The classroom was noisy. Shen Nian went out to use the restroom, only to find that the other classes were even louder.
Of course, there were a few classes where the homeroom teachers were keeping watch in person, so the noise level was relatively lower.
Passing by the teachers office, he noticed quite a few teachers inside. It seemed they were working overtime to grade the final exam papers on their computers. Unfortunately, his favorite teacher, Wangzai, wasn't around.
Tragic. He couldn't freeload any Wangzai milk today.
Shen Nian headed straight back to the classroom. Someone had put on the movie The Wandering Earth again.
Happy to have some free time, Shen Nian casually tore off a piece of his eraser and tossed it at Xia Yanchun's head.
Xia Yanchun frowned at him, an invisible question mark popping up over her head.
"Come sit over here," Shen Nian said, crooking his finger at her.
Xia Yanchun hesitated for a moment before getting up and taking a seat by the window next to him.
It wasn't her first time sitting with Shen Nian anyway. Besides, with the classroom being so noisy, swapping seats was a common occurrence. Even before she moved over, several other students had already changed seats to chat with their friends.
"What do you want?"
"Just wanted you to come sit with me, that's all." Shen Nian's voice was low. He tore open a bag of Lay's potato chips and placed it in the middle of the desk. "When are we heading home?"
"I still need to collect the signature slips."
"Then shouldn't you hurry up and collect them?"
"Some people have wandered off who knows where. Let's wait a bit. Do you want to go home early?"
"I don't mind either way. I'll wait for you."
Xia Yanchun didn't reply, but a faint trace of joy hid in her eyes.
She wouldn't have minded if Shen Nian went back alone first; she wasn't some unreasonable, spoiled girl. But if Shen Nian stayed behind to wait for her, she would definitely be happy about it.
"I'm going to collect the slips in a minute! Anyone who hasn't signed, hurry up and do it!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
A few people had genuinely forgotten about the slips and were only now scrambling to sign them with their pens.
"Our Madam Class Monitor is so fierce, I'm scared to tears."
"Get lost."
"Have some chips. We're in no rush anyway."
"Hmph."
The potato chips were tomato-flavored, which Xia Yanchun actually liked quite a bit.
This kind of scene, watching a movie on the classroom projector, sitting in the back row eating potato chips... It had a super great vibe, a subtle yet distinct feeling of youth.
Xia Yanchun was in a wonderful mood. She couldn't even remember how long it had been since she and Shen Nian last shared a bag of snacks in the classroom.
If there weren't so many prying eyes in the classroom, she would have leaned right against Shen Nian.
The classroom lights were off, and no one would really pay attention to the back row...
Xia Yanchun's heartbeat began to quicken. For a fleeting moment, she really wanted to lean against Shen Nian behind everyone's backs. It felt like such a thrilling idea.
Halfway through the movie, she started collecting the slips. After confirming she had enough, she delivered them to the teachers office.
"We can go now," she whispered into Shen Nian's ear upon returning to the classroom.
"Let's go."
Having packed his things before the exam, Shen Nian simply flipped their two chairs upside down onto the desks and quietly slipped out of the classroom with her.
The school was bustling with people. Taking advantage of the lack of supervision tonight, little couples were openly holding hands and strolling around the campus.
Watching the whispering couples under the streetlights, Xia Yanchun boldly squeezed closer to Shen Nian. She pinched his pinky finger, then quickly retracted her hand, pretending nothing had happened.
Even when Shen Nian looked over, she just kept walking on her own, pretending not to notice his gaze.
Shen Nian rubbed his chin and reached out to pinch Xia Yanchun's pinky in return.
"Why are you pinching me? Spit it out if you have something to say."
"?"
"Pfft, hahaha."
"Damn you," Shen Nian laughed, letting it go.
Xia Yanchun's eyes curved into a smile. She wasn't afraid of being seen by others right now. With so many couples around, she felt a surge of courage.
She directly grabbed two of Shen Nian's fingers and walked with a little sway. Their shadows under the streetlights split into several silhouettes. The faint shadows stretched out long, and as they faded, the darkest shadows took their turn stretching out.
Rumor had it that stepping on someone's shadow would stop them from growing taller.
Xia Yanchun lowered her head, stepping on Shen Nian's shadow step by step.
One point eight meters was already very tall and healthy.
Watching her own toes take step after step, her strides were small and out of sync with Shen Nian's. Every few steps, she had to take an extra one just to keep up with his pace.
That was why she liked walking in front of him. If she slowed down in front, Shen Nian would slow down too.
But right now, she preferred holding hands with him as they walked.
"Cursing me to stop growing, huh?"
Haji-Chun kept her head down, clearly up to no good, and Shen Nian noticed it immediately.
"I'm keeping you from getting any taller."
"Don't do that, I still want to reach one eighty-five."
"How tall are you now?"
"I measured myself a while ago. I'm one eighty-three. Still growing, but very slowly. I don't think I'll grow much more."
"Why do you need to be so tall?" Xia Yanchun pouted, kicking a pebble off the side of the road.
"So that in the future, you won't even be able to kiss me when you stand on your tiptoes. Just thinking about it cracks me up."
"Ew, you're flattering yourself."
Xia Yanchun looked at him in mock disgust. How could a reserved young lady like her stand on her tiptoes to kiss Shen Nian? In all this time, she had only done it two or three times!
If she couldn't reach him on her tiptoes, then she just wouldn't try. Shen Nian would lean down on his own anyway.
"Then I'll step on yours too." Shen Nian circled to Xia Yanchun's other side and, using the light, stepped on her darkest shadow step by step.
"You're not allowed to!"
Xia Yanchun still wanted to grow taller! Right now, she was only a little over one point six meters; reaching one point six five would be perfect!
Even though the chances were extremely slim, having Shen Nian step on her shadow was super annoying.
"Such double standards," Shen Nian laughed, ruffling Xia Yanchun's fluffy hair. Playful strands of hair slipped through the gaps between his fingers, getting messed up by his rubbing. "I heard that stepping on someone's shadow means you'll be together forever. You stepped on mine so many times; looks like you'll never be able to leave me in this lifetime."
"Ha, is that really a saying?"
"Yep, it's been going around for over ten seconds now."
At first glance, it sounded like over ten years, and Xia Yanchun didn't think much of it until she belatedly realized the joke and bumped her forehead against Shen Nian's arm.
Turns out Shen Nian had just made it up on the spot.
With her hair completely messed up by Shen Nian, Xia Yanchun shook her head to toss his hand away. She raised her hand and pulled off her hair tie.
The small ponytail at the back of her head completely came undone, cascading down her shoulders. The sweet-looking girl suddenly gained a touch of gentle elegance.
Shen Nian gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Leaving it down looks nice too. So cute."
"...Oh."
Xia Yanchun couldn't help the little flowers blooming in her heart, but she didn't let it show on her face.
Only little girls would get so happy over a casual compliment. As the mature older sister, she definitely had to act more composed.
"Where's the hair tie? Give it to me."
"Why?"
"Put it on, it's not coming off tonight."
"Here."
Just as Xia Yanchun handed her hair tie to Shen Nian, he took the opportunity to grab her hand. Spreading his fingers, he slipped the hair tie onto Xia Yanchun's wrist.
"You're not allowed to take it off tonight," Shen Nian said, intertwining his fingers with hers.
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."
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.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
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!
