“All harsh survival conditions in this video are set for program effect, please do not imitate.”

In a confined, narrow small space, Dou Sheng sat on the floor.

“Hello everyone, today is a special plan, the theme of which is — Poverty.”

“Inspiration comes from a money-saving king whose monthly living expenses are only three hundred yuan. Audience, three hundred yuan, how is that possible? So, I set my survival goal at —”

The screen went black, three large characters: One Hundred Fifty.

The bullet comments instantly crushed over in a neat formation: Pulling up seedlings to help them grow (Making things worse by forcing them).

Xie Lan curled his lips and gently pushed open the door to Dou Sheng’s room. It was pitch black inside; Dou Sheng was rolled up in the quilt, sleeping deeply. Xie Lan turned on the computer, put on Dou Sheng’s headphones, and continued watching.

19,682 people watching now. Good lord.

Dou Sheng’s lazy voiceover sounded, “Ah, when I set this flag, I actually went through some rough calculations. A student’s money: clothing, food, transportation, study. Just these four blocks. I think I can do it. Facts proved that in the first week or so, I indeed executed my plan perfectly.”

On screen, Dou Sheng walked on the bridge wearing an old T-shirt and ill-fitting pants. The wind blew his hair in all directions. The screen displayed the countdown to class and dynamic distance. He planned his meals for the next week as he walked.

“There are two markets near the school. After a week of actual combat, I mastered some small patterns. The east one is suitable for going after 10 PM. Near-expiry toast is one yuan for a big bag, and you can also snag two cups of expired but not spoiled yogurt. The west one is suitable for going after 8 PM. Meat trimmings are 1.5 yuan for a big bag. If lucky, you can find chicken wing tips. The difficulty is mainly not being able to grab them.”

The camera shook, and the style changed abruptly.

The vegetable market was bustling with noise. The discount processing area was crowded with aunties and uncles. Dou Sheng danced with them, holding the camera high above his head for protection.

“Young man, what are you snatching with us for!” A panting female voice came from below the lens.

The view shook violently. Dou Sheng said, “I’m poor, I’m hungry.”

“Even if you are poor and hungry, you shouldn’t eat these. Eating these won’t make you grow tall!” The auntie said, inadvertently looking back, paused, and her gaze moved up slowly.

The GoPro shook left and right mischievously to say hello.

But her attention was obviously not on the camera, but on Dou Sheng behind it. It wasn’t until another auntie squeezed past her that she suddenly came back to her senses, plunged into the crowd again, and roared, “How many bags do you want?”

Dou Sheng immediately got smart: “One bag is enough!”

“I’ll pick a good bag for you. You go, snatch the small rapeseeds over there, five minutes left!”

Before she finished speaking, the camera had already made a sharp turn, moving bumpily and quickly to the other side.

• Alliance formed just like that?
• Holy sht LMAO.*
• What meat can you buy with this little money?
• Fat trimmings not wanted when cutting meat, can carry some lean meat more or less, and unsold minced chicken pieces nearing expiration. Actually, the portion is quite a lot.
• Good lord, small rapeseeds. I remember Dou-zi doesn’t like eating dark green vegetables.
• Look at him now, is he still picky?

After a battle, Dou Sheng was panting. Switching the camera to the front, his neck had been scratched by someone unknown, leaving two red marks.

The auntie soon came to meet him. The two divided the spoils. 1.9 yuan bought a small bag of meat trimmings and a bag of wilted rapeseeds.

Dou Sheng said, “You advanced 1.5 for the meat, I advanced 0.4 for the vegetables. I’ll give you 1.1.”

“Sigh, no need to give, young man. I just snatched for fun.” The auntie smiled gently at the camera, tidying her sideburns and revealing a gold bracelet on her wrist. “Add Auntie on WeChat. I have all the news about discounts and freebies around here.”

Bullet comments:

• Turns out to be a rich lady, disrespect.
• Found him pleasing to the eye.
• Angel on earth.
• Living Bodhisattva.

Dou Sheng’s voiceover was inserted into the video: “At that time, I felt very lucky because this Auntie Wu indeed carried me to save a lot of money.”

The screen switched to a WeChat group. Group name: Yangchang Lane Wealth Creation Group.

“After knowing her, I realized that a one-yuan bag of assorted leftover vegetables was too extravagant. The correct problem-solving idea is to join the community’s vegetable group buying chat. Wake up every morning to see what vegetables dropped in price today. Through simple and crude economic principles, we know that if radish prices drop, it means supply exceeds demand in the market that day. Radishes will also occupy the vast majority of the assorted leftover vegetable bags that day. So, why not just buy leftover radishes directly?”

