Chapter 4

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Chapter 3 | 🐦 Contents 🐦 | Chapter 5

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Translator: Silvery

PR: Decadence

Bolting the entire way, Yu Sheng finally manages to barrel into his own examination hall before 7.30.

No sooner has he planted his ass on the chair, the bell to close the gates goes off thunderously.

He made it by a hair.

Since the elevator had been too slow, Yu Sheng had to sprint up the stairs at the last minute to get to the 7th floor. Even now, there is still a bit of adrenaline pumping through his veins. Wiping the sweat from his face, he slumps back in his chair.

He had dashed for this exam as though it is some treacherous matter that will decide his life or death. Even if you were to tell him he actually hates studying, he might just not believe it.

“Sheng Gē, Sheng Gē!”

A head pops out from behind the booth right beside his. A familiar loud voice suppressing his excitement drifts over:

“You really came? I thought someone of your level won’t be scared of them messaging your parents…”

Yu Sheng finally catches his breath. He hears this just as he peels off his sweat-drenched uniform jacket and flicks his downturned eyes up:

“Duan Lei, what level are you speaking of?”

Having been called by his full name, Loudmouth comes to an abrupt realization. He forms a cross over his mouth with his hands, amending cheekily:

“Nothing, it’s absolutely nothing – Who doesn’t know of our Sheng Gē? He always abides by the laws and unites all students. Neither fighting nor battling, he is a sunny and bright person who’s always happy to lend a hand…”

The more he spouts, the more he pushes the limit. Yu Sheng truly can’t bear to listen anymore. He rubs his temples:

“Enough. That’s way too fake.”

Duan Lei grins cheekily in reply. Then whilst the invigilators are distracted, he slides over and continues to ramble on by his side.

Yu Sheng rests his school uniform against the back of his chair. Reaching back to brush against the apple in the pocket, he sends a boot to the rolling chair under Duan Lei’s butt:

“There are cameras. Stop letting them catch you.”

The cameras in the computer room aren’t just for show. The school recently spent some tens of thousands of dollars to upgrade them. According to the rumours, one can even see the words written on a paper through them.

What that bunch of sickos from the teaching staff love to do, is to catch the students playing games during computer lessons red-handed every single time, and use the broadcasting system throughout the school to announce their names and in-game IDs.

Under the tender care of such a system which inflicts off-the-charts humiliation, the atmosphere in the computer room is thus always conducive. Consequently, a great many number of students from Central Third have also thus attained mastery over all mini-games from Kingsoft TypeEasy*.

(*Kingsoft TypeEasy 金山打字通: All word games. Imagine crossword puzzles. Basically they gave in to their fate and had no choice but to play these games to sate their cravings lol.)

Duan Lei stretches his head back. Finally, he stops talking and he dodges back to his own seat. While their phones aren’t confiscated yet, he races against time to clear the last daily task of his game.

This is an examination across nine subjects. Every subject is given an hour. Adding the time-consuming afternoon break to that, they have to test for an entire day. Though they are allowed to leave the school compound once they are done, the earliest time they can submit their papers is still set at 11 am in the noon.

To have their phones away from their hands for a whole afternoon. To these teenage Internet-addicts, this is an extremely cut-throat penalty.

Yu Sheng has just as much interest in his phone as the next guy over. Yawning as he switches on his computer, he turns around and feels up the pocket of his uniform.

Having gone an entire morning without eating, he is truly hungry right here and now. His tummy is also filled with just a few mouthfuls of soy milk. It throbs every now and then to remind him of its emptiness.

Though the apples cannot stave off his hunger, they’re still better than nothing in any case.

They are not allowed to leave the exam hall now, and they have to submit their papers at noon before they can leave to fill their bellies somewhere.

Fantasizing about today’s lunch, Yu Sheng’s hand has only just slipped into his pocket before he freezes.

The apple’s gone. He doesn’t know when it happened, but his pocket has gained half a plastic-wrapped pancake.

It’s already cooling briskly and was made soggy by the steam. But one can feel its luxurious fillings just from its cross-section.

……

No wonder he thought that thing smacking up against his hips didn’t feel right.

Yu Sheng grips the pancake. In the midst of the crowd of students who either have their noses buried deep in their books or are playing their mobile games madly, his throat bobs conspicuously.

It wasn’t quite as obvious before he had noticed it. Now that it’s made known to him, it seems like an impossible task to ignore the delectable aroma of the food escaping his pocket.

