Chapter 5: The Complexity of Human Nature

The familiar yet strange playground, teaching building, cafeteria, water room, and campus supermarket.

These things did not attract much of Wang Donglai’s attention. If the system he possessed were a "God-tier Tycoon System," he might have slowly enjoyed this regained campus life.

However, it was not.

The school cafeteria was not small, with various types of food lined up in rows.

Although it was outsourced, the food in the cafeteria was not bad.

Wang Donglai went straight to the rice stall he frequented most often. One meat and one vegetable cost four yuan and fifty cents; one meat and two vegetables cost six yuan. Wang Donglai fished a meal card out of his pocket and swiped it to pay.

With a "ding," Wang Donglai looked at the screen; there was only a little over fifty yuan left on the card.

Carrying his tray, he found a clean table at random and began to eat.

The food wasn't bad, and the portion wasn't small, but Wang Donglai’s appetite was even larger at this moment.

He devoured the food, his chopsticks moving like flying darts.

The shredded potatoes and shredded pork with garlic sauce were piled on the rice; after a quick mix, Wang Donglai gulped it all down.

The sweet, spicy, and meaty flavors exploded on his taste buds.

In just seven or eight minutes, he had finished the entire tray of food.

He picked up the tray, washed it at the cleaning station by the cafeteria entrance, set it down, and headed toward the classroom.

Generally speaking, after eating, many students would return to their dorms to rest for a while.

In his previous life, Wang Donglai was just like that, staying until the bell was about to ring before rushing to the classroom.

Walking on the road, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Money!

He remembered very clearly that at this time, he only had six hundred yuan in living expenses per month.

And his daily breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks added up to nearly seventeen or eighteen yuan.

A growing boy is a bottomless pit.

At this age, young men have the biggest appetites; if they miss a meal, they feel faint with hunger.

In Wang Donglai’s freshman year class, there were two "god-tier" students who had two hundred yuan in living expenses per week. Since they could go home to eat on Saturdays and Sundays, their food budget was definitely sufficient.

But they insisted on saving the money to stay up all night at internet cafes. A night session cost ten yuan; five days a week meant they kept fifty for food and spent one hundred on game cards.

After half a semester, both of these "gods" were reduced to skin and bones, their faces deathly pale.

In the end, they fainted during class and were sent to the hospital, where they were diagnosed with malnutrition.

Their parents had no choice but to deliver meals to them every day.

This became a legendary tale and a long-standing joke among the students of Wang Donglai’s grade.

Wang Donglai’s living expenses were not high, but they were barely enough to eat.

If he wanted to buy books or clothes, he had to call home and ask for extra money.

Thinking of this, Wang Donglai sighed softly.

He knew that his parents were currently working at a construction site in Tangdu and had no money at all. Even the living expenses for him and his younger sister were squeezed out of the funds issued by the site boss, leaving them with even less.

This situation only improved after he and his sister both started working.

Sigh!

Pulling himself together, Wang Donglai stopped thinking about money.

There is a priority to all things; his biggest task right now was to grind for experience, improve his grades, and get a good score on the college entrance exam.

Making money was not urgent; sharpening the axe would not delay the woodcutting.

...

Back in the classroom.

Wang Donglai sat at his desk, pulled out a piece of paper, and began to calculate.

Chinese, English, and Mathematics were each worth 150 points; Politics, Geography, and History were each worth 300 points, for a total of 750 points on the college entrance exam.

The cutoff line for Tier 1 universities this year was 556 for liberal arts and 517 for science; Tier 2 was 497 for liberal arts and 461 for science; Tier 3 was 377 for liberal arts and 331 for science.

The reason he remembered these cutoff lines so clearly was that after he started working, he had spent countless hours reading "rebirth" novels on Qidian, fantasizing about what he would do if he returned to his senior year of high school.

Looking back now, Wang Donglai wanted to give himself a good slap.

Remembering the cutoff lines was useless. If he had put in the hard work back then and memorized the actual exam questions, he wouldn't be having such a headache right now.

