Chapter 138: Smile

“Alright, it’s time to eat. I’ll take you to the school’s cafeteria. Don’t be polite, I’m treating. I’ll also introduce you to a friend,” Takeda Eishun patted Lei Yin on the shoulder and said.

Lei Yin didn’t dislike this friendly guy. Although his style was odd, at least he didn’t act pretentious like others.

After putting his novel in his bag, Lei Yin followed Takeda out of the classroom.

“I’ll pay for this meal. My sister might come to find me later,” Lei Yin said.

“Your sister also studies here? What does she look like?” Takeda Eishun asked bluntly.

“Is that really important?”

“You misunderstood! That’s not what I meant. It’s just that the person I’m introducing you to is a typical pervert. If your sister is good-looking, you’d better be careful.”

The school cafeteria was a bit more expensive than the dining hall, but it had a better environment. Many students came here, especially couples. Everywhere you looked, pairs of students sat together, some even feeding each other in public.

“Doggy couple,” Takeda Eishun said with disdain, glancing at a couple who were eating and being affectionate.

After casually finding a seat by the window, Takeda immediately took out his phone and started dialing.

“Hey, where are you?”

“What, still not finished with class? You’re lying, you’re definitely flirting with those girls again. Hurry up and come over, I have a friend to introduce you to. This is for real.”

After hanging up, Takeda Eishun turned to Lei Yin and said, “That guy will be here soon. Let me tell you a bit about him. His name is Yoshikawa Jiro, and he’s a childhood friend of mine. That guy’s a pervert; whenever he sees a pretty girl, he just wants to sleep with her. He originally majored in law, but after less than half a month, he noticed that there were more beautiful girls in the literature department, so he transferred to the English literature department. Here’s a secret, but you must not tell anyone. He wasn’t actually qualified to come to Teikyo University, but his family paid to get him in. Remember, don’t tell anyone, or he won’t let me off. Hey, why aren’t you saying anything? Being so quiet isn’t good for a young man.”

His mouth was like a machine gun, and it was hard for Lei Yin to get a word in.

Just as Lei Yin was about to speak, his phone rang.

“Kazumi? Where are you?”

“In the cafeteria, with a classmate. We haven’t started eating yet. It’s fine, you can come over too.”

After hanging up, Takeda asked, “Was that your sister?”

“Yes.”

“I wish I had a younger sister or brother, but after my dad had me, I think he couldn’t make any more, so I’m the youngest. I always get bullied by my older brother and sister,” Takeda sighed.

“All the love in the world is on you. What more do you want?” Lei Yin smiled.

“What did you just say? I didn’t hear it clearly.”

“Nothing, it’s just a Chinese saying. Go ahead and order now.”

Takeda didn’t hold back, picking up the menu and starting to order.

Not long after they had finished ordering, two young men walked over to them.

Looking up, Takeda greeted one of them, “You finally showed up, I’ve been waiting forever. Who’s this?”

The young man replied, “He’s my classmate, Shiraishi Akira. You probably don’t know him, but he was a famous figure in high school kendo, always competing and winning numerous awards. So, when he joined Teikyo’s kendo club, he was immediately made one of the top three. Pretty impressive, right?”

“How do you know all this? I’ve never heard you talk about being interested in kendo,” Takeda asked, puzzled.

“Nothing strange about it. You don’t know much. By the way, I’m already a member of the Teikyo kendo club,” Yoshikawa Jiro sneered.

“Weren’t you in the photography club? How did you suddenly join the kendo club? No need to guess, it’s definitely because you’ve got your eye on some girl in the club. Anyway, let me introduce you. This is Gennai Masashi, he just transferred today. He’s a good guy. Masashi, this is Yoshikawa Jiro.”

After a brief round of introductions, they got to know each other.

Lei Yin carefully studied the two newcomers.

