Someone barged in without a second thought, and Xia Yanchun couldn’t do anything about it.
If Shen Nian was here to study, she’d actually welcome it.
Next week was the monthly exam, followed by the sports meet, and then National Day. The week after exams was always the most relaxed.
It was probably the easiest time in high school life.
Shen Nian had already entered Xia Yanchun’s room and plopped himself at her desk like he owned the place. The AC in her room was pretty much always on, but it wasn’t that cool—guys preferred blasting it at 16°C, while girls usually kept it at 24°C, just enough to not feel hot.
"Did you bring your dictation notebook? I’ll test you on the vocab," Xia Yanchun said, following him in and sitting primly on the edge of her bed, her snow-white legs catching the eye.
Shen Nian gave them a serious once-over before straightening up. "I only brought the vocab list. Sorry to trouble you, Chunbao."
"Don’t call me Chunbao, or I’ll call you Haki Nian."
"Why not Nianbao?"
"Dream on. You’re not even close to being a ‘bao.’ Go eat a big serving of delusion." Xia Yanchun’s lips twitched as she pulled out a dictation notebook from her bag and tossed it at him. "Hurry up and get ready. How far have you gotten with the vocab?"
"Almost done. Just 200 words left."
"Liar." Xia Yanchun didn’t buy it at all. "I’d believe you if you said you memorized 2,000, but ‘almost done’? You think I’m stupid?"
"It’s true."
I’ve got cheats, okay? Is it really that weird to finish 3,500 English words? Especially when I’ve only got 200 left.
Back when the system first gave him that 12-hour buff, Shen Nian had pulled an all-nighter and memorized hundreds. Later, with his newfound determination, he cut back on sleep, skipped naps, and put all other subjects aside just to grind vocab. That’s how he managed to finish over 3,000 words.
Koby from One Piece awakened Conqueror’s Haki in two years. Me finishing all these words in a month—what’s the big deal?
Some people could memorize this much in less than a month. Shen Nian figured he was just a hardworking guy with a tiny advantage.
A little cheat doesn’t count as cheating. I’m still legit.
Xia Yanchun eyed him skeptically. "Fine, I’ll test you on the whole book then. Get one wrong, and you owe me 50 bucks."
"Are you robbing me?"
"You’re the one who said you’re ‘almost done.’"
"How does me finishing the vocab mean I have to pay you for mistakes?" Shen Nian frowned. I get called ‘handsome’ by random bikers outside—do I really look that dumb to you?
"Alright, alright, let’s start."
Xia Yanchun didn’t want to argue. She began reading out words one by one.
Shen Nian wrote each one down, then glanced at her, intending to hurry her along—but his gaze automatically locked onto her legs.
Oops, forgot to turn that off. Keep going.
At first, it was fine, but after a few too many looks, Xia Yanchun got annoyed. She pouted, tossed a small pillow over her lap, and her tone when reciting words turned noticeably colder.
Her good mood from potentially scamming 400 bucks was fading fast.
Shen Nian behaved after that, focusing on the dictation. By the time Xia Yanchun stopped, they’d gone through nearly 150 words.
Truthfully, not many people finished memorizing 3,500 words right at the start of senior year.
Even Li Shiyan hadn’t finished them all—she still made mistakes during dictations on the podium. Shen Nian had only scored in the 80s on last week’s quiz, so claiming he was "almost done" after just a week wasn’t convincing.
"Going all out, huh? My hand’s dead. Here, check!" Shen Nian shook out his wrist, the page now crammed with dizzying rows of English words.
"Let me see."
Xia Yanchun got up and leaned over to inspect his work, her pink-tipped finger tracing each word. She circled mistakes in red, but by the end, there were only three.
"See how awesome I am?"
"Fine, you’re awesome. But still not as good as me—I’ve memorized all of them."
"Then let me test you. Bet on it, we have to bet!" Shen Nian slammed the desk and stood up.
"Too lazy. I’m confident enough—believe me or not, up to you." Xia Yanchun smirked, reveling in Shen Nian’s frustration.
This is what a rival’s all about.
Shen Nian scoffed. Whatever, you’ve got the higher score now. Just wait till my total score surpasses yours—then we’ll see who’s gloating.
"Since I worked so hard, shouldn’t you give me a reward?" Shen Nian suddenly grinned.
"I’m not your mom. Want to call me ‘Mommy’ a few times?"
"Damn, Xia Yanchun."
Shen Nian fake-gasped, then dashed out to grab a peanut snack bar. He tore off the wrapper and plopped back beside her, pretending to sulk.
"Seriously, no reward? You were the one pushing me to study. Now that I’ve put in the effort, I get nothing? So demotivating. Guess I’ll just slack off from now on."
"Not my problem. Alright, scram already."
"Nope." Shen Nian scooted closer. "Actually, I’ve got a request. Can you show me your hair ties?"
"Didn’t I already give you one?"
"I just want to look. Not taking any."
"……"
Confused but obliging, Xia Yanchun pulled out a small box from her drawer, filled with hair ties.
Some had cute little charms. Shen Nian picked through them, squeezing each one, but none triggered the system prompt.
The remaining [Poetry and Painting Raft] and [Wind and Song Bell] quests were still a mystery—no clues at all.
"What the heck are you so disappointed about…?"
Xia Yanchun could clearly sense his mood shift. Who gets let down by hair ties?
Sketchy motives, weird behavior. Definitely up to no good.
"You wouldn’t understand my sorrow." Shen Nian sighed dramatically—totally faking it.
He hadn’t expected much anyway. The main goal was studying.
After more dictation practice with Xia Yanchun, this time on common grammar, Shen Nian felt even more confident. The monthly exam’s difficulty was unknown, but his English score wouldn’t be stuck in the 40s or 50s anymore.
He figured he could at least score 90 in English, maybe even break 600 total.
"Think you can outscore Lan Fukai in the monthly exam?" Xia Yanchun licked her peanut snack bar.
"Lan Fukai? If I don’t beat him, I’ll do a handstand and crap myself."
"That confident?" She side-eyed him.
"His total score wasn’t that much higher than mine to begin with. I’m better at math, he’s better at English. Now that my English’s improved, unless his math suddenly gets way better, he’s got no edge."
"If he does level up his math and beats me, then sure, props to him. But if he doesn’t? Total clown. I never cared about him anyway."
You wanna compare English scores? Fine. But when it’s math and total score, you better keep that same energy.
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. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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.
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."
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
