Today was Friday, and the weekend was just around the corner.
Early in the morning, Xu Ming arrived at school right on time, riding his little electric scooter.
It was the same familiar time, the same familiar place, and the same familiar routine: finishing his homework at the last minute.
However, something was a little unusual today. Zhao Xiaomin, who was normally punctual, had actually arrived late.
Meanwhile, her deskmate Lin An, the second female lead, had come surprisingly early for some reason.
“Hey… You’re pretty early today…” Xu Ming greeted the girl somewhat stiffly as he reached his seat.
Lin An nodded and replied indifferently, “Mm, I did come early today.”
A faint trace of amusement flickered in her narrow, fox-like eyes.
Heh…
So, is he going to ask me for help now…?
Under Lin An’s gaze, which seemed to see through everything, Xu Ming casually struck up a conversation as though they were already familiar.
“Lin An, can I borrow your homework?”
“Mm, sure.”
Lin An blinked and turned around.
From an angle Xu Ming could not see, the corners of her lips curled into a faint, mocking smile.
As expected…
It’s the same thing again… How boring…
The amusement in her eyes instantly turned into disdain. Losing interest, she took out her homework notebook and lazily handed it to Xu Ming.
“Here, take it.”
What’s with her…?
Am I imagining things?
Why does it feel like she’s in a bad mood…?
Hearing the laziness in the girl’s voice, a trace of curiosity and confusion flashed through Xu Ming’s eyes.
He accepted the notebook, smiled slightly, and sincerely thanked her, “All right, thanks.”
“Mm.”
With the notebook in hand, Xu Ming took out his pen and quickly began copying the homework he had not finished.
Everything returned to silence, and neither of them spoke again.
“Hey, I suddenly realized something. You seem to finish your homework at the last minute every morning…”
“What’s going on with that…?”
After a while, Lin An, who had nothing else to do, suddenly turned around again.
“Mm… Don’t you ever do your homework after you get home at night?”
For some reason, she suddenly narrowed her eyes at Xu Ming.
Her long, narrow eyes clearly carried a playful, teasing glint.
???
This… Is she talking to me?
The black pen in Xu Ming’s hand abruptly stopped. He raised his eyes and looked at the girl with equal confusion.
Their gazes unexpectedly met in midair.
“Mm, I don’t know how to do it, and I don’t want to do it.”
After casually saying that, Xu Ming lowered his head again and continued copying his homework.
Whether in his previous life or this one, Xu Ming had never been particularly good at studying.
Mm… To be more precise, there was almost nothing about his circumstances that could be called good, whether it was his family background or his abilities.
At this point in his previous life, he had already been forced to give up on his education.
In fact, even in this life, if not for his uncle, Xu Ming would most likely have followed the same path after completing nine years of compulsory education. He would have entered society directly, carrying the kind of miserable background that seemed straight out of a protagonist’s template.
“Heh… You’re really that unconcerned about it?”
Lin An suddenly chuckled, and a trace of surprise flashed through her watery eyes.
Her voice carried an undisguised hint of mockery as she asked, “At your age, if you don’t study, what else are you going to do?”
“Mm… Here’s the thing…”
“What you’re saying does make sense, just not that much…”
“Everyone has different circumstances and different ways of thinking in real life. Can you try to understand and respect that, okay?”
After calmly explaining himself, Xu Ming immediately cut off the subject and continued copying his homework.
Obviously, he had no interest in wasting more words on this neurotic girl.
Besides, she seemed to be talking to him purely because she wanted to tease him.
Oh… Is he…
Angry?!
Hehe…
Seemingly noticing Xu Ming’s cold attitude, the amusement in Lin An’s eyes deepened.
However, she was not some reckless fool who did not know when to stop. She immediately changed her attitude before things went too far.
“Mm… That’s true…”
Seeing that the boy clearly did not want to continue discussing the subject, Lin An suppressed her laughter, put away her playful attitude, and explained, “Mm… I was just curious, so I asked. Don’t mind it.”
“I know… I won’t.”
…
After the third class that afternoon, Xu Ming received an invitation. Brother Zhou Cheng wanted to take him out to have some fun.
