In the morning, Shen Yuan’s chest felt tight again, as if he couldn’t quite catch his breath.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a ball of white fur on his chest.

Shen Yuan reached out from under his air-conditioned blanket and precisely grabbed San Geng by the scruff of her neck.

"You little rascal."

The little kitty was forced to face the two-legged beast, her ears flattening back.

Shen Yuan looked helpless. "Fine, fine. Get off."

’Damn it,’ he thought. ’One day, I’ll make Li Zhi feel what it’s like to be woken up by a cat pressing on her.’

Shen Yuan glanced at his phone. It was only 5 AM.

Being Vigorous and Full of Energy didn’t have to be *this* vigorous.

"Just another 20 minutes."

As everyone knows, the way time is calculated in the morning often involves a certain degree of mathematical chaos.

When Shen Yuan woke up again, it was to the sound of his alarm clock.

Right, Shen Yuan’s alarm was set for 5:35 AM.

After quickly taking care of his morning routine, Shen Yuan opened the door and left for school.

Coincidentally, Li Zhi was also waiting for the elevator.

The two of them exchanged a glance.

"Busted!" Shen Yuan chuckled. "You’re actually three minutes early today. Trying to get away from me? Woman, you..."

"Don’t go looking for a scolding this early in the morning," Li Zhi cut him off mid-spell.

"Oh."

Shen Yuan muttered under his breath for a bit.

After getting out of the elevator, the two walked toward school as usual.

"Hey, the monthly exam is tomorrow. Are you nervous?"

Li Zhi glanced at Shen Yuan. "What would I be nervous about? Even if I mess up, my score would still be something you could only dream of."

Shen Yuan didn’t feel like talking anymore.

Opening the system interface, Shen Yuan saw that he only had five hours left on his quest.

Ever since discovering on Monday that he could complete quests online, Shen Yuan had been relentlessly harassing Ah Jie on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Since Jerman lacked the spirit of self-sacrifice, Shen Yuan had to find a way to make him sacrifice himself.

Anyway, after these five hours were up, Shen Yuan wouldn’t need Ah Jie anymore.

’Five hours. I can probably get it done before lunch.’

Shen Yuan looked up at the morning sky, thinking to himself, ’I hope this really brings about some change in me.’

"What are you getting?"

Li Zhi’s voice brought him back. Shen Yuan immediately called out, "Five steamed buns, three vegetable dishes, two meat dishes, and one savory tofu pudding."

"That’ll be 12 yuan!"

The moment Shen Yuan finished speaking, the stall owner handed him the food.

"Damn! Boss, you’re getting faster and faster."

Shen Yuan was stunned. He had even tried to say it faster by leaving out a few words!

"You flatter me!" the owner said with a modest smile.

As was their routine, Shen Yuan took out a steamed bun and gave half to Li Zhi.

"Here, eat up. They’re best right out of the steamer."

Li Zhi took the bun, finished it in small bites, then took another one out of her bag and handed it to Shen Yuan.

"Split this one. It’s filled with vermicelli."

Shen Yuan naturally didn’t refuse. He took the bun and broke it open. "This is my first time trying this filling."

"It’s pretty good."

Breaking off a piece and popping it into his mouth, Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow.

It was surprisingly delicious.

"I’m buying one tomorrow. I want to see if the owner’s hands are still this fast!"

Guys have a strange sense of competitiveness about these things.

Shen Yuan felt that the bun stall owner’s hand speed was on par with Ah Jie’s butt.

Both were rule-based phenomena.

...

After the morning self-study period ended, Ah Jie sidled over mysteriously. "Yuan, do you know what zero looks like when you split it apart?"

Shen Yuan answered instinctively, "Isn’t it still zero?"

Then, a piece of scratch paper from Zhou Shaojie appeared on Shen Yuan’s desk.

"Parenthesis, asterisk, parenthesis."

Shen Yuan: ?

"What the hell!"

Once he got it, Shen Yuan completely lost it.

"Fuck! Ah Jie!"

Hearing their commotion, Li Zhi frowned. "What’s so funny?"

Shen Yuan immediately passed the scratch paper to Li Zhi. "Here, take a look. What’s this?"

