“Sniff, slurp, achoo…”
Watching the black-haired girl in front of her—so lively while walking, yet needing a tissue every two steps—Meng Wange let out a quiet sigh.
See? Falling asleep in that damp state was bound to result in a cold.
‘If only I’d made the right choice back then… would Su Wanli be in this condition now?’
Not to mention, she had practically forced Su Wanli to share her body heat last night.
As she glanced at the pale skin exposed by Su Wanli’s loose pajamas, Meng Wange quickly averted her gaze.
‘…Sorry, Su Wanli.’
‘At the very least, I’ll find a way to make up for this.’
‘As for the rest… it was also my first time sleeping in the same bed with someone my age, so maybe we’re even.’
Following Su Wanli up the stairs, Meng Wange’s mood gradually grew heavier as her thoughts continued.
‘Besides, I don’t even have the right or qualifications to stand by your side.’
A sharp, slightly impatient voice snapped her back to reality—
“What are you standing around for? Are you expecting me to prepare the materials myself?”
“…”
Without realizing it, Meng Wange had followed Su Wanli all the way to the third floor of the Su residence.
Their rooms were right in front of them.
Su Wanli had already pushed her door open and was now turning to look back, one eyebrow raised as she stared at Meng Wange still frozen at the doorway.
“Or have you given up already? Thinking you can’t even handle something this simple?”
Meng Wange shook her head and gave Su Wanli an apologetic smile.
“…I’m sorry, Miss Su. I’ll go fetch the study plan I prepared for you right away.”
With that, she turned and hurried toward her own room.
Su Wanli scratched her head as she watched Meng Wange’s retreating figure.
‘She seems… kind of out of it. Like she hasn’t fully woken up yet?’
‘Could it be the hairpin?’ She’d heard some people couldn’t fall asleep without holding something specific… ‘Was Meng Wange one of those types? Could she not sleep without that hairpin?’
‘No way! Absolutely not! If that were true, it would mean Meng Wange barely slept last night. And if she didn’t sleep…’
Then I’m doomed!
‘Nope. Must be my imagination. Just forget it!’
Su Wanli shook her head vigorously to banish the terrifying thought, then slipped into her room.
***
On the desk—neatly tidied up by Meng Wange the previous night—were several math textbooks issued by the system, glaringly obvious under the light.
They ranged from third-grade elementary to eighth-grade middle school levels.
‘Better put these away quickly. If Meng Wange sees me cramming overnight, it’ll ruin my image. What kind of villainess pulls all-nighters just to prove a point? Reading textbooks for hours until she passes out?’
[According to system records, you lost consciousness after 32 minutes of study. Your concentration rate was 29%, and your effective learning time was less than 10 minutes, outperforming only 7.2% of users globally.]
Su Wanli rolled her eyes.
“You’ve got time to monitor how seriously I study, but you can’t gather more intel on Meng Wange? Tell me, is she the protagonist or am I?”
She didn’t have time to continue lecturing the system.
Su Wanli quickly shoved the textbooks off the desk and stuffed them into the small-looking handbag beside her bed.
Though the bag appeared compact from the outside, anything issued by the system could be stored inside without limit.
It was actually a pretty handy tool.
The system had always been stingy with its rewards.
So far, aside from a handbag, it had only given her a few textbooks…
[That’s simply because you haven’t made any requests. If you need something, I can now apply for a pack of tissues for you without requiring approval.]
“Seriously? All you ever give me are things I could just walk into a convenience store and buy. And you’re proud of that?”
Catching the pack of tissues that dropped from the sky, Su Wanli casually pulled out a sheet, dabbed her nose, and absentmindedly tossed it into the handbag.
Huh. Now that she thought about it, if she used the tissues the system gave her, she wouldn’t even need a trash can.
She could just throw everything straight into the handbag.
[While that’s theoretically possible, wouldn’t that be—]
“Hey, I finally found a use for you. Don’t get picky now.”
After swiftly clearing the table, Su Wanli wiped the sweat from her forehead—only to hear a light knock at the door.
“Miss Su, is now a good time?”
Naturally, it was Meng Wange’s voice.
Who knew what she had been off preparing—it had taken her quite a while.
Su Wanli wiped her nose again, tossed the tissue into the handbag, and called out toward the door in a muffled tone—
“Cut the small talk. If you’ve got the stuff ready, bring it in.”
Click.
At her words, Meng Wange turned the doorknob and stepped into Su Wanli’s room with a smile.
Su Wanli had expected her to bring a whole pile of materials, but after scanning her from head to toe, all she could spot were two pens and a slim notebook.
“…That’s all you’ve brought? You expect me to go from the bottom of the class to the middle in just three days with that?”
Meng Wange nodded with a calm smile.
“That’s right, Miss Su. I’ve reviewed the entrance exam papers from the past few years. Technically speaking, it’s not a real exam. Most of the questions are recycled from past papers—sometimes the answer options haven’t even been changed.”
She opened her notebook.
Inside, each question was neatly recorded in delicate handwriting, along with how often it had appeared over the past five years.
“So your task for today is to go through the questions and memorize the answers. Even just remembering whether it’s A, B, C, or D will help. Though, I should mention, there’s a bit of risk—two of the questions, for some reason—maybe a printing issue—have slightly different numbering from other years, even though the answers are the same…”
‘…Huh?’
Su Wanli, who had mentally prepared herself for a full-on tutoring session to learn how a genius thinks—and had even reviewed some basics for the occasion—blinked in confusion.
“…Wait. Are you saying all I need to do is memorize the answers?”
Meng Wange lightly tapped the end of her pen against her forehead and said thoughtfully—
“If your only goal is to score as high as possible on the entrance exam, then yes, I believe this is the most efficient method. Unless… you would rather do things the proper way, study in advance, and understand the questions yourself?”
‘Well… no, not really!’ Still, it felt a bit—
“Heh, I didn’t expect this from you, Meng Wange. I thought you’d be more upright. So you know how to play dirty too, huh?”
Su Wanli smirked, stepped forward, and took the notebook from her hands, tossing it onto the now-clear desk.
“You get those kinds of scores, yet you won’t share your thought process or methods with me? Even though you claim to be the ‘most convenient tool’?”
She looked at Meng Wange’s refined face and that eternally perfect smile, then stepped closer, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.
Her lips moved to whisper near her ear—
“Or… could it be that deep down, you’re doing this unwillingly?”
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