An ordinary dinner was eaten in an ordinary way, followed by ordinary goodbyes as everyone went their separate ways.

Among those present, perhaps only Lin Xianyu keenly noticed that although the meal was quite good, there had been a slight issue with the seasoning. Coming from Dong Chengling, whose cooking skills had been steadily improving, this was a slight drop in standards.

Of course, Lin Xianyu didn't say anything. She ate her meal very quietly, earnestly and obediently, and even turned down Little Jiu's request to duo queue.

It wasn't until she had left and returned to her dormitory that she hastily closed the door, 'hissed' as she unzipped her metaphorical mouth, and then, gripping Gu Yueyan's hand nervously, said, "Class President, listen to me..."

"Hmm?" Gu Yueyan sat down, took a sip of hot water, and looked at her quizzically.

After several seconds of silence from Lin Xianyu, Gu Yueyan said, "Did you run out of money again? If you don't have money now, how are you going to pay your bill after the Singles' Day shopping festival next month..."

"It's not about that! Although I do need to tighten my belt recently and can only rely on getting meals from Teacher Dong to supplement my nutrition…" Lin Xianyu hesitated for a moment, then hugged Gu Yueyan and giggled, "Class President, that Calculus quiz on Friday..."

"You still have time to revise for it now."

"There's no time, no time!"

"When people are desperate, they find time for anything."

"No, no, no. When people are desperate, they can do anything except Calculus problems." Lin Xianyu swung Gu Yueyan's hand back and forth. "Class—President—if you don't help me, I'm going to sleep in your bed without taking a shower tonight! Even if you fart, I still won't leave!"

Gu Yueyan, unable to scold or hit her, was coaxed by Lin Xianyu, the husky, for over ten minutes before reluctantly saying, "I'll pick out a few problems from the end-of-chapter exercises for you. The Calculus teacher will most likely test you on problems taken directly from those exercises, as long as you've actually done your homework..."

"Thank you, Class President!" Lin Xianyu immediately returned to her seat and turned on her computer. "I'll memorize the answer key right now!"

Watching Lin Xianyu squatting on the chair, humming a tune while looking at her computer, Gu Yueyan sighed silently, feeling as if she had raised a daughter who needed constant care.

Lin Xianyu, on the surface, was looking at the answer key, but her mind was pondering what to do next.

She had unintentionally overheard Qiao Muyi's formal declaration of war on Dong Chengling. She really, really wanted to share this with the Class President, but in the end, she decided against it.

Eavesdropping was already unethical, and telling others behind their back was even more underhanded, like a gossipmonger. And after much consideration, Lin Xianyu found no reason to tell Gu Yueyan.

To make the Class President wary of Qiao Muyi? Or to have the Class President come up with some scheme, to profit like the fisherman when the snipe and the clam grapple?

No, whether she told her or not, it was all the same. The Class President had known about Teacher Dong's crush on Big Brother Ren for a long time. She was decisive in everything else, but when it came to this, she always hesitated and dragged her feet. She simply couldn't discern her own heart's desires, lagging far behind both Teacher Dong and Sister Qiao.

Rather than stirring up her competitive spirit, it might be better to keep it hidden. Perhaps with time, as the Class President wrote a few more papers, she would forget about Big Brother Ren, that tempting catch, and perhaps even lose interest in men altogether.

Looking at Gu Yueyan, who had once again started watching a romance movie, Lin Xianyu sighed silently, feeling like she had raised a daughter whose marriage prospects she needed to worry about.

At that moment, Gu Yueyan's phone on the desk lit up, signaling the arrival of a WeChat message.

Gu Yueyan unlocked her phone to glance at the message.

After looking at it for ten seconds without replying, she placed the phone back on the desk. Then, biting her lower lip and with a complicated expression, she continued to watch the movie.

「...」

Back at home, Ren Suo's first order of business was to take a shower—he felt his face was covered in Little Jiu's saliva.

As soon as Little Jiu got home, she clung to him, sobbing and showering him with licks and kisses. To an uninitiated observer, it might have seemed as though he had returned from the dead; otherwise, how could such joy be justified?

Fortunately, everyone knew that Ren Suo wasn't Zhao Huo, nor was he a common lolicon, so no one felt angry or dissatisfied with Little Jiu and Ren Suo's intimate actions, let alone call the police. The only person slightly displeased was Ren Suo, the one whose face was washed in saliva.

He had always known that foxes were canids, but he never expected that even after transforming into a human, she could still lick so much…

And it was one thing for Little Jiu to lick him before dinner, but why did she have to hug and lick him again before leaving after dinner? Her saliva was all greasy now.

After showering, Ren Suo sat down and remembered to call home and report that he was safe. "Mom, I was busy and couldn't answer the phone these last few days, but everything is fine now."

