DMMB Chapter 20

He had no idea why. He had only been living at Qin Zigui’s house for three days, yet he had spent all three nights sleeping in Qin Zigui’s bed. And every morning when he woke up, Qin Zigui was nowhere to be seen. There wasn’t even the slightest sign that the two of them had slept in the same bed.

Was this guy refusing to sleep with him because he found him unpleasant?

That didn’t make sense. If Qin Zigui really disliked him, he wouldn’t have begged to make up with him yesterday.

Thinking about how the two of them had finally reconciled, Sheng Yan rolled over and looked out the window. To his surprise, today was one of the rare sunny days in Nanwu. The morning sunlight, around six or seven o’clock, lazily spilled across the floor through the floor-to-ceiling windows, filling the room with a bright, crystal-clear glow. Even the noisy chirping of the cicadas sounded a little more pleasant.

Wonderful.

Sheng Yan was talking about the weather today.

He wondered whether there really was a Goddess of Mercy in this world watching over him. Otherwise, how could he have wished to make up with Qin Zigui on his birthday just a few days ago, only for Qin Zigui to actually reconcile with him?

Or perhaps, just as Madam Xu had said, he was simply born lucky and blessed in everything he did.

Whatever the reason, Sheng Yan just felt that he was in an exceptionally good mood today.

So, for once, he didn’t linger in bed. After washing up, he discovered that all the mistakes in his study notes on the desk had already been corrected, complete with additional notes explaining the relevant concepts. His mood instantly improved even more.

As expected, July was his lucky month.

The Wish Fulfillment App was the beginning of his journey toward the pinnacle of life.

Feeling refreshed and energized, Sheng Yan packed his schoolbag, grabbed the doorknob, and pushed the door open. As soon as he entered the dining room, Qin Zigui, who was packing breakfast, looked up at him.

“Would you like milk or soy milk today?”

“Milk.”

To grow taller.

After hearing his answer, Qin Zigui took out two cartons of milk and placed them in the breakfast bag along with two lunch boxes.

“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late.”

Back when they were in their first year of high school, before the classes were rearranged, this was how they went to school every morning. Qin Zigui would get up first, prepare everything, and pack their breakfast. Then he would go across the hall to drag Sheng Yan out of bed and get him ready for school. Once they arrived in the classroom, they would eat breakfast together.

Those days felt like a distant memory.

But something seemed a little off.

“Can you walk now?” Sheng Yan asked, looking at Qin Zigui, who was standing beside the table and seemed perfectly fine.

Qin Zigui answered casually, “Yeah. When I got up today, it suddenly didn’t hurt as much. As long as I don’t make any big movements or walk too fast, I’m basically fine. Maybe the medicine I took yesterday has started working.”

What kind of miracle medicine could work that well?

Unless it was some kind of supernatural power.

Remembering how Qin Zigui had seemed practically unable to walk without him last night, Sheng Yan opened the Wish Fulfillment App in disbelief.

Sure enough, the second pot of little daisies in the garden had bloomed, too.

A message appeared in the notification bar:

[Congratulations, Host! Because the favorability of your fated individual has reached 100 ahead of schedule, your wish task has been completed early, and your wish has been fulfilled ahead of time. Current upgrade progress: 2/10. Please keep up the good work!]

Additional information: [A fated individual is someone destined to share a bond with the Host. Every time the favorability of a fated individual reaches 100, the Host will receive one additional wish that can be fulfilled. There is no upper limit.]

Currently unlocked fated individuals: [Qin Zigui] [-Unknown-] [-Unknown-]

This app was becoming more and more elaborate the longer he used it. It was almost as if it were becoming more human, too. Aside from the fact that he couldn’t cancel and make a new wish once one had already been granted, he could actually earn additional wishes by increasing someone’s favorability toward him?

Sheng Yan wasn’t particularly surprised that Qin Zigui was one of his fated individuals. After all, ever since he was three years old, Qin Zigui had been the person who spent the most time with him, understood him the best, and treated him better than anyone else.

No one else even came close.

However, Sheng Yan was a little surprised that he had managed to max out Qin Zigui’s favorability in just one day.

Could making up with Qin Zigui really be enough to max out his favorability?

Even if that were the case, he didn’t have that many things to make up for with Qin Zigui.

Sheng Yan tapped Qin Zigui’s favorability bar displayed on his phone and thought back to everything he had done yesterday. He decided to try a few other methods.

