I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

The invigilator was a little surprised that the candidate handed in the paper so early, and even took a special look at the paper.

The result was that there were many blank spaces.

The proctor turned the exam paper over and looked at it again; there were still many blank spaces.

Finally, the proctor turned the exam paper right side up, saw the name on it, and then realized what had happened, nodding in understanding.

He knew this student; Principal Liu and Dean Qian had both specifically spoken to him about it.

……

No?

Wang Pan looked up and naturally saw the proctor flipping through Lao Shen's exam paper and nodding repeatedly.

This left him even more confused.

What does this mean? ...

After a moment of confusion, Wang Pan looked down at his test paper again.

I answered four multiple-choice questions randomly, and only wrote the first part of the fill-in-the-blank questions. The rest of the essay questions were completely blank, as if they had just been handed out.

He assumed everyone was in the same boat, but Old Shen just handed in his papers and left? That gait, that confidence, that headlong turn—even the proctor was "repeatedly praising" him…

No no no.

Wang Pan stared at the exam paper, growing increasingly anxious as he pondered.

……

Feng Moquan watched Shen Kang leave, his pen pausing in his hand.

He recalled what he had just seen: when Old Shen stood up, on that test paper...

The angle was bad, so I couldn't really tell if it was blank or not.

Feng Moquan was caught in a philosophical dilemma—was Old Shen, that bastard, really studying hard behind their backs and mastering everything, or was he just putting on an act?

It seems like either is possible.

With that cunning old Shen's rotten nature, he might actually be studying hard behind their backs—don't you see, even during the final review period before finals, He Qiuzhu would occasionally come to see him with his phone? Maybe she was covering for him, saying someone was looking for him, but actually taking him to study secretly. All that talk about studying advanced calculus and staring at the syllabus—it's all a lie! He's so wicked.

However, given Lao Shen's cunning nature, he might also be putting on an act to put pressure on them. That scoundrel is sly and treacherous; he could very well do something like this.

So what is the truth?

Feng Moquan was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't even notice the proctor's repeated praises.

After thinking for what seemed like an eternity, he suddenly remembered something and quickly looked up at the clock that was placed on the podium.

"……Hold!"

Feng Moquan quickly stopped thinking and buried himself in answering the questions.

……

Jin Chao sat in the last row and saw Shen Kang hand in his paper clearly from behind.

He saw Lao Shen get up, put the test paper on the podium, and confidently walk out.

"..."

Jin Chao looked away and glanced at the few lines of derivative process he had written crookedly on his test paper. He got stuck halfway through the derivative.

He took a deep breath and told himself to calm down, calm down. That bastard Lao Shen is probably faking it, he's definitely just showing off by handing in a blank paper, that's for sure...

Then he saw the proctor pick up Shen Kang's exam paper, flip it over, look at the front and the back, and nod.

Jin Chao broke down.

……

Besides Wang Pan and his group, many other people in the examination hall noticed Shen Kang's early departure.

This also includes Ji Feiyan.

She also saw the proctor looking at Shen Kang's exam paper over and over again, nodding and "repeatedly praising" it.

However, she wasn't as "jealous" as Wang Pan and the others.

"My idol truly lives up to his name. He's so busy with his career, yet he still manages to excel in his studies," Ji Feiyan thought to herself.

Then, he looked down at his test paper.

For the last two big questions, she wrote out a bunch of steps that she herself couldn't understand, but she was more confident about the earlier questions.

Anyway, I've written everything I needed to write, and I can't come up with anything more by just sitting here.

With that thought in mind, Ji Feiyan quickly packed her things, took the exam paper, handed it in, and then hurriedly left the classroom.

She hurried down the stairs, descending several flights of stairs to the first floor.

Sunlight streamed in from the stairwell, and she quickened her pace as she went out, glancing left and right immediately before her gaze settled on her left front.

There, squatting by the roadside, was a man named Shen Kang.

He was looking down at the ground, seemingly lost in thought.

Ji Feiyan slowed her pace, adjusting her breathing as she walked over, her gaze fixed on that profile.

He squatted steadily, his hands crossed and placed in front of his knees, like a large dog observing something.

Ji Feiyan walked over there.

She walked at a leisurely pace, her fingers constantly rubbing the edge of her phone case in her pocket, her mind wandering over and over again.

The most prominent figure is Lu Tinglan, the new absolute top influencer of the Beiming Community.

"I have a new GG plan." "Someone will expose you." "Ignore it at first." "There will be a lot of public opinion." "Then you step forward and admit that it was a second-hand item bought from Huanhuan.com."

What Lu Tinglan received was the very script that Shen Kang had originally intended to give her.

