Zhou Rui had no idea who had stolen his home or whose home he had stolen when he bit the melon in his hands.
All he knew was that gaining experience points had become significantly more difficult in the later stages.
After a full afternoon of classes, Zhou Rui had only earned three points of [Self-Disciplined Person] experience, bringing his total progress to (87/100).
The experience from the [Inspiration] item had only increased slightly (36/100).
The [Perseverance] entry remained stagnant (1/100), and the efficiency was so low that Zhou Rui began to consider whether he should remove it from the taskbar and replace it with something else.
The only good news was that, in the afternoon, Zhou Rui received a copyright confirmation email for "Starry Sea," and the paper certificate was already being mailed.
Zhou Rui forwarded the email to the "60th Anniversary Literature and Art Guidance Working Group," completing the final piece of the puzzle.
During the break in the evening self-study session, Han Zinyin pulled out a handful of candies from her schoolbag and secretly handed them to Zhou Rui.
"Try this! It's a specialty of Shanghai."
It was the famous White Rabbit candy.
Zhou Rui grabbed the milky white sweets—no, the milky white rabbits—and tore one open, saying, "Didn't the teacher talk to you about your test scores?"
Han Zinyin absentmindedly took the candy wrapper from Zhou Rui's hand and placed it into the small trash bag on her desk. She was a neat freak and sometimes even helped Zhou Rui clean his desk.
"No. My situation is a bit special, so the teacher probably won't talk to me about my studies."
Zhou Rui gave her a knowing look.
He knew she was a relative of someone with connections—a very influential one at that—so the teacher likely wouldn't be too concerned about her grades.
"Do you have any relatives in Qinghe County? Where do you live?"
Zhou Rui usually stayed busy, trying to gain experience and make music, so he hadn't spoken to her about anything other than school. Today, he was asking mainly because he had agreed to go to Han Zinyin's house for dinner on the weekend and wanted to understand the situation in advance.
Han Zinyin replied, "My father and I live at No. 200 Renmin Road, Kangming New Village."
Zhou Rui silently committed the unfamiliar address to memory and said, "Then, after the college entrance examination, your goal must be to return to Shanghai. You know what I mean, right? It's something that's already been decided."
Han Zinyin looked at Zhou Rui with raised eyebrows, wondering: How did he know?
"Yes, I will definitely go back to Shanghai. What about you, Zhou Rui? Where do you want to go to college?"
Zhou Rui placed his hands behind his head and thought for a while.
When it came to college, he would probably choose a school in Shanghai.
First of all, he had lived in Shanghai for more than ten years before his rebirth. While he hadn't achieved anything monumental, he was more familiar with the city, which gave him an edge.
Going to Shanghai would allow him to fully capitalize on his advantages as a reborn person.
Otherwise, if he went to Jingbei, he would have some "foresight" in the general direction, but when it came to individual events, that "foresight" advantage would be significantly weaker.
As for other cities, it was the same as Shanghai. The goal was simply to attend a better university this time around.
To be honest, after drifting in Shanghai for more than ten years and then suddenly being reborn in a small county, Zhou Rui missed the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. So, he started chatting with Han Zinyin.
"Which district in Shanghai do you live in?"
"Xu Pu. Do you know it, Zhou Rui?"
Most young people from small towns didn't even know the districts of Shanghai.
Zhou Rui appeared to have expected this. "Xu Pu, that's a great place."
The high housing prices and the large number of cadres living there matched his expectations for Han Zinyin's family.
Han Zinyin's eyes lit up. Shanghai was her hometown, and it was impossible for her not to miss it after coming to a small town. She didn't expect Zhou Rui to know so much about Shanghai.
"Have you been there? Were you traveling?"
"I guess so. Shanghai is really nice. There are several hotels on the Bund, I mean, very grand ones."
While chatting with Han Zinyin, Old Huang entered the room like a gust of wind.
If Old Huang's expression at noon had been like T800, then at this moment, it had evolved into T1000.
His expression was so grim that the entire class fell silent.
Zhou Rui immediately had a bad feeling, wondering if this was directed at him.
Wasn't my apology this afternoon sincere enough?
Are the consequences of failing a small exam so serious?
Old Huang, trust me! I can pass the exam!
He watched as Old Huang, with a stern face, stood in front of the podium and said, "There are only forty days left before the college entrance examination. I've said this before, but I want to repeat it again today."
Everyone perked up their ears, wondering why Old Huang was so angry today.
"That's it! No romance allowed!"
The classroom erupted!
Who was so bold to tell the class teacher about their relationship?
The students whispered among themselves, eager to find out whose relationship had been exposed.
Zhou Rui let out a relieved breath.
It turns out you weren't talking about me.
It has nothing to do with me, so I'm safe.
Then, Zhou Rui began to wonder who Old Huang was talking about.
In high school, it wasn't new for students to fall in love, but as long as they kept it secret, it wasn't a problem. Just how much of a mess must someone have caused to earn such a public reprimand from Old Huang?
Could this be a conversation you had with Old Huang's daughter?
Old Huang continued with a stern face: "You still have forty days before the college entrance examination. After that, you can do whatever you want, but during these last days, you must focus on your studies!"
The speech continued, but the students in Class 7 were no longer paying attention. They were too busy guessing who the guilty party was.
Zhang Xin's palms were sweating in nervousness. Was the teacher onto him for getting close to Han Zinyin?
Tong Xin puffed out her chest, a little surprised.
Is there anyone in the class who can actually date? Don't all the boys like me?!
Han Zinyin's mind went blank. She didn't know anyone well enough in the class to know what the gossip was about.
Zhou Rui, too, began losing focus, thinking about when the first profit from "Starry Sea" would arrive and how to spend it.
Suddenly, Old Huang shouted, his voice rising an octave: "The last forty days! Don't waste them!"
He glanced around and finally fixed his gaze on Zhou Rui with a look of utter displeasure.
"Zhou Rui, come out here! The rest of you, study on your own!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Dozens of eyes turned toward Zhou Rui, who was lost in thought.
Did I just eat the melon on myself?
Zhou Rui pointed at himself. "Me?"
Han Zinyin instantly blushed, thinking: Did the teacher find out that I was trying to get close to Zhou Rui?
Zhang Xin, looking at Han Zinyin's flushed face, thought: What? They're already in love? So soon?
Song Bin, sitting behind Zhou Rui, whispered: Boss! There's a popular cartoon these days where those who try to ride two boats end up getting left behind!
"What are you looking at? It's you! Get out here!"
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(Note: For clarification, the phrase "eat the melon on myself" is a playful spin on the more common Chinese expression "eating melon," which means to sit back and watch gossip or drama unfold. Here, Zhou Rui is humorously acknowledging that he is now the one caught up in the drama or gossip, as if he's the main subject. It's like him saying, "Looks like I'm the one getting talked about now.")