It rained last night and Suer slept too late, so he had a headache when he got up.
Reflexively, I picked up the phone on the bedside table. There was an unread message from Zhao Sanliang: [Take care of yourself.]
After carefully pondering the deeper meaning of these words...it seems that Ji Heng rejected his excellent proposal.
Shaking his head, Su Er stuffed the textbooks on the table into his schoolbag. He didn't take it too seriously. They were all members of the same team. Even if the deal didn't go well, there was still friendship. He expected that the captain would not do anything to him.
Zhao Sanliang also sent a document late at night containing some important information. Su Er printed it out and pasted it on the answer section of the 53rd paper, then deleted the email completely.
"Sleep, sleep, my dear baby..."
He hummed a tune on the road and pedestrians kept their distance.
It was only a twenty-minute walk from home to school. The moment I pushed open the door, I heard a lot of rustling. Seeing it was him, many people pulled their homework out of their drawers, saying with lingering fear, "I thought it was the teacher."
Su Er sat down in his seat. The student in front of him, wearing glasses, looked up at the door and said, "Why hasn't Zhu Yun come yet? My last question is still blank."
Su Er took out his exercise book: "I'll lend you mine to copy."
The student wearing glasses refused: "Your solution is too abbreviated, and the key is that you can't guarantee its correctness."
The homeroom teacher, uncharacteristically, arrived at the last minute before class, looking serious. He politely advised Zhu Yun to learn how to relieve stress. As soon as get out of class was over, Su Er saw several girls who usually played well with Zhu Yun being called to the office.
The classmate wearing glasses noticed something was wrong and asked him if Zhu Yun had taken sick leave. Suer smiled and said he didn't know.
The school required the senior students to attend evening self-study classes. The weather had been bad over the past two days, and it had gotten dark early. The moment the bell rang, many students couldn't wait to go home together.
"Sul, aren't you leaving?"
Su Er made up an excuse casually: "I'm waiting for someone."
The other party winked ambiguously: "Secretly got a girlfriend?"
After a few jokes, the people in the classroom gradually left, and finally he was the only one left.
Zhu Yun only brought home homework on a daily basis. There were still a lot of books on her desk, and her drawers were overflowing. She carefully flipped through the pages of the textbooks she had left behind, and the dense notes she kept were exhausting.
As the students gradually left the school, everything around them gradually quieted down. Suddenly, a slight rustling sound reached his ears in the hallway. At first, Su Er paid little attention to it. As the sound gradually approached, he frowned, closed his book, and listened carefully... It sounded like extremely slow footsteps.
The uncle who is responsible for locking the door downstairs usually shouts if anyone is there before going upstairs. This regular pace is obviously not his.
His hand silently reached for the stun gun. Soul stood up and moved the table blocking the back door to the side, ensuring multiple exits in the event of an emergency. Everything was ready, and he sat back down, pretending to read as if nothing had happened.
There were no other students on this floor. The night wind blew in through the open windows, making the materials that had not been collected rustle.
The sound of dragging footsteps finally approached. Su Er raised his head and his eyes flickered slightly when he saw someone he didn't expect. "Teacher Yao?"
The man was a little fat and wore a pair of rimless glasses, which made him look a bit serious.
He glanced at Su Er and asked, "Haven't you gone back yet?"
"I'm just about to go back."
Yao Zhi walked very slowly, almost at a pace, to his side. Su Er noticed that his gaze flickered over his hands stuffed in his pockets. Without changing his expression, he pulled out two walnuts and handed one to Yao Zhi: "Teacher, would you like some?"
Yao Zhiwei was stunned: "You carry walnuts with you as snacks?"
No wonder the pockets of the school uniform look a little bulging.
Su Er nodded and walked to the back door naturally. He used the gap to pinch hard and opened the shell smoothly. He stood by the trash can and ate while peeling, keeping a safe distance from Yao Zhi. "Teacher, is there something you want to talk to me about?"
Unexpectedly, Yao Zhi really nodded.
Su Er narrowed his eyes. Yao Zhi taught math, and he was a bit weak in that area, so he would occasionally give him some advice. But he had a hunch that Yao Zhi wasn't here tonight because of his grades.
"Your ranking is in the upper middle of the class, and your math scores are lagging behind," Yao Zhi said slowly, "but the teacher has always believed that you are a diligent and self-disciplined student."
"Don't worry," Su Er patted the residue on his hands and put on a playful smile: "I will definitely strive to be the best."
"There are ways to compete," Yao Zhi said sternly, "A good student shouldn't even think about cheating."
"..." Su Er's smile faded a little: "Where did you get this from?"
Yao Zhi stared at him: "Ji Heng told me that someone wanted to cheat in the game by using the time difference."
Su Er's expression changed slightly, and he suddenly realized something: "You wouldn't..."
Yao Zhi spat out four words: "Seven days and seven nights."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Su Er unconsciously took a few steps back, as if deeply shocked. After a moment, he came to his senses and said, "Give me a moment. So, Teacher Yao and Ji Heng know each other?"
Their eyes met, and Yao Zhi suddenly smiled: "Zhao Sanliang said you were born in the year of the fox, and it seems to be true."