This was the first thought that popped into Ji Feiyan's head after she watched the scene on the Beiming Community website completely finish and remained stunned for a long time.

My second thought was—these should have been mine.

These should have been mine...

That night, Ji Feiyan lay on her bed after the lights were turned off, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep for half the night.

This situation lasted for several days.

However, Ji Feiyan eventually broke free from this state: she comforted herself, saying that she wasn't wrong to refuse back then, and even if she were given this path, she couldn't walk it. Just the thought of having to post a makeup-free photo was unbearable.

After gradually accepting it, Ji Feiyan finally returned to a normal routine, but there was still a thorn in her heart. Every now and then, when she thought about it, it would prick her.

……

As she got closer, Ji Feiyan saw what Shen Kang was looking at—he was looking at ants.

The snow a few days ago seemed to indicate that the coldest cold wave had passed. Today, the temperature has risen, and the daytime high is estimated to be close to 10 degrees Celsius or higher. This is probably why ants have appeared.

In Ji Feiyan's eyes, Shen Kang's head moved slowly along with the ant colony, his expression focused as if he were watching an important match.

He also picked up a dead branch from a roadside flower bed and started poking at the ants on the ground.

Ji Feiyan finally reached Shen Kang's side.

She had so much to say—about handing in her paper early, about Lu Tinglan, about Huanhuan.com, about her previous rejection of his plan. But after going over these things in her mind several times, what finally came out was just a simple sentence.

"Shen Kang".

Shen Kang turned his head, saw it was her, and nodded. "Did you hand in your paper early?"

Ji Feiyan smoothed her hair, smiling without showing her teeth, "Yeah. I've finished writing everything I needed to write, and I couldn't figure out the rest no matter how hard I tried. Sitting here any longer would just be a waste of time, so I just handed in my paper. Unlike you, who hasn't been to class much but is doing so well in your studies. I saw the proctor look at your paper for a long time, and finally nodded, looking very satisfied."

Shen Kang thought to himself, "Is this even possible? The proctor even looked through my exam paper and nodded in satisfaction? No, what was he satisfied with? Was he satisfied that I at least wrote my name down first?"

Shen Kang couldn't understand it.

But this is a good thing, it will put even more pressure on Wang Pan and his team.

"The most important thing is to put your heart into it."

Shen Kang remained calm and said, "Although I don't usually have much time to study, I've spent a lot of time reviewing recently. With effort, you will see results."

He doesn't like to lie or boast, so he tells the truth: Does he not have time to study normally? Has he spent a lot of time reviewing recently? Is it true that hard work pays off in some ways?

However, I didn't put my heart into it, so I didn't achieve any results.

Of course, there's no need to say that.

Shen Kang continued to poke at the ants on the ground.

Ji Feiyan was momentarily speechless, and not wanting to leave, she followed his gaze and tried to start a conversation: "What are you doing?"

"An ant got separated from the group, so I helped it rejoin the group."

Upon hearing this, Ji Feiyan didn't think it was childish for someone so old to be playing with ants. Instead, she thought it was truly remarkable that her idol still maintained such a pure and childlike heart.

"alright."

Shen Kang threw down the withered branch, patted the dust off his hands, and said, "Look how anxious it is. It circled around three times before finally finding the group."

Ji Feiyan smoothed her hair again, trying to think of a topic to talk about. She finally managed to find one: "Are you waiting for Wang Pan and the others?"

"Um."

"..."

Ji Feiyan felt that her crush was indeed aloof, which immediately killed the conversation. But then again, it's normal for a male god to be a little aloof.

Then she brought up another topic, "Your Huanhuan.com site, is the promotion almost complete by now?"

"It's alright, a little better than expected."

Shen Kang finally spoke a little more, "Your Nokia N97..."

"I was just about to ask you that," Ji Feiyan said quickly, her spirits lifted. "I've been thinking about what you said before. If..."

At this moment, Shen Kang finally uttered the second half of his sentence, "Your Nokia N97."

"...How's the battery life? I'm thinking of buying a batch of N97s, but I don't know the specifics."

"..."

Ji Feiyan paused for a moment before speaking, "The battery is in pretty good condition. After four months of use, there's been no significant degradation."

"That's alright."

The two stood by the roadside and chatted casually.

After chatting for a while, Ji Feiyan finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"...Shen Kang. Is that you?"

She wanted to ask if she had a problem with me not taking that job, but she realized that saying that would sound like an interrogation, regret, weakness, or an admission of something.

So she changed her mind again, asking, "Do you think my decision last time was right?"

Shen Kang knew what she was asking. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Are you asking about your personal decision or a business judgment?"

"Yes, we have them all."

"From your personal perspective, you're right. That persona isn't suitable for selling secondhand goods; doing so would create a cognitive dissonance among consumers."

