Astonishingly Talented University Student?

Arriving downstairs at the rental apartment, Gao Teng hopped off the bicycle.

"Do you want to come upstairs and take a look, or will you wait here?"

Zhang Meizhu said, "I've already come this far, what's a few more steps?"

"Alright then."

Gao Teng snapped his fingers and commanded with natural ease, "I live on the third floor. Carry the bike and come up with me."

"Me?" Zhang Meizhu asked back in disbelief, "Carry the bike upstairs?"

"If you leave the bike downstairs, it'll be stolen and sold for scrap metal immediately. This is the only way to prevent theft."

"I know that! I'm not an idiot!"

Zhang Meizhu suppressed her anger, "My question is, why aren't you the one carrying it?"

Gao Teng wore a strange expression, "It's your bike, why would I carry it?"

Zhang Meizhu glared, "Do you even know what gentlemanly conduct is?"

"No."

Silence reigned for several seconds.

Zhang Meizhu deflated; she had officially given up.

She hoisted the bicycle onto her shoulder, followed Gao Teng up to the third floor, and walked into a cramped, cluttered room.

The room contained a hardwood bed covered in a gaudy, faded, and yellowed sheet that looked like it had seen better decades.

In the corner stood a wooden wardrobe covered by a plastic sheet, holding a few old garments that looked incredibly pathetic.

Walking five or six steps into the room, the bathroom was on the left and the kitchen was on the right.

The bathroom was a squat toilet with an old gas water heater on the wall; all face-washing, teeth-brushing, toileting, bathing, and laundry were handled in this tiny space.

Gao Teng didn't use the kitchen.

However, the previous tenant's traces remained: the tiles were pitch black, and the exhaust fan in the wall hole was caked with moldy grease.

Zhang Meizhu frowned as she looked around. Living in a place like this was just too miserable; she couldn't fathom how Gao Teng endured it.

"Wait for me a moment, I need to change."

Gao Teng walked toward the wardrobe with a normal expression and took out his Public Security Bureau auxiliary staff uniform.

After changing in the bathroom and grabbing his necessary equipment, he said to Zhang Meizhu, "Let's go. It's getting late, let's finish today's work quickly."

"Mm."

Zhang Meizhu agreed and hoisted the bicycle back up.

The two went downstairs together. Once Gao Teng sat on the back seat, she began pedaling out of habit, no longer feeling a shred of resentment.

Before long, they left the urban village.

Zhang Meizhu couldn't help but look back. The alleyway was lit by dim, yellow lights, damaged wires sparked from time to time, and aging streetwalkers solicited customers. It was so chaotic that she never wanted to come back to this place again.

Gao Teng saw through her thoughts and said, "I told you, the place I live is extremely, extremely run-down. Regretting coming here now?"

Zhang Meizhu bit her lip, "Gao Teng, you shouldn't spend all your money on cultivation. Look at the life you're living."

"You might not like hearing this, but you'd be better off not practicing martial arts at all. Isn't living like a normal person better?"

"Seriously, pay off your loans quickly, save some money, and move out of this place. If you stay here too long, you'll have a breakdown!"

Gao Teng didn't refute her, only yawning.

If he couldn't steal cultivation, Zhang Meizhu's words would be golden advice, and following them would certainly be the right move.

Unfortunately, he happened to possess a martial arts talent that only appears once in a billion years. Zhang Meizhu was advising the wrong person!

He said indifferently, "I have my own plans for the future, so you don't need to worry about me."

"When the college entrance exam comes, you'll see just how brilliant and talented I am."

Hearing these words, Zhang Meizhu's brow furrowed into a knot, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

She opened her mouth to speak several times but swallowed her words in the end, afraid that saying them would hurt Gao Teng's self-esteem.

There were only 59 days left until the college entrance exam. No matter how hard Gao Teng tried, he would only be able to get into a vocational college.

A brilliant and talented vocational student?

That was a bit absurd, wasn't it?

"Just do your best."

Zhang Meizhu could only offer her blessings.

After all, she was just a friend; she couldn't interfere with Gao Teng too much and needed to maintain some boundaries.

She pedaled the bicycle in silence, and Gao Teng quieted down as well.

As she rode, a sense of admiration suddenly grew in Zhang Meizhu's heart.

Gao Teng's life was so impoverished, yet he had rejected Wang He's conditions without a second thought, giving up such a large sum of money.

His heart was truly noble!

Thinking of this, Zhang Meizhu couldn't help but bring up the matter again.

Gao Teng remained righteous and awe-inspiring, his towering figure gleaming on the back seat of the bicycle.

Before they knew it, the two had chatted about many things.

Gao Teng found his bicycle locked to a utility pole by the side of the road, unlocked it, and rode off with Zhang Meizhu toward Sewer No. 3.

He had already gained 856 merit points from monsters tonight, and he hoped to reap an even greater harvest from the work ahead.

With this thought in mind, Gao Teng picked up his pedaling speed.

Upon reaching their destination, they locked the bike by the roadside and headed down into the sewer.

"Hey, should we do what we did last night and drag someone into the sewer?"

Faced with this suggestion, Zhang Meizhu offered a wry smile.

She said helplessly, "I forgot to tell you, I uploaded our work footage to the Public Security Bureau this morning, and they warned us repeatedly not to mess around anymore. Especially you—they think you're a dangerous individual with an unhealthy mental state, and they told me I must keep a close eye on you."

Gao Teng was very dissatisfied: "I am clearly saving fallen souls, how is that messing around? Look at Fan Haiwei; after he worked with us, he immediately turned over a new leaf and wanted to be a good person. If you gave me a little more time, I could absolutely make everyone return to a normal life!"

Hearing this, Zhang Meizhu forced a strained smile.

They were clearly dragging people in to act as human shields to create opportunities for their own escape; that Fan Haiwei was willing to change was purely an accident.

"Anyway, the Public Security Bureau won't let us do that anymore, so let's just be more careful."

Zhang Meizhu turned on the recorder pinned to her chest, clicked on her flashlight, and led the way into the sewer.

What else could Gao Teng do?

He could only follow suit.

The two walked one after the other into the sewer, moving at a steady pace toward the depths.

Passing by the shanties built in disarray, almost everyone inside was fast asleep.

"It's only past nine, and these people are already asleep; they live quite disciplined lives."

Gao Teng cracked a joke as he followed Zhang Meizhu deeper and deeper.

Before they knew it, an hour had passed.

But strangely, they hadn't encountered a single mutated creature.

This was clearly abnormal; they had been working for so many days and had never encountered such a situation!

"Something's wrong."

The hearts of both tightened, their muscles tensed.

They swept their flashlights around, feeling as though the darkness was filled with something eerie.

Suddenly, Gao Teng had a thought.

"Could it be our scent? Is it keeping the mutated creatures from daring to attack us?"