The Most Promising Episode

Even though Xia Yanchun's voice was very pleasant, without professional training, she definitely couldn't sing well just by casually humming a few lines, especially a song that required specific vocal techniques and skills.

Although her voice was sweet and she wasn't tone-deaf, her singing couldn't really be called beautiful; it was entirely carried by her naturally good vocal cords.

Xia Yanchun pinched his shoulder. She wasn't actually angry, just pretending to throw a little tantrum in response to Shen Nian's words.

"Don't you know how to say nice things to your girlfriend? You have zero emotional intelligence."

"You asked me for a harsh critique, and now you want me to say nice things. Alright, alright, so that's how we're playing it."

"Hehe," Xia Yanchun giggled.

She sounded incredibly sweet and delicate.

Shen Nian didn't look at her, putting away his urge to pull her into a tight hug, and focused seriously on driving.

After returning to their residential compound and taking a shower, Shen Nian gave his family a call.

This period should be the pond-opening season for his family's aquaculture farm. They would find a suitable time to open the gates of the ponds one by one, drain the water, and catch the shrimp.

Every pond-opening was a harvest day for the family. They would contact buyers to collect the shrimp, and a few days later, when the mud at the bottom of the pond was firm enough to stand on, they would put on waterproof boots and go down to catch the crabs.

Aside from the money made from selling shrimp, the crabs would also bring in a hefty profit. This batch of crabs was meant to be sold as premium gift boxes; they were all roe crabs, so the price would be even higher.

In the past, Shen Nian had even caught a super giant crab weighing over a pound, and he had posted two status updates on his social media just to show it off.

The family's ponds served as the perfect control group for his Aquaculture Mastery skill. Whether Aquaculture Mastery was meant to be used this way and what effects it had would all depend on the results of this pond-opening.

If the quality of the shrimp and crabs in Pond No. 1 was higher than that in Ponds No. 2 and No. 3, it would prove that this was exactly how Aquaculture Mastery worked.

The phone rang for quite a while before it was picked up.

"Hello?"

It was noisy on the other end of the line. Shen Nian guessed in a second that his dad was still at someone else's house drinking tea.

"Hey Dad, you're still not asleep?"

"I'm drinking tea. What's up?" Shen Shi took a sip of tea.

"Did you watch the local TV station a few days ago?"

"I watched it, I watched it! Oh man, you're the most promising one among all our relatives, you even got on TV! I was just telling your second uncle and the others about it the day before yesterday. I even recorded it, want me to send it to you?"

"Sure, send it to my phone." Shen Nian rubbed his nose. "Dad, when is the family opening the ponds?"

"In the next couple of days, why?"

In the past, Shen Nian used to go help out at the farm. But ever since he started high school, he hadn't paid any attention to it. Now, with the college entrance exams approaching, Shen Nian was suddenly showing concern, which left Shen Shi puzzled.

"Nothing, just asking. Go to sleep early."

"..." Shen Shi fell silent. What a baffling phone call.

Shen Nian chatted for a few more sentences and then hung up.

Farm work was exhausting. Even as a young man, Shen Nian often got sore and aching muscles when he helped out. It wasn't something just anyone could do.

But Shen Shi and Chen Minyue had bustled about on their own in the past, gradually expanding the farm... They had been in debt and suffered losses, but now, the farm's revenue had reached a respectable scale.

While they weren't filthy rich, they had bought a car, bought a house, and entered a comfortable middle-class life early on.

Shen Nian felt very gratified and decided to reward his parents with a massage chair.

When the time came, he would relentlessly flex on Xia Yanchun. If the necklace couldn't pressure her, a massage chair definitely would.

Shen Nian brushed his teeth, washed his face, and swiftly slipped into Xia Yanchun's house, climbing onto her fragrant, soft bed.

Flexing aside, he still had to cuddle Chunbao.

Shen Nian nuzzled against Xia Yanchun's face, exhaling a deep breath. "Haa... That feels amazing."

"You're so gross," Xia Yanchun said, pushing his face away in disgust.

"Sleep, time to sleep."

"Don't steal my blanket!"

"I'm gonna steal it."

