Chapter 16.2: Daily Struggles and Comedic Chaos

After the quiz, Zhou Zhi sulked for the rest of the day.

"You're heartless," he told Shi Mo over lunch.

"Thank you."

"Not a compliment."

"I know."

Fu Yunshen said nothing, but the corner of his lips twitched.

Progress.

That evening, back at the dorm, Zhou Zhi returned from a short walk holding a suspiciously large paper bag.

"What's that?" Shi Mo asked.

"A gift," he said, grinning.

She narrowed her eyes. "For who?"

"You."

Shi Mo frowned. "What kind of gift?"

Zhou Zhi tossed the bag onto her bed. It made a soft thud.

Inside were several tightly wrapped magazines with bold covers.

She opened one.

Paused.

Then slammed it shut.

"…Zhou Zhi," she said through gritted teeth, "why did you give me adult magazines?"

"They're for education!" he defended. "Our ideological foundation needs variety."

"I don't need these kinds of ideologies!"

"Come on, you're a growing boy—"

Fu Yunshen, from his bed, cut in. "Take it back, or burn it."

Zhou Zhi pouted. "You guys have no appreciation for culture."

Later, as Shi Mo lay in bed flipping through a novel instead of the unsolicited "gift," she couldn't help but laugh under her breath.

Life had become unexpectedly chaotic.

And despite the constant risk of being exposed, the haunting nightmares, and the strange pull of the Gu inside her—

She felt… almost normal.

She wasn't just surviving.

She was starting to live.

Even if it meant enduring Zhou Zhi's "educational" offerings.

[System Notification]Brotherhood Value +30 (Zhou Zhi)Brotherhood Value +10 (Fu Yunshen: + for shared suffering)Current Total: 420 / 1,000,000

Shi Mo smiled faintly.

Still a long way to go.

But comedy, it seemed, was an unexpected shortcut.