Xiao Qin diligently worked on the first chapter of “Detective Li ErGou” and hoped to make a big impression. Meanwhile, our class leader was fully devoted to studying and managing class 3-3, especially since our class currently doesn’t have a dedicated homeroom teacher, so she was doing her utmost to fill that role.

Xiong YaoYue was mainly focused on Ai Mi’s professional LOL team and didn’t take her studies seriously. In a Chinese language test, Xiong YaoYue even answered a fill-in-the-blank question by mistakenly stating that Li QingZhao was a poet from the Emei Sect, which made us laugh when old man Zhang criticized her.

Gong CaiCai was even more amusing. Since she was so submissive and often adding ‘I’m sorry’ in every other sentence, she was repeatedly mistaken for a servant by B-2, who frequents 28 Middle. B-2 often dumped his tasks onto Gong CaiCai, so who knows how many times she ended up buying chips for Ai Mi without even realizing it.

I received complaints from He Ling not long after I fought with a member of SAFE at Qing Zi Academy. She yelled at me over the phone: “It’s all your fault! I told my classmates you’re my brother, and after you beat up Li Wei, who was interested in me, now I can’t find a boyfriend! It was already hard enough for me to leave an all-girls school!”

In the past one and a half months, Zhuang Ni hasn’t tried to assassinate me again. Loud Mouth and Little Smart often dragged Zhuang Ni to go shopping with them. Although Zhuang Ni continued to make fat jokes about Loud Mouth, she didn’t really put it to mind. Once, Loud Mouth even successfully pushed Zhuang Ni into a fitting room, then took her usual black dress and made her try on a white dress for a photo.

Tomorrow is November 1st, Halloween Day, and also Zhuang Ni’s birthday. The class leader had a principle of not giving up on any student, so she planned a surprise birthday party for Zhuang Ni and she hoped she could help her develop the ability to interact normally with others —— similar to how I was guiding Xiao Qin with my discipline plan.

“You can all accept my reasons, right? So first, we need to find a venue…” the class leader gathered Loud Mouth, Little Smart, Xiao Qin, Gong CaiCai, and Xiong YaoYue near Xiao Qin’s seat to discuss her plans with everyone.

“The class leader is playing favorites…” Xiong YaoYue pretended to wipe away tears, “I didn’t get a surprise party for my birthday! You don’t love me anymore!”

I wonder if it was because Xiong YaoYue often hangs out with Ai Mi, so she’s picked up the phrase Ai Mi frequently used on me.

The class leader shook her head seriously to Xiong YaoYue’s joke: “It’s not that I’m playing favorites. You’re not the same as Zhuang Ni, you’re already so cheerful that you don’t need a surprise birthday party to cheer you up, and besides, tomorrow happens to be Halloween…”

“So, does that mean we need to dress up as ghosts and monsters for the party?” Xiao Qin asked.

The class leader was embarrassed: “That’s not necessary. Zhuang Ni has been absent these past few days, so keep the party a secret from her. We’ll inform her after school tomorrow.”

“Ever since we started the evening study sessions, we don’t leave school until 8 pm!” Little Smart frowned, “Won’t that be too late? And won’t Zhuang Ni’s family celebrate her birthday?”

Loud Mouth popped a skittle in her mouth and said, “Don’t worry, Zhuang Ni is nocturnal. The later it gets, the more energetic she becomes. Plus, she hasn’t let her family celebrate her birthday for several years already.”

The class leader nodded, “Since there are no objections, the most important thing now is to decide on the venue for the party. My living room is too narrow and Xiao Zhe will be home…”

The surprise birthday party for Zhuang Ni can’t have any boys present, that’s common sense.

“If you don’t mind.” Gong CaiCai stuttered, “Please use my house! I was really happy when everyone came to my house for my birthday. I’d like Zhuang Ni to feel the same happiness…”

“Will your parents agree?” Xiong YaoYue interjected, “If we’re inviting Zhuang Ni, then your father would have to stay away. That’s such a hassle!”

“Actually…” Gong CaiCai confessed, “My parents are leaving on a business trip early tomorrow morning and I’ll be home alone at night. It would be great if someone could stay with me after the party…”

“I’ll bring some toiletries and stay after the party.” the class leader offered.

“Class leader, why don’t we all stay over?” Xiong YaoYue suggested excitedly, “We finish school so late, so the surprise party will probably end after 10 pm. It’s not safe for everyone to walk home by themselves!”

“That makes sense.” the class leader turned to Gong CaiCai, “Would it be a problem for you if we —— maybe including Zhuang Ni —— all stayed over at your place?”

“No, not at all!” Gong CaiCai quickly waved her hands, “I’ve heard Halloween is the festival of ghosts and I’d be troubled being alone at home. I hope everyone stays over to keep me company!”

“In that case, it’s settled.” the class leader said, “I’ll personally prepare the birthday cake and everyone else can do as we previously planned!”

