Ch. 285 - The Most Special Gaokao Top Scorer

New Novel - Read Here

Daxing City Airport.

Chen Shu and his two companions checked in their boarding passes and boarded the flight bound for the Capital City.

Xia Bing sat beside him and said quietly, "Chen Shu, thank you."

"It was nothing. I was just doing what falls within my professional duties."

Xia Bing was a bit confused and asked instinctively, "Huh? What duties?"

Chen Shu grinned, righteous and unashamed:

"Bandit duties!"

"..."

While the three of them waited for takeoff...

The mood on Xia Yan's side was rather... off.

The entire group sat in silence. A top-scorer celebration banquet — and it was already trending toward cancellation before it had even begun.

The relatives around them cast bewildered looks at Xia Yan.

They'd assumed that as Daxing City's top scorer and a Huaxia Academy admit, he was already someone of stature.

Instead, he'd been beaten to a pulp and not only didn't dare fight back — he'd even changed his bottom line...

Wu Tianchen spoke up. "Xiao Yan, what happened?"

Xia Yan sighed and explained how it all started.

Thanks to the earlier trauma inflicted by Chen Shu, he hadn't actually dared to mess with Xia Bing.

But a bunch of clueless relatives, thinking far too highly of themselves, had wanted to curry favor with Xia Yan and ended up forcibly detaining Xia Bing.

On top of that, his own father was equally ignorant of the situation. He'd wanted to use Xia Yan's status to show Xia Bing and her mother that his decision to abandon his wife and daughter all those years ago had been the right one.

Everyone fanning the flames — that gave Xia Yan a moment of wishful thinking.

And then he ran right into... a nuclear warhead...

"How incredibly stupid! Without absolute certainty, you must never provoke that Bandit or anyone close to him!"

...

Chen Shu stared out the airplane window, as though lost in deep thought.

"Chen Shu, what are you thinking about?"

Xia Bing turned to look at him. Gazing at his profile, a flicker of curiosity rose in her eyes.

It was the first time she'd seen Chen Shu look even a little like a philosopher. Could he be contemplating the meaning of life?

"Xia Bing, what do you think? If you tossed a bottle of Explosion Potion out at high altitude... would it be the most dazzling firework in the whole world?"

"?!"

Xia Bing was utterly dumbfounded. She smacked her forehead — and she'd actually thought the Bandit was pondering life's great questions!

"Your ideas are... are... so unrestrained..."

Xia Bing groped for the right word and finally settled on one.

A moment later, Chen Shu spoke again. "I feel a bit stuffy..."

"It's only two hours."

Xia Bing opened her eyes and replied.

Then, as if a sudden thought struck her, terror filled her gaze. "Don't tell me you want to open the window?!"

"How could I possibly..."

Chen Shu quietly withdrew his restless hand. "I'm not a suicidal person!"

In just two short hours, Xia Bing experienced the most harrowing moments of her life.

Finally, the three of them arrived at the Capital City airport.

"Phew..."

Xia Bing let out a long breath. There was even a thin film of cold sweat on her forehead — and this was sweltering July.

Chen Shu looked over with genuine concern. "Committee Member Xia, are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine..."

Xia Bing's legs were practically jelly as she finally made it out of the airport.

"Which hotel did you book? Should I give you a ride?"

"No need. My mom and I can just take a taxi."

Xia Bing waved her hand. If she spent any more time with Chen Shu, she was worried her next destination would be a seven-day guided tour of the Capital Spirit Suppression Bureau[1].

Just then, a voice called out.

"Why so formal? Auntie, Xiao Bing, get in!"

A black sedan pulled up smoothly in front of the three of them.

The window rolled down, revealing a delicate, refined face behind a pair of sunglasses, a faint smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"Sis Fang Si!"

Xia Bing seemed to light up, and at the same time, a wave of relief washed over her.

With Fang Si around, there was no way Chen Shu would dare to try anything reckless.

