Here’s the Chapter 26 — “Tomorrow’s a holiday, so today’s…”
“Tomorrow’s a holiday, so today’s dismissal time will be a bit earlier.” Lin Huai pushed aside the uneasy feeling in his heart and forced himself to continue, “Remember not to be late when you come to school next week.”
“Eh, tomorrow’s a holiday?!” Wen Qian was somewhat surprised.
She really had skipped so many classes that her brain was all foggy, forgetting such an important thing.
She immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought she might have to give up some homework, but now it seemed there was still hope. She knew the game wouldn’t let her walk into a dead end.
“Don’t you remember?” Lin Huai was a bit surprised, but thinking about his deskmate’s usual behavior, it seemed quite normal.
Did having a holiday even make a difference to her?
Maybe it did — like missing out on the daily ritual of walking around the classroom.
He couldn’t see any other differences.
Lin Huai packed up his things and turned to look at Wen Qian. His sitting posture was always a bit deliberately upright, just like his personality.
The typical textbook-perfect student — both in his attitude toward classmates and his behavior.
“Wait, come walk with me.” Lin Huai paused, and with the corner of his eye noticed a few people in the corner of the classroom.
They were the usual crowd who hung out with Wu Hao and Yan Yi, casting half-glances at Wen Qian with unfriendly expressions.
The hostile vibe was obvious, and they didn’t even bother to hide it.
Seeing Wen Qian’s puzzled look, Lin Huai lowered his voice: “About what happened with Wu Hao and those two just now, someone will probably come to give you trouble. I’ll see you out of school — you should get home quickly.”
“Trouble?!” Wen Qian was overjoyed.
She looked even more excited than the people who might come to cause her trouble, practically itching to stand up and look around to see who exactly would be coming.
Lin Huai choked on his words, silently swallowing the comforting words he had been about to say.
What exactly was his deskmate thinking?!
Little Wen was very happy that someone was so considerate. She had originally thought her last chance to call the police would be wasted — with the holiday, she would have to make up homework, and after the holiday ended and she returned to school, the police report chances would refresh once per week.
She hadn’t expected a kind person to step in so quickly.
She flashed a radiant smile and followed Lin Huai’s gaze to lock onto the group suspected of wanting to make a move on her.
She threw them a look of encouragement.
The few boys in the corner froze. What kind of reaction was that?
“I think this girl is a bit off,” one hesitated.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of her,” another sneered. “If we don’t show her some color, she’ll really start thinking she’s something.”
“I’m just wondering why she’s smiling so happily.”
Anyone with a brain should know they wouldn’t let her off, but she seemed so confident, like she was just waiting for them to come over.
The boy who had spoken suddenly remembered the elusive police officer, twitched his eyelid, and hurriedly voiced his concerns.
The other two went silent.
“It’s nothing, just a little cop. I’ll have my dad give him a call,” the ringleader waved his hand carelessly.
“Yeah, what’s there to be scared of? We just have to teach her a lesson. What’s there to fear? She’s all alone,” a crisp, cheerful voice joined the conversation.
The owner of the voice confidently added: “One against three, don’t worry about saving face. We’ll gang up on her and see how she reacts!”
“Exactly, exactly, you—”
Something felt off, but the boy nodded instinctively and turned around with a smile.
Their eyes met Wen Qian’s as she squatted beside him.
“Hello, are you the ones who want to cause me trouble?” The girl smiled at them, her face showing an expression of relief that shouldn’t appear in such a situation.
She had spotted them — three NPCs planning to mess with her!
In a flash, the three lost their balance and fell — one scared into leaning back, pulling the other two down with him.
“What are you panicking for? Don’t rush!” Wen Qian hurriedly reached out to help.
She couldn’t let them get hurt—if they did, they wouldn’t even be worth half a bowl of beef noodles. That would be a big loss for her.
Seeing her come to help, the three got even more flustered and kept backing away.
They started running circles around the desks.
Other classmates still in the classroom: …
This afternoon felt like a dream.
The farce ended when one of them suddenly seemed to snap out of it and ran out of the classroom.
The player didn’t chase after them because she still had to drag her little desk, which was a bit too much to handle.
She felt regretful, but the three who escaped were deeply relieved.
