Secret Messages

Chapter 1: The Secret Messages application

He started to explain his famous software to her, but he was so excited that he just waved his phone in front of Shancai's nose and spoke so fast that the young woman couldn't understand a word. Exasperated, Lizhen finally came to the rescue. "Qinghe, give her some space!" She grumbled as she gave him a slap on the back of the head. "She doesn't understand a word you're saying, idiot!"

The young man took a deep breath to calm down, then started again to explain, but he abruptly stopped when he saw their nutrition teacher passing by. It was time to go and sit in the amphitheater; the class was about to start.

Shancai saw him fidgeting in his seat during the whole class. The teacher called him to order several times, and Lizhen hit him several times on the head with a notebook, exasperated. When the class finally ended, Qinghe jumped out of his box like the devil, telling Shancai that he was waiting for her at the exit to explain everything.

Lizhen put one of her hands on the girl's shoulder with compassion and walked out as well. Shancai sighed, a little tired, then thought that Qinghe's new project might, on the contrary, allow her to change her mind and forget about Lei a little. She straightened herself up, smiled as cheerfully as possible, and hurried to the exit.

Unfortunately, when she found her two friends, they were talking with the members of the F4, or rather the F3. The three boys were facing Qinghe, each brandishing his mobile phone under his nose. Shancai hastened to join them, worried. "Can you explain the notification we just received?" Daoming Si asked, frowning, irritated. "It doesn't look like I agreed to participate in anything!"

Beside him, looking mad, Ximen and Meizuo nodded, ready to fight. Desperate, Qinghe glanced at Lizhen, who seemed embarrassed, and tried to explain. "You have been selected to be part of a sample of testers!" He said, with a nervous, tense smile. "This is a surprise! No one knew about it!" Realizing Shancai was there, he rushed up to her and grabbed her elbow. "Look, Shancai was chosen too, and she didn't know it!"

Shancai's eyes widened, and she quickly grabbed her phone. Indeed, she had just received a notification from the Mingde Student Council. "Congratulations! You're one of the Secret Message testers. To begin the experience, please download the application to your smartphone and follow the instructions."

Seeing her dismayed look, the three members of the F3 could only see that Qinghe had not lied. Shancai was utterly unaware of the program. She turned to her friend and, like the other three young men, brandished her phone in front of him. "Can you explain, please?" She firmly said.

Seeing Qinghe's disappointed look, Lizhen decided finally to help him. "That's what he's been trying to explain to you all morning, Shancai." She says calmly and patiently. "As indicated in the message, the four of you are part of a group of testers that we have carefully selected to try out our brand-new Secret Messages application."

Daoming Si frowned even more. "Secret Messages? What kind of crappy name is that?" He mumbled, always in a bad mood. "Sounds like a title for a pre-teen romance novel." Qinghe's face looked so distressed that Shancai understood he surely was the one who gave that name to the application. She elbowed Daoming Si, glaring at him.

"Of course," Lizhen continued, choosing her words carefully, "there is no obligation to participate. If you don't want to be part of the experiment, just don't download the application." Qinghe moaned desperately. "But if you could still participate, that would be great!" He whined. "If the students find out that the famous F4s are using the application, they're all going to want it!"

Lizhen immediately silenced him with a discreet (but painful) kick, and she turned to Shancai and the F3 with an apologetic smile. "Let me show you the application anyway, and you can make your decision afterward. Ok?" she asked, crossing her fingers behind her back.