With that in mind, he looked up at Qin Zigui. “I’ll treat you to milk tea at noon.”

Qin Zigui was holding the breakfast bag in one hand and fiddling with his phone in the other. Hearing this, he turned his head toward Sheng Yan.

“What’s wrong?”

The favorability didn’t change.

Sheng Yan tried again. “How about letting you hug Cuckoo?”

Still no change.

Sheng Yan tried once more. “Qin Zigui is the most handsome man in the world?”

The favorability remained unchanged.

How strange. Had he done anything else yesterday that he could use?

Before Sheng Yan could figure it out, Qin Ru had already finished putting on her makeup and hurried out of the master bedroom. She grabbed her car keys and urged Sheng Yan, “Stop showering your Brother Zigui with compliments here! Save them for when you get to school. If we don’t leave now, you’ll be late!”

“Got it, Aunt Qin.” Sheng Yan wasn’t in a hurry. Since he was in an unusually good mood today, he casually replied in a lazy drawl, “But don’t worry. If I’m late, I’ll just say it’s because our Brother Zigui has a bad leg, so I had to help him cross the road.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, his favorability increased by 1. Current favorability progress: 1/100.

Sheng Yan: “?”

He froze for a moment, then tentatively tried again.

“Brother Zigui?”

His favorability increased by another 1. Progress: 2/100.

Sheng Yan: “…”

What kind of weird hobby did Qin Zigui have?

Did he really like hearing Sheng Yan call him big brother that much? If he called him Daddy Zigui, would the points double?

But even if that were true, it would be useless. A hero would never compromise his dignity for a single favorability point. His two weekly wishes were more than enough. He certainly wasn’t going to lower himself to curry favor with Qin Zigui!

Thinking this, Sheng Yan put away his phone, hummed a little tune, and leisurely followed Qin Zigui into Qin Ru’s car on their way to school.

When the two of them appeared together at the entrance of Class One, everyone inside froze.

It wasn’t for any particular reason. It was just that, according to the rumors, the two handsome guys had beaten each other bloody yesterday, fought to the death, become sworn enemies, and accumulated a blood feud that could never be settled.

Yet here they were, appearing at the classroom door together, walking arm in arm, carrying breakfast, and looking perfectly harmonious.

More accurately, they weren’t exactly arm in arm. Sheng Yan was supporting Qin Zigui.

But Qin Zigui was so tall, with a frame considerably larger than Sheng Yan’s, and he was carrying a big bag in one hand. Meanwhile, Sheng Yan held a carton of milk in one hand and loosely supported Qin Zigui with the other. The whole scene looked rather like someone strolling around with his boyfriend, snacking as they went, while his boyfriend carried the bags for him.

That was how Lin Qian, the Chinese class representative, described it in the depths of her mind.

Of course, she didn’t dare say it out loud. After years of following celebrities and reading novels, she understood one important rule: Never shove your ship in the actual couple’s faces.

“So, you two… everything’s okay now?” Lin Qian asked uncertainly.

Sheng Yan lazily released the hand supporting Qin Zigui and returned to his seat.

“For now, I guess. It mainly depends on his attitude.”

“?” Lin Qian didn’t understand. “Whose attitude?”

Qin Zigui, standing behind Sheng Yan, answered coolly, “Mine.”

Lin Qian: “???”

Whose?

Before she could voice her doubts, she witnessed an even more shocking sight.

Qin Zigui, who was rumored to be so detached from worldly affairs, cold, and merciless that people were afraid to approach him, expressionlessly took out a little yellow chick lunchbox. He then removed an egg from inside and peeled it, leaving only a small section at one end for him to hold.

Then he called out, “Sheng Yan.”

Sheng Yan turned around and took the egg. While eating it, he lowered his head to watch a replay of yesterday’s basketball game on his phone.

After finishing the egg, he handed the remaining shell to Qin Zigui, then accepted a few pieces of cut fruit from him. Next, he casually pulled two wet wipes from the tissues on Qin Zigui’s desk.

He continued watching the game and never looked up again.

Meanwhile, Qin Zigui was left to clean up the breakfast mess by himself.

The entire process flowed so naturally that even couples who had been married for seven or eight years might not be this comfortable with each other.

Lin Qian: “…”

She felt that something about this scene was definitely not right.

But before she could figure out what it was, a thunderous roar erupted from the classroom’s back door.

