Chapter 304

First-year Class A.

The morning sun shone through the clean glass windows onto the neatly arranged desks.

When Natsume Chikage returned to the classroom, he immediately received attention and greetings from many classmates.

"Natsume-kun, congratulations on winning the shogi match!"

"Impressive, won another round!"

"Keep it up for the next match!"

He smiled, responded politely one by one, and patiently chatted for a few sentences before finally being able to pass through the crowd and return to his seat.

"Good morning, Natsume-kun." Xiyuanji Qilai turned her head, a sweet smile on her face as usual.

"Good morning." Natsume Chikage nodded slightly, took his school bag off his shoulder, and began to organize his desk.

Xiyuanji Qilai looked at him, suddenly blinked, and said in a tone that was slightly mysterious and full of desire to share:

"Natsume-kun, do you know?"

Natsume Chikage put away his textbooks and looked up:

"What is it?"

Xiyuanji Qilai leaned in a little closer and explained in a low voice:

"After coming back this morning, I saw a new notice posted on the school bulletin board."

"It says the principal resigned because of poor health and went back to his hometown to recuperate."

"And the former vice-principal has now been promoted to the new principal."

Hearing this, Natsume Chikage showed a confused look.

"Why did the principal change so suddenly when school just started?"

"The previous principal... didn't he look quite healthy?"

"Resigning and going home because of 'not feeling well' at this point in time?"

"I always feel... a bit strange."

Hearing his words, Xiyuanji Qilai's eyes lit up instantly, and a look of surprise at "finding a like-minded person" appeared on her face.

She even took the initiative to approach, bringing that pretty and cute face extremely close to him.

Clear eyes sparkled with excitement.

"I knew it! Natsume-kun, you are curious about this matter just like me, right?"

Natsume Chikage was startled by this sudden close contact.

The girl's warm breath was close at hand, and the faint scent of shampoo lingered on the tip of his nose.

He subconsciously widened his eyes, his cheeks flushed slightly.

At the same time, he couldn't help but complain again in his heart: Why does classmate Xiyuanji always stick so close without warning while talking?

At this moment, Yukimura Suzune, who had just taken out her textbook from her school bag and turned back, happened to witness this scene.

Her brows immediately furrowed unhappily.

"Xi·yuan·ji·Qi·lai—"

She reached out, pressed her palm directly on Xiyuanji Qilai's forehead, and pushed her face back unceremoniously.

The action was crisp and neat.

"How many times have I told you, don't always get close to others suddenly!"

Only then did Xiyuanji Qilai realize she hadn't controlled the distance well, and lowered her head a bit, her cheeks flushed.

"Sorry, Natsume-kun... I was talking about this with others just now, and everyone didn't have any special reaction, only you noticed the abnormality immediately, and I suddenly got a bit too curious..."

"But I'm really curious—can our Collection Club investigate it?"

Her eyes lit up again, full of anticipation.

"I think there might be more to this than meets the eye, maybe it can be a very good subject to include in our Collection Club's journal!"

Yukimura Suzune took a deep breath, seemingly wanting to calm her emotions.

She put down the book in her hand and spoke in her unique, cold, and rational tone:

"Just a boring little interlude."

"There is no need to include it at all."

Xiyuanji Qilai asked persistently:

"Why do you say that?"

Yukimura Suzune sat up straight and began to analyze logically:

"On the day of enrollment, the principal actually stood at the school gate for a while and talked to several school leaders."

"At that time, I noticed that he would occasionally have a few suppressed coughs."

"Plus the principal doesn't look young, at least fifty or sixty years old."

"At this age, having some potential problems with his health is the most normal thing."

"It hasn't been many days since school started."

"If the principal himself had plans to resign, then the period from the holiday to the start of school is just the right month or so needed for work handover and resignation."

She paused and threw out a key piece of information.

"And the most important point is, I heard from seniors in higher grades that under normal circumstances, the principal should be the one to give a speech on stage at the opening ceremony."

"But our opening ceremony last week..."

"The one who gave the speech on stage was the vice-principal, not the principal himself."

"Combined with the fact that the vice-principal has now been successfully promoted to principal."

Yukimura Suzune concluded, her tone firm.

"Combining various signs, the principal's resignation was by no means sudden, but planned long ago. I presume he had already submitted an application to the board of directors."

"It just wasn't made public."

After listening, Natsume Chikage showed an admiring look and gave a thumbs up sincerely.

"Reasonable and well-founded, convincing."

He said this, but another thought flashed vaguely in his heart.

He vaguely remembered that the only day Yudang Zhiji appeared at school seemed to be the last day the principal appeared in public on campus.

Since then, the figure of that principal had never appeared again...

However, this association might be too dark and lacked evidence.

He didn't say it out loud.

Moreover, Yukimura Suzune's reasoning logic was rigorous, and it sounded reasonable.

Xiyuanji Qilai blinked her lively eyes, carefully savoring Yukimura Suzune's words.

"It seems... that's really the case."

She clapped her hands, and an admiring smile bloomed on her face.

"Suzune is so amazing! You analyzed it all at once!"

Being looked at and praised by the two like this, an imperceptible fluctuation flashed across Yukimura Suzune's originally cold cheeks.

She subconsciously raised her hand and gently tucked a strand of falling hair behind her ear.

Her chin lifted slightly, revealing a look of "this is only natural".

"Just a simple deduction based on existing information."

Her tone tried to maintain flatness, but listening carefully, it seemed a little lighter than usual.

"As long as you observe and think carefully, you can reach the same conclusion, it's no big deal."

"Actually, I guessed it roughly at the beginning, I just didn't want to say it."

"If it weren't for you asking, Qilai, I wouldn't bother to analyze such a small interlude in school administration."

"Instead of analyzing this, I might as well go and analyze those 'Seven Wonders' circulating in the school."

Xiyuanji Qilai had a flash of inspiration when she heard the words "Seven Wonders".

She clasped her hands together gently and said excitedly:

"Since that's the case, why don't we set the theme for our Collection Club's next activity as collecting the 'Seven Wonders' of the private Moonlight Academy?"

Her eyes were shining, full of anticipation as she looked at Natsume Chikage and Yukimura Suzune in turn.

Natsume Chikage felt that this proposal was quite attractive and nodded with interest.

"Sounds quite interesting, I have no problem."