That morning, Cheng Che bought an egg-filled pancake on his way to school by bus.
When he got off, Guo Xin was squatting by the school gate. He took the pancake and handed Cheng Che nine yuan.
Cheng Che accepted it. His family wasn't well-off, and his grandfather's illness had drained their savings last year, so he didn't have much spending money.
"Thanks, bro."
"Why weren't you online in Honor of Kings last night?"
"I was busy with my online romance."
"Damn, then you'd better not meet them in person, or they might put you on blast online and call you a catfish."
The two of them horsed around on their way into the classroom.
Cheng Che took his seat and pulled out his English textbook for morning reading.
With the intelligence boost, his memory was much better, and grinding through practice questions in his final year had become a lot less tedious.
The days of senior year were repetitive:
Classes, practice questions, running, going home, sleeping.
The only thing Cheng Che noticed was that the five-kilometer trip from school to home was taking less and less time.
When the last class of the afternoon ended, the system's voice sounded in Cheng Che's head once more.
[Ding! Bonus mission "Knowledge Is Power" completed!] [Intelligence +1] [Host attribute panel] [Stamina: 57 (Congratulations, you can now climb onto a kang with ease)] [Endurance: 52 (You are now qualified to be a trainee gigolo)] [Charm: 55 (You can now try charming farm girls who haven't seen the world)] [Intelligence: 60 (You are now an Inferior Incubus with a brain. At least you can be trusted not to confuse shit with mushrooms)] [Overall evaluation: You have clawed your way up from a disgrace to Incubi to a crooked melon, a cracked jujube. There is still enormous room for improvement]
Over the past nine days, Cheng Che had grown used to the system's sharp tongue. He was about to close the panel when another line popped up.
[Your intelligence attribute has reached 60. A specialized trait lottery will now be unlocked!]
A lottery!
Cheng Che perked up. A virtual wheel appeared before him, then began spinning on its own without a breath of wind.
Then, as Cheng Che watched in anticipation, the lottery result appeared.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the active talent "Total Concentration"] [Total Concentration: Your concentration increases significantly. While active, your memory, comprehension, imagination, and reaction speed will be enhanced. Activating it consumes stamina.]
Holy crap, a god-tier skill!
After reading the talent description, Cheng Che's heart pounded. Wouldn't he be invincible with this thing active?
Second-tier university? First-tier university? I'm going to Tsinghua or Peking!
Just as Cheng Che was getting excited, Old Xu coughed at the podium and said:
"There's going to be a mock exam for the whole grade tomorrow. You all need to get a good rest today. The exam will be over in two days. Class dismissed!"
With that, Old Xu picked up his teacup and left, paying no attention to the groans and wails below.
"A surprise attack? Then I'd better study hard tonight."
Guo Xin cursed in exasperation, then suddenly turned to look at Cheng Che and reached out to pinch his cheek. Cheng Che slapped his hand away.
"You damn gay guy, stay away from me!"
Cheng Che eyed Guo Xin warily, but Guo Xin didn't mind. Instead, he stared wide-eyed as though he'd seen a ghost.
"Holy crap, how's your skin so fair? And those acne marks-last week I was laughing at you for looking like a pockmarked glutinous rice ball. How have they faded so much they're almost invisible?"
Then he seemed to notice something else. He moved closer and compared the height of their shoulders.
Guo Xin's voice rose half an octave. "Damn, you got taller too? Don't tell me you're going through puberty a third time?"
Seeing his deskmate getting startled over every little thing, Cheng Che couldn't contain the excitement in his heart.
For the past nine days, the first thing he'd done upon opening his eyes each morning was check his attribute panel.
Watching his attributes grow little by little.
But hearing it firsthand from the foul-mouthed friend he saw every day, the realization that "people really could see the change" felt better than a hundred system notifications.
At that moment, Lin Xiao, the class study committee representative who sat in front of them, was packing up her pencil case.
She heard the commotion and turned around, her gaze sweeping over Cheng Che's face before she unconsciously glanced at his straight back.
Lin Xiao paused, the tips of her ears turning slightly red. Her voice was quiet too:
"Cheng Che, lately... have you changed your skincare products? Your acne marks really have faded a lot, and you look much cleaner. And... you really do seem a little taller than before."
"See? See? It wasn't just my imagination!"
Guo Xin was thrilled to hear someone agree with him.
Cheng Che froze for a moment, then smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I've been washing my face properly, going to bed early, getting up early, and exercising. It must have worked."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud snort of derision came from the front.
Zhao Lei stood in the aisle with his backpack on and one hand in his pocket. His school uniform was zipped halfway up, revealing a limited-edition designer streetwear T-shirt underneath, and open mockery hung on his face.
He was of average height, with some loose flesh on his body, and his school uniform always looked tight on him.
He was one of the class's "day-scholar aristocrats." His family owned a supermarket, he went to tutoring every day after school, and he ranked a dozen or so places above Cheng Che.
He especially looked down on invisible people like Cheng Che, who were "poor and always pretending to work hard."
"Instead of spending all that time fussing over your face and trying to get taller, you might as well memorize a couple more words."
Zhao Lei rolled his eyes, speaking loudly enough for half the class to hear.
"The college entrance exam cares about your score, not your face. If you've got that much time to spare, you might as well work a little harder."
Zhao Lei walked out with his backpack, tossing one last remark over his shoulder: "My mom was right. If you don't have the talent, all that pointless fuss is just a waste of time."
Guo Xin gave Zhao Lei's retreating back an enormous eye roll:
"This is ridiculous. His parents post photos of his tutoring sessions in the parent group every day, showing off that he ranks a dozen or so places above us. Does he really think he's Tsinghua or Peking material?"
"He even copied my answer to the third multiple-choice question on the last math mock exam. I just couldn't be bothered to say anything."
Seeing this, Lin Xiao also spoke up to comfort Cheng Che. "You've been working really hard lately. You'll definitely beat him on the exam..."
Then she added in a low voice, "His face is covered in acne. Your skin is much better than his."
Cheng Che watched her comfort him so earnestly and felt a little like laughing, but he was also a little touched.
He thanked Lin Xiao, put on his backpack, and didn't look again in the direction Zhao Lei had disappeared.
Outside the classroom window, the last rays of the setting sun fell on the math paper at the corner of the desk.
Tsinghua or Peking...
He glanced down at the 60 intelligence points on his system panel, his gaze calm.
First, let's take care of tomorrow's mock exam.