I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

A 28-inch bicycle was parked quietly on the side of the street, rust creeping from the welded joints of the frame all the way to the spokes of the rear wheel, like some kind of iron-red moss.

A withered leaf drifted down gently, brushing against the edge of the bicycle seat, fluttering along the road until it landed on the paving stones and lay quietly beside the wheel.

A gust of wind swept in.

The withered leaves, which were originally lying quietly on the ground, rolled and tumbled all the way, crossing cracks in the ground and tumbling over the paved area, until they climbed up the steps in front of the coffee shop.

Finally, it stopped next to a pair of shoes.

The shoes have Adidas's "l" on them, but the English name is a bit strange; it's not "aa" but "abba"—Abba.

Chen Yue returned from the convenience store across the street, carrying two bottles of water. As he walked over, he noticed the Abbeys shoes.

They also noticed the owner of the shoes—Yin Mingyang.

He instinctively wanted to laugh, but his lips twitched as he pulled them back and continued walking towards the outdoor seating area outside the cafe.

The group of people sat here.

After Yin Mingyang and Shen Kang arrived, the group did not go to eat immediately. Instead, they said they would sit and rest for a while and go to eat when it was almost time.

Everyone still ended up sitting at two tables.

To make it easier to "weigh" Yin Mingyang, Yin Mingyang and Shen Kang were separated and seated at different tables. Shen Kang sat at the table on the left, and Yin Mingyang sat at the table on the right.

Chen Yue stepped onto the stairs, first placing a bottle of water in front of Shen Kang at that table, then coming to this table and placing the remaining bottle of water in front of Yin Mingyang, before sitting down opposite him.

"Thank you," Yin Mingyang said somewhat awkwardly.

Chen Yue nodded, then shifted his gaze downwards, as if he could see Yin Mingyang's "Abbas" eyes through the tabletop.

If it were before, he would probably have said jokingly, "I've seen Adidas before, but this is the first time I've seen Abbas. I've learned something new."

But when Chen Yue actually spoke, his tone was different: "Your friend must have excellent grades, right?"

As soon as he said it, Chen Yue thought of what had just happened: when the group of people came to the coffee shop first, Shen Kang even took out the two books from the basket of his bicycle, as if afraid they would be stolen, and tucked them under his arm as he followed them.

Yin Mingyang was just unscrewing the water bottle Chen Yue had bought and politely taking a sip.

Upon hearing this, he coughed several times, almost choking himself.

"Cough cough cough..."

Sitting next to Yin Mingyang, Huang Jing placed one hand on Yin Mingyang's back, stroking him and helping him catch his breath.

Her head, however, lowered slightly unconsciously, her expression strange.

She had also heard Yin Mingyang talk about Shen Kang.

:

"...Don't always say I don't study hard. Old Shen is the one who doesn't study hard. He takes so many classes in a semester that you can't even count them on one hand. Compared to Old Shen, I'm a model student!..."

"...I only go to internet cafes for an overnight stay occasionally. Look at Lao Shen, he's been here twice and hasn't been back to class for so many days. Compared to Lao Shen, I'm practically a model student!..."

"...Actually, I did alright on my final exams. Old Shen was the real problem. I asked him how he did, and he said at least he wrote his name on the papers. Now he's just hoping the grader will let him pass because he wrote his name. Compared to Old Shen, I'm practically a super genius!..."

Thanks to the vigorous promotion by his good friend Yin Mingyang, Shen Kang has become a complete academic failure in Huang Jing's mind.

So, when everyone first met and Shen Kang introduced himself as someone who "loves learning," she and Yin Mingyang both fell silent, then one looked to the left and the other to the right, pretending to admire the scenery.

"Drink slowly."

Chen Yueren was quite kind; when he saw Yin Mingyang choking on his water, he even showed concern.

After catching his breath, Yin Mingyang took a moment to calm down and, forcing himself to speak, answered Chen Yue's question: "Uh, his grades are quite good."

What else could we do? Just expose our brother on the spot and call Shen Kang a slacker?

Old Shen once said something that Yin Mingyang thought was very true: the more a person lacks something, the more they like to show it off.

Old Shen himself is like that.

Sigh, let's just let Lao Shen be a top student for a day and satisfy him.

Hearing Yin Mingyang's words, Chen Yue nodded and asked, "The kind that gets scholarships?"

"..."

