Chapter 6: The First Story (4)

After a strangely tense evening study session, Qin Chu gathered his belongings and walked toward the dormitory building.

The aftermath of the exams still lingered. Students clustered in small groups, either discussing questions or gossiping about the two major incidents that Cheng Cheng had caused, which led to missed exams.

As one of the victims, Zhou Sisi was immediately surrounded the moment she stepped out of the classroom.

"Sisi, we heard that Cheng Cheng had people block you again yesterday. Is that true?"

"Not exactly…" Zhou Sisi, still in a foul mood after missing an exam due to arriving late, tried to muster the energy to explain. She hesitated. "I don't think it was Cheng Cheng who sent them this time…"

Like everyone else, her first thought upon seeing Cheng Cheng in the alley was that he had arranged for someone to block her again. But later, after she had run out of the street, she mustered the courage to glance back.

At that moment, those delinquents were all lying on the ground, and Cheng Cheng was standing with his back to her, head lowered. Zhou Sisi couldn't see what he was doing, but she faintly heard his cold voice, as if he was reprimanding the gang members.

Zhou Sisi didn't think Cheng Cheng was a good person, but it genuinely seemed like he wasn't responsible this time.

However, the surrounding classmates were not interested in Zhou Sisi's theory.

"If it wasn't him, who else could it be?"

"Those guys from Old Street are tough. The fact that you managed to get away is impressive!"

After several attempts to explain, Zhou Sisi realized it was useless and felt a headache coming on. "Ugh, stop asking already! I didn't do well on the test this time, and it's driving me crazy!"

Noah, sensing the commotion around the girl, started nudging Qin Chu. "Commander, are you really not going to explain yourself? Zhou Sisi is speaking up for you! It's the perfect chance to build a good relationship with her."

Qin Chu remained uninterested. "Would they even believe me?"

After a two-second pause, Noah responded, "True. If you go over to explain, by tomorrow, the rumor would be 'Cheng Cheng coldly threatened Zhou Sisi to keep her mouth shut.'"

With his villainous face, what could he do?

Ignoring Noah, Qin Chu continued to observe Zhou Sisi, contemplating how best to complete his mission.

This mission was unprecedented for Qin Chu. Capturing space pirates, fighting star beasts, or even maintaining public order—all were tasks he was adept at handling.

But watching over three kids to ensure they took their exams? That was a new low.

Zhou Sisi's group stirred again as Loudspeaker—no, Wang Peng—called out, "Zhou Sisi, it's getting dark. Let me walk you home!"

Immediately, both boys and girls started teasing them. Zhou Sisi's face flushed red as she gripped her backpack and stammered, "No need, Wang Peng. My dad is picking me up today."

Since Zhou Sisi and Wang Peng were both involved in his mission, Qin Chu paused to observe them.

He glanced at the progress bar for his mission—there were three bars in total. Even though he hadn't done anything, Zhou Sisi and Wang Peng's bars were already at 50%.

Qin Chu asked Noah, "If Zhou Sisi is the top student, why do I need to supervise her taking the exam?"

When it came to mission details, Noah was somewhat reliable and provided useful information. "Because in the normal progression of this world, Zhou Sisi ends up missing the exam."

"Why?"

"She falls for a delinquent named Meng Bo. Eventually, she gets involved in his lifestyle, causing her grades to drop. Just before the college entrance exam, she's implicated in a fight and loses her eligibility."

Qin Chu frowned.

Not far away, Zhou Sisi, dressed in a blue and white school uniform, jogged toward the school gate, her heavy senior-year backpack weighing her down. Her high ponytail swayed in the air, tracing arcs behind her.

It was hard to imagine such a clean and obedient girl squatting in an alley, lost in the filth of the streets.

Sensing Qin Chu's thoughts, Noah explained, "Data shows that humans are often attracted to those who are their complete opposites. Zhou Sisi was drawn to Meng Bo in this way. Before one of her exams, Zhou Sisi took a shortcut through Old Street, got harassed by other gang members, and Meng Bo showed up just in time to 'save' her."

Hearing this, Qin Chu stared at the 50% progress bar, feeling that something was off.

He asked, "When did this happen?"

Noah reviewed the timeline, and he and Qin Chu mentally exchanged glances again.

"As expected of you, Commander. Before the mission even officially started, you already stole Meng Bo's heroic moment…"

Noah's tone was filled with a kind of admiration. "When I saw that 50%, I thought it was because you were so committed to maintaining public order."

If Qin Chu had been in a bad mood, he might have cleaned up Meng Bo's entire gang, leading them to go straight. But as it turned out, the end result wasn't all that different.

"What about Wang Peng's 50%?" Qin Chu continued to ask.

"Can't you tell? Wang Peng likes Zhou Sisi."

"Does he?" Qin Chu raised an eyebrow. He truly hadn't noticed that these little brats had anything going on between them.

Noah was speechless for two seconds before dutifully explaining, "Wang Peng was originally supposed to seek out Zhou Sisi before the college entrance exam, and the two of them would end up missing it together. Now that Zhou Sisi's problem is half-solved, Wang Peng's issue is naturally resolving as well."

General Qin said nothing more. Seeing how fast the mission progress was increasing, it seemed like these kids weren't that hard to manage after all.

Finally, Qin Chu turned his gaze to the only progress bar still at 0%. Compared to the other two, which had already reached 50%, Zhao Yuan's bar stood out starkly.

Qin Chu had no particular impression of Zhao Yuan.

Yesterday, when he returned the scooter, the shop had only the owner present. Today, in class, Zhao Yuan also seemed to be absent.

"Why did Zhao Yuan miss the exam?" Qin Chu asked.

Before Noah could answer, a few boys passed by, chatting about Zhao Yuan's absence.

