Ye Qianying finally reached the end of her junior high school mathematics studies.
—Because starting today, she would begin learning senior high school math.
Teacher Zhong closed the textbook in front of Ye Qianying and said directly, "No need to read this. Listen to my explanation instead."
This tutoring session mainly covered sets, complex numbers, and inequalities. During the lesson, Ye Qianying was somewhat surprised to find that she had already learned quite a few of the concepts.
Whether it was from her intensive study of junior high math over the past month or from the competition methods taught by her two teachers, many key points had already left an impression in her mind.
Teacher Zhong also noticed Ye Qianying’s learning speed. Being a stern man by nature, he rarely praised his students.
Even though he recognized her quick thinking and rapid grasp of concepts compared to ordinary students, he didn’t compliment her. Instead, he simply adjusted his teaching approach.
Under such an intense mental workout, Ye Qianying fully absorbed all the key points about sets, complex numbers, and inequalities within two hours—though her head ached slightly from the effort.
Back when she was studying junior high math, she had thought herself quite clever. Who would’ve guessed that even the first senior high math lesson would require her to push herself so hard?
Ye Qianying nearly began questioning her life choices, reflecting on whether she had gotten too complacent—scoring full marks on the high school entrance exam was nothing to celebrate; it was just a matter of outperforming younger students.
Truly, one must never grow arrogant. Staying humble and eager to learn was the way to go.
Meanwhile, Teacher Zhong was busy selecting problems for Ye Qianying to solve. The seasoned educator gauged her reaction speed and decided he could push her even harder in the future.
Bright students often had one thing in common: they tended to get cocky.
And Teacher Zhong knew exactly how to handle such students—assign them more problems, the harder the better! Teach them more concepts, diving deeper! Broaden their thinking, expanding their horizons!
If he kept their attention fixed on challenging problems, they wouldn’t have time to entertain any distractions.
By the end of the lesson, Teacher Zhong handed Ye Qianying a privately printed workbook.
"Complete every problem. I personally selected each one—there are no useless exercises here," the old teacher warned solemnly. "Don’t ever skip a problem just because you think, ‘I already know this.’ Do you know how many students lose points due to careless steps?"
Ye Qianying quickly agreed.
Teacher Zhong sighed, seemingly reluctant to end the session. "Well, that’s all for today."
He picked up his half-empty thermos, took two steps toward the door, then turned back. "Actually… should I leave you a couple of competition-level problems to think over on your own?"
Ye Qianying: "…"
She pressed a hand to her forehead before answering firmly, "Go ahead, leave them. I’ll definitely solve every one…"
Sigh, she had fallen so far behind.
Finally satisfied, Teacher Zhong departed. Ye Qianying flipped through her homework for the day, exhaling in quiet dread. She wouldn’t dare casually clicking the "tutoring" option again anytime soon.
After some trial and error, Ye Qianying finally grasped the basic functions of this learning space and her own permissions within it.
Just like the exam simulation space, her real-world injuries didn’t carry over here. Similarly, apart from knowledge, she couldn’t take anything else out of the learning space.
While in the library, her mind also received excellent rest—so much so that it could even replace sleep.
The proof? After two grueling hours of math lessons, Ye Qianying returned to reality, opening her eyes to find herself refreshed, as if she’d just woken from a deep slumber.
…What a devilish learning system.
Wasn’t this practically encouraging her, the host, to dedicate every waking moment to the noble pursuit of studying? All-nighters were nothing to fear now!
The learning system chimed in dryly: "To clarify, the system does not force the host to utilize this feature."
Ye Qianying shook her head solemnly. "If I had access to such a unique resource and just let it go to waste, wouldn’t that make me unworthy of being a businesswoman’s daughter?"
System: "…Host, do your best." Preferably while discovering new ways to exploit the system—it was curious to see what she’d come up with.
That afternoon, Ye Qianying repeatedly moved between the learning space and reality, gradually figuring out how to make the most of this new function.
Along the way, she also accepted several tasks.
Learning System: "The host has completed the first main quest, proving the ability to independently accomplish tasks and officially graduating from the beginner phase."
"Congratulations on unlocking the learning space. Host privileges have been upgraded. You may now browse the side quest list."
Though called a "list," it currently only contained one task:
[Side Quest: Achieve a higher overall ranking than Xing Yuwei in the arts vs. sciences placement test.]