Yoshikawa Jiro was the typical playboy. He was tall and had a rebellious glint in his eyes. Added to that, he came from an influential family and knew how to say sweet words that men found disgusting, but women enjoyed hearing. According to Takeda, this guy had lost his virginity at the age of thirteen. Lei Yin felt a wave of disgust at this thought.

As for Shiraishi Akira, he was a silent and reserved person. Even after sitting for a while, he hadn’t said much. However, he was quite handsome, and this cool demeanor likely made him very popular with girls.

“Is your sister coming?” After placing the order, Yoshikawa asked Takeda.

“She’s too busy right now; she doesn’t have time to eat with me.”

Before he could finish, Lei Yin stood up and waved toward the restaurant door.

Then, he saw two girls walking toward them.

Seeing three other guys besides her brother, Kazumi felt a bit awkward for a moment.

“Kazumi, you’re here! Come sit,” Lei Yin said as he pulled out two chairs for her and Takeshima Shinobu.

As they walked over, Yoshikawa immediately began eyeing their looks. He quickly ruled out Kazumi, who was dressed plainly, from his consideration. However, Takeshima Shinobu, though not a top-tier beauty, had a pretty sweet aura that was worth some attention.

Seeing Yoshikawa’s wolfish gaze on Shinobu, Lei Yin started to regret asking Kazumi to bring her classmate along. He hoped nothing bad would happen to her.

Sure enough, during the meal, Yoshikawa started finding opportunities to speak with Shinobu, asking her about herself. His overly enthusiastic attitude made the young girl feel a little overwhelmed.

“Brother, have you found a place to rent yet?”

Since Teikyo University didn’t provide accommodation for students, Kazumi asked this question.

“Not yet, would you like to help me look for one after lunch?”

“Okay, let’s go after we’re done eating.”

“Lei Yin, are you renting a place? I have a room available at my place. Want to share it?” Takeda interjected.

“No, I prefer living alone,” Lei Yin said. He liked peace and quiet. Living with Kazumi was fine, but living with someone as lively as Takeda would be a torment.

Seeing Lei Yin decline, Takeda looked a little disappointed.

“Brother, how’s the first day of classes? Are you adjusting?” Kazumi asked with a smile.

“It’s fine, not too bad.”

“I really hope Rumi can come here too, then we can see each other every day.”

“That little brat is working really hard right now. I think she’ll be fine.”

Kazumi hadn’t had such a light-hearted conversation with her brother in a long time, and her mood was quite pleasant, her smile never fading.

While the siblings were talking, Takeda suddenly called out, “Yoshikawa, your Waterloo is here.”

Yoshikawa looked up and saw three smiling beauties walk into the restaurant.

“Lei Yin, look, that’s our campus belle, Seimura Haruko. You’re lucky, the first day you’re here and you get to see her,” Takeda hurriedly said, tugging on Lei Yin’s sleeve.

“Which one are you talking about?”

“Idiot, of course, the one in the middle. Don’t you see she’s the prettiest of the three?”

Lei Yin looked up at the girl. She was indeed beautiful, but there was a hint of arrogance in her expression.

Lei Yin casually withdrew his gaze. Kazumi had been watching his reaction and asked, “Brother, is that girl really pretty?”

Looking at the two young men still staring at her, Lei Yin leaned toward her ear and whispered, “Just a vase.”

Kazumi covered her mouth and laughed.

After the three girls sat down at a table, Takeda, feeling a bit sentimental, said, “She’s really pretty, but still not as good as my sister.”

“I think they each have their own charm. Otherwise, why would I give her flowers and love letters? Your sister is beautiful, but she’s a bit too serious. She seems to lack a little femininity,” Yoshikawa said.

“You shallow guy, what do you know? You only like those girls who act all cutesy, making your skin crawl. No substance at all,” Takeda retorted.

“At least I’m better than you, who has a serious sister complex,” Yoshikawa shot back.

“Asshole, dare you say that again?” Takeda snapped.

“You think I’m scared of you? From when we were kids, when did you ever win a fight against me?” Yoshikawa smirked.