Yu Sheng breathes in deeply. After warring with himself for a long while, under the insistence of the hunger pangs ratcheting in intensity, he finally pulls out that half of a pancake without a trace of his previous hesitance, and tears off the plastic to crunch down on it.

It is hard to say if it is because he is too famished. Although the pancake has cooled, its flavour is still unexpectedly quite good.

The crispy fritter has turned a bit soggy, but the sausages are still warm and the fish tofu still resists the sinking of his teeth a fair bit.

True enough, there is a chicken cutlet.

Not in the slightest willing to admit that his firm belief held through the years actually crumbled just like that, Yu Sheng munches through the pancake morosely and brushes his defeat upon his hunger, preparing to destroy all evidence once and for all.

Duan Lei’s head pops out from behind the separator once more, making an unnecessarily huge fuss:

“Sheng Gē, you actually ate a pancake with something inside – Didn’t you say all pancakes are blasphemies save for sweet crisps*?!”

(*sweet crisps 果子薄脆 = thinner versions of those blasphemous pancakes 邪教煎饼, though they call it pancake / biscuits anyways.)

Yu Sheng: “……”

Yu Sheng stuffs the last of the pancake into his mouth. He rubs his wrists as he looks up calmly, debating whether or not to exterminate this eyewitness along with the evidence.

Duan Lei shrinks back, instantly cowering:

“No, no. I didn’t see a thing.”

Yu Sheng expressionlessly turns back. Brunching the plastic bag into a ball, he flicks his wrist backwards.

The plastic bag sails overhead through the wide and empty backrow, making a pretty arc to flop into the trash bin in the corner.

Duan Lei sneakily cheers for him by clapping:

“Perfect. You’re way too cool.”

Yu Sheng can’t be bothered to entertain his bullshit. Glancing at him, he leans back against his chair and shuts his eyes to make up for lost sleep.

Having been pissed off by that plausible substitute White Silver last night, he fought for half the night and all his energy after waking up has already been drained. Now that his tummy has gotten some food in it, his exhaustion’s coming back to him.

The chairs in the computer room are a lot better than the ones in the classrooms. They are also comfy for napping a bit. Yu Sheng closes his eyes and takes a nap leaning against the back of his chair. When he is shaken awake by someone else the next time, the first bell before the start of the exam is already going off.

Duan Lei is carrying his schoolbag in preparation to bring it over. He’s standing at his side, shaking his shoulder:

“Sheng Gē, did you bring anything? I can put it there for you as well.”

Yu Sheng yawns and shakes his head:

“No, you—”

Before his words are out, the invigilator’s stringent voice has already risen:

“All jackets included! Leave them outside! Pick up your pace!”

“Jackets included?” Duan Lei widens his eyes incredulously, “Why’s that the case? Can’t I be sensitive to the cold—”

He has only just managed to say this before he was bumped by Yu Sheng’s arm and quickly shuts up.

Yu Sheng rises from his chair without making a sound. He scans the exam hall with his eyes.

When he just entered, he got the slight feeling that something’s off, but it’s all clear to him now.

There are also numbers at play when it comes to separating students amongst the exam halls. In this particular exam hall, eighty percent are all students from Province Point. There are only a couple of Central Third students who are scattered about. It’s his first time seeing these examiners as well. They’re most likely teachers brought over from the other side to invigilate.

Yu Sheng has seen how the stringency of Province Point’s exams can make one slim down. Central Third students also do not have a good reputation, so they are undoubtedly the ones focused on in this exam hall.

The aircon setting is just right. True enough, they can do without their jackets. It’s nothing more than an afternoon. It’s not worth it to invite trouble to their doors.

Yu Sheng is stiff from having slept for a while and wants to stretch his legs a bit. Picking his uniform up, he carries Duan Lei along and turns around:

“Let’s go. Lead the way.”

Duan Lei opens his mouth, but still closes it in frustration. He dutifully takes on the task of showing his old man the way and guides the still half-asleep Yu Sheng to the place where they are supposed to leave their things.

“Sheng Gē, I really can’t understand…”

He applies a bit of strength to push away stack after stack of textbooks. Propping his schoolbag up, he turns to take the uniform from Yu Sheng’s hand:

“You once said your at-home treatment is quite good. We can’t even dream of being treated the way you are. Yet, why do you still listen to them?”

Although he’s often punished to stand outside the classroom due to his little sleeping problem, in contrast to his almighty battle records and compared to the crowd of downright rebellious students he mingles around with, Yu Sheng is considered quite law-abiding.

