After a while...
Su Cheng walked out of the supermarket carrying his purchases, heading straight for the lawn where Li Guanqi had been earlier.
On his way there, he thought about how it made sense they shared the same surname Li.
So Li Zhaohao and Li Guanqi...
They were relatives!
Soon, he arrived at the lawn where Li Guanqi was sitting, deeply absorbed in reading a book.
After glancing around to confirm no one else was nearby, he approached Li Guanqi. She seemed to sense his presence and immediately closed her book.
"This is my thank you gift."
Su Cheng held out the bag to Li Guanqi, but she didn't take it. Instead, she said with an expressionless face, "Helping each other is what classmates should do. There's no need for gifts, especially for such a small favor."
"But you missed lunch. I should at least get you something."
Su Cheng insisted, his tone leaving no room for argument. Li Guanqi frowned slightly, looking between Su Cheng and the school dessert packaging before finally sighing and accepting the bag.
"Thank you."
Su Cheng smiled. "You're welcome."
He turned to leave but had only taken a few steps when Li Guanqi called out from behind: "Wait."
He turned back to see Li Guanqi standing up, looking at him with deep eyes. "I can't finish this alone. It would be a waste."
"Uh..."
Su Cheng was momentarily speechless and could only sit down beside her as Li Guanqi smoothed her skirt and sat back down.
Li Guanqi looked at the dessert box in her hand, then glanced at Su Cheng. After a moment of silence, she opened the box and used the utensils to divide the contents into two portions, packaging them separately. She handed the larger portion to Su Cheng.
"Here's yours."
"Oh... okay."
Su Cheng looked at the food she offered, hesitated briefly before accepting it, then carefully took a small bite with the fork.
As the dessert touched his tongue, his expression changed slightly.
Well, he had never eaten anything like this before.
His daily food budget when eating out was just 20 yuan.
So these kinds of expensive desserts were never something he considered.
He proceeded to eat it all in one go.
He knew that with such things, it was better to eat them quickly rather than savor them slowly - once the sweetness became too much, you wouldn't crave them anymore.
While chewing, Su Cheng secretly observed Li Guanqi's reaction.
She just sat quietly beside him, gazing straight ahead, elegantly eating her cake with a fork, showing no particular expression.
"As expected of someone from a wealthy family - even eating is done with such grace," Su Cheng thought to himself.
Afterward, he stood up to throw the wrapper in a nearby trash bin, then returned to lie down not far from her, closing his eyes to rest.
The excitement had worn off, leaving only fatigue.
He needed rest - he was extremely tired.
He still had archery practice in the afternoon.
A few minutes later...
With his eyes closed, he found the sunlight too bright and was about to shield his eyes with his arm.
But just as he was about to make this movement, the sunlight suddenly disappeared.
He drowsily opened his eyes a crack and vaguely noticed a figure had appeared beside him, reading a book and blocking the sunlight.
Then he gradually drifted off to sleep.
Half an hour later...
Su Cheng opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his forehead. Looking around, he found Li Guanqi still reading beside him, and two familiar figures nearby.
One with golden hair, one with black.
"Huh, Xuan Ying and Zhao Yan?"
Su Cheng was startled and quickly stood up.
"Ah, Su Cheng, you're awake?" asked Xuan Ying, who had been sitting nearby playing with her phone. She quickly put it away and asked, "Did you not sleep well last night?"
Su Cheng paused for a second - when had these two arrived?
Had they seen the confession as well?
Su Cheng's heart jumped, but he quickly composed himself.
"We were taking a walk and found the scenery here quite nice, and since you two were here, we decided to stay for a while," Zhao Yan nodded slightly.
"I see."
Su Cheng felt relieved but knew he couldn't stay here anymore.
He decided to come only once every ten days to avoid any complications.
"Well... I should head back to class."
Su Cheng pretended to check a non-existent watch on his wrist, then hurried back to the classroom.
