Chapter 3: Yang Qi’s Change

“Muchu, I heard your birthday is tomorrow. Happy birthday in advance from me.” Zhou Yanchang’s usually stern face relaxed a bit as he spoke. “I also heard about you inviting classmates to a party tomorrow. It’s good to balance work and play, and I have no reason to stop you. But this is the final sprint before the college entrance exam. As the class monitor, I hope you’ll make sure everyone doesn’t go overboard. You need to have that sense of responsibility. Also, the ten-school unified exam is no small matter. You’re the top student in our class; you need to win some honor for the class!”

“Don’t worry, teacher. I understand.” Qin Muchu revealed a bright, confident smile.

Zhou Yanchang nodded, feeling somewhat helpless inside. Not only was Qin Muchu’s academic performance excellent, but he also had a powerful father, making it difficult to speak harshly to him. He tapped his hand on the desk twice. “Alright, everyone, start self-study! Yang Qi, come with me for a moment.”

Upon hearing this, the classmates all looked towards Yang Qi, knowing it must be related to him missing the earlier self-study session. A few bold and observant students sneaked glances at Qin Muchu, seemingly trying to gauge his reaction at that moment.

However, Yang Qi remained sitting there in a daze, as if lost in his own world. To the classmates, this was just another sign of his foolishness, eliciting some laughter. Seeing this, Zhou Yanchang could only shake his head helplessly.

“Huh?”

Only after his deskmate, Lu Liangjie, elbowed him and repeated the teacher’s words did Yang Qi snap out of it. But his expression was remarkably calm, without any trace of panic or idiocy, which made Lu Liangjie pause slightly. He felt that Yang Qi seemed different somehow.

Moments ago, Yang Qi really had been immersed in his own world. When the teacher mentioned the ten-school unified exam next Monday, the Superpower List lit up again, accompanied by several electronic beeps.

“Ding! Task triggered: Achieve a total score within the top ten in the ten-school unified exam.”

“Task completion reward: 10 Level-1 Energy Stones.”

“Task failure penalty: Deduct 10% of the current cultivation progress from all superpower levels.”

“Level-1 Energy Stone: Can be absorbed to increase the cultivation progress of one superpower level.”

Yang Qi was still getting used to the electronic sounds in his head. The appearance of this task confused him even more. However, his eyes sparkled at the sight of the reward item. An item that could increase cultivation progress and raise superpower levels was exactly what Yang Qi wanted most right now.

Walking to the classroom door, Yang Qi found Zhou Yanchang already waiting for him. Naturally, Zhou Yanchang had called him out to inquire about the ‘incident where he got beaten up’ that afternoon. Yang Qi told him everything he knew truthfully. When Zhou Yanchang asked about the reason or similar questions, Yang Qi answered that he didn’t know, offering no guesses or hearsay.

Zhou Yanchang had initially expected Yang Qi, once again, to know nothing or be difficult to communicate with. But after asking a series of questions, he found the conversation surprisingly smooth, yet also very strange. Zhou Yanchang stared at Yang Qi for a long time, feeling strongly that Yang Qi had changed drastically. His demeanor was natural, his eyes were calm, and his replies were fluent. This was completely unlike the previous seemingly perpetually absent-minded, foolish version of him.

“Yang Qi, are you okay? Is your body or anything else alright?” Zhou Yanchang frowned slightly and asked.

“I’m fine,” Yang Qi shook his head.

“But I just feel you’re somewhat different.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Qi let out a bright laugh. “Maybe getting beaten up knocked some sense into me.”

“Ah… That’s good then, as long as you’re okay. Go focus on your studies.”

Zhou Yanchang was still a bit puzzled. Could it really be as he said? He waved his hand, signaling for Yang Qi to go back inside. However, Yang Qi’s smile just now left an lingering impression on him. It was natural and clean. Did it seem special simply because the foolishness was gone?

Shaking his head, Zhou Yanchang also walked back into the classroom. Regarding the beating of Yang Qi, it really was hard to say much. Those guys were troublemakers at the school, and their families had some influence and power. Fights and disturbances happened often. As long as it wasn’t a major incident, things usually just blew over. Besides, Yang Qi himself didn’t seem to want to pursue the matter.

As for whether Yang Qi was foolish or not… well, in Zhou Yanchang’s view, at least anyone who could get into Ruiyun couldn’t be lacking in intelligence. He was just a bit slow, perhaps.

Senior year evening self-study had three sessions. After class ended, most students headed straight for the dorms or the snack shop. Previously, Yang Qi’s habit was to go for a run before sleeping, but that wasn’t necessary anymore. While heading back to the dormitory building, Yang Qi saw several classmates walking towards him. These guys were very close to Qin Muchu in class—no, they were more like die-hard fans and lackeys.

“Yang Qi, how was the beating this afternoon?” One of them, a skinny guy named Xun Tuizhi, who was the closest to Qin Muchu and most favored by him among this group, looked Yang Qi up and down. “Even an idiot should know the consequences of opposing our great class monitor Qin by now. So be smarter next time, got it!”

Before his words even finished landing, Yang Qi reached out, pushed aside one of the guys blocking his path, and walked straight past them into the dormitory building, completely ignoring them.

“Damn, this idiot’s got some strength in his hands,” the guy who was pushed aside and nearly stumbled cursed, hopping on his feet. He looked at Xun Tuizhi and the others. “This guy is still acting the same dead way. Looks like the lesson wasn’t enough!”

One person lowered his voice and asked, “About getting Zhuang Zhoufeng and the others to beat up Fool Yang… are we really not going to tell Qin Muchu? I feel weird about this. If he finds out later, he’ll definitely blame us.”

