Su Ning's Heartbeat Value Finally Moved

When the results were announced,

something unexpected happened again.

Zhou Yi scored full marks in the Chinese literature exam as well!

When Liu Wei read out Zhou Yi's score, the students below once again began whispering among themselves.

"Is he insane? Did he even memorize modern literature?"

"I can't even understand some of the questions—how did he get full marks?"

"Why did he rank last in the freshman finals? That's what baffles me the most."

"Was it intentional?"

Even Su Ning couldn't help but glance at Zhou Yi curiously.

Could the difference between hiding one's abilities and revealing them really be this vast?

"This is unreal. Did Zhou Yi get possessed or something? Or has he been secretly burning the midnight oil?" Zhang Lili started gossiping with Su Ning again.

Su Ning frowned and shook her head. "I don’t think so. Burning the midnight oil for literature is one thing, but how do you explain math?"

Somehow, Su Ning felt that Zhou Yi might not actually be a loser—it was just her intuition.

Setting aside her previous biases, this young man was starting to shine in her eyes.

When Zhou Yi recited the text, Su Ning found her gaze inexplicably drawn to him. She seemed to see a different kind of... charm in him.

How should she put it? It was as if no question was too difficult for him—an effortless confidence.

The kind Su Ning envied but could never replicate.

No matter how much money she had, when it came to academics, she had to trudge forward step by step like everyone else.

So just how much effort had Zhou Yi put in to achieve this?

[Su Ning's affection points +3.]

[Su Ning's regret points +10.]

Zhou Yi, who had just received his test paper, heard the system's announcement and smiled faintly. It seemed the icy walls around Su Ning's heart had finally cracked a little.

Women really were imaginative creatures. Who knew what Su Ning had conjured up in her mind to bring about this change?

It probably wasn’t just his grades—otherwise, she’d have fallen for Wang Yang by now.

Zhou Yi propped his chin on his hand and looked over, accidentally meeting Su Ning’s gaze as she turned around.

The girl flinched in surprise, quickly turning away and shutting her eyes.

Su Ning didn’t even know what she was thinking—she had just instinctively looked in Zhou Yi’s direction, only for their eyes to lock.

A faint blush spread across her delicate, pretty face.

She was blushing.

For Su Ning, this was a rare occurrence.

And right now, her heart was pounding so hard she had to take a deep breath and resist the urge to look back.

[Su Ning's affection points +5.]

Zhou Yi lowered his eyes and chuckled. Who would’ve thought the campus belle was actually a tsundere?

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day’s classes.

In university, packed schedules were relatively rare.

Since it wasn’t quite dinner time yet, students either headed back to their dorms to sleep like the dead, went to internet cafés to game, or hung out elsewhere.

(And no, they didn’t game in the dorms—the campus Wi-Fi was slower than a snail on sedatives.)

The original Zhou Yi had been a loner, often eating alone and occasionally running errands for the girls he simped over.

But this time, as soon as Zhou Yi stood up, several classmates extended invitations.

"Zhou Yi, wanna join us for a game?"

"Let’s grab dinner—cafeteria or the backstreet, your pick."

"I’ve got a few questions I’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind."

"My treat—how about some skewers at the food street?"

The academically stronger boys in the class were the first to reach out, thoroughly impressed by Zhou Yi’s performance.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yi’s three roommates exchanged glances from a distance before shaking their heads and leaving.

Their past treatment of Zhou Yi hadn’t been great, so they didn’t have the nerve to approach him now.

Zhou Yi studied the group of boys before him—some of whom had mocked him before—but he didn’t refuse.

"Sure, let’s go."

His acceptance visibly eased the tension among them.

On the way to the cafeteria, Zhou Yi’s presence turned heads left and right.

Girls kept stealing glances at him.

"Damn, isn’t that the senior from Visual Communications? He’s so hot."

"Right? He looks even better in person than in the forum pics."

