Chapter 59

Tao Shushu flipped through the simple drawings one by one.
Back then, she couldn’t communicate directly with her cub, so this was the only way she could interact with him.
The drawing of a chibi character eating meat was her way of telling Nan Yuan to eat quickly.
There was also the location of the mutated wolf pack. At that time, in the cave, her cub was incredibly innocent. Even though he couldn’t see her, he still gave her the best cotton padding to use as a bed and even hung a curtain to create a separate room.
And there were the bright red fruits she liked. Those fruits tasted awful, but Nan Yuan would always gather a lot for her. When she handed them to him, he would obediently eat them.
Looking through them again, every page was filled with memories.
Each page was both amusing and nostalgic. So this was the joy of collecting? Tao Shushu ruffled Nan Yuan’s hair. "Oh, cub, back then you never said the red fruits tasted bad. I thought they were delicious and kept giving them to you."
Nan Yuan chuckled softly. At that time, he had desperately wanted a companion, so he wanted to accept everything she gave him.
Tao Shushu rubbed Nan Yuan’s head again and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, about that repaired car, I get rewards for every hundred kilometers it travels. Back then, I logged off to sleep, and when I woke up, I found you had already started earning money for me on your own."
"Really?" Nan Yuan mentally noted the details Shushu had inadvertently revealed.
"Now, no more staying up late to travel unless it’s absolutely necessary," Tao Shushu emphasized.
"Okay, I’ll be careful," Nan Yuan replied.
After flipping through the items a bit longer, Tao Shushu exclaimed in surprise, "Nan Yuan, you’re so good at organizing things!"
Nan Yuan was carefully putting away the stack of simple drawings that had been opened. His movements were gentle, and though his backpack didn’t look very big, it was packed full of all sorts of things, making it easy to find whatever he needed.
For Tao Shushu, who wasn’t very skilled at tidying up, this was truly enviable.
Nan Yuan gently stroked the small notes, recalling how he had once speculated that Shushu was a ghost from ancient legends, taking care of humans as if they were children.
He placed the simple fireworks he had made into his backpack. He laughed at his past assumptions. Thankfully, Shushu was a gentle human girl from a peaceful world, around his age, with a loving family and friends. Thankfully, she could always be safe and happy.
After organizing his backpack, Nan Yuan started sorting through his new clothes. Shushu had bought him several outfits today.
He picked out a black set and neatly folded the rest, storing them in a box.
Without even realizing it, he now had enough belongings to fill an entire box. The things Shushu had added for him gradually filled up the space.
Nan Yuan didn’t have much time to rest. As the backbone of the base, everyone was used to turning to him with their problems.
Tao Shushu propped up her phone. While Nan Yuan was busy, she focused intently on solving practice questions, occasionally glancing up to look at him.
The extra-difficult test Li Xin assigned was indeed challenging. Tao Shushu spent quite some time completing it, marking the questions she was unsure about to ask the next day.
Yawning, Tao Shushu felt drowsy.
On the screen, Nan Yuan was practicing combat training, repeatedly drilling chokehold techniques. Beads of sweat dripped from his jaw.
Tao Shushu snapped back to attention and fell silent for a moment. The impact of Man Qian's death still lingered over Nan Yuan. Though he never voiced what kind of person he wanted to become, he had quietly intensified his training from day one.
Her cub was working so hard.
Tao Shushu opened the in-game store, purchased a few combat training videos, and handed them to Nan Yuan.
Then, she opened her Chinese language workbook and began studying.
Both inside and outside the screen, the two immersed themselves in practice.
Whenever Tao Shushu grew tired, she would look up, glance at her cub, and then dive back into her studies.
After finishing a set of classical Chinese exercises, Tao Shushu rubbed her wrists. Nan Yuan was still training, seemingly stuck on a particular chokehold move he kept repeating.
Tao Shushu watched for a few moments, feeling a sense of familiarity.
