening? Also leave a good impression..."
Meng snapped, "Who are you calling an old comrade!" Then he turned around and complained towards the man who was driving, "Deemer! Your son dislikes me for being old!"
Deemer, who was handsome, elegant, and only looked to be in his twenties, laughed and said, "What's wrong with you, you're almost forty years old. Still not happy with people saying you're old?"
Then his thigh was pinched hard.
"Good, Deemer, you actually dislike me for being old too! Is the next step going to be to find another new love and kick me and my son out of the house while you and your new love indulge in a song of joy!"
Meng made a gesture of weeping, then said to Rope in the backseat, "Son, you'll be mom's dependence from now on, protect mom well, don't be like your father, a negative man!"
Although Meng is not too young, but she is young looking and young at heart, the whole person appears to be full of girlishness, so there is no sense of incongruity at all in making this kind of action, and there is even a bit of beauty in it.
Rope helplessly helped his forehead and said, "Old comrade Deemer, you said why are you teasing her, isn't this a chance for her to open the show..."
Deemer gave Rope a blank stare through the rearview mirror and said, "Isn't this something you started? "
Rope spat out his tongue, then said to his own mom, "Don't worry, don't worry, I'll study hard, don't fight, and don't bully the teachers. I will definitely rush to show myself when I have the chance. Mom, you're also too much in charge, I'm going to high school!"
Meng snapped his head up with a proud face, "Hmph, you're also my son in high school, what's wrong with me minding you."
"Yes, yes, no problem, great lord Mother has a point!" Rope helplessly raised his hands in surrender.
"Ahem, after all your mom has said, I'll say a few words too." Deemer coughed lightly and looked at his son's face in the rearview mirror.
Rope looked helpless then made a face that was all ears.
There's no way around it, Mom and Dad's nagging, so if you don't want to fight with them just listen honestly. If you listen, you'll be annoyed for a while at most, but if you fight, it's not a matter of being annoyed for a while.
Arguing is not communication... arguing is venting... and what comes out is always what you hate. Naturally, no one else will like it.
"If you do have a favorite girl, dad supports you in a relationship."
Deemer's words startled Rope, and through the rearview mirror, he saw his dad's still bland face.
Apparently, the older Deemer comrade hadn't meant it as a joke.
"My son is a genius, and you're full of precociousness, though you still seem to have the look of a mischievous child. I believe you can make the right decision. As long as you're sure you can, then it's up to you. But there's only one thing..."
Deemer locked eyes with Chen through the rearview mirror.
"Don't delay a girl's youth or studies. Both are precious things. One is a memory of the future, and the other is sort of the future itself in a sense."
When Deemer spoke, Meng didn't say anything but looked at her son with the same smile and passed an encouraging look.
Rope helplessly scratched his head, "Fate is something that can't be said clearly... if I meet it, then I will definitely cherish it."
Seeing Rope's promise, Deemer withdrew his gaze and said, "It's good that you're clear about it, you must have your own bottom line. And that bottom line must be slightly higher than the worldly bottom line."
Rope rolled her eyes, "There is no bottom line in the world. The only ones who have a bottom line are people. And people will constantly break the bottom line."
Deemer nodded noncommittally and didn't take his son's words.
Meng put her hand in front of Rope's face. Rope rolled his eyes and looked at Meng's smug smile helplessly leaning his head against her hand.
Meng ruthlessly touched his head then laughed, "Let your Auntie Tang Yu talk to you about this some day. She's studied similar topics."
Rope nodded with the same noncommittal nod.
With that, Rope began his first day of school.
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On the basketball court, a six-player scrimmage was in full swing.
On the sidelines, Rope and a teenage boy with glasses sipped Cokes and watched the athletic teens on the court sweat it out.
The boy's name was Han, a friend Rope had just made in the last two days of school.
"Rope, do you want to cross worlds[1]?"
Han asked in a cold voice.
Rope shook his head decisively, and because he still had coke in his mouth, there was a 'purring' watery sound as he shook his head.
Han was puzzled, "Why?"
Rope swallowed the coke in his mouth and smiled and waved hello to the two little beauties passing by who were looking at him without spilling their eyes.
The two little beauties blushed and waved to him before walking away quickly.
"Crossing worlds is a way to think of something you don't have. I'm happy with my life."
Saying this over here, on the court, the basketball flew towards Rope's direction after smashing the frame, and a senior who was playing shouted 'Get out of the way.'
Rope didn't listen to his words, instead, he took a step back, then steadily caught the ball, then a backward tilt, the basketball drew a beautiful parabola in the air, and then went into the net hollow.
"My grades are good, my athletic ability is good, my family is good, my looks are even better, and I don't have any dreams of saving the world, conquering the world, or getting rich and famous. Life is good now, and it's going to stay good for the rest of my foreseeable future. So why would I want to go to another world?"
Rope said to Han without looking back as he greeted the beautiful women who were watching basketball across the basketball court.
"But the future is unpredictable isn't it?"
Han pushed his eyes up and tilted his head to look at Rope, who stood backlit.
"Then I'll be sure to find a way to break the future into the shape I originally envisioned."
There was always a bit of sharpness in Rope's words.
[1] "You want to get isekai'd?" Truck-kun asked calmly