One week later, at Cangnan City No. 6 High School.
"Hey, check it out — is that guy from our school? Why does he have cloth wrapped around his eyes?"
"He's wearing our school uniform, so he must be."
"And he's carrying a white cane. Looks like he's blind."
"Strange. How come we've never seen him before?"
"Must be one of the new freshmen this year, right?"
"I'll say, though — with all that black cloth wound around his eyes, he's actually pretty good-looking."
"But how does a blind person attend classes? I don't think our school has any special programs for that."
"No idea."
"…"
As expected, the moment Lin Qiye stepped through the school gates, he attracted a wave of attention.
However, he had experienced this kind of scene far too many times. He walked straight through the campus, past Maple Leaf Avenue, completely indifferent to the stares around him, heading toward the teaching building.
Before arriving, Lin Qiye had mentally prepared himself to deal with troublemakers. After all, in those mindless wish-fulfillment novels, this was exactly the setup where some arrogant so-called "school bully" would show up to mock and belittle him, setting the stage for him to later humble them with a dramatic reversal. He'd even been looking forward to it in a way.
Yet no such antagonist appeared. Instead, several students took the initiative to approach him and ask if he needed any help.
For some reason, this left Lin Qiye feeling oddly disappointed.
When you think about it, these were all students who had completed nine years of compulsory education in the modern era — there weren't that many troublemakers looking for problems. Besides, even if such cliques existed, nowadays they prided themselves on a certain "code of honor". They might help their friends settle disputes or blow off steam through posturing, but actually bullying someone with a disability? They'd be drowned in spit the next day, their reputations completely ruined.
Lin Qiye climbed the stairs and quickly found his classroom: Class 2, Year 2[1]. He had already completed his first year of high school at a specialized school ,and now that he'd transferred, he was technically a new student joining mid-year.
From most TV dramas and novels, transfer students were generally synonymous with being neglected, isolated, and miserable. After all, during that first year, all the various friend groups had already formed. Without taking the initiative, it was nearly impossible to truly become part of the class.
Lin Qiye was well aware that he wasn't the type to take the initiative.
In fact, even if he had been with them since freshman year, given his unapproachable demeanor, he'd likely still be alone by now.
But being alone wasn't really a problem for him — at least, Lin Qiye genuinely enjoyed that feeling. No one bothered him, he could cultivate his mind in peace, and he could focus on his studies…
If he were forced to deliberately build relationships with others, he probably wouldn't be able to do it anyway.
Standing at the classroom door, Lin Qiye took a deep breath, steadied himself, and stepped inside.
The moment Lin Qiye entered the classroom, the previously noisy chatter suddenly ceased. The air fell silent…
One… two… three seconds…
Just as Lin Qiye was about to say something, the classroom suddenly erupted into chaos!
"You must be Lin Qiye, right? We've already prepared your seat — it's over there."
"Lin Qiye, you can't see, can you? Let me guide you over."
"Hey, walk slowly, there's a lot of stuff in the aisle… You there, move your backpack out of the way!"
"…"
Before Lin Qiye could even react, several classmates had already come forward and carefully guided him toward his seat. A tall boy even took his backpack and slung it over his own shoulder.
Surrounded by this crowd of helpers, Lin Qiye arrived safely at his desk.
Lin Qiye: ...?
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go.
"Lin Qiye, I'm the class president, Jiang Qian. Feel free to come to me if you need anything." A girl with her hair in a ponytail said, patting her chest confidently.
"I'm Li Yifei. If you want to grab lunch, just let me know and I'll take you." The tall boy who had taken his backpack said with a smile.
"And me, my name is Wang Shao…"
"…"
Many people gathered around him, enthusiastically greeting him.
For a moment, Lin Qiye found himself at a loss.
To be honest, this was quite different from what he imagined.
"You all… know me?" Lin Qiye asked, his expression somewhat bewildered.
"Our homeroom teacher told us about you," Class President Jiang Qian answered. "But what really left an impression on us was your aunt. That day, she stood right here with a basket full of eggs, handing them out to us one by one, asking us to look after you…"
He froze… as if a bolt of lightning had stuck Lin Qiye's mind.
Whatever his classmates said after that, he couldn't hear anymore. He simply stared at the classroom in a daze, and in his mind, he couldn't help but picture the middle-aged woman with a stooped back, carrying a basket of freshly boiled eggs, sincerely asking his classmates.
"Everyone, please lend me a hand. My nephew's eyesight isn't very good, and he's rather cold in temperament. I'd really appreciate it if you could all look after him a bit…"
"Young lady, you're so pretty. My nephew is quite handsome too, I'm sure you'd like him…"
"This child Qiye, he's just cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Once you get to know him better, I'm sure you'll all get along wonderfully…"
"…"
At some point, the black cloth covering his eyes grew slightly damp.
"Auntie…" he murmured to himself.
Just as everyone was chattering away, a female teacher walked in carrying a stack of textbooks. Upon seeing Lin Qiye in the front row, she came over to offer a few words of concern, briefly introduced him to the class, and then began her lesson.
"Everyone, turn to page ninety-one. Today we're going to discuss the history and predicament of modern Daxia[2]…"
Perhaps because of Lin Qiye's arrival, the teacher decided to skip the usual preliminary reading and directly started explaining the textbook material.
"A hundred years ago, Earth was home to over two hundred nations spread across seven continents and four oceans, each with their distinct customs and cultures. Even in that era of limited technological advancement, we were still able to travel by ship to different countries and experience the clash of cultures…"
"However, on March 9th of that fateful year, a mysterious fog suddenly appeared out of nowhere over Antarctica, then spread with astonishing speed. Within a mere twenty-four hours, it had consumed nearly ninety-eight percent of Earth's surface."
"The towering buildings humanity had constructed, the primordial forests that had existed since ancient times, the unfathomable oceans… everything was engulfed by the mist. Countless nations vanished into the fog, cut off from all contact."
"Yet this incomprehensible fog, just as it was about to invade Daxia's territory… stopped."
"No one knows why, but it simply halted in this bizarre manner."
"Over the past hundred years, countless theories and hypotheses have been proposed. Some claim the fog is actually a living organism that, having consumed ninety-eight percent of the planet, became satiated and stopped near Daxia. Others suggest that Daxia's geographical location possesses a unique magnetic field that obstructed the fog's expansion. Still others maintain that this represents five thousand years of accumulated heritage from our Daxia, protecting this land…"
"The composition of this fog lies completely beyond human comprehension. Whether it's light, sound, radio waves, or any other detection method, nothing can penetrate it. No one knows what lies beyond this fog — whether those other nations swallowed up a hundred years ago still exist…"
"According to experts' speculation, the probability of survival in the fog is extremely low. This mist is fatal whether inhaled into the lungs or upon contact with the skin!"
"Over the past hundred years, our nation has sent countless well-equipped exploration teams into the fog, yet not a single person has returned."
"Fifty years ago, when our first satellite was successfully launched, the images transmitted back from space revealed that the entire planet had turned gray and white, leaving only Daxia remaining as a pure land."
"Daxia now is like an isolated island on this planet, and we… may be the last survivors of this world."
"For this reason, the day the fog appeared — March 9th of every year — has come to be known as 'Day of Survival'."
[1] Second year of senior high school in China
[2] Daxia is commonly used in webnovels as a pseudonym for China