• Blind student (Sherlock Holmes meme), you discovered the blind spot (highlight).
• I’d call him a genius.
• Economics was invented for you to buy vegetables.

A vast electronic spreadsheet appeared on the screen unexpectedly. The row coordinates were product names with detailed classification labels; the column coordinates were dates. Dense numbers recorded the daily dynamic vegetable prices and fluctuations.

The second table was dazzling mathematical modeling. A function button was inserted next to it. Click it, and it would generate a vegetable price forecast for the day.

Xie Lan was shocked by this table. He was dazed for a long time before remembering that there were indeed a few days when Dou Sheng ran to the computer lab every day.

• Sci… Scientific Immortal Cultivation?
• LMAO, what the hell is this?
• Study God may be late but never absent.
• He started, he started.
• Screenshotted to look. The first one is time series. The second one seems to be trying to use XGBOOST to predict several types of vegetable prices without time fluctuations. Pity the data volume is small, effect is poor. Professional suggestion: don’t need XGBOOST for such a small model.
• What is XGBOOST?
• Is this something you, a high school student, should know?

“Cough cough, declare first ah. I made this table using the school computer. Although my laptop is lying in the cabinet, to restore the authenticity of poverty, I still paid the price of about thirty calories of heat consumption for a round trip. Yes, for poor people, calories, or physical strength, is also money.”

The comments didn’t listen to what he said at all, all worshipping the Study God. A magnificent exam prayer wall rolled across the screen.

“Until now, eggplant, string beans, and free-range eggs, these three are still unpredictable. But other vegetable prices are already very accurate, at least accurate in terms of rising or falling.” Dou Sheng cleared his throat. “Out of gratitude for Auntie Wu throwing a brick to attract jade, I shared this thing with her. But at this time, I hadn’t realized the seriousness of the matter.”

The screen suddenly went black.

Auntie Wu’s loud voice mixed in the noisy background sound of the vegetable market suddenly rang out: “Dou Dou, Auntie has observed you for several days. Brain is okay, can manage a household, person is handsome too. Seeing you don’t study much, how about considering watching the shop for Auntie? Auntie’s family has half a street in the clothing trade market. My third daughter is coming back to hometown from out of town soon. Family business is still the best ah.”

That voice suddenly leaned close, whispering, “Perform well, my family accepts a live-in son-in-law (matrilocal marriage).”

Dou Sheng: “Hmm?”

• Holy sht!!!*
• I’m dying of laughter in this video today.
• Dou Dou, goddamn Dou Dou!
• Live-in Son-in-law Dou-zi.
• Auntie’s child groom.
• You, per, form, well.

Human joys and sorrows are not connected.

Xie Lan frowned in a sea of joy, clicking open a webpage to search for the meaning of “live-in son-in-law.”

After a long time, he turned his head expressionlessly and glared at a certain someone sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Damn it, didn’t even tell him, the boyfriend, about such things.

Annoying, want to fight.

The video beeped through—Dou Sheng resumed his calm tone: “Anyway, that was my last time going to the vegetable market.”

• 23333
• Market for selling oneself.
• Forget it, you are not worthy.
• After all, heart still thinks of Second Cat.
• Not observing male virtues.

Amidst laughter, the footage quickly interspersed records of the challenge these days. There were the cafeteria auntie stir-frying enthusiastically with the pot bottom oil, the cup of “Chang’an” habitually gifted by the milk tea shop clerk, the roar in Zhao Wenying’s phone call, the tin foil exposed after the toothpaste was torn open, him lying in the grade’s public printing room hand-copying materials, sitting motionless under the shade during PE class zoning out, and mumbling on Xie Lan’s shoulder after school: “I’m so hungry.”

Half of Xie Lan’s face entered the frame, voice cool. “Want to give up?”

“No.”

“Then don’t whine if you’re hungry in the middle of the night.”

“Won’t whine. From today on, if hungry at midnight, find something to eat on the spot.”

“On the spot?”

“At midnight, there’s only you connected by the bed.”

The evening breeze on campus blew the phoenix trees. A long shot pulled past those dancing flowers and leaves. Xie Lan’s profile flashed by. The picture froze on the tall administration building roof in the distance, night view peaceful.

