Quanzhou required all students to live on campus, so naturally, there were supervised evening study sessions every day.
Military training, however, was an exception.
On Tuesday evening, as part of their military training, the entire new first-year high school cohort carried their chairs out to the sports field beneath the stars to watch The Five Heroes of Langya Mountain.
No matter how much cooler September evenings were, they were still far from comfortable. With so many energetic young students gathered together, the place had practically become an all-you-can-eat buffet for mosquitoes.
Jiang Wan was naturally the type of person mosquitoes didn’t like biting. Sitting among the crowd, she remained perfectly calm while the students around her scratched themselves and complained, “There are so many mosquitoes!”
Chu Yishan was among those complaining.
Chu Yishan slapped a mosquito dead, feeling thoroughly irritated as she complained to her System: [Who wants to watch these ancient movies? I’m here to complete my conquest missions, not to actually experience school life!]
The System replied: [This System has no requirements regarding the player’s academic performance or conduct at school.]
Chu Yishan snorted. Taking advantage of the darkness and the surrounding crowd to conceal her movements, she lowered her head and pulled out her phone.
She turned the screen brightness down to its lowest setting, opened Quanzhou’s Confession Wall account, and quickly typed up a submission before sending it from an alternate account.
Only after finishing did she raise her head and sweep her gaze across the crowd ahead, accurately locating Jiang Wan.
The Class Six homeroom teacher had just approached Jiang Wan to speak with her. To avoid disturbing the other students watching the film, the teacher crouched halfway beside her.
Jiang Wan tilted her head slightly to listen. The shifting black-and-white light from the screen danced across her profile, making her look as beautiful as a portrait.
A wave of resentment immediately rose in Chu Yishan’s heart.
[Why didn’t you just let me transmigrate into Jiang Wan’s body? Wouldn’t I have everything immediately? I wouldn’t even need to work for it.]
The System replied: […You’re only a beginner-level player. Don’t aim beyond your abilities.]
“…Anyway, the point is, don’t reveal too many exam questions…” The homeroom teacher was halfway through a stern warning when she suddenly noticed the corners of Jiang Wan’s mouth curve upward.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry.
“You seem rather pleased with yourself?”
Jiang Wan shook her head. “I’m smiling because of something else. I understand what you’ve said. I won’t reveal any more exam questions.”
“Not for any subject,” the homeroom teacher emphasised.
“I won’t say anything about any subject,” Jiang Wan promised solemnly.
As the homeroom teacher stood up and brushed off her trousers, Jiang Wan suddenly asked, “So I predicted the questions correctly?”
The homeroom teacher was caught between laughter and exasperation. She reached out and poked Jiang Wan’s forehead.
“You clever little troublemaker.”
…
Quanzhou’s Confession Wall updated overnight:
Bad news! Jiang Wan just got called over by Old Yu. The questions she predicted might be changed now. First-year students, you’re on your own.
Not long after the post appeared, its views quickly exceeded five hundred.
Chu Yishan was dragged out of her half-asleep state by the morning wake-up bell.
She painfully combed her hair, washed up in a daze, dragged herself out of the dormitory with barely any energy, and arrived at the sports field feeling as though her soul had left her body.
During the brief interval before military training began, she checked her phone.
Yesterday, she had submitted a photograph she’d secretly taken in the cafeteria.
The photograph showed Jiang Wan and Lu Yiming looking rather intimate.
In Chu Yishan’s imagination, the subsequent events should have unfolded like this:
Everyone would start discussing whether Jiang Wan and Lu Yiming were dating. Not only would Jiang Wan be summoned by the teachers for a talk, but Yue Mingshi would certainly become unhappy about it.
Then Chu Yishan could seize the opportunity to get closer to him.
As it turned out, there was indeed a heated discussion on the Confession Wall, and it really did concern Jiang Wan.
Unfortunately, the topic everyone was discussing was: Will the first-year diagnostic exam papers be changed at the last minute?
Worse still, the comments underneath were filled with variations of:
Anyway, let’s worship the Academic God first.
Chu Yishan couldn’t find her submission.
Fuming, she returned to the submission page and discovered three replies from the account administrator:
[I seriously doubt you’re even from Quanzhou. Are you from Yuhang?]
