DMMB Chapter 21

At first, Qin Zigui had simply wanted to add another mechanism to the system so he could deal with any unexpected situations Sheng Yan might encounter. While he was at it, he also wanted to secure a little personal benefit for himself by getting Sheng Yan to act spoiled and affectionate toward him.

But he had never expected that an unexpected situation would arise so soon, much less that Sheng Yan’s attempt at acting cute would be so…

Smelly.

Qin Zigui watched as Sheng Yan first took a deep breath. Then, as though the smell of the restroom had nearly knocked him out, his expression froze momentarily. A second later, he scrunched up his face, walked outside, took another huge breath of fresh air, and then returned to corner Qin Zigui against the wall.

Gritting his back teeth and wearing an expression of someone marching to his own doom, he began chanting, “Brother Zigui, Brother Zigui, Brother Zigui…”

His speech was so rapid, his tone so devoid of emotion, and his expression so irritated that he looked like a ruthless assassin attempting to kill his enemy with a spell.

Combined with the smell of a men’s restroom in the middle of the hottest days of summer, the sight of Brother Zigui being cornered and subjected to this incantation was truly a spectacle. Qin Zigui’s expression remained completely blank throughout it all.

Meanwhile, Sheng Yan was entirely oblivious to his reaction. The more he shouted, the shorter his breath became. The shorter his breath became, the faster he shouted. His ears grew increasingly red, and the fingers of the fist braced beside Qin Zigui clenched tighter and tighter.

When he was finally approaching the ninety-eighth repetition, Sheng Yan at last allowed himself to take a deep breath. Then, with one resounding, wholehearted cry of “Brother Zigui!” he brought the arduous battle to a definitive end.

At that moment, apart from the sound of Sheng Yan bending over and gasping for breath, the restroom was completely silent.

Qin Zigui, however, found the cicadas chirping outside the restroom unbearably noisy.

With an expressionless face, he lowered his eyes and looked at Sheng Yan, who was bent over catching his breath after shouting a total of 392 characters in one go. His expression was not particularly pleasant.

Sheng Yan didn’t even spare him a glance. He was too busy thinking that he had finally called Qin Zigui “Brother Zigui” a hundred times. Surely that meant Qin Zigui’s favorability had reached the required level, allowing him to redeem another wish!

So, before he had even fully caught his breath, he braced one hand against his knee, pulled out his phone with the other, and opened the app, ready to make a wish and save himself.

And then…

Nothing happened.

Because the moment he opened the app, he discovered that Qin Zigui’s current favorability was still 2/100, with an increase of 0.

Zero?

An increase of zero?!

ZERO FAVORABILITY POINTS?!

He had shouted “Brother Zigui” so many times, and it hadn’t worked at all?!

Sheng Yan’s first reaction wasn’t to wonder whether there was something wrong with the way he had called Qin Zigui those dozens of times. Instead, he immediately concluded that the app must have malfunctioned.

He exited and reopened it.

No change.

He shut down his phone and restarted it.

Still no change.

He exited and reopened the app, then restarted his phone again.

Nothing changed.

So Qin Zigui really hadn’t gained a single favorability point?!

Sheng Yan, whose throat was practically hoarse from all that shouting, angrily raised his head and glared at Qin Zigui.

“Why are you so difficult to please?! Was I not enthusiastic enough when I called you just now?”

The extremely difficult-to-please Qin Zigui merely maintained his expressionless face.

“Don’t you think you should first give me a reasonable explanation for what you just did?”

“…”

Only then did Sheng Yan realize that suddenly cornering Qin Zigui in the restroom and calling him “Brother Zigui” ninety-eight times really was a little bizarre.

However, he had signed a confidentiality agreement with the app, so explaining the situation wasn’t an option.

Fortunately, Qin Zigui wasn’t just anyone. Even if Sheng Yan couldn’t explain himself properly, Qin Zigui wouldn’t do anything to him. He would even help him out.

So Sheng Yan simply waved a hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it, and don’t ask questions. Anyway, I’m doing this for your own good. Just tell me what you like me to do, and I’ll do it as long as you say so.”