“SHENG YAN!”

Sheng Yan swiftly hid his phone behind his back and stood up.

Huang Shuliang’s voice arrived before the man himself, so he hadn’t noticed Sheng Yan’s phone. He simply marched up to Sheng Yan and demanded loudly, “Tell me! Did you finish the homework I assigned you yesterday?”

“I finished it,” Sheng Yan answered honestly. “But I didn’t exactly finish all of it.”

Strictly speaking, the assignment had been completed, but he hadn’t done it himself. So whether it counted as finished depended on how Huang Shuliang chose to define it.

Huang Shuliang, however, took his answer as a challenge.

“Finished is finished! Unfinished is unfinished! What do you mean you finished it but didn’t completely finish it? Hand me the test paper and let me see!”

Although Sheng Yan had a bit of a spoiled rich-kid temperament, his family had raised him well from childhood, so he was generally well-behaved in front of his elders. He didn’t argue back and simply took out the test paper.

Huang Shuliang snatched it and flipped through the pages. In an instant, he flew into a rage.

“Sheng Yan! I told you to correct your test paper, meaning you were supposed to figure out the answers yourself! I never told you to get someone else to do it for you! Look at this handwriting! Does this look like your chicken-scratch writing? This character is clearly… Hmm? Why does this handwriting look so much like Qin Zigui’s?”

Huang Shuliang immediately grabbed Qin Zigui’s test paper from the desk beside him and compared the two.

They were indeed identical.

Then he remembered that Qin Zigui had been injured because of Sheng Yan yesterday. He had missed half a day’s classes and an entire evening of competition training, only to spend his precious study time completing this stupid test paper for Sheng Yan.

The thought made Huang Shuliang even angrier.

“Sheng Yan! You’d better tell me the truth! Why is Qin Zigui’s handwriting all over your test paper? Did you use violence to threaten a classmate into doing your homework for you?!”

Huang Shuliang roared with such righteous fury that he sounded as though he had already caught Sheng Yan red-handed, with irrefutable evidence proving his guilt.

Sheng Yan was left with a face full of question marks. “????”

He was genuinely curious how on earth Huang Shuliang had arrived at that conclusion.

Seriously, was someone like Qin Zigui really the kind of person who could be threatened?

Since childhood, Sheng Yan had never really lacked anything he wanted. As a result, he had developed a confidence and carefree attitude that most people didn’t possess. So he didn’t find the accusation particularly insulting, nor was he angry. He was simply shocked and speechless.

Qin Zigui, however, stood up beside him and spoke calmly. “Teacher, I was the one who offered to help him correct his paper.”

Huang Shuliang paused and turned around.

Qin Zigui maintained his cool, polite demeanor. “Assigning homework that far exceeds a student’s abilities or making them copy things excessively as punishment is unreasonable. In this case, Sheng Yan took the initiative to ask me how to correct his mistakes, and I offered to help him make the corrections and explain the answers. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

This time, it wasn’t just Huang Shuliang who was stunned. The entire Class One fell into shocked silence.

Although Qin Zigui had never been particularly easy to get along with, his usual indifferent attitude toward everything meant that he rarely got into genuine conflicts with others. He was even less inclined to argue with teachers. He simply did whatever he thought needed to be done without bothering to respond to anyone’s remarks.

This was the first time he had openly challenged a teacher’s statements in front of so many people.

His words were still relatively polite, but his attitude made his position perfectly clear.

Huang Shuliang also realized that his earlier remarks had been a little impulsive and that he didn’t have much justification for them in front of all these students. So he softened his tone slightly.

“I made Sheng Yan copy the test paper for his own good, too. With his current grades, he can’t even keep up with the lessons. He might as well copy more. If he copies enough, he might at least memorize some of the answers by rote and scrape together a few points.”

Although Huang Shuliang favored good students, that didn’t mean he didn’t want struggling students to improve. Otherwise, he wouldn’t spend so much energy scolding Sheng Yan every day, much less bother trying to arrange a different class or seat for him.

Thinking of this, Huang Shuliang couldn’t resist adding, “Besides, the gap between your grades and Sheng Yan’s is enormous. Explaining problems to him won’t help at all. You’re simply wasting your own study time. What if you fail to turn that lump of mud into something useful and end up ruining a perfectly good piece of clay like yourself in the process?”

