After reviewing for a few hours.
"Li Rui, your mentality is not right, too restless."
Zheng Hao couldn't sit still any longer, "You've switched through three books this entire afternoon, how can you remember anything."
Li Rui shrugged, "I remembered everything; you can't just stop me from switching."
"Bullshit, that entire economic law book is highlighted, and you memorized it in two hours?" Zheng Hao didn't believe him at all.
"Believe it or not." Li Rui was not being polite either.
Zheng Hao looked displeased, yanking the textbook over with a loud noise and reading aloud, "The controlling shareholders of listed companies are banned from transferring non-publicly issued stocks within how many months?"
"36." Li Rui answered without hesitation.
Zheng Hao was a bit unsatisfied, flipping through dozens of pages randomly, "Is the debt incurred from a debtor's property causing harm counted as a common benefit debt?"
"Yes."
Zheng Hao started to waver, continuing to flip through pages, picking obscure contents without highlighted points, and yet Li Rui answered all of them, which broke him.
"How are you like this!"
"How am I like what..."
"You, you secretly studied behind my back, didn't you!"
"I didn't study shit."
Li Rui thought to himself that last week he was busy learning how to clear dungeons every day.
Zheng Hao felt restless, "Forget it, forget it, this is really frustrating, it's even more annoying that my bro remembers everything better than I do, let's go play ball!"
"I'm not playing."
Li Rui waved his hand in refusal. Now, he could punch through walls and jump up to the basket rim; playing with them would be bullying, "I have to go to my part-time job."
He gave a reason no one could argue against.
Zheng Hao, feeling disheartened, went to invite others, then the group left the teaching building together.
"I heard we have a new school principal, and it's a woman."
"Really? What good is that? They still won't install air conditioning regardless."
"We could give feedback. She's just taken office; surely she wants to establish a good reputation."
"If you want to go, go ahead. Just be careful not to get called in for a talk by the counselor."
The group dribbled their basketballs and walked along the green path. Halfway there, Zheng Hao suddenly changed faces, "Oh no, turn back quickly."
But after arduous study, the group was excited to relax and didn't notice his hushed warning. A few meters ahead, they saw the school leaders chatting and laughing, including their law school's dean and vice-dean, and a few counselors.
Turning back was not possible now, so they had no choice but to brace themselves and walk forward, eyes glued to the ground, not daring to lift them.
However, as fate would have it, as they passed by the leaders, a gentle voice suddenly called out to them.
"Which department are you students from?"
Zheng Hao felt goosebumps rise on his back. In the basketball group, he was the leader, stepping forward responsibly.
"Teacher, we're from Class One of the Law Department."
Though he didn't recognize everyone, he knew his counselor. He quickly gave a look, hoping for help in getting out of this situation.
The counselor, of course, wouldn't sell out his students, hurriedly stepping up and saying, "These are the star athletes from Law Class One, they even participated in our college basketball match before."
Then he explained to Zheng Hao, "This is our Principal Wu."
The woman who called out to them smiled, "Young people should be more proactive. If you have any difficulties in study or life, or any feedback or suggestions about the school, feel free to say it. I've just joined the school and am not familiar with the situation yet, so speak up. I'll do my best to solve what I can."
Zheng Hao didn't know whether to consider himself lucky or not. He hadn't expected to run into the new principal just days after her taking office.
What puzzled them even more was that this principal actually stopped a few students on the roadside to ask if they had any difficulties.
"I can't tell the truth, can I? Is it okay just to be perfunctory?" Zheng Hao was nervous, glancing at the counselor for guidance, but the counselor hadn't mastered the art of communication through eye contact, leaving him helpless.
"Hello, Principal Wu." Zheng Hao cleared his throat, "Uh, we have been doing well in both study and life....um...."
"Principal Wu, our old dorms still don't have air conditioning installed. Could you find a way to resolve this? The weather's so hot, everyone can't review properly."
Seeing him at a loss for words, Li Rui took over with a cheeky grin.
He was straightforward because he recognized this principal as Wu Mengying, the head of the Huangliang Chapter of the Baili Association, guessing she stopped them because she saw him.
However, at that moment, the counselor, unaware of the inside story, felt his head buzz.
You actually gave feedback when prompted? Didn't you understand she was just being polite?
The college dean didn't expect this student to be so straightforward either, quickly interjected, "Uh, Principal Wu, it's like this, the old dorm area has a long history, being a part of our century-old prestigious school...."
"No."
Wu Mengying waved her hand, "The students' accommodation issues are of utmost importance. With the weather getting hotter each year, and the poor ventilation in dorms, air conditioning should be installed, write it down. Implement it within a week, aiming to have it done by summer break."
The accompanying school leaders were puzzled, thinking: Are you serious?
They didn't expect her to immediately make a statement and even set a timeline, clearly taking it seriously.
But they had no choice, echoing yes repeatedly, planning to probe more later.
Naturally, there was a tacit understanding between Li Rui and Wu Mengying, knowing this matter was settled. He spoke up, "Thank you, Principal Wu."
"No need, ensuring the students' academic and living conditions is my responsibility in the first place."
Wu Mengying gave a somewhat amused but serious smile before walking away with her group.
Of course, she took Li Rui's words seriously, as this would count as an achievement in the Baili Association. If she didn't appease him, and he defected to the Chi Jia Association or Profound Spirit Association, it would be a loss.
After the two groups separated, Zheng Hao threw an arm around Li Rui's shoulders, "Wow, you're bold to say that."
The others looked at him with admiration, "Awesome! Sounds like they're really going to install it."
"You're practically the hero of the law faculty, riding in on a rainbow cloud to save us."
"It's not that big of a deal, calling me a hero is an exaggeration."
Li Rui maintained his composure, saying, "Just call me dad from now on."
"Idiot!"
Amid their playful banter, they reached the sports field. Li Rui didn't play basketball and left the school directly. While waiting at the bus stop, his phone rang. It was Du Yuying, the wife of Officer Wang Huai.
"Hey, Auntie, inviting me over for dinner again?"
"Yes, come by if you're free tonight."
"Alrighty."
Li Rui agreed with a grin, then headed to the fruit shop near the school gate to buy a few kilograms of mangosteen. Such a luxurious fruit was not something he'd have bought before, but Officer Wang's daughter loved it. Now that he had money, he could start repaying the family's long-standing care for him.
After taking the bus to the address, he made his way upstairs proficiently and knocked on the door, which was opened by a girl who seemed to be in high school.
"Brother Rui, you're here."
Her name was Wang Jia, a year younger than Li Rui, in the most complicated phase of adolescence. She opened the door, blushing and stepping back a few paces, looking quite shy.
"Jiajia, you're about to be a senior, study hard."
Someone who had already taken the college entrance exam surely spoke with authority.
Li Rui entered the house, "Where's your dad?"
Wang Jia lowered her head and replied, "He's been temporarily assigned to Celestial King Town and won't be back until next month."
Li Rui slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten about this, but the words "Celestial King Town" sounded familiar.
"Celestial King Town...Celestial King Town..."
While reaching for the cup of water the girl handed, he suddenly remembered.
Reality overlap!
Before leaving Guotong Mansion, he'd watched the Prophet Wu Bing predict using his skills that the next reality overlap would happen near Celestial King Town.
Wouldn't there be danger?
According to Li Rui's understanding, if a reality overlap was predicted, the action team would deploy in advance. But if the overlap's area was large, some police force would also be drawn to assist.
However, even if general officers went, their main task would be directing civilians away from danger zones, so it should be fine.
Yet, at this moment, Li Rui couldn't shake off a sense of impending danger looming in the back of his mind.