Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Don’t Let Shen Yuan Hear This, He Has Selective Depression

’We were having a perfectly nice conversation about vacation. How did we suddenly get sidetracked to the monthly exams?’

Shen Yuan looked at his Eldest Female Cousin and Li Zhi, nodded, and said confidently, "Not a problem at all!"

’Once I grind through the tasks Ah Jie has for me, my math score should go up a bit no matter what.’

Shen Yuan thought to himself.

"Very confident," Li Zhi noted with a slight nod.

"Of course. If I don’t score over 620, I’ll eat crow."

"That won’t be necessary."

Yang Yishui spoke up as if she’d just remembered something. "Oh, that’s right. For this exam, it looks like physics, chemistry, and biology won’t be tested separately anymore. They’re moving directly to a comprehensive science exam."

Shen Yuan, who had just been thumping his chest in a show of confidence, froze mid-motion.

The reason was simple.

The score distribution for the comprehensive science exam was not in his favor.

The point value for physics, the hardest subject, was increased, while the points for biology, his strongest subject, were reduced.

Although it was only a ten-point difference, it made the goal of scoring over 620 that much harder for Shen Yuan.

"Why the sneak attack?" Shen Yuan slumped helplessly onto the table. Suddenly, even the crayfish they were about to eat had lost its appeal.

Yang Yishui chuckled. "Cellmate, let me tell you another piece of good news. This week’s quiz is also going to be a comprehensive science exam."

"A premature execution," Li Zhi summarized perfectly.

You die during the weekly quiz, but they don’t carry out the sentence until the monthly exam.

’This won’t do! I have to find Ah Jie and grind out those tasks ahead of schedule! The sooner I finish, the sooner I can relax!’ Shen Yuan thought. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Shen Yuan, the milk tea I ordered is here. Could you go get it for me?" his Eldest Female Cousin asked, putting on an adorable expression.

Shen Yuan curled his lip.

’An old woman trying to act cute.’

Despite his inner thoughts, Shen Yuan still got up from his seat.

The pickup spot was just at the restaurant entrance; it wasn’t far, anyway.

Once Shen Yuan was out of the private room, his Eldest Female Cousin asked Li Zhi, "Zhizhi, I heard that fellow Shen Yuan used to pursue Tong Churou from Class 14? Is there any truth to that?"

His Eldest Female Cousin was in charge of the honors classes, so she knew very little about the goings-on in the "Lower Realm."

Li Zhi nodded. "It’s just that he later discovered Tong Churou only got close to him for his English grades. His Dao heart was shattered after that."

His Eldest Female Cousin was struggling not to laugh.

So Lao Yuan’s budding high school romance was gloriously cucked by... himself.

"Still, Tong Churou is actually quite diligent," Yang Yishui remarked.

Li Zhi nodded.

While Li Zhi didn’t approve of Tong Churou’s methods, she had to admit that when it came to their attitude toward studying, Tong Churou was definitely more diligent than Shen Yuan, even if she walked a crooked path.

"Don’t let Shen Yuan hear that. He has a case of selective depression."

The moment Shen Yuan pushed the door open, he heard his Eldest Female Cousin laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Shen Yuan asked curiously.

His Eldest Female Cousin shook her head. "Nothing."

Shen Yuan gave his Eldest Female Cousin a ’husky glare.’ "You were talking trash about me behind my back, weren’t you?"

"Your big sister here was just reminiscing about times past."

"Feeling old?"

Yang Yishui shot him a sharp glare, and Shen Yuan immediately went into full grovel mode.

"Sis, how could you think that? You’re in the prime of your life! How could some girl in her early twenties possibly be as charming as you?"

As soon as Shen Yuan finished speaking, he saw that Li Zhi was also looking at him.

He was so done.

’Seriously, these two...’

An idea suddenly struck Shen Yuan. He turned to Li Zhi and said, "Hey now, you’re only eighteen. This is a conversation for people over twenty."

Hearing Shen Yuan’s words, Yang Yishui’s lips curved into a smile.

’The little rascal is quite the sweet-talker.’

His Eldest Female Cousin ordered three different flavors of crayfish, all in two-pound portions.

"Let’s try them first to see how they taste. If they’re good, we’ll order more!"

Garlic, Salted Egg Yolk, and Steamed.

His Eldest Female Cousin wasn’t a big fan of overly spicy food either.

