Tuesday.

Looking at the upcoming Chinese class on his schedule, Shen Yuan knew the moment of truth was about to arrive.

This was it: the moment that would decide whether he remained condemned to dog status or could temporarily shed it and become a person again.

As the Chinese class representative walked into the classroom carrying a thick stack of papers, Shen Yuan’s gaze immediately fell upon the test papers.

This time, Shen Yuan had no interest in seeing Li Zhi’s Chinese score. His eyes were glued to Chen Mingyu, who was searching for his test paper.

Chen Mingyu didn’t look at Shen Yuan’s score either and simply passed the stack of papers down the row.

Li Zhi spotted Shen Yuan’s test paper at a glance. She snatched it out of the stack, and after passing the rest on, she quickly covered the score with her hand.

"What is it? What is it?"

Shen Yuan asked impatiently.

Staring at the hand covering his score, Shen Yuan would have already grabbed Li Zhi’s wrist and moved her hand away if he were allowed to.

"Come on, come on, let’s look together."

Li Zhi scooted closer to the wall, gesturing for Shen Yuan to lean in.

Shen Yuan immediately scraped his chair over and leaned closer.

"The reveal! This is the moment we witness a miracle!"

Li Zhi smiled faintly and slowly slid her hand.

Soon, a "1" was revealed.

"Oho, a promising start. Very intriguing," Li Zhi commented.

Shen Yuan’s eyes were fixed on the test paper.

A score over 100 was definitely achievable for him.

The key now was what would come after that "1".

As long as it wasn’t a "0," Shen Yuan could accept it.

Just as Shen Yuan braced himself for the second digit, Li Zhi suddenly moved her ring and pinky fingers, which were covering the score.

"Ta-da!"

A "0".

Li Zhi grinned at Shen Yuan. "A suspenseful ending."

Shen Yuan swallowed hard.

Now, there was one more number he couldn’t accept.

’But is it possible to score 120 in Chinese?’

Shen Yuan felt there was a chance; he thought his essay was pretty good.

Although in life, situations where one feels overly confident often end in disaster.

But Shen Yuan felt he might just have a shot.

’I can still cook!’

Shen Yuan was still cooking!!

"Reveal it! I’m betting my Chinese score is 120!"

Li Zhi suddenly snatched her hand away, revealing Shen Yuan’s score.

Shen Yuan shot to his feet and roared, "Today, I, Shen Yuan, have shed my dog status!!"

The moment Shen Yuan’s declaration rang out, people actually started echoing him.

"Today, I, Yang Ze, have returned to the Terrestrial Immortal Realm!!"

"Fucking lit!"

Ah Jie stood up. "Today, I, Zhou Shaojie, have no money for food!"

It didn’t matter what you were saying; as long as you yelled it with enough passion, fervor, and drive, it would feel powerful!

"Today, I, Li Haotian, will absolutely not fap!"

"Holy shit, a true hero."

"A great warrior! This is definitely a great warrior!"

The chaotic scene died down when the Chinese teacher, Zhou Ruolan, walked in.

Shen Yuan was still basking in the glow of his weekly test score.

Normally, at a time like this, Li Zhi wouldn’t bother Shen Yuan.

It was natural for a kid to be happy after doing well on a test; there was no need to bring him down.

’Why must you compare your kid to others?’

’Can you guarantee you’ll be reborn as the parents of a perfect child?’

’Impossible.’

’So it’s better to just be a parent who doesn’t spoil the fun.’

This was Li Zhi’s educational philosophy.

But Shen Yuan was annoying her.

The dumbass kid was holding his test paper like he was reading a goddamn newspaper, making noises like "Tsk!", "Hmm~", "Ha!", and "Hehe" as he looked it over.

’He still needs to be taught a lesson.’

"What are you so smug about?"

Shen Yuan turned to see Li Zhi’s stern expression, and his heart skipped a beat.

’The Painful Sacrifice is about to be amplified!’

"Can you maintain this score?"

Happiness level: decreasing.

