A Week Later, Cangnan City No. 2 High School
"Hey, look. Is that guy from our school? Why does he have a cloth wrapped around his eyes?" "He's wearing our school uniform, so yeah, probably." "He's holding a white cane, must be blind." "Weird, how come I've never seen him before?" "Must be a new freshman this year." "Honestly, with those black ribbons over his eyes, he looks kinda cool." "But how's a blind guy supposed to attend class? We don't have any special ed classes, do we?" "Beats me." "..."
As expected, the moment Lin Qiye stepped through the school gate, he drew plenty of attention.
But he had experienced this countless times already. Unbothered, he walked straight through the maple tree avenue of the school, heading toward the teaching building.
Honestly, Lin Qiye had mentally prepared himself for dealing with troublemakers. After all, in many brainless wish-fulfillment novels, this was the moment when some dumb so-called "school tyrant" would pop up and start mocking him, setting the stage for a later face-slapping moment...
But to his surprise, no such provocateurs appeared. Instead, several students came up to him offering help.
It left Lin Qiye with a strange sense of disappointment.
Come to think of it, students these days all go through nine years of compulsory education. There aren't that many people stupid enough to go picking on someone with a disability. Even if there were some little gangs, nowadays they usually cared about their own "code of honor." Maybe they'd help a buddy out, blow off some steam—but bullying a blind guy? That would get them drowned in spit and publicly disgraced.
Climbing the stairs, Lin Qiye quickly found his new classroom: Class 2, Grade 11. He had already completed his first year of high school at a special institution. Now, as a transfer student, he was joining mid-stream.
In most TV dramas and novels, transfer students are often synonymous with being left out, isolated, or pitiful. After all, by this point, social groups have already formed. Without being proactive, it's hard to really fit in.
Lin Qiye was well aware—he was not the proactive type.
Even if he had been there since Grade 10, with his naturally cold and distant demeanor, he probably would still be a loner.
But being alone wasn't all bad. Lin Qiye actually enjoyed the peace—no interruptions, time to reflect, focus on his studies...
If you told him to actively try making friends, he honestly wouldn't know how.
Standing at the classroom door, Lin Qiye took a deep breath, composed himself, and stepped in.
The moment he entered, the once noisy classroom fell completely silent. The air seemed to freeze.
One second. Two. Three...
Just as Lin Qiye was about to speak, the classroom exploded with activity.
"You must be Lin Qiye, right? Your seat's ready, over there." "Hey, you can't see, right? I'll guide you." "Watch your step—there's stuff in the walkway. Hey, you, move your bag out of the way!" "..."
Before he could even react, several classmates had gathered around him, carefully leading him to his desk. A tall boy even took Lin Qiye's school bag and slung it over his own shoulder.
Surrounded by friendly faces, Lin Qiye safely reached his seat.
Lin Qiye: ...?
This... wasn't quite how the script was supposed to go?
"Lin Qiye, I'm Jiang Qian, the class monitor. If you need anything, just come to me," said a ponytailed girl, patting her chest confidently.
"I'm Li Yifei. If you want to grab food, just call me. I'll take you," smiled the boy who carried his bag.
"Me too! I'm Wang Shao..." "..."
More and more students gathered around him, enthusiastically introducing themselves.
Lin Qiye felt a little overwhelmed.
This was... quite different from what he had imagined.
"Do you guys... know me?" Lin Qiye asked, a little confused.
"Our homeroom teacher told us about you," Jiang Qian explained. "But what really left an impression was your aunt. She stood right there with a basket of eggs and handed them out to all of us, asking us to take care of you..."
A thunderclap seemed to go off in Lin Qiye's mind. He stood there, stunned.
He could no longer hear the rest of what the others were saying. All he could see was the image of a hunched middle-aged woman, holding a basket of freshly boiled eggs, earnestly begging his classmates for their kindness.
"Please help me out. My nephew's eyes aren't well, and he's a bit cold in temperament. Take care of him, will you?" "Miss, you're so pretty. My nephew's a real looker too. I'm sure you'll like him..." "Qiye may seem distant, but he's warm once you get to know him. I promise you'll get along great..." "..."
At some point, the black ribbons over Lin Qiye's eyes had grown damp.
"Auntie..." he whispered.
While everyone continued chatting, a female teacher walked in with a stack of books. She approached Lin Qiye in the front row, greeted him briefly, then introduced him to the class before starting the lesson.
"Everyone, turn to page 91. Today we'll talk about the modern history and challenges of Great Xia..."
Perhaps because Lin Qiye was present, the teacher skipped the usual skimming and went straight into teaching.
"A hundred years ago, Earth had over two hundred nations, scattered across seven continents and four oceans, each with its own unique culture. Even though technology back then wasn't advanced, you could still travel by ship to experience the collision of different cultures."
"However, on March 9th, a mysterious fog appeared out of nowhere over Antarctica. It spread at an incredible speed and within 24 hours, swallowed up around 98% of the planet's surface."
"Skyscrapers, ancient forests, bottomless oceans—everything was consumed by the fog. Countless nations vanished into silence."
"Yet, just as the fog was about to cross into Great Xia's borders... it stopped."
"No one knows why. It just stopped."
"In the past century, countless theories have emerged. Some say the fog is a living organism that got full after consuming most of Earth. Others think Great Xia lies on a unique magnetic field that disrupted the fog's spread. There are even those who believe it's the accumulated spiritual heritage of five thousand years that protected the land."
"The fog defies human understanding. Light, sound, radio waves—nothing can penetrate it. No one knows if those nations devoured a century ago still exist behind it..."
"Experts believe survival inside the fog is unlikely. Contact with it—whether inhaled or touched—leads to certain death."
"Over the past hundred years, our country has sent countless well-equipped teams into the mist. None have ever returned."
"Fifty years ago, our first satellite captured Earth from space. It showed a gray and white sphere—except for one untouched region: Great Xia."
"Now, Great Xia stands as an isolated island on this planet. And we... might be Earth's final survivors."
"Thus, the day the fog appeared—March 9th—is now remembered as 'Survival Day.'"