“She didn’t chase us,” a boy looked back, confirming that persistent shadow was not following them, feeling grateful to have escaped.
Another leaned on his knees, panting, having stayed silent the entire time, but now he couldn’t help but speak up.
“So why did we run? Weren’t we supposed to cause her trouble?”
The other two: …
They exchanged looks and fell silent.
Right, so who exactly is trying to cause trouble for whom?
“Forget it, actually thinking about it, this isn’t really our business. The people who should be upset with her aren’t us,” the ringleader changed his tone, glancing back warily as he said this. “Besides, she’s not normal. Let’s not provoke her anymore.”
He said this firm but weak retreat speech.
The three embarrassed guys didn’t realize that choosing to back down was actually the move that hurt Wen Qian the most.
Nothing was more painful to a player than losing gold coins right before they were about to get them.
Seeing little Wen hang her head in gloom, Lin Huai didn’t know how to comfort her.
Them not coming after her — that should be a good thing, right?
Lin Huai paused for a long time, looking at Wen Qian dragging her desk, listless, and forced himself to say, “Well, maybe… maybe they’ll come looking for you trouble again next time?”
Enough, what nonsense was he saying.
Wen Qian was really comforted. Yeah, this kind of good thing didn’t happen often. If it didn’t work this time, there would be a next!
She looked at Lin Huai and nodded solemnly, “Thanks for the encouragement.”
Lin Huai: “…Encouragement?”
“So… you’re actually an NPC who respawns regularly in the academy’s public area?”
Lorren’s first glance at Wen Qian was met with her sudden realization and exclamation.
His casual smile froze. “Huh?”
“I thought you’d be happy to see me.” He lowered his eyes and walked naturally beside Wen Qian, slightly leaning forward to look at her.
“After all, I helped you so much.” He smiled at the corner of his eyes, holding a photo between his slender fingers and waving it in front of Wen Qian.
“Shouldn’t you thank me?”
Wen Qian took the photo with some confusion. It showed a man and a woman sitting in a restaurant, the girl’s hand resting on the boy’s wrist, a close gesture.
It was her and Chu Lingyu.
The player was silent, thinking, then suddenly realized.
“You took a photo of me?” Wen Qian hesitated, “I don’t have to pay you, right?”
Afraid that next he’d say “Five coins for a photo, ten for two people.”
“…I didn’t take it.” He looked at Wen Qian as if trying to read her mind. “Aren’t you worried?”
“Worried about what?”
“Chu Lingyu is popular.” He chuckled lightly. “And when I found out, the person taking the photo was about to post it on the school forum.”
“That might cause you some small trouble.”
That seemed kind of interesting. He was idly thinking, but mainly wanted to see Wen Qian’s reaction, so he let the person be stopped.
What expression would she show? Surprise, fear, anger?
Wen Qian was unhappy.
There was even a forum at school, and she didn’t know about it. Could it be because she still hadn’t equipped a phone?
Little Wen, hard hit by her own poverty, felt a bit sad.
Enough, this can count as flaunting wealth!
Lorren’s smile froze when he heard Wen Qian muttering. He hadn’t expected her to care about something like this.
“Aren’t you worried?” He glanced at Wen Qian. “Is it because Chu Lingyu would help you?”
Lorren admitted he was a little surprised when he saw the photo. He hadn’t expected the two to be so familiar.
Chu Lingyu was not a good-tempered person. He had expected the love letter to be entertaining, but he didn’t expect this kind of outcome.
“Why would Chu Lingyu help me?” Wen Qian didn’t understand how the conversation had shifted here.
“I thought you two got along well.” He waved the photo.
“I thought so too.” The player sighed. “But like you, he also rejected my friend request.”
Thinking about it, she had sent two friend requests and both were rejected… enough, she had hit the same brick wall twice!
“You hit a sore spot. I’m going to take it out on you,” Wen Qian solemnly warned Lorren.
When Lorren heard the previous words, he was surprised by Wen Qian’s sharpness. Chu Lingyu was indeed not easy to get along with, but most students overlooked this because of his looks.
She saw it clearly. Before she could gather her thoughts, she heard the warning that she would take it out on him.
He couldn’t help but chuckle, relaxing his expression. “Don’t be mad. Need help?”
