By late October, the temperature had gradually stabilized, and even Shen Nian had started wearing long pants and a jacket.
The classroom air conditioning was hardly ever turned on now. When taking a nap in the classroom, one no longer needed to use wet wipes to wipe away the sticky, fine sweat upon waking up.
Today was October 21st, a Tuesday, with a physical education class coming up later.
Shen Nian stood by the window, watching the junior students below rushing to the school store. At a glance, everyone was bundled up tightly. Even Lin Xiyuan on weekends wasn't wearing her pretty little skirts anymore.
Compared to the boys, the girls had started wearing jackets earlier. Xia Yanchun had long since switched to loose autumn clothes, always buying her school uniform a size larger. And since Xia Yanchun's figure couldn't quite fill out the clothes, wearing the school jacket only made her appear even more petite and cute.
Xia Yanchun was relatively normal; the real petite one was the "loli girl." She wasn't even 1.6 meters tall, had a soft personality, and looked easy to bully. Thankfully, the girls in their class had decent personalities. If she encountered some bad apples, she'd undoubtedly get picked on.
"There are still plenty of good people in our class," Shen Nian couldn't help but sigh.
Even Lan Fukai, who seemed to dislike him, was just a bit cocky. He wasn't exactly bad. Who isn't a bit proud and arrogant at eighteen? As for Huang Chen... Shen Nian didn't know if he was bad or not, but he certainly didn't like him.
They weren't that close to begin with, but getting caught bad-mouthing someone behind their back and then acting like nothing happened... tsk, hard to describe.
"What good people? Me?" Chen Dong turned his head to look.
"Not you."
"So, me playing Ululu, blocking the bridge with a backpack full of family photos until I get lost, doesn't make me a good person?"
"What are you even muttering? I don't understand."
Shen Nian's mouth twitched. He pulled Chen Dong to go to the restroom. After washing his hands, he left two wet handprints on Chen Dong's back as a reward for accompanying him.
"Hey, Chen Dong, why do you have 'Sea Overturning Seals' on your back?" Ma Mingfan saw it and immediately laughed.
"Dammit, Shen Nian, at it again."
Shen Nian laughed heartily, "We're bros, just bear with it."
Then he got slapped twice by Chen Dong, who also snatched two packs of snacks from his backpack.
So, the bad guy was right beside Shen Nian all along.
Shen Nian sighed softly. Being hit and robbed, he had nothing to say. Returning good for evil—after all, good people like him were rare.
Physical Education class.
The warm-up required two laps around the track. The clever "loli girl" obediently stood to the side, pretending it was that time of the month, so she wouldn't have to run. The PE teacher didn't know the students well; otherwise, he'd definitely catch many girls faking their period.
They acted all weak during PE class, but once early dismissal was announced, they'd be sprinting to the cafeteria.
Eight hundred meters was as easy as breathing for Shen Nian. The weather was cool, and he barely broke a sweat. In contrast, Xia Yanchun was already panting heavily before even reaching the finish line.
"You seem a bit of a noob."
"I don't want to talk to someone who slacks off."
"What do you mean? I was just running at the back, not skipping it."
"Anyway, I didn't see it. I only know you used to often slack off, jog half a lap slowly, and then blend back in when others started their second lap." Xia Yanchun puffed out hot air, unzipped her jacket to breathe, with many messy strands of hair stuck to her forehead. Exercise had tinted her face a soft, pinkish-white blush.
"That was then, this is now. You can't say that."
Shen Nian rubbed his chin, "Anyway, I did run. This is pure slander and false accusation."
"Hmph, you ran, so you ran. It's none of my business."
Being called a noob was commonplace. Xia Yanchun didn't mind. Physically, she and Shen Nian were incomparable. She accepted being a noob in that regard. But academically, Shen Nian was equally a noob compared to her.
Six hundred points is already strong, but too bad you met me.
We're both noobs, just in different areas. But since liberal arts students don't take PE exams and value grades more, she, with the better grades, wins.
A major victory, the superiority is clear.
The clouds drifted. Xia Yanchun ignored Shen Nian. Seeing him reach out to brush her hair, she awkwardly dodged. What kind of person is he? Can't he wait until we get home to play around? With so many people around, have some shame!