Thinking it must be her tired eyes from studying late, she shook her head and said, "Nan Yuan, take a break for now. It's very late. You can continue tomorrow."
Nan Yuan thought for a moment and agreed.
Tao Shushu was so exhausted that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, enjoying a deep and restful sleep.
When she woke up the next morning, she discovered that Nan Yuan had already started training early.
Her cub was just too diligent.
Knowing she couldn’t persuade him to rest, Tao Shushu quietly bought a few more health potions and bruise ointments for Nan Yuan before heading to school.
Qin Rui and Wang Tianba had gotten into a fight, and their parents were called in. For a few days, Tao Shushu enjoyed rare peace, no longer having to unexpectedly encounter Qin Rui trying to grab attention.
She immersed herself in studying every day, taking breaks only to watch Nan Yuan.
Every time she saw her cub training without a moment’s rest, Tao Shushu’s urge to slack off would vanish, and she’d return to solving problems.
Even during breaks in drama rehearsal, Tao Shushu would recite a few lines of ancient poetry.
Her studious attitude motivated the entire Class One to step up their game.
The day before the monthly exam, Shi Yu stood at the podium and said, "Your recent study habits have been excellent. I hope your exam results reflect the effort you’ve put in."
Tao Shushu blinked.
On the morning of the exam, Tao Shushu woke up early, took out her phone, and tapped Nan Yuan’s finger on the screen. "Nan Yuan, I’m heading out for the exam today."
"Good luck, Shushu." Nan Yuan paused his training, thought for a moment, and made a heart gesture with his hands.
Immediately after, he turned away. "I heard this is a way to show support."
Holding her phone, Tao Shushu felt so touched and motivated. "My dear, I’m going to come back with first place today."
Not only would she take first place, she would surpass Qin Rui’s scores. She would outdo his first monthly exam total from sophomore year, beat his score on this very exam, and exceed the highest mark he had ever achieved. As long as she was strong enough, she wouldn’t be defeated by the protagonist’s halo.
When entering the exam hall, Tao Shushu unexpectedly ran into Qin Rui.
He wore a black face mask, his eyes carrying a hint of gloominess, but when he encountered others, he quickly changed his expression, resuming his friendly and kind smile.
"Shushu," Qin Rui called out.
Tao Shushu cautiously stood under the surveillance camera, keeping a distance of two meters from Nan Yuan.
"Don’t worry, I won’t use Su Momo’s tricks," Qin Rui said.
Tao Shushu remained unmoved.
"Alright, I hope you do well on the exam," Qin Rui said. "I’m quite looking forward to it."
Tao Shushu didn’t even furrow her brows, completely unaffected by Qin Rui, but she still cautiously used a high-level Primary Clarity Card to ensure the entire exam would be free from the influence of the protagonist’s halo.
As she entered the exam hall, a boy deliberately lined up behind Tao Shushu and, while setting down his backpack, intentionally elbowed her. Tao Shushu instinctively dodged and turned around to hear, "Some people think they’re top students just because they’re a bit better at physics, but they still couldn’t make it into the first exam hall."
Tao Shushu glanced back and saw someone she didn’t recognize. She turned her face away, not bothering to respond.
The boy continued with a sarcastic tone, "Some people think just because they’re a bit stronger in physics, they deserve special treatment, but in reality, they’re still useless."
"Nonsense! Shushu’s English has improved a lot recently, and her other grades aren’t bad either," Fang Le, who was standing behind her, couldn’t hold back her anger.
The boy smirked smugly, "I didn’t even mention anyone’s name. Why is someone always jumping to conclusions? Seems like everyone knows who loves to show off."
Tao Shushu patted Fang Le, who had spoken up for her, and said, "Classmate, if I recall correctly, you didn’t even make it into the physics competition class. I’m not sure where you’ve seen me receiving special treatment. It sounds like you’re mocking me."
The boy choked for a moment, not expecting Tao Shushu to call him out directly. "So what if I am mocking you?"