“Like, making you friends with Chu Lingyu?”
Did she really just want to be friends? Lorren followed casually beside Wen Qian, feeling like something interesting was about to happen.
Wen Qian didn’t even lift her eyelids. “Take care of yourself first.”
Someone who rejected her friend request offering to help get another to accept hers was kind of funny.
“Don’t be upset. How about a gift?” Lorren showed a half-hearted troubled look. “Want me to buy you a desk? Then you wouldn’t have to keep carrying yours around?”
Wen Qian’s mood instantly brightened.
What was this, a windfall from the sky?
Surely the game couldn’t stand seeing her drag her desk around every day, so it sent an NPC to help her out!
Good game!
[Info revealed: NPC-gifted furniture is decorative only, no special function]
Bad game.
Lorren looked at the girl who had just smiled warmly but now looked downcast. She weakly refused him.
“No thanks…”
“I’m happy you want to give me gifts.”
“But my house can’t fit a second desk.”
The current one was still on the balcony—where else could another go? On the bed?
“Give me something more practical.” She pondered.
Lorren paused, a smile tugging at his mouth: “Of course, you can ask me for anything.”
“Anything?” Wen Qian thought for a moment, grabbed his hand, and placed the handle of her small cart into it. “Take me home.”
Lorren looked at the little cart silently.
Wen Qian politely added, “Just that’s enough, thanks.”
…
Walking along the tree-lined road, their long shadows overlapped gently in the warm glow of the sunset, the peaceful and warm atmosphere suddenly shifted toward reality with the appearance of the little cart.
Wen Qian didn’t care where the NPC would go after taking her home—she couldn’t think about that much.
The pile of double-concentrated homework stacked like a small mountain in front of her was already enough to give a headache.
[Homework (completed) — Intelligence +1]
[Homework 2 (completed) — Intelligence +1]
The system prompt sounded repeatedly. When Wen Qian regained consciousness, it was already the weekend.
[Today’s skill refresh — Handicraft
For beggars, self-made items always feel more reassuring than bought ones.
Details: Put materials into the crafting slot to automatically generate corresponding items.]
The system prompt woke Wen Qian from her sleep.
“…I actually did homework all night!”
The player was shocked by her own effort. There really was such a person who loved studying in the world. Unbelievable.
In the game, sleep time could be adjusted. In theory, as long as stamina was sufficient, one could stay awake indefinitely.
The side effect was that once stamina hit zero, one would fall asleep anywhere.
Sleep time was fixed. The later you fell asleep, the later you would wake up the next day.
Lying in her little bed, Wen Qian started worrying about today’s schedule.
— Should I go out for a casual stroll and attack some trash cans, or find a place to fish and use up my last chance to call the police?
So hard to decide!
The system panel that she accidentally opened wobbled in front of her eyes, and the bright little red dot on the screen immediately caught Wen Qian’s attention.
She fixed her gaze on it—the red dot was on the [Class Schedule] tab.
Since the first day of school, after her deskmate handed her the class schedule, this feature had appeared in the system.
But for a player who attended school only to skip classes, this function made little difference.
No class could stop her from skipping.
But a red dot was different. Wen Qian immediately perked up, swung her legs off the bed, and opened the [Class Schedule] interface.
In the clean and clear schedule for next week, one somewhat prominent class shone with a golden light, symbolizing a quest.
[Computer Programming Analysis — Requires equipped item: [Computer]
Class Reward: Intelligence Points +1]
The smile that had just blossomed from the new quest slowly faded.
Wen Qian pondered for a moment: “If I’m not mistaken, you want to give me a computer, right?”
“How can a game be so generous in this world!”
The player, trying to praise and awaken the game’s last bit of conscience, was met only with prolonged silence.
Wen Qian also fell silent.
“What do you mean, I have to buy it myself?” she asked with difficulty.
Do you know how bankrupting this mission is for a player whose profession is beggar?
The cold and merciless system kept showing its tasks relentlessly.
The angry player furiously punched the air.
After calming down, Wen Qian finally had the patience to carefully study the system’s mission panel and clicked on [Mission Hint].
Indeed, the computer needed to be equipped, but the system did not strictly require buying one. Crafting the item herself could also pass the quest requirements.
There was a hint, but was this reasonable?
