Su Nuan's face changed faster than Chen Zhi could flip the pages of a book.
Chen Zhi thought to himself, You're so damn materialistic. The moment you heard I was going to a vocational college, your attitude did a complete 180.
At this moment, Zhao Jin, who had been sitting on the side like an invisible man, felt his time to shine had come.
He straightened his back and spoke in a condescending, experienced tone: "Actually, with your grades, going to a tech school like Beida Jade Bird to learn a skill isn't a bad idea. After all, you know how the job market is right now. Not everyone has as many choices as those of us who scored 650 on the college entrance exam."
For a moment, Chen Zhi forgot his vocational student persona and replied with a hint of sarcasm, "Oh? Sounds like you're a top-scoring scholar, bro. Which university did you get into?"
Zhao Jin didn't catch Chen Zhi's sarcasm. The corners of his mouth twitched upward uncontrollably, but he still waved his hand in a pretend display of modesty. "It's nothing, really. I just got lucky and barely made the cutoff for Peking University."
After saying that, he deliberately added, "You know, there are only a handful of people in our entire province who can get into Peking University."
Chen Zhi was genuinely a little surprised this time.
He obviously hadn't expected this simp to actually get into Peking University. Going to Peking University and still being a simp—what a damn disgrace to the school.
Seeing the shocked expression on Chen Zhi's face, Zhao Jin's vanity was immensely satisfied.
He patted Chen Zhi's shoulder and said earnestly, "Don't be discouraged. Even though Beida Jade Bird is just a vocational school, as long as you're willing to work hard, coming out to fix computers or something is still better than just coasting through a second-tier university. By the way, what's your major? Excavator operation or culinary arts?"
"I'm studying computer science," Chen Zhi made up on the spot, then fired back, "What about you? Which department at Peking University? Guanghua School of Management? Or Yuanpei College?"
The smile on Zhao Jin's face froze.
His eyes darted around, and he stammered for a good while, "Nurs... Nursing."
Chen Zhi suddenly felt relieved.
After all that bragging, it was the nursing department at the medical school.
No wonder he was at Peking University and still acting like a simp. He just slipped in through a lower-score loophole. That explained it.
"Nursing is great," Chen Zhi gave a thumbs up, his face full of sincerity. "Angels in white, saving lives and healing the wounded. Male nurses are especially in high demand right now. Later on, inserting urinary catheters for patients in the hospital—that's highly technical work."
Zhao Jin's face turned the color of pig liver.
He argued frantically, his face red: "What do you know! Universities in China are only divided into Tsinghua/Peking and the rest! As long as you enter the gates of Peking University, you are different from ordinary mortals like you! What's wrong with Peking University's nursing program? It's still Peking University! Do you know how much higher the nursing cutoff is compared to the first-tier university line? It's a height people like you wouldn't even dare to dream of!"
Chen Zhi nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes. Even a care worker from Peking University is a gold-plated care worker."
Zhao Jin choked on his words, half-dead from frustration. Just as he was about to blow up, Su Nuan, who was sitting next to him, looked at her watch impatiently.
Zhao Jin instantly switched back to simp mode, turning to fawn over Su Nuan. "Nuan Nuan, when school starts, come visit me in Beijing. I'll take you on a tour of Peking University. Our school's Weiming Lake and Boya Pagoda are famous attractions nationwide. I'll take pictures for you then."
Su Nuan continued swiping on her phone without even lifting her eyelids.
Deep down, she actually looked down on Zhao Jin too.
A grown man studying nursing—it was embarrassing just to say it out loud. What kind of great future could he possibly have?
But on second thought, even though Zhao Jin's major was lackluster, he still carried the prestige of Peking University.
Once in Beijing, using him as a stepping stone, she might be able to meet more high-quality rich kids from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management or School of Economics and Management.
Thinking of this, Su Nuan forced a slight smile. "Sure, we'll see when the time comes."
Zhao Jin was instantly pumped up like he'd been injected with adrenaline, smiling so wide his back teeth showed.
"Let's go, let's go! Time to practice driving!"
At this moment, the instructor pushed the door open and shouted into the room.
Because it was a VIP class, there were only three students assigned to one car.
Chen Zhi was the first to slide into the driver's seat.
Zhao Jin and Su Nuan sat in the back, while the instructor took the passenger seat.
"Have you ever driven before?" The instructor was a middle-aged man in his forties. Because they had paid a premium price, his attitude was extremely amiable.
"Does driving a tractor count?" Chen Zhi asked as he fastened his seatbelt.
