My Online Friend Can't Be This Cute

He had long since forgotten when he had last played games with Cai Yibin and the others. He had only casually made it up based on what Cai Yibin had said to him over the past few days.

"By the way, there's one more thing."

"What?"

"If you go to vocational college, you'll probably spend three years playing games before going back to work at the factory."

"Oh? Is a bachelor's degree any different?"

"With a bachelor's degree, you can play games for four years before going back to work at the factory. That's a whole extra year. If you study medicine, you get another year on top of that. Happy now?"

Cai Yibin stared blankly for quite a while before snapping in embarrassed anger, "Can't I just not go work at that damn factory?"

Mo Xiangwen glanced at him. "Your family owns a factory. Why wouldn't you work there? Are you stupid? It's not like they're sending you back to tighten screws."

"I want to make it on my own. Who wants to keep relying on their parents?"

As expected of a young person. Even with terrible grades, he still had that kind of ambition.

"Good. Young people should have ambition. That's what I think too." Mo Xiangwen nodded. "So what are you doing right now?"

"Uh, chatting with you?"

"No. You're wasting both our time. Get lost."

Chapter 4: Studying Makes Me Unhappy

"You need to draw an auxiliary line first for this problem. Once you've drawn it, doesn't the solution become much clearer?"

During evening self-study, Xiang Ming, the homeroom teacher supervising the session, sat outside the classroom as usual, waiting for students to come out with questions.

This used to be one of the most relaxing periods of his day. After all, students in regular classes rarely took the initiative to ask questions.

He would often sit outside the classroom for over an hour at a time, all the way until class ended.

The occasional students who did come out with questions were usually from the advanced class next door, sent over because their own teachers were too busy.

But that had changed a few days ago.

One male student in the class had suddenly become very diligent. He came out every day to ask questions, and whenever he did, he would practically stay out there for the whole period.

Diligent, and smart.

With just a few pointers and a little guidance, he could pick things up very quickly.

As for the faint chewing noises that could always be heard coming from the student's mouth, that was too trivial to hold against him.

"What a pity."

"Hm?" Mo Xiangwen looked at his homeroom teacher in confusion, unsure what he meant.

He truly had not liked this homeroom teacher much before. After all, it was hard for anyone to like someone who scolded them all the time.

But he had never expected that, ever since the first time he came out to ask questions, his homeroom teacher had not once rebuked him with, "Why weren't you listening properly in class?"

Instead, he patiently explained all those question types that had already been covered countless times during class.

It could be said that this was vastly different from his impression of the middle-aged man.

Maybe it was just like that saying that had once circulated online.

Most teachers started out full of passion and a sense of responsibility.

It was only because of all kinds of realities later on that they gradually became numb.

"With your learning speed, you should be in an advanced class." Xiang Ming rubbed his bald head and sighed. "It's a pity it's a little too late now. The National College Entrance Examination is almost here."

"There's nothing I can do. I only recently understood why I should study seriously." Mo Xiangwen sighed as well.

Preparing for the National College Entrance Examination in one month was far too rushed, even with a cheat.

Damn it, why couldn't he be both a genius and have a cheat?

"It's fine. It's never too late for someone to turn over a new leaf." Xiang Ming said with a smile, "And I think you might be able to get into a Second-Tier Undergraduate program, just like most of the students in the advanced class."

"People have to have aspirations. What if you really make it?"

"I think so too."

Xiang Ming gave him a surprised look, wondering where this kid's absurd confidence came from. Still, he encouraged him, "Not bad. Confidence is a good thing. With confidence, studying can get twice the result with half the effort."

"I understand. Thank you, sir."

"Hurry back and keep doing problems. If you have any questions, come out and ask me again."

Mo Xiangwen had just turned to go back when he was called over again.

"Wait." Xiang Ming suddenly stopped him and said earnestly, "The Third Mock Exam is next week. Make sure you rest properly at night so you'll have the energy to study during the day. Try to get a good score on the Third Mock Exam."

The Third Mock Exam, the third mock examination, was generally considered relatively easy, meant to help students build confidence before the National College Entrance Examination.

But there was another saying that the Third Mock Exam was the closest in difficulty to the National College Entrance Examination.

In other words, your Third Mock Exam score basically determined your National College Entrance Examination score.

Of course, that was only under normal circumstances. No one wanted to deny a student's potential.

Some people improved by leaps and bounds during this final stretch, while others performed exceptionally well and earned better scores.

Things like that were difficult to explain clearly, and that was one of the important reasons so many teachers encouraged students never to give up.

Still, why had he suddenly brought this up?

Mentioning the Third Mock Exam was normal. He was probably reminding him to prepare properly.

But why had he specifically reminded him to get a good night's rest?

In other words, as long as he rested well at night, he did not need to worry about anything else?

