Chapter 78: Chapter 78: On How to Deal with the Author, They Remained Silent

In the end, Shen Yuan decided not to get his package.

Going up and down from the 18th floor was too much of a hassle. He figured he’d just grab it on his way back from evening study hall.

After they finished their game, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi scrolled on their phones for a bit.

Just as Shen Yuan landed on a video of some gorgeous influencer, he suddenly heard Li Zhi "tsk."

"I’m just watching this with a critical eye..."

They locked eyes.

Li Zhi gave him a look worthy of a dramatic husky. "What are you explaining?"

Shen Yuan broke out in a nervous sweat.

"I was just—"

He had barely opened his mouth when Li Zhi grabbed his hand. The dancing influencer on his phone was about to be exposed, but Shen Yuan frantically swiped up.

But as fate would have it, the next video was still the same genre, only this time it was a "hot wife" instead of an influencer.

Goddammit.

’This is even worse than the last one!’

The beautiful girl’s face immediately twisted in disgust.

"Ew—"

"No, wait, let me explain!"

Li Zhi held up a hand to stop him. "No need. I get it. It’s not your fault you like older women."

Shen Yuan was dumbfounded.

"That’s not it! I just swiped to it by chance! The background music wasn’t even the same!"

Li Zhi smiled. "It’s okay, kid. You don’t need to be ashamed. Just embrace your XP."

"Fine," Shen Yuan surrendered. "Actually, my type is a high school girl over five-foot-seven with long, straight black hair who wears white socks. The kind who’d even kick me for fun."

The beautiful girl immediately shot to her feet.

Seeing her reaction, Shen Yuan flashed a smug, crooked smile. "Someone’s fitting the description a little too well."

"Oh, screw you!"

Li Zhi started to kick him, but then she remembered what he’d just said and froze, holding her leg back.

"Whatever. I have something serious to talk to you about!"

Li Zhi sat back down. "Defend and Steal just updated."

"Hm?"

Shen Yuan instantly perked up.

Instantly dropping the previous topic, Shen Yuan opened QQ.

There, he saw the latest post on the school’s confession page.

"Let’s see who this traitor lurking in our midst is!"

With that, Shen Yuan tapped open the latest Chapter of Defend and Steal.

Watching his practiced movements, Li Zhi snorted.

’He’s using "catching the traitor" as an excuse, but he’s really just desperate to read the update!’

Then, Li Zhi also opened the latest Chapter of Defend and Steal.

If He Zhiyu knew her "male and female leads" were in the study, reading her update together, her brain would probably short-circuit from the sweetness.

They both put down their phones at almost the exact same moment.

They shared a look.

"I’ll go first," Shen Yuan said, putting down his phone to state his opinion.

"Not bad. Pretty sweet."

Li Zhi rolled her eyes at him. "So you were just focused on the fluff, huh?!"

"Not exactly. I think I’ve figured out who the author is."

As soon as he said it, they locked eyes again.

The next second, the childhood friends nodded. The same name surfaced in both their minds.

"He Zhiyu!"

The name escaped their lips in unison. The moment it did, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi simultaneously pointed at each other.

But an awkward problem quickly arose.

Shen Yuan leaned on the desk, his brow furrowed. "So the question is... what do we do about her?"

Li Zhi remained silent.

That silence lasted all the way until dinner.

After dinner, Shen Yuan and Li Zhi headed off to school.

"I saw on the weather forecast that a typhoon has formed."

Shen Yuan glanced at the still-bright sky.

"It’s not even clear where it’ll make landfall, so what’s the rush? And even if it hits us directly, there’s no way they’re canceling classes."

Such a realistic take.

It was true. The only thing a high school student cared about when a typhoon was coming was whether or not they’d get the day off.

If classes weren’t canceled, you had to go to school, no matter how bad the storm.

"So... about He Zhiyu."

"That Chapter... it wasn’t about us, was it?"

Shen Yuan nodded. "Yeah."

"Then let’s just leave her to it."

"Yeah."

...

When they got to the classroom, Shen Yuan saw Sun Xiansheng holding court in the back, telling his classmates a history lesson.