He stands by the laws so much, in fact, that they even have to accommodate this elderly citizen’s request when arranging a fight. They have got to wrap it up before they get back to the doorstep. Otherwise, they would be flipped onto the ground by a Sheng Gē who timingly returned to the dorm, and have him overwhelm the opponents one-sidedly and put an end to the fight.

In the crowd of rebellious chuuni who stand steadfast by the motto, “Even if I lay down my life, I must still go up against the school’s teachers”, Yu Sheng does indeed pose an image so saintly, it’s hard for him to mix in with them. There were more than a couple of times where he was kicked out of various cliques because of this. But no sooner had they broken a law, he would soon come at them with one punch after another, thereby re-establishing himself as the top dog amongst the problematic youths.

Caught off guard by his sudden question, Yu Sheng is slightly stunned. He raises his brows:

“I’m treated well at home?”

“Yup. All of us are especially envious.”

Duan Lei is a bit peeved:

“Your family’s so wealthy and your parents don’t care about you. I can only dream of such things. It’s a pity my parents would beat me to death if they see me not studying properly…”

Yu Sheng opens his mouth and makes a chuckle.

His family’s indeed wealthy and his parents don’t care about him. It looks like he’s been treated well enough till now.

There’s nothing to be discontented about.

“Didn’t you get a lifeline because of that?”

Yu Sheng swallows the words which were on his tongue and rubs his forehead lackadaisically, handing his jacket over:

“Otherwise, should I join you guys the next time you’re squatting outside the office, so you don’t even have a visitor bringing you lunch?”

Duan Lei turns to stone.

That image’s simply way too horrifying. Even just the thought of it makes one want to scream in fear.

Realization hits him like a truck. Duan Lei shakes his head frantically, courteously accepting his jacket with both hands and offering his bag up as a cushion for it:

“No, no. There’s no way we can live through that. Sheng Gē, you best be a bit more obedient. You are our only hope…”

In their group, only Yu Sheng has this innate gift of making one listen just by looking at his face. Every time they get into trouble, it’s always Yu Sheng who coordinates with them from the outside. If they drag Yu Sheng along in their reckless escapades, they will seriously lose the only person who will visit their detention room and deliver fried chicken, beer, mahjong, and solitaire.

“Freedom is the best.”

Seeing as if he’s finally enlightened, Yu Sheng nods in a rather pleased manner and pats his shoulder twice,

“For the sake of freedom, it’s okay if there are some bumps on the road.”

For instance, the exam this time round.

To suddenly elbow them with such a strict exam and make it so difficult for them, they must be doing some rigorous selection in secret.

Should they be chosen, it’s impossible for them to avoid being stuffed into the sea of knowledge.

“If you want to have time to play during summer vacation, it’s best not to score too well.”

Yu Sheng imparts pearls of wisdom upon Duan Lei on his way back:

“Watch your score. It’s good enough so long as it can meet your parents’ standards. The winner doesn’t always win all…”

Duan Lei bounces after him and bobs his head profusely in reverence.

The first bell for the start of the exam chimes.

Yu Sheng returns to his own booth and pulls his keyboard out. Following the exam instructions, he pulls out the question bank and solemnly trails down the row of options to choose A.

He can’t choose C. According to most question-setters’ habit of putting the most unlikely answer at the front, A has a slightly lower chance of being correct.

Yu Sheng finds the submit option and enters, only for a message to suddenly pop out.

It’s the first time he’s encountering this kind of question bank. Yu Sheng frowns and reads the cartoonish message carefully.

For whatever reason, they’ve decided to use a crow as the question bank’s logo. The little, jet black crow is swaying its head, opening and closing its beak, inexplicably summoning to mind a certain metaphor with no good intentions.

【This question has been adapted. If the same option has been chosen for more than five consecutive questions, or if less than five seconds was spent on the question, it will be taken as a half-hearted attempt. May the student correct his attitude and try the question on this page again.】

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Next Time on DTTM!

Chapter 5: <The parent entering the hall with a bowl of porridge.>

Preview: 🤣🤣🤣 Black Butler makes his return.

Featured food of the week: Sweet Crisps.

China calls it Fried Biscuits whether it’s Crisps or Egg Rolls or Pancakes.

It’S AlL tHe SaMe~~~

Silvery: “The only one who can defeat me is me.”

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Chapter 3 | 🐦 Contents 🐦 | Chapter 5

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