The instructor laughed. "It counts, they both have four wheels. Come on, step on the clutch, shift into first gear, slowly release the clutch..."
Chen Zhi was actually a veteran driver in his past life.
The problem was, he hadn't touched a steering wheel in a long time. This was his first time driving since he was reborn all those years ago.
Chen Zhi stepped on the gas pedal, the car jerked forward violently, and then with a clunk, the engine stalled.
The car body shook violently.
Sitting in the back, Su Nuan had just taken out her compact to touch up her makeup. Her hand slipped, and the powder puff smacked right onto her nose, making her look like a white-nosed clown.
"Ah! Do you even know how to drive?!" Su Nuan stomped her feet in anger.
Zhao Jin immediately seized this opportunity to show off.
He mocked sarcastically from the back seat, "Oh my, as expected of a vocational college student. You can't even figure out how to start the car. If you actually get on the road, wouldn't you become a menace to society?"
Chen Zhi restarted the engine and ignored him.
"Don't rush, don't rush, take it slow." The instructor was quite patient; after all, these folks were the VIPs who had paid 5,800 yuan. "Release the clutch slowly, find the biting point."
Chen Zhi tried to get the feel of it.
"Hahahaha!"
Zhao Jin's undisguised laughter came from the back. "Bro, if you really can't do it, just sign up for an automatic license. Automatic transmission is better suited for someone as uncoordinated as you. Honestly, if you don't have the skills, why take on the challenge?"
In order to show off in front of his goddess, Zhao Jin started relentlessly belittling Chen Zhi.
"Forget it, forget it," Su Nuan said, rolling her eyes while wiping the powder off her nose. "We're all in the same class, we'll be seeing each other around anyway."
Gripping the steering wheel, Chen Zhi listened to the awful pair in the back echoing each other and felt absolutely disgusted.
If a tiger doesn't show its teeth, do you take me for Hello Kitty?
I originally just wanted to keep a low profile and get my driver's license, but you're forcing me to flex, aren't you?
Taking advantage of the moment the instructor got out to set up the traffic cones, Chen Zhi pulled out his phone, ready to call for backup.
At a time like this, he had to call over his soft, sweet, and obedient childhood sweetheart, to give these two ignorant country bumpkins a devastating blow of peer-level shock and awe.
As long as Lin Wanwan stood there, without even needing to say a word, that overly confident average girl Su Nuan would be so ashamed she'd want to find a hole to crawl into.
Chen Zhi's fingers typed rapidly.
[Chen Zhi: What are you doing, Wanwan?]
[Chen Zhi: Driving practice is so tiring and hot, and my classmates are weirdos. If only I could eat a popsicle right now and hug my sweet, soft girlfriend. (pouting.jpg)]
Less than two seconds after the message was sent, his phone buzzed.
[Wanwan: Hmm~ Chen Zhi, are you missing me?]
[Wanwan: Okay, I miss you too. I want to bring you a popsicle and let you hug me too.]
Just as a smile crept onto the corners of Chen Zhi's mouth, the next message made his heart sink.
[Wanwan: But I can't get away right now. (crying.jpg)]
[Wanwan: I'm participating in the auditions for "The Voice of Huaxia"! I originally wanted to give you a surprise after you got your driver's license. I want to be a big star and support you in the future!]
[Wanwan: It's almost my turn to go on stage, and we're not allowed to leave casually. Chen Zhi, be a good boy and practice driving. When I advance, I'll go back and give you a reward!]
Looking at the messages on the screen, Chen Zhi was stunned.
"The Voice of Huaxia"?
This girl acts so fast?
In his previous life, Lin Wanwan became famous overnight just by participating in "The Voice".
But the problem is... who is going to come to his rescue now?
Chen Zhi didn't give up and scrolled through his contacts again.
Pei Ningxue?
She seemed to have been grounded by her family because of the incident with the delinquent guy.
Then... Li Zhiyi?
But he quickly shook his head.
With Li Zhiyi's introverted personality, plus the fact that she had taken on several tutoring jobs over the summer vacation and was busy off her feet every day, it was better not to bother her.
Chen Zhi put down his phone, looking at the smug Zhao Jin and that Su Nuan in the rearview mirror.
An unprecedented sense of loneliness welled up in his heart.
His girlfriend went off to become a big star.
His good bro was locked up at home.
His good friend was busy with work-study.
So he was the only loner left, suffering the crap from these two jerks here?
In all his life, this was the first time Chen Zhi couldn't ask a girl out.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