"I think so too—way more attractive up close."

"Should we ask for his number?"

"Don’t bother. Rumor has it he never adds anyone—kinda aloof."

The boys walking with Zhou Yi couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy at the attention he was getting.

"Zhou Yi, we… might’ve judged you too harshly before. Said some nasty stuff. Hope you won’t hold it against us."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Let me treat you to dinner as an apology, okay?"

Zhou Yi knew exactly why their attitudes had shifted.

But that was human nature—people admired strength and preyed on weakness. Only by becoming strong could you earn respect.

University was like a microcosm of society: the strong were revered, the weak were bullied.

Zhou Yi wasn’t some holier-than-thou saint. With a humble, composed smile, he said, "Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t exactly likable back then."

His words only made the boys feel guiltier.

Before long, they were already calling each other "bro."

They hit up an internet café for a few rounds of gaming—only to discover Zhou Yi was a beast at that too.

"Bro, what kind of god-tier play was that?!"

"Absolute legend."

"What rank are you? Carry me sometime, man!"

Zhou Yi remained expressionless as he maneuvered the mouse. The boys, who had initially been playing alongside him, soon gathered around just to watch him flex.

If anyone asked how Zhou Yi was so OP at gaming? Simple—he’d borrowed a cheat from the system. Though it only lasted three hours, that was more than enough time to show off.

By dinnertime, Zhou Yi insisted on eating at the cafeteria.

Over the meal, curiosity got the better of his companions.

"How did your grades improve so much all of a sudden?"

This was the burning question—probably the real reason they’d invited him in the first place.

Zhou Yi shoved a mouthful of food into his mouth. Under their expectant stares, he delivered the most infuriatingly humble-brag answer possible:

"Guess my meridians just suddenly unblocked."

Xu Yu, the boy beside him, nudged him with a shoulder and laughed.

"Come on, stop teasing us. We’re dying to know—just throw us a bone here?"

Between bites, Zhou Yi mumbled, "If I had to say… talent plus hard work?"

Wang Yang frowned. "But how? Math isn’t something you can master overnight. What’s your secret?"

Xu Yu leaned in conspiratorially. "Were you secretly holding back before? Like, intentionally flunking?"

Zhou Yi froze for a few seconds, as if caught off guard.

He opened his mouth, gave Xu Yu a complicated look, then stayed silent.

His reaction seemed like confirmation—without actually confirming anything.

The boys exchanged glances.

Could the class rumors be true?

Had Zhou Yi been pretending to be a useless nobody all along?

Without Zhou Yi's knowledge, rumors about him had already been circulating for quite some time. In addition to the main class group chat, there were always a few smaller group chats among cliques within the class. Today, the people having lunch with Zhou Yi had more or less seen Zhang Lili's outrageous speculations in those chats.

Xu Yu pulled out his phone and spammed their small group with multiple exclamation marks.

[Xu Yu (won't change profile pic until he ranks first): !!! OMG OMG! Guys, listen up! I'm having lunch with Zhou Yi right now, and guess what just happened!]

[City Belle: What? Stop teasing and spill it already.]

[Su Ning: .]

[18-Year-Old Innocent Stepmom: ??? You're having lunch with Zhou Yi? Without me? Get me his WeChat right now!]

All ten members of the group urged Xu Yu to stop beating around the bush.

[Xu Yu (won't change profile pic until he ranks first): Turns out Lili was right—Zhou Yi was faking being a loser all along!]

[City Belle: Details! Now!]

[18-Year-Old Innocent Stepmom: Where in the cafeteria are you? I’m coming over ASAP~]

[Xu Yu (won't change profile pic until he ranks first): So we asked him straight up—"Were you hiding your skills before? Pretending to suck on purpose?" And man, he totally froze up. He went silent, gave me this complicated look, and then just clammed up. That’s basically a confession right there.]

[City Belle: AHHH I need to witness this drama firsthand! Drop your location NOW!]