Yin Mingyang silently took another sip of water, and continued to force himself to say, "Mmm."

Chen Yue asked again, "Is he also one of the top students in his grade?"

Even in the dead of winter, Yin Mingyang was sweating profusely.

But he still gritted his teeth and calmly said, "First in the grade."

Yin Mingyang was truly steeling himself; his scalp was even harder than Xiao Chunan's penis.

Perhaps feeling too guilty, Yin Mingyang added a piece of information after finishing his sentence: "Not only in his studies, he also participated in a college student competition called the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, which is a national competition. He has now made it to the national finals and is the only representative from our Qianlin Province to make it to the national finals. He is the team captain."

Qianmin University started its holiday earlier than Yangke University. After Yin Mingyang started his holiday, he would always call Shen Kang to ask him when he would start his holiday so they could go online together.

Shen Kang said he would stay at school for a few more days, and then the conversation kept veerging towards the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

Yin Mingyang had heard it so many times that he naturally remembered it well: "Student Shen Kang has defeated a number of opponents from Yangda and Qianmin Universities and will soon be honorably representing Qianlin Province in the national finals of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Please be aware of this."

Now that I've said it, it seems to lessen some of the guilt I felt for making up that Shen Kang was "first in the grade"—at least in some respects, Old Shen can indeed be considered a "top student," right?

Yin Mingyang discovered that after he brought up the Three Creations Competition, well, it really did lessen his guilt!

:

Amen.

"The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition?"

Chen Yue asked in confusion, "What is that?"

Yin Mingyang was familiar with this.

These past few days, he'd heard it too much. Even when he tried to hang up, Lao Shen wouldn't let him, buzzing around his ear like a fly, constantly reciting that quote.

Now, Yin Mingyang can recite it with his eyes closed.

"You're right, but that's just how the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition is."

"The Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Creativity Competition is a brand-new national open-world competition platform for college students, independently developed by the Ministry of Education and other organizations. The story takes place in a fantasy world called innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity."

"Here, those selected by the school and comprehensive assessment will be given a project proposal, guided presentations, and PowerPoint presentations. You will play a mysterious role called [Captain/Team Member/Mentor/The Big Critic Pulled In], encountering teammates with diverse abilities and unique personalities in free team formation, and together you will defeat strong opponents (school competitions, provincial competitions, other schools, judges' questions, etc.). Reclaim the lost qualifying spots—and at the same time, gradually uncover the truth of [why only Shen Kang's team made it to the finals in the entire province]."

"..."

Go to Must Search

"..."

After Yin Mingyang recited Shen Kang's quotes, the table fell silent.

Everyone looked at Yin Mingyang with strange expressions.

Seeing this, Yin Mingyang quickly explained, "That's what Lao Shen said himself."

Xu Siyu coughed lightly and chuckled, "Although I didn't quite understand, it seems your friend is quite humorous."

Cheng Haohao, who had been mostly silent, clapped his hands as if he had just remembered something: "She seems to be a super-achiever like Shi Zhijiao!"

As soon as the name "Shi Zhijiao" was mentioned, the people at the table immediately started talking.

"You know what, it's true."

"I remember it. When we went on a spring outing, Shi Zhijiao even brought her textbooks, just like Shen Kang."

"Goodness, I thought there was only one monster like Shi Zhijiao, but I didn't expect to see another one now."

Yin Mingyang didn't know who "Shi Zhijiao" was either, so he asked her out of curiosity. Huang Jing explained it to him, and that's how he found out who she was.

It was a girl.

When they were in elementary school, Huang Jing and her friends were in the same class. Shi Zhijiao was the top student in their class. From first grade to sixth grade, she was always first in every exam, whether it was a midterm, final, or quiz, and she was the kind of terrifyingly first place with perfect scores.

After graduating from elementary school, they were no longer in the same class, but they still often heard the legend of Shi Zhijiao.

:

I heard that she was still like that in junior high school, always ranking first in her grade in every exam.

I heard that she was the same in high school, always ranking first in her grade in every exam.

I heard that she was directly admitted to Tsinghua University after graduating from high school, but she still took the college entrance examination and once again ranked first in science in Qianlin Province...

In short, one word to describe him: Super academic genius, invincible academic god, unparalleled throughout the ages.

"Do you think those top students get bored studying all the time?"

Chen Yue looked at Yin Mingyang and repeated the question, his eyes filled with curiosity.

