Soon, Xue Rui won the match with smooth, fluid movements.

"Bro, hurry up and teach me," Xue Yao said, her face full of admiration.

Xue Rui sat calmly in his chair, unmoved.

He was actually enjoying this feeling. It was as if he’d gone back to their childhood, when Xue Yao would trail after him, praising everything he did with a "My brother is so amazing!"

"What’s there to teach about such simple moves?" Xue Rui said nonchalantly.

"Bro, let me play with you," Xue Yao said.

"No, no. I just play a casual game once in a while." Xue Rui waved his hand dismissively and gave his seat to Xue Yao.

Of course he wouldn’t play with Xue Yao. It’s only in memories that a god-tier player can remain the greatest.

He only seemed like a good player now because he was using his practiced skills and a more developed understanding of the game from the future. If he kept playing, he’d eventually be exposed as a scrub.

"Brother~" Xue Yao’s eyes darted about as she called out in a sweet, drawn-out voice.

However, hearing that word made goosebumps break out all over Xue Rui’s skin.

The difference between "Bro" and "Brother~" was just one syllable, but they sounded worlds apart.

The Yaoyao from his memories was back, acting cute and wheedling him, but he just found it a little nauseating.

"Just call me ’bro,’" Xue Rui said.

"Does this mean you’ll teach me?" Xue Yao asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah. Start a custom game," Xue Rui said.

’I just have to give her a few pointers and then retire from the scene,’ he thought. ’That way, my image as a god-tier gamer will be forever burned into Xue Yao’s memory.’

He remembered how in his past life, Xue Yao had even dragged him to Hucheng to watch the S-series championship...

Xue Rui fiddled with his phone while giving Xue Yao pointers on her game.

He removed Chen Tingting’s number from his blocklist.

She had been sending him the occasional "harassment text," which was pretty annoying.

However, he had promised Chen Shen he’d go out for a meal with Chen Tingting. ’Might as well do it before I leave Hedong,’ he thought.

He glanced at the date. Chen Tingting should have just finished her final exams as well.

But now there was a problem. Was he really going to be the one to text Chen Tingting and ask her to dinner?

’Isn’t that just asking for trouble?’

He wondered if he should try a more roundabout method, like sending a text and claiming it was a mistake, then reluctantly agreeing to have a meal with Chen Tingting...

Just as he was thinking this, a text arrived from Chen Tingting: "Want to go out to eat tomorrow?"

「Meanwhile, at Chen Tingting’s house.」

The only light in the living room came from the television, casting the silhouettes of two people onto the white wall.

"Tingting, it’s almost midnight. Why aren’t you in bed yet?" Chen Shen asked curiously.

He was staying up to watch a sports match, but his daughter was sitting right there next to him, staying up late too...

"I heard boys like watching sports, so I’m getting a head start," Chen Tingting said.

Chen Shen was speechless.

"Dad, where do you think Xue Rui will go for college?" Chen Tingting asked. College was her ultimate goal; high school had too many restrictions.

"Why don’t you just ask him yourself?" Chen Shen said calmly.

At first, he’d been quite worried, but he gradually realized that Xue Rui was a very mature man.

A man, not a boy.

When he talked with Xue Rui, it was like conversing with a friend of his own generation.

Xue Rui’s attitude was firm; he’d said that at most, he would only ever see Chen Tingting as a little sister.

It was for this very reason that he felt at ease letting Chen Tingting stick so close to Xue Rui.

Chen Tingting sighed. "He never replies to my texts."

Chen Shen gave a wry laugh. ’Your texts are way too long,’ he thought. ’For someone like Xue Rui who values efficiency, he probably doesn’t even give them a first glance.’

"Why don’t you try asking him to dinner?" Chen Shen said with a smile.

"Huh?" Chen Tingting tilted her head. Why did it seem like her dad was so certain that Xue Rui would agree?

Deciding to just give it a shot, she sent Xue Rui a text.

But a few minutes later, she actually received an affirmative reply from Xue Rui.

"See you at the school gate tomorrow at 12 p.m."

Chen Tingting leaped up from the sofa in excitement, wrapped her arms around Chen Shen’s face, and gave him a light peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Dad! I’m going to bed!"

She was sure her dad must have helped.

Chen Shen touched his cheek and grinned foolishly. How many years had it been since his daughter had kissed him?

Watching Chen Tingting skip back to her bedroom, Chen Shen comforted himself, "Well, she’ll grow up in a few more years."

Unexpectedly, Chen Tingting’s voice suddenly sounded by his ear. "Dad, I’m seventeen. Isn’t that old enough?"

As she spoke, she retrieved her phone, which had fallen into the crevice of the sofa.

Back on Xue Rui’s side, he ruffled Xue Yao’s hair. "Yaoyao, go to bed early."

Xue Yao nodded, uncharacteristically not talking back.

...

「The next day, Xue Rui went out as planned.」

However, he went to get Lin Ruoxi first.

After all, he had never promised to eat with Chen Tingting alone.

But when he went to find Lin Ruoxi, he ran into their twelfth-grade director downstairs. Director Wang ended up bringing both of them to the school.

The three of them sat in the security office, chatting and enjoying the air conditioning.

Xue Rui didn’t know why Director Wang was looking for Lin Ruoxi at this time. After all, the exam scores wouldn’t be released for several more days.

"Lin Ruoxi, in a few days, you won’t be able to look up your score. The scores of the top students in the province are blocked. Don’t panic when that happens," Director Wang said.

Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice, "But I’m not panicking."

"Xue Rui, what did you estimate your score to be?" Director Wang asked, annoyed.