"What, you were busy these past few days?" Mom sounded a bit surprised.

Ren Suo twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking that one day he absolutely had to arrange for Qiao Muyi and his mother to meet. He was curious to see a true clash of sharp tongues, to find out which of the two was more adept at leaving others speechless.

"So you were busy these past few days..." Mom asked with mock seriousness. "Is everything alright, sonny? You didn't get anyone killed, did you?"

"No, no, your son here is very docile, always shrinking back in a fight."

"I'm not talking about *that* kind of trouble! You're so old now, how come you haven't 'made a new life' yet?" Mom grumbled, her tone a mixture of exasperation and disappointment, like someone trying to forge steel from scrap iron or make a feast from pig slop. "Your father and I thought you insisted on going to Lianjiang University because you planned to give us a grandchild to dote on. We never expected... Honestly, what was the point of you even going to university!"

So in their eyes, university is a large-scale matchmaking and networking platform? Although, indeed, there are many men and women of marriageable age available...

But even if that were true, my major is practically a monastic discipline! Any networking platform would turn into a same-sex dating app for me!

I was just calling to say I'm okay, Mom. How did you manage to turn this into a lecture about me getting married?

"Right, right, the plumbing in Xing Mei's dormitory building is broken, and there's been no hot water for two days; you'd better get on it. How's one to live without hot water in this weather?" Mom urged.

So you know about the broken water pipe in my sister's dorm, but you don't know that I've been 'gone' for several days.

When the fish cries, the water knows. When I cry, who knows...

Ren Suo was about to hang up in irritation when his mother suddenly lowered her voice conspiratorially—God knows why she felt the need to be secretive over the phone—and said, "I heard you started a club at the academy and recruited Xing Mei and a few other female students as members?"

"Huh?" Ren Suo paused, then realized his mother was referring to the Ren Naiser Research Group and replied, "Yeah, that's right."

"Well, your father and I don't mind, really. And you're not exactly a formal teacher, but with these teacher-student things, it's best to wait until they graduate before making anything public. And please, definitely don't go getting anyone pregnant while they're still studying..." Mom advised, her words a strange mix of coyness and directness.

Ren Suo was speechless. "Do I look like the kind of scumbag who would prey on female students?"

"Oh...? In that case, Mom will just go turn on your computer and see if you *really* don't like female students—"

"Wait, don't bother looking!" Ren Suo hastily interjected. "Even if I were to pursue a female teacher at the academy, or chase after a Female Cultivator from the Tactical Bureau, I would never get involved in a teacher-student romance. You can rest assured about that."

"Really? Son, are you sure you don't want to reconsider? Generally, female students haven't seen much of the world. They might fall for you precisely because of their youthful naivety—"

"Ah, I need to do the laundry, goodbye."

Ren Suo decisively hung up. He wasn't lying, either. He immediately summoned a clone to do the laundry and a major cleanup. The house had been empty for days and might even have cockroaches, so a thorough cleaning by the clone was necessary.

Meanwhile, he sat leisurely on the sofa and turned on the Mini-World Game Console. He remembered receiving a new message on it just before he left home.

"'You've received a message.'"

"'Congratulations on leveling up to a Level 5 Player!'"

Ren Suo was momentarily stunned. How had he suddenly leveled up to a Level 5 Player?

Wasn't this supposed to happen after clearing the game?

At that moment, the new headphones Ren Suo had just put on, having perfectly inherited the power of the 'Listening Headphones,' explained, "'Due to a re-evaluation of the mission rating, the Player Experience Points awarded after game clearance have also changed.'"

Ren Suo's mind raced, and he quickly understood. The final score for the 'Inverted World' mission he had recently re-uploaded must have changed—most likely, it had increased.

Although the upload had failed, the game console acknowledged Ren Suo's efforts. It not only gave him more rewards but also increased the Player Experience Points he could receive. As a result, his accumulated Experience Points had just reached the threshold for a Level 5 Player, hence the promotion.

"'+1 to reserve slots in the Equipment Interface.'"

"'You may select one of the following Player's Privileges as a reward.'"

"① Veteran Player: Each time you receive Merit Points as a reward, you get an extra 10% of Merit Points (no less than 1 Merit Point)."

"② Professional Adventurer: Add two more prop slots in the Equipment Interface."

"③ Mysterious Tavern Owner: By spending Merit Points, players can obtain more detailed game intelligence from the tavern owner."

Since there was no option to 'enhance an existing privilege,' it meant that Ren Suo's 'Plucking Feathers from a Flying Goose' had indeed reached its peak level.

Ren Suo quickly noticed something different about this Player's Privilege selection: all the privileges seemed to have leveled up!