After Xuan Ying and Zhao Yan watched him leave, they both went to Li Guanqi's side, and the three girls huddled together, discussing something unknown.
...
"You're finally back!"
"Your strategy of 'wolfing down the food' was brilliant!"
As soon as Su Cheng entered the classroom, Gao Ye and Wang Guancong pulled him to his seat.
"No, I think it was more like 'diverting trouble elsewhere.'"
"In that case, we could also call it 'using another's knife to kill'!"
The two began arguing about this while Su Cheng sat in his place, his mind wandering to other matters.
He was thinking about the reward the system had just given him, which made him excited again.
It felt like he'd been injected with adrenaline.
Plus, he had repaid Wang Guancong's favor today.
This was turning out to be his luckiest day ever.
"Su Cheng, what would you call this strategy?"
The two suddenly turned to him.
"What?"
Su Cheng looked up confused, then quickly recovered and asked, "How's your cousin doing?"
"Not good," they answered in unison.
From their response, Su Cheng knew she must have been devastated.
"She took the afternoon off to go home. This hit her really hard - she's probably crying at home," Wang Guancong shook his head and continued, "I hope she understands our good intentions and recognizes her weight issues, then makes changes. Otherwise, she might not even be able to find a boyfriend in the future."
"..."
Su Cheng silently sighed.
Wang Guancong patted his shoulder, signaling him not to worry, and then the two resumed their discussion.
"Ring ring~"
As the class bell rang, the three girls entered the classroom right on time. They all glanced in Su Cheng's direction before taking their respective seats.
Afternoon PE class.
It was just a regular PE class.
Everyone went to the changing rooms to put on their PE uniforms, then headed to the sports field together.
The field was crowded with students from multiple grades.
But he recognized one particular class.
Class 2, Year 2.
How did Su Cheng know?
Because he saw Liu Qingyue on the field, currently stretching and warming up.
But the next second, as if sensing someone watching her, she suddenly turned her head toward Su Cheng, then broke into a bright smile, waving at him and making a cheering gesture!
Su Cheng nodded in response.
After running, it was free activity time.
Su Cheng sat alone on some steps, staring absent-mindedly at the blue sky.
He knew there would definitely be problems with the club activities later.
Ji Qingyi didn't know how to teach others.
If Ji Qingyi continued teaching according to genius standards, there would definitely be issues.
To be honest, he was a slow learner, purely relying on hard work.
He had no natural talent for anything.
Except for trash-talking.
"This won't work - I need to explain the situation to her," Su Cheng thought, having made up his mind.
While lost in thought, he didn't notice Liu Qingyue approaching from a distance, holding two bottles of water and jogging toward him, clearly intending to help him rehydrate.
However, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. The bright smile on her face froze, turning expressionless, and she turned around to walk in another direction.
"Water."
Li Guanqi glanced in the direction Liu Qingyue had gone, then handed the water to Su Cheng.
"Oh, is this for me?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
Su Cheng accepted it with a nod.
He was quite surprised.
This was the first time someone had brought him water during PE class.
Meanwhile...
"Why can't we find him?"
"He should be right here!"
Xuan Ying and Zhao Yan, each holding a bottle of water, were searching for Su Cheng but couldn't find him anywhere.
Xuan Ying was holding a bottle of juice.
Zhao Yan was holding a bottle of mineral water.
...
After PE class
At the library
"I'm here to return this book."
Li Guanqi placed the web novel in his hand on the cabinet and looked at the library staff.
"How do you find it?" the library staff asked.
"I don't quite understand the content and logic."
"Perhaps this book is too old-fashioned and not quite suitable for young people like you."
The library staff member put a book on the desk into their drawer, then took out another book and introduced it: "Would you like to take this one home? It's the most popular 'System Flow' genre right now!"
"System Flow?"
Li Guanqi tilted his head slightly, seemingly not understanding.
"Yes, you just need to complete system tasks to get rewards. The tasks are incredibly varied and interesting. And because there's a system involved, there are absolutely no logic issues!"