Chapter 697: NO．66: Why don't you take a look at the New Year's meeting?

NO．66: Why don't you take a look at the New Year's meeting?

A few minutes ago, the girls' conversation sounded indeed dull, all being similar self-introductions.

It was far more formal than when Aomo had introduced them on his behalf earlier, and also seemed more superfluous.

After all, aside from Miss Kong, who is neither familiar with Aomo nor has had any interaction with him, the other four all have been in a chat group together.

Moreover, there is more than one such group, and just now there was Aomo's earlier doubt about Qianming:

'As for why she knows the reason she is in Heaven's Gate City, perhaps it's just as Qianming would know her.'

Humans all have the instinct to form cliques, regardless of gender or age.

The difference lies only in that male groups care more about thresholds and are more calculative of gains and losses.

This is akin to comparing combat strength in beast fights, whose essence is a 'comparison', and it is mostly led by male groups.

Better comparison, stronger comparison, and the underlying logic of this behavior is 'I want to choose the best'.

This is an inward mindset: 'Among the monsters I've seen, I want to find the strongest', 'Between two Ultramen, I want a stronger Ultraman', and once they have a result in mind, looking at others often brings disdain: 'Anyway, it's not as good as XXX'.

Even if that unit itself is sufficiently strong, they will certainly have dissatisfying aspects.

And placing those aspects in other units might make them better.

Thus they are never satisfied; they harbor in their hearts a subconscious called 'comparison', which never fades, yet their minds constantly draw an invisible boundary of 'only one can be kept', so the beast-fighting topic remains evergreen, and beast-fighters never wholeheartedly cheer for their own goal.

Because they are always waiting for a better goal.

The logic of 'comparison' still stirs in their hearts, making them seem more rational and making them unwilling to give their all to unimportant matters—those who started forming cliques in elementary school all place utmost importance on the faction itself.

That is very important, and when they grow up, doing similar things depends on whether the target organization is sufficiently attractive to them.

But female groups are different.

It's not that they don't compare, but they have a more emotional underlying logic.

For them, a more generally suitable example standard would be a work.

A film or TV show, a novel, a game—no matter what work, as long as it satisfies them, moves them, and makes them happy, then to them it is currently the best, with nothing comparable.

No matter how many flaws the work has, how niche it is, or how many people dislike it, as long as they like it, as long as they still like it for now, then that work is undoubtedly the best.

They will even spare no effort to promote, publicize, and praise its excellence, rather than waiting for a better work to overturn its status.

This wholehearted emotional investment is precisely the driving force that leads them to do things that others see as 'irrational' or 'not worthwhile'.

Nothing is not worthwhile; everything is worthwhile. In this world there are many persistences that others see as not worthwhile, and the ultimate arbiter of value is yourself.

Indeed, the above is merely a relatively common phenomenon logic, and does not mean that all men and women are like this.

The human heart is the hardest thing to define; people's thoughts often change at different stages, even reversing, and there also exists a phenomenon common to both men and women—wholeheartedly recommending niche favorite works.

However, it must be noted that in the realm of forming cliques, women often readily foster such groups due to the aforementioned logic.

Then, Miss Shinjo Qianming, who is the founder of the first group, also cannot help but acknowledge that there may exist groups whose members are highly consistent, except that she herself is not in them.

In fact, substituting Qianming representative, Ludaofu Xiangzheng, Qielennina, etc., the situation is likewise the same.

Thus, the vertical and horizontal alliances would also become simpler.

Simply by opening their own phones, terminals, and even using source energy, they can easily achieve some 'secret' communication and cooperation.

Why put quotation marks around this 'secret'?

Because everyone might be an insider.

A and B share intelligence, exchange messages; B then allies with C, feigning opposition to A—and so on.

Among these girls, aside from Miss Kong, who truly doesn't understand this crowd and came merely based on hearsay, intimate girlfriend chats, and light online interaction to try to give Texas a boost, the others' mutual understanding is actually already quite familiar.

Especially the Qianming representative who has a part-time detective job, and the future head of household with extremely strong information control, also the student council president.

But they still put on an act of not knowing, rather than saying 'I have a huge advantage, I'll just F2A now'.

After all, everyone who shows up here are 'early runners' who understand the 'track reservation requirements', and are not as reckless as the morning batch that rushed into the big escape without even finding the correct mock track.

And among these, the most important thing is still the athletes' own mindset.

That is, do you really want to choose this competition?