"According to historical records, Hua Xiong was actually Hua Tuo’s son."

"When Hua Tuo was scraping the poison from Guan Yu’s bone, he held the blade to his arm and asked, ’General Guan, do you happen to know who killed my son, Hua Xiong?’"

"Guan Yu broke out in a cold sweat and said bluntly, ’Hua Xiong was slain by Warm-Wine!’ Hearing this, Hua Tuo’s eyes blazed with fury. ’Thank you for informing me, General. This old man will go pay ’Warm-Wine’ a visit right now.’"

"We don’t know exactly what happened after that, but that’s why, after Windows 8, we only have Windows 10."

’I don’t know if that history is accurate, but it’s definitely wild enough.’

"As expected of Teacher Hou! Your knowledge of history is truly profound!"

"Man, history always gets the shaft! Teacher Hou, you’re wasted in the science stream."

A profound, mysterious smile spread across Sun Xiansheng’s face.

"Speaking of shafts, I know a bit of wild history, too," Shen Yuan piped up, leaning in to tell his tale. "To get rid of Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun devised a honey trap. He invited Lü Bu to his home for drinks. During their chat, Wang Yun brought up Guan Yu’s famous feat of slaying Hua Xiong while the wine was still warm, praising Guan Yu as a fierce and valiant tiger general who wielded the Cyan Dragon Crescent Blade."

"Hearing this, Lü Bu just laughed. ’Guan Yu is nothing special,’ he said. ’My Fangtian Halberd is twelve chi long, and the shaft alone is ten chi long.’ Diao Chan, who was just outside the window, happened to overhear this, and that’s the real reason she decided to marry Lü Bu."

As he finished, everyone present gave Shen Yuan a big thumbs-up.

"Now *that’s* some flavorful history."

"If I’d known this part of history back in the day, would I still be in the science stream?"

"It seems we’re all history buffs here!"

Sun Xiansheng nodded in satisfaction and raised his hands. "How about this? Let’s form a history club dedicated to collecting these fascinating historical tidbits!"

"Yeah, totally! We can do that!" someone chimed in. "What should we call it?"

"Let’s call it the Jiyang Wild History Research Society!"

"I like it!"

"Seconded!"

And so, following in the footsteps of the Kissing Association and the Early Love Prohibition Association, another unofficial student organization was born at Jiyang Middle School.

Just then, a passing Ah Jie scoffed. "Tch! What a joke of a club. You’re researching ’history’? Sounds more like you’re researching ’shit’ to me. What, is your research lab the flowerbed?"

The next second, Ah Jie was trapped in a full nelson.

"How dare you mock our Historical Research Society! Mess him up!"

Ah Jie was instantly hoisted up by his arms.

"I am not mistaken!" Ah Jie proclaimed grandly. "You guys *are* researching shit! Soon you’ll be able to glance at any pile of dog crap in Jiyang and know which dog it came from!"

"AHHH!!!"

After they were done with him, a weakened Ah Jie collapsed into a seat in the back row. He couldn’t help but ask Shen Yuan, who was in front of him.

"Yuan," he wheezed, "why would anyone want to join a... a poop research society?"

Shen Yuan, now a founding member of the Wild History Research Society, just chuckled and clapped Ah Jie on the shoulder. "Come with me."

At his words, the other founding members of the Wild History Research Society curiously followed the pair out into the hallway.

Shen Yuan leaned over the hallway railing, pointing to the grassy area between the two school buildings. "See that pile of dog crap over there? You’re the one who pooped it."

Ah Jie: ?

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"I’m a member of the Wild History Research Society," Shen Yuan said calmly. "And I say you’re the one who pooped that. So you’re the one who pooped it."

Ah Jie’s eyes went wide. The next second, he strode over to Sun Xiansheng and grabbed his hand.

"Teacher Hou! Let me join! I’m super interested in history! My mom always says that when the septic truck rolls through our neighborhood, I have to take a little taste to check the consistency!"

In short, the Wild History Research Society gained a formidable new member right at the moment of its inception.