"What did you get on yesterday’s math test?"

Grin: gone.

"Is your total score going to reach 620?"

Pain: initiating.

A three-hit combo of soul-crushing questions, every strike a critical hit.

Shen Yuan really had to thank Li Zhi for this. ’Sis, you really are the high priestess of spreading suffering.’

"Stop talking, just stop."

Shen Yuan collapsed onto his desk, twitching in agony.

"Shen Yuan, are you not feeling well?"

Sister Lan asked with concern, seeing Shen Yuan twitching on his desk.

Shen Yuan lifted his head, his eyes vacant. "I... I think I’ve been cursed."

The corner of Sister Lan’s mouth twitched.

Daily mental exhaustion +1.

...

「PE Class.」

Shen Yuan didn’t choose to get into the academic rat race, nor did he join Zhou Shaojie and the others to play ball. Instead, he ran to the gymnasium to cool off in the shade.

"Yuan, not playing ball?"

Shen Yuan glanced at Yang Ze and shook his head. "It’s too hot. It’s more comfortable here."

Although Shen Yuan usually horsed around with the other guys, he wasn’t actually a fan of contact sports.

Unless it was with girls, of course.

If Li Zhi knew about this, she’d probably call him a pervert.

Shen Yuan patted the seat next to him, motioning for Yang Ze to sit.

After Yang Ze sat down, he looked in the direction Shen Yuan was facing and immediately understood.

"Sharing the good stuff... it had to be you."

With that, Yang Ze also fixed his gaze on the badminton court.

In reality, girls watching boys play basketball was the same principle as boys watching girls play badminton.

Pure hormones talking.

In a daze, Shen Yuan felt a faint murderous aura coming from behind him.

He turned his head and saw a pair of legs standing thirty centimeters behind him.

"Got this much free time?"

Shen Yuan chuckled sheepishly. "Just taking a proper break."

"I asked for you. Tong Churou got a 625 on the weekly test. Her score is very stable. You can’t beat her."

After saying her piece, Li Zhi turned and walked away.

Shen Yuan immediately collapsed to the ground.

"Yuan! Yuan, what’s wrong?!!"

Seeing Shen Yuan suddenly collapse, Yang Ze started shouting for help, "Someone, quick! Shen Yuan is dead!!"

"Dumbass kid, what the hell are you saying."

Shen Yuan scrambled back to his feet.

"He’s a zombie!! Shen Yuan came back from the dead!!"

"Fuck!!"

Shen Yuan lunged directly at Yang Ze, locking him in a chokehold.

"The corpse is hitting me!!"

"Halt, you fiend!! Take this—my Huanggang Secret Scrolls!"

"Behold my magic weapon! The Wu San Great Mountain!!"

Ah Jie, who had heard the commotion, raised his hand. "Everyone, stand back! Witness the punishment for cheating!"

In the end, Shen Yuan was hoisted up by a group of burly guys and carried toward the gymnasium doors.

"Study! Let me go study!! All of you, go do practice problems!! Did you score 620? Have you memorized your English vocabulary? Is your math score stable? Have you memorized the ’Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion’?"

"Look at my eyes!! Tell me! Answer me!"

Under Shen Yuan’s relentless questioning, one of the boys was the first to break.

"Master! Stop chanting!"

"Ah! I can’t solve it! I can’t solve this problem!!"

A chain reaction quickly followed, and the group that had been carrying Shen Yuan off for Aruba rapidly fell apart.

Driven by the cries of Shen Yuan, the follower of pain, the crowd collapsed to the ground, repeatedly chanting the "Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion" to alleviate their inner torment.

Shen Yuan stood among them, embracing the pain.

"Jie, look at my eyes! Recite the ’Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion’ now!"

Ah Jie opened his mouth. "In the spring of the fourth year of the Qingli reign, Teng..."

"That’s the goddamn ’Memorial on the Yueyang Tower’!"

Ah Jie froze, then clutched his head in agony. "I can’t! I can’t recite it!!"