Chapter 10

The system still cannot forget the moment it witnessed the host snap F1's neck.

Absurd and surreal, that innocent and compassionate face, yet it killed as casually as twisting a chicken. If it weren't for Tan Quelu's good looks, it would have really wanted to slink away.

After finishing the last stitch, Tan Quelu lowered her eyes, bit off the thread, and said innocently, "That was the first time I killed someone."

The system was shocked: [The first time?]

This is indeed the first time.

He didn't have to lift a finger before.

Tan Quelu was fifteen years old when he was arrested. Before that, countless companions were rewarded for punishing traitors in place of their mothers and fathers. Tan Quelu was a little higher than them; he was the recorder.

The recorder had to stand on high ground, meticulously watching the traitors' wailing, begging for mercy, and painful displays of ugliness, in order to ensure the majesty of "divine punishment."

After his arrest, Tan Quelu was repeatedly injected with sedatives due to his fierce resistance. After several interrogations and observations by the police and psychiatrists, he was placed in a juvenile detention center for intensive rehabilitation. In the first few days, the entire cell was filled with his muttering chanting.

"This is family affection."

"This is our bond."

"A merciful God punishes all sins; He will never forget..."

The boy was wearing a yellow vest, his face was pale and sickly, his hair was like withered autumn leaves, and he was shockingly thin.

He was shackled, holding a pencil, staring blankly at the azure sky outside the small window. Then, under the watchful eye of the guard, he lowered his head again, still expressionless, and continued to scribble down the "Core Socialist Values" from memory.

System: [...Host, I really do have the phone numbers of top psychiatrists.]

Do you have the phone numbers of top tutors?

Tan Quelu chuckled twice, skipped the topic, and pulled out her report card to make the system face reality: "How do you think someone like me, who is outside the top 500 in the whole school, can get a perfect score and become number one in two months?"

This is St. Weston.

Aside from the fact that the college entrance exam cannot be conducted independently, all exams at St. Weston form its own unique system. In addition to the regular curriculum, there are elective courses that contribute to the overall credit score, such as equestrianism, skating, and fencing, totaling over forty courses.

St. Weston uses a credit system, primarily based on grades in regular courses and elective courses. Students can take a maximum of three elective courses, and a prerequisite for application is obtaining an international language certificate.

Those children from wealthy families, having grown up surrounded by such environments, found foreign languages ​​and elective courses effortless. Special admissions students, on the other hand, faced much more hardship; some were deliberately teased during equestrian lessons, while others suffered broken bones from falling off horses in public.

When Tan Quelu clicked into the forum, he unexpectedly stumbled upon F1 Zhong Wan's academic record—as a representative of the unruly young master, his grades had consistently ranked among the top three in the entire school. He possessed certificates in three international languages, achieved A+ grades in all his major subjects, and excelled in his elective courses in racing, skiing, and rugby.

Tan Quelu glanced at the F2 and F3 score sheets, which were unsurprisingly impressive, and even better than expected.

The chosen ones of heaven are nothing more than this.

Seeing him constantly frowning and searching, the system weakly suggested: "Host, we can enroll in some regular elective courses, like humanities studies or philosophy. As long as we complete the course hours and write the paper, we'll pass."

"Then what's the point of talking about getting a perfect score?"

"How can you complete the task without getting a perfect score? How can you get a 100 million yuan bonus if you don't complete the task?"

Tan Quelu looked at the computer screen, her pure face illuminated by the light, and said in her usual tone: "You useless piece of trash, if you can't help me, then shut up."

[...]

The system ran away, crying silently.

Tan Quelu ignored it and continued browsing the elective course page. His current academic level was not up to par with the original character's. Although the original character was weak, she was still among the top 500 in the city, especially excelling in humanities.

He could only recite the core socialist values ​​from memory.

Fortunately, there are elective courses that can help me earn some credits. Tomorrow is the deadline for registering for courses, so I'll just take them first and see how it goes.

Tan Quelu shut down her computer and rubbed her temples.