• Is it my illusion? Lan-zai’s neck is flushed.
• And it was after listening to him finish this sentence.
• Is Midnight Cannibalism about to start??
• Scratching heart and liver! I want to watch Midnight Cannibalism!

Xie Lan subconsciously clenched his fingers, afraid some strange scenes would appear next.

Fortunately, a certain someone stopped at the point, skipping this section as if nothing happened.

Dou Sheng’s voiceover sounded again.

“Up to this moment, which is the first two weeks, I was still quite happy. Painstaking calculation brought a sense of achievement, and the stomach could be filled. But after the novelty passed, I suddenly started to feel a trace of wrongness.”

“I started to feel low, a low without warning and without knowing how to resolve.”

In the lens, Dou Sheng lay on the desk studying, his expression calm to almost indifferent. A moment later, he put down the pen and turned to look out the window.

The afternoon sun was intense. The background sound was the lively and noisy classroom, but he seemed to be covered by a mute jar, revealing a trace of loneliness and desolation.

Until Xie Lan’s voice suddenly sounded outside the lens, “Starved silly? Help me check an essay.”

Dou Sheng turned his head back. Those empty eyes suddenly seemed to return to the human world, coming alive again.

“That’s right, all this loss comes from the lack of dopamine in the body. Without sufficient energy, cancelling all entertainment, the brain’s dopamine ran out quickly. And in this muddle-headedness, I found that only talking to Xie Lan could make me secrete dopamine briefly.”

Bullet comments: Oh.

• Starting to enter the main topic.
• So you were fcking waiting for me here.*
• Acceptable, this is very Dou-zi.
• “I always liked Xie Lan”

Dou Sheng: “Xie Lan is indeed the cat under the same roof as me. Not only talks to me but also accepts me working for food. For example, hiring me to sew buttons for him.”

In the frame, Xie Lan expressionlessly carried a shirt over and threw it into his arms. “Two buttons, one yuan. My egg tart for dinner is yours.”

During PE class, Xie Lan came out of the cafeteria toilet, pulling down the hem of the T-shirt he just changed into, and threw another shirt over. “One button, buy you a meat bun tomorrow morning.”

“Three buttons, eat chocolate?”

“Two collar buttons and one cuff button, add a scrambled egg at noon.”

The bullet comments were all confused.

• I don’t understand, where did so many broken buttons come from?
• Xie Lan is deliberately giving you charity, right!
• Buttons fell off during PE class? Changed clothes temporarily?
• Did you engage in some intense exercise? Dumbfounded.

In the dark and quiet room outside the screen, Xie Lan was very flustered, instantly recalling those kisses where Dou Sheng pulled his collar.

When someone in the comments started to get close to the truth, he clicked the timeline in panic and fast-forwarded a few minutes.

Dou Sheng: “In the last week, I started exercising, no longer caring about physical consumption. This wasn’t because I adapted, but a precursor to a complete breakdown. When people are unhappy, sugar and exercise are fast ways to produce dopamine. Besides that, there is hanging out with the person you like. Coincidentally, there was also a period of unhappiness before I became a UP. Looking back now, the ways I forced myself to secrete dopamine back then were nothing more than two: playing ball, and listening to SilentWaves’ violin. Surprisingly no difference from now.”

“Oh, there is still a difference. The deity SilentWaves is right beside me now.”

• I actually want to cry a little damn it.
• Sudden handful of dog food?
• I’m really going crazy, I really think they are together!!
• If this is straight male friendship, then I’ve seen a ghost!
• Absurd, you know! One moment feeling they are partners in crime, next moment feeling they are pure and glowing.
• Previous 1.
• You haven’t changed, Xie Lan changed.
• Indeed, a mature idol should learn to run to the fan’s side by himself.

Dou Sheng: “I started the days of working for Xie Lan. Don’t ask what work I did. Anyway, I possessed a bite of grape ice under the scorching sun, a fried chicken leg fed to my lips at dinner, eating egg tart in small bites for the first time in my life, sucking the ribs until not even fascia was left. One day sitting on the steps sunbathing and spacing out, didn’t really feel hungry, Xie Lan thought I was dying and hurriedly stuffed a big mouthful of chocolate into my mouth. For a while after that, I felt water tasted sweet. I thought hunger stimulated my taste buds. Later I learned Xie Lan secretly added glucose to my water, sent me away during breakfast, and stuffed an extra lump of meat filling into the bun I bit open.”

