Driving all the way back home.
Xia Yanchun hurried home because of her period.
There were always a few days like this every month. Although the timing was roughly the same, having to stay in the classroom for long hours every day made her feel quite uncomfortable.
Some people in the class liked to find excuses to ask for leave to go out and have fun. Shen Nian in the past had done it several times, deliberately working up a sweat and then taking a cold shower to induce a slight fever, thus getting a day off to enjoy himself.
Xia Yanchun hardly ever asked for leave. The last time she did was because she sprained her ankle.
As soon as she sent out her leave request, Su Kexi immediately approved it.
Top students definitely got special treatment. Forget about one evening self-study session, even getting three days off was easy. The school always turned a blind eye when top students asked for leave, after all, they relied on these students to boost the school's academic results.
She hadn't eaten yet, so she first took a comfortable hot bath. She soaked for a bit too long, and the takeout she had packed got cold. Not minding the trouble, she reheated it in the microwave.
Evening, right when evening self-study was starting.
Good thing Shen Nian had asked for leave.
He decided to watch online lectures all evening, to outwork everyone else, to outwork himself. He figured he could think about developing skills beyond studying once he was stable enough to aim for the top score in the college entrance exams. Maybe become a boss in the future.
Shen Nian didn't have any grand dreams. He just wanted to have money available when he needed it in the future.
Buying a car worth a hundred thousand? Just need to have the money.
Buying an apartment worth a million? Just need to have the money.
Acquiring a company worth tens of millions? Just need to have the money.
Haha, that's getting a bit carried away. Shen Nian felt his immediate priority was to get himself a "Divine Huang Zhong" in the game.
Shen Yue came back a bit late today. Seeing her look utterly miserable, Shen Nian knew she had been assigned tedious work again.
"Sis, can you send me fifty bucks?"
"......"
Shen Yue, who had returned full of resentment, felt like she died on the spot after hearing Shen Nian's question.
"Could you have a little conscience?"
"Hehe, just kidding."
"Is there any food?"
"Of course, I got you takeout." Shen Nian smiled and brought out the reheated meal for her.
"At least you have some conscience." Shen Yue, utterly exhausted, slumped into a chair like a limp pig.
Before she started working, Shen Yue would get scolded by their mom for being in this state at home. Now that she was working, this state seemed normal.
Work was work, and even entry-level positions in state-owned enterprises weren't easy.
Shen Yue chowed down on her food, then suddenly paused. She glanced at Shen Nian and said somewhat sheepishly, "Shen Nian, can you do me a favor? It's nothing major."
"If it's not major, why ask me? Handle it yourself."
"You misheard, I said it is major."
"If it's major, how can an eighteen-year-old high school student like me help? Handle it yourself."
"I'm asking you out of respect. Do you think refusing means you don't have to help?" Shen Yue dropped the act. "My e-bike ran out of battery. Can you go down later and plug it in to charge?"
Shen Nian broke into a sweat. "Why didn't you charge it when you got back?"
"I just forgot, okay? Help me this time and I'll top up your monthly game card next time, deal?"
"......"
In the past, Shen Nian would have scampered downstairs eagerly, because his allowance really wasn't enough for the monthly card.
But now... his savings were even more than Shen Yue's, and he didn't play games much anymore, so topping up the monthly card wasn't that useful.
"Forget it. How about this: you buy me a computer after I graduate. Monthly cards are too expensive anyway."
"?"
A computer costing several thousand is more expensive than a thirty or fifty yuan monthly card? That's some impressive logic.
Too bad he's her biological brother, otherwise she'd have already smacked him.
Shen Nian took the keys and went downstairs, found Shen Yue's little e-bike, and plugged it in to charge.
No helping it. His own older sister had worked all day; if he didn't help her, who would?
Considering Shen Yue had bought him the Naruto mobile game monthly card for two whole years when he was in 10th and 11th grade...
By the bushes next to the bike shed, Shen Nian came across a sleeping cat, curled up into a fluffy ball.
Unlike the north, it wasn't particularly cold in winter here in Cinan, so cats could still handle General Winter fairly easily.
The cat was quite tame. Shen Nian didn't want to see this warm, fluffy ball turn into a cold corpse.
Shen Nian squatted and watched for a while, poking its back with his finger. He wondered how old this cat was, and if it was still suitable for adoption.
"Meow..."
The cat's ears twitched. The little cat rolled over, saw someone nearby, immediately went into "spine dragon" mode, and hissed at Shen Nian.
Upon seeing it was Shen Nian, the cat awkwardly licked its paw and then rolled over, exposing its belly to him.
"Damn, you're quite the charmer." Shen Nian rubbed the cat's belly.
He didn't intend to adopt it; he just couldn't resist coming over to play with it when he saw it.
Mainly because the cat's fur pattern was hilarious. The markings on its face had a certain... style, and Shen Nian couldn't help but laugh every time he saw it.
A little girl with two pigtails ran over, looking curiously at Shen Nian and the cat. "Mister, what are you doing...?"
"Playing with the cat," Shen Nian said with a smile.
What else would he be doing, dating the cat? Some "Nekopara" scenario.
Shen Nian also recognized her; she was the little girl from around the start of the school term. Come to think of it, both she and this cat were part of where the dream began.
"Mister, aren't you going to feed the cat?" The little girl also squatted down, pulling a cat treat stick from her pocket.
"I'm just looking. Are there other cats in the complex?"
"There used to be, now there's only this one." The girl fed the cat the treat while stroking its fur. "My dad said I can keep it when I turn five. Hmph, then I'll let it eat cat treats every day. I've even thought of a name for it—I'll call it Cotton."
"Why?"
"Because it looks like cotton candy."
"......"
Chatting with a well-behaved, cute little girl like this occasionally really did improve one's mood.
Although Shen Nian's mood was already pretty good.
No one could predict the fate of the stray cats in the residential complex. Maybe one day, the property management would come with nets and round them all up. He hoped this cat could live safely and steadily until the day it got adopted.
A little cat touched by a 【Lucky Star】 should become luckier, right?
Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for 3 million+ daily visits causing excessive server pressure, it is now recommended that you use sources from other experts/seniors:
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
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!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