Just as he was carefully comparing the cost-effectiveness of elective courses...

The incident of Zhong Wan almost beating her classmate to death in public, after half a day of fermentation, unexpectedly leaked and directly topped the trending search list that night—this time not on the Qiongding APP, but on Weibo's social news list.

Anonymous posts erupted on the college forum.

[OMG, has anyone seen the trending topics over there? It mentions the Golden Dome Group! Aren't they afraid of being sued?]

[1L: "Golden Dome Group Heir Suspected of Violent Murder"? hhhh, why are they subtly elevating Young Master Zhong's status? Isn't the Zhong family heir his uncle?]

[2L: Many media outlets have spoken out, and their press releases are all similar; they're coming on strong!]

[3L: Golden Dome just announced its cooperation with Tashan last week, and this happened tonight. It's so obviously targeted.]

[4L: Wait a minute, aren't there no security cameras in the locker room area of ​​the stadium? Was the video in the news secretly filmed?]

......

[9L: I checked it, the video is only four seconds long, there's no footage of any beating, just a blurry image of a bloodied floor and Zhong Wan's back. Tsk tsk, it must have been filmed secretly.]

[10L: Was this done by the special admissions team? Sure enough, letting these poor bastards sneak into the school was a mistake.]

[11L: Have security find the CCTV footage from that day. I don't care what happened to Zhong Wan, but do these specially admitted students have the right to secretly film us? A bunch of poor bastards who were bought off. They should be honored to have breathed the same air as us in this lifetime, how dare they take advantage of us?]

[12L: Yeah, just thinking about these people makes me feel uncomfortable. They stink. They're just poor cockroaches that deserve to live in the sewers, hahaha]

......

Tan Quelu looked at the comments on the screen.

Admissions through special programs are a policy St. Weston College implemented only in the last decade, intended to embody the college's philosophy of equal education regardless of class. However, the students are unconvinced, strongly opposing the admission of the poor, viewing it as an insult to share educational resources with them.

However, for the sake of its social image, St. Weston University remained steadfast in its commitment to the system. When student objections proved ineffective, they vented their malice on the specially admitted students, resulting in withdrawals every year, and in more severe cases, bullying to the point of suicide.

Tan Quelu was certain that he had been able to stay safely in Class A for so many days because he was currently Zhong Wan's "prey." As long as Zhong Wan hadn't had her fill of fun, no one else would dare to make a move, no matter how eager they were.

Once Zhong Wan announces that he has lost interest, his "good days" will come to an end.

Tan Quelu got up, walked out of the room, and knocked on Xia Xing's door.

Two seconds later.

The door opened.

Xia Xing, dressed in pajamas, looked perfectly normal, her tone cheerful and questioning: "Que Lu, is there something you need from me?"

Tan Quelu saw that there were test papers spread out on the desk behind him, so he must be doing his homework.

Tan Quelu blinked: "Did you choose an elective course?"

"You asked about this?" Xia Xing understood, opened her phone, and handed him her own page: "I've selected three easy courses. If you're having trouble deciding, just use mine."

Tan Quelu leaned closer to look, and a warm aura suddenly drew near. Her fine eyelashes drooped halfway, like a small fan.

Xia Xing could see his slightly curved eyes by turning his head to the side; his pupils were very dark and as clear as water.

He lost his composure for a moment.

Tan Quelu was completely unaware of this.

After reviewing the protagonist's class schedule, he quickly looked up and smiled slightly: "Thank you, I'll use that as a reference when choosing. Oh, by the way, I was thinking of taking a break in the lounge this afternoon, I forgot to tell you."

Xia Xing waved her hand dismissively, "It's nothing, I had something to do back then and left first. The scoring job is over, so we don't need to go after this week."

Tan Quelu: "So where else do you plan to work part-time to earn academic credits?"

Xia Xing paused, then looked up and met Tan Quelu's gaze. The other woman had an innocent expression and pure eyes, as if it were just a casual question.

Xia Xing smiled and said, "It should be the racetrack? Among the part-time jobs updated on the Dome APP, this one has the most credits."