His eyes fell on a blind spot in front of Su Er: "Stop sneaking around."
Hearing this, Su Er raised his eyebrows and put his hands in the open as if accepting his fate: "It seems that I am not suitable to do small tricks under the teacher's nose."
When Yao Zhi revealed his identity just now, Suer immediately called Zhao Sanliang privately. If the other party was talking nonsense, he could try to delay the time and wait for Zhao Sanliang's rescue.
After the phone was put on speakerphone, Zhao Sanliang's voice came out: "Boy, you're smart. Don't worry, Yao Zhi is a veteran player."
The first sentence dispelled Su Er's doubts, but the next sentence shattered his dreams: "So forget about cheating in the dungeon. You might have to make up for it later."
"..." After ending the call, Su Er rubbed his temples gently.
"It's late." Yao Zhi glanced at the sky outside, told him to study hard, and told him to go home quickly. The old man in charge of locking the door had a bad temper. After that time, no matter who it was, they would be scolded.
Su Er agreed readily. When packing up, he took out a few books from the bottom of Zhu Yun's drawer while Yao Zhi was not paying attention, stuffed them into his schoolbag and took them away.
As they walked down the stairs, Soul quickly caught up with them and said, "I didn't expect you to be a member of the game." He scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I suddenly feel much more at ease."
Yao Zhi nodded: "When you feel too stressed, you can come to me and talk."
Su Er smiled bitterly: "Actually, after entering the game, the pressure of studying has eased a lot."
But out of the corner of his eye he was always keeping an eye on Yao Zhi's expression.
"Indeed, I've seen many people do stupid things for their grades. It's really not worth it."
"Yeah." Su Er sighed pretentiously and lowered his eyes: "I don't know if Zhu Yun has been found. She came to me before she ran away from home. She looked very stressed. I wish I could have stopped her at that time."
Yao Zhi's eyes were also filled with regret: "Excellent people often like to dwell on trivial matters."
Su Er withdrew his gaze. It seemed that the other party was unaware that Zhu Yun was also a player.
Before parting, Yao Zhi suddenly said, "There will be a pop quiz tomorrow."
Su Er withdrew his thoughts and asked in surprise: "Didn't you just take the test?"
Yao Zhi: "I heard Sanliang talk about what happened in the game."
Suer had a bad feeling.
When someone who doesn't usually smile suddenly laughs, it's either stunning or terrifying. Yao Zhi belongs to the latter category: "I heard you invented the charm-based method of fighting ghosts."
"…"The thing I was most worried about happened.
Yao Zhi said calmly, "I haven't been to a dungeon in a week, and I still don't know what my Charm score is." He stopped and turned to look at Su Er: "What do you think I can score?"
Ji Heng is the best-looking person Su Er has ever seen. His appearance and temperament are first-class. Even a man with such a perfect appearance would not be over twenty years old, let alone Yao Zhi.
"By the way, there are countless players who haven't entered the dungeon recently," Yao Zhi looked at him. "When they do, they will definitely be very surprised and delighted."
Overnight fame and public enemy, Su Er vaguely felt that he had it all.
Yao Zhi turned around and walked in the opposite direction. His voice drifted over on the night wind, saying something similar to what Zhao Sanliang had said: "Young man, you still have a long way to go. Take care of yourself."
"…"
In this city with a rapidly developing economy, the house where Suer lives is nothing compared to that of a truly wealthy person. It is just a three-bedroom, one-living-room house.
But now that I live alone, it's inevitably empty.
The first thing he did when he got home was look at an old family photo. Everyone in the photo had their lips curled up just right. Thinking of the family in the game who had been brainwashed by the cult, and how they could all smile with genuine emotion in the photo, he felt a little uncomfortable.
What exactly is the problem?
Buzz.
His cell phone vibrated. It was a text message from Ji Heng, telling him to be mentally prepared to enter the dungeon the day after tomorrow night.
On Friday night, Suer packed up his things in advance and was the first to leave the school after evening study.
Two people could be vaguely seen talking under the big tree, but it was mainly the one with the eye-catching appearance who was talking, while the other nodded occasionally.
"Hey!" Zhao Sanliang waved his hand familiarly. "You're brave. You haven't asked for leave yet."
He has seen many people quit their jobs after entering the game and live a life of drinking and enjoying life to the fullest.
Su Er glanced past him and stared at Ji Heng: "Why did you specifically inform Teacher Yao?"
"The rules prohibit players from killing each other in real life, but nothing is absolute," Ji Heng said calmly, "Yao Zhi is responsible and can protect you at a critical moment."
Su Er nodded slightly, accepting this statement.
Ji Heng added, "But the college entrance exam can't be delayed. I'll try to put you and Yao Zhi in the same instance and give you tutoring."
How to make up for it? Others fight ghosts, but he solves equations!
Thinking of this, Su Er's face changed: "I heard that team props are very valuable, so there is no need to bother."
Ji Heng had no expression on his face. He said calmly, "No matter how hard life is, we cannot let our children suffer. No matter how poor we are, we cannot let them suffer from education. I'll take care of the props."
Zhao Sanliang suppressed a laugh and nodded in agreement: "That's right, as the most powerful faction, we have the conditions!"