It was nearly noon when Shen Nian finally emerged from the subway station.
After a long ride, even he felt a bit numb.
Originally, he had planned to go straight to school, but he decided to drop by his house first to ride his electric scooter to campus.
After eating lunch off-campus and grabbing a milk tea along with some braised skewers to go, Shen Nian unhurriedly made his way into the school.
The old security guard at the gate was fast asleep with his head tilted back. Shen Nian wondered if his salary would be docked if a supervisor saw him.
Returning to the classroom, Shen Nian gently pushed the door open. Xia Yanchun was resting her head on a small pillow, sprawled across her desk. A stack of books hid her face, making it impossible for Shen Nian to see her expression.
Hearing the noise, Xia Yanchun stealthily lifted her little head and blinked her dark, round almond eyes at him.
"You're not asleep yet."
Shen Nian chuckled. Apart from the sleeping security guard, he hadn't seen a single soul on his way up. It felt as if they were the only two people left in the entire school.
"I was just about to fall asleep," Xia Yanchun replied, her voice soft and sweet.
"Didn't I say I'd be back at noon?"
"Even if you're back, I still need to sleep. What good food did you buy?"
"Just some skewers and fruit tea. It has less ice, so you should be able to drink it, right?"
"Yeah, that works."
Since Xia Yanchun's desk was occupied by her little pillow, Shen Nian had no choice but to lay out the food on Li Shiyan's desk. He then walked up to the podium to cancel out the leave slip his teacher had written for him.
"Did the teachers mention anything important over the past two days?"
"Nope."
Shen Nian rummaged through his drawer. It was quite rare that he hadn't accumulated a single extra test paper after a two-day absence.
With exams approaching, even the teachers weren't very keen on lecturing. Independent review was the priority, with teachers simply sitting at the podium to answer any questions students might have.
After all, everything that needed to be taught had already been covered.
The knowledge required for the three years of high school had all been learned by their sophomore year. The senior year was meant for reviewing and gaining new insights from old material, and they had already gone through the review process twice.
At this critical juncture, students' scores were basically set in stone. Those who hadn't changed since the 100-day countdown pledge wouldn't change in these final dozen days either.
Shen Nian pulled out Li Shiyan's chair and plopped down. One of his arms casually slipped over Xia Yanchun's shoulder, gently caressing the girl's softness through her school uniform.
Staring at Xia Yanchun's side profile, Shen Nian felt exceptionally satisfied.
Just looking at her was highly enjoyable.
Xia Yanchun was eating a fishball. She casually glanced over at Shen Nian and offered him the remaining one. "Do you want to eat too?"
Shen Nian ate it in one bite, the savory flavor of the fishball filling his mouth.
He had bought quite a lot. Over thirty yuan worth of braised food was too much for Xia Yanchun to finish, but he could easily polish it all off by himself.
"Chunbao," Shen Nian called out softly. The two chairs were close together. Shen Nian gently hugged Xia Yanchun, sniffing her sweet scent. Even on such a hot day, the girl smelled as fresh as if she had just stepped out of the shower.
"Mmm... you're too close!"
"I missed you."
"Didn't we already video call?"
"I still missed you." Shen Nian pecked her rosy cheek and smiled playfully. "Three days apart feels like three autumns."
"I know this one. One dog year equals five human years."
"Insult me all you want, I won't get mad."
"Ugh..."
Shen Nian's entire body was warm. Even without him pressing so close, Xia Yanchun could feel the body heat radiating from him. It was like this in the summer, and even more so in the winter; just standing there, he was like a human heater.
Heaven knew why his heat dissipation was so exaggerated.
Xia Yanchun didn't know what to say. She let him hold her and snuggle close, occasionally letting him rub his lips against her cheek in a way that was almost, but not quite, a kiss.
She just let him be.
Having replenished enough of his nemesis energy, Shen Nian let out a satisfied breath. "So good. I'm done."
"What a weird way to phrase that..."
"What's weird about it?"
"Keep playing dumb. No one can out-fake you!"
"Hehe, Chunbao is a little dirty-minded girl."
"You're the dirty one!" Xia Yanchun burrowed into his embrace, making a comfortable little hum as she leaned against him. "I'm going to sleep now."
"You should probably sleep on the desk. Leaning like this for too long isn't good for your back."
"I'll just lean for a little while."
Her hair was playful; some strands tickled Shen Nian's neck, while others slipped inside his collar. Shen Nian's large hand quietly pressed down on the top of Xia Yanchun's head. When he let go, those stubborn strands of hair bounced right back up.
Cute.
After lounging for a little while, Xia Yanchun finally got serious and lay her head on the desk to sleep.
If she didn't take a nap, she'd be dead tired in the afternoon. Sleeping poorly made her even more exhausted—something she had deeply experienced over the past two days.
Shen Nian took the unfinished braised skewers out to sit in the corridor. He enjoyed the cool breeze while he ate, and in no time, only the bamboo sticks were left.
That was hasty. I should have saved some for Chen Dong and Ma Mingfan.
Relaxing lazily in the warm breeze, the sun slanted slightly, shining onto the tips of his shoes.
The bell rang, and Shen Nian returned to the classroom.
"Ohayo, junior," Shen Nian raised a hand toward the still-drowsy Xia Yanchun.
Having just been woken by the bell, Xia Yanchun lacked the energy to deal with him and simply sat in her seat, staring blankly.
Then, she had her cheeks pinched by Shen Nian for two solid minutes.
"Stop messing with me." Xia Yanchun huffed, swatting away Shen Nian's increasingly audacious hands before using a wet wipe to clean her face.
"You're so cute," Shen Nian whispered in her ear.
"I already knew that, I don't need you to tell me."
"Damn, so self-aware. As expected of our school's legendary sweet-style beautiful girl."
"Being a beautiful girl brings me a lot of trouble too, you know."
Xia Yanchun proudly puffed out her chest, stood up, and left the classroom, seemingly heading to the restroom.
As classmates gradually filed into the classroom, it naturally became impossible for Shen Nian to continue flirting with Xia Yanchun.
During class, they had to obey the school rules and motto. Right now, he and Xia Yanchun were strictly classmates.
Well, maybe superiors and subordinates too. After all, Xia Yanchun was the class monitor, and he had to respectfully address her as Madam Class Monitor.
As for just now, that wasn't during class time.

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.”

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"

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…