Heard You Don't Want to Work Hard Anymore?

With finals approaching, all classes had been suspended, and everyone was simply waiting to finish their exams and go on break. Even the dorm building felt far livelier than usual.

When Chen Chen pushed open the door to Room 404, only Li Bo and Zhou Jie were inside. The two were sprawled across Chen Chen's and Wang Wei's beds, furiously tapping away at their phones while all sorts of indescribable sounds kept coming from the screens.

"The road ahead is long; only the sword keeps me company."

"Face the wind!"

Chen Chen leaned over to glance at Li Bo's screen. "What rank are you now, Bo Zai?"

"Gold. Why?" Li Bo didn't even look up before suddenly letting out a shriek. "Fuck, Brother Kong, why'd you steal my red? You're a mage—what the hell do you need red for?"

Zhou Jie immediately retorted, "I was low on health and couldn't recall. What's wrong with taking red to recover a bit?"

That actually made so much sense that I had nothing to say...

Chen Chen was speechless. LOL Mobile had been in open beta for nearly half a year—could these two idiots seriously still not know that red buff didn't restore health?

Blue buff could indeed restore mana, but red buff really couldn't restore health...

"Group up, group up!"

Zhou Jie continued, "Bo Zai, get over here and teamfight."

"Teamfight again?"

Li Bo cursed, "Master Yi's about to push to the high ground. I'll hold him off—you guys fight and try to end it in one push!"

As he spoke, Yasuo's cold voice came from his phone. "Way of the Unfettered? Hah, I've never heard of it!"

What followed was a chaotic barrage of fighting sounds.

"Ah—!"

At last, it ended with a miserable scream.

At the same time, a string of cries came from Zhou Jie's phone, followed by a "DEFEAT."

Li Bo: "..."

Zhou Jie: "..."

In an instant, the entire dorm seemed to fall into deathly silence.

"Ahem, where's Brother Wei?"

Chen Chen broke the awkward silence.

"Where else would he be besides the basketball court?"

Having lost the match, Li Bo dejectedly said, "I'm done, I'm done. I can't carry that useless Brother Kong anymore!"

"You're the useless one!"

Zhou Jie argued indignantly. "Fine, don't play. Chen Zi and I will play a round!"

"No, I'm good."

Chen Chen quickly waved him off. "I just came to ask—do either of you plan to stay at school over winter break?"

"Stay at school?" The two looked up instinctively. Li Bo's eyes immediately widened as he cried, "That's way too much! Even if you're preparing for grad school, you should wait until junior year. Why work this hard already?"

"I'm planning to run an experiment and submit a paper once I get the results."

Chen Chen explained, "If anyone's willing to help, I'll give them second authorship."

"Damn, as expected of Chen Zi, the top student."

Zhou Jie didn't even want to play anymore. He sat up with a shocked expression. "Where are you submitting it, Southern Nuclear?"

"No, SCI."

"So it's Chen the Show-off. Respect, respect!" Li Bo clasped his hands solemnly.

Zhou Jie said nothing. He merely gave Chen Chen a thumbs-up, then turned it into a middle finger and held it in front of Chen Chen's face.

"Are you in or not? Give me a straight answer."

Chen Chen couldn't be bothered with their mockery.

"I have to go home for New Year's. I'm the only son in my family—if I don't go back, my dad will skin me alive."

Li Bo hurriedly waved his hands. "For the sake of being able to see everyone next semester, I'll leave this arduous task to Brother Kong!"

"No, I have school phobia. It flares up the moment break starts."

As he spoke, Zhou Jie suddenly put on a pained expression. Clutching his chest, he flopped onto the bed. "Oh no, my phobia's already acting up! It's over, it's over—I have to hurry home and spend a happy New Year before I can get back up!"

"Tch, you just think my paper won't get accepted, right?" Chen Chen sneered coldly. "Don't blame me for not helping you later. I'm afraid you'll cry!"

"Absolutely not, absolutely not!" The two shook their heads in unison, both wearing the relieved smiles of men who had escaped disaster.

Just then, an exaggerated shout came from the hallway.

"Oh no, thunder! It's snowing—bring in the laundry!!!"

It was snowing?

The three instinctively looked out the window. Sure enough, scraps of white like torn paper drifted silently through the gray sky, scattered like stars. What else could they be but snowflakes?

What followed was a flurry of hurried footsteps. Before long, Wang Wei burst in with a "whoosh," crying excitedly, "Did you see? It's snowing outside!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Zhou Jie and Li Bo answered listlessly, sprawled on their beds as they continued gaming together.

"You guys... don't you have any reaction at all?" Wang Wei asked in astonishment.

"Bo Zai and Brother Kong are both from the north."

Chen Chen walked over and hooked an arm around Wang Wei's neck. "Brother Wei, I need to discuss something with you."

"Go on. How much do you need to borrow?"

Wang Wei froze, then his expression turned grave. "I only have 500 left this month. After food and my ticket home, I can spare you 200. I really don't have any more than that..."

"It's not about money."

Chen Chen pulled Wang Wei into the hallway. "Today, I met a rich older woman at the library. She's willing to fund a stem cell experiment for me. The lab's already been chosen, but I'm still short an assistant. Brother Wei, I can tell at a glance that you're exceptionally gifted and brilliant—absolutely a once-in-a-generation talent when it comes to being an assistant!"

But unexpectedly, after hearing the explanation, Wang Wei's expression became even more solemn.

He patted Chen Chen on the shoulder and sighed after a long pause. "Chen Zi, it's not that I want to lecture you, but I can see you study pretty hard. Maybe you'll make something of yourself someday. Don't ever do anything stupid. Is a rich older woman really something an ordinary person can handle?"

Wang Wei lowered his voice and said gravely, "Forget steel wool balls—I saw in the news recently that they've even started using iron nails..."

Chen Chen: "..."

Seeing Chen Chen sink into repentant silence, Wang Wei continued earnestly, "So, what's this rich older woman's name? What's her WeChat ID? Let me talk to her. I guarantee she won't harass you again. Brother Wei will bear everything for you!"

As he spoke, Wang Wei thumped his chest hard, making muffled thudding sounds.

Chen Chen: ???

A few minutes later, after Chen Chen explained several times, the two finally reached an agreement.

"Helping you out isn't a big deal. We'll be entering labs sooner or later anyway, so getting some experience now would be great. It's just... why do I keep feeling like I'm being conned?"

Wang Wei scratched his head, his face full of conflict. "Wait, you're giving first authorship to that rich older woman and second authorship to me. What about you?"

"I'll be the corresponding author."

Chen Chen explained, "After all, it's my experiment. I'm responsible for the reliability of the experiment, and from an intellectual property standpoint, the research results belong to the corresponding author as well, so I'm not losing out."

"Alright, then it's settled."

Wang Wei agreed readily. "I'll go write an application to stay on campus right now!"

"Bring mine along too!"

Chen Chen hurriedly pulled out an application form and handed it to Wang Wei before heading to the library to pack up his books and computer.