Chen Dong, How Did You Exploit the Bug

Night fell after class, and Shen Nian returned home.

Shen Yue had already gone to her room and fallen asleep. Shen Nian lay on his bed, lost in thought.

Among the people he knew, who was most likely to be the Goddess of Fate?

Wait, who even was the Goddess of Fate?

First of all, the system never played by the rules. The lazy office worker Shen Yue was the Saintess, yogurt was holy water, and the Goddess of Fate was definitely no ordinary person. It wasn’t impossible for their roles to overlap.

Maybe in the system’s script, Shen Yue was both the Saintess and the Goddess of Fate?

Hidden quests were truly hidden—no hints, no clues, just cryptic nonsense. How was anyone supposed to figure it out?

If this were a game, he could just look up a guide. But in reality, he had to figure it out himself.

In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday.

Last night, he had crammed English like crazy, finally making up for the days he’d slacked off. He’d blasted through Yan Yuzhu’s English study plan in one night.

Slaying monsters all night—was there any rookie adventurer more dedicated than him?

Shen Nian slept for four hours, woke up pumped, brushed his teeth pumped, and played Naruto pumped.

After getting swept 3-0 and being roasted the entire time, Shen Nian accepted his fate and uninstalled the game with fiery resolve.

At 10 a.m., Shen Yue woke up, stretching lazily with a yawn.

Shen Nian’s door was open, cold air wafting out. Seeing him sitting upright at his desk, studying seriously, Shen Yue’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I thought you’d gone fishing. Not going today?”

“Might check later.”

“Wow, little bro, actually studying hard on a Sunday?” Shen Yue patted her ample chest, satisfied. “Alright, I’ve decided—your big sis is cooking dinner tonight. Tell me what you want, and I’ll make it.”

Shen Nian shuddered. He listens to her and studies, and now she wants to poison him?

This woman was truly vicious.

“Haha, sis, what are you talking about? I was just pretending.” Shen Nian closed his book. “Anyway, I’m off to fish.”

“You little…”

“Bye.”

Shen Nian bolted out the door, still in slippers, without even grabbing his fishing rod.

Fishing was just an excuse, but he did head to the park—the fishing uncle had invited him at 8 a.m.

The uncle still hadn’t given up on proving his gold-medal fishing skills to Shen Nian.

At the park, Shen Nian immediately spotted the familiar figure.

“Uncle, how’s it going today?” Shen Nian leaned on the railing, chatting with Chen Guangming.

He wasn’t here to fish today, just killing time.

Chen Guangming didn’t say a word—he just slid his bucket over. Inside was a fish the size of two palms. Enough said.

“Damn, Uncle, you’re legit. Got skills.” Shen Nian grinned.

“Heh, when it comes to fishing in this park, if I say I’m second, no one dares claim first.” Chen Guangming puffed out his chest, the middle-aged man reclaiming his glory.

With a gold medal in a fishing competition under his belt, his earlier failures were just bad luck. Fishing was all about luck—even a national champion couldn’t guarantee a catch.

As they talked, a dark-skinned man approached.

“Hey, do you know how to get to Wanxiang Pavilion?”

The man lifted the massive fish in his hand—half again as long as his forearm. “I think I’m a bit lost.”

“Wanxiang Pavilion? Should be in the west side of the city, right?” Shen Nian rubbed his chin. Getting lost across half the city—classic fisherman behavior.

“Oh, really? Haha, I’ve got no sense of direction. Thanks.”

Chen Guangming’s eyes gleamed. He handed his rod to Shen Nian. “Hold this for me, kid.”

Shen Nian blinked as Chen Guangming walked over to the dark-skinned man and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

A moment later, Chen Guangming returned, packing up his gear with a smile.

“Heard a little tip—better fish ecosystem upstream, bigger catches. Let’s go, kid.”

“…”

“Little tip”? Even a blind man could tell he’d just asked for directions.

Shen Nian wanted to join, but he hadn’t brought his rod, and Chen Qiuyu wasn’t here either. Nothing fun to do.

The uncle had to be at least 45. Besides fishing and the fact that their daughters were classmates, they had zero common ground. Standing around making small talk was torture.

After a few half-hearted exchanges, Shen Nian hopped on his scooter and zipped back to the neighborhood.

Poking the sleeping stray cat in the garage with a stick, Shen Nian took the elevator up and plopped at his desk under the AC.

You know what’s coming.

Study, take a photo, send it to Chen Dong—trying to trigger the underlying code.

Who programmed Chen Dong like this? Oh right, it was him. Well, that felt good.

[Shen Nian]: (Picture of English vocabulary book) Memorized 50 words today. Weekends are the best for studying. You? Playing congee or something?

[Shen Nian]: (Grin) (Grin)

[Chen Dong]: Flirting with someone.

[Chen Dong]: (Hand-holding.jpg)

[Shen Nian]: ?

Chen Dong, are you glitching?

Wait, who the hell are you? Where’s the real Chen Dong?

Chen Dong’s mom, do something! Your product’s malfunctioning.

[Shen Nian]: Haha, using stock photos to mess with me? Nice try, buddy. Don’t lie to yourself, though.

[Chen Dong]: (Fingers-interlaced.jpg)

[Chen Dong]: (Grin) (Grin)

[Shen Nian]: Left hand holding right hand, phone in your mouth? Going all out to prank me, huh? Can you delete that? My friend’s kinda losing it. Not me, obviously.

[Shen Nian]: Bro, I’m not feeling great. Mom told me to defrost pork. Gotta go.

Must’ve opened this wrong.

Chen Dong, when are you getting a job? I’m considering homicide. Looking for a victim—3k per day, cremation included. Wanna apply?

Shen Nian’s favorite little S-word didn’t even feel fun anymore. Damn it, how dare Chen Dong? Never mentioned a girlfriend in the past two years.

Zero motivation to study now. Why did he have to rub the flirting in my face? Screw you, Chen Dong!

Love and studies—the two things high schoolers care about most. Chen Dong was top five in class, and now he might have a girlfriend too? What a winner. Post this online, and people would envy him.

So everyone’s high school life is this colorful? Thought it was just me suffering. Earth OL sucks. Time to delete my account.

Why is auto-follow enabled?

Delete this, bro. My friend’s losing it.

Shen Nian’s high school years so far weren’t miserable, but they weren’t remarkable either. Just average. Back in freshman or sophomore year, he might’ve envied Chen Dong.

He slumped on the desk, idly fiddling with the hair tie lying there.

As much as he hated to admit it, ever since Chen Dong mentioned being close with Xia Yanchun, he’d started noticing it too.

Flirting? Who doesn’t do that? I’ve held a girl’s hand in class.

Her hands were soft, her hair bouncy, her hair tie fragrant. The flirting wasn’t just childhood stuff anymore.

Buzz.

His phone vibrated. Shen Nian lit up the screen—a message from Xia Yanchun.

Yes! Time for some flirting of my own!

Wait a second, what’s this "PDD Billion Subsidy Cash Reward" all about?

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