Shen Kang took out his phone from his pocket, glanced at the time on the lock screen, and continued, "From a business perspective, it's also true—the most cost-effective decision is often not the one with the greatest profit, but the one with the least loss. Rejecting an uncertain solution is safer than accepting one. You made a conservative but correct choice."

After listening, Ji Feiyan was stunned for a moment: "You analyzed it so clearly, then why did you come to me?"

"I didn't have high hopes when I contacted you last time; I was just giving it a try."

He put his phone back in his pocket, smiled, and said, "If you refuse me, just find someone else. It's business, if it doesn't work out, we find someone else. You don't need to apologize, and you don't need to feel like you owe me anything."

Ji Feiyan felt a warm glow in her heart and wanted to cry: Her idol is just too adorable! Waaaaah...

However, after being moved for a while, Ji Feiyan suddenly remembered something.

Wait a minute, isn't this what my crush said to me last time?

Do you think I still have a chance? — That's exactly what I wanted to say to my crush today! How did we end up back to the same thing again?

Ji Feiyan then pondered how to subtly introduce what she wanted to say without appearing too humble—she still needed to maintain a basic demeanor. If she were too humble now, wouldn't she have no standing in front of her crush when they were actually together in the future?

After thinking for a while, Ji Feiyan had some ideas.

Just as I was about to speak, the bell rang from all directions to signal the end of the exam.

This seems to be a signal.

The exam had just ended when Shen Kang's phone rang.

When Shen Kang took out his phone, he was taken aback, somewhat surprised that the person would call him.

Then answer the phone and put it to your ear.

"Brother Zhang..."

Seeing that Shen Kang was on the phone, Ji Feiyan swallowed back the words she was about to say. She stood aside obediently and waited for Shen Kang to finish his call.

In her heart, she thought, "Brother Zhang? For my crush to call me 'brother,' the person on the other end of the phone must be no ordinary person." Come to think of it, her crush owns a Bentley, has a chauffeur, and is practically a young master. And she herself has connections; could the person she's dealing with be just an ordinary person? ...

Shen Kang's phone call was short.

The call ended shortly afterward.

Ji Feiyan was about to speak when she was interrupted again.

"Old Shen!"

A voice came from the entrance of the teaching building behind me.

It is Wang Pan.

After the exam, a large group of people came out in a great commotion. At that moment, Wang Pan and his group were among the crowd.

Wang Pan, Feng Moquan, and Jin Chao ran to Shen Kang's side.

"Are you trying to show off by handing over your money and leaving early?"

Wang Pan grabbed Shen Kang by the neck and questioned him loudly.

Shen Kang nodded and readily admitted, "Yes, I was just showing off. Actually, I didn't know how to answer most of the questions; I basically handed in a blank paper."

"...?"

So you're admitting it?

Wang Pan, Feng Moquan, and Jin Chao, who were originally all about various flowers, were suddenly a bit confused.

"wrong!"

Jin Chao suddenly spoke up: "If you really handed in a blank paper, why would the proctor look at it over and over again, and keep nodding?"

Wang Pan and the others immediately nodded silently.

Shen Kang was exasperated: "How the hell should I know? Maybe it's because my handwriting is pretty?"

Wang Pan waved his hand dismissively, "That reason doesn't hold water. Your handwriting isn't even as good as Lao Feng's."

Feng Moquan suddenly interjected, "I understand. You were secretly studying behind our backs before, and now you're deliberately saying you handed in a blank paper. Both of your purposes are the same: to make us lower our guard! But actually, you really studied, and you know it all."

Jin Chao nodded silently and sighed, "Old Shen, you can do it, but don't hand in your paper so early next time. You have no idea how much pressure I was under. I couldn't remember any of the questions I knew before."

Upon hearing this, Feng Moquan and Wang Pan both nodded silently, clearly agreeing.

Having a filthy guy like Lao Shen in the dorm is truly torture.

Shen Kang was delighted and very satisfied—if we're going to die, I can't be the only one; let's all die together.

Since it's already happened, there's no point in saying anything more, so everyone called out to go to the cafeteria—it's almost noon, let's eat first.

However, Shen Kang refused.

"I have something to attend to; someone is looking for me. I'll wait for him here. You guys go ahead."

At this moment, two more people appeared around them—Chu Min and Dong Xiufang.

When the two of them came down, they saw Ji Feiyan and Shen Kang there, so they came over together.

Upon hearing Shen Kang say he had something to attend to and someone was looking for him, before Wang Pan and the others could say anything, Ji Feiyan spoke first: "Who is it? How about we go have dinner together?"

She rarely gets a chance to spend time with her crush, and she was a little unhappy because they had to part ways before they could even exchange a few words.