“Hey, Xu Ming, want to come to a gathering in Jiangcheng this weekend?”
Zhou Cheng raised an eyebrow and flashed a smile straight out of a “Dragon King” novel.
With temptation written all over his face, he invited Xu Ming, “I’ve invited a lot of people. Want to come with us? It’ll be lively…”
This…
“What are you planning to do there…?”
“What’s so fun about it? Tell me.”
Xu Ming narrowed his eyes and casually tried to get more information out of Zhou Cheng.
He actually knew about this part of the novel plotline, where Zhou Cheng went to Jiangcheng to have fun. However, Xu Ming had no intention of getting involved.
After all, the first major brawl in the original novel happened right there.
“There’s plenty to do…”
“Singing, cards, billiards, Truth or Dare… We’ve got everything…”
“And there’s also… Hehehe… You know what I mean.”
Zhou Cheng continued tempting Xu Ming with a wicked grin.
“Mm… Give me a second. Let me think…”
“What is there to think about? Don’t tell me you’re not coming?”
“No. I’m thinking about how to cancel my plans with my younger cousin so I can go with you guys instead.”
“Hey, now that’s more like it. All right.”
“Take your time figuring it out, but make sure you cancel on your cousin and come with me.”
In truth, Xu Ming was not thinking about anything at all.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the System to issue a mission.
Seriously…
Brother Zhou Cheng has already invited me. You’re a System that’s supposed to help him, so why the hell are you still dragging your feet?!
[Ding! Side Mission issued.]
Just as Xu Ming was silently complaining, the System’s long-overdue mission finally arrived.
[Side Mission: Accompany the protagonist to Jiangcheng and prevent or resolve the related conflicts.]
[Success Reward: 300 Points.]
Just 300 Points, and that’s it?!
The reward for this Side Mission was far below Xu Ming’s expectations.
He had thought he could make a fortune from this opportunity, but he had never expected the System to be so stingy.
Xu Ming currently had a massive fortune of 500 Points, which happened to be enough to exchange for a skill in the System Shop.
However, the return on this mission was not worth the trouble. He really did not want to do it.
System, can I skip this mission?
After thinking it over, Xu Ming decided to try exploiting the loophole and simply give up on the mission.
But…
[Ding! A loophole has been discovered in the System. Emergency patching in progress…]
[Ding! Patching successful. Host compensation issued: 1,000 Points.]
Huh???
Wait… You call it a loophole, and suddenly it’s a loophole?
Then why the hell didn’t you patch it before?!
Holy crap, I’m screwed!
Hearing the System’s cold notification, Xu Ming hurriedly summoned the interface to check.
[Side Mission: Accompany the protagonist to Jiangcheng and prevent or resolve the related conflicts.]
[Success Reward: 600 Points.]
[Failure Penalty: Deduct 1,200 Points.]
[PS: If the Host has insufficient Points, talents, skills, items, or other assets of equivalent value will be deducted.]
Holy shit!
I screwed up…
Damn it… If I’d known this would happen, I never would’ve asked…
Originally, Side Missions had no penalty for failure. Being attentive to details, Xu Ming had planned to exploit that loophole and avoid this mission entirely.
But…
He was still too young.
Forget it… Fine…
At least I got compensation, and the reward increased too…
So this… probably isn’t a loss…
But what the hell is with that failure penalty?!
You’re kicking me while I’m down, aren’t you?!
What a freaking bastard!!!
After silently cursing the System for a while, Xu Ming finally calmed himself down.
Damn it… There’s no turning back now…
Fine… Fine…
Trading 500 Points for 600 Points is still a profit…
Guess I’ll have to accept it…
“Hey, Brother Zhou Cheng, I figured something out…”
“I’ll cancel my plans with my cousin this weekend and go have fun with you.”
“So, are we going on Saturday or Sunday?”
Forcing out a slightly strained smile, Xu Ming casually asked Zhou Cheng when the gathering would take place.
“Heh, Saturday at 2:00 p.m.”
“Jiangcheng isn’t far. I’ll send you the address when the time comes, and you can just ride over.”
“Don’t stand me up.”
“All right.”
…