"Nothing much, just noting that you enjoy mocking people," Tao Shushu replied, pointing at the boy’s phone. "I see you even mock President Qin Rui. I’m relieved, but I’m curious, why did you compare him to Dongfang Bubai and Yue Buqun? There’s only one common trait I can think of."
Fang Le burst out laughing, following Tao Shushu’s gaze to the boy’s phone screen. "Haha, is it self-castration? Hahaha!"
The surrounding crowd erupted in laughter. The boy hurriedly looked down at his phone.
To his surprise, the phone in his hand suddenly started scrolling a sentence on loop: "President Qin Rui is the radiant sun of Dongfang Bubai, President Qin Rui is the mountains that the Five Great Mountains cannot surpass."
However, the words "radiant sun," "Five," "cannot surpass," and "mountains" were barely visible due to their low transparency. The boy had to squint and increase the screen brightness to read them clearly. Without looking closely, the sentence appeared as: "Qin Rui is Dongfang Bubai," "Qin Rui is Yue Buqun."
While the two characters shared more than one trait, after Fang Le’s outburst, everyone could only think of the most eye-catching one: self-castration.
With Qin Rui’s smiling face as the wallpaper, paired with those two sentences, it was enough to spark wild imaginations.
The boy hurriedly explained, "I wasn’t mocking anyone! My phone has a virus…"
He frantically turned off his phone, but some quick-witted bystanders had already spread the story to the forum.
Tao Shushu nodded. "Understood. Your wallpaper is Qin Rui’s face, I believe you weren’t mocking him."
She calmly took Fang Le’s hand and walked into the exam hall, but the words she left behind only fueled more speculation.
Laughter echoed all around. The boy couldn't explain himself clearly. "Yeah, it's not sarcasm. The full sentences are: 'Senior Qin Rui is the radiant sun that even Dongfang Bubai cannot surpass; Senior Qin Rui is the mountain range that the Five Great Mountains cannot compare to.' I was clearly praising Senior Qin Rui..."
"Oh, " the onlookers chorused in unison.
"No, wait, I didn’t write those two sentences at all. I don’t know how they appeared. My phone must have been hacked," the boy hurriedly explained.
Everyone took his reaction as a clumsy attempt to cover up the truth.
Tao Shushu chuckled softly. [Lift the Primary Clarity Card’s effect on him. Stop reading novels in my head, and don’t control other people’s phones next time.]
[I was helping you vent your anger. Besides, you can’t even feel it when I read novels. I need to absorb knowledge too.]
[No reading sappy romance novels, got it?]
Just as the boy was about to elbow her, Tao Shushu altered the Primary Clarity Card’s effect, shielding everyone else but leaving him exposed.
The boy stammered through a few incoherent explanations before suddenly realizing, "I’m a guy! My wallpaper is a prayer to the God of Exams. I’ve never even downloaded a bullet chat app. It must be a virus. I’ll get my phone checked after the exam."
"Oh!" A few classmates laughed while posting about it on the forum.
Although his explanation now seemed logical, it was still just his word against the evidence, and some gossipy classmates remained unconvinced.
Just then, Li Xin walked over. "What’s going on? What are you all talking about?"
As a veteran teacher, Li Xin could tell from the commotion that there was likely some romantic drama unfolding. But given Tao Shushu’s recent academic performance, he felt that dating might not necessarily hinder her progress. "Two people walking side by side, pushing each other to become better versions of themselves. Alright, let’s head into the exam hall. The test is about to start."
Tao Shushu couldn’t help but snicker, Li Xin was truly a master at adding fuel to the fire.
As the boy walked past, he shot Tao Shushu a glare. She scoffed inwardly, [Keep him blocked. He doesn’t deserve to benefit from my influence.]
Her earlier anxiety about the exam instantly melted away.
Tao Shushu calmly and methodically began answering the questions.
Nothing and no one could distract her now.
Chinese, Math, Science, English, she filled in every answer with careful attention and precision.
Two days flew by in the blink of an eye.