Wen Qian hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself.
What does it mean, crafting a computer with bare hands? Me?
Clinging to a last bit of hope, she looked at the newly refreshed [Handcrafting] skill from this morning.
In the skill panel, many items could be crafted, even the game itself — but most were greyed out because of insufficient materials.
The only bright icon was [Iris Flower Bracelet], which required just two irises to make.
Wen Qian skipped past the iris bracelet and scrolled down to the very bottom where she found her target.
[Item Name — Computer
Materials Required: Electronic Components x3, Viscous Resin x1, Bottled Dish Soap x1, White Radish x1]
Wen Qian: “…Can these things really make a computer?”
What is this, cooking?
Half doubtful but without a better solution, Wen Qian embarked on collecting the materials.
The system’s built-in navigation map pointed out the location of each material, densely marked with red dots on the virtual map in front of her.
Resin was everywhere; white radish and dish soap were marked in the suburbs, vegetable markets, and supermarkets; electronic components were located in specific shops.
Curious, Wen Qian clicked to check the price of the electronic components, and the sight made her shiver and retreat with trembling hands.
Is this a plan to empty her wallet? So expensive?
She decisively gave up on buying from stores.
Electronic components—something domesticated she couldn’t afford, but could she find some wild ones?
Looking at a few scattered but real red dots on the edge of the map, Wen Qian showed a thoughtful expression.
Alright, it’s decided: the abandoned factory in the north of the city!
Overgrown with weeds, the abandoned iron gate was stained with rust-red marks. The sparsely populated factory had become a paradise for wild animals.
Stacked broken steel plates surrounded a dismantled distribution box, and piles of miscellaneous junk emitted the scent of decay.
A teenager in a black jacket stood with one hand in his pocket, his dark eyes coldly watching a group approaching him.
He slowly pulled out his hand and nonchalantly flexed his wrist, lowering his sharp brows slightly.
“Who’s first?” Jiang Zhi spoke casually, not even glancing at the group.
Even the stray cats darting by seemed more entertaining than these people.
“Jiang Zhi, I thought you were that rich young master before?” The tall man’s anger flared. “Without your old man, let’s see what you can do now!”
He stepped back, looked at his group, and shouted, “Get him!”
Jiang Zhi raised his eyelids, acknowledging the words without much interest.
It proved he was listening, though how much was uncertain.
The group charged forward, clearly dissatisfied with his reaction. Their punches grew fiercer, but one was stopped by a single hand.
Jiang Zhi stepped back, frowned slightly in disdain, bent his knees, and kicked the man hard. His expression was cold, and there was no hesitation in the strike.
The man clutched his chest, howling in pain and retreating several steps.
“What’s this? You’re lining up to get beaten?” Jiang Zhi’s gaze flicked to the right corner. After withdrawing his gaze, he frowned again. “Sorry, I don’t have time to waste with you.”
The taunting words enraged the others, who exchanged looks before charging Jiang Zhi simultaneously.
Outside the factory, a fierce fight broke out. Inside, Wen Qian’s expression was serious.
What was that noise calling out?
She looked at the iron rod she’d casually picked up, her face full of doubt.
…Is there a ghost?
Coming to the abandoned factory felt like paradise—so many good things here!
The player happily picked things up from here and there.
Picking up trash was fun!
Following the system map’s guidance, Wen Qian spotted a partially exposed dish soap bottle beneath a pile of junk. She quickly turned and found a stick.
Trying to attack the trash can like before, she aimed to knock out the dish soap.
And this—was the start of a strange event.
Without anticipating what would happen next, Wen Qian skillfully poked the junk pile with the stick.
The pile let out a horrible scream!
Wen Qian immediately dropped the stick. What the hell was that sound?
Shaking from fright: this game actually has supernatural elements?!
But why was it the junk pile?
Her mind blank, Wen Qian picked up the stick again hesitantly and poked the pile once more.
Another horrible scream, still sounding like a man’s voice.
The player was shocked and tried circling the pile to find the source of the screams.
Finding nothing, she couldn’t tell if this was an Easter egg from the system or if she was truly seeing ghosts.
Standing before the junk pile, hesitant, she heard the scream again during those two seconds.
Without the interference of the stick’s impact sound, she clearly heard the source—not the junk pile, but behind the iron gate next to the pile.
