Back in the classroom, Shen Yuan happened to glance at his task.

He was surprised to see that the time on the task had changed.

The completed time was no longer 0, but had become 0.7!

Shen Yuan quickly checked the clock.

Half an hour had passed since the end of study hall!

’0.5 hours... so where did the other 0.2 come from?’

Shen Yuan thought back over his day.

Other than dinner, he had indeed spent some time with Ah Jie.

’Does casually chatting with Ah Jie count as studying?’

Shen Yuan thought he was starting to get it.

’What is studying, anyway? Isn’t it just listening to a teacher lecture? I listened to Ah Jie go on for so long—how is that not studying?!’

He felt completely justified!

At this thought, Shen Yuan felt a surge of confidence about his task.

’Once Ah Jie moves his seat over here next week, I’ll just chat him up constantly.’

’Anyway, once Ah Jie starts talking, he can hardly stop.’

’He’s the perfect person to help me grind this task.’

’Thanks, Ah Jie. Once I’m done grinding this task, I’ll treat you to an iced tea!’

An improvement in his logical thinking skills would definitely help his math scores.

Shen Yuan was full of anticipation.

...

The rain continued all the way until Friday.

There was now only a week left before the monthly exam.

Over the past two days, Shen Yuan hadn’t gone out of his way to grind the task.

Even so, his task timer had already reached two hours. A few minutes of idle chatter here, a discussion about the underclassmen in the building across the way there—the time racked up surprisingly fast.

"We’re skipping exercises today. We’re going to have the weekly test early instead."

Before the second period began, Sister Lan bustled into the classroom to arrange the weekly test.

Seeing the Chinese language test paper, Shen Yuan’s expression tensed.

At the same time, many other students in the class also wore solemn expressions.

Ever since Shen Yuan and Ah Jie had kicked off the first campus Holy Grail War on Wednesday night, many other students, drawn by the concept, had joined the fray.

They had each chosen their favorite drink, vowing to use the Chinese language exam to prove their beloved beverage’s supremacy!

It! It was the one true campus Holy Grail!!

Of course, anyone with a consistent Chinese score of 130 or higher was immediately disqualified from participating in the Holy Grail War.

A consistent 130 in Chinese was a bit too OP for this competition.

In an instant, students all over the class began pulling drinks from their desks.

Iced tea, Coke, Assam, coffee, AD Calcium Milk, Yakult, mineral water—a whole slew of beverages were placed squarely in the middle of their desks.

Shen Yuan took out his pencil, gel pen, and correction tape, then bowed solemnly to the bottle of Assam on his desk.

’I will help you claim the title of campus Holy Grail!’

Watching Shen Yuan’s bizarre ritual, Li Zhi scooted her chair closer to the wall, looking as if she were afraid his craziness might be contagious.

As the test paper landed on his desk, Shen Yuan began to answer.

’This time, I fight for the Holy Grail!’

"Time’s up. Students in the back row, please collect the papers."

As Sister Lan finished speaking, the students in the back row stood up and began collecting the tests.

Shen Yuan handed his test in and slumped against his desk, exhausted.

"O, Holy Grail, I am spent."

"You couldn’t answer them, could you?"

Young Master Li commented sharply, "If you could, you wouldn’t look so dead."

Shen Yuan turned his head weakly. "Can’t you comfort me a little? Did you read all that Sugar Text on the confession wall for nothing?"

"Why should I comfort you?"

"To raise your affection level with your childhood friend."

Hearing the words "affection level," He Zhiyu, who was sitting in the front row, immediately perked up.

The girl was leaning on her desk, seemingly resting, but was actually eavesdropping on the conversation between her best friend and her childhood friend.

Li Zhi raised an eyebrow. "So you’re saying my affection level with you isn’t maxed out yet?"

"You haven’t been grinding it. How could it be maxed out from just normal progression?"

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "If I maxed it out, wouldn’t I just be your simp? Oh! I get it now. You just want me to be your simp! You’re so cringe!"

Li Zhi scoffed. "Right, right. After all, I’m not as good at grinding as *that one* next door."

"Oh yeah, you’re right, you’re right. It’s not like you care about me anyway."

The moment Shen Yuan said that, he saw Li Zhi’s eyes turn dangerous.

"Er."

Shen Yuan swallowed hard, realizing he had misspoken.

"I am so sorry, I was wrong," Shen Yuan immediately groveled.

Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan and tilted her head. "Forget it. I shouldn’t have brought her up, either."

Shen Yuan looked up. "Hehe, so... wanna get lunch together?"

"What should we eat?"

An idea struck Shen Yuan. "How about we ask my cousin? We could sneak out for lunch and come back after the nap break?"

Li Zhi’s eyes lit up. "Yeah, that works!"

"I’ll ask my cousin."

With that, Shen Yuan pulled out his phone and sent a message to Yang Yishui.

Shen Yuan: "Treat me and Li Zhi to lunch."

Eldest Female Cousin: "Busted! Using your phone! Hand it over!"

Shen Yuan: "I’m on my way to cry in your office."

Seeing Shen Yuan’s message, the corner of Yang Yishui’s mouth twitched.

Yang Yishui was all too familiar with her younger cousin’s strange logic.

’Oh well. There is a place I wanted to try anyway. I’ll make a reservation.’

Before calling to book a table, Yang Yishui sent a message back to Shen Yuan.

Seeing the reply from Yang Yishui, Shen Yuan gave Li Zhi a little smile. "All set."

’Another free meal secured, folks.’

Fourth period passed quickly.

Shen Yuan politely declined Ah Jie’s lunch invitation. After most of the other students had left, he went to the office to find his Eldest Female Cousin.

"Sis! Your little bro is starving!"

"Don’t rush me!"

Yang Yishui gathered her things, grabbed a small handbag, and walked out of the office.

At the doorway, Yang Yishui saw the beautiful girl waiting there.

Eldest Female Cousin couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch Li Zhi’s cheek. "Zhizhi, you’ve gotten even prettier."

"You’re pretty too, Sister Shui."

"Hehe, Zhizhi, you always say the sweetest things. Come on, let’s go together."

Yang Yishui took Li Zhi by the hand, and the two of them headed toward the school parking lot.

Leaving Shen Yuan completely forgotten behind them.

In fact, Li Zhi had been quite fond of Yang Yishui since she was a little girl.

A pretty older sister figure who was good at English held a great deal of appeal for a young girl.

The place Yang Yishui had chosen was a crawfish restaurant.

They could sit there, peeling crawfish and chatting, and the whole lunch break would fly by.

As soon as they sat down, Yang Yishui dropped some big news on Shen Yuan and Li Zhi.

"You guys might be getting an extra day off on weekends soon."

Hearing this, the two childhood friends, who had just pulled out their phones, immediately looked up.

"Really?" they asked in unison.

Yang Yishui nodded, explaining as she ordered. "You know how the school only gives one break a month?"

Because of the boarding students, Jiyang Middle School gives a day off on the last weekend of each month.

There’s no evening study hall that Saturday, so students are free to go right after their last class. It gives the boarders time to go home.

"They’re talking about lightening the academic load. The current idea is to add another day off for you in the middle of the month."

"Mmm... the plan would be something like, Saturday evening study hall will be canceled, and then you’ll have all day Sunday off. You’d still have to come back for evening study hall on Sunday night, though."

"It will probably start after this month’s exam."

As she spoke, Eldest Female Cousin looked at Shen Yuan. "Confident you can hit 620?"

The joyous expression on Shen Yuan’s face immediately fell.