However, this thought only lingered in his mind for a moment before Wang Donglai cast it aside.

After working for several years, Wang Donglai had developed a habit: he would not let useless emotions affect his mood.

Wang Donglai was not worried about his future; he had the system.

He only needed to study a little, and getting into a Tier 3 or Tier 2 university shouldn't be a problem.

Even if the first main quest wasn't completed perfectly, Wang Donglai believed that with the knowledge of the next ten years of social development, he could live better than in his previous life even without the system, let alone with it.

The problem Wang Donglai was considering now was how to "launder" his grades.

If he suddenly achieved a shockingly high score while acting like a slacker, it would inevitably cause controversy.

A student who had never been at the top of the class from elementary school through junior high and high school suddenly achieving an amazing score on the college entrance exam—anyone could see there was something wrong.

Furthermore, since he possessed a system in this life, he was destined not to be obscure, so why would he be willing to leave such an obvious loophole?

These 98 days were Wang Donglai’s best opportunity.

A perfect example of a prodigal son returning, studying hard, and unleashing infinite potential to achieve an amazing score.

In fact, when the main quest appeared, Wang Donglai had already made up his mind: he would definitely do his best to achieve a high score.

Give it his all, leaving no regrets!

With the results of this exam, he would comfort the confused and muddled self of his past and present lives.

"One exam every two weeks, one mock exam every month. That adds up to five weekly exams plus three mock exams, a total of eight exams..."

Wang Donglai calculated silently, drawing steps on the paper with his pen.

"Each exam, I'll improve by more than forty points compared to the last. This way, I can let the teachers witness my growth, and it will be acceptable to others without causing a stir."

"Even if someone feels something is wrong later and wants to investigate, these eight exams can serve as evidence to prove my progress."

Those who do not plan for the long term are not fit to plan for the short term; those who do not plan for the whole are not fit to plan for a part.

And now, Wang Donglai was preparing for the future.

After setting his plan, Wang Donglai began to map out his study schedule.

Among the six liberal arts subjects—Chinese, Math, English, Politics, History, and Geography—each had a massive amount of content. To finish reading them and gain a large amount of experience points, he would have to grind away with time.

Time was tight, and the task was heavy.

Wang Donglai stopped procrastinating, took out his notebook, and began to write.

A good plan is half the success, and the other half depends on the system's stat points.

In the classroom, Wang Donglai wasn't the only one who came to study after eating. Moreover, since Wang Donglai had intentionally gone to the cafeteria late, there were already quite a few people studying in the classroom.

Of course, while some studied, others were slacking off, chatting, or sleeping.

The strangeness of Wang Donglai’s behavior throughout the day had actually already attracted the attention of many classmates.

Just as Wang Donglai was writing furiously, many people walked past him "inadvertently."

When they passed by, they deliberately slowed down, their eyes fixed on the paper Wang Donglai was writing on, wanting to see what he was busy with.

Was it a love letter, or was he really studying?

Soon, those who saw the content gathered together and whispered.

"What is Wang Donglai doing? Is he writing a love letter to Chen Mengni?"

"No, it's not a love letter. It says something about 3500 English vocabulary words for the college entrance exam."

"I saw a bit more than you; it looks like he's making a study plan!"

"No way, he really wants to study hard? I remember his grades aren't bad, why is he pushing himself so hard!"

"Bullshit, his grades aren't bad—that's only within our class. Look at what kind of class we're in; it's the worst liberal arts class. What's the point of ranking high in our class? I doubt even two people will get into a bachelor's program."

As the last person said this, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Even the worst students didn't want to hear that their grades were poor, especially with the atmosphere of the college entrance exam struggle permeating the entire building; these underachievers were even less willing to hear such words.

The group dispersed unhappily, each returning to their seats.

However, the way they looked at Wang Donglai now held a hint of coldness.

In a muddy pond, everyone is covered in mud. If someone cleans themselves off and is unwilling to stay there, it is a sin.

Recommendation tickets...

(End of chapter)