Well, whatever. He had not planned on staying up late anyway.

Since it did not have much to do with him, Mo Xiangwen quickly put the matter out of his mind.

Evening self-study passed quickly. When the dismissal bell rang, the students rushed out of the classroom as though they had just been released from prison.

Naturally, he did the same.

Though he mainly wanted to get a late-night snack from the cafeteria and replenish his energy.

Overload Mode was great, but it burned through fuel far too quickly. His mouth never stopped moving from morning to night.

At this rate, he suspected that if he kept it up for another month or two, his facial muscles would become strong enough to crack walnuts with his teeth.

Since the late-night food service was specifically opened for seniors, there were not many people in the cafeteria.

When he went back for a second helping, he was met with the cafeteria auntie's uncertain, astonished stare.

Being able to eat was one thing. After all, he had already added extra dishes the first time he got food.

But someone actually coming back for a second serving in one night, despite the school cafeteria food being so terrible, was a rare sight indeed.

As everyone knew, school cafeterias and delicious food were practically mutually exclusive. A cafeteria that could be called passable was already exceptionally rare.

In most cases, school cafeteria food could only be described as nearly impossible to swallow.

University cafeterias were excluded, of course.

The cafeteria auntie was not some anime girl, so naturally he could not be bothered to care what she was thinking.

After struggling mightily to finish his late-night snack, he slowly returned to the teaching building.

Evening self-study ended at 10 p.m., but that did not mean the school immediately cut the power and turned off the lights afterward.

Usually, the power in the teaching building was not cut until after 11 p.m.

The building itself was locked even later, at around 11:30 p.m.

With the National College Entrance Examination approaching, many people were under tremendous psychological pressure and often stayed in their classrooms past 11:30 without realizing it.

How could they stay if the lights and power were cut at 11 p.m.?

The answer was that they bought portable desk lamps and studied by lamplight.

Because of this, when the security guards locked the teaching building, they had to make a round through every classroom first to make sure no students got locked inside overnight.

When he passed the advanced classes, he could still see most of their students seated at their desks, doing problems.

But when he returned to the regular class, the scene was completely different.

There had originally been dozens of people in the classroom. Now, there were only enough to count on one hand.

Even his desk mate, who had supposedly turned over a new leaf, had long since disappeared.

He was used to it. He had been the same way before. Persisting for one whole day was already difficult enough, so why would anyone voluntarily make themselves work overtime?

Bursts of lofty ambition followed by a lifetime of muddling along—that was the most common pattern.

Then again, he was the same now.

His short-term efforts now were only so that he could lie flat more conveniently in the long run.

The future was impossible to predict, but it was still good to stack a few more chips in his favor.

Mo Xiangwen sat down at his desk and opened his English textbook again, immediately feeling a headache coming on.

He pressed his temples and sighed deeply. "Studying really sucks."

Fortunately, there were always things that sucked even more, like work and bosses.

Chapter 5: So Did You Get the Score?

"Wait a little longer. There should be another inspection. We'll talk after it's over."

"No way. The homeroom teacher and the dean have already come by twice. They probably won't come again."

Half-asleep, he vaguely heard people whispering. Perhaps because he happened to need the bathroom, his mind was unusually clear.

Mo Xiangwen sat up and looked around. Several dim blue lights swayed in the pitch-black dormitory.

Looking closely, he could even make out pale faces wearing eerie smiles—his roommates, watching who knew what in the middle of the night, wanting to laugh but not daring to make a sound.

They sure had plenty of energy. Thinking that, he slipped on his slippers and went to the bathroom.

When he returned, he found several people shining their phone screens at him. It was pretty creepy.

"What is it?" Mo Xiangwen yawned. "It's the middle of the night. Go to sleep early."

"We're short a jungler. You coming?"

Mo Xiangwen squinted at them and realized there were four people, with Liao Feiyang at the head of the group.

"You're going out to an internet café?"

He had climbed over the wall with Liao Feiyang and the others a few times before, but not often.

Especially with the National College Entrance Examination drawing near, the homeroom teacher and grade-level administrators had been checking the dorms extremely frequently. He had not gone wall-climbing with them again.

"No. You guys go ahead."

"Come on, we're one short. We'll even let you pick your position first."

"I'm sleepy. Don't feel like it."

"We'll treat you to a late-night snack too, okay?"

...Damn, for a moment there, he had actually been tempted.

Although he had eaten a late-night snack right after evening self-study, he had also gone back to the classroom and studied for quite a while afterward.

"What time is it now?"

"It's 2 a.m. The homeroom teacher and the others probably won't come again."

It was already 2 a.m. No wonder he felt a little hungry, though not hungry enough to really want food.

"Forget it. I'm still not going."

"Fine, then we're off. Want us to bring you breakfast when we come back?"

"Sure. The cafeteria food is disgusting."