"I’m expecting something over 560," Xue Rui said. He still didn’t understand what Director Wang was getting at.

"560? That’s a bit too low..." Director Wang fell into thought.

Xue Rui’s eyes widened. ’Who the hell are you comparing me to?’

His score was already solidly above the cutoff for first-tier universities. His alma mater only produced a double-digit number of undergraduates each year.

’I’m someone who’s contributed to the school’s reputation, so how is my score ’too low’?’

"Lin Ruoxi, which one do you want to choose, Qingbei?" Director Wang asked after a moment of contemplation.

Lin Ruoxi’s face paled. ’Why is someone asking me this question again?’

’Director Wang told me before to just follow Xue Rui. Did he go back on his word?’

"I... I’m not going anywhere. I’ll go wherever Xue Rui goes," Lin Ruoxi said in a flustered tone, leaning back behind Xue Rui and inching away from Director Wang.

Director Wang sighed. "I’m not trying to separate you two. I was thinking about whether we could get Xue Rui in as part of a package deal."

"A package deal? Get him in?" Lin Ruoxi tilted her head, not understanding what Director Wang meant.

’A package deal? I could get into Qingbei too?’

Xue Rui reacted quickly, immediately understanding the hidden meaning in Director Wang’s words.

"Yes. When the admissions offices of top universities are competing for students, they’ll agree to many of the candidate’s conditions," Director Wang said.

Xue Rui was stunned. Director Wang meant that when the Qingbei admissions offices came trying to recruit Lin Ruoxi, she could make it a condition that they had to admit him as well.

He frowned. He’d never heard of a situation like this.

"I’ve been asking around recently. Apparently, there have been cases like this before, where someone whose score wasn’t high enough..." Director Wang slowly explained to the two of them.

Xue Rui understood. If the top scorer in the college entrance exam made a request, they could bring in a student whose score was insufficient—someone who was just a few points, or maybe ten-odd points, short.

But his score was far too low. He was probably off by a hundred points. It was a real long shot. Even Director Wang couldn’t be completely sure.

"Let’s just give it a try first," Director Wang said.

"I’m off by more than a hundred points. I don’t think it’ll work," Xue Rui said.

Director Wang frowned. "Lin Ruoxi’s score might break the college entrance exam record. At the very least, she’ll be the top scorer on the raw exam in over a decade. I’m not sure if that carries enough weight..."

"Huh?" Xue Rui had a look of disbelief on his face. He had underestimated just how valuable Lin Ruoxi was.

"Qingbei’s two universities are competitors. Their competition is our opportunity. When the time comes, you can negotiate with both admissions offices. If there’s anything you don’t understand, call me anytime."

Director Wang smiled and patted Xue Rui’s shoulder. "Go on and have fun. Do you need me to give you a ride?"

Xue Rui waved his hands repeatedly. "No, that’s alright."

He couldn’t describe his current mood. He actually had a chance to get into Qingbei?

And not through his own effort, but as Lin Ruoxi’s tag-along...

After walking out of the security office, Xue Rui saw a young woman standing at the school gate holding a parasol.

He walked to the side for a better look. As expected, it was Chen Tingting.

Chen Tingting had natural short hair. The rounded contours and distinct layers gave the light, bouncy hairstyle an extra touch of liveliness to her already sweet face.

’Chen Tingting definitely got her hair done before coming,’ Xue Rui thought.

He quietly crept up behind Chen Tingting, reached out, and vigorously ruffled her hair a few times, completely messing up the hairstyle she had so carefully prepared.

Chen Tingting whipped her head around and saw that it was Xue Rui who had messed up her hair.

The anger in her beautiful eyes lasted only for a moment before quickly turning into surprise.

Xue Rui quickly ducked behind Lin Ruoxi, a broad grin on his face as he looked at Chen Tingting.

Chen Tingting looked up, her gaze meeting Lin Ruoxi’s confused eyes.

"Lin Ruoxi? Why are you here too?" Chen Tingting asked in surprise.

She stood on her tiptoes, trying her best to meet Lin Ruoxi’s eyes at the same level.

"Xue Rui asked me to come," Lin Ruoxi said blankly.

Xue Rui had told her that they had to thank someone for helping them with the exam, so he was treating Chen Tingting to a meal today.

"Thank you for your dad helping us with the exam. I... I’ll treat you to a meal," Lin Ruoxi said.

Chen Tingting pouted, a look of disappointment on her face.

’So it turned out her dad had helped Xue Rui, and that was the only reason he was having a meal with her...’

And he had even brought Lin Ruoxi along. She understood what Xue Rui was implying—he wanted her to see the difficulty and back off.

She thought about it. There were too many pretty girls around Xue Rui.

And they were all exceptionally talented.

Her teachers had mentioned Lin Ruoxi’s name more than once—this year’s top scorer in the science track for the college entrance exam.

Even Gu Muxue was the same. The school had recently handed out review materials with Gu Muxue’s name on them, saying they were compiled by an upperclassman.

Xue Rui stood to the side, smiling. ’These two are both so cute,’ he thought. ’One is adorably dorky, and the other is adorably lively.’

Lin Ruoxi was timid, sure, but not so much that she’d be intimidated by Chen Tingting.

But Chen Tingting really was timid. Seeing a girl so tall and beautiful, she would definitely be much more reserved.

Chen Tingting tidied her ruffled hair, looked up at Lin Ruoxi, and asked, "Do you like Xue Rui?"

Lin Ruoxi’s face flushed. Actually, Chen Tingting wasn’t the first person to ask her this. Other girls had asked before...

It was just that before, she hadn’t been sure.

But now was different. She opened her mouth and said, "Very, very much."