Chapter 7: The Three Great Illusions of Life

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From 7:30 to 8:00 am is the time for morning reading. Although class 18 is at the bottom of No. 11 High School, being a Provincial Focus School, still half of the student in the class were reciting English vocabulary.

The remaining kids, though numerous in slacking off, didn't affect anyone else.

It could be said that the minimum standard for the school spirit at No.11 High School was still much stronger than that of some ordinary high schools.

"Yuan, let me tell you something awesome."

Sitting in front, a boy with short hair as spiked as a hedgehog and of average height turned around with a smile reminiscent of King Qinwu on his face.

You might know someone like this—the moment they open their mouth, the topic turns risqué. Even if what they say is normal, coming from their mouth, the atmosphere always turns a bit lewd.

And Zhou Yu was exactly that type of person.

Seeing Zhou Yu turn around, Chen Yuan's desk mate, a girl with a rounded face and some freckles tied back in a ponytail, also leaned in slightly, copying wrong questions in her notebook while listening with perked ears.

Luckily, his desk mate He Sijiao was quite tolerant of risqué jokes and was also a fun-loving person.

"How awesome?"

Covering his mouth, Zhou Yu whispered, "This morning, when I went to the head teacher's office, I saw an unfamiliar girl checking in."

"Someone's joining the class late? They must have some serious connections to be inserted into class 18."

"That's not the important part. The key thing about that girl…" Zhou Yu said, raising his eyebrows, "is top-notch."

"She looks top-notch?"

"Didn't get a good look at her face, can't remember."

"If you didn't look at her face, what did you look at?"

"You little rascal, just playing dumb, acting all innocent," Zhou Yu said with a disdainful and contemptuous expression.

Just then, the stern and staid head teacher, Lao Mo, with a face as square as if it were crafted in Minecraft, walked in.

And behind him, a girl wearing a No.11 High School uniform and carrying a school bag followed.

The moment they saw her, almost all the boys in the class turned to look in unison.

"A transfer student?"

"Ah yes, saw someone in the old class's office this morning."

"Although I can't remember what her face looks like, I was able to recognize her at a glance, truly amazing."

"How is it?" Zhou Yu had a look that implied everything without saying a word.

At this question, Chen Yuan only felt it strange that his superpower seemed to have stopped working.

Oh, the countdown is over his head.

Following his gaze upwards, the new transfer student was quite distinctive, with a pretty face and baby fat on her cheeks, shoulder-length hair, and fluffy bangs. However, she wore thick glasses that were somewhat disappointing and, while not at all fat, she gave the impression of being a tad chubby...

It probably had something to do with her top-tier figure that not even the loose school uniform could conceal.

You little rascal, your English name is "Sona" huh.

Logically speaking, if a gun appears in a story, it must be fired.

Since I have the ability to see lifespan countdowns and there's a new girl who has transferred to the class, it would make sense to use it on her.

But the drama of life doesn't always follow logic; the number on Sona's head read [29183], which means, although both are beauties, her life span is a thousand times longer than that of Xia Xinyu.

In fact, after observing the lifespans of his classmates, he noticed that apart from a few who'd bite the dust in their fifties, most had a rather long life ahead. Zhou Yu, for instance, would live a noble life until the age of 85.

And this girl, adding her current age of 17, would live to be a whopping 97 years old.

"My name is Zhou Fu, I'm transferring from No. 23 High School, and I hope to get along well with everyone," the girl introduced herself in a soft voice, head bowed.

"Last name Zhou, you're my clansman, eh!" Zhou Yu perked up, his eyes shining with joy.

"Well then, you should strike up a good chat with her later."

"If she sits near us, I'll definitely strike up a conversation. If I could win her over… I can't even imagine," Zhou Yu mused.

"Scaredy-cat, but I dare to dream."

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Well, at least kids are easier to raise.

"You just sit…" Lao Mo's eyes scanned the classroom and then rested his finger on Chen Yuan, "You two always chat during class, Zhou Fu, you just take Tang Jian's seat."

"Why, Teacher? I didn't…"

"Hurry up, switch now, you sit at that newly crammed-in seat."

Lao Mo wasn't the kind to fool around with students; when he said switch, it meant switch. Tang Jian had to clear the books from his desk and move them, in turn, to a spot in the back of the classroom.

"I thought it was you leaving, damn." Zhou Yu showed a regretful expression; he had lost the advantage of 'the early bird gets the worm'.

"I can understand." Chen Yuan nodded, his expression calm.

"Since when are you so sensible?"

"A son not wanting to live with his father is just like that."

"You (beep—) (beep—)."

During Zhou Yu's chirping delight, a pair of majestic peaks quietly approached, catching Chen Yuan off-guard. He turned his head and noticed Zhou Fu had awkwardly averted her gaze.

Was she… looking at me just now?

Here it comes, here it comes.

I can counter-kill, I'm like a great teacher, Zhou Yu is a person.

And, one of life's three great illusions number four—she's looking at me.

"Come on, let's start the class."

Lao Mo knew why these boys were noisy, so he immediately doused their enthusiasm with a dreadfully boring, damn high-pressure mathematics class.

However, for Chen Yuan, Lao Mo's classes were actually his favorite.

Lao Mo might have seemed a bit nasty and fierce, but he taught well. Knowing that these students definitely weren't the kind to tackle the hardest problems, he focused on reinforcing the basics in class and offered to explain more challenging problems after class to those willing to strive. Therefore, Mathematics was one of the few classes Chen Yuan could keep up with.

His Mathematics scores were generally around 110; on a good day, he could score 120.

His Chinese wasn't bad either, generally around 100, especially in compositions, where he consistently scored 50.

With main subjects at this level, in theory, aiming for a first-tier university shouldn't be a problem.

Except his English was terrible, often only 60 or 70 points, which wasn't supposed to be a dragging subject, yet it dragged his score down severely.

Although it was mainly Chen Yuan's own doing, what about the English teacher from Hexiang County No.2 High School with her dear native accent, and her level of mispronouncing phonetic symbols? Did she bear no responsibility?

The other three subjects, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, were more balanced. Biology was a bit worse, often just passing, Chemistry was okay, and the three subjects hovered around a score of 200-220.

Chen Yuan's last total score was 504. With about 1,000 science students and more than 400 liberal arts students in No. 11 High School, he managed to rank around 900th among the science students.

In Haidong Province, the previous college entrance exam line for science in the first-tier universities was set at 534, which meant he was a full 30 points short of the first-tier line.

If it was just getting into an ordinary second-tier university, what was the point of leaving his hometown?

What would he tell the folks back home when they ask, "How was your study in Xia Hai?"

Struggle for three years, only to go to Haidong College of Arts and Sciences?

Of course, this isn't a diss at any provincial College of Arts and Sciences, after all, I'm still three points short of even that.

Unfortunately, his superpower was such a useless thing; otherwise, he really wished he could cheat his way to a comeback, getting into JI University or Huaqing.

For now, the target was to strive for a first-tier university.

As Chen Yuan listened attentively to the lecture, He Sijiao suddenly poked his arm with her pen.

"What's up?" Chen Yuan looked puzzled.

He Sijiao made a 'shush' gesture and then slightly pushed her folding mirror towards him, urging him to look.

Chen Yuan glanced sideways and then saw a face with blushing cheeks and eyes that kept stealthily glancing over here.

Impossible.

The likelihood that Zhou Yu was a person was greater than her looking at me.