Shen Kang thought for a moment and said, "A friend from my hometown is in Yangcheng on business and brought me some local specialties."

Upon hearing this, Wang Pan and Chu Min understood: it turned out that he was a fellow villager from Shen Kang's hometown, who had come to the provincial capital on business and brought some local specialties for Shen Kang.

In my mind, I pictured that scene:

A dark-skinned, simple-looking farmer, with a headscarf wrapped around his head, a bamboo basket on his back, and two large sacks in his hands, filled with dried radishes, sweet potato starch, cured meat, dried green beans, and possibly two free-range chickens with their feet tied up.

The man had traveled a long way by bus, and when he arrived, he squatted down by the roadside, wiped his sweat with his sleeve, and called out "Kangwazi" in his thick hometown dialect.

Very friendly.

Who doesn't have a relative like that?

Wang Pan, ever the magnanimous one, spoke up immediately after remaining silent: "Your uncle came all the way from the countryside, and you're just going to let him leave after taking his things? Aren't you going to treat him to a meal?...

He simply felt that since his relatives from his hometown had finally come to the provincial capital, he should at least treat them to a meal.

But as the conversation progressed, he suddenly perked up and discovered Shen Kang's weakness: Normally, Old Shen was impeccable in every way, leaving no room for criticism. But this time, he seemed to have caught Old Shen's "immaturity" in dealing with people!

"...No, Lao Shen, I'm not trying to criticize you. But you just didn't do things quite right. You should at least have treated them to a meal!"

Wang Pan's voice grew louder, and he straightened his back.

A whole semester has passed, and I've finally found a way to show that I'm more mature than Lao Shen!

Then, Wang Pan remembered that Lao Shen would secretly use his own laundry detergent. So, he added another sentence.

"If you're reluctant to treat me, I will!"

Shen Kang grumbled, "Well, I really should thank you on his behalf. But never mind, he's pretty busy. After he delivers my things, he'll be rushing to catch his train. I reckon he won't have time to eat. You guys go ahead and eat."

I'm quite busy; after delivering the items, I had to rush to catch my train...

In everyone's minds, another image surfaced:

After delivering two free-range chickens, a bag of dried radishes, and sweet potato starch to "Kangwazi," the simple farmer hurried to the school gate, caught a bus, and went to the bus terminal.

As soon as he got off the bus, the man clutched his pre-purchased ticket and jogged all the way, finally making it to the ticket gate before 1 p.m.

Under the impatient gaze of the ticket inspector, the man forced a smile, had his ticket checked, and then ran through the passage to a rural bus. He found a seat in the last row, wiped his sweat, and let out a long sigh.

My hometown is too remote; there's only one bus a day.

Luckily, I made it in time...

"Then it's really not appropriate to take people out to eat."

Wang Pan felt somewhat regretful.

Although he still wanted to outdo the "immature" Shen Kang, he wasn't being unreasonable; it wouldn't be good to make someone miss their bus.

Ji Feiyan was a little sullen, thinking to herself, why did her idol's poor relatives have to come at this crucial moment when she finally had a chance to spend time with him?

"Alright, alright, let's go eat."

Wang Pan greeted them.

He had been the class monitor for a whole semester, so he did have some authority.

At his call, everyone stopped crowding around Shen Kang and started moving towards the cafeteria.

At this moment, groups of students were still coming down from the teaching building, chatting, lamenting, and laughing in groups and clusters, and walking in different directions.

One group of people, with a good view, looked in one direction and temporarily stopped in their tracks.

This situation seemed contagious; quickly, groups of nearby students looked in one direction, some stopping in their tracks, others with sharp eyesight.

This situation also spread to Wang Pan and his group.

Wang Pan, Feng Moquan, Chu Min, Ji Feiyan, and the others also turned their heads to look in the direction everyone was looking.

A car drove in from the intersection outside the school, heading this way.

Three very understated black Mercedes-Benz cars drove in, one after the other.

These three Mercedes-Benz vehicles are different from ordinary Mercedes-Benz vehicles; they are noticeably heavier and look somewhat "bulky."

"A convoy, huh...?"

No one knows who it was or where, but someone whispered those words.

Under the watchful eyes of nearby students, the small convoy stopped by the roadside.

The three cars stopped on the side of the road, and the front and rear doors opened almost simultaneously.

First, four men in black suits with buzz cuts came down. They were all very muscular, with earphones clipped to their ears and solemn expressions. After coming down, they quickly scanned their surroundings.

Two of them quickly walked to the middle car. One opened the car door, while the other stood to the side with his right hand hanging down at his side and his left hand lightly pressed against his abdomen—a standard guard position.

"..."