Shen Nian hadn't really given much thought to the whole university thing. Given his habit of leaving summer homework until the last day, he'd probably only start looking into it after the exams were over.
Honestly, it was too early to be thinking about it now anyway.
As long as his score was high enough, it would be the student choosing the university, not the other way around. With seven months still to go before the college entrance exam, he felt justified in thinking this way.
Figuring out which university to aim for was something only those with insufficient scores needed to worry about.
If he left it to his parents to choose, they'd probably just mindlessly say Tsinghua or Peking University.
A lot of elders were like that. Ask them about any other university and they'd have nothing to say, but mention Tsinghua or Peking and they'd instantly understand. Getting into one of those could make your own father call you 'dad'.
Who knows, maybe Xia Yanchun would want to go to university in the capital someday.
"If you don't want to go, then I don't want to go either." Shen Nian said, legs crossed, looking utterly relaxed.
"What if I do want to go?"
"Then I'd want to go too." Shen Nian laughed. "You originally hoped I'd study locally anyway, so I'll just follow you."
"Nonsense, I never said anything like that." Xia Yanchun huffed.
"Who says you didn't? Right at the start of the term, you said if I didn't work harder, I'd only get into a decent university in another city. Wasn't that regret? Regret means you hoped I'd stay local."
"Bull, I didn't say that."
"You definitely did."
Xia Yanchun pouted slightly, unsure if it was true. It had been three months, who could remember?
Maybe she had just said it offhandedly back then.
"How do you remember so clearly?"
"I just remember, that's all. No special reason. I also remember that time you set off a firecracker in cow dung and it flew into your mouth."
A maiden's blush speaks louder than any sweet nothings. Shen Nian's words warmed Xia Yanchun's heart.
She wanted to bring up something to counterattack, but after holding back for a moment, she swallowed her words and instead launched into a rapid-fire, chirping tirade against Shen Nian for a good while.
Shen Nian picked his ear, completely unfazed, grinning happily.
"You're laughing even when I'm scolding you? Still claim you're not a masochist." Xia Yanchun muttered under her breath.
Shen Nian stopped laughing then, coughed twice, and patted the edge of the bed. "Chunbao, I've got something urgent. Sit over here and I'll tell you."
Xia Yanchun sighed. This guy needed an excuse just to get close.
He used to just put his arm around her without asking all the time.
She went and closed the bedroom door, then gently sat on the edge of the bed. "What is it? I thought you couldn't care less?"
"I never said that."
"You said it yesterday."
"I don't know, I was dizzy yesterday, can't remember clearly."
"......"
Deja vu. Xia Yanchun huffed and puffed, pinching Shen Nian. "You're impossible, you idiot!"
"Ow, ouch!"
"Remember now?"
"...Yeah, I remember. Damn memory restoration technique."
When she pinched his flesh before, Shen Nian didn't think it hurt that much. She must have gotten smarter, pinching the skin hurt like hell.
Shen Nian grimaced, rubbing the spot she pinched. That's the risk of being a jerk—succeed and you laugh, fail and you wait for death.
Soon he sat up properly, shifting next to Xia Yanchun, and draped his own quilt over her. "Chunbao, cover yourself with the quilt. I'm going to get some fruit."
He was out the door in a flash. Xia Yanchun hummed and grumbled, wrapping his quilt tighter around herself.
Shen Nian didn't turn on the heater, so the room was quite cool. Combined with the low temperature from the rain, Xia Yanchun was indeed feeling a bit chilly. Now, wrapped in the quilt, she felt much warmer.
Secretly, she pinched a corner of the quilt and held it to the tip of her nose, taking a small sniff. It smelled nice, a familiar scent she caught every day sitting behind him on the electric scooter.
Catching her breath, Xia Yanchun pulled her feet up onto the bed, covered herself completely with the quilt, and like a cuckoo taking over a nest, propped Shen Nian's pillow behind her back, leaning against the headboard.
Shen Nian came back with a washed bowl of green grapes and a tablet in hand, looking surprised. "Why are you lying down?"
"I'm just leaning back, okay?"
"Same difference. Scoot over inside, please."
Shen Nian squeezed onto the edge of the bed, forcing Xia Yanchun to move towards the middle, further in. "Are you going to watch a movie?"
"Yeah, tired of studying."
Even if Xia Yanchun hadn't come over, Shen Nian had planned to watch videos or play games to kill time. The hours he'd spent studying today already amounted to two or three days' worth for others.
A high school student who can study diligently even on a Sunday will succeed at anything.
"What do you want to watch? I'll pull it up for you."
"Just watch whatever you want."
"I'm afraid if I watch something you don't like, you'll just leave."
Xia Yanchun was taken aback, blinking. "It's fine. I can just hang out here for a bit."
Xia Yanchun was even more diligent than Shen Nian. Like him, she had studied all morning. With the heavy rain outside and not being much of a mobile gamer, she had come over to consult Shen Yue about buying clothes precisely because she was a bit bored.
"Chunbao, you're the greatest. Let me kowtow to you." Shen Nian was moved to tears.
"Then go ahead and kowtow."
"I was just saying! You'd really make me kowtow? Baby, we're the best in the world, don't hate me so much, okay?"
"Who's the best with you? And who's your baby?"
"At the very least, we're not pure-blooded rivals anymore, since we've already slept together."
"......"
That was true.
Xia Yanchun smoothed her hair, unsure how to respond, and could only awkwardly pull the quilt, covering herself more completely, her restless feet pressing down on Shen Nian's foot.
Her size 36 feet looked quite small next to Shen Nian's.
"Give me your phone." She changed the subject, her face having turned rosy at some point.
"Checking up on me?"
"What checking up? Don't talk nonsense." Xia Yanchun grew more flustered, patting Shen Nian's leg seriously. "Hurry up. Why so alert?"
"...No reason. I just feel insecure if you don't say what it's for." Shen Nian handed her his phone.
His phone was full of study materials.
While others were still ignoring risks to install apps, he was downloading "Teacher Huang's 12 Advanced Sessions on College Entrance Exam Physics Finale Problems: Detailed Explanations by a Famous Teacher."
This was the real deal, a secret manual. After watching it, scoring points on physics finale problems would be a breeze.
He often watched it secretly with headphones on during dark, windy nights. This was his unspeakable secret.
It had been a while since she last entered Shen Nian's password. Xia Yanchun thought for a moment at first, unlocked it, swiped left and right a couple of times, then opened Shen Nian's photo gallery.
He actually really did take a screenshot...
Shooting a sidelong glance at Shen Nian, Xia Yanchun deleted the screenshot from yesterday's video call right in front of him, not even sparing the 30-day recoverable recycle bin.
"Damn it, pay up!"
Shen Nian was genuinely getting worked up.
·
[Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Wishing everyone reunion and happiness every day!]
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for over 3 million daily visits causing excessive server pressure, it is now recommended that you use sources from other big shots.

iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."

] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"

e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"

grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)