The corner of Li Zhi’s mouth twitched. She silently pushed the paper back, then wiped her hand on Shen Yuan’s shirt as if she had touched something dirty.

Ah Jie took back the scratch paper and went to find Yang Ze.

Before long, Yang Ze, who had been catching up on homework, started squealing with laughter like a pig.

Chen Mingyu couldn’t escape it either.

Soon, Ah Jie’s "what does zero look like split apart" joke had spread throughout all of Class 15.

"This is scripture! This is the goddamn scripture!"

And so, Class 15’s morning was once again a scene of vibrant, flourishing life.

Time quickly ambled along to the fourth period of the morning.

The moment the bell rang to end class, the system’s voice sounded in Shen Yuan’s mind.

[Quest Complete.]

[Quest: Register for tutoring with Zhou Shaojie, study for a total of 72 hours. Current progress: 72/72. Reward: Improved logical thinking ability. (Completed)]

Shen Yuan blinked, as if nothing had happened.

Just then, Zhou Shaojie sidled over. "Yuan, I feel like getting gaifan from the cafeteria today."

After a few days of Shen Yuan’s "tutelage," Ah Jie had developed a deep love for the cafeteria.

Of course, the most important part was using Shen Yuan’s meal card.

Shen Yuan glanced at Zhou Shaojie and gave a cold smile. "Get lost."

Ah Jie was instantly shocked. "Fuck! You fickle bastard! How can you just turn on me like that?"

"Heh."

Shen Yuan stood up. "Old Jerman, the last vine leaf you drew has fallen. I no longer have need of you."

With that, he made to leave with a flick of his sleeves.

Leaving only Ah Jie behind to curse at his back.

"So that’s how it is, Shen Xi! You just ditch me after getting your math questions answered, huh!"

Shen Yuan heard Ah Jie’s curses but remained completely unmoved.

After a moment, Shen Yuan finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. "Hey, sis, can you move a bit? I need to go get lunch."

Li Zhi rose slowly. "I just realized something quite remarkable. It turns out Ochumelov had a real-life prototype. Chekhov must have based *The Chameleon* on you."

As Li Zhi spoke, she suddenly frowned.

Young Master Li quickly bent down, grabbed a sanitary pad from her desk, and headed for the back door of the classroom.

Shen Yuan quickly called out, "What do you want for lunch?"

"Gaifan!"

You could tell this girl really liked her gaifan.

Just then, Ah Jie’s voice called out, "Lao Yuan, wanna go together?"

Shen Yuan turned to look at Ah Jie and said resignedly, "Fine, fine. Let’s go."

On the second floor of Cafeteria No. 1, just as Zhou Shaojie had gotten his food, he heard Shen Yuan say to the cafeteria lady,

"Auntie, two beef gaifan to go, please!"

Zhou Shaojie looked at Shen Yuan in astonishment.

’Wait, I already got my food!’

’And you’re only saying you’re getting takeout now?’

Shen Yuan turned to Ah Jie and patted his shoulder.

"Ah Jie, remember this! When eating in the cafeteria, you must learn to eat alone! Only then can you truly be called one of the strong!"

Ah Jie’s tiger-like body trembled as he gave Shen Yuan a firm, determined nod.

"Yuan, I understand! Go on!"

Shen Yuan took the lunch from the auntie, gave Ah Jie a look of approval, and then quickly left.

Watching Shen Yuan’s retreating back, Ah Jie couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

"If those two get together, I’d better get a seat at the main table. Ah, whatever. Time to eat."

When Shen Yuan arrived back at the classroom with lunch, Li Zhi was slumped over her desk, looking gloomy.

"Beef gaifan."

"I wanted the tomato sauce one," Li Zhi pouted.

Shen Yuan placed the food on Li Zhi’s desk. "They didn’t have it. Just make do."

"Oh."

Li Zhi moved to make room, and Shen Yuan squeezed in next to her.

Unpacking the container, Li Zhi glanced at the food, then at the sweat on Shen Yuan’s temples.

It was obvious he had run all the way here.

"Thanks."

Shen Yuan gave a sly grin. "Woman, have you fallen for my charms?"

Li Zhi felt a wave of exasperation. ’Why couldn’t he just let me eat in peace? Why did he have to go and say that?’