Footage was interspersed following Dou Sheng’s narration. Xie Lan’s face appeared in every frame. Most of the time, his expression was very faint; even care wasn’t shown obviously. Dou Sheng definitely put effort into screening shots. Every frame was beautiful like an oil painting. The boy’s brows and eyes were gentle and vivid; light points gathered in those quiet black eyes. When he looked at the lens, the comments immediately brushed a patch of “heartbeat.”

• Watching Lan makes water filling.
• He secretly added sugar for you!
• It’s popular to trick dogs in to kill them these days.
• I thought I came to watch you starve into a silly dog.
• The silly dog is actually myself.

Dou Sheng coughed. “Not just Xie Lan. Suddenly it became popular in our class to pass around a bag of chips during the long break. My math teacher dragged me to the office every day to do problems and eat snacks. The cafeteria auntie stir-fried my two broken vegetable leaves separately every day. One day I found goji berries in the free porridge; the next day it even turned into preserved egg and lean meat porridge…”

Plain narration, but the amount of interspersed footage was astonishing. Dou Sheng himself didn’t show his face much, but the camera movement and storytelling were full of effort. The early segments were all flashy operations, absurd and mocking, making people laugh and cry. But as his state evolved, more shots were of the scorching playground in the afternoon, the empty echoing corridors, with Xie Lan and friends’ caring segments interspersed in the middle. Every appearance made the heart tremble slightly.

The video was nearing the end. The comments neatly brushed “Theme Sublimation.”

The picture suddenly cut back to the bright living room at home.

Dou Sheng changed back to his normal clothes and sat on the floor. Looked like he just took a shower; hair was still a bit wet.

The drunkenness was masked in the lens, but Xie Lan knew clearly this was recorded just now after drinking and coming home.

“Speaking of this, you might think this is a main melody video forcing the platform to give a Hot List spot, but actually not.”

“A poor life is hard to endure. Most of the care I received came from the gift of being a student. Without this layer, I couldn’t have held on.”

“There is goodwill from all directions in society, but if this wasn’t a challenge without a time limit, that goodwill would just be a drop in the bucket. I thought the conclusion of this video would point to material poverty and spiritual richness. But the fact is, when all spirit is focused on how to save money, I have absolutely no mind to play games, watch movies, read books, or study. Even the video missed some footage due to low mood.”

Dou Sheng sat in front of the lens, his expression rarely serious: “And after losing everything and taking it back again, I realized more profoundly that people should be grateful for what they already have. Those things you take for granted might be what others yearn for. Contentment, gratitude, help, freedom.”

“I will donate the full amount of living expenses saved this month and the creator incentive of this video. I am Dou-zi, Ren Jian Jue Shuai Dou. Hope this video helps you. Don’t forget to like, coin, and favorite. See you in the summer vacation next time!”

The screen went black. Amidst a barrage of “Respect” comments, just as Xie Lan was about to click the triple combo, cheerful BGM suddenly rang out.

Voices were buzzing; the screen showed today’s hot pot gathering.

Heat swirled above the boiling hot pot. He and Dou Sheng sat together. He showed half his body, sometimes side profile entering the frame, mostly only cutting to the shoulder.

In the cheerful trouble-making BGM, Dou Sheng lowered his head and slurped meat into his mouth.

Fatty beef, tripe, luncheon meat, ribs soaked in hot pot soup, and shrimp paste. He ate without lifting his eyelids, hands manipulating chopsticks flying up and down, cheek muscles bulging frantically, every strand of hair trembling with joy.

• [Main Feature]
• Child hasn’t eaten in a hundred years.
• WTF, the look of eating seriously actually killed me.
• Xie Lan, you two stick together even eating hot pot, not hot?
• Wait, what’s on Lan-zai’s collarbone?
• A cat head?
• He even made an exclusive special effect for Xie Lan?

Xie Lan was stunned, leaning close to the screen to look carefully.

Then his fingertips went numb—that was the mark Dou Sheng gnawed on his collarbone last night. He only discovered the collar was loose at the end of the meal today. Turns out it had been glaringly appearing in the lens not long after recording started.

Fortunately, although Dou Sheng was drunk, his reason remained. He made a cartoon cat head mosaic, guarding all the way with his movements.

• So cute, Xie Lan exclusive, other friends don’t have it.
• LMAO, is this Big Cat’s confusing behavior declaring ownership of Second Cat?
• Why do I feel something is wrong?
• Comments are pure enough to shock me.
• If just for decoration, leaving it there is fine. No need to follow Xie Lan moving without missing a millimeter, right?
• LMAO, isn’t this obviously a fancy mosaic? Have you never seen UPs mosaic passersby?
• What is there to mosaic on a collarbone, and only mosaic one side?