Sheng Yan didn’t realize that his words might sound rather ambiguous. He simply thought Qin Zigui was such an unpredictable person, constantly changing his mind and mood.

Qin Zigui had clearly enjoyed hearing him call him “Brother Zigui” at home. Why was he refusing to acknowledge it now that they were at school?

The wish quota wouldn’t refresh until Wednesday, while the math exam was on Monday evening. In other words, if Sheng Yan couldn’t max out Qin Zigui’s favorability before Monday night, everything would be over!

And it wasn’t just about himself. After all, he had been battling Huang Shuliang’s scolding and punishments for years. He was already accustomed to whatever insults or penalties came his way.

The real problem was that Qin Zigui had made that bold declaration in front of the entire class.

If they lost the bet, where would Qin Zigui’s dignity go?

There were already plenty of people in their grade who were jealous of Qin Zigui because he was handsome, academically gifted, and had that arrogant air about him that attracted so many girls. On top of that, Huang Shuliang often favored him. Plenty of people were waiting for the chance to see him make a fool of himself.

If Qin Zigui failed spectacularly after acting so confident, who knew how many sarcastic remarks he would have to endure?

Therefore, failure was absolutely not an option.

He had to redeem that wish successfully.

But the question was, what on earth would make that ice-cold man Qin Zigui willing to increase his favorability?

If Qin Zigui was willing to tell him what he wanted, there was nothing Sheng Yan couldn’t do.

Sheng Yan lifted his chin and waited confidently for Qin Zigui’s answer.

Qin Zigui lowered his eyes to meet his gaze and replied in a cool, composed voice.

“I like it when you study.”

Sheng Yan: “…”

What a pervert!

Studying was absolutely out of the question. If he had to rely on studying to max out Qin Zigui’s favorability, he would probably be halfway into his grave before he succeeded.

Just thinking about it gave Sheng Yan a headache.

He refused to believe there wasn’t some other way to please Qin Zigui.

So he thought about the kinds of compliments he himself loved hearing most, gritted his teeth, and looked up at Qin Zigui. In a fit of desperation, he blurted out,

“Qin Zigui, you’re so handsome! You’re the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in the entire world!”

Qin Zigui remained expressionless.

His favorability didn’t budge.

Sheng Yan gritted his teeth again.

“Qin Zigui, you have such a great physique! You’re the man with the most beautiful eight-pack abs I’ve ever seen!”

Still no change in favorability.

Sheng Yan gritted his teeth once more.

“Qin Zigui, your legs are so long! You’re the man with the longest legs and the best butt I’ve ever seen!”

The favorability bar remained completely motionless.

Finally, Sheng Yan could take it no longer. He decided to unleash his ultimate move.

“Qin Zigui, you’re absolutely perfect! You’re the smartest, most outstanding, best-built, most handsome, gentlest, most considerate, and most lovable man I’ve ever seen in the entire world! Anyone who doesn’t like you must be blind!”

The moment the words left his mouth, a loud THUD came from outside the restroom, as though something heavy had fallen to the ground.

The two of them turned their heads toward the sound.

Outside the restroom door, they saw Lin Qian halfway through bending down, with a pink water bottle lying on the floor in front of her.

As if sensing their gazes, Lin Qian slowly turned her stiff neck toward them and offered a smile that was the very picture of ladylike elegance.

“Hi! What a coincidence!”

Not much of a coincidence. This was the men’s restroom.

Apparently realizing the problem, Lin Qian continued smiling stiffly.

“Um, the water dispenser in our classroom ran out of water, so I was going to get some from the hallway. I was just passing by, really! I was literally just passing by. Nothing else going on here! If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way. I won’t disturb you two. Goodbye, goodbye!”

After saying that, Lin Qian maintained her fake smile and pretended to be perfectly calm as she picked up her water bottle. Then, moving her arms and legs awkwardly in sync, she slowly disappeared from Qin Zigui and Sheng Yan’s sight.

Sheng Yan: “…”

Qin Zigui: “…”

Sheng Yan turned to Qin Zigui, looking puzzled.

“Why do I feel like she’s acting kind of weird?”