Tao Shushu estimated her scores. Aside from the essay, which was hard to predict, she was confident she had aced every other section.
Back in the classroom after the exams, Li Anyu rushed over and hugged her. "Shushu, I solved every question you predicted! I think I can move up a hundred places in the rankings this time."
Fang Le dashed over as well. "What? Shushu predicted questions? The exam was so hard, and you still nailed it? I’m coming to you for predictions next time, wuwuwu!"
"Is it really that hard?" Tao Shushu asked.
The academic monitor of Class One made a pained face. "The questions this time felt really obscure. Ugh, I couldn't figure out so many of them."
It was only then that the system spoke up. [Are you sure you don't need me to grade the papers? By the way, the Academic Genius System influenced the difficulty of this exam.]
Tao Shushu didn't feel much about it, perhaps because she had been doing a lot of practice problems lately. She opened the answer key provided by the teacher and checked her answers again, confirming that she could get perfect scores in math and the science comprehensive section.
[No need, I can estimate my own scores. That's a student's skill.] Having confirmed her speculation, Tao Shushu thought, [So it really is about the maximum score. Qin Rui set some kind of record, and he doesn't want me to surpass him.]
Was the Academic Genius System so concerned about various titles and honors because the original story was an "academic god" novel, with its core being the protagonist's academic progression?
Tao Shushu lowered her gaze, lost in thought.
Just as she was about to ask more, she heard Li Anyu call out, "I can finally indulge in some juicy gossip about that epic romance! Before the exam ended, I was dying to check my phone, but I remembered what you said, Shushu, do the important things first, then enjoy, so I held back."
Tao Shushu smiled and said, "You did great. You deserve praise."
"As a reward, join me in catching up on the gossip." Li Anyu chattered on excitedly, "I heard a junior confessed his feelings to Qin Rui... Wow, someone's already written a 'younger wolf-dog top x eunuch bottom' fanfic! Which talented writer is so fast? And now some playboy has joined the fray, creating a love triangle, so thrilling..."
Tao Shushu patted Li Anyu helplessly. "Anyu, could you keep it down a bit?"
Li Anyu blinked. "Shushu, you..."
"I don't like Qin Rui. Absolutely not," Tao Shushu said.
Her tone was so rational that Li Anyu, who had been testing the waters, believed her. "Alright, alright, I'll stop. I just think Qin Rui isn't good enough for you. Don't get fooled, you even asked me about him before. I was worried..."
"My taste isn't that bad." As she said this, the image of Nan Yuan suddenly flashed in Tao Shushu's mind. She smiled. With Nan Yuan as a comparison, her aesthetic standards had skyrocketed.
"Hehe, but the reason the forum is buzzing is that after that day, Qin Rui called that guy out and chatted with him warmly for a long time. That guy's face was bright red the whole time," Li Anyu said.
Tao Shushu paused. During the exam, she had been too focused to pay much attention. Suddenly, she had a thought. [Can we check the surveillance? Did that guy have any physical contact with Qin Rui before and after he tried to hurt me?]
[Yes.] The system replied quickly. [After talking to you, Qin Rui patted that guy on the shoulder. I'm sorry, I didn't notice it.] The system sounded tearful, vowing to never get so addicted to surfing the internet again.
[It's fine.] Tao Shushu thought that, as things stood, Qin Rui might have used that guy to test the waters. The guy's unwarranted sarcasm was too much like a brainless cannon fodder character.
Fortunately, she wasn't an especially forgiving person, so during the exam, she deliberately didn't help that guy. She wondered how much Qin Rui had guessed.
Tao Shushu didn't dare slack off. She took out her physics competition practice problems and started working on them again.
Li Anyu, who had been engrossed in the gossip, froze. "Shushu, when you said your taste isn't that bad, I thought you were dating someone. But seeing you dive right back into studying after the exam, I believe it now, your heart belongs only to learning."
