Popular Candy

Host: Mo Jingchun

Age: 18

Points: 0 (used to exchange for Lucky Draw Attempts)

Lucky Draw Attempts: 0

System Warehouse: None

Task: 1. Get the National Scholarship this semester. Task completion reward: 100 Points.

Looking at the task list on the system panel in his mind, Mo Jingchun saw only one lonely task. And to complete it, he would have to wait until next year at the earliest! After all, the National Scholarship was awarded on a fixed schedule.

"System, don't you have any other tasks? And how do I trigger system tasks?"

"I'm telling you, your constant failure to issue tasks is seriously affecting my motivation. I'm so hardworking and eager to learn, and I'm willing to put in the effort. Shouldn't you give me a few more tasks?"

In the real world, Mo Jingchun's eyes were closed, but his brow furrowed slightly, his face full of displeasure.

He wanted to experience the thrill of a draw, but as long as he didn't say anything, the system might as well have vanished.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? System, are you messing with me? You're telling me you don't know how to trigger system tasks? Aren't you the one who issues them? I'm not asking for much. Give me eight or ten tasks like getting a perfect score on an exam, and I'll be satisfied."

"This system truly doesn't know."

"Heh."

Mo Jingchun couldn't help laughing at the system. If it didn't want him mooching off it, it could just say so. What was with the ridiculous "I don't know"? Who did it think it was fooling?

"This system really isn't lying to you. I truly don't know."

"How's that possible? Do you have a server, too?" The thought made Mo Jingchun's scalp tingle, but he quickly reconsidered. Even if there was a server, so what? Would it make any difference to him? Probably not. Then what was there to worry about?

After all, he had nothing to lose. Whatever the system actually was, it made no difference to him. As long as it could benefit him and his little sister, that was all that mattered.

The system, tired of Mo Jingchun's questions, fell silent for a while before explaining, "It isn't as complicated as you imagine. There's no distinction between a server and a client. At least as far as I know, this system is the only one in the world."

"And I really don't know what triggers system tasks. Although this system issues the tasks, it also doesn't."

Mo Jingchun looked baffled. "What are you talking about? I don't understand. One minute you say you issue them, and the next you say you don't."

"You can understand it this way: the system issues the tasks, while 'I' relay them."

"My existence is similar to what you humans understand as artificial intelligence. The tasks are issued by the underlying logical code. In reality, the system's structure is far more complex than you imagine."

Intelligence. Logical code.

"One is the surface, and the other is the rules?" Mo Jingchun opened his eyes and stared at the light shining through the curtains into the bedroom, murmuring to himself.

"Forget it. Why think so much? As long as the system benefits me, that's enough."

Having thought it through, Mo Jingchun shook his head and smiled. He glanced at his little sister, Candy, beside him, then closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning, Mo Jingchun was woken by his phone's Alarm Clock. Candy kicked at her blanket, then lay still again.

Starting today, classes would officially begin!

He had two classes in the morning and two in the afternoon. Well, that didn't sound like much, but two classes lasted the whole morning—or the whole afternoon.

What their high school teachers had said about college having few classes wasn't wrong. But they hadn't told their students that one college class was worth more than six high school classes.

Sure enough, no matter where you went, there were always tricks.

Whenever Mo Jingchun checked his phone, he had a habit of opening QQ and WeChat to see if anyone had sent him a message he hadn't read.

WeChat—well, the red number 5 on the icon had made Mo Jingchun think he had five unread messages. But when he opened it, they were just WeChat Steps and news.

"I'll give you a week. You won't need me to teach you, and you'll have figured it out."

After opening QQ, Mo Jingchun found that someone really had messaged him. It was the temporary class monitor, Yang Xiaoyu.

"Everyone got their new textbooks yesterday. The boys said you aren't living in the dorm, so your books were brought back to me."

"Remember to bring a backpack to class this morning. I'll bring all your books to the classroom."

After reading the messages, Mo Jingchun replied right away.

"Okay, thanks, Class Monitor. Sorry for the trouble."

Although Yang Xiaoyu had been temporarily appointed by their counselor, Na Jie, based on everyone's performance during military training, Mo Jingchun knew that barring any surprises, she would be his class monitor for all four years of college.

After getting dressed, Mo Jingchun heard his phone chime. He turned around and saw that the screen had lit up, showing a QQ message.

"You're welcome."

After breakfast, Mo Jingchun headed out with a backpack on his back, a canvas bag in hand, and his drowsy little sister in his arms. It was his first day of class, so he wanted to make a good impression.

In the girls' dormitory, quite a few girls had packed their textbooks along with other things in their backpacks.

"Hey, Lan Lan, you're bringing strawberries to class? Let me have a taste first!"

"Get away." Deng Lanlan slapped her roommate's hand away and said with a grin, "I bought these especially to win over the little baby. Even I can't bear to eat them."

"And if I'm not mistaken, you've got some in your backpack too. Hmph."

"I-I don't!"

"Heh."

"Oh, forget it. If we don't go now, we won't get good seats."

The Software Engineering major for this year had a large cohort, with a full 45 students in the class. The sad part was that only 15 were girls, while the remaining 30 were all guys.

As soon as Mo Jingchun reached the classroom, he saw that it was quite crowded, with far more than 45 people. More importantly, many of them weren't in his class. If he hadn't spotted a few familiar classmates, he would have thought he'd gone to the wrong classroom.

"Mo Jingchun, over here!" Yang Xiaoyu called, waving at him from the first row by the aisle.

Seeing the class monitor wave, Mo Jingchun carried his little sister over.

"Here, these are all your books."

"Thanks, Class Monitor."

Yang Xiaoyu hurriedly waved her hands. "You're welcome, you're welcome."

"Why don't you organize them and put them in your backpack? I'll hold your little sister for you."

"This..."

"Come on, what's there to hesitate about?" Without waiting for Mo Jingchun to agree, Yang Xiaoyu reached out and took Candy.

After putting all the books in his backpack, Mo Jingchun stood beside the desk and scratched his head. "Um, I've finished packing."

"You're done? Then go find a seat in the back. Oh, right, don't go over to the right-hand side. That's not our class. A few classes have the same Programming Course this period, so we're all taking it together."

Mo Jingchun hesitated. He really wanted to say, I know that side isn't our class. I just wanted to ask if you could give my little sister back to me...