P.E. class was split into solo practice and sparring sessions.
During solo practice, you couldn’t slack off because the teacher would keep an eye on you.
In theory, you weren’t supposed to slack off during sparring either, but some people still could…
“Ouch! I lost!”
A boy dramatically flopped to the ground and stayed there for a long while without getting up.
Shen Ning stood across from him, her brow twitching.
“I barely even tried.”
“Exactly—that just goes to show how amazing you are. Besides, who doesn’t know you work so hard? You’re always in the gravity chamber; they say hard work pays off. Getting taken out in one move is only natural!”
Shen Ning had originally planned to test the power she’d acquired yesterday during sparring, but with this kind of opponent, what could she do?
She sat off to the side to rest while the boy slowly picked himself up.
He had a short, curly head of hair that looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him.
“Have we met before?” Shen Ning asked.
“You really do have a short memory. I’m always around you… Oh, right! You’ll recognize me now.”
He walked over to his backpack and pulled out a pair of lensless black-rimmed glasses before putting them on.
“There, remember me now?”
And Shen Ning did remember him.
He was that nerdy guy who liked collecting newspapers and spouting conspiracy theories.
“Those glasses…”
“See, makes me look more like an IT guy. You know, someone with all the inside info. Anyway, I’m Xiao Snow. Everyone calls me that—like that one figure from the old world who exposed the truth.”
Xiao Snow was extremely chummy as if they were already close friends.
Without further prompting, he pulled some clippings from his backpack and said to Shen Ning:
“Have you heard of the missing people cases in the outskirts? I’ve been tracking them for years. The reports stop abruptly every time they appear, so I believe there’s a deeper conspiracy at play. Once something’s been reported, the papers just…”
Shen Ning sighed.
What kind of weirdo was this guy?
She thought back to the moment she first learned about the milestone system and felt so excited.
But after taking a close look, she realized that even the one-star missions were difficult to complete.
Some of the higher-ranked tasks had even made her wonder if going that far for power was really worth it.
Glancing toward Xu Chuyao in the distance, she saw Thunder Girl and her little sidekick engaged in their own fake fight.
“You traitor, Little Lu!”
“Your chest is too big! It’s the mortal enemy of all us flat-chested people! For the honor of my kind, I must stand against you!”
“Enough talk. Fight!”
“Ahhh, I’m dead!”
Those two and Xiao Snow were basically the same—except they weren’t slacking off. They were actually enjoying themselves.
A bunch of weirdos.
Shen Ning sighed again.
Everyone around her was like this.
Xiao Snow forever trying to rope people into his conspiracy rants, couples cuddling up like there was nobody else around, a few guys perpetually glued to idol magazines, and two girls who’d only recently gotten into shopping.
That was it—it had only been a few days.
Could it have something to do with shopping day being assigned to their class?
That thought sparked a realization.
Shen Ning closed her eyes and summoned up the system interface, clicking into her milestones and checking the one-star mission list.
And there it was:
[First Gift Given (One Star): Give a cherished gift to your future wife.]
“I actually need to go do something,” Shen Ning interrupted Xiao Snow mid-rant.
“I’ll catch up with you later.”
She had a feeling that if she didn’t say it clearly, he’d just follow her around and keep going.
She left him behind and walked up to the two girls discussing shopping, then asked:
“Hey, if someone wants to go out shopping, who do they register with?”
…
Shopping day was tomorrow.
The rest of the class could simply sign up with the class president, but no sooner had Shen Ning registered her name than she was called to the homeroom teacher’s office.
“You want to leave campus? That’s a first in three years. What are you going to buy?”
Their homeroom teacher, Yu Jing, was a woman in her forties.
She looked elegant and poised, yet incredibly intimidating; just sitting across from her felt like facing a quiet, unstoppable pressure.
“Candy. Chocolate,” Shen Ning answered honestly.
“I heard it’s really good.”
There was a permission slip on the desk.
Yu Jing thought for a long while before finally signing it.
“If this went through the labs, they’d never let you leave. But I do think you could use some fresh air.”
And so the students who had signed up to go shopping were finalized.
The class president would lead about a dozen students into the city center to visit the most bustling commercial plaza.
Xu Chuyao and Mi Xiaolu weren’t among them.
That night back at the dorm, Xu Chuyao flopped onto her bed the moment she got back.
“Ugh, P.E. class was exhausting. Treating myself for all that hard work!”
She actually liked academics more than anything, especially since she was the only one in class who could always nail Mr. Li’s pop quizzes.
Every time that happened, she felt an academic superiority that brightened her mood.
“But,” Mi Xiaolu tilted her head, “weren’t we fake-fighting?”
That choreographed fight probably had less exertion than delivering their practiced catchphrases.
Xu Chuyao groaned into her pillow.
“Fake fights take energy too, you know. Even acting requires commitment!”
As Mi Xiaolu watched her squirm on the bed, she hesitated, then finally asked, “Xu Chuyao, you haven’t picked on Shen Ning for a few days. That’s unusual. Did you give up on bothering her?”
“What?! No, of course not!”
Xu Chuyao shot up in bed and accidentally bit a strand of her hair as she rushed to explain.
“I’m just… going easy on her because of that dinner she treated me to!”
And definitely not because she’d been scared by some ridiculous theory.
To prove it, Xu Chuyao declared that she’d come up with a new evil plan tonight, then put it into action tomorrow.
Zzzz…
****
The next morning at nine o’clock, the school bus was parked at the gate.
Class 1 lined up and boarded the bus.
“Listen up,” the class president called as they took their seats.
“Just like before, the bus will drop us at the plaza. Don’t go wandering off once we get there. Stick with me until we reach the basement level of the mall. Once we’re inside, you’re free to shop around, but you have to report if you want to go upstairs. Absolutely nobody leaves the plaza. Gather back at the bus at 11:30 AM sharp!”
He walked up and down the aisle making sure everyone heard him.
Most of the students had been out on these trips plenty of times before, so they were familiar with the routine.
Shen Ning took a seat in the very back row by the window, just like she always did in class.
She gazed out as the wind brushed past the school gates and sent five pine needles drifting gently to the ground.
For the first time in three years, she was leaving school grounds and heading to a place she’d never been before—all to buy a girl her favorite candy.
Some mysterious presence told her that this girl was her future beloved wife.
And yet, somehow, all Shen Ning could picture was someone as empty as a cup.
Beep-beep-beep.
The bus started up.
Meanwhile, back in the classroom, Xu Chuyao had spent all morning searching for that white-haired girl, only to come up empty-handed.
Where was Shen Ning?
She wasn’t even in class. Where could she have gone?
Their dynamic is so much fun.