As an unnamed Triple Crown winner said, people's liking often has no reason; a vague fondness often arrives suddenly, but that is merely fondness, merely liking.

It has not upgraded to love; it may advance with time, or it may wear down over time.

It comes suddenly, causing some trouble in the heart, yet it's hard to say whether it's good or bad.

No one is a steadfast long‑awaited lover, nor does anyone who feels a slight flutter necessarily become a love‑obsessed brain.

Some merely have a small expectation of spending a somewhat special day together.

The few big escapees in the morning are likewise the same.

Thus, up to now, this competition has not yet truly begun.

Everyone merely subconsciously secured a familiar spot at the Saichang, intending to come to the venue to see whether it's grass or dirt, whether the grass field is good or heavy, and what the weather is like—only then did they not expect there to be others with ideas.

And there is not just one.

Ah this…

Do the mock races really have this many contestants?

There are even rumors of contestants outside the Saichang.

Some people are innately unafraid of challenges; having competitors actually adds a bit of fighting spirit. Some people simply can't grasp their own thoughts, wandering around and relying on their girlfriends to keep them from leaving. Still others don't care about the trophy itself, but subconsciously feel that if the competition has their sponsorship, they ought to go look at the trophy.

And there are still others…

Holding the mock race's trophy, they sat in the judge's seat, surveyed all the contestants before the table, and then spoke up, asking:

"Little Snake Little Snake, why don't we go to the Qixi Festival tonight to see how it is? Anyway, you have nothing else to do tonight."

"?"

Not long ago, Aomo was still explaining why he felt reassured saying that Ludaofu Xiangzheng would tell cold jokes, yet now he somewhat fails to understand the logic behind her sudden proposal.

Just moments ago, he had been describing how the president's overly perfect image in the student council and public eye actually alienates people, and that occasional cold jokes, especially somewhat clumsy ones, can instead draw people closer.

That is both the 'flaw' inherent in the oppressive emperor who makes people breathless, and proof of her efforts to enliven the atmosphere.

Honestly, in terms of approachability, her deadpan jokes add nothing at all.

But often, an excellent person only needs to show their friendly disposition to make others feel like they're basking in a spring breeze.

This reasoning left even Rudolf and Qielienina pondering, while Miss Kong kept nodding, as if deeply resonating—though I don't know what kind of qualified bigwig one might have seen in the theater of Heaven Gate City.

And most importantly, Qianming obviously couldn't come up with any rebuttal.

All we could see was that after she had been silent for several seconds, stewing, she just angrily buried her head and sent a message typing: "You wait, when I catch you later I won't help you!"

It's clear that those suffering deeply from the president's deadpan jokes are not limited to the student council alone.

But—

——How did this topic jump to evening?

Looking over at Qian opposite, Aomo still remembered how she had been quiet and still earlier, as if patiently waiting for him to improvise on the spot.

And now he's wondering whether the aliens' tag will transfer disorderly.

Whether, after he goes a while without seeing Bi Ze's alien posts, there will definitely be an 'alien' tag appearing on the people around him.

What? You're talking about a new universe?

Space people and aliens are not the same, at least when describing a person's nature.

"Saying there's nothing is going too far—I clearly still have several pieces…?"

Pondering the alien mystery didn't hinder Aomo's double-threaded replies in the slightest, but before he could finish speaking he felt several pairs of eyes on him, one pair brimming with obvious hostility—that was Miss Kong.

Aomo couldn't help but wonder how his work could offend the other side, when he then heard Qian say:

"Would it be okay to push organizing those few documents to tomorrow? You have nothing scheduled tomorrow, we're already in Heaven Gate City—might as well try the Qixi Festival song here."

"Right right, the Rhodes Island branch here also has a stall cooperating at the Qixi Festival!"

Just earlier Miss Kong had been giving him a hostile look, but now she raised her hand excitedly, making Aomo once again marvel at how fickle some people are.

Furthermore, worrying that Suzi, Chazuo, and Bo Fang might become star idols in the future, would they also become this hard to get along with?

But no matter what, this idea is too far-fetched; for now he still has to face the latter half of what the other side threw out:

"Lin Dun, want to go check it out? I heard you also know Xing Xiong—she's helping friends out there too!"

Do you all from Rhodes Island use the same move?

This inevitably reminded Aomo of Bi Cui Ke Si's invitation this morning.

It's the same Rhodes Island event, using friends as an excuse—what's up? Could Rhodes Island actually be some sort of multi-talented performer training base?