They didn’t really invite many people to the birthday party and certainly didn’t invite me, a male. However, Xiao Qin let the news slip to me while seeking my approval, so I found out about it.

Actually, even if Xiao Qin hadn’t ‘informed’ me, it would have been hard to hide it from me. The class leader was planning to make the birthday cake herself at the VIP building, under the guidance of a French chef, using ready-made ingredients.

The class leader wasn’t the type to take free handouts, so in exchange, she would help the French chef prepare late-night snacks for Ai Mi and her bodyguards. Ai Mi has gradually become fond of the class leader’s cooking, especially her cola chicken wings.

Of course, the class leader didn’t have to go to the VIP building to make the cake. The main reason the class leader went to the VIP building was to play with Obama and Mi Ba. It was an important way for the class leader to relieve her stress. It didn’t matter how draining her studies and chores were, but simply spending time each week with these pets would rejuvenate her.

Despite having access to Obama and Mi Ba, the class leader still spent time at the Love Pet Hospital, caring for sick cats and dogs. It had already become a habit for her.

Halloween fell on a Friday this year, and after the surprise birthday party for Zhuang Ni, all the girls planned to stay at Gong CaiCai’s house. Since the next day was Saturday and it wasn’t a school day, they would be able to stay up late.

After Xiao Qin received permission to stay over at a classmate’s house from Auntie Ren, Auntie Ren turned around and called my dad to join her for a drink, seemingly burdened with some work-related troubles she wanted to vent about.

So, I became an unwanted child and had to spend Halloween alone at home.

“Damn it, you can’t leave me out! If you won’t include me, I’ll go hang out with Ai Mi! I’ll dress up as Frankenstein’s monster, carry a pumpkin lantern, and knock on the VIP building’s door while yelling ‘trick or treat’!”

Strangely, even though I told Ai Mi I’d be coming over tonight, the VIP building was dark and silent, as if everyone had moved out.

“Hello! Is anyone there?” I walked through the silent, dark hallway, feeling tense despite knowing this was probably one of Ai Mi’s pranks.

I knocked on room 101’s door, but it seemed unoccupied. I tried the handle, but it wouldn’t open.

“Really… Ai Mi must be hiding somewhere and planning to jump out and scare me, right? Americans really do take Halloween seriously…”

I took out my Swiss Army knife to use its flashlight. It provided me with a faint amount of light, but I couldn’t spot where Ai Mi might be hiding.

I continued forward, then tried the handle of room 103 and found it unlocked. I opened the door without much thought.

Immediately upon opening the door, I triggered some mechanism, and eerie music like ones from a Western horror movie, started to play.

“Ha, trying to scare me? It’s not going to be easy! I could tell the music was coming from inside room 103, but I knowingly walked into the tiger’s den. I boldly opened the door wider and wanted to rush in and see what was really going on.

“Bang!” “Ouch!”

The door hit something and Ai Mi’s scream followed.

Ai Mi was covered head to toe in a white sheet and dressed as a ghost with only two small holes to see through. She was hit on the head by the door I had abruptly opened and she fell comically backwards onto the floor.

So you were hiding behind a trash can between rooms 103 and 105! Did you play music in room 103 as a diversion? I guess it backfired, didn’t it? Also, the white sheet you used for your ghost costume was way too long! You could easily trip over it while walking. Did the door hit you when I opened it or did you trip over the sheet and then hit the door?

“Are you okay?” I quickly went to check if Ai Mi was injured.

Ai Mi struggled under the sheet and took quite some effort to free herself. She held her head in pain and complained to me with tears in her eyes:

“Why didn’t you just stand still? Normally, people would freeze in place when they hear scary music, or at least hesitate for a few seconds before acting! You acted without thinking, and that’s why the door hit me!”

I couldn’t help but smile as I comforted her: “It’s Halloween and I had already told you I was coming. I think it was obvious you were trying to scare me! Does it still hurt?”

I gently stroked her head for a while, then the lights in the hallway turned on and Peng TouSi emerged from room 103.

I thought it was some sort of mechanism, but it turned out it was Peng TouSi hiding in room 103 and playing the music on his phone when he heard me opening the door. If Ai Mi hadn’t hit the door, I might have been scared by Peng TouSi if I walked straight into room 103.

“Damn this sheet! It’s all your fault, Peng TouSi!” Ai Mi accused him, “It’s all because you gave me such a large sheet! It’s so inconvenient to walk in it! I know it’s because you deliberately didn’t want me to scare the manservant!”

Peng TouSi shrugged indifferently. I suddenly realized that perhaps Peng TouSi took my heart problems into consideration and intentionally sabotaged Ai Mi’s plan to scare me.

Ai Mi, who was fixated on scaring me on Halloween, insisted that I join her in room 101 to watch a horror movie.

However, I wasn’t a fan of Western zombie movies, I found them more disgusting than scary. Ironically, it was Ai Mi who got scared, and crawled into my arms.