After everyone discussed chaotically for a few seconds, the style changed abruptly.

• Holy sht I suddenly understood.*
• Gentlemen! I realized!!
• Go back, 39:25, one frame wasn’t mosaic-ed clean.
• Saw it! The cat revealed a tiny tiny tiny bit of red edge. Could it be hallucinations from digging for sugar?
• Indeed hard to say if real or fake…
• I don’t care, that’s a hickey!
• Rounding up, they’ve done it!
• Cough cough, comments be civilized.

In the video, Dou Sheng picked up a can of ice beer, paused for a moment, and reached his other hand towards the camera.

“I didn’t want to drink. Let’s stop filming here. Dismissed.”

The screen went black.

But finally, two lines of words emerged.

Postscript: Found interesting dialogue recorded while organizing footage. Posting for a laugh, don’t jeer.

In the background sound of bubbling suspected boiling water, Xie Lan’s voice sounded, “What to do for the days ahead?”

Dou Sheng said in a calm tone, “Can only rely on you to keep me (bao yang).”

“Keep you?” Xie Lan’s voice was clear and gentle, sounding pure and flawless. “Let me check what that means.”

Xie Lan suffocated.

This segment was what Dou Sheng said to him after answering Zhao Wenying’s call. In his memory, Dou Sheng immediately answered, “Just means wanting you to be my boyfriend.”

If that was really released, Bilibili could explode tonight, but the consequences would be unimaginable.

Xie Lan instinctively clenched his fingers. However, after waiting two seconds, that sentence didn’t sound.

Five seconds left in the video. The background sound of boiling water stopped suddenly. The background noise volume dropped significantly; it was pieced together with another segment.

If he remembered correctly, it was one night in the narrow gap between buildings. After kissing him, Dou Sheng kept asking if he could work for him, forcing him to agree repeatedly.

Dou Sheng’s murmur sounded in the video, “I work for you, just say if you agree or not?”

Xie Lan said helplessly, “Agree, annoying to death.”

Video ended.

“!”

“…”

Xie Lan sat blankly in front of the screen, scalp tingling along with tens of thousands of netizens watching simultaneously. The blackened screen suddenly reflected a figure on the bed. Dou Sheng woke up, sitting behind him.

Dou Sheng sighed with satisfaction. “Desire to speak but stopping, not bad, right?”

Xie Lan turned his head and glared at him. “Not bad my ass. Want to go public? Or want to hide?”

Dou Sheng stretched his arms lazily and sighed. “Having you as a boyfriend, how could I be willing to hide? I especially want to show off. But our attention is a bit high right now. Can only ‘desire to speak but stop,’ but absolutely cannot leave solid evidence.”

This person actually had principles.

Xie Lan was speechless. Glancing at that terrible view count—only released three hours ago, already over 700,000. High probability it would break Dou Sheng’s historical record again, pushing him forward fiercely.

Xie Lan closed the webpage with a cold face and stood up. “I’m going back to sleep.”

He passed by Dou Sheng. Just as his voice fell, Dou Sheng grabbed his arm.

The computer screen went black behind him. The last light source extinguished. Only faint moonlight came through the window gauze in the room.

Dou Sheng cupped his neck with both hands and kissed him gently, whispering, “Agreed to let me work for you. After the video is uploaded, this challenge is really over. How long do you want me to owe?”

The air conditioner was on at home, but that heat surged up again instantly.

Xie Lan was held by him, silent.

Together for almost two months, they were both restraining themselves. Every time they went crazy, they hoped to quench their thirst, but often it only made it more obvious.

Dou Sheng clasped his hands behind his back. Their heights were similar; shoulders pressed together, hurting a bit.

“Holding it in isn’t good. I’ll use my hand, not illegal,” Dou Sheng whispered.

Xie Lan didn’t make a sound. Held by him, although struggling backward, he couldn’t stop Dou Sheng’s breath from drilling into his nose.

Since calling him “boyfriend” so much, it seemed there was also a secret psychological suggestion. Whenever Dou Sheng’s breath intruded into his senses, the image of Dou Sheng gently calling “boyfriend” would immediately emerge in his brain.

Dou Sheng held him and retreated two steps. Legs hit the edge of the bed; balance lost, he fell sitting down, dragging Xie Lan down with him.