Less spice, less acne.

Even if you’re naturally beautiful, a good skincare routine is still crucial.

Of course, the most important reason for choosing steamed was that you could really taste the quality of the crayfish.

In the end, all three unanimously preferred the salted egg yolk flavor; the rich, slightly grainy texture was fantastic.

After the meal, the group headed back to school.

They arrived back on campus just as the afternoon nap period was ending.

His Eldest Female Cousin parked the car and led the two of them back to the academic building.

In the academic building, Ji Ningning and her best friend, Yao Yao, were walking over from the dorms when they saw Shen Yuan and Li Zhi together, each holding a cup of milk tea.

’Those two try-hards... they didn’t spend their lunch break grinding away at their studies? They actually snuck out for milk tea?!’

Gossip!

Ji Ningning and Yao Yao exchanged a look, each seeing the raging fire of gossip ignite in the other’s eyes.

"Hey, you two! Why are you walking so fast?"

His Eldest Female Cousin came bounding up the stairs, and upon seeing Ji Ningning and Yao Yao, she waved. "Good afternoon."

Ji Ningning and Yao Yao quickly greeted her in return. "Good afternoon, Teacher Yang."

The fire of gossip that had just been kindled was instantly extinguished.

"Teacher Yang is Shen Yuan’s older sister, right?"

Ji Ningning nodded. As Shen Yuan’s deskmate, she had heard about it before.

"Did you see that last video Teacher Yang posted? That outfit was super cute! And the best part is, it wasn’t even expensive."

The two girls’ topic of conversation quickly shifted from Shen Yuan and Li Zhi to Yang Yishui.

After returning to the classroom, Shen Yuan sought out Zhou Shaojie.

"Hey! Jie! What were you up to last night, robbing a bank? Still sleeping?"

Ah Jie lifted his head from the desk. "I was working overtime last night. Pulled two extra flight runs. I’m exhausted."

A corner of Shen Yuan’s mouth lifted. "Lame, Ah Jie. Can’t handle it already?"

Perhaps a keyword had been triggered, because Ah Ze immediately turned his head and chimed in, "Yeah, this Ah Jie is so lame! He can’t even handle it twice!"

Ah Jie’s head snapped up. "Oh, so you’re a tough guy, are you?"

"Of course I am! I can totally handle it, okay!"

Ah Jie lunged at him. "Come on, let me see! Let me see if you can handle it!"

"Ah! Brother Jie! No, Brother Jie!"

An excited cry escaped Yang Ze’s lips.

Seeing this ’Nantong’ moment unfold, a spark of excitement lit up in Zhuo Peipei’s eyes.

"Sugar right after I wake up... I’m done for, I’m done for. I’m going to need an insulin shot."

Zhuo Peipei pulled an Americano from her desk and took a large swig.

’Jeez, you call that stuff insulin?’

"Shipper Peipei, um... are you still writing that thing?"

Zhuo Peipei nodded. "Still writing. Er, I should say, editing."

Zhuo Peipei had already received the new Chapter from He Zhiyu yesterday. She’d pointed out some areas for improvement, and He Zhiyu should be done with the revisions around Sunday.

"One Chapter a week?"

"It’s ten thousand characters a Chapter. We’re all students, after all. You have to squeeze in the time where you can find it."

Shen Yuan pursed his lips. "Why don’t you pass a message to the author for me? Tell her to focus on her studies. She shouldn’t mess up her college entrance exams because of me."

"She can score a 650. Can you?"

Shen Yuan was speechless.

’Fuck me, you can score a 650 and still have time to write a romance fic?’

Shen Yuan really felt like cursing someone out.

Just then, Ah Jie and Ah Ze finished their roughhousing.

"Lao Yuan, wanna go take a leak?"

"Yeah, let’s go."

As the three of them passed the back door of the classroom, they called out to Chen Mingyu to join them.

The four of them lined up at the urinals.

As they were in mid-stream, Yang Ze suddenly said to Zhou Shaojie, "Ah Jie, why is your stream splitting?"

"Fuck! You’re a fucking pervert! Don’t you know the rules of urinal etiquette?!"

Hearing this, the others quickly shuffled away from Yang Ze.

The Bro Code of Urinal Etiquette: Rule #1, never look down, and never let your eyes wander. Violators will be drowned!