[Jiang Wan haters, get out of our school!]
[And you’re using an alternate account? You’d better keep your identity hidden. If we find out who you are, just you wait!]
Chu Yishan tried sending an explanation, only to discover that the other party had already blocked her.
She locked her phone with an expression of utter despair.
—There’s something seriously wrong with this school!
Jiang Wan also felt that there was something seriously wrong with this school.
Specifically, several people had approached her on her way from the dormitory that morning, trying to offer her little snacks as “tributes.”
She directly refused the second student from her year who approached her.
“I don’t like spicy gluten strips.”
The dorm leader pushed up her glasses.
“So, Jiang Wan, just give us a random number. We’ll memorise the key points on that page.”
Jiang Wan: “…”
What do you think I am? Some kind of lucky charm for gacha draws?
This school was beyond saving.
…
On the second day of military training, the formations began practising the goose step.
Jiang Wan, who had been moved to the front row because of her height: “…”
The students of Class Six enthusiastically supported the decision with both hands and feet.
“Well done, Instructor! She’s the face of our class! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with putting her at the front!”
The instructor considered this for a moment before nodding at Jiang Wan.
“That works too. Come on, stand at the very front and hold this Class Six sign.”
Jiang Wan picked up the class sign and weighed it in her hands before looking at the instructor.
Seeing her posture, the instructor let out a surprised chuckle.
“What? Planning to fight me?”
“No.” Jiang Wan expressionlessly held the sign upright. “I was just thinking that this sign is so heavy, I might forget about the diagnostic exam the day after tomorrow once my arms get tired.”
The instructor hadn’t even figured out what she meant when the sports representative, who had been standing behind Jiang Wan with both hands raised in support, immediately changed his attitude.
He rushed forward in two strides and snatched the class sign from Jiang Wan’s hands.
“How can you make a girl carry something this heavy? It’ll affect her growth! I’m strong, so I’ll carry it!”
The sports representative really was tall and sturdy. He was already over 1.8 metres tall in his first year of high school.
Standing behind Jiang Wan, the two of them looked like a young heiress and her personal bodyguard.
The other students hurried forward, putting more distance between Jiang Wan and the sign while chiming in from every direction.
“Exactly! Jiang Wan can just stand at the front of the first row, closest to the reviewing stand. She’ll earn our class some extra impression points!”
“When you lift that sign, it’s practically taller than Jiang Wan herself! How can that be acceptable?”
“Little Wan, do your hands hurt? Let me massage them for you.”
Although Jiang Wan had achieved her objective, she couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone was indirectly making fun of her height.
The instructor developed an instant headache.
He couldn’t train these first-year high school students as ruthlessly as he would new military recruits, so he could only raise his voice and shout:
“Stop! All of you, stop! Stand properly! Where’s your discipline?!”
The sports representative pitifully returned to the last row of the formation, still clutching the white-painted class sign.
“Hey, big guy!” the instructor called after him. “Fine. Since you love that sign so much, you can walk at the very front and carry it.”
The sports representative immediately brightened and came running back.
“Yes, sir!”
After several adjustments to the formation, Jiang Wan ended up at the leading position in the first row.
When the military training parade began, she would be standing closest to the reviewing stand.
Jiang Wan couldn’t help falling into thought.
She already had everything she could want in life.
Her future was firmly in her own hands. She had no doubts about her direction and certainly didn’t need to depend on a “System” like those transmigrators.
If she absolutely had to name one regret…
…Excuse me, but is there a height-increasing System somewhere in this world? I don’t need much. Just another five or six centimetres would be fine.
After the lunch break, Jiang Wan went to the school supermarket as usual and bought a carton of milk.
As she drank, she pondered: I’ve been drinking milk regularly for three years now. Why haven’t I grown any taller?
The supermarket, dormitories, and cafeteria formed a triangular arrangement.
The central area between them received the most foot traffic, so many student clubs also distributed flyers along the pathways.
Jiang Wan greeted acquaintances all along the way until someone handed her a copy of the school magazine.
The school literary club published an issue every odd-numbered month, excluding the winter and summer holidays.
Since the September issue benefited from more than three months of accumulated submissions, it was usually the issue with the greatest number of contributions and the highest overall quality.