"Zhao Yuan from Class 1 arrived at school when the Chinese exam was almost over. He missed an entire subject! And Chinese was his strongest subject too—this is a huge loss for him."

Qin Chu clicked his tongue in mild annoyance.

Noah asked, "What's wrong, Commander? Are you feeling guilty? After all, you took his scooter, and that's why he was late."

"I borrowed it," Qin Chu corrected, continuing to walk without pausing. "The Chinese exam lasts two hours. That shop is, at most, a thirty-minute trip from the school. Even if he crawled, he should've made it in time."

Although it was just a simple issue of being late, Qin Chu had a feeling that Zhao Yuan wouldn't be an easy task.

Noah's next words confirmed his suspicion. "Zhao Yuan's absence is rather unique. Even Zhou Sisi was technically forced into a fight, which led to her losing the chance to take the exam. But Zhao Yuan… he was still fighting when the exam started. He skipped it willingly."

Qin Chu didn't respond immediately. He walked in silence all the way to the boys' dormitory before finally speaking. "Your mission objectives are wrong. You should've just assigned me to clean up public order instead."

Noah: "…" The man's obsession with law enforcement was unreal.

From General Qin's perspective, no matter what the underlying reasons were, all three of them had missed the exam because of fighting.

Zhou Sisi and Wang Peng were beyond his immediate reach for now, but Zhao Yuan lived in the same dorm as Cheng Cheng. Qin Chu figured he might as well solve the problem tonight—let Zhao Yuan experience firsthand why fighting was a bad idea.

Upstairs, the dormitory door was conveniently left open, so Qin Chu didn't have to bother finding a key.

The dormitory building had the same old-fashioned style as the surrounding residential area. The corners of the walls were damp, with peeling paint barely clinging on.

It was a six-person dorm, but judging by the belongings, only five people lived there.

When Qin Chu entered, only one boy was inside, sitting at the desk. He appeared to be diligently studying, but in reality, he had a second notebook on top of his own, clearly copying answers at full speed.

Since this dorm housed students from different classes, Qin Chu didn't receive the same cold treatment he did in the classroom.

Hearing someone enter, the boy at the desk looked up. When he saw Qin Chu, his expression froze for a second before he greeted him warmly.

"You didn't come back last night! The dorm supervisor checked three times. Every time, I said you were in the bathroom, but then he asked if you had some kind of medical condition."

Qin Chu: "…"

Yesterday, he had gone to return the scooter and then went straight home, confirming that Cheng Cheng's parents were never around.

After a quick glance around and not spotting Zhao Yuan, Qin Chu didn't pay it much mind.

On his way back to the dorm, he had noticed that some students had gone to the small convenience store on campus instead of returning immediately.

Following the bed numbers, Qin Chu found his assigned bunk—a top bunk. The setup was incredibly basic. Compared to the era he came from, even an intergalactic prison had better accommodations.

While Qin Chu was familiarizing himself with his surroundings, the boy at the desk kept scratching his head in frustration. Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer and turned to Qin Chu for help.

Waving his homework notebook, he pleaded, "Cheng-ge, do me a favor. This bastard's handwriting is too messy, I can't read it! Your notes are top-tier—just let me copy yours!"

After shouting for a while with no response, the boy looked up again, only to meet Qin Chu's icy, stiff expression.

Qin Chu: "…What homework?"

He hadn't expected that, after more than a decade since graduating, he would once again face the horror of doing homework.

Fortunately, General Qin was intelligent enough to direct this question at Noah.

Unfortunately, Noah was a useless system. It completely malfunctioned at this critical moment, knowing absolutely nothing about the homework.

Yet, Noah still had the nerve to cry in Qin Chu's mind, "Commander, a top student can't skip homework!"

Qin Chu was furious. He was about to ask the boy directly when Noah hurriedly added, "And you can't not know what the assignment is!"

Qin Chu glanced at the name on the boy's notebook—Tian Li.

With extreme caution, he asked, "…Which assignment are you talking about?"

"The physics problems! The ones we got before the exam!" Tian Li looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Qin Chu honestly wanted to say, "Whose homework are you copying? Let me copy too."

But that would definitely break character, so General Qin remained cold and indifferent. "Oh. Do it yourself."

Tian Li slumped back, looking utterly dejected.

General Qin's grand ambitions of law enforcement were defeated by a simple physics assignment.

With this unexpected interruption, his focus on Zhao Yuan completely shifted to physics.

And as luck would have it, tomorrow's first class was physics.

If he caught up on the homework now, his roommates might find out "This top student didn't do his homework."

If he waited until morning study period, then the whole class would know.

After weighing his options, Qin Chu climbed down from his bunk, took out his homework notebook, and sat at the desk.

Seeing Qin Chu's completely blank homework notebook and the exercise sheet in his hand, Tian Li, who had been furiously copying answers, cast him a suspicious look.

Faced with doubt, Qin Chu remained utterly serious and cold, making him seem very convincing. He said, "I was bored. Doing it again."

Tian Li looked utterly shocked, clearly unable to comprehend the world of a top student.

Rushing to finish his homework before all his roommates returned, Qin Chu quickly completed it, tidied up his things, and placed them on his bed. Lowering his head, he glanced downward.

By coincidence—or perhaps because they were the only two students from Class 1 in this dorm—Zhao Yuan's bed was right below Qin Chu's.

Now that most of the roommates had returned, the small dormitory was filled with noise and chatter. However, Zhao Yuan's bunk remained empty.

Qin Chu frowned. As he turned his head, he happened to see a tall, skinny boy with bangs covering his eyes walking out of the bathroom. Qin Chu called out to him, "Hey, do you know where Zhao Yuan is?"

The moment he asked this question, the previously noisy dormitory fell completely silent.