Tao Shushu paused. She really wanted to see Nan Yuan as well. During the two days of exams, she had only logged in to say goodnight and hadn’t chatted with Nan Yuan at all. But at school, if Qin Rui happened to come by and notice, it could cause trouble, so Tao Shushu restrained herself.
It wasn’t easy to explain these things, so Tao Shushu simply smiled and said, “I just want to finish the questions quickly so I can play when I get home tonight.”
Besides, the preliminary round of the physics competition was approaching. Although the preliminaries were as easy as slicing through melons and vegetables for Tao Shushu, the semifinals were right after, and she just wanted to work a little harder.
Two minutes later, Li Anyu caught on. “Shushu, what are you playing when you go home tonight? So you do have something going on, huh? How come I never knew before?”
Tao Shushu laughed for a while before replying, “It’s just a game. Or maybe… more like an online friend?”
No matter how much Li Anyu pressed her after that, Tao Shushu refused to say anything more.
But with Li Anyu making such a fuss, Tao Shushu couldn’t focus on studying. After a moment’s thought, she took out her phone and started making a fan video. Even though she didn’t ship any couples, she loved the idea of Qin Rui as a eunuch!
When school ended, Li Anyu grabbed Tao Shushu’s arm. “Shushu, are you really going to let me spend the whole weekend scratching my head in curiosity? Shushu, Shushu, Shushu…”
“Alright, alright,” Tao Shushu said. “He’s an online friend from very far away. Meeting up is pretty much impossible, so there won’t be any further developments.”
“Okay,” Li Anyu said. Hearing Tao Shushu speak so definitively, and knowing she was always a rational person, Li Anyu accepted that there really wasn’t anything more to it. She nodded. “Well then, Shushu, what are your plans for the weekend?”
Tao Shushu thought for a moment. On Sunday, Nan Yuan would be leading the base members to leave the barren planet and venture into the universe. She needed to think ahead for Nan Yuan, had they forgotten anything? “Staying home?”
“So nothing important then! If you don’t have classes, why don’t we go get custom-made dresses? Next week is the annual banquet of the Princess of F County. My uncle, the Duke in F Country, gave me an invitation, and I can bring someone. Let’s go travel a bit?”
Tao Shushu was taken aback. She didn’t usually care much about banquets or such events, but she remembered this detail because it was in the original story’s plot. Plus, Luo Liming and Su Momo had tried to use the F Country Princess’s banquet invitation to lure her into giving up the physics competition.
When Tao Shushu got home, she found that Gu Lanchun had also brought her an invitation, one with even higher privileges than Li Anyu’s.
It was at the level reserved for the princess’s closest confidantes.
Gu Lanchun and the princess were the most intimate of pen pals. Hearing about Gu Lanchun’s ordeal, the princess felt deeply sympathetic and was also grateful to Tao Shushu for helping her dear friend regain her health. So, she personally wrote an invitation.
This important invitation, sent out just before the banquet date, suddenly gave Tao Shushu some visibility among F Country’s nobility. As a result, even the Tao family’s chip export business faced fewer obstacles.
Tao Shushu originally had no intention of going, but she unexpectedly learned that Qin Rui was also among the princess’s distinguished guests. She changed her mind and decided to attend.
Father Tao had been swamped with work lately. “Shushu, this semiconductor industry conference will determine whether our country gains a voice in setting standards favorable to our nation. I’ve been too busy lately to accompany you for your gown fitting. Take this card and pick something yourself.” Mother Tao hugged her daughter with heartache. “Shushu, ever since that curse incident, we’ve become overly cautious about everything, double-checking every detail ourselves. I’m sorry we’ve been neglecting you lately.”
Tao Shushu snuggled in her mother’s arms. “You’ve worked hard, Mom.”
She clenched her fists. If Su Momo hadn’t targeted the cannon fodder characters, her parents wouldn’t be so traumatized now. She vowed to work harder, acquire more Primary Clarity Cards, and ultimately destroy the Academic Genius System so that no one would ever suffer from intelligence-reducing debuffs again.