Some contributors who preferred to conceal their identities used pen names, while others simply published under their real names.
Jiang Wan didn’t even need to open the magazine to see several familiar names printed on the cover.
Among them was Yue Mingshi’s pen name, which nobody except Jiang Wan knew belonged to him.
Although Yue Mingshi looked like a delinquent, he actually had a particular fondness for classical literature.
He especially enjoyed writing sonnets.
—As the saying goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
“This issue is really good!” A member of the literary club gave Jiang Wan a thumbs-up. “Normally, we charge fifteen yuan per copy to cover printing costs, but you can have this one for free!”
Jiang Wan released the straw she’d been holding between her lips and said calmly, “Just tell me what you want.”
The number of people offering her unsolicited favours today had already exceeded normal levels.
The girl from the literary club chuckled and linked arms with Jiang Wan.
“Are you and Lu Yiming dating?”
Jiang Wan was a little surprised.
So she isn’t here to ask about exam questions.
She paused briefly before shaking her head and denying it frankly.
“No. Where did that rumour come from?”
“I knew it!” The girl clenched her fist in a victorious gesture. “That submission was definitely someone trying to smear your reputation!”
Apart from being a member of the literary club, she also happened to be one of the administrators of the Confession Wall.
Her name was Wang Zhiyao.
Wang Zhiyao quickly lowered her voice and explained the strange submission she’d received the previous evening.
“They specifically used an alternate account to submit it, and they even attached a secretly taken photograph,” Wang Zhiyao said, rubbing her chin as she began entertaining conspiracy theories. “I still haven’t figured out who sent it. You’d better be careful, Little Wan.”
Jiang Wan tilted her head.
Almost immediately, she identified a likely suspect.
Chu Yishan.
As expected of someone who had just come from the set of a palace-intrigue drama.
“Got it.” Jiang Wan took a lollipop she’d just bought at the supermarket out of her pocket and handed it to Wang Zhiyao. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome…” Wang Zhiyao’s gaze gradually sharpened. “…Wait a minute. Are you using positive reinforcement to train me? I’ve read Pavlov, you know! I’m an educated person!”
…
Jiang Wan hadn’t made Chu Yishan her second-highest-priority target for expulsion.
Ultimately, Jiang Wan believed that if something could be stolen from her, then perhaps it wasn’t worth keeping in the first place.
Even if one person failed to take it today, someone else would eventually take it tomorrow.
Despite thinking this way, Jiang Wan still sent Yue Mingshi a message before returning to the sports field, asking where he was.
Two minutes later, Yue Mingshi replied that he was in his classroom and asked what she wanted.
Jiang Wan put away her phone and headed toward the second-year floor of the teaching building.
Ordinarily, students—especially those in lower grades—felt uncomfortable walking through the corridors reserved for older students.
It was as though every senior’s gaze was boring into them.
Jiang Wan, however, felt no such discomfort.
She had never believed there was anywhere she wasn’t allowed to go, so she walked openly and confidently.
Someone even greeted her familiarly.
“Jiang Wan, is Teacher Pan looking for you?”
Jiang Wan, the teaching staff’s favourite student, shook her head.
“Yue Mingshi.”
Another acquaintance was carrying a bag from the supermarket.
He casually took out a piece of fruit and handed it to Jiang Wan.
“Here, have some fruit. I’ll call him out for you.”
Jiang Wan accepted the honey tangerine and looked down at it.
She liked tangerines, oranges, and mandarins.
What she disliked was the process of getting to the edible part.
Whether she cut them or peeled them, juice from the skin always splashed onto her fingers, leaving them oily and sticky.
Washing it off was troublesome, and wiping her hands never seemed to get them completely clean.
Jiang Wan had only hesitated for a few seconds when Yue Mingshi emerged from Class Three of the second year.
She no longer needed to hesitate.
She immediately handed the green honey tangerine to Yue Mingshi.
“Peel this for me.”
Yue Mingshi: “…”
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he accepted the tangerine.
As he began peeling it with a frown, he asked, “Did you come all the way to the second-year floor just for this?”
“No.” Jiang Wan shook her head.
Yue Mingshi was thoroughly experienced at this task.
