Xia Yanchun looked up.
She knew Shen Nian's hand all too well.
It was the same hand that had once picked a little flower for her, yet its temperature now was abruptly different. An unfamiliar, searing heat seeped from between his fingers, scorching her to the tips of her ears and making the very air feel several degrees warmer.
Shen Nian was still grinning his usual grin. Xia Yanchun opened her mouth, but found herself at a loss for words.
Those ambiguous little gestures of Shen Nian's—she didn't know when she had grown completely accustomed to them. He always kept the flirtation perfectly measured, just right. She didn't want to resist, didn't want to correct him. Even though she knew full well that continuing down this path would only end with her being utterly devoured by him, she still deceived herself over and over in her heart: just indulge him one more time, indulge herself one more time, one last time and then she'd pull away...
That Shen Nian could boldly clasp her hand like this—Xia Yanchun felt she was the chief culprit. If she truly didn't want it, Shen Nian wouldn't have even gotten a chance to touch her.
Classmate Shen Nian, you'll just have to shoulder the blame for this one too!
"Stop messing around, let go..."
Xia Yanchun murmured softly, trying to pull her hand back. But Shen Nian's grip was firm. She had no choice but to bring her other hand over and pry his fingers open one by one.
Shen Nian stared at Xia Yanchun, whose face showed a hint of disdain yet whose ears were tinged pink. His breathing, usually steady even after a ten-kilometer run, actually grew slightly rapid.
Damn, bro, this shy, disgusted look... dude's really into it.
Chun'er is just too cute.
"Just go to sleep properly. Keep messing around and I'll ring the bell." Xia Yanchun finally managed to pry his fingers loose and immediately retracted her hand into her sleeve, instantly switching to a battle-ready expression as she poked his face hard. "Acting like this at school! If the cameras see, we're dead!"
Shen Nian covered his face, saying sheepishly, "The cameras are basically never on, except during exams..."
Before he could finish, his expression froze.
Crap. Damn it, it's midterm exams these two days. How bold of this school, daring to get in the way of a bro's flirting.
Maybe I'll just transfer to No.1 High School later and kick No.2 High's so-called geniuses around like dogs, see if you cry then.
His words made Xia Yanchun realize something too, and she felt a flicker of panic. She could already imagine the despair of being caught holding hands with a boy in the classroom by school authorities, then being dragged onto the stage for a whole-school criticism.
But then her clever mind thought again, and that bit of panic immediately dissipated. During exams, unless there's a cheating scandal or some major incident, who would randomly check the cameras? Even if there's a duty teacher, they'd have gone to rest long ago at this hour. No one would just sit in the monitoring room watching all the time.
If they really did get caught, she'd just say Shen Nian forcibly grabbed her hand to take advantage. After all, she had no motive to hold hands with Shen Nian. Clearly, it was Shen Nian who, with sweet talk and sly tricks, hooked and clasped her hand.
And that was the truth. Shen Nian was the active one, while she had reacted swiftly and started resisting within seconds of being held.
Sorry, teacher, my reflex arc is a bit long. You can bust Shen Nian for puppy love.
Frenemies aren't birds of a feather; when disaster strikes, just give them a kick.
"If we get caught on camera, just own up to it. There are plenty of examples of perverts taking advantage of girls when they're not paying attention. You won't be the first."
"?"
Six-six-six, you really going to play it like that?
"Can't be bothered to argue. Let's just pretend I was holding hands with a dog earlier."
"Same here, got held by a dog."
"So you admit this is your hand?"
"..."
Xia Yanchun tucked her hands into her sleeves like a kitten and looked out the window without a word.
The cool-toned world outside dyed the few stray strands of hair escaping her ponytail a silvery color. She gazed at the distant, grayish sky, her eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyes. Only her earlobes, still radiating warmth, held a touch of heat in the cool-colored world.
Shen Nian didn't continue teasing her either. Matters of ambiguity are most comfortable when mutually understood.
With Xia Yanchun's little pillow, he soon fell asleep. In what felt like a blink, the afternoon wake-up bell rang right on time.
The seat beside him was cold. Xia Yanchun had already slipped back to her own desk at some point, unbeknownst to him. She hadn't slept at all during the break, yet Shen Nian thought she still looked a bit drowsy. Leaning over to look, he realized she was studying chemistry materials for the college entrance exam.
