Chapter 17

Xiaoming didn't finish his homework until midnight, and he was so tired that his eyes ached. As soon as he lay down on the bed, he fell into a deep sleep. This time, he didn't sleep through until morning as he usually did on Sundays; instead, he entered the dream system again.

Entering this magical space once more confirmed Xiaoming's suspicions: the dream system was in a resting state on Sundays, so it wasn't open.

He looked at the display screen and saw that his points were 10, which he had earned by rowing with all his might last time. Then he checked the task system and found that the deadline for the task list was still 22 days away.

"How can it be 22 days? I thought it was 23 days. Did the system not count Sunday as a rest day and deduct one day from the task period?" Xiaoming exclaimed. Then he thought, "Since I fell asleep after midnight, could it be that the deadline is one day less because it's now Tuesday?"

"So, not only did I not enter the system on Sunday, but I also missed the chance to enter on Monday?" He groaned, "Why am I so unlucky!"

Another opportunity to earn points was lost, and he couldn't help but feel regretful. He estimated that he wouldn't be able to enter the system on Tuesday night unless he stayed up late and dragged it into Wednesday morning.

Since there was no one to talk to in this place, complaining was useless. Xiaoming calmed down and entered the exchange system. Last time, he had exchanged for an introductory teacher skill in English, which significantly improved his English level. However, this improvement wasn't enough to guarantee a top 100 ranking in the mid-term exam, so he needed to choose another subject.

In the end, he chose mathematics and exchanged for an introductory teacher skill in that subject. Under the bright light, he instantly possessed the mathematical skills of an elite high school math teacher.

This change wasn't as clear as the improvement in English. His mind only became active when he faced math problems, so Xiaoming wasn't fully aware of the improvement.

However, he wasn't worried about the system's effectiveness. After completing the exchange, he headed straight for the small door to see if he would be climbing stairs or rowing today.

When he opened the small door, he found that the familiar mist was gone. Behind the door was a high wall that curved and extended to both sides, forming a large circle that enclosed an area.

There was a door in the wall, and inside the door, there was another wall. However, there was a passage between the walls. Xiaoming walked through the door and found two passages on either side. He chose the left passage and walked for a while, then encountered another door. The passage hadn't reached the end, so he continued forward. He realized that this was a maze!

He began to try to navigate the maze, constantly attempting to enter the doors in the walls, retracing his steps when he hit a dead end, and relying on his memory to find the next path. However, as he walked, he became confused. The white walls had no markings, and his brain could only hold so much information. He had no experience navigating a maze, so he quickly lost his way.

He didn't even know if he had explored the entire left side of the maze before his consciousness became blurred and he woke up from the dream. This was the first time he had gained nothing from behind the small door. It was undeniable that the maze was too difficult for him, and this mental challenge was harder to adapt to than physical training.

Feeling somewhat discouraged, he had to admit that he couldn't navigate the maze within the limited time. With a hint of regret, Xiaoming turned over and fell back asleep.

On Tuesday morning, Xiaoming went to school at about the same time as usual, so he met his classmate Li Weiyeh, who was a game enthusiast. They chatted all the way to school. Li Weiyeh asked if he and Huang Wen were really dating, and Xiaoming nodded in acknowledgment. The boy looked envious and said, "If I had a girlfriend to play games with, that would be great."

Xiaoming sighed inwardly: With your wish, no girl will ever pay attention to you.

As they passed the school basketball court, Li Weiyeh went to play basketball with others. Xiaoming saw his track and field teammates diligently exercising on the far side of the field and realized he had forgotten to buy dumbbells again.

He lightly tapped his head and walked to the field, placed his backpack on the grass, and jogged a lap. Then he did some stretching exercises and went to the horizontal bar to do pull-ups.

After doing 15 pull-ups, he got down and started jogging again. As he ran, someone joined him. Huang Wen's short hair was damp with sweat, indicating she had been exercising early in the morning. However, she ran alongside Xiaoming with ease.

"Why did you suddenly come for morning exercise today?" she asked.

"Seeing the seniors working so hard, I, as a junior, can't afford to be lazy," Xiaoming replied with a smile. "What time did you come? Why are you sweating so much?"

