"Holy shit!"

Startling upright from his deathbed, as the poem goes.

Shen Yuan had been enjoying a nice afternoon nap when he suddenly shot awake.

The commotion was so great it even woke up Ah Jie, who was sleeping beside him.

"An earthquake?" Ah Jie glanced around, saw that nothing had happened, and went back to sleep.

Li Zhi frowned at Shen Yuan. "What are you doing?"

Still shaken, Shen Yuan said, "I had a dream. I dreamt I turned into a cockroach sprawled across a math test! It was terrifying! I’d turned into a cockroach and still had to do math problems!"

The corner of Li Zhi’s mouth twitched. "I suggest you refer to *Metamorphosis*. When Gregor turned into a bug, he was worried he could no longer help his family. So what you should be worried about isn’t your appearance, but whether you’ll still have hands to fill in the answer sheet after becoming a cockroach."

"Pfft!"

Ah Jie, who had been about to fall back asleep, couldn’t hold it in and was suddenly wide awake.

’Lady, what kind of crazy idea is that?’

It was the same for Shen Yuan; he never imagined Li Zhi would say something like that.

"Damn, no wonder you can score over 130 on the language arts exam. I’m well and truly impressed."

’Those language arts classes definitely didn’t go to waste.’

Li Zhi gave a sweet smile. "You flatter me."

"At least Gregor didn’t have to study math after turning into a bug. But even if I become a cockroach, I still won’t be able to crawl my way out of this solid geometry problem."

Shen Yuan slumped back onto his desk and mumbled, "Tell me, do you think my dancing cockroach antennae could draw the correct auxiliary lines?"

Li Zhi thought for a moment, then poked Shen Yuan’s arm with her pen.

"Kafka never said the bug didn’t have to study math. And besides, cockroaches have three pairs of legs. You only have one pair. This means..."

Shen Yuan lifted his head. "What does that mean?"

Li Zhi pushed a piece of scratch paper toward him. On it was a drawing of a cockroach holding three pens.

"It means that after transforming, your study efficiency could triple! I suggest you conquer this solid geometry problem in your human form first, lest you get turned into a living compass by the Council of Mathematics after you join the Insect Race."

Shen Yuan gave Young Master Li a thumbs-up.

Shen Yuan glanced at the simple cockroach drawing in his hand and laughed.

The two of them weren’t actually at odds all the time.

Just then, Ah Jie, still half-asleep, raised his hand and asked, "So, uh, should I still sign us up for that cockroach answer-sheet-filling training course? I’ve got connections."

During the afternoon classes, the weekly test papers continued to be handed out.

Overall, Shen Yuan’s scores on this week’s test were pretty decent.

Except for English, which hadn’t been handed back yet, his total score for the other subjects had already reached 463.

No matter how badly Shen Yuan did in English, he could still manage a score of over 140. So, in summary, his total for the weekly test would still be above 600, allowing him to maintain his semi-human status.

However, one problem now lay before Shen Yuan.

The monthly exam was, without a doubt, harder than the weekly test.

Could he still achieve his grand proclamation of scoring 620 on this monthly exam?

’It’s not just math; physics is a problem too. But I still have time for the comprehensive science test.’

Shen Yuan looked at his mission timer.

Ever since Ah Jie had moved his desk over, the mission timer had basically been running parallel with real time.

Ah Jie’s mouth really never stopped.

With a full 15 hours at school each day, Shen Yuan would have to grind until at least Thursday morning to finish this mission.

In other words, he’d have one day to adapt to the mission reward.

’I hope that’s enough.’

They had dinner in the cafeteria. Ah Jie didn’t go home either, so the group of four headed to the cafeteria to hunt for fruit-based dishes again.

"Holy shit! They actually have some today!"

In the first-floor dining hall, the "good news" from Ah Ze reached their ears.

Ten minutes later, each of the four had a serving of sweet and sour pork with pineapple in their bowls.

Compared to the other fruit-based dishes, the sweet and sour pork with pineapple was undoubtedly a culinary masterpiece.

Of course, it was a masterpiece even when compared to normal food.

Otherwise, there’s no way Shen Yuan and his friends would have each bought a serving.

"It’s got meat, vegetables, and a post-meal fruit all in one. Damn, the cafeteria is pretty awesome!"

Zhou Shaojie delivered his sharp critique.

Yang Ze nodded. "Aside from being a little avant-garde at times, the cafeteria food has always been decent."

"This isn’t the old cafeteria anymore. Nowadays, if the food is bad, people will post it on TikTok and expose you. Besides, Jiyang Middle School is still the top high school in Jiyang. It can’t really let itself be outdone by Honghai, can it?"

Shen Yuan chuckled. "If the food was really that bad, all the top students would run off to Honghai. After all, if you go to school there, you can get a ton of money every year."

Hearing this, the others all nodded in agreement.

Shen Yuan knew Li Zhi, so he was well aware of the terms Honghai Middle School had offered her back in the day.

The Honghai Group was truly determined to make a name for its Honghai educational brand.

As the top private high school in Jiyang, Honghai Middle School—backed by the immense financial power of the Honghai Group—had been challenging Jiyang Middle School’s top-ranked throne for many years.

Faced with the allure of money, many top students had chosen Honghai Middle School.

You score a 680 and go to Jiyang, you pay tuition every year, pay for cafeteria food, and live in an 8-person dorm.

You score a 680 and go to Honghai, you get paid every year, eat for free in the cafeteria, and live in a 2-person dorm.

Which would you choose?

If Jiyang’s damn cafeteria still served up inedible crap, who would even come here?

Are they supposed to come just for the strong teaching staff?

"I heard Honghai’s school uniforms are blazers and pleated skirts!"

"Come summertime, it’s all swaying skirts and white calf socks. Tsk." Ah Jie got a dreamy look on his face.

Shen Yuan said, "Forget it. You do that too much and it’ll wreck your body. It’s already hard enough for you to memorize vocabulary."

"Actually, there are a lot of good-looking girls in our class, but they basically only wear the school uniform."

"Uniforms are simple. Thinking about coordinating outfits every day is exhausting, you know."

"That’s true."

Ah Jie looked at Shen Yuan and asked, "Lao Yuan, you and Li Zhi are childhood friends. You must have seen her in other outfits, right?"

Shen Yuan nodded. "What about it?"

"Does she look good?"

"Get lost! If I say she looks good, you’re just going to ask if I like her, aren’t you?!"

A corner of Ah Jie’s mouth lifted; Shen Yuan had clearly guessed right.

After eating, the group went straight back to the classroom.

When it was time for evening self-study, Eldest Female Cousin brought over the English weekly test papers.

You had to hand it to her, she graded English tests really fast.

They finished the test on Sunday, and the results were out by Monday.

And that was including the time Eldest Female Cousin spent slacking off.

Shen Yuan got his paper and took a look: 144. No different from what he’d expected.

At least his score was stable at over 600 now. All that was left was the monthly exam.

Looking at his test, Shen Yuan leaned over to Li Zhi. "Babe, what’d you get?"

Li Zhi propped her chin on her hand. "690. Is there a problem?"

"Nope, just showing some concern for you."

"Heh, then let me show some concern for you, too."

Li Zhi showed a gentle smile. "Shen Yuan, the last ivy leaf has fallen. Do you think there will be a miracle for this monthly exam?"

’So we’re moving on to O. Henry now, are we?’

Jean survived thanks to old Behrman’s sacrifice. But what about Shen Yuan?

Would he find his own Old Behrman?

Subconsciously, Shen Yuan’s gaze fell upon Zhou Shaojie.

Ah, right. His Old Behrman was Ah Jie.