"Since you're up, give me back my pillow." Xia Yanchun couldn't even be bothered to look at him, her tone flat.
"Mmm... here."
"Ew, it's definitely dirty now after a boy used it."
"Not at all, I didn't drool on it. Smell it again."
"Anyway, it's not clean anymore. I'll take it apart to wash this weekend."
Shen Nian pouted. So you just wanted to insult me, huh.
Asking Xia Yanchun for a couple of wet wipes, Shen Nian went to the bathroom alone. He washed his face, feeling much more refreshed, and headed straight for the exam when it was time.
On his way to the exam classroom, he even bumped into Chen Qiuyu on the stairs.
"Shen Nian, which classroom are you in?" Chen Qiuyu asked curiously.
"Classroom Nineteen."
"Xiyuan and I are both in Eighteen. Pretty close."
Shen Nian smiled: "That's good."
"Hehe, let me treat you to a meal after the exam."
"Well, well, what a pleasant surprise."
A free meal wasn't a bad thing. Chen Qiuyu was quite grateful to Shen Nian.
Shen Nian had truly done her a great favor. From sophomore to senior year, he had saved her three times, pulling her back from the hell of failing grades three times.
Saving someone's math grade is worth building a seven-story pagoda. This is Classmate Jazz Hao (Shen Nian), deserving a place in the ancestral temple.
"Do your best. Score triple digits, and then you can treat me again." Shen Nian directly flashed a toothy grin and a thumbs-up. So youthful, truly full of youth and spring.
"If I really hit triple digits, I'll give you two big fish, okay!"
"Uh, that's really not necessary... just treat me to a meal is fine..."
"A guy who directly asks a girl to treat him is really rare..."
"Well, you've seen one today. Hurry up and score higher."
Chen Qiuyu gave a firm "Oh!" and trotted off to her exam classroom.
She thought Shen Nian was already unbeatable—great looks, high stats. Even if he didn't work hard in the future, he could probably find some little rich lady. The internet was always full of gossip about young guys and wealthy older women.
Besides, in Shen Nian's case... maybe it wouldn't be the rich lady choosing him, but him choosing the rich lady.
Thinking about how close Shen Nian had been with the class monitor lately, Chen Qiuyu wondered if she should keep a bit more distance from him. But there was nothing inappropriate between her and Shen Nian, right? They just talked sometimes, and she asked him for help with math... at most, they'd run into each other while fishing and chat a bit. That was all. Perfectly normal.
It's easy to let your thoughts run wild before an exam, uncontrollably so. It wasn't until the test papers were handed out that Chen Qiuyu cut off those wildly off-track thoughts and threw herself into the exam.
The two-and-a-half-hour math exam was, for Shen Nian, light and easy. Only the final challenge problem had some difficulty, and he wasn't a hundred percent sure he could get all the points for it.
But scoring above 135 total was no problem.
After school, Shen Nian waited for Chen Qiuyu at the stairwell, thinking about that free meal. Maybe he could get his Chun Bao and the loli girl to join the table.
Chen Qiuyu came out soon after, her eyes smiling, looking in a very good mood.
"Confident about hitting triple digits this time?" Shen Nian asked, kindly concerned, considering she was the fishing uncle's precious daughter.
"There should be. I even had time to work on the advanced problems after finishing the basics. I even wrote a bit for that conic section major question." Chen Qiuyu puffed out his chest, already getting carried away.
"Not bad at all. Did you manage to score any points on it?"
"Nope. I spent twenty minutes just proving the given conditions..."
?
The most terrifying episode.
"Damn, you're even more impressive than me. How did you manage that?"
"Mocking me again..." Chen Qiuyu felt a bit like throwing a fit.
"I'm really not mocking you. How did you do it?"
Shen Nian genuinely thought Chen Qiuyu had something special. Proving the given conditions in twenty minutes—he wasn't sure he could pull that off himself if he tried.
In a certain sense, Chen Qiuyu had already surpassed his master. He was ready to graduate.
If Shen Nian had tried writing that, his brain cells would have fled through his bloodstream and committed suicide in his stomach acid before he even finished.
.
Had some things to do today, single update orz, double updates resume as usual tomorrow.
Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for over 3 million daily updates causing excessive server load, it is now recommended you use sources from other big shots:
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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."
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
