Ethan felt a pang of guilt as he stepped into Class 11D's classroom. Out of 24 students, only three of them weren't following the dress code - and he was one of them.
But strangely, the other students of 11D didn't seem the least bit surprised to see Ethan, Autumn, and Royce still wearing their usual Harmony High uniforms.
That was because, right now, class president Lucas and secretary Simon were the true center of attention. All the girls in the class were swarming around them.
Yet the two guys - who usually couldn't hide their girl-crazy tendencies - looked anything but thrilled. Their faces were long and lifeless, as if it were the end of the world.
"You guys should've checked the goods carefully before accepting them."
"The pomelos are tiny and shriveled. The grapes are falling apart. The watermelons are bruised. The bananas are not only overripe but also uneven. The rest of the fruit looks awful too."
"Even the decorative pieces are all torn up. Could it be sabotage?"
"Forget it. I think you two just have bad luck, Lucas and Simon. At this rate, we're doomed. No way we're winning this."
The girls' complaints toward Lucas and Simon piqued Ethan's curiosity. When the crowd began to disperse, he walked over to check the situation instead of heading straight to his seat.
"What's going on, Lucas?"
Ethan almost burst out laughing when he saw Lucas and Simon. The two of them were wearing something that looked like imperial robes from the feudal era.
Judging by the shiny fabric and the golden-thread embroidery of dragons and clouds, these were clearly costumes for a performance.
But paired with their slouched, gloomy posture, the two looked anything but regal.
"Ugh! I thought you read my message last night?"
Lucas asked miserably.
"Message…"
Ethan muttered.
It was true - he had skimmed through the Telegram group chat messages that Lucas had sent to Class 11D the night before. But not a single word had stuck, since he'd been too distracted by Felix shamelessly flirting with Autumn at the time.
"Today's October 6th on the solar calendar, but it's the 15th of the 8th month on the lunar calendar."
Simon whispered.
"Ohhh. So today's the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
Ethan exclaimed in surprise.
The Mid-Autumn Festival used to be one of Ethan's favorite traditional holidays when he was a kid.
It was the only day when he and his younger brother, Victor, would get traditional toys like masks or lanterns from their parents. And if they acted cute enough, the two of them could even coax their parents into buying toy cars or a building block set.
But one day, instead of toys, Ethan's parents gifted the brothers books like 500 Advanced Math Practice Problems. From then on, whether the moon was round or not, bright or dim, the Mid-Autumn Festival no longer had anything to do with kids stuck at home solving math problems until midnight.
Since then, Ethan had lost all interest in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The memory made his face go blank. Lucas, the class president, assumed Ethan didn't fully understand the messages he'd sent in Class 11D's Telegram group, so he went ahead and explained again.
"Today, Harmony High is holding its Mid-Autumn Festival Event. The dress code is traditional Vietnamese clothing in colors like red, yellow, or brown. Only students who follow the dress code will be counted as participating, and each participant earns 10 HP for their class. I'm used to Royce and Autumn always wearing their Harmony High uniforms on every occasion - they didn't follow the dress code for last year's Mid-Autumn Festival either. I'm just… a little sorry for you, Ethan."
"Heh heh. Well, there is nothing I can do about that. I've got no idea where to get an outfit like that."
Ethan said with a rueful smile. He had just lost a chance to earn 10 HP. His goal of securing a full scholarship for his first year at Symphony International University now seemed even further away.
"Normally, the first Monday of the month has a full-school assembly in the morning. But this time, it's combined with the Mid-Autumn Festival Event. It'll start at 3 PM with lion dances, plays, and music… Most of the performances will be from Class 12A. But I heard there's a really interesting rap diss written and performed by Anya and Yara from Class 11A."
At that, beads of sweat began forming on Ethan's forehead - even though Class 11D's air conditioner was still set to 25°C. Andrew The Detective's intel was spot on.
As one of the reasons why that twin duo, Anya and Yara, had written the rap diss, Ethan could only hope the lyrics wouldn't be too harsh.
"From 4:30 to 5:00 PM, there'll be the Five-Fruit Tray Decoration Contest between all 12 classes. First prize will bring in 100 HP, second prize 50 HP, and third prize 30 HP. Aside from the three main prizes judged by the panel, there's also a Special Prize worth 100 HP voted on by the students. Each class will be provided a crate of fruit by the school - grapefruit, watermelon, grapes, bananas, apples… Our class just got unlucky; I ended up with a crate of fruit that looks pretty beat up."
Ethan peeked into the cardboard box sitting on Lucas's desk. The fruits looked just as ugly as the girls in Class 11D had described.
"Well, last year our class didn't win anything either. This year I'm not putting much hope in competing."
Lucas concluded gloomily.
"In that case, if we're not competing, can I just eat the fruit?"
Royce and Autumn had already hurried over to Lucas's desk after putting away their backpacks and lunch boxes in their lockers.
Once they understood the situation, Royce quickly snatched a few bananas and generously tossed some to Autumn. In the blink of an eye, the two of them had polished off almost half the bunch from the crate.
"Didn't you two have enough for breakfast?"
Ethan asked, wide-eyed at the way his vampire friends were scarfing down food like starving ghosts from the seventh lunar month.
"Since my brother, Spring is, well, a doctor, every staff meal at the Field Hospital is scientifically calculated to have just the right amount of nutrients - no more, no less."
Autumn replied politely, waiting until she'd swallowed a bite of banana before answering.
"In short, Spring is stingy. His portions aren't enough for growing kids like us."
Royce bluntly criticized Autumn's blue-eyed older brother. It was true - Dr. Spring was notoriously exacting when it came to money matters.
"Come on, Royce, you get a free room and board from Spring. What are you complaining about?"
Autumn jabbed her elbow into Royce's side, making him double over in pain.
"Hey, hey - stop eating! Oh my god, why are you eating the competition entry?!"
Lucas's face went pale. In just a few minutes of neglect, the crate of fruit had been noticeably depleted.
"But you said we weren't really competing this year, Lucas."
Royce said, popping a few loose grapes into his mouth.
"No, Royce! What I meant was… we still have to submit something, but we're not aiming for the prize!"
"How about we take money from the class fund to buy extra fruit to make the tray look nice?"
Autumn suggested.
"That would be against the rules…"
Lucas shot the idea down immediately.
"Well, then I'm out. All I've got left is this body. You guys wanna send me to the contest instead of the fruit?"
Royce puffed out his chest and thumped his well-built torso. Ethan thought the nickname "Gorilla" that Harmony High students had given him was dead-on.
"And that's a body rated capable of bending even the straightest guys."
Simon added flatly, while Lucas made a face like the comment had physically nauseated him.
That's it!
An idea suddenly sparked in Ethan's mind.
When the school bell rang, Ethan returned to his seat like any other student. Next to him, Autumn was still fast asleep, oblivious to the world.
The scent of lilies radiating from her seemed to put their teacher in a trance, letting her tablemate get away with anything.
So instead of focusing on the lecture, Ethan spent the time sketching out his idea for the Five-Fruit Tray Decoration Contest at this afternoon's Mid-Autumn Festival.
It seemed that ever since coming to Harmony High, Ethan had been spending less and less time actually studying.