Even after being rumored to like Lin Xiyuan, he's still so careless...
...
...
Oh my god!
Shen Nian liking Lin Xiyuan was fake.
But Shen Nian liking Xia Yanchun was real!
Thinking of this, Xia Yanchun felt completely off. Her almond-shaped eyes looked at Shen Nian, and the more she looked, the more uncomfortable she felt.
Wait, where's my big, proper rival?!
This is... too messed up!
Did this guy get Stockholm Syndrome or something? We're supposed to be siblings and rivals who bicker and fight every day, but now...
I see you as a rival, and you actually want to () me?
Xia Yanchun didn't dare to think further. She scurried off to huddle and chat with other girls, as if talking to others could straighten out the tangled mess in her head.
Avoidance is shameful but effective.
Shen Nian sighed. This one's even more of a bad woman. Helped apply medicine for her a few days ago, and once her foot was better, she kicked him away.
Kept saying stuff about not grazing near home, yet doesn't refuse when I hold her hand or brush her hair. A real player, trying to keep me on the hook.
That's just how Chun Bao is.
The girls were chattering away noisily over there. Although Shen Nian could squeeze in to chat, there was no need.
Chen Dong went to the basketball court. Shen Nian found Ma Mingfan at the back.
He raised a fist.
Ma Mingfan looked at him for a moment, then at Shen Nian's raised fist, his expression shifting uncertainly.
"What? You're not trying to hit me, are you?"
“Where's our understanding as Naruto fans?” Shen Nian smiled, like Itachi looking at Sasuke, like Minato looking at Naruto, like Naruto looking at Boruto—harmonious, friendly, friendship like family.
Ma Mingfan suddenly understood and bumped fists with Shen Nian.
"We Naruto fans..."
"Buy me a cola, keep the change." Shen Nian opened his fist, revealing a five-yuan bill inside.
Ma Mingfan: ...?
Bruh.
Why does this feel like when my family gave me ten bucks to buy soy sauce and I got to keep the change? Shen Nian isn't my old man.
Got bamboozled.
No, got disrespected.
However, the current Ma Mingfan was no longer the same as before.
The Ma Mingfan standing before Shen Nian was one who had accumulated watching "Candy Super Sweet" a hundred times.
"I wasn't planning on going anyway. It's not on my way. I won't run errands for you until you take out five bucks to treat me. This is the super strong willpower I've cultivated."
"Go on, kid." Shen Nian pulled out another five.
"Whoa, when did you become rich? Where's the Shen Nian who was willing to kneel and kowtow to me just for a sip of my cola?!"
"Keep talking nonsense and my shoe will fly at your face."
"Ahem, Flying Thunder God!"
Shen Nian laughed in exasperation. Running that fast, anyone would think he was about to beat him up.
He just wanted to give him a couple of punches, was that really necessary?
Shen Nian waited for him. Ma Mingfan did buy him a cola, but only one bottle.
"Where's yours?"
"Ran into an acquaintance on the way, gave it to them." Ma Mingfan scratched his head.
Shen Nian narrowed his eyes, actually detecting a hint of embarrassment in Ma Mingfan's expression.
Ma Mingfan couldn't really talk to girls, but he was a total goofball with guys. Given Ma Mingfan's personality, this kind of embarrassment only had two possibilities.
One: He met a girl.
Two: Ran into Nanliang.
Shen Nian rubbed his chin. "You're acting weird."
"Nothing weird about it. I just ran into an acquaintance and gave it to them. I didn't get to drink any, which means I did you a favor for free. You owe me another bottle."
"Owe you another bottle? In a minute, I'm gonna kick you straight into the ditch."
"Setting aside the fact that I gave your cola away, aren't you even a little bit at fault here?"
"You're really something else in this lifetime." Shen Nian broke into a sweat emoji, afraid of being infected by Ma Mingfan, and quickly made his escape.
Alright, alright, he was wrong. From now on during P.E. class, he'd only chat with the girls. If he said another word to Ma Mingfan, he'd eat Shen Yue's cooking.
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for 3 million+ daily visits putting excessive pressure on the servers, it is now recommended that you use sources from other big shots.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.