Fang Si smiled. "Get in."

"Thanks, Sis Fang Si!"

Xia Bing beamed and opened the trunk to stow her luggage.

"Sis Fang Si, right on time as always!"

Chen Shu opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.

With a roar, the sedan shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow. Passersby turned their heads enviously — that Huaxia Academy-exclusive license plate was truly something to envy.

Fang Si drove with one hand and asked with a grin, "Chen Pi, how've you been lately? Raked in quite a bit of cash, I bet?"

"What cash?"

Chen Shu looked baffled.

"Endorsement money. Aren't you Nanjiang City's gaokao top scorer? No companies approached you to rep their products?"

"What the hell — no!"

Chen Shu's eyes went wide. He threw his hands up, utterly dumbstruck.

"That's impossible. Every top scorer gets approached by companies."

"I didn't get a single one!"

Chen Shu slumped in his seat, wailing at the heavens in righteous indignation.

Under normal circumstances, companies absolutely would have come knocking.

Unfortunately, Chen Shu's conduct had already spread far and wide across Nanjiang City.

Hiring him as a brand ambassador? That wasn't advertising — that was smearing your company's name.

Even the city government's standard top-scorer interview had been canceled. If that interview made its way to the Capital, the entire city of Nanjiang might suffer the fallout.

Suffice it to say: this was the most peaceful year in Nanjiang history.

And Chen Shu had become the most special gaokao top scorer in Nanjiang history!

"Sis Fang Si, how about you share some of that endorsement money you got three years ago with me?"

Chen Shu rubbed his hands together, looking rather greedy.

Fang Si flashed a grin. "You've gotten bold, kid. Trying to extort me?"

Chen Shu corrected her with righteous conviction: "This is called resource sharing!"

"Get lost."

Fang Si flipped him an international hand gesture. "One-way sharing is just robbery!"

"Who said it's one-way? I've got resources to share with you too!"

Chen Shu opened his backpack and silently pulled out a urea bag...

"You bastard — stay the hell away from me..."

Fang Si's mouth twitched, a glint of wariness flashing in her eyes. She was on guard against a sneak attack.

Now that Chen Shu was also Black Iron rank, the physical gap between them had narrowed considerably.

Fang Si had combat training, sure — but Chen Shu's natural physique was solid. If things actually came to blows, it was hard to say who'd come out on top.

Watching the two of them bicker and laugh the whole way, Xia Bing in the back seat couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.

In her eyes, the bond between Chen Shu and Fang Si was genuinely something special.

An hour later.

Xia Bing spoke up. "Sis Fang Si, we'll get off here."

Fang Si nodded. "Be careful, Xiao Bing! If anything comes up, you can call me anytime!"

"Mm. Thanks, Sis Fang Si!"

Xia Bing took her mother and headed for their hotel, ready to begin their Capital City sightseeing.

"Sis Fang Si, what kind of dimensional space are we dealing with?"

With only the two of them left in the car, Chen Shu cut straight to the point.

Fang Si grinned. "A Danger-level dimensional space!"

"Danger-level? That means there's a Silver-rank Lord?!"

Chen Shu's body jolted. His expression instantly lit up with exhilaration.

"You bastard — do you have to get that excited about it..."

Fang Si's mouth twitched. She'd expected Chen Shu to look grim and solemn.

After all, even as the team captain, she herself was only Black Iron Three-Star. The team had no Silver-rank members. Raiding a Danger-level space carried enormous risk.

But from the looks of it... she'd been overthinking things.

[1] 七日游 (qī rì yóu): "Seven-day tour." Dark humor — Xia Bing is joking that if she stays around Chen Shu much longer, she'll end up getting detained by the Capital Spirit Suppression Bureau for a seven-day stretch. "七日游" literally means a "7-day tour/trip" but in this context it's slang for a short-term detention or holding period, delivered with pitch-black comedic timing.