In the high school located in the central area of Hope Island, Lily sat in the library and quietly looked up various materials.
Her hair was always loose and was pinned behind her ear with a pearl hairpin.
The upper body is a loose beige sweater, and the lower body is a short skirt in the same light color.
The simplest outfit actually highlights her unique temperament.
Sitting next to her was her good friend and classmate Maya.
She has helped Lily a lot during this period, and now Lily can basically keep up with her studies.
After such a long period of study, Lily has grown a lot mentally.
Occasionally thinking back to her past self, she suddenly realized that she was too childish.
All the ideas are too simple and naive, and they do not consider other people's perspectives at all.
She is now completely different from who she was more than a year ago. The childlike purity on her face has disappeared, and now there is only gentleness and softness.
Lily was happy about this, as this was the purpose of her coming to the academy, to grow up.
In order to cover up her outstanding appearance so that she could concentrate on her studies, Lily even put on light makeup to make herself look more ordinary.
But the effect was not very good, and there was still an endless stream of male classmates who tried to court her.
Lily despised them for taking the living expenses given by the Governor and doing things that had nothing to do with study.
Just when Lily was absorbed in reading, Maya nudged her gently with her arm and pointed at the mechanical alarm clock on the wall with the pen in her hand.
It was time for dinner and they should leave.
Lily nodded to her friend, put the books and pens on the table into the bag on the stool beside her, and left one after another.
After walking out of the library, the two girls held each other's arms and talked about topics that only girls were interested in.
Studying is very stressful, and this is their way of relieving each other's stress.
Just as Maya was about to go to the cafeteria, Lily stopped her.
"Let's go out to eat. How about the Red Pliers Restaurant? I'll treat you. You helped me a lot during my previous defense. I want to thank you very much."
He said he was helping out a lot, but in fact, it was just an excuse. Lily understood that if she didn't say that, given the other party's frugality, he probably wouldn't go.
She also chose a low-end restaurant just to make the other person feel more comfortable.
Although Lily can take her friend to more upscale restaurants, she can even take her to those top-notch private restaurants.
But she understands that if the contributions of both parties in a relationship are inconsistent, the relationship can easily deteriorate.
A good friendship also needs to be maintained.
"Okay, I'll go there occasionally to splurge. Their salt-baked lobster pasta tastes very good." Maya gladly accepted Lily's invitation.
They took the tram to leave the center of the island and eventually walked into a semi-old restaurant in a small alley near the edge of the pier. A huge crab claw hung above the shop.
This is a very simple family restaurant. The dad cooks, the son serves as the waiter, and the mom does the purchasing.
Now the supply of materials on the island has been completely restored, and even small restaurants like this have a wide variety of food choices.
After Lily and Maya ordered the food they wanted, they continued to chat happily while drinking sweet banana drinks.
The topic between girls always revolves around boys. Lily asked her companion with a sly look on her face: "Are you and Ike having some affair? I heard that he is your boyfriend now?"
Maya was not shy to admit it. "Well, we met on the Governor's birthday before. He is not bad and has been selected by the Navy Staff."
"There is a high probability that there will be no war in the near future. Working in the navy is a good job, with high salary, plenty of vacation time, and housing can also be allocated. Although it is only a single room, at least I don't have to pay rent after I leave the academy."
After hearing what the other party said, Lily showed a disappointed expression on her face, "Maya, you obviously know that this is not what I want to hear."
"Then what do you want to hear?" Maya looked at her in surprise.
"The love between you two. Did he do anything romantic for you? How did he pursue you in the beginning?"
Maya took another sip of the drink in the cup with the straw. "There's no love. I don't like his appearance, and he likes to pick his nose. I'm his girlfriend purely for resource reasons. After all, I'm not particularly pretty, so it's great to find someone like him."
Then she looked up at Lily. "Don't show that expression. He doesn't have much feelings for me. He wanted to pursue you before. But after he rationally realized that he had no chance of pursuing you, he chose me."
"I like rational people who can control and calculate."
"Uh" Lily suddenly didn't know how to respond.
Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Maya immediately changed the subject.
"It's okay, Lily. You're so beautiful. If I were a man, I'd like you. Oh, so many people pursued you, but you didn't agree. What kind of man do you like?"
Lily showed helplessness on her face. This question was almost a constant topic between them. "My dear Ms. Maya, can't we talk about something else? Why do we have to talk about this? There are more things in the world than love."
Maya looked at her with a hint of strangeness in her eyes. "Isn't it time for us to talk about this at our age? Do you want to wait until you are 20 to talk about it? By then, you will be working and you will have no time. Besides, weren't you the one who brought up this topic first?"
Lily sighed and rolled her eyes upwards. "I'm not thinking about those things for now. And those boys are too childish."
"Childish?" Maya's eyes widened. "So you like something more mature? Then you didn't agree when Dr. Miran invited you to dinner."
"Oh, I'm not talking about their immaturity in age. I'm talking about their way of thinking which is too immature. They don't have any ideals in their hearts at all. Their souls are too empty. Their thoughts about the future are nothing more than a better job and a bigger house."
At this time, the food they ordered was served. Lily picked up the metal knife and fork and began to eat. She ate very quickly, and her cheeks puffed up like a little hamster.
A lot of habits from the rat period have changed, but there are still some habits that require some time to get used to.
Maria inserted the fork into the brown dough, rolled it into a ball, and stuffed it into her mouth. "Ideal? Lily, have you read too many novels? They are all fake, made up by those guys to make money."
Lily smiled at her and didn't say anything in rebuttal.
Everyone, we are collecting names for Earthsea fans. Do you have any good ideas
(End of this chapter)