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Although Liang Kui spoke up, he did not hold out much hope.

Just as he thought Su Yan would shake his head and refuse, a plump red tomato rolled into his palm. Liang Kui was unprepared and nearly let it slip to the floor.

Liang Kui happily bit into the tomato and asked curiously, "Why did you agree to help me today? I'm truly flattered."

Su Yan slowly spun his pen and said, "As class monitor, I should care about my classmates and help them."

"..." Liang Kui blinked and gave an awkward laugh. "I'd forgotten you were the class monitor. Anyway, thanks."

"No need to thank me. As class monitor, I also want to tell you that eating during class is wrong."

"..." Liang Kui wiped his mouth, tucked the unfinished tomato into his desk, and said with a twitch of his lips, "I'll eat it after class."

The period from the eighth day of the first lunar month to the Lantern Festival was make-up class time, so the daily schedule was fairly relaxed. There were no afternoon extracurricular activities, and after four classes, school was truly over. Evening self-study was also very short.

After school, Su Yan and Liang Kui reluctantly went to find Teacher Zhang. Teacher Zhang led the six of them, including the two of them, to the flag-raising platform on the sports field.

The older batch of flag bearers had already been waiting there with the national flag in their arms. Every one of them stood ramrod straight, staring ahead like soldiers.

Teacher Zhang clapped her hands. "You've all watched the flag being raised many times. Today, observe it up close. Watch every move your seniors make carefully. First, watch the flag raising three times, then I'll teach you the standard movements."

As the national anthem began, the twelve new and old flag bearers taught and learned from one another again and again.

Marching, rhythm, expressions—every detail was strictly required.

The training was unbearably dull. Liang Kui kept a straight face, and so did Su Yan. Teacher Zhang in particular had a short temper. At the slightest mistake, she would fly into a rage, stomping her feet and screaming curses. Liang Kui grumbled inwardly, What was a menopausal woman like you doing teaching flag-raising? Your pigeon-toed stance means you can't even march properly, so what right do you have to demand perfection from everyone else?

One of the old flag bearers secretly told Liang Kui, "Our previous group learned the rules from Teacher Li, the head of the PE department. Teacher Zhang doesn't know anything and is just pretending."

Liang Kui was utterly disgusted and asked in a muffled voice, "Why doesn't Teacher Li teach us now?"

The old flag bearer gestured with his lips. Liang Kui turned and saw a man who was obviously a PE teacher standing at the other side of the field with his arms crossed, drilling a group of sports students.

"Teacher Li specializes in training athletic students. He's pretty busy."

Su Yan looked over in the same direction. It would have been better if he had not looked, because the moment he did, he froze.

That large group of athletic students was precisely the group that had followed Wan Xing to cause him trouble last time. They were all second-year upperclassmen.

Su Yan watched them, and while exercising, the sports students watched Su Yan back with all kinds of unfriendly looks.

The tedious training continued until six before Teacher Zhang finally let them go eat dinner.

Su Yan sighed. Even if he went back now, he would not make it in time for dinner.

Su Yan bought a cup of instant noodles and hastily filled his stomach. His pen moved smoothly as he wrote and sketched, occasionally taking out his phone to use as a calculator.

When Liang Kui returned, he saw Su Yan tapping away at his phone while his right hand rapidly jotted down notes. "What are you calculating?"

"The accounts," Su Yan answered succinctly.

"You keep accounts for your spending? Haha, stop working. I bought KFC, and there's a portion for you." Liang Kui cheerfully handed Su Yan a burger, chicken wings, and cola. Su Yan looked up at him. "What's with the sudden kindness?"

Liang Kui's eyes widened. "I'm repaying a favor! A meal's kindness deserves a fortune in return. I'm repaying one tomato with KFC."

Su Yan smiled faintly, picked up a chicken wing, and stuffed it into his mouth. "I don't need the burger. It tastes bad."

"You're getting free food and still being picky. If you won't eat it, I will."

When Su Yan got home that night, he spent another half hour calculating the accounts for the vegetable stall and fruit shop. He had been so busy lately that he had had much less time to log into the game. Brother Fei called and told him to go online and check his email. Su Yan opened his mailbox while rubbing his wet hair, then downloaded the attachment. It was large and filled entirely with photographs.

They were photographs of an adult female Tibetan Mastiff.

Su Yan's eyes lit up. Before long, he brought out War God. War God held his head high and stared at Su Yan's computer screen. Su Yan scrolled with the mouse and asked with a smile, "What do you think of the pictures, War God? If you like her, we'll go get you a wife. If not, we can keep looking. No rush."

The Tibetan Mastiff in the photographs seemed to live near the outskirts. The background around her was quiet and spacious. She was healthy and imposing, with glossy fur, and she was the same breed of Tibetan Mastiff as War God. Iron-Wrapped Gold—pure black accented with gold. She looked handsome from every angle.

War God made a low sound in his throat. His eyes shone, and his tail wagged back and forth.

Su Yan laughed. "You think she's pretty too, don't you? Then it's her. Don't be too impatient. You'll be able to meet in a few days."

There was a holiday on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the lunar month, and Su Yan came to B City again.

This time, he did not ask Brother Fei to pick him up. Su Yan released War God in a secluded place, then took him to the address Brother Fei had provided.

It was rare for War God to come to a big city. He followed quietly and majestically at Su Yan's side like the finest bodyguard. Wherever the man and dog went, they drew attention.

Brother Fei spotted them from far away and excitedly pointed at War God. "Little Brother Su, you're amazing! You've raised this Tibetan Mastiff so well. Tsk, tsk, he's flawless from head to toe. How about teaching me some of your tricks?"