Shen Wanyu, the head of the External Relations Department, was a year ahead of Jiang Linyuan. She was his senior and his direct superior.
She was famous around campus, the goddess in countless people's hearts—a bona fide rich, beautiful young woman.
After Jiang Linyuan awakened his system, the first thing he did was join the External Relations Department.
After all, the department offered more chances to socialize, which meant a better chance of meeting Cha Cha.
But what surprised him most was Shen Wanyu. The first time they met, he was instantly captivated by the bright A-Rank Reward Card above her head.
This cool, reserved girl was an absolute gold mine!
With an A-Rank Reward Card right in front of him every day, who could possibly resist?
Jiang Linyuan certainly couldn't. Naturally, he tried using the same tricks he'd used to deal with Cha Cha.
But Shen Wanyu, the cool beauty, was completely immune to his sweet talk and invitations to go out. She came right out and asked:
"Do you like me?"
Jiang Linyuan had been taken aback, but he still managed a response:
"Of course. You're so beautiful, Senior."
She stared straight at Jiang Linyuan for a long time, then said:
"You really are suited to the External Relations Department. Come be the deputy head in a year."
Over the following year, Jiang Linyuan realized that this gold mine was basically a robot. She was always strictly business.
She never gave him so much as a chance to sneak in a move.
Eventually, he gave up. It wasn't that he couldn't get an A-Rank Card; B-Rank Cards were simply better value.
If a Reward Card wasn't my type, I'd just drop it.
But as the saying went, the things you couldn't have were the ones you wanted most.
Jiang Linyuan still coveted Shen Wanyu's Reward Card.
The rewards in the system's A-Rank Card pool were absurdly generous.
Even the worst one came with a million yuan.
Now that he had Su Muzhi's help, if he played his cards right, he might find a breakthrough.
"Well? What do you think, Senior Jiang?"
He paused and looked at Su Muzhi, who stood smiling brightly in front of him. Putting on a serious face, he said:
"You're joking, Junior Su. I love playing badminton with you."
Seeing Jiang Linyuan's expression, Su Muzhi didn't say much. She simply took her racket and went to the other side, getting ready to play.
"But, Junior, if I win, is there any extra reward?"
Jiang Linyuan suddenly asked.
Su Muzhi was taken aback. "Isn't helping you get Shen Wanyu to come out the reward?"
"No."
Jiang Linyuan shook his head.
"That's what you offered to get me to play badminton with you. It's not a reward."
"After all, not just anyone gets to play badminton with me."
Xiao Yun, who had been watching them from the sidelines, was stunned.
W-What a narcissist!
Meanwhile, Liu Tingting's eyes lit up, and she felt secretly pleased.
Whether Jiang Linyuan meant it or not, he was the one who'd asked her to play badminton.
And he'd said it in front of a prettier girl. Clearly, he was saying she was special to him.
At the thought, Liu Tingting's lips curved into a smile. She clenched her fist and called out:
"Go for it, Junior Jiang!"
Xiao Yun whipped around, eyes wide as she stared at her.
Homewrecker! I'll glare you to death!
Su Muzhi was stunned for a moment by Jiang Linyuan's words, then narrowed her eyes and smiled again, her voice soft and gentle:
"Fine. If I win, I get to watch when you take Shen Wanyu out on a date, Senior Jiang."
Wasn't the reward supposed to be for me winning? How did it become yours?
As if she'd seen Jiang Linyuan's confusion, Su Muzhi unconsciously puffed out her chest.
"I don't think I'm going to lose."
Ugh! So average and confident!
Jiang Linyuan chuckled and waved his racket.
"Junior, if you're too full of yourself, no one will like you."
"Heh. Senior, are you really one to talk?"
Su Muzhi fired right back, refusing to be outdone.
They hadn't even started playing, but the air between them was already charged.
"How about this, Senior? If you win, you can make one little request of me."
Su Muzhi smiled mischievously and winked at Jiang Linyuan.
"Who knows? Maybe I'd even say yes if you confessed to me."
This woman was hopeless.
Sure enough, people with A-Rank Cards weren't quite right in the head.
Jiang Linyuan smiled.
"Junior, if you like me, just say so. I'll graciously reject you."
Su Muzhi might have an A-Rank Card, but Jiang Linyuan wasn't the system's errand boy.
Not just anyone could become his card-farming target.
So he didn't particularly mind offending Su Muzhi. If anything, this was a good chance to earn Liu Tingting's favor.
With that in mind, he turned and gave Liu Tingting, who'd been cheering him on, a fist pump in response.
Watching the two of them interact, even Su Muzhi couldn't keep her expression from tightening.
"All right, Jiang. Let's settle this on the court."
As soon as she finished speaking, she served.
At first, they played by the book. But after rallying for a while, Su Muzhi saw Jiang Linyuan hit a high clear and seized her chance to smash!
She leaped high into the air. With a bang, the shot boomed across the court.
The onlookers all around sucked in a breath.
"Whoa, who is that girl? What a powerful shot!"
"Heh, that shot definitely had some personal feelings behind it..."
Jiang Linyuan didn't hold back either. He swung his racket and fired one right back.
Bang! Bang!!
The two of them began trading smashes across the court, almost every shot a smash.
Neither gave an inch.
The shuttlecock streaked through the air like a bullet, drawing awed murmurs from the spectators.
"Are they... mad at each other or something?"
Xiao Yun watched as Su Muzhi ran for the shuttle, leaped high again, and sent another smash flying.
Under the lights, Xiao Yun could see the muscles in Su Muzhi's arm bulge as she swung her racket, and the gritted-teeth expression she wore when smashing. It was clear she was genuinely fired up.
Jiang Linyuan was the same. He held nothing back, putting all his strength into every smash.
"No, seriously, what's their beef? Why are they playing like this...?"
"I feel like once their rackets give out, they're just going to throw them aside and start beating each other up..."
"Is this a lovesick girl beating up a jerk? An ex, maybe!"
The clueless spectators watched the game and speculated among themselves.
But Jiang Linyuan and Su Muzhi had no grudge against each other. They'd just gotten carried away playing.
There was something ridiculously satisfying about trading long clears back and forth. The dopamine from cardio was so pure.
Women? All I can see is the shuttlecock!
Besides, Jiang Linyuan could tell that Su Muzhi was having a great time too. They were both loving it, but each kept chasing an even bigger thrill.
A man and a woman, doing high-intensity cardio... That sounded a little weird.
Anyway, fighting was exhilarating!
Leaping smashes, cannon shots from the backcourt, backhand smashes, consecutive jumping smashes...
They cycled through all eighteen techniques, attacking and pressuring each other to the extreme!
Damn, this was intense!
Jiang Linyuan leaped high, gathered all his strength, and smashed the shuttlecock back again.
Su Muzhi's badminton skills really were impressive—better than Jiang Linyuan's. But she seemed to have gotten hooked, abandoning strategy and going all in on a pure smash-off.
That gave him a huge advantage. Men and women still had different levels of stamina, after all.
And besides...
[R E N E W E D]!
I've got a cheat!
Jiang Linyuan looked at Su Muzhi, drenched in sweat in front of him, felt his own exhausted body, and activated the ability.
One more round! Not enough soft skills? I'll make it up with strength!
Jiang Linyuan stepped back in a cross-step and leaped high, lifting his left hand and cocking his racket in his right, his body arched like a fully drawn bow.
Bang!!
A deafening crack rang out as the shuttlecock shot off at top speed!
By then, Su Muzhi was too exhausted to keep up. It landed—a decisive point!
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