Cheng Che lay in bed, listening to his parents still making phone calls downstairs, and the corners of his mouth curved.
He actually wasn't that excited anymore.
732 points, first in the province. The instant the score popped up, his heart really had given a hard jolt.
But after three rounds of phone calls, after Cheng Jianguo told his fourth colleague the same "he did so-so" joke, Cheng Che's mood gradually settled instead.
He closed the door, lay down on his bed, and opened the system panel.
[Intelligence Trial: Ladder of the Comeback. Final objective: achieve a total college entrance examination score above the first-tier university cutoff. Completed!]
The next second, the rewards popped up.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the passive talent "The Art of the Brain."] [The Art of the Brain: you can conceive ideas beyond your brain's current limits. Current activation conditions: unmet.] [Congratulations! You have obtained the title "Zhuangyuan."] [Zhuangyuan: you have a chance of winning the favor of benefactors. Current activation status: active.]
Cheng Che sprang upright with a carp's kip-up.
He stared at the panel, his eyes shining.
The Art of the Brain...
The talent's description was ridiculously simple, but he pondered it word by word, and the more he pondered, the more frightening it seemed.
"Ideas beyond your brain's current limits."
In other words, where others could only think of one, he could think of three, or even ten.
It wasn't about learning more. His thinking itself could leap beyond the rigid confines.
He suddenly remembered he also had [Flash of Inspiration].
[Flash of Inspiration] gave him a chance to instantly seize the crucial opening to break a deadlock.
What if it activated together with [The Art of the Brain]?
One broke through limits, the other pinpointed the opening. If those two worked together, wouldn't his brain explode?
"One plus one is greater than two," Cheng Che murmured.
But it was too early to talk about that.
Neither talent had properly activated yet, and he didn't want to indulge in idle fantasies.
He looked at the title again.
The effect of the title "Zhuangyuan" was "a chance of winning the favor of benefactors."
Cheng Che stared at that line, rubbing his chin as he pondered it for a long while.
The favor of benefactors?
Had he met so few benefactors lately?
Old Chen counted as one, Qin Lie another, and Yan Ruanning another. Even Old Xu was a benefactor in his life.
But the title said "a chance," which meant that among the people he met from now on, a few willing to lend him a hand would still pop up from time to time.
"If this stays active, won't I become a human benefactor magnet?" The more Cheng Che thought about it, the more amusing he found it. Suddenly, he clapped his hands. "I'll buy a lottery ticket tomorrow! If a benefactor wants me to win, how could I not?"
He amused himself into laughter.
After laughing for a while, he lay back down, closed the panel, and shut his eyes.
The phone calls downstairs finally quieted down.
The night was peaceful, and the bamboo grove outside the window was still rustling.
Cheng Che closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
And after he fell asleep, a true storm was gathering on the internet.
At ten that evening, the official platform formally released the score distributions for each province's college entrance examination that year.
Under Caiyun Province, the official account singled out the name "Cheng Che" and the number "732."
Even better, the official account added a passage at the end.
"Recently, some false statements targeting student Cheng Che have appeared online, attempting to smear a student sitting the college entrance examination with labels such as 'hype' and 'marketing.' Facts speak louder than words. The college entrance examination is a fair testing ground, and results are the fruit of effort. We also remind certain independent media accounts: no amount of traffic outweighs the truth."
The moment that passage appeared, the trending searches exploded.
"Holy shit, Cheng Che's the real deal? 732? First in the province?"
"Aaaaaah, I knew it! My idol is the Zhuangyuan!"
"Where are all those people who said he bought trending spots? Now the official account has personally stepped in to slap your faces. Feels good, huh?"
"I'm dying. Every last one of them deleted their videos."
"All those marketing accounts I bookmarked just say 'This content has been deleted' when I click on them now."
"And those people who called him a rich second-generation kid, do your faces hurt?"
The place called "Cheng Che's Super Topic" was as lively as New Year's.
"The guy I stan is a top student! He's the Zhuangyuan! Let's see who dares say my fangirling is a waste of time now!"
"I'm printing this official Weibo post out and sticking it on my wall! Finally, we can hold our heads high!"
"Girls, we won't even have to join the arguments anymore. The official account will bring down the hammer for us!"
"Boohoo, I only followed him because he was handsome at first. Why am I falling deeper and deeper now..."
"Same here. My dad used to scold me for chasing celebrities. This time I'll slap that screenshot of him being the Zhuangyuan in his face and see what he has left to say."
As for the trolls, they had completely gone silent and played dead.
Some deleted comments, others wiped their accounts, and a few changed their usernames overnight, replacing their insulting reaction images with a lotus flower.
Over the next two days, Cheng Che was so busy his feet barely touched the ground.