Everyone else looked at Yin Mingyang, their eyes filled with curiosity.

They all felt that they were not of the same species as people like Shi Zhijiao and Shen Kang. Therefore, they were quite curious about what these people were really thinking.

"..."

Yin Mingyang remained silent.

He didn't know what merit or ability Old Shen had to be on the same level as those super geniuses who could dominate the ages.

In his mind, the scene of Old Shen, bored out of his mind, arguing with a dog on the street also came to mind.

"Perhaps learning makes them happy."

Yin Mingyang said with difficulty.

He didn't know Shi Zhijiao, but Lao Shen certainly wouldn't be bored.

Xu Siyu then asked, "Doesn't he have any hobbies in his spare time?"

The scene of Lao Shen arguing with a dog on the street flashed through Yin Mingyang's mind again.

"...His hobby is studying."

Yin Mingyang now understands what it means to have to cover up one lie with ten thousand lies.

He is now trapped in this hell of "making up for lies".

But it felt pretty good.

Yin Mingyang thought to himself as he chatted with everyone.

When he first learned that he was going to meet some of Huang Jing's friends, especially since Huang Jing had hinted that he shouldn't mind if they said anything that made him uncomfortable, he actually felt very uneasy.

Yin Mingyang even imagined such a scene:

Huang Jing led him through a narrow corridor, with towering walls on both sides that seemed to pierce the sky, making the corridor feel extremely cramped.

:

He followed Huang Jing down the seemingly endless corridor. All he could hear were their lonely footsteps and the clatter of their shackles.

Hmm, the sound of shackles.

His feet were shackled, the kind of cast iron shackles from ancient times.

I don't know how long I walked, but I finally came to the end of the corridor, and a dark door flashed before my eyes.

"Go in."

As Huang Jing said this, her eyes filled with reluctance, she left, her footsteps fading into the distance in the corridor.

He mustered his courage and stepped into the dark doorway ahead.

It's a small room inside.

Most of the room was shrouded in darkness. In the middle of the room was a table, and behind the table, several people could be vaguely seen, all of whom were also hidden in the darkness and their faces were indistinguishable.

He walked to the table and stood there.

A sound came from the darkness behind the table.

"What's your name?"

"I didn't call out."

The other person slammed their hand on the table with a loud "bang".

"Who's being witty with you? Be serious, I'm asking you your name!"

"Yin...Yin Mingyang."

"Which Yin?"

"The 'yin' in 'yinqin' (殷勤, meaning attentive)."

"Which one?"

"Tomorrow's brightness".

"Which yang?"

"The yang of the sun."

How did you and Huang Jing meet?

"At an event..."

"What activity?"

:

"An activity at the welfare home."

"Be specific!"

"An activity by the welfare home to bring warmth!"...

What do your parents do?

Do you own your own house?

How big is your house?

"Are you serious about Huang Jing?"...

In short, Yin Mingyang thought about many things, so much so that his heart trembled and his whole body shuddered.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been willing to pay the price of a meal to drag Old Shen over to bolster his courage.

But after getting to the bottom of it, hey, Yin Mingyang found that Huang Jing's group of friends were actually quite easy to get along with!

I was overthinking it.

Yin Mingyang was feeling quite pleased with himself, and he chatted warmly with everyone.

Huang Jing would occasionally chime in, but most of the time she kept quiet and watched Yin Mingyang chat with her friends, feeling a sense of relief.

This situation was also quite unexpected for her.

She had anticipated a potentially tense situation and was prepared to maneuver, but to her surprise, everything was peaceful and harmonious...

Next table

Gu Pengfei twirled a lighter in his hand and looked down at Yin Mingyang's table, where he saw a peaceful scene.

Chen Yue and Cheng Haohao, who were just saying they wanted to give Yin Mingyang a good "test," were sent by him to lead the charge, but now they're having a great time chatting with Yin Mingyang.

Two useless people.

Gu Pengfei cursed inwardly, then turned his gaze to Shen Kang at the table.

Xia Nan sat to Shen Kang's right, propping her chin on her hand, and asked curiously, "Your grades must be really good, right?"

Shen Kang modestly replied, "It's alright."

What's your ranking in the grade?

"I don't pay much attention to that."

Shen Kang remained calm: "Rankings are something that can easily cause anxiety. I think the most important thing in learning is finding a pace that suits you."

:

"..."

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