“You…”

Seeing the argument escalating, Kazumi, a bit worried, said, “Brother, don’t you think you should stop them?”

“It’s fine. If they actually start fighting, we’ll just sit over there and pretend we don’t know them,” Lei Yin replied.

Kazumi couldn’t help but laugh at his words. Takeshima looked as though she was about to faint from the tension.

※※※

Soon, two weeks had passed, and Lei Yin had started to get used to life here.

University was indeed a very free environment. As long as you didn’t disturb others during class, teachers generally didn’t mind what you did. However, for some required courses, there was a rule that you had to complete at least 45 hours of study material per subject, otherwise, you wouldn’t earn credits. Additionally, every year, there were midterm and final exams.

Since Lei Yin had chosen economics as his major, which was a subject neither too exciting nor too dull, his professors mostly taught economic theories, policies, industrial policies, and international economics—subjects that sounded so boring they could put you to sleep just by hearing the names.

Lei Yin wasn’t too resistant to these kinds of courses. However, after reading all the textbooks in two days, he found it unbearable to sit through his professors’ slow lectures, covering the same material he’d already read. It became just as normal to skip class as it had been in high school.

Takeda, who shared the same sentiment, quickly became a close friend. He noticed that Lei Yin wasn’t the type to sit quietly through lectures, and so he started taking him around or to see girls, having fun outside of class.

At first, Lei Yin thought that Yoshikawa would also skip classes like them, but to his surprise, Yoshikawa showed up punctually to every required class. Lei Yin, of course, didn’t believe he was such a diligent student. Later, when he asked Takeda, he learned that Yoshikawa’s father was very strict with him. Since high school, every semester, his father would come to the school to check on his academic performance. If Yoshikawa was absent without a valid reason, his father would punish him severely.

One day, Takeda heard that the campus “queen,” Seimura Haruko, had enrolled in a course on modern Japanese history, so he immediately dragged Lei Yin, who was half asleep, to the Faculty of Literature to check it out.

Sitting in the large classroom, watching more and more girls come in and take their seats, Takeda regretted not discovering this place sooner. No wonder the Faculty of Literature was known as the “paradise of beautiful women.” Even if he didn’t get to see Seimura Haruko today, it wouldn’t be a wasted trip.

He wasn’t the only one with this goal. Behind the girls, a number of boys followed in, some of whom weren’t freshmen. Their intentions were clear—they weren’t here just for the class.

As the class was about to begin, Takeda saw that Seimura Haruko hadn’t arrived yet and felt a little disappointed. He turned to look at Lei Yin, only to find him pulling out a novel as though performing a magic trick.

“It seems like Seimura Haruko isn’t coming,” Takeda sighed.

“Really?” Lei Yin replied nonchalantly.

Seeing that Lei Yin wasn’t even listening, Takeda tried to amuse himself by scanning the room, looking for other beautiful girls.

When Takeda was starting to give up, he suddenly heard some faint footsteps from outside. The door opened, and then three beautiful girls walked in, leaving a trail of fragrance behind them.

“Excuse me, are these seats taken?” one of the girls asked Takeda.

“No, please feel free to sit,” Takeda quickly replied.

“Thanks,” the girl said as she sat in the innermost seat. The other two girls also sat down beside her.

The boys sitting in the front row saw Seimura Haruko sitting in the back and immediately regretted not choosing seats further back.

Just as Takeda was about to try talking to Seimura Haruko, the door opened again, and a man in his forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, walked in.

Knowing that he was the professor, Takeda closed his mouth.

Once the middle-aged professor began his lecture, Takeda couldn’t focus on the class. His eyes kept glancing at Seimura Haruko, sitting not far away.

It seemed Yoshikawa hadn’t been wrong. This girl was indeed as attractive as his sister. Takeda started thinking about ways to get her phone number.