First came calls from university admissions teams, one after another.
Shuimu, Yanjing, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Jiaotong University... every one of them offered extremely generous terms.
Cheng Che didn't rush to accept. He compared the majors, scholarships, and training plans side by side, then called Old Xu several more times.
In the end, he chose Peking University.
The reasons weren't complicated.
The major suited him, it offered a good platform, and the scholarship was generous enough.
There was one other thing. Old Xu said, "Peking University is a little closer to that training center Coach Qin told you about. It'll make going back and forth easier."
Cheng Che thought that made sense.
After choosing his university, he received quite a few awards in succession.
Some came from the government, some from the school, and others from local education funds.
All told, they added up to 300,000 yuan.
For the Cheng family, that was a huge sum.
Jiang Xue and Cheng Jianguo refused for a long time, but in the end, at Cheng Che's insistence, half went into the family account.
"I earned this myself, so I decide how to use it." For the first time, Cheng Che was this overbearing.
But this good family deserved that from him.
"Yes, you earned it," Jiang Xue said, wiping her eyes. "Mom just feels that our Cheche has finally made it through."
Over the next few days, Cheng Che threw himself into tennis training.
Qin Lie had arranged his itinerary. The qualifiers were in Hang City, and he needed to go early to get used to the courts.
Cheng Che spoke to Qin Lie over the phone and bought a train ticket.
On the day he left, Cheng Che got up very early.
He checked his luggage one last time, putting his racket, hand cream, eye drops, and shampoo into his bag one by one, then wheeled his suitcase out the door.
Jiang Xue and Cheng Jianguo stood in the doorway. Jiang Xue straightened his collar.
"Take care of yourself when you get there. Don't get so caught up playing that you forget to eat."
"I know, Mom," Cheng Che said with a smile.
"All right, off you go." Cheng Jianguo patted his shoulder. "If you can't beat them, run. Don't try to act tough."
"Dad, it's tennis, not a fight."
"Same thing."
Cheng Che smiled helplessly, waved to them, and wheeled his suitcase out of the residential complex.
Less than half an hour after he left, another figure appeared at the entrance to the complex.
Guo Xin had a bag on his back and an admission letter clutched in his hand, his face blooming like a flower with his smile.
He had scored 531 and been admitted to an ordinary second-tier university in Capital City.
It couldn't compare with Cheng Che, but for him, it was already a result worthy of green smoke rising from his ancestors' graves.
Most importantly, he had deliberately kept it from Cheng Che.
He had chosen a university in Capital City.
Not because the university was particularly good, but because Cheng Che was going to Peking University.
He had it all planned out: when they met, he would throw this surprise in Cheng Che's face and see what expression appeared on that ever-composed face.
"Hehe, didn't see that coming, did you?" Guo Xin grinned foolishly as he walked.
He made his way beneath Cheng Che's apartment with practiced ease and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Cheng Che! Cheng Che! Get down here! Your big bro Guo has something amazing to show you!"
No one answered.
He called out twice more.
Jiang Xue leaned out of an upstairs window. Seeing Guo Xin, she smiled. "Oh, Guo Xin. Sorry, Cheng Che isn't home."
Guo Xin's smile froze.
"Huh? Auntie, where did he go?"
"He went to Hang City," Jiang Xue said. "He left less than an hour ago. He's gone to compete."
Guo Xin stood rooted to the spot, the admission letter drooping in his hand.
Hang City?
He stood stunned for several seconds before slowly taking out his phone and opening Cheng Che's WeChat chat.
There was an unread message, sent an hour earlier.
[Cheng Che: Guo Xin, I've gone to Hang City. Coach Qin moved the training up at short notice, so I didn't have time to tell you in person. Once the tournament is over, I'll treat you to a feast back in Spring City. Have you submitted your university choices yet? Remember to tell me the result.]
Guo Xin stared at the message, his mouth opening and closing. In the end, he only squeezed out two words.
"Your mom..."
He lowered his head to look at the admission letter in his hand. The words "Capital City" on it shone dazzlingly in the sunlight.
He had spent two days and two nights researching university choices just to be in the same city as Cheng Che. And this bastard had run off first.
Guo Xin plopped down on the steps beneath the building, set his admission letter beside him, and tilted his head back to look at the sky.
The sky was very blue, and the clouds very white.
Suddenly, he laughed.
"Fine," he muttered to himself. "You play your tournament, and I'll go to my university. Once you come back with the championship, I'll settle the score with you."
He picked up his phone again and sent Cheng Che a reply.
[Guo Xin: I've submitted my choices. A university in Capital City. You'd better fucking play well in Hang City. Don't come back to see me without the championship!]