"Get lost!"

Xia Yanchun huffed angrily, mustering her strength to snatch the entire blanket back and wrapping it tightly around herself, refusing to let Shen Nian have any.

Shen Nian tugged at the blanket a couple of times. Seeing that she had it pinned down tightly, he gave a faint smile. "Tomorrow is the second mock exam. Are you afraid I'll score higher than you, so you're trying to make me catch a cold to weaken my condition?"

"I'm not as despicable as you."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Xia Yanchun gave him a deadpan stare, completely speechless.

Being gentle at heart, she had no choice but to lift her hand, pull the blanket over to Shen Nian's side to cover his body, and pat the blanket with her small hand.

"Go to sleep early," she said softly, sounding a bit sleepy.

"Okay."

Xia Yanchun rested her head on Shen Nian's shoulder, her breathing gradually evening out.

However, her little hand was a bit restless. Under the covers, it quietly reached Shen Nian's lower abdomen and slipped inside his shirt.

Hehe, abs.

Shen Nian remained unfazed. Being touched was no big deal; he had touched Xia Yanchun's stomach plenty of times himself.

"..."

Wait, why is this hand climbing upwards?

"What are you doing..."

"You've touched mine, so I get to touch yours." Xia Yanchun didn't blush or skip a beat, sounding completely justified and confident.

"Sis, I'm a guy."

"I know."

"..."

Shen Nian actually blushed because of Xia Yanchun.

Bro, it's very sensitive.

"What are you trying to do, getting all handsy?" Shen Nian hurriedly pulled Xia Yanchun's hand out.

This girl was weirdly perverted.

"Hehe, time to sleep."

Shen Nian didn't say a word, just stubbornly reached his hand over.

Xia Yanchun slapped him playfully in embarrassed annoyance, then ignored him.

...

In the residential compound, the small trees that had lost their leaves during the harsh winter had now sprouted fresh, tender foliage. Even the cracks in the roadside concrete had stubbornly pushed out a couple of young shoots.

At this hour, the compound's cleaning lady had just started her work, using a broom to sweep the trash into little piles before dumping it all into a garbage cart, looking quite busy.

Early spring, when all things come back to life.

Today was the weekend. In a rare move, Shen Nian ran out to exercise wearing only a short-sleeved shirt.

Spring was truly wonderful. The lush greenery made him feel exceptionally energetic.

On the road, some unknown neighbor's dog had run out and was sniffing around another dog.

Shen Nian watched them for a while, thinking he might get to see a live-action Animal Planet, only to realize that both dogs were quite classy and restrained.

The results for the second mock exam wouldn't be out until he returned to school tomorrow, and Shen Nian was quite looking forward to it.

Whether he could surpass Xia Yanchun all depended on this test. If he still didn't beat her this time, he would experience the darkest moment of his life—even with his cheats, he still couldn't outscore Xia Yanchun.

He was still very confident. When he was writing the comprehensive science paper yesterday, his thoughts flowed smoother than someone who had taken laxatives. He estimated a guaranteed minimum score of 290.

This was the episode with the most hope of surpassing Haji-Chun.

Today, someone was selling large meat wontons at the compound entrance. Shen Nian bought two boxes. On his way home, he also spotted the long-unseen Jiba Cat.

Unlike the north, the Winter General in Cinan wasn't nearly as harsh, giving many stray animals a chance to survive. Let alone a cat like Jiba Cat that lived in the residential compound; it could just find an apartment building to hide in or lie down near the security booth, and it wouldn't feel the cold at all.

The kitty was lying there looking as if it were dead. Only when it heard approaching footsteps did it lift its head to take a look.

"Hiss!"

Shen Nian looked at Jiba Cat, which had instantly activated its spinosaurus mode, and fell deep into thought.

Heh, he kindly prepared some air to feed it, and it hissed at him. Fine, no feeding.

Jiba Cat had always been a good cat. It just habitually hissed whenever it saw Shen Nian. After hissing, it would tuck its paws in and act all obedient.

For some reason, Shen Nian always felt that this cat would completely freak out the moment it laid eyes on him.

Am I really such a terrible human being?