Qin Zigui recalled their positions and conversation just moments ago, along with the string of compliments Sheng Yan had delivered that sounded practically like a confession. He really wanted to remind Sheng Yan of which one of them was actually acting strangely.

However, when he met the innocent, bewildered gaze of Sheng Yan, the hopelessly dense straight guy, he decided to answer coolly instead.

“Maybe it’s because the restroom smells too bad.”

Oh. That was true. It really did stink a little.

Sheng Yan also felt that the restroom wasn’t exactly an ideal place to discuss important matters. Since he probably wouldn’t figure out what Qin Zigui liked anytime soon, he couldn’t be bothered to stay there any longer. He straightened his clothes and headed back to the classroom.

Qin Zigui followed behind him at an unhurried pace.

When the two returned to their seats together, several people nearby couldn’t resist turning around.

“Holy crap, Lao Qin! What’s gotten into you today? Why did you suddenly stand up to Huang Shuliang?”

Qin Zigui lowered his head and flipped through the materials on his desk, answering casually, “It’s nothing. I just thought he went a little too far with what he said.”

That was fair enough.

Most of the students in Class One were top students among top students. Every single one of them was proud and confident. If Huang Shuliang had said those things to them, they probably would have challenged him on the spot.

Come to think of it, Sheng Yan’s temper wasn’t actually as bad as the rumors claimed.

But what did Huang Shuliang scolding Sheng Yan have to do with Qin Zigui?

Weren’t they supposed to be sworn enemies who hated each other to the point of no return?

Why did they look so harmonious now? They had even gone to the restroom together, practically holding hands!

Could there be some hidden story behind all this?

The gossip-loving spectators narrowed their eyes, stroked their chins, and clicked their tongues, trying to figure out what new juicy gossip they could uncover.

Qin Zigui, however, had no intention of entertaining them. Instead, he handed Sheng Yan a notebook he had just taken out.

“Take this.”

Sheng Yan accepted it and flipped through a few pages.

“What is this?”

“Materials on functions that I compiled back in my first year of high school. Read through them today, and ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand.”

Since they had already entered their third year of high school and were reviewing for the college entrance examination, their weekly unit tests covered one specific topic at a time. The test next Monday would focus on functions.

That was also why Qin Zigui was confident he could help Sheng Yan cram for the exam in time.

As for why he hadn’t increased Sheng Yan’s favorability through the app’s backend, it wasn’t because he was unhappy about hearing Sheng Yan call him “Brother Zigui” in the restroom.

Rather, he had suddenly realized that Sheng Yan’s first reaction whenever he encountered a problem was to rely on the Wish Fulfillment App to solve it. That wasn’t a good habit to develop.

He wanted Sheng Yan to have a life in which everything went his way and all his wishes came true. That was why he was willing to do everything within his power to help Sheng Yan fulfill his wishes.

But he didn’t want Sheng Yan to become genuinely dependent on the app.

Qin Zigui knew perfectly well that the app was nothing more than a clumsy lie, one that could be exposed at any moment. He also wanted Sheng Yan to understand that good things didn’t simply fall from the sky, and there were no shortcuts without rhyme or reason. Everything they experienced and worked for had a beginning and an end, a cause and an effect.

He was willing to indulge Sheng Yan, but he didn’t want to spoil him completely.

Sheng Yan, however, wasn’t thinking nearly that deeply.

Since none of his other attempts had increased Qin Zigui’s favorability, he figured he might as well satisfy Qin Zigui’s strange obsession with seeing him study.

So, with considerable reluctance, he nodded.

“Fine. Since that’s what you like.”

The moment those words left his mouth, another loud THUD sounded from the doorway, as though something heavy had fallen to the floor.

Sheng Yan and Qin Zigui turned toward the sound.

They saw Lin Qian bending down once again to retrieve her long-suffering pink water bottle. Sensing their gazes, she looked up and gave them another stiff smile.

“Great, great! You two carry on. Don’t mind me.”

Just let her be a beautiful woman who quietly understood everything but never said it aloud.

Besides, if her first love was going to be defeated by someone of Qin Zigui’s caliber, then, thinking about it, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a loss after all.

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