He clearly remembered a previous privilege called 'Novice Player,' which increased Merit Points rewards by 5%. Both its name and effect made it an obvious weaker version of 'Veteran Player.'

Moreover, he had witnessed the upgrade progression of 'Meticulous Calculation,' 'Gentle Stream,' and 'Plucking Feathers from a Flying Goose,' so he naturally knew Player's Privileges could be upgraded.

Does this mean that after reaching Level 4, every time a Player levels up, they get to choose from at least Level 2 privileges?

That made sense. After all, he was a Level 5 Player now. If he could still only choose privileges like 'Novice Player,' wouldn't that be an affront to his status?

The effects of 'Veteran Player' and 'Professional Adventurer' were self-explanatory. However, 'Mysterious Tavern Owner' left Ren Suo somewhat puzzled. Spend Merit Points to buy game intelligence?

Does this tavern owner also go by other names, like 3DM, Game Informer, or STN (all are game information media)?

Having leveled up several times, this was the first time Ren Suo had encountered a Player's Privilege that didn't earn or save Merit Points, but instead required him to spend them.

As he contemplated, small pebbles suddenly hit the balcony window.

Ren Suo quickly turned off the Mini-World Game Console. At that exact moment, his clone, wearing only an apron, happened to emerge with a broom.

His skin slightly red from the cold, the clone gave Ren Suo a calm look.

DING-DONG.

The moment Dong Chengling pressed the doorbell, the door swung open. She looked at Ren Suo, who was holding a broom, and heard the washing machine rumbling on the small balcony. "You're cleaning?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Ren Suo nodded. "But since you're here, I'll take a break."

Saying this, Ren Suo took the broom and apron to put them away. When he returned to the living room, Dong Chengling was still standing. He smiled and asked, "Did you need something? And you didn't call or Teleport, you just walked over..."

Dong Chengling blushed slightly. "I wouldn't Teleport into someone's home without getting their permission first."

At this point, Ren Suo sat on the sofa; Dong Chengling blinked and walked around the coffee table to sit beside him.

While Ren Suo was mentally checking if his clone had left any other traces, he casually asked, "So, Cheng Ling, was there something urgent you needed me for?"

"Yes. I wanted to ask what happened to you, Suo, over the past eight days."

"Nothing much. I'd already forgotten about it until you brought it up."

"Really nothing? Like saving someone, protecting someone..."

He sensed a keen reverberation from Dong Chengling, her unspoken thought: *Hopefully not.*

"Absolutely nothing!" Ren Suo said earnestly. "Those days were probably incredibly boring. I would have been better off staying home, cleaning, working on my Cultivation, and writing papers."

Dong Chengling seemed quite satisfied with this answer, nodding without saying more.

With Dong Chengling silent, Ren Suo too didn't speak. After a while, feeling somewhat bored, he took out his phone to play games.

Solo queue, instant match. The Bronze 3 Player pool really was deep.

Twelve minutes later, their base exploded.

Ren Suo exited the game and noticed Dong Chengling watching him play, her head tilted. "Want to play together?" he asked.

Dong Chengling shook her head. "No. Any free time I have, I use for studying and preparing lessons."

Ren Suo wasn't surprised; this was the Dong Chengling he knew. She didn't need entertainment, stress relief, or to accommodate others' hobbies. She wouldn't waste her time on things she didn't need.

She had no interest in understanding social nuances, knew nothing of popular celebrities, and was clueless about trending games. Her EQ and IQ might not have been at a Genius level, but she channeled all her energy in a single direction, willing to sacrifice anything she deemed unnecessary on that altar.

Unlike a Salted Fish like Zhao Huo, whose ambition was 'Once I reach the peak, I can go home and tumble into bed with my three wives every day,' Dong Chengling's philosophy was 'When I reach one peak, I'll immediately start Climbing to the next.'

Being friends with someone like Dong Chengling could easily inspire feelings of inadequacy—'I'm not putting in as much Effort as her; I might as well give up'—leading to indolence. Fortunately, Ren Suo had given up on competing long ago, so he wasn't affected.

So Ren Suo went back to his solo queue—he didn't dare play ranked matches without his sister to carry him.

As he played, Ren Suo heard Dong Chengling suddenly ask, "Suo, do you remember giving me the Key to your house?"

"Ah, that's right." Ren Suo remembered. He had given Dong Chengling the Key eight days ago when he left, asking her to open the windows for ventilation if she had time. "Are you here to return it?"

"Yes, but I've had a new idea," Dong Chengling said calmly.

"What idea?" Ren Suo tilted his phone screen, as if that could make his game character run faster. Nevertheless, he couldn't escape being solo-killed.

"I don't want to return them."

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