As for lunch, Shen Yuan just ate at the cafeteria.

Li Zhi and He Zhiyu went out to eat. Shen Yuan couldn’t be bothered to go out.

In reality, Li Zhi hadn’t invited him at all.

But it wasn’t like the two of them were regular meal buddies. Shen Yuan would only go to the cafeteria to hunt down Li Zhi on a whim.

And sometimes, he couldn’t even find him.

It was all very hit-or-miss.

After lunch, Shen Yuan had considered stopping by the supermarket, but then he figured there was nothing he needed to buy and headed straight back to the classroom.

A decision that made Shen Yuan grit his teeth in regret.

"Shen Yuan, long time no see."

On the last step of the stairs, Shen Yuan heard a voice he’d rather not have heard.

Tong Churou stood at the other end of the hallway, a bottle of a water-soluble Vitamin C drink in her hand, smiling as she watched Shen Yuan come up the stairs.

Shen Yuan’s expression immediately soured. "Better if we never saw each other."

"You’re as humorous as ever."

"Forgot your English vocabulary again?" Shen Yuan skipped all the pleasantries and cut right to the chase.

Hearing Shen Yuan’s words, the smile on Tong Churou’s face vanished, replaced by an aggrieved expression.

"In your eyes, is English the only reason I’d ever look for you?"

Shen Yuan gave a dry laugh. "What, because I’m a sucker?"

"Shen Yuan, I think we can get along like normal friends."

"No thanks. I’m afraid you’re just after my English grades."

With that, Shen Yuan started walking toward the classroom.

Tong Churou quickly followed him. "Shen Yuan, since you put it that way, let’s make a deal. I have the physics worksheets Teacher Guo made for Guo Weifeng. They’ll definitely help you improve your physics grade."

Shen Yuan stopped in his tracks, his gaze turning grim as he looked at Tong Churou. "What do you take knowledge for? In your eyes, is knowledge something to be traded? Can you really improve your grades through deals??"

Tong Churou’s brows furrowed slightly as she heard Shen Yuan continue.

"You think getting one worksheet will get you a perfect score in physics? And you have the nerve to trade one worksheet for my English knowledge? Ptooey! Is my knowledge some cheap commodity?"

After speaking, Shen Yuan walked into the classroom.

Leaving Tong Churou standing stunned at the entrance to Class 15.

...

When Li Zhi returned to the classroom, he saw Shen Yuan sprawled on his desk, playing dead.

"You didn’t nap at noon, so you’re sleeping now?"

Hearing Li Zhi’s voice, Shen Yuan lifted his head from the desk, a look of utter dejection on his face.

Li Zhi jumped. "Whoa, what’s with you? You didn’t do something indecent at my desk, did you?"

He Zhiyu, who had returned with Li Zhi, nearly tripped over her seat when she heard that.

’Have those two already progressed that far?’

This, however, only made He Zhiyu even more curious.

The girl perked up her ears, secretly listening to the commotion in the back row.

"I..."

Shen Yuan opened his mouth, his voice hoarse. "Young Master Li, I rejected Tong Churou’s request."

"Go on."

Shen Yuan gulped. "She wanted to trade Teacher Guo’s physics worksheets for Guo Weifeng for my English knowledge, and I refused. I did the right thing, didn’t I?"

Li Zhi understood.

This guy was regretting not making the deal with Tong Churou.

Those were worksheets a master physics teacher had specifically prepared for his own son. He must have put a lot of effort into them, and they could be incredibly useful for a student with poor physics grades.

Was Shen Yuan a student with poor physics grades?

Probably.

Shen Yuan’s physics score was among the lowest in Class 15, so of course he was.

One shouldn’t underestimate the power of a good worksheet; it could genuinely help a student improve significantly.

Li Zhi patted Shen Yuan’s shoulder. "You did the right thing."

Shen Yuan’s eyes immediately lit up.

"You wouldn’t have been able to solve them even if you got them anyway."

Shen Yuan’s back slumped again.

Seeing this, Li Zhi reached out and ruffled Shen Yuan’s hair. ’He feels like a short-haired puppy, so nice to pet.’

"But I believe in you. You’ll definitely get better."

Shen Yuan’s spirit flared up again. "Yes! My physics grade won’t die here! I will improve my physics!"

DING!