With a few deft movements, he peeled the tangerine skin into the shape of a blooming flower without even touching the flesh.
Then he handed it back to Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan separated the fruit into two portions and gave the smaller half to Yue Mingshi before continuing.
“I just wanted to see you. After all, there might not be many chances left.”
—In case Yue Mingshi eventually gets successfully brainwashed.
Yue Mingshi: “?”
Have I been diagnosed with a terminal illness?
Jiang Wan separated two tangerine segments and popped them into her mouth.
Then she frowned.
Two seconds later, she unhesitatingly shoved the remaining tangerine into Yue Mingshi’s hands.
“Too sour. I’m not eating it.”
Although the fruit had been given to her out of kindness, Jiang Wan would absolutely never force herself to eat something that tasted bad.
Yue Mingshi: “…Do I look like a rubbish bin to you?”
Despite his words, he showed absolutely no intention of forcing the fruit back into her hands.
He looked like someone who was already thoroughly accustomed to serving as her personal rubbish bin.
“I’m going back to military training.”
Jiang Wan waved and departed without a care in the world.
The girls from Class Three of the second year rested their chins in their hands, watching her retreating figure with envy.
“She’s so wonderful. I want a little sister like that too.”
Yue Mingshi ate the sour tangerine and scoffed.
“Just wait until you have one. Then you’ll understand how troublesome she is.”
“What do you mean?! How can you possibly have complaints about such an adorable, intelligent, well-behaved little sister?”
Several girls immediately slammed their hands on their desks and rose to attack him together.
“You brat! You’ve got something everyone else wants, and you’re still complaining about it?!”
…
On Thursday evening, after military training finally ended, the instructors at last dropped their stern expressions and began chatting and laughing with the students.
With parting approaching, the atmosphere inevitably became somewhat sentimental.
Everyone seemed to have forgotten that the diagnostic exam would begin the very next day.
They sat on the sports field, unwilling to leave.
Jiang Wan sat among the crowd, listening as everyone sang songs. She joined in for a few lines, a faint, relaxed smile appearing on her face.
—It was precisely at this moment that she heard another “System” voice.
[The diagnostic exam is approaching. Rank higher than Jiang Wan in the examination (any means permitted), and you may absorb 3–8 points of Jiang Wan’s Intelligence.]
Jiang Wan had heard the word “absorb” used in this way before.
The smile disappeared from her lips.
She turned her head and looked past the students gathered around her.
Sure enough, she spotted Sang Xiaotian sitting apart from everyone else at the very back, looking completely out of place.
Sang Xiaotian wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings.
He was entirely focused on arguing with his System.
[Rank higher than Jiang Wan? How is that even possible?! Do you know how big the gap between our scores is?!]
The System coldly repeated: [Any means permitted.]
[What do you mean, any means permitted?!] Sang Xiaotian grew frantic. [Am I supposed to knock Jiang Wan unconscious or tear up her examination papers?!]
[The choice is entirely up to the Host,] the System replied.
[That’s completely impossible!] Sang Xiaotian snapped angrily. [You were the one who said Jiang Wan was my experience pack! You said I’m the protagonist of this world now! That’s why I let you bind yourself to me! But you’re nothing more than a piece of rubbish! Liar! I want to unbind!]
The System paused for a moment before speaking again.
[Adjusting mission difficulty according to Host’s ability values. The mission has been modified as follows: Rank within the top 60% in the diagnostic exam. Upon completion, you may absorb 1–2 points of Jiang Wan’s Intelligence.]
[Why is it so little?!] Sang Xiaotian was still furious. [Wasn’t it 3–8 points just now? Besides, even getting into the top 60% is difficult! I have no choice but to cheat!]
[As mission difficulty decreases, mission rewards decrease accordingly.]
[You…!]
Sang Xiaotian stamped his foot and stormed off the sports field.
Jiang Wan turned back around.
A random, almost whimsical thought drifted through her mind.
So Sang Xiaotian doesn’t stutter when he talks to his System inside his head.
“Experience pack,” she repeated softly, using the exact term Sang Xiaotian had just spoken.
An intrigued smile appeared on her face.
There was something else strange about Sang Xiaotian’s words.
“That’s why I let you bind yourself to me”?