The racetrack, and it's evening again.

It seems the person who secretly filmed Zhong Wan's video today was also the victim.

Tan Quelu said "Oh," smiled at him, and said, "Then I'm going to sleep."

Okay, good night.

Xia Xing watched Tan Quelu's slender figure disappear into the distance. A few seconds later, he turned around, went into the room, locked the door, and went to the small balcony to re-enable the video call.

"What happened? Why did it suddenly hang up?"

"unimportant."

Xia Xing immediately switched to a smaller screen, not wanting to see the old man's face. He zoomed in on the front camera and adjusted his cuffs, asking, "Dean, has the payment for the afternoon video call arrived?"

"I've called you."

On the other end of the video, the white-haired director of the Seagull Welfare Institute said with satisfaction, "I knew I hadn't misjudged you. With Young Master Zhong's live video, even if the public opinion is controlled, Jin Qiong will still be troubled by the news flying around for a while."

"You did a great job, but don't get cocky. Remember to clean up the mess afterwards."

Xia Xing smiled humbly: "Okay, Dean, you're too kind. This is what I should do."

The dean nodded, as if he had thought of something, and then asked, "What's the name of that orphan who went to St. Weston with you? I heard he also transferred to Class A and was noticed by Zhong Wan?"

Xia Xing's smile faded, and she remained silent for a long while.

He recalled Tan Quelu's pure and innocent face and her kind and innocent tone, and unconsciously said indifferently, "Dean, there's no need to contact him. He doesn't know anything."

"Besides, he's a good boy and can't do bad things."

On her first day at the new school, she was harassed by Class A, but she was completely oblivious to their malice. She walked up to the podium, smiling, and introduced herself to them.

— Because she was worried that he wouldn't have enough credits, she took someone to do part-time jobs to boost his credits. As a result, he unknowingly went into the break room and witnessed Zhong Wan beating someone.

—The person who used to rest on time suddenly knocked on the door looking for him, his eyes still showing worry and exhaustion, using elective courses as an excuse to talk to himself.

Xia Xing frowned, recalling Zhong Wan's outburst that afternoon: "...He's very timid, and he's probably terrified by now. Please don't disturb his rest."

"I will take good care of him."

"......"

The dean was a little puzzled.

When did Xia Xing, this extremely selfish and narcissistic boy, become so understanding?

But he didn't delve into it. In his memory, Tan Quelu's face was dim and blurry. She should just be an ordinary student, not as reckless as Xia Xing, nor as ambitious as Xia Xing.

The two exchanged a few more words before finally hanging up. Xia Xing took out another phone, checked it, and sure enough, a large sum of money had been deposited into his account.

He immediately ordered a limited-edition emerald watch, which, when paired with the custom-made suit and handmade leather shoes he bought yesterday, made him look like an extravagant young master, without a trace of poverty.

Xia Xing felt that this was her true self.

Thick hair, clean teeth, and a brilliant mind. Just like those great people had repeatedly told him since he was a child: "Little Star, you really don't look like a poor person."

"You should be like us."

Yes, he was just born into an orphanage by mistake. In reality, he is incredibly noble, equal to the wealthy, and even more noble than the so-called F3 clique.

He would never be associated with the lowly and impoverished.

The moonlight outside the window was cool and clear.

at the same time.

In the same dormitory, in another room, Tan Quelu finished his prayers and, as usual, opened Weibo to post his daily dose of baiting content—

User tqlhpl: [I spent the whole afternoon studying elective courses, so tiring. But the thought of being under the same sky as you makes me feel so content.]

User tqlhpl: [Phew, I've been waiting for a chance encounter! ^_^]

One minute later.

A prompt box will appear to reply.

User frenzy - Reborn version: [Thank you for your hard work, 10,000 flowers are appreciated!]

User Intense Spectatorship - Reborn Version (Not Ugly): [Phew, any ugly guy who dares to come here is doomed ^_^]

A note from the author:

The thought of that scene where a certain guard confesses his feelings makes me want to laugh.