The three of them arrived at the changing room, and gradually all the male classmates from their class gathered there to change into their uniforms.
As soon as Su Cheng took off his clothes, Wang Guancong beside him exclaimed in surprise: "Holy crap, how is your skin so good? You look like a girl!"
His comment immediately drew everyone's attention.
"Oh my god, he even has abs!"
"Wow, how did he suddenly become so manly?"
"Good heavens!"
The exclamations of surprise nearly lifted the roof. They weren't actually surprised about the abs themselves.
Most of them had abs too, but these were incredibly well-defined.
More importantly, they were shocked by Su Cheng himself.
Su Cheng usually looked fair-skinned and delicate, but after taking off his clothes, he revealed a surprisingly muscular physique, which completely defied their expectations.
"Su Cheng, how did you get those abs?"
Wang Guancong swallowed hard and reached out to poke his firm abs.
Su Cheng: "..."
Su Cheng felt speechless and quickly dodged Wang Guancong's probing hand.
He looked up at his surrounding classmates and found them all staring at him curiously, seemingly eager to learn his training method.
He felt his scalp tingle - how could he explain? He didn't know anything about training.
It was all given by the system.
Finally, he reluctantly began: "Well..."
All the boys perked up their ears.
Seeing this, Su Cheng had no choice but to say: "100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10 kilometers of running every day. Keep at it for one semester and you'll go bald- I mean, your abs will look like this."
Hearing this, the boys' eyes lit up, and they mentally noted it down. Gao Ye even took out a small notebook to write it down.
After the commotion ended, Su Cheng finished getting dressed.
But since it was his first time wearing riding clothes, it took him quite a while.
He was the only one left in the changing room.
"Come on, let's go to the riding ground."
Wang Guancong's voice came from the doorway.
"Class is about to start."
Gao Ye called out as well.
These two were good friends who knew Su Cheng was slow at changing, so they waited for him at the door.
Otherwise, it would be awkward if he was late by himself.
Su Cheng appreciated this gesture of kindness.
"No need to go, it's raining outside."
Just as the two finished speaking, a clear voice rang out.
Su Cheng, who had just stepped out, saw the male students from their class walking back in.
"This class has been changed to free activity time."
Su Cheng sighed in relief and started taking off his riding clothes. By then, Gao Ye and Wang Guancong, who had already changed, came over. They exchanged glances and said to Su Cheng with a smile: "Come on, let's play some games."
"I need to go join a club later."
Su Cheng explained.
"There's no one at the student council right now."
"Alright then."
Su Cheng could only nod, as it would be impolite to refuse further.
He needed to submit his club application to the student council first, then go to the club, and finally to the dojo.
So the three of them headed towards the club building, specifically the E-sports club, where Wang Guancong was a member.
"Wait for me!"
At the entrance of the teaching building, a boy in gym clothes came running towards them.
It was Chai Hao from the neighboring class.
Wang Guancong and Gao Ye exchanged glances, then grabbed Su Cheng and started running towards the club building.
Su Cheng stumbled as they pulled him along, and asked helplessly: "What's wrong, what's wrong?"
The two immediately stopped upon hearing this. Wang Guancong caught his breath and said: "That guy's a total liability, we can't let him join."
"Mainly because he's both stupid and bad at games."
Gao Ye explained from the side.
Just then, Chai Hao caught up to them, panting heavily as he spoke: "I wasn't in good form this morning, which affected my performance, but I feel great this afternoon. I'll definitely help you guys dominate!"
After speaking, Chai Hao noticed Su Cheng and his eyes lit up. He quickly grabbed Su Cheng's arm: "Oh, Su Cheng, you're here too. Let's go!"
"Enough."
Wang Guancong impatiently pushed Chai Hao away, then looked at him with disgust: "I'm telling you, if you mess up our games again, I'm definitely calling the 'Walking into Science' film crew."
"What do you need them for?"
Chai Hao was stunned and asked in confusion: "What would they do?"
"What do you think?"
Wang Guancong snorted: "To film why your head is filled with pig brains, of course!"
"Let me know when it airs, I want to watch too!"
Gao Ye chimed in with a laugh.
"You guys..."
Chai Hao was furious but couldn't do anything about these two, so he just glared at them.
