Chapter 15: 14. The Seven Cosplayers
At noon, after Zhang Luo had lunch with Zhou Hengyu and Xu Da in the cafeteria, he went to the laboratory building.
Sure enough, Liu Song and his little group of friends were still in that classroom at the end of the third-floor corridor.
Zhang Luo went over and knocked on the back door.
The classroom, which had been full of chatter and laughter, instantly fell silent.
They all turned to look at him in unison, their expressions somewhat tense.
When they saw it was Zhang Luo, they all let out a breath of relief at the same time.
However, the confusion in their eyes did not lessen.
Even Liu Song was surprised to see him.
“Are you looking for Liu Song?” a girl with a ponytail asked.
Zhang Luo nodded.
She asked in delight, “Have you agreed to join us?”
Zhang Luo froze.
Then he looked at Liu Song again. His expression was a little complicated, even awkward. One glance was enough to tell that he probably had not told his friends about what had happened that morning.
After hearing the twin-tailed girl’s words, the others all looked over with equally expectant faces.
Zhang Luo said, “I’ve never played around with this before. I’ve only seen it. I feel like I might not do it well.”
This time, he had learned his lesson and changed his wording.
“How could that be! You’re tall and handsome. You’ll definitely do well!” The twin-tailed girl’s voice had already risen with excitement.
Liu Song clenched his fists, his face looking as if it had flushed from holding something in.
He was just about to explain.
Zhang Luo said, “If you think I can give it a try, then I’ll give it a try.”
Liu Song looked at him in astonishment, at a loss.
The others had already started cheering happily.
“Welcome!”
“I’m Mo Na from Class 380. Don’t worry, my makeup skills are excellent. I’ll definitely make you look good!” The twin-tailed girl was already introducing herself enthusiastically.
“But does this take a lot of time?” Zhang Luo said. “I’ll be honest with you, I really don’t understand this. If it’s just for your competition and you need me to be a human prop for some photos, I should be able to do it. But if it takes more time, I have other things to do.”
“No, no.” Another long-haired girl with glasses, who looked a little more composed than Mo Na, smiled. “We’re just doing this for fun in our spare time too. If it weren’t for entering the second Cosplay Competition, normally, at most, we’d go to an anime convention together when we had time on the weekends.”
“Oh right, I haven’t told you my name yet. I’m Yin Yueling.”
That name instantly activated a certain corner of Zhang Luo’s memory.
Yin Yueling, the top liberal arts scorer of this year’s No. 2 High School, and fifth in liberal arts across the entire province. She got into Yuming University.
A proper top student.
Zhang Luo’s eyes lit up.
Besides the two girls and Liu Song, there was one more girl and two boys.
The girl was called Zhang Miao.
Of the two boys, one was called Chen Zhe, and the other was called Wang Xinliang.
Zhang Luo had no memory of them at all.
However, after carefully looking at their lineup, Zhang Luo suddenly realized why they wanted to ask him for help.
Wang Xinliang had a relatively sturdy build, while Chen Zhe wore glasses and looked very much like the refined elite man often seen in manga—the kind who served as a supporting character, not the protagonist-type elite man in Black Butler.
With a group like this, according to the common setup of an anime protagonist team, they were missing a “protagonist” image.
Especially for cosplay, that image often determined popularity and impression.
-
Zhang Luo had not expected that, on a whim, he would somehow end up joining them.
On the way back to the classroom, Liu Song and Zhang Luo walked at the very back.
Several times, Liu Song seemed to want to speak but stopped himself.
Zhang Luo said quietly, “That wasn’t what I meant this morning. Maybe I expressed it badly.”
Liu Song gave a soft “Mm.”
Zhang Luo could see his embarrassment, and even a bit of self-reproach.
He said, “Actually, I’m pretty envious of you guys.”
“Huh?” Liu Song looked at him in confusion.
Zhang Luo said, “Having something you like so much.”
Liu Song asked, “What do you usually like?”
Zhang Luo scratched his head. “Do you want to hear the truth?”
Liu Song nodded.
Zhang Luo: “Money.”
Liu Song: “…”
-
In the adult world, there would be nothing wrong with that answer, nor would it invite any astonishment or incomprehension.
But in the world of high school students, especially the world of high school students fifteen years ago, that answer—
Was enough to leave people stunned.
“Uh, I like money too,” Liu Song said first, before asking in confusion, “But weren’t we talking about hobbies and interests?”
It was difficult for Zhang Luo to explain to him that, to the thirty-year-old him, no hobby or interest mattered. Money mattered most.
He only smiled.
“That’s why I said I’m a little envious of you guys. I don’t have that kind of… hobby.”
Maybe he once had.
But after so many years, he had forgotten.
Liu Song made a sound of acknowledgment and said, “If we get first place in the Cosplay Competition, the prize money is thirty thousand. We can split the prize money equally.”
“How much?!” Zhang Luo’s tone shot up at once.
Liu Song: “…Thirty thousand? What’s wrong? First place is thirty thousand, second place is twenty thousand, third place is ten thousand, and there are a few other awards too.”
Zhang Luo: “The prize money for this competition is that high?”
“Mm.” Liu Song nodded.
Zhang Luo: “You should’ve said so earlier. If you’d said there was prize money, I would’ve agreed in the first second.”
Liu Song: “…”
Liu Song: “Didn’t you say you had a psychological barrier and would feel embarrassed?”
Zhang Luo: “Compared to the thing I love, none of that counts for anything.”
Liu Song: “…”
Zhang Luo smiled brilliantly.
Liu Song: “All right.”
-
A competition with prize money was something he could take part in.
If Zhang Luo’s medium- to long-term goal was to get better results in the college entrance exam than he had in his previous life, then his short-term goal was figuring out how to earn a little bit of money—at least enough to cover his tuition—so that when his second year of high school came around, his mother would not have to go ask his maternal grandmother for help because of their family’s situation.
At the moment, he did not have any opportunities to make big money, so even earning a tiny bit was fine.
Zhang Luo asked, “Is this Cosplay Competition only held once a year?”
Liu Song was silent for two seconds, then said, “If there are competitions with prize money in the future, I’ll tell you.”
Zhang Luo hooked an arm around Liu Song’s neck. Relying on his height advantage, he nearly lifted him off the ground.
“Very acceptable.”
-
What Zhang Luo did not expect was that in the afternoon, Li Miaomiao from his class suddenly rushed up to him and demanded furiously, “You became the English class representative?”
After Zhang Luo said, “Huh?” he then gave an “Mm.”
Li Miaomiao glared at Zhang Luo angrily.
“On what grounds?!”
Zhang Luo looked completely puzzled.
“What do you mean, on what grounds?”
Li Miaomiao said, “My English is so good. Why did you become the English class representative?”
Zhang Luo said, “Go ask Teacher Chu, then. Why are you asking me? It’s not like I can appoint you as the English class representative.”
Li Miaomiao said, “I still have to go ask her? My dad is a professor at the School of Foreign Languages at Xuyang University. I’ve followed my dad to many countries since I was little. I even finished studying college English on my own. Shouldn’t this English class representative position be mine?”
Zhang Luo was dumbfounded.
Were middle school students all this confident, this arrogant, this chuuni, this self-righteous when they spoke?
Completed older work, worth a read~