Breaths interlaced in the room. After a long time, Xie Lan lay diagonally on the bed, head barely resting on the edge of a pillow, one arm pressing over his eyes, body rising and falling with breathing.

“Is Xie Lan Little Friend satisfied?” Dou Sheng’s voice was low and slightly hoarse.

Xie Lan’s Adam’s apple moved for a good while before he opened his mouth: “Shut up.”

Dou Sheng shut up obediently, but not long after, he leaned in Xie Lan’s ear again. “Next time, my turn.”

Xie Lan didn’t make a sound, as if asleep.

After a long time, he moved his finger and gave an extremely low “Mm.”

---

After the two-day final exams ended, the second-year students finally welcomed a short respite.

The selection of outstanding clubs had an indicator for the president’s participation level. After communicating with the members, Xie Lan decided to participate in the final. For safety, Lin Bei made him the second debater and Dou Sheng the third debater. Second and third debaters were mainly to build momentum, and their roles were similar, able to supplement each other. As long as Dou Sheng could hold up, Xie Lan could muddle through even without saying much.

Final topic: Should one’s life ambition be to leave home or return home? Xie Lan chose the opposition team, Return Home.

In the days before the competition, he discussed debate materials with members during the day and prepared for the Youth on Strings interview at home at night.

The afternoon before the competition, he was sitting in the Rushi Bookstore sorting out debate points when Old Ma suddenly said in the competition group that the preliminary results were out.

Preliminaries were organized by each province independently. H Province didn’t give awards, only scores and rankings, to let schools and competition students know where they stood.

Sultry afternoon. Xie Lan was dazed for a while when he saw the results.

H Province preliminary full score 100. His paper score 92. Second in the city, third in the province.

First in the city was Dou Sheng, 96, tied for first in the province with a guy named Geng Rui from D City. So Xie Lan became third.

Ranking wasn’t important, but this score was ridiculously low.

Xie Lan replied in the group incredulously: Can I see the wrong questions?

“How did I only get ninety-two?” He frowned and muttered to Dou Sheng beside him, “This paper shouldn’t be.”

The three of them had a gap with those below. Fourth in the province was from D City, 84; fifth was Dai You, 83. According to the suggested quota of 200 participants for the whole province, the threshold score to enter the league was only 58 points.

Che Ziming performed poorly, barely passing sixty. His face turned green hearing Xie Lan’s words.

Dou Sheng lowered his head and hummed a few times. “Maybe… understood a question wrong.”

Xie Lan looked up blankly. “Which question understood wrong?”

Old Ma privately poked him and replied: Yes, the papers were graded in our school. If you want to see, come directly to the math teaching research office.

When Xie Lan arrived outside the teaching research office, Teacher Liang from the Affiliated High School was also there, frowning and saying, “Look at this Xie Lan. Every question correct, but wrong on plane geometry. Who in the top twenty of the province gets this wrong? I taught plane geometry before; I set the plane geometry question this time. I remember now, last time in the city-wide grading, he also stumbled on my question. Is he targeting me?”

“No, he really can’t read the question.” Old Ma sighed deeply, took off his glasses and threw them aside, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Xie Lan outside the door: “…”

Xie Lan turned back stiffly. “Wasn’t that question proving equilateral?”

“It was proving equilateral.” Dou Sheng seemed unbearable. “But what needed to be proved was not PDEG, but PCGF.”

Xie Lan was shocked. “No way?”

“Yes way.” Dou Sheng nodded. “The stem was indeed a bit convoluted. Later it was all pronouns: ‘its’, ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘here’. I had a bad feeling when I saw it. Sure enough.”

Xie Lan: “…”

But he clearly read the question carefully many times, analyzed every pronoun carefully. Although the process was laborious, he was very confident in the end.

Dou Sheng gently touched Xie Lan’s hair from behind. “Doesn’t matter. The preliminary is just a reference, irrelevant to the league.”

“Still angry.” Xie Lan whispered, “I really read the question seriously.”

In the office, Old Ma sighed deeply. “He even told me, ‘Teacher, I understood the question.’ I simply can’t bear to tell him the truth now.”

The middle-aged man sat lost in the sofa, hugging his thermos cup and muttering, “It’s my fault. As a math teacher, I actually only taught him math, didn’t teach Chinese along the way. This is my great dereliction of duty.”

“I’m going to find the provincial training coach to add extra training for him! From today on, all questions given to Xie Lan pass through me first. I will ruthlessly twist them by three hundred words!”

Xie Lan: “?”