Chapter 158: Volume 1 Chapter 158 Study Hard, Make Progress Every Day (2)

"Cheng bro, are we about to break a record?" the boy beside him stared, entranced, craning his neck to look at the game console in his hands.

The black-and-white pixel screen game was Tetris, dropping at breakneck speed, about to surpass the previous game record.

At that moment, the class bell rang.

Cheng Su turned off the game console, slipped one hand into his pocket, lifted his leg, and walked toward the classroom.

Seeing this, the boy hurried after him, "Cheng bro, why aren't you playing? This is only the first bell; there's still another before the teacher arrives."

Cheng Su ignored his words, entered through the back door, and sat down in the rearmost seat by the window.

When the second bell rang, the math teacher stepped into the classroom and today's lesson began.

Jiang Zhi, sitting in the third row by the aisle, took out her math textbook from her bag, listened for a while, and began to feel drowsy.

It might have been due to the IV drip this morning, or perhaps the classroom temperature was just right for sleeping, and the math teacher's voice, like a lullaby, tugged at her sleepiness.

777 delivered a piece of bad news: "Host, to maintain the persona, you must score first in every subject."

The original host was a ball‑carrying ball, the offspring of the male and female leads, so naturally their grades had to stand out, and they also needed to master hacking skills.

Jiang Zhi: "……"

She didn't know how long ago her last college entrance exam was, but now she actually has to start over from middle school.

However, as a professional cannon fodder, Jiang Zhi said there was no problem.

Anyway, there's no need to carry out the mission and face the villain; it's just a tiny middle school, so she might as well treat it as a vacation.

Jiang Zhi listened through the whole class, heard the dismissal bell, stretched, and glanced back.

More than half of the students in the back were slumped over, showing how soporific this math class was.

She didn't mean to meet the gaze of the buzz‑cut boy in the last row; unusually, he wasn't burying his face in sleep, his finger resting on his chin, subtly averting his eyes.

Jiang Zhi turned around, thinking that this little brat had quite a temper.

Afternoon, school let out.

Outside the window, a slanting pale gold sunset spread across the classroom desks, casting a warm glow.

Jiang Zhi coughed, pressed her aching chest, and lowered her head to pack her bag.

The desk was suddenly slammed hard, and all the books in its drawer tumbled to the floor.

Jiang Zhi's motion froze; she lifted her pale face and saw the boy who had slammed the desk.

The boy made a face at her, smirked triumphantly, and jeered, "You sickly weakling!"

The original host was a transfer student, aloof in personality, frequently ill; classmates thought she had a serious illness and nobody wanted to play with her.

Even a few mischievous students often bullied her.

Jiang Zhi glanced at him, her expression cold.

Seeing this, the boy grew somewhat angry: "What are you staring at me for? If you've got the guts, come over and fight me."

Saying that, he walked over and was about to kick over her desk.

"Clang!" a loud bang came from behind.

Everyone turned toward the sound.

Cheng Su lifted his foot and kicked over the trash bin at the back; the buzz‑cut boy with a slightly dark complexion lifted his chin slightly, signaling the troublemaker to come over.

The boy's body stiffened; he looked at him with a fearful face, then after a moment forced a smile: "Cheng bro, what did I do wrong? Sorry, sorry!!

Cheng Su leaned against the back blackboard, eyes lowered, and said, "Come here."

The boy scrambled and crawled to the back; before he could speak, Cheng Su grabbed the back of his neck with one hand, pulling him close to the trash bin, and said, "I told you not to make noise while sleeping, did you forget?"

The boy nodded vigorously, "I remember, I remember!"

"Clean this place up." Cheng Su released his grip with disdain, his expression sinister; as he felt the gazes of those around him, he raised an eyebrow, half‑smiling, and said, "What? Do you all want to join in?"

Everyone hurriedly averted their eyes, grabbed their bags, and ran out.

In a moment, only two or three people remained in the classroom.

Including the dumbfounded Jiang Zhi, who clutched her bag to her chest, stunned for a few seconds, still not reacting to what had just happened.

"Cheng Su really has a severe case of chuunibyou."

777 didn't deny it either: "……uh."

Jiang Zhi couldn't believe he was a soul fragment of Yun Jin, but on second thought, since he was only in middle school now, his extreme chuunibyou made sense.

Fearing trouble, Jiang Zhi hastily packed her bag and immediately sprinted out of the classroom.

Having stepped out of the school gate, she finally relaxed; she had run too fast, her breath nearly gave out, she stopped at the roadside and began to cough violently.

Her eyes rimmed red, as if her lungs were about to cough her out; after coughing, her brain lacked oxygen and she felt a bit dizzy.

She stood there a moment to recover, then continued home.

"Cheng bro, what are you looking at?" Zhangziyi approached, puzzled, followed his gaze, and saw the stream of passersby; it was rush hour.

Cheng Su withdrew his gaze and walked in the opposite direction, saying, "Let's go."

Zhangziyi hurried to catch up, thinking of something important, and said, "Old Liu wants you to come over; his machine broke again."

——

Jiang Zhi was busy; her illness hadn't healed yet, but she had to seize the time to review the textbook material.

Next week is the midterm exam; if she doesn't place first in the class, she fears she won't even get to see the villain before having to declare the mission a failure.

She coughed, raised the hand holding her book to cover her mouth, and her pallid complexion flushed with an abnormal red.

"Drink more water." Jiang Mu heard her coughing, her heart tightened, she brought over a cup of water and handed it to her.

Jiang Zhi took it, sipped, and her sore throat eased a little; "Thanks, Mom."

Jiang Mu looked at her pained: "You silly child, what are you thanking me for?"

After finishing two bottles of saline, Jiang Zhi leaned on her umbrella and walked out of the clinic.

Her residence was not far; just go through this alley ahead and you'll arrive.

She held a book in her hands, occasionally glancing at her feet as she walked forward step by step.

This street was the most prosperous part of the town, with various shops lining both sides; several internet cafés hid in these alleys, all unlicensed, no ID required, and students could be seen coming and going.

After a few steps, she heard the sound of a fight.

Jiang Zhi was already used to it; whenever she passed this alley, she often saw people fighting.

As she was about to detour, a black silhouette stumbled toward her, so rushed that it didn't notice what was ahead and slammed straight into her shoulder.

Jiang Zhi stepped back, and the book in her hand slapped onto the ground.

The person, after falling to the ground, didn't bother with anything else, propped himself up against the wall and kept running, his disheveled back looking like he was fleeing for his life.

Fine rain drizzled, pattering on the umbrella; the alley's street lamps flickered dimly, water ran down the eaves onto the ground, puddles pooled everywhere and spread.

As Jiang Zhi crouched to pick up the book, her vision darkened; a figure blocked the light ahead, casting a shadow over her.

Helping her pick up the book from the ground, thin, rain‑soaked fingers grasped it and handed it to her.

Jiang Zhi lifted her gaze, tilted the umbrella backward, and saw clearly the person standing before her.

The boy's uniform was soaked through with rain; his buzz cut made his eyes look hawk‑like and fierce, a split at the corner of his mouth oozing blood, twitching slightly, giving off an oppressive presence.

"A good student walks while reading a book?"

His lazy tone carried a malicious sneer.