"I got here at 5:30," Huang Wen said nonchalantly. "Some people are even earlier. The long-distance running group runs 10,000 meters every morning, then goes back to the dorm to shower before going to school."

"What about you? Are you going to class stinky after sweating so much?"

Huang Wen gave him a glare and said, "I'm going to the shower, too. I just saw you, this rare visitor, and came to say hello."

Xiaoming nodded and said, "Go ahead, don't miss the morning study session."

Huang Wen's pace gradually slowed, and she stopped to watch him run away. She sniffed her arm and muttered, "Do I really smell that bad?"

After running another lap and doing another set of pull-ups, Xiaoming ended his morning exercise. He went to the classroom, opened his book, and read aimlessly for a while. The morning study session bell rang, and he followed the teacher's instructions from the restaurant yesterday and went to the teacher's building.

When he entered Ms. Xu's office, she was the only one there, writing something with her head down. Seeing him, she didn't fuss and simply pointed to a chair, saying, "Sit there and wait."

Xiaoming sat upright on the chair, watching his homeroom teacher's slender fingers write quickly. His gaze slowly moved up and saw a deep cleavage between the buttons of her blouse. He quickly looked down, feeling nervous and swallowing hard.

Ms. Xu, noticing his discomfort, said coldly, "Do you know why I called you here?"

"Yes," Xiaoming answered honestly, nodding.

"Then tell me, what mistake did you make?"

The teacher's questioning technique was skilled. She didn't specify the mistake but let him confess first, ostensibly giving him a chance to reform, but actually probing to see if he had any other issues.

"I shouldn't have had a meal alone with a female classmate while wearing the school uniform. I brought shame to the school," Xiaoming said clearly, summarizing his thoughts deeply but avoiding any mention of early romance, showing his experience in dealing with such situations.

"Who told you that?" Ms. Xu said sternly, putting down her pen and taking out a test paper from the side, placing it on the table. "Look at this. This is your problem."

Xiaoming was taken aback, then nervously approached and picked up the test paper. It was the English test from yesterday's class, and he had scored... 99 points, losing only one point on the essay.

He was both surprised and delighted. He was happy that his English had improved so much, but he was puzzled by the homeroom teacher's anger.

"Mr. Cai graded the test and came to see me yesterday," Ms. Xu said earnestly. "Wang Bo, your problem is serious. Have you done this test before and memorized the answers? Why didn't you tell the teacher the truth? Is a small test score so important to you? Can it satisfy your vanity? You need to think long-term. Cheating won't get you anywhere!"

Xiaoming secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was just a matter of his sudden improvement in English, which had alarmed the English teacher and even the homeroom teacher. They thought he had cheated, but that was impossible. He must have scored close to the highest, so the only explanation was that he had done the test before and knew the answers.

"Ms. Xu, I swear this is the first time I've done this test. I'm not lying to you," he said earnestly.

Ms. Xu frowned and said, "Still being stubborn. Then explain how you scored 64 points last time and 99 points this time. Don't tell me you suddenly got it."

"I... found a tutor. She's my cousin, who studied in the U.S. and is very good at English. After she taught me, I could score 99 points."

Xiaoming couldn't reveal the exchange system, and even if he did, no one would believe him. So he had to blame it on his cousin to get through this.

"Oh, you have a cousin who studied abroad," Ms. Xu nodded with a smile. "Congratulations on your progress. By the way, I haven't visited your home for a long time. I should go and talk to your parents about your recent improvement and learn more about your cousin."

Xiaoming knew what she meant. If she confronted his parents, he would be in trouble. He gritted his teeth and said, "How about this, Ms. Xu. Let Mr. Cai give me another test, and I'll do it right here to prove it."

Seeing his strong stance, Ms. Xu was puzzled. Could this boy really have improved so much? It didn't make sense. No matter how capable his cousin was, she couldn't take the test for him. If she had such strong tutoring skills, she could open a tutoring center and make a fortune.

"Alright, come after lunch. Do a test during the afternoon break, and I'll see how many points you can get," Ms. Xu decided to give him a chance. "Go back to class now."

"Okay, I'll go back to the classroom." Xiaoming bowed and left the office.

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