Takeda spent the entire class period thinking, but still couldn’t come up with a good plan. A girl like her would have so many admirers that it would take a long queue to even get close. Ordinary pursuit methods would definitely be useless. He needed to come up with something unique, something unforgettable that others hadn’t thought of yet.

After thinking for a while, Takeda finally gave up. He couldn’t think of anything good at the moment. Suddenly, he remembered the guy sitting next to him, who already had a girlfriend. Maybe he had some good ideas since he was more experienced.

With this thought in mind, Takeda quickly turned to face Masashi.

Just as he was about to quietly ask him, Takeda suddenly noticed that Lei Yin seemed a bit different than usual.

He saw that, at some point, Lei Yin had put his novel down on the table and was staring intently at the middle-aged professor standing at the podium, who was lecturing. There was a strange, almost amused expression on his face.

Takeda had never seen Lei Yin so serious in class. Curious, he shifted his attention to the professor.

“On the night of July 7th, 1937, at the Marco Polo Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing, an incident occurred where shots were fired at Japanese troops. The following day, China continued to fire, and the situation escalated into full combat. The event itself was a small skirmish, and though people hoped to resolve it locally, tensions between China and Japan continued to flare up, making a resolution more difficult. Amidst these provocative actions, our military was forced to fire back at China…”

“No country in a war is free from killing or mistreating unarmed civilians, and Japan is no exception. The Tokyo Trials found that during the 1937 Sino-Japanese War, many Chinese civilians were killed when Japan occupied Nanjing. However, there are many doubts about the actual details of the event, and differing views on it still exist…”

“At the end of World War II, the United States indiscriminately bombed many cities, including Tokyo, and dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Furthermore, the Soviet Union violated the Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact and invaded Manchuria, committing various atrocities against Japanese civilians, including the forced deportation of about 600,000 Japanese citizens to Siberia for hard labor. About 10% of them died. This is the immense suffering that war has brought to Japan.”

“When our Imperial Army temporarily stationed in Taiwan, they made significant contributions to local development. For example, our water management expert, Mr. Hatta Yoichi, conducted surveys and planned the Wusanto Reservoir and Chianan Canal irrigation system. After two years of meticulous planning, the project began in the 9th year of the Republic of China. The entire irrigation project, including the Wusanto Reservoir’s eastern water intake tunnel, the dam’s intake station, and other flood control systems, spanned a vast area and was the largest reservoir in Southeast Asia at the time, ranked third globally. Thanks to this project, Taiwan’s barren plains were transformed into lush irrigated land, greatly benefiting the local population. Mr. Lee Teng-hui, when visiting Japan, especially visited Hatta’s former residence in Ishikawa, to express his gratitude…”

Hearing this, Takeda lost interest. It was just the same old rhetoric. He didn’t understand why Masashi was so absorbed in listening.

Suddenly, Takeda saw Masashi burst out laughing.

Takeda was shocked. What was he doing? Didn’t he realize that they were still in class?

As Masashi’s laughter grew louder, Takeda thought he had truly gone mad. Without thinking, he rushed over to cover his mouth.

However, Masashi suddenly pushed him away with surprising force, knocking Takeda to the ground.

What on earth was this guy doing? Takeda, both angry and confused, quickly got up and glared at him.

At this moment, not just Takeda, but everyone in the class was looking at the young man laughing uncontrollably in surprise.

“What are you doing?” the history professor, Inoue Kendo, asked loudly, his voice echoing in the classroom.

Lei Yin slowly stood up and gradually stopped laughing.

“I just heard a joke today that I’ve never heard before in my life,” Lei Yin said calmly.

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Inoue Kendo looked coldly at the man disrupting his lecture.

“After listening to your class, I finally understood an important principle,” Lei Yin continued. “Why do robbers steal? It’s simple—because you have something worth stealing. And why do robbers kill? It’s because you resist when they’re robbing you. If you don’t resist and cooperate, they won’t kill you. But since you resist, the robber inevitably kills you. So, it’s all the fault of the person being robbed.”

At the last sentence, Lei Yin gave a cold smile.