[While studying for the civil service exam, you discovered that your logical reasoning skills are remarkably poor. You often have no clue how to approach problems involving figures and numbers.]

[In fact, this was your weakness back in high school. It was precisely because you were lacking in this area that you scored so much lower than Li Zhi on the final college entrance exam. From that point on, your lives went down different paths.]

[But you know someone who is incredibly strong in this area!]

[Your old friend from senior year, Zhou Shaojie, is now a civil service exam tutor. Go find him and have him tutor you.]

[Mission: Sign up for Zhou Shaojie’s class and study for 72 hours. Current progress: 0/72. Reward: Improved logical reasoning skills.]

"What the hell?" Shen Yuan’s eyebrow twitched. ’Ah Jie became a civil service exam tutor?’

Shen Yuan was having a hard time keeping his composure.

After all, what had he just said to Tong Churou?

Oh, right. ’Is knowledge something to be traded?’

It seemed now that, yes, it certainly could be.

’Damn it, isn’t paying for a class a form of trading for knowledge?’

’If Tong Churou had just offered to pay for tutoring, I might have actually agreed!’

You pay money to hire a teacher for lessons, and the tutor trades their knowledge to the student.

This way, a student can get professional, one-on-one help to improve in subjects they don’t understand.

That’s countless times better than an ordinary student just burying their head in worksheets every day.

Shen Yuan had actually been averse to tutoring.

Because his Eldest Female Cousin had forced him through god-knows-how-many English tutoring sessions.

But Shen Yuan wasn’t averse to it anymore. He wished his Eldest Female Cousin could teach him math in addition to English.

But that was just a fleeting thought.

His Eldest Female Cousin’s math was even worse than his.

If they had the means, Shen Yuan believed many parents would be willing to sign their children up for cram schools.

But the reality was, they couldn’t afford it.

The smaller cram schools were cracked down on, but the large ones still existed.

The disappearance of competitors led to ever-increasing prices for tutoring.

A few hundred yuan per class was simply not something an ordinary family could afford.

Some people thought this was great, that it would reduce the burden on students.

But under the pressure of the college entrance exams, could that burden really be reduced?

It was obvious that a reduced workload did not lead to less pressure on grades.

And so, on one hand, you had the suffocating pressure of an exam-oriented education system, and on the other, the stress of grades that wouldn’t improve.

Under the dual pressures from school and family, it was no longer uncommon to see students falling from rooftops.

There was a dark joke that went like this.

Senior high school students hoped someone would jump off a building, because then they would get a day off.

Shen Yuan’s gaze subconsciously fell on Zhou Shaojie’s seat. Ah Jie wasn’t back yet.

Ah Jie was very popular, and it wasn’t because he was decent-looking, nor was it because of his math grades.

It was because people who hung out with Ah Jie could feel genuine happiness, could laugh out loud, and could temporarily escape the pressures of reality. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Ah Jie’s absurd antics transformed the gravitational field of real-world education into a controllable, nonsensical amusement park.

You could join in and become a player in this absurd amusement park.

Of course, you could also choose to be a visitor.

But the hope was that when you witnessed the absurd goings-on in the amusement park, you could offer a genuine smile.

And it was hoped that the sugar scattered by the Kissing Association could nourish tired minds.

Everyone was moving forward under pressure.

They endlessly did practice problems, becoming gravediggers for the question banks, yet they were also writing poems of savage growth upon the ruins of standardized education.

Before drowning, wasn’t a breath of fresh air the very motivation needed to keep going?

Shen Yuan looked at Ah Jie’s empty seat.

’But how am I supposed to sign up for Ah Jie’s class?’

’And even if I sign up, Ah Jie isn’t even here right now!’

’Harass Ah Jie for ten minutes after every class?’

’One or two classes would be one thing, but this is seventy-two damn hours!’

’Do I have to stick to Ah Jie like glue after class every single day?’

’That sounds a little gay.’

Just as Shen Yuan was agonizing over how to sign up for the class, Li Zhi’s voice sounded by his ear.

"Move it, I need to get in."

Hearing him, Shen Yuan moved his chair, and Li Zhi immediately stepped past him.

Watching Young Master Li’s long legs stride past him, Shen Yuan had an epiphany.

’Damn it, I can just wait until next week.’

’Then I’ll just pin Ah Jie against the wall and force him to sign me up.’