Wang Guancong and Gao Ye snickered and continued walking.
Su Cheng watched their playful banter from the side with a smile.
Their relationship, though seemingly ordinary, was exactly what Su Cheng envied.
Worth mentioning is that despite their frequent visits to the E-sports club, they weren't poor students.
In fact, they were more attentive in class than anyone else and took more notes than others.
"Let's break up."
Just as the four arrived at the club building, they noticed a boy and a girl standing behind it, both wearing school gym clothes. Facing them was the girl, who calmly spoke these words.
This made all four of them stop, look at each other, and then hide in a nearby pavilion to watch the drama unfold.
This kind of drama was rare.
Moreover, Su Cheng recognized these two - they were the ordinary couple he had met at noon.
"Can... can I ask why?"
The boy had his back to Su Cheng's group, head lowered and fists clenched as he spoke through gritted teeth.
"Because I've realized that our relationship without material foundation is like scattered sand."
The girl's tone remained calm, as if stating a fact.
"Is... is that so?"
The boy's voice faltered, but he quickly regained composure and lifted his head: "I understand."
"I'm sorry, but I can't bear living on bread and steamed buns for lunch every day, and I don't dare bet my youth on our uncertain future."
At this point, the girl's eyes grew moist. She took a deep breath and forced a smile, though it was very bleak: "Only by breaking up can I be a little happier. I can pursue what I want and provide better security for my parents."
The girl's words hit the boy's heart like a hammer. His body trembled involuntarily, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
"I understand."
The boy said softly.
Hearing this, the girl's lips quivered, but she ultimately said nothing. She turned around and walked away step by step.
Su Cheng silently watched the girl's retreating figure, suddenly feeling somewhat emotional, but said nothing.
He turned to look at the others and found them all staring at him with hesitant expressions.
Su Cheng felt bewildered: "Why are you looking at me? I'm not the one breaking up!"
"Bro, what that girl said was so profound."
Chai Hao suddenly turned to Wang Guancong, clearly shocked by what the girl had said.
Because these were words they would never hear in their lifetime!
These were words only poor people would say, so they had a powerful impact on them.
Wang Guancong looked at Gao Ye, then turned back to Chai Hao and said: "The girl must have gone through something really tough to say those words."
"But I think those words aren't quite right."
Gao Ye nodded and began to ponder, then said: "Although economic foundation determines superstructure, I think working together to create a happy life is what's most important."
After speaking, Gao Ye looked at Wang Guancong, waiting for his response.
Wang Guancong was stunned, then became thoughtful.
Meanwhile, Su Cheng was amazed - why had they suddenly started analyzing this?!
Was it really appropriate for rich people to analyze poor people's situations?!
Wasn't this like saying "Why don't they eat meat?"
"She described love without material foundation as scattered sand, but by that logic, love based only on material things would just be larger grains of sand - still sand nonetheless, bound to slip through your fingers one day."
Wang Guancong pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Hard to disagree."
Gao Ye nodded and smiled: "I think that makes a lot of sense."
After Gao Ye finished speaking, Wang Guancong nodded in agreement. The two exchanged glances before turning their attention to Su Cheng, looking at him expectantly.
They hoped he would share his opinion so they could reach the right conclusion, since Su Cheng came from a common family background and would have more authority speaking on such matters.
"..."
After a long silence, Su Cheng finally spoke with resignation: "Love based solely on material things will only get you arrested by the police, so I believe both material and spiritual aspects are indispensable."
The three were stunned into silence upon hearing this, clearly shocked by Su Cheng's unique perspective.
Getting arrested by the police?
Isn't that basically prostitution?
"Then what's your view on relationships?" Wang Guancong and Chai Hao exchanged glances, swallowed hard, and asked simultaneously.
They both wanted to know Su Cheng's thoughts on the spiritual aspect, since they didn't lack material wealth.
Meanwhile, Gao Ye had already taken out his notebook and started writing, these inexperienced "pure love warriors" clearly very curious about a commoner's perspective.
After pondering for a while, Su Cheng spoke: "Well... for people like us without status, we're often powerless in many situations, so to put it rationally..."
He paused briefly, then continued in a serious tone: "Treasure good women, don't waste time on bad ones."
