Just because Shen Nian is 98% bad, can we deny the 2% good in him

Class was in session—two consecutive periods of English.

Yan Yuzhu walked into the classroom cheerfully and projected everyone’s grade records onto the screen.

She had compiled all the English exam scores from the time the class was divided in their first year of high school—monthly tests, midterms, finals—all the way up to the end of their second year.

Some students maintained stable, high scores, like Xia Yanchun, Lan Fukai, and Chen Dong.

Others were just as consistent, stubbornly stuck in the 40s and 50s, like Shen Nian and Huang Chen.

Then there were those whose grades had soared steadily. Yan Yuzhu made sure to praise the students who showed significant improvement, while gently scolding those who had slipped, reminding them to work harder next time.

"This chart is mainly to remind everyone: those with good grades should maintain their momentum, those in the middle range should keep pushing, and those struggling need to put in even more effort."

"You’re all in your final year now—it’s time to take the college entrance exam seriously, blah blah..."

As she spoke, her gaze occasionally lingered on Shen Nian. In a way, those words were directed at him.

Plenty of students in the class had poor English grades, but few were willing to improve. She’d talked to some of the underperformers...

To put it bluntly, some had already given up, while others just paid lip service, promising to study hard but never even cracking open a book—pure teacher-bamboozling.

Shen Nian was different. Not only had he promised to work hard, but he also stuck to his study plans, and his weekly test scores had skyrocketed.

Yan Yuzhu was genuinely pleased. Students like him were the budding flowers of the nation’s future.

"This chart is for you to compare your own progress, identify weaknesses, and learn from those doing well."

"Take Xia Yanchun, Lan Fukai, Chen Dong, and Shen Nian, for example—you can all learn from their methods."

"Wait, Shen Nian?" A boy jeered. The class glanced at Shen Nian’s scores on the screen, from the first-year division up to the second semester of their second year:

42, 38, 50... 38, 48, 44...

How was he even in the same league as the others?

Shen Nian was baffled too. Girl, are you setting me up for a fall?

Good thing I’ve got the skills to back it up, or I’d be splattered on the pavement after this hype.

Yan Yuzhu chuckled. "Quiet, everyone. While Shen Nian’s past scores weren’t great, his recent performance has been excellent. Last week’s test? He scored a 92."

Shen Nian grinned in his seat. Teacher, stop praising me—I’m turning into an embryo from all this flattery.

The class atmosphere was lively, but not everyone was happy.

Lan Fukai’s face turned green. How the hell did I end up next to Shen Nian?

He was fuming.

......

A light drizzle fell all afternoon.

During the homeroom session, Su Kexi came in with the seating chart for the upcoming monthly exam.

Though not as major as midterms or finals, the monthly exam was more formal than weekly tests, requiring seat changes and classroom swaps—same procedure.

The difference was, some questions on the monthly exam were designed by the school or a consortium of local high schools.

Collaborative exams made it easier to compare results and foster healthy competition.

In terms of difficulty, Shen Nian felt the monthly tests were tougher than midterms but easier than finals.

After all, midterms were followed by parent-teacher meetings. The school didn’t want students scoring abysmally, so they kept the difficulty manageable—better to avoid a round of "bamboo stir-fry" at home.

Shen Nian checked his main quest:

[Unlocked Main Quest: When the Pupils No Longer Tremble.

First Hunt: Intermediate Monster. Reward: 1000 gold, Title: Flicker of Training (slight EXP gain boost)]

The title intrigued him.

In games, EXP was a given. This title was like a permanent EXP boost card, speeding up leveling.

But in reality? Most likely, it meant faster skill acquisition—learning anything a notch quicker.

Now this is a cheat worth having.

After school, classmates started packing up their books.

Exams meant switching classrooms and desks—no books allowed on the tables. Most boys stacked theirs by their feet, while girls used storage boxes or hauled them back to the dorm.

Shen Nian, however, had two desks, so he could stash most of his stuff.

As for the remaining papers and books? The genius has his ways.

"Help me store these."

"No. The box is Shi Yan’s." Xia Yanchun turned away, refusing.

Shen Nian glanced at Li Shiyan, then at the stack of papers and books nearly an inch thick.

Before he could speak, Li Shiyan caved, meekly lifting the lid of her storage box to let him dump his things inside.

"Now that’s what I call a loli with a heart of gold," Shen Nian said approvingly.

From 37-year-old glamorous loli to 37-year-old loli, and now just straight-up loli—Li Shiyan pouted, helpless. You’ve picked the wrong one to mess with—I’m as soft as cotton.

I’m almost 1.6 meters tall, not flat-chested, just a normal girl! Where’s the loli here?!

Clenching her fists, Li Shiyan stewed until class resumed. Then, in a fit of rage—she raged for exactly one second.

On her scratch paper, she drew a stick figure, labeled it Shen Nian, and connected it to a doodle of a poop-shaped superhero straight out of 4399 games.

Shen Nian, go eat sh—!

After tormenting Shen Nian on paper for the entire class, Li Shiyan finally felt better. Think you can bully me? I’ve got my ways.

"Yanchun, look—Shen Nian’s eating sh—," she whispered, sliding her masterpiece to Xia Yanchun.

"Good! He deserves it," Xia Yanchun said solemnly.

"Exactly! Shen Nian should eat sh—."

At least someone gets me. Let’s be weirdos together forever, bestie.

Shen Nian returned from the bathroom and, passing the two girls, caught a glimpse. "Oh? Drawing? And my name’s there too. Let me see what you’ve got."

Xia Yanchun remained indifferent. Li Shiyan, however, short-circuited.

"N-nothing! Just doodles!" She snapped the notebook shut, laughing nervously.

"Pretty sure I saw a turd."

"No way! You must’ve imagined it!"

Shen Nian: "..."

Even a blind man could tell you’re hiding something.

In a good mood, he let it slide and pulled out several packs of snacks from his bag, distributing them to nearby classmates.

When he got to Xia Yanchun, he tossed her an extra pack of gum. "Here. Can’t say I don’t look out for you."

"Wow, a 1.5-yuan gum. How generous," Xia Yanchun deadpanned.

"And for the loli—no need to thank me."

"Th-thank you!" Li Shiyan stared at the two mini bags of chips on her desk, cheeks pink and eyes sparkling. She suddenly regretted feeding Shen Nian imaginary excrement earlier.

Sure, he’s annoying and a total weirdo... but he’s not all bad.

Just because Shen Nian is 98% bad, does that mean we should deny the 2% good in him?

·

Taking a day off today, so only one chapter—apologies, apologies Orz.

Xia Yanchun reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for 3 million+ daily updates causing server overload, we now recommend switching to other top-tier sources.