Chapter Summaries

Jiang Ning shared a late-night snack with Xue Yuantong, Xue Chuchu, and Aunt Gu, then watched Tongtong conquer Bloodborne before resuming his cultivation. The next morning, he brought a fish and bamboo shoot to Chuchu’s home, where her reading aloud led him to praise her memory.

• Aunt Gu invited Jiang Ning, Xue Yuantong, and Xue Chuchu inside for a late-night snack, and Chuchu peeled shrimp for Jiang Ning and Tongtong.
• Xue Chuchu tried Bloodborne and died twice, while Xue Yuantong took the controller and defeated Father Gascoigne without dying.
• Aunt Gu dragged Tongtong home when she kept playing past eleven thirty, and Tongtong later messaged Jiang Ning before wishing him good night.
• Jiang Ning cultivated through the night, then flew to Tiger Perch Mountain, gathered a spiritual bamboo shoot, and caught a fish at Qingyu Lake.
• Jiang Ning brought the fish and bamboo shoot to Xue Chuchu and told her to keep studying before he prepared the fish for porridge.
• Xue Chuchu asked whether Tongtong did morning reading, and Jiang Ning said she learned everything after one look, prompting Chuchu to resent her books.

Ting Yuan reflected on the exhaustion of his work and remembered imperfect moments from his student days. He ended by hoping readers would give him Monthly Tickets during his day off.

• Ting Yuan welcomed a rare day off after twenty days without one.
• Ting Yuan remembered the confidence and excitement he had felt at school.
• Ting Yuan recalled falling short of the top students and failing to catch up with upperclassmen in a race.
• Ting Yuan remembered avoiding a classmate who had shown him kindness, and watching her leave disappointed.
• Ting Yuan compared his unmet hopes at school with his difficulty receiving Monthly Tickets.

Ting Yuan recalled leaving his hometown for the county town and arriving at a new school, where he met a girl who reminded him of the childhood friend he had lost. After telling her that the friend had died, he revealed that he could speak but would not do so until the following year.

• Ting Yuan’s parents decided to move to the county town to sell flatbread, and he tried to persuade them to let him stay by promising to improve his grades.
• Ting Yuan said goodbye to Little A'Ling, who admitted she had spread rumors about him so he would defend her from other children.
• After moving, Ting Yuan pretended to be deaf and mute when the Director of Academic Affairs mistook his bloody ear for an injury and escorted him to class.
• Ting Yuan recognized his new deskmate, Big A'Ling, as Little A'Ling’s older sister, and asked her about his childhood friend.
• Big A'Ling admitted she had only learned his name from the dean, and Ting Yuan told her his friend had died the year before last.
• Ting Yuan told Big A'Ling that he could speak, but would not until the following year.

Tang Fu, Xue Yuantong, and Jiang Ning spent the day around No. 4 Middle School as students and teachers traded jokes and argued. During evening self-study, Yin Yu won the Comedy King title, while Jiang Ning thwarted Zhang Chi’s attempt to overcharge him for snacks.

• Tang Fu chased Xue Yuantong’s electric bike after challenging her to a race, easing the tension around Principal Yu’s speech.
• Jiang Ning brought Xue Yuantong and Tang Fu to Teacher Guo’s office, where Chen Shuaishuai fled after recognizing Xue Yuantong.
• Jiang Ning sensed that An Chan was angry after reporting a buyer who harassed her while she tried to sell clothes online.
• Gao Heshaui celebrated buying an apartment, and Man Yin argued with him about relationships and home ownership before Tang Fu changed the subject with a joke.
• Wang Longlong named Yin Yu the Comedy King, and Yin Yu received two duty-privilege cards.
• Jiang Ning asked Zhang Chi to show him all his snacks, then refused to buy any after comparing the prices.

Yang Sheng challenged Yin Yu to a table tennis match for cleaning duties and defeated her 13–0, while the school day continued with Tang Fu brushing off a boy trying to flirt with her. As the weekend approached, Jiang Ning helped Chen Siyu with an arithmetic progression problem, leaving Xin Youling suspicious that something felt off.

• Yang Sheng invited Yu Wen to play table tennis, but Yu Wen refused, and Yin Yu accepted instead.
• Yin Yu proposed wagering one cleaning duty per game; Yang Sheng agreed, then won 13–0 as their classmates watched.
• Liu Chuandao defended Yin Yu, but Yang Sheng suggested he take on Yin Yu's cleaning duties, and he refused.
• Liang Jingxing approached Tang Fu to ask if she had a boyfriend, but she misunderstood him and ran off to join Chen Siyu and Jiang Ning.
• Gao Heshaui left the class to look at apartments, and Gong Jin cheered Pang Jiao by telling her she had lost weight.
• Chen Siyu asked Jiang Ning for help finding the common difference of an arithmetic progression, while Xin Youling wondered what seemed strange about their exchange.

Ting Yuan recounted his lonely childhood in a rural school, where his imaginative pencil battles helped him survive changing schools and awkward classmates. After exposing Little Fatty and the Math Teacher as monstrous fighters, he gave Xue Sheng his last pencil and decided not to do his homework.

• Ting Yuan remembered his village classmates colluding to claim they had completed their homework, only for their Math Teacher to leave for work and their physics teacher to lead them toward Town Elementary School.
• Ting Yuan imagined Xiao Fei swallowing the teacher and students in the forest, then rescued them with a pencil and reached Town Elementary School, where he was separated from his village friends.
• After the physics teacher made Ting Yuan stand for failing to answer a question, Ting Yuan used a pencil to reveal the teacher's true form, and the teacher thereafter rarely called on him.
• Ting Yuan tried to help Little Fatty by using his pencil, causing Little Fatty to transform into a giant bear and the Math Teacher to transform into a donkey that fought him.
• Ting Yuan gave Xue Sheng his last pencil when she worried about doing her homework, and he said he would not do his own homework that day.

In their previous life, Xue Chuchu struggled with her mother's grave illness and rejected Boss Li's offer to pay for treatment in exchange for her companionship. At home, Xue Yuantong comforted Chuchu with snacks and helped her find meaning in living despite the possibility of loss.

• In the hospital, Boss Li offered to fund Xue Chuchu's mother's surgery and expenses if Chuchu kept him company for two years, but she refused and told him to leave.
• Boss Li approached Director Feng after Chuchu walked away, mentioning that his son was classmates with Director Feng's daughter, Bai Yuxia.
• After school, Xue Yuantong met Xue Chuchu, bought snacks, and rode home with her while Chuchu hid her worry about her mother.
• At lunch, Xue Chuchu broke down crying over her mother's illness, and Xue Yuantong accidentally got chili oil in her eyes while trying to comfort her.
• Xue Chuchu asked whether life had meaning if everyone was destined to die, and Xue Yuantong compared life to enjoying snacks before they ran out, then shared her snacks with Chuchu.