On the day exams ended, Tao Shushu wrapped up her studies by solving practice problems with Nan Yuan as usual.
Li Anyu admired Tao Shushu’s cards enviously. “I need to stock up before the results come out. Once grades are released, I’ll be lectured again. Let’s go customize a few dresses later, they’ll be ready in six months, just in time for new outfits.”
Tao Shushu laughed. “I thought you said you’d improve your ranking significantly.”
“I’m still not confident,” Li Anyu wailed while trying on clothes.
“The grading will be fair this time,” Tao Shushu said with certainty. While waiting for Li Anyu, she took out her phone and practiced combat maneuvers with Nan Yuan, playing the attacker.
She picked up an iron rod casually and lunged at Nan Yuan.
Across the dimensional divide, Tao Shushu’s movements were highly unpredictable and swift. An enemy whose form couldn’t be seen was the hardest to deal with.
Nan Yuan initially struggled, defending his vital points with some panic.
But after ten minutes of sparring, he gradually grew more adept. His eyes brightened noticeably, and his ears perked up.
No matter how random or rapid Tao Shushu’s attacks were, he could anticipate them and respond accordingly.
Tao Shushu stopped holding back and went all out.
Nan Yuan sweated profusely, but his moves remained disciplined. His combat intuition was improving rapidly.
Tao Shushu was the first to stop. “Nan Yuan, I think that’s enough. You’re incredibly skilled now.”
Gasping for breath, Nan Yuan unscrewed a water bottle and took several gulps.
Tao Shushu couldn’t hear him, but she watched his Adam’s apple bob repeatedly.
She couldn’t help but swallow hard herself.
After trying on an outfit, Li Anyu walked over and asked, “Shushu, why is your face a little red?”
“It’s hot,” Tao Shushu said, instinctively turning off her phone.
The attentive boutique staff promptly brought warm water and cold drinks at just the right temperature, replacing the steaming tea.
Tao Shushu took a sip to cool down before unlocking her screen again.
Nan Yuan said, “Shushu’s back.”
Feeling slightly guilty, Tao Shushu replied, “My friend came over earlier. There was something I needed to attend to.”
“Mm.”
Nan Yuan didn’t press further. Tao Shushu noticed he had changed out of his sweat-soaked clothes. His new shirt was thin, clinging tightly to his firm, well-defined arm muscles.
Tao Shushu swallowed again.
Nan Yuan’s face was downright criminal. She had really gone all out against him earlier. Next time, would she have to blindfold herself to muster the resolve to fight him?
Tao Shushu coughed lightly. "Nan Yuan, your moves just now felt very familiar, as if I've seen them before."
"Hmm? Have you learned something similar, Shushu?" Nan Yuan asked.
Tao Shushu was momentarily stunned. She remembered being quite capable in combat during the apocalypse, but how she had acquired those skills was something she could no longer recall.
Nan Yuan had modified his techniques himself, primarily to deal with large beasts and to train his abilities for faster evolution. Some moves were his own creations, tailored to his keen senses.
Tao Shushu couldn't figure out why they felt so familiar either.
"Maybe self-defense techniques are essentially similar," Tao Shushu said.
While waiting for Li Anyu to change clothes, Tao Shushu practiced with Nan Yuan.
After a few more rounds, Nan Yuan suddenly stopped moving.
"What's wrong?" Tao Shushu asked nervously, looking at Nan Yuan. She had initially worried that seeing his face would make her hesitate to strike, but Nan Yuan was so serious that she couldn't help but match his intensity, holding nothing back.
Recalling the fighting techniques she had learned, Tao Shushu felt a growing itch to test her skills. Sparring with someone as experienced and powerful as Nan Yuan would undoubtedly be exhilarating.
"Are you hurt?" Tao Shushu pulled Nan Yuan closer, carefully examining him.
Nan Yuan touched his ear. "Shushu, I feel like I'm about to evolve."

Author's Note:
Guess what ability Nan Yuan will gain from this evolution?