The moment those words fell, Qin Zigui looked toward Sheng Yan. Only after seeing that the person being called a “lump of mud” was merely wearing a shocked, spectator-like expression, without showing the slightest sign of having his self-esteem hurt, did he relax a little.

Then his expression grew slightly more serious as he turned back to Huang Shuliang.

“What if it does help?”

Huang Shuliang: “?”

“Today is Thursday. If Sheng Yan passes Monday evening’s math test next week, and I maintain my position as the top student in the entire grade, then that will prove my help is effective and Sheng Yan isn’t a lump of mud. From then on, I’ll supervise Sheng Yan’s study plan myself, so you won’t have to trouble yourself with assigning him extra work anymore, Director.”

Qin Zigui delivered his words as calmly and politely as possible.

After all, Huang Shuliang wasn’t the subject teacher and wasn’t particularly familiar with the learning progress of every class. It wasn’t really appropriate for him to interfere too much with the specifics of their teaching in the first place.

Hearing Qin Zigui’s proposal, Huang Shuliang felt a lump form in his throat. He couldn’t very well argue further, so he could only ask, “And what if you fail?”

“If we fail, I’ll copy the test paper ten times for Sheng Yan.”

“????”

The moment Qin Zigui said that, both Sheng Yan, who had been watching the drama unfold, and Huang Shuliang, his opponent in this bet, were left with several question marks floating above their heads.

Huang Shuliang thought that this boy Qin Zigui had been indulged so much that he had become far too arrogant. He actually dared to challenge a teacher right to his face! If he didn’t put the boy in his place, Qin Zigui might never understand the good intentions behind a teacher’s hard work.

Without giving it another thought, Huang Shuliang made the decision on the spot.

“Fine! It’s settled. If either one of you fails to meet your goal, you’ll both come to my office and write a self-criticism. You won’t be allowed to leave until you’ve written ten thousand words!”

With that, he strode away.

Left behind was Sheng Yan, who had been unwillingly dragged into this bet, whose math scores had hovered in the sixties for years, and who hadn’t passed a single math test since entering his second year of high school.

“????”

Was Qin Zigui out of his mind?!

Qin Zigui simply looked at him and said, “I know what I’m doing.”

Know what you’re doing, my ass!

The only thing you know is mathematics!

Sheng Yan had originally thought that, at worst, he would have to trade a few verbal blows with Huang Shuliang and endure some more scolding. He was already used to being yelled at, after all.

But he hadn’t expected Qin Zigui to inexplicably pick a fight with the teacher, then make a bet—and drag him into it, too.

The problem was, how could he possibly go from scoring around sixty points to passing in just four or five days?

Even forcing a plant to grow faster by pulling it upward wouldn’t make it grow that quickly!

And it wasn’t as though he could cheat. Wasn’t this basically a guaranteed disaster?

And it wasn’t even just his own disaster. If he failed the test, Qin Zigui would have to write a ten-thousand-word self-criticism in the academic affairs office and copy the test paper ten times.

This was essentially placing the combined weight of morality and academic responsibility squarely on Sheng Yan’s shoulders, leaving him ashamed, with nowhere to hide and no way to fight back.

But what was done was done. The bet had already been made, and it was too late to back out now.

That meant he had only one option: win the bet.

Given his mathematical abilities, if he wanted to pass without cheating, there was only one way to save himself.

Sheng Yan took a deep breath, then clenched his fists as though he had finally made up his mind. He looked at Qin Zigui.

“You. Come out. Bathroom.”

Qin Zigui withdrew his gaze and looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t ask questions. Just come out when I tell you to.”

Sheng Yan strode out of the classroom, turned a corner, and walked straight into the restroom.

Qin Zigui followed at a leisurely pace, his injured leg still hurting a little.

The moment Qin Zigui stepped inside, Sheng Yan pressed him against a corner of the wall, gritted his back teeth slightly, and said,

“Count. Ninety-eight times.”

Qin Zigui: “?”

He was just about to ask what on earth Sheng Yan wanted him to count ninety-eight times when the person standing right in front of him quickly called out,

“Brother Zigui!”

“…”

And so, at that moment, cornered in the cramped, sweltering men’s restroom in the middle of summer, surrounded by an overpowering smell of ammonia, Qin Zigui suddenly came to an important realization.

His carefully planned schemes might never be able to keep up with Sheng Yan’s bizarre way of thinking.

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