Rat Travels the World

"Xiao Chen, I've packed my things. Let's go."

"Give the bag to me."

"Okay."

Shen Qinghan didn't stand on ceremony with Lin Zichen, handing the bag containing her school uniform directly to him.

Lin Zichen took the bag, and together with Shen Qinghan, he left the classroom.

Watching their retreating figures, a girl in the class who had specifically transferred from Shanhai No. 1 Middle School to be in the same class as Lin Zichen said with a lovesick expression:

"Lin Zichen is so gentlemanly. He even knows to help a girl carry her bag. I wish I were his childhood sweetheart."

"Gentlemanly? I think he just likes to show off. Today is free time; everyone is either chatting or walking around campus, but he has to be different and go outside to exercise. What a poser!"

Beside the girl, a tall, thin boy said with a look of disdain.

He was the top scorer in the middle school entrance exam from Shanhai No. 1 Middle School. With good grades and a somewhat handsome face, he had been the golden boy of his school for all three years of junior high, surrounded by peers who treated him like a star and receiving endless love letters.

And the girl sitting next to him right now was the only rival who had been able to compete with him for the top spot during those three years.

In the process of their mutual competition, he had gradually developed feelings for her.

After the entrance exam, upon learning that the girl had applied to Shanhai High School, he didn't hesitate to reject the pleas of the Shanhai No. 1 Middle School principal to stay, choosing instead to follow her and apply to Shanhai High School.

Seeing the girl's eyes filled with nothing but Lin Zichen, he felt extremely bitter.

I was the one who came first!

What does that guy have?!

Why did things turn out like this?!

"Hey, we're all classmates, so don't talk behind people's backs. If you really don't like him, just challenge him to a spar during Martial Arts class."

Lu Gang, who could lift 300kg with one hand, heard what the tall, thin boy had just said and walked over specifically to address him.

Suddenly confronted, the tall, thin boy instinctively wanted to snap back.

But when he turned around and saw a giant nearly two meters tall, he immediately lost his nerve and didn't dare to make a sound.

Seeing him act so cowardly, the girl beside him decisively kicked him while he was down:

"Exactly. If you're unhappy with Lin Zichen, just go spar with him. Though you should be careful—don't end up like you did during the Eight-School League, getting kicked off the stage the moment you started and landing face-first in the dirt."

"You...!"

The tall, thin boy was so angry he couldn't speak, suddenly finding the girl in front of him repulsive.

Lu Gang looked at the girl and asked, "Is that guy named Lin Zichen really that strong?"

At the mention of Lin Zichen, the girl's eyes lit up, and she immediately began introducing her idol to Lu Gang with great enthusiasm:

"Strong! Very strong! He's practically invincible!"

"From childhood until now, Lin Zichen is the most incredible top student I've ever met in real life!"

"You might not believe it, but when Lin Zichen was just in his first year of middle school, he took down every single middle school student in the entire district!"

"Mind you, that's all of them, including the second and third years!"

"And it wasn't just simple one-on-one fights!"

The more the girl spoke, the more excited she became, her face flushing red. She was so worked up that it felt as if Lin Zichen were someone special to her.

A moment later.

After listening to her introduction of Lin Zichen, Lu Gang smiled with interest: "Interesting. If I get the chance, I'll have to spar with him."

"Forget it, Lu Gang."

At this moment, a lean, muscular boy walked over.

It was the third-place finisher in the Nanguan City entrance exam.

A genius named Wang Shujie, who could run a hundred-meter dash in 7.98 seconds.

Wang Shujie stopped in front of Lu Gang and said calmly, "No matter how strong that person is, at the end of the day, he's just a top scorer from one of the districts in Shanhai City. It's just a case of 'when there are no tigers in the mountains, the monkey acts as king.'"

"And you are a top-five genius in Nanguan City; there's no need to be so desperate that you'd want to spar with that kind of opponent."

"If you want to spar, just look for me."

This genius named Wang Shujie spoke with an arrogance that looked down on the students of Shanhai City, making many of the local Shanhai students in the class feel uncomfortable.

Lu Gang waved his hand: "Forget it, sparring with you is boring. You're too fast, I can't hit you, and you're too weak, you can't hurt me. We could fight on stage for half a day and still not decide a winner."

Wang Shujie smiled: "How about this? I plan to challenge the students in the Grade 11 Elite Class in a while. Want to join me then?"

"Sure, that suits me perfectly!" Lu Gang agreed without a second thought.

After saying this, the two of them left the classroom together.

They were geniuses recruited by the school with high salaries, and they both lived in the faculty dormitories provided by the school.

Just the two of them, living in a three-bedroom apartment—it was extremely luxurious.

After the two of them left, the pair from Shanhai No. 1 Middle School in the classroom were left completely stunned.

A top-five genius from Nanguan City?

What is going on?

How could our class have top students from Nanguan City?

One must know that the educational standard in Nanguan City is far higher than that of Shanhai City; they produce a provincial top scorer almost every few years.

As for Shanhai City, it has only been fortunate enough to produce a single provincial top scorer in the past few decades, and that was over twenty years ago—so long ago that it simply cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Nanguan City.

Therefore, why would these two top students from Nanguan City come to study at Shanhai High School?

Regarding this question, the boy and girl from Shanhai No. 1 Middle School were completely baffled.

On the school path, Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan were walking side by side at a leisurely pace.

Having left the classroom, Shen Qinghan became much more lively, chatting away with Lin Zichen the entire time.

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and said to Lin Zichen, "Oh right, Mom just messaged on WeChat saying she's working overtime and will be home late, so she asked me to pick up some groceries on the way home from school. Let's go to that vegetable market to the right of the exit later."

"Let's go to the supermarket instead. We're young and haven't really bought groceries before; it's easy to get ripped off at roadside stalls."

"Then let's go to the supermarket."

After this brief exchange, the two quickly walked out of the school gate and took a bus to the nearest supermarket to buy groceries.

After the bus arrived at the stop, they still had to walk a short distance to reach the supermarket.

During this time, the two passed by an alleyway, and Shen Qinghan was suddenly startled, pointing inside as she said, "Xiao Chen, there are so many rats in there!"

Lin Zichen looked in the direction she was pointing and indeed saw several rats in the alley.

He even saw a large rat fighting a cat for its cat food.

Seeing this scene, Lin Zichen couldn't help but frown. He picked up a stone, intending to smash the large rat that was stealing the cat's food.

But after a second thought, he ultimately decided against it.

At this stage, it was better not to provoke creatures like rats.

After all, even now, the Giant Mutant Rat remained full of mystery.

No one knew how they had suddenly appeared in human society, nor did anyone know if they had any connection to ordinary rats.

Lin Zichen worried that if he killed that large rat in the alley, he might invite trouble upon himself.

PS: Setting out my bowl, asking for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!