As soon as Su Cheng finished speaking—
Suddenly—
Thunder roared in the sky, lightning split the heavens, followed by a torrential downpour that instantly engulfed the entire street.
In the pavilion, the three were dumbfounded.
What Su Cheng said was just...
This was...
Too rational!
This was a serious shock to their traditional pure love concepts!!!
It was like a thunderbolt of enlightenment, clearing away the clouds of confusion.
"Profound! I must write this down immediately!"
"Words of wisdom!"
"Damn, why couldn't I come up with such philosophy?"
"How come you can think of such things and I can't?"
"My mind has been opened!"
At this point, after finishing writing, Gao Ye suddenly turned to the three and said: "Let me add one - like, make up for one act of unfaithfulness with a hundred acts of devotion!"
"Damn, that's good."
As soon as Gao Ye finished speaking, the three were stunned before bursting into laughter.
Although they all appeared serious, if they actually encountered such situations, their reputation would matter more than anything else. Combined with their severe psychological cleanliness obsession, they absolutely wouldn't do such things.
Of course, Su Cheng was just saying provocative things and it didn't represent his true beliefs. He knew what they wanted to hear, which is why he said those things.
In fact, his obsession with psychological cleanliness was stronger than anyone's.
Otherwise, he wouldn't only like those who were exclusively gentle to him.
...
Subsequently, the four arrived at the e-sports club in high spirits.
Rather than calling it an e-sports club, it was more like an internet café, with all sorts of top-configuration computers that made Su Cheng's head spin. For a moment, he really felt like he was in an internet café.
The four sat down together, and Wang Guancong turned to quietly ask Su Cheng: "Um... could you teach me some smooth talk to use with my girlfriend?"
"I heard from them that you've been getting IV drips at the hospital these past few nights?"
"Yes."
Su Cheng leaned close to his ear and whispered: "I went to get an IV drip. What kind of drip? A drip of missing you all night!"
Then Su Cheng smiled and said: "This line can be endlessly adapted. It should last you a while."
Wang Guancong was stunned, instantly amazed.
He felt the line was tailor-made for him, so he nodded: "Mm, I'll try it tonight."
Soon, the four started gaming. Wang Guancong invited a skilled jungler, and Su Cheng used his unranked alternate account to play two winning games with them.
During these games, his performance was very average, neither impressive nor terrible.
But Chai Hao clearly needed to be "visited by the Science Investigation team."
After another game finished, Su Cheng stood up and apologetically said to the three: "It's already three o'clock, I need to go to the student council."
"Alright, let's play together again when you're free."
"You played pretty well, much better than that pig."
"I was clearly carrying these games!"
"You have the nerve to say that? Look at your score, you're basically an ATM machine. Might as well have gone AFK!"
Listening to them start bickering again, Su Cheng smiled and left the e-sports club, heading to the teaching building to retrieve his club application form tucked in his book.
However, on the way, he unexpectedly encountered a young woman.
It was the Rothschild family's daughter that senior sister Liu had mentioned before. She was wearing her school uniform, with headphones on her head, looking down at her phone.
She seemed to notice Su Cheng, lifted her expressionless face to glance at him, then immediately returned her attention to her phone.
Su Cheng stopped in his tracks, watching the young woman's retreating figure, only looking away when he saw her enter the e-sports club.
Passing by the library, he spotted another familiar figure - the girl he had teased at noon.
Hoshino Mirai.
She had just walked out of the library, holding a thick book in her hands. When Su Cheng took a closer look, his mouth started twitching.
"The Chronicle of Flame Country Princes"
Good grief, this pure and naive girl was trying to uncover the true identity of him, the "Penguin Prince"!
And she seemed very serious about it.
She was holding the book preciously, treating it with utmost care. Su Cheng couldn't help but cough lightly a couple of times, but Hoshino Mirai didn't react at all, walking straight toward the club building.
Seeing this, he walked toward the teaching building with an odd expression.
Soon after
Arriving at the teaching building, he took out the club application form with Ji Qingyi's signature from his book and walked toward the student council room.
To be honest, his feelings were complicated.
Because this visit might mean encountering the student council president whom he had bullied last time.
He didn't know how to face her.
"Right, she wasn't wearing a mask then, so I can just pretend I don't recognize her, right?"