On the day of the monthly exams, Cheng Che got off the bus and stuffed a still-warm jianbing into Guo Xin's hands.
Guo Xin was squatting outside the school gates, his uniform zipped halfway up and a toothpick dangling from his mouth. From a distance, he looked like some unemployed hoodlum casing the place.
He took the jianbing, had barely bitten into it, then looked up at the one in Cheng Che's hand and went wide-eyed.
"Damn, how come yours has pork tenderloin and a grilled sausage?"
Cheng Che took a bite of his own and said leisurely, "I earned the money at my part-time job. Didn't steal it or rob anyone."
Guo Xin remembered.
Cheng Che did seem to have mentioned something last week about working as a ball boy at a tennis court.
Chewing his jianbing, he suddenly narrowed his eyes and broke into a thoroughly sleazy grin:
"Tsk, a tennis court, huh? I hear loads of girls play tennis, and they all wear little skirts. Is that true?"
Cheng Che ignored him and kept walking.
"Come on, tell me. Any with long legs? Any pretty ones? Anyone ask for your WeChat?"
"No," Cheng Che said.
"Then did you play a bit yourself? Anyone watch you play?"
"Yeah."
"Who?"
"A bunch of old guys," Cheng Che said with a straight face. "Squatting in the park watching me practice my serves."
Guo Xin choked on his jianbing. When he looked up at Cheng Che again, he suddenly froze.
He swallowed what was in his mouth and took two steps back, looking Cheng Che up and down as though seeing him for the first time.
"Holy shit, you're into guys that much older?"
The corner of Cheng Che's mouth twitched, but he kept walking.
"What is it now?"
"No, hang on." Guo Xin caught up in two strides, stood beside him to compare their shoulders, then rose onto his toes. "Have you... gotten taller again?"
Cheng Che finally smiled.
The smugness in that smile was impossible to hide.
"Have I?"
He tilted his head, putting on an act.
"Yes! Definitely! You've shot up again in just these two weeks! Have you been taking growth hormones?" Guo Xin circled him, looking as though he had seen a ghost. "You used to be about my height. Now you can fucking see the top of my head."
Cheng Che was now 178 centimeters tall.
Less than a month ago, he had been only 175.
Three centimeters didn't sound like much.
But to someone who looked in the mirror every day, every little change was crystal clear.
His trouser legs had started getting short, his uniform sleeves had crept up a little, and even Old Xu had given the back of his head an extra look when passing him once.
Of course, all of this was thanks to charisma.
Cheng Che just occasionally wondered: if a charisma stat in the sixties had already made him three centimeters taller, would he be heading toward two meters once it reached 100?
When that happened, with him standing in the classroom, would anyone else even be able to take their exams?
The two of them entered the classroom, roughhousing along the way.
The monthly exams came quickly.
So quickly that Cheng Che felt a little dazed.
Before the last mock exam, he had still been a nobody Zhao Lei mocked. This time, he could already sit calmly in the exam room, watching the papers being handed out without a single ripple in his heart.
Math came first.
When he got his paper, he didn't scan it first like last time. Instead, he worked through it in order. Question after question, his hand never stopped.
With his attention fully focused, the questions became exceptionally clear in his eyes.
The exam setter's intentions were as plain as if they had been written on the paper. Every condition, every auxiliary line, every trap-he could see through them all at a glance.
It was going too smoothly.
So smoothly that, toward the end, an absurd thought even rose in his mind:
Why isn't this at college entrance exam difficulty?
He hurriedly suppressed the thought.
An arrogant army was bound to lose. He wasn't at that level yet.
Over the two days of exams, Cheng Che didn't say much, nor did he rush to compare answers afterward like last time.
He ran as usual, slept as usual, and studied until ten each night as usual.
On Wednesday evening, the monthly exams ended.
He went home, showered, and sat down at his desk, planning to do two more reading comprehension passages to keep himself sharp.
He had just picked up his pen when the system panel popped up automatically.
[Ding!] [Intelligence Trial · Stage One: First Glimpse of Brilliance. Objective: place in the top 100 of your grade by total score in the next monthly exams. Completed!] [Congratulations! You have obtained the talent "Sapiosexual Boy."] [Congratulations! You have obtained the talent "Flash of Inspiration."]
Two talents?
Cheng Che's eyes flew wide open.
At the same time, he realized that he had definitely made the top 100 this time, though the system hadn't said exactly where he ranked.
He had thought one task would give him one reward. He hadn't expected a straight-up buy-one-get-one-free deal.
He hurriedly opened the descriptions.
[Sapiosexual Boy: when you truly enter a state of thought, your concentration, frown, and movements as you work through deductions will radiate intellectual charm. The harder the problem you are thinking about, the stronger the attraction.]
Cheng Che: "?"
What the hell kind of name is that?
He looked down at the way he held his pen, and an image automatically surfaced in his mind: himself frowning, lips pressed together, head lowered as he derived formulas.
Then he shuddered.
Why did this talent feel like it was pushing him toward becoming an "aloof, ascetic top student"?
He hurriedly checked the second one.
[Flash of Inspiration: when facing a predicament or an unexpected situation, you have a chance of instantly grasping the key to breaking through.]
This one was good.
Cheng Che's eyes lit up.
Compared with something like "Sapiosexual Boy," which was completely useless to him, "Flash of Inspiration" was the real deal.
Couldn't figure out the final big question on an exam? A flash.
Got stuck on a problem? A flash.
Hit a dead end in a tennis match? A flash.
Although the description said "a chance," at a crucial moment, even one extra opportunity could turn things around.
Satisfied, Cheng Che closed both talent descriptions, and his gaze settled on the trial panel.
[Charisma Trial · Stage One: The Boy Who Is Seen. Objective: have 1,000 people's attention on you at the same time. Current progress: 0/1000.] [Intelligence Trial · Stage Two: Among the Best. Objective: place in the top 10 of your grade by total score in the next monthly exams, and obtain a perfect score in any one subject.] [Stamina Trial · Stage One: A Young Boy. Objective: reach professional-level tennis skills. Current level: amateur level 6 (maximum level 9).]
Cheng Che sat in his chair, slowly sorting through his thoughts.
The intelligence trial had entered its second stage. The goal was to fight his way from the top 100 into the top 10, and get a perfect score in one subject.
This task was far from simple, but he was more interested in the perfect score.
Math was currently the subject he felt most confident about.
If he could get a perfect score in the next monthly exams, the second stage wouldn't be difficult.
The first stage of the stamina trial had also been revealed.
From amateur level 6 to professional level-a gap of three levels. He still had two stamina talents to fall back on.
He could do it.
The only thing that still hadn't budged was charisma.
One thousand people watching him at the same time.
This task was the hardest. Even now, he had no confidence in it and absolutely no idea how to complete it.
"Forget it. When soldiers come, send a general; when floodwaters come, pile up earth. I'll finish the other tasks first."