“Enough already, it’s such a small matter, no need to report it. Even if he finds out, why would he blame us? We’re acting for him, helping him vent!” A flicker of cunning and ruthlessness passed through Xun Tuizhi’s eyes. He waved his hand. “Just make sure those guesses and whatnot don’t reach the class monitor’s ears. He’s a busy man; don’t bother him with these things.”

“Oh.”

The others nodded. Apart from Qin Muchu, they feared Xun Tuizhi the most. Instances like today, planned by Xun Tuizhi, were not uncommon. With Qin Muchu’s name backing them, things usually went smoothly. Like this time, even Zhuang Zhoufeng and his gang had to give face to Qin Muchu. Deep down, they felt a bit uneasy about Xun Tuizhi targeting Yang Qi, thinking he was just a well-known fool who didn’t need such meticulous attention. But they kept these thoughts to themselves, not daring to question Xun Tuizhi directly. Even among lackeys, there were levels and hierarchies.

After Yang Qi returned to the dorm, he found only one of the six roommates was back. The others were probably still hanging out on the sports field, at the snack shop, or in the classroom. After washing up, Yang Qi lay down on his bed. His bed was near the window, and looking out, he could see a patch of the sky.

Not long after, the others all returned. A while later, it was lights-out time. Before sleeping, the dorm room held its usual boys’ dormitory friendship chat session. High school boys’ chat sessions mostly involved nonsense and bragging. Even in senior year, they rarely talked about study-related topics. Girls, of course, were a subject that never ran dry.

“Whoa, Liangjie, buddy, weren’t you determined to become the man who’d be a sugar daddy? What’s up, haven’t caught up with your Goddess yet?”

“Don’t bring it up. This target really is a bit out of my league this time. Things between us are much better than before, but actually winning her over is tough. I mean, she doesn’t mind occasional physical contact, she’s usually quite warm towards me, but at the critical moment, why won’t she just accept me? Help me analyze this, guys!” Yang Qi’s deskmate, Lu Liangjie, wailed with complaint.

The group spouted all kinds of nonsense suggestions, none of them serious. Remarks about the upcoming exam meaning they should focus on studies and not date would, at this moment, invite scorn and public outrage. This was partly their way of releasing academic pressure.

“Hey, Yang Qi, what do you think?”

Lu Liangjie’s question drew the attention of everyone in the dorm. Yang Qi was practically a non-entity in the dorm. Usually, no one interacted much with him, and he never participated in any conversations. Precisely because of this, the roommates hadn’t even discussed today’s incident of Yang Qi “getting beaten up.” Discussing it was useless since the person involved wouldn’t engage.

So, when Lu Liangjie suddenly asked Yang Qi, it felt like a strange move. What was even stranger was that this guy who usually only ever smiled foolishly actually opened his mouth to speak.

“More than friends, less than lovers.”

Hearing these eight words come out of Yang Qi’s mouth, all five roommates were momentarily stunned.

“What? What does that mean?”

Lu Liangjie was the first to recover. It was because he felt Yang Qi seemed different in class earlier that he had asked the question offhand.

Yang Qi shifted his attention away from the Superpower List. Just as Lu Liangjie asked his question, the Golden Paper had issued another task: to answer the upcoming questions from his roommates. The answers didn’t have to be correct, but they had to be shocking. The completion reward and failure penalty were the same as the earlier top-ten exam task. That meant just by answering the question, Yang Qi would get 1 Level-1 Energy Stone.

Nowadays, Yang Qi had a photographic memory, and the content of books he’d read before was crystal clear. Answering such a question was a piece of cake. He smiled slightly—though no one could see the smile in the dark—and began to explain. “To put it bluntly, it’s two words: backup.”

The whole dormitory fell silent. They looked at each other, hardly daring to believe such words came from Yang Qi’s mouth. Upon further thought, the answer was remarkably incisive and hit the nail on the head.

“More than friends, less than lovers, backup! Holy crap! So the sugar daddy has been relegated to backup! That’s freaking classic!” one guy laughed loudly.

“Of course, there must be an element of ambiguity in it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t see you as a backup. Don’t lose heart; it means there’s a chance.”

Yang Qi’s light, airy words made Lu Liangjie’s expression come alive. He asked, “I also feel there’s quite a bit of ambiguity between us. How do you think this ambiguity should end, and then how do I…”

“Well,” Yang Qi said, this time with obvious teasing in his tone. “You need to break down the word ‘ambiguity’ (aimei) to look at it. Aimei equals ‘ai ri wei ri’ (love not yet done). Either you no longer want to do it, or you do it. The ambiguity ends naturally then.”

“Holy f! That’s way too graphic, crude, and classic! But I love it!”

After each guy traced the characters for “ambiguity” (aimei) on their palms once, they howled like wolves as if they had grasped the ultimate truth of the universe. Only when the dorm supervisor came and knocked on the door, signaling for quiet, did they stop.

After it quieted down, everyone was still bewildered, completely unable to figure out why Fool Yang had suddenly started saying these things.

The guy in the bunk below Yang Qi, who looked very much like a submissive partner but was named Chen Gong, couldn’t hold back and asked a question. It was a question his girlfriend had once asked him, and he had struggled to answer at the time.

“Hey, Yang Qi. Why does love always have to involve holding hands, kissing, even rolling in bed? Are these physical contacts really necessary to show you love someone?”

“Of course. Otherwise, why do you think ‘aiqing’ (love) and ‘shoujing’ (fertilization) look so similar?” Yang Qi replied with the same teasing smile.