Wen Qian felt both relief and slight disappointment.
Relief there was no ghost, disappointment that the junk pile wasn’t alive.
If the junk pile was alive, could she capture a junk pile pet?
Weird, but she kind of wanted one.
Holding her little iron rod, Wen Qian cautiously followed the direction of the sound, circled around discarded steel plates by the factory, and saw a group of passionate youths fighting.
Turns out someone had arranged a fight here.
The player, squatting by the junk, watched the scene like a new map Easter egg.
The storyline design was nice, matching the desolate atmosphere of the abandoned factory.
The problem: the two sides were unevenly matched. The boys on her side had maxed stats, how could the opposing group fight back?
Six against one and still losing—she wouldn’t even want to pick up trash with them.
After watching a while and feeling bored, the player resumed attacking the junk pile.
The sound of banging caught everyone’s attention in the tense situation.
Jiang Zhi frowned. He had noticed her presence but hadn’t expected her to show up now.
He turned sideways expressionlessly, blocking the six men’s gaze toward Wen Qian.
The men, still angry from their humiliation, redirected their anger at her.
“What are you looking at? Want to die—”
A heavy punch hit his face, interrupting the unfinished curse. The man staggered back, spat blood-tinged saliva.
The player, focused on finding electronic components, looked up confused. Was this related to her?
Wen Qian hesitated—did she have to get involved in this storyline?
Seeing the men covered in dust, she withdrew her gaze. Forget it, her clothes were expensive—better not.
After finishing with the junk pile, Wen Qian walked through the fighters as if they weren’t there, heading toward another pile of discarded items.
Passing Jiang Zhi, she gave him a compliment.
“Impressive, keep it up.”
Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow: “Uh, thanks?”
Behind her, the fist-fighting scene continued. Ahead lay a pile of diverse discarded materials. Wen Qian thought this place was truly lively.
[Picked up [Electronic Component] ×1]
Someone was knocked to the ground, unable to get up.
[Picked up [Discarded Dish Soap Bottle] ×1]
Someone retreated two steps, scared, and was scolded by the leader.
[White Radish Acquisition Progress—10%…60%]
Wen Qian never expected to find a white radish growing from the ground here and excitedly rushed to grab it.
On the way, she accidentally stepped on the arm of the guy still lying on the ground.
“Sorry—” The player gave a half-hearted apology as she hurried away.
One step crushed his fake death act.
The man, embarrassed and angry, stood up cursing, ready to take it out on the ungrateful person. Before he could stabilize, he met Jiang Zhi’s half-smiling gaze.
Wen Qian paid no more attention to the background characters. After collecting the materials, she noticed no more movement behind her.
“Are you done fighting?” Wen Qian peeked back and saw a few people barely standing and Jiang Zhi, unchanged.
“Still want to fight?” she asked Jiang Zhi, pointing at the six men preparing to leave.
“If not, can I take these people?”
Jiang Zhi looked at her surprised but casually nodded: “Suit yourself.”
He stood aside leisurely, seemingly curious what Wen Qian planned to do.
Wen Qian stared seriously at the men glaring at Jiang Zhi and slowly took a red button out of her pocket.
She pressed it solemnly.
Hearing the two’s conversation and feeling Jiang Zhi’s intimidation, the men who were also wary of Wen Qian thought they had been overthinking.
Their mocking looks hadn’t even faded when a speeding police car suddenly appeared behind them.
A serious-faced familiar figure got out, eyes fixed on the suspicious six.
Wen Qian declared righteously, “Good thing you arrived quickly, or my friend and I would have been beaten to death by them!”
“This kind of villain, bullying men and women, is truly unforgivable!”
Wen Qian started piling crimes on them verbally, eager to inflate their bounty past 100.
“Is that so?” The police NPC’s face darkened. “You, come with me!”
The six men, beaten from start to finish with no chance to fight back, were dumbfounded.
Defamation! This is defamation!
“We don’t even know her!” one angrily defended himself.
“Not knowing you and still hitting you adds to your crimes!” Wen Qian shot back, eyes cold and steady.
Great, she thought she’d waste her last chance to call the police.
But unexpectedly, someone still came just in time to help her.
There really are more good people in this world!