Chen Dong's Underlying Code

The sweltering afternoon made it easy to feel drowsy. Xia Yanchun slept until two in the afternoon, but it wasn’t a comfortable rest.

The fluffy little pillow she had bought because it looked cute at the time felt stifling in the summer heat. Waking up, her skin felt sticky, but girls always carried wet wipes in their bags. A quick swipe of the wipe over her body helped chase away some of the lingering heat.

Shen Nian hadn’t slept at all. Returning from the restroom, he caught Xia Yanchun absentmindedly wiping herself under her clothes.

"Too sweaty?"

"Yeah." Xia Yanchun’s cheeks flushed slightly—partly from the grogginess of waking up, partly from the embarrassment of being caught wiping herself down.

The school was quiet during the break between noon and the bell. Teachers needed their naps more than the students did. Occasionally, a boarding student from another class would pass by the hallway, but with the curtains drawn, no one could see inside the classroom.

At least it was Shen Nian who saw her. And only Shen Nian.

"What are you staring at? Want me to help?" Shen Nian said with a straight face. "Not that I’d mind."

"I’ll shove my foot in your mouth."

"No thanks, I don’t eat that. I browse forums, but I don’t follow the porridge fanbase."

"..."

The hardest part of the day was always the afternoon. Not only was sleep still clinging to them, but the heat and stuffiness made the whole class feel lifeless. Even the most diligent students couldn’t resist dozing off.

With back-to-back math classes, even Shen Nian succumbed and napped for half an hour.

During the second half of self-study, with no motivation to work, he pulled Chen Dong into a game of tic-tac-toe in his composition notebook.

The next day.

Autumn seemed to be in a mood. After a scorching Wednesday, Thursday brought heavy rain.

Unpredictable—just like Xia Yanchun.

In the morning, Shen Nian started calculating where to spend his money.

Thanks to the system, his savings had reached the 8,000-yuan mark, inching closer to becoming a ten-thousandaire.

For a high schooler with only 800 yuan a month in allowance, 8,000 yuan of disposable income was a fortune.

In the past, he would’ve dumped it all into games. But now that the money had piled up, he didn’t feel like spending it on in-game purchases.

He wanted to buy an electric scooter, but explaining where the money came from would be tricky. His only official income was his allowance, and telling Shen Yue or his family that he’d "saved up" enough for a scooter wasn’t believable.

The lottery?

That was a surefire way to get scolded. "What kind of idiot spends their money on scratch-offs?" Forty yuan a ticket, with a lucky win of 200 yuan or an unlucky loss leading to the next ticket.

Shen Nian had secretly tried it at the mall. Before buying, he was full of confidence—like pulling three gold cards in a ten-draw gacha. After buying? Pure regret. Three 40-yuan tickets later, half his monthly allowance was gone.

Ugh. Too much money and nowhere to spend it.

"Chen Dong, got any quick-money schemes?"

Chen Dong’s expression turned serious. "You planning something big?"

"I’ve got some funds I don’t know how to handle..."

"How much?"

Shen Nian held up eight fingers.

"Eighty? Just treat me to a meal, problem solved."

Shen Nian shook his head.

"Eight hundred? Ten meals, then."

Shen Nian’s eye twitched as he shook his head again.

"Eight thousand? A hundred meals, easy."

"Are you a freaking black hole?"

Shen Nian really wanted to punch Chen Dong into becoming a femboy. "I have money, but I can’t explain where it came from."

Hearing this, Chen Dong’s face changed. "You dabbling in shady stuff?"

"Nah, just a windfall. Don’t ask for details—my higher-ups said no leaks."

"Damn! Money laundering, huh? Fine, send me 50 first, and I’ll keep quiet."

Shen Nian forced a smile. This kid was hopeless.

Next time he pulled gacha, he’d sacrifice Chen Dong’s lifespan for luck.

With rain canceling P.E., the class spent the period chatting in the classroom.

No teacher meant the bold boys were already searching for movies on the projector. These kinds of free periods were the best—even the class monitors wouldn’t enforce discipline.

Since everyone was talking, Shen Nian’s default programming kicked in.

Books out!

Slacked off for two years? Time to get serious in senior year.

"You’re the worst!"

Chen Dong, already hypersensitive to Shen Nian’s habits, knew exactly what he was doing the second he heard the rustle of pages.

"I haven’t even started—"

"Oh, then go ahead."

Shen Nian: Glanced at the book for one second, then immediately looked back at Chen Dong.

Chen Dong: "You just looked at the book, didn’t you? You’re the worst!"

"?"

Shen Nian looked down again.

"You’re the worst!"

Another glance.

"You’re the worst!"

Shen Nian: ...

Someone had clearly coded this NPC with a trigger phrase. Who messed him up like this?

Oh right, it was me. Never mind, then. Keep it up.

Shen Nian smacked Chen Dong’s shoulder, forcing him to turn around. He wasn’t into being stared at by guys.

Outside, the rain was easing up. Shen Nian cracked open a window to let in the cool breeze.

He preferred winter. At least when it was cold, you could bundle up. In summer, without AC, you couldn’t just peel off your skin.

Nearby, Xia Yanchun wasn’t in the mood to study. She drifted between spacing out and chatting with Li Shiyan, her gaze occasionally landing on Shen Nian.

He was studying again. A guy with drive really was attractive.

Ever since the start of the semester, Shen Nian had been different.

Even if some classmates doubted him, he was finally stepping up.

Unconsciously, she smiled.

Li Shiyan’s eyes sparkled. "Caught you! Still saying you’re just hometown friends?"

"Shen Nian’s been impressive lately. Even the teachers praise him."

"He’s putting in the effort. Feels like he’s on a loser-to-hero arc." Xia Yanchun averted her eyes. "Why bring this up?"

"Because I saw you looking at him." Li Shiyan grinned.

"Just a glance."

For a split second, Xia Yanchun tensed—but only briefly. She didn’t mind people knowing she and Shen Nian were close, but she didn’t want gossip about childhood friends.

"His grades aren’t exactly ‘loser’ level."

"Not great, not terrible."

Shen Nian suddenly turned. "Could you two gossip about me somewhere else? You’re distracting me."

"The whole class is loud! How are we the problem?" Li Shiyan huffed.

"You’re not me, so how do you know I’m not bothered?"

"Then you studying here is bothering us!"

"But classrooms are for studying, right? Thirty-seven-year-old loli?"

"AHHHHHHH!"

She was changing her QQ name as soon as she got home!

Li Shiyan pouted, leaning against Xia Yanchun for comfort, no longer grinning.

Compared to Xia Yanchun’s balanced offense and defense, Li Shiyan was hopeless—soft-spoken and always losing to Shen Nian in one round.

Not that Shen Nian enjoyed bullying girls. He magnanimously added,

"Alright, alright, no big deal. I forgive you."

"Oh... thank you..."

Xia Yanchun was baffled.

Girl, you didn’t even do anything wrong. Why are you thanking him?!

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