It sounded as though he wasn’t nearly as familiar with these matters as Lin Chengyan and Chu Yishan had been.
The following day’s examination hadn’t even begun when Jiang Wan made an early visit to the teachers’ office.
“Jiang Wan?” Homeroom Teacher Yu was preparing a cup of goji berry tea and looked surprised to see her. “What’s the matter?”
“I didn’t leak any exam questions,” Jiang Wan said with a bright smile.
The homeroom teacher nodded solemnly.
“I… should I thank you on behalf of the examination committee?”
Jiang Wan simply looked at her.
“You’re actually here to ask for a reward?” The homeroom teacher was both amused and exasperated. “Just tell me what you want!”
“I have a lucky number,” Jiang Wan said frankly. “For this diagnostic exam, I’d like to sit in that particular seat.”
The homeroom teacher immediately relaxed.
Generously, she slapped the examination seating chart down in front of Jiang Wan.
“Go ahead. Take a look.”
—A student like Jiang Wan would never cheat anyway. What difference did it make where she sat?
To prevent cheating, Quanzhou required students to hand in their phones before examinations, switch classrooms, and sit according to arrangements that deliberately mixed up their student numbers.
Jiang Wan scanned the seating chart and quickly found Sang Xiaotian’s position.
She pointed to the seat directly behind his.
“Here.”
The homeroom teacher marked the position.
“All right. Satisfied now?”
Jiang Wan was indeed satisfied.
Didn’t Sang Xiaotian want to cheat?
She wanted to see exactly how he planned to do it.
…
Sang Xiaotian was also extremely nervous.
The previous evening, he had searched the internet for all kinds of clever cheating methods.
Unfortunately, there were many methods he no longer had enough time to prepare.
Because he’d stayed up so late, and because his roommates had once again neglected to wake him as usual, Sang Xiaotian only jolted awake when the final wake-up bell rang the next morning.
He didn’t even have time for breakfast before rushing straight toward the teaching building.
To make matters worse, he received a disciplinary mark downstairs outside the dormitory.
Sang Xiaotian comforted himself.
This is the kind of treatment protagonists receive.
After morning self-study, the homeroom teacher posted the examination seating chart outside the classroom.
“This classroom will be used by Class Nine, so our class will take the exam in Class Eleven,” she said cheerfully. “Relax. It’s just one examination. It won’t affect anything important. Show your character and do your best!”
The students stared at her with dead-fish eyes.
“…”
Sang Xiaotian gathered his cheating tools.
He also switched his second, backup phone to silent mode and slipped it into his left sleeve.
Forcing himself to appear calm, he followed his classmates toward Class Eleven.
After reluctantly handing in his phone and schoolbag, he went to check the seating arrangements.
At a single glance, he saw the names “Sang Xiaotian” and “Jiang Wan” positioned directly one behind the other.
Sang Xiaotian abruptly turned his head.
Jiang Wan was already seated and waiting.
She was idly twirling a multiple-choice answer-sheet pencil between her fingers, looking thoroughly bored.
She possessed the absentminded composure and effortless calm of a true Academic God.
As though sensing Sang Xiaotian’s gaze, she raised her eyes and looked directly at him.
Sang Xiaotian nervously turned his face away.
His heart rate shot straight toward 180 beats per minute, and he desperately wanted to curse.
With Jiang Wan sitting right behind me, every time the invigilator walks past her, they’ll want to take an extra look! How am I supposed to cheat while sitting directly in front of her?!
His System spoke reassuringly.
[Don’t give up. Protagonists can accomplish anything they set their minds to.]
Sang Xiaotian took a deep breath and began hypnotising himself.
[Right. I’m the protagonist. I’m the protagonist.]
He took two unsteady, dazed steps, somehow moving his arms and legs on the same side together.
Then, with a loud crash, he tripped.
On the classroom’s smooth floor, he performed a perfect medium-distance sliding knee celebration worthy of a professional football player.
He finally came to a stop directly at Jiang Wan’s feet.
The entire spectacle looked almost as though he were performing an elaborate ceremony of complete submission, prostrating himself before her.
The System said: [Hmm… Things like this occasionally happen to protagonists too.]
Sang Xiaotian exploded with embarrassment and anger.
[WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO FOOL?!]