Since this quest offered points, a 1% recovery progress boost, and aligned with her existing goals, Ye Qianying accepted it without hesitation.
She also took on several main quests:
[Main Quest: Complete senior high Year 1 mathematics within two months and pass the system assessment (Accepted)]
[Main Quest: Complete senior high Year 1 physics within two months and pass the system assessment (Accepted)]
[Main Quest: Complete senior high Year 1 chemistry within two months and pass the system assessment (Accepted)]
…
For a moment, Ye Qianying indulged in the thrill of accepting quests.
All these tasks combined could push her recovery progress bar by 20%. And if she aced every system assessment with perfect scores, her progress would skyrocket by 35%.
Looking at her nearly filled progress bar, Ye Qianying suddenly understood the satisfaction of hoarders.
With these quests as her foundation… she felt an incredible sense of security.
After all, these were things she planned to do anyway. Now that they served a dual purpose, life couldn’t get any better.
She couldn’t help but muse aloud, "Am I still in the beginner protection phase? How else could the rewards be this generous?"
The learning system responded coolly in her mind: "This is only the beginning. Once the host completes this stage, subsequent quests will grow more difficult and numerous. Please prepare accordingly."
Difficult? What difficulty?
Ye Qianying’s focus zeroed in on the word "numerous."
More quests = more recovery progress = faster return to health.
This equation formed instantly in her mind, prompting her to clap her hands in delight.
"Wait, you mean there’s even more good news?"
System: "…" In a way, this host was the perfect match for the learning system.
In the days that followed, Ye Qianying immersed herself in studying, unable to tear herself away.
By day, she hired tutors for lessons. By night, she dove straight into the learning space to solve problems.
According to the rules of the learning space, on weekdays, the host could use the "make-up class" function for no more than three hours a day, and no more than two subjects per day.
Ye Qianying never failed to max out those three hours every single day.
It was precisely because she immediately utilized the "make-up class" function that Ye Qianying discovered the smiling male teacher who had invigilated her exam earlier was also the one responsible for teaching high school physics in the library.
Ye Qianying: "..." What a coincidence.
On another occasion, at Ye Qianying's request, the system compiled her daily time distribution and projected the final results as a Nightingale rose diagram on the screen. The sections labeled "studying math," "studying physics," and "studying chemistry"—subjects with particularly strong STEM emphasis—stood out overwhelmingly.
Staring at the data, Ye Qianying felt as if she were watching line after line of "recovery progress +1%," "recovery progress +1%"...
As for the portion of the rose diagram representing her sleep time...
Even the learning system had to admit that its host was truly a force to be reckoned with.
After discovering that studying in the learning space could replace sleep, Ye Qianying hadn’t slept a wink since.
"Keep it up, Host," the learning system encouraged her sincerely. "You’ll fill up that recovery bar in no time."
For nearly half a month, Ye Qianying’s peaceful study routine continued undisturbed—until her friends started bombarding her with messages.
Seeing the "+99" notification on her chat app, she was puzzled.
Weren’t they all supposed to be studying?
Earlier, these friends had been dragged into a study spree by Ye Qianying. A week later, they took their final exams, and their less-than-stellar results forced them to lay low at home for a few days, at least for appearances’ sake.
So recently, they’d only been sending Ye Qianying sporadic messages, staying unusually quiet. Whenever she posted her daily study log in the group chat, her friends would respond with their own fragmented study updates.
Though their efforts were half-hearted, the fact that they’d started studying at all was worth some encouragement.
What could have happened now to make them all mobilize at once?
Curious, Ye Qianying tapped on one message. At the top was Lian Deng’s chat window—he’d sent nearly ten messages in a row, each one dripping with gossip.
"Ying-jie, did you know? Xing Yuwei’s gone viral!"
"Now everyone knows she’s from our school, and she’s even calling herself the ‘Shenji High School Flower.’"
"Wait, since when was the school flower title decided? I didn’t even know! After you took leave, wasn’t the forum still arguing about who it should be?"
"Netizens are so bored—they even dug up an environmental charity event. Talk about ruthless."
So it was something like this.
Ye Qianying had just typed out "Got it" and was about to send it when Lian Deng suddenly forwarded her a video.
The thumbnail wasn’t Xing Yuwei but a boy in a school uniform, his hair slightly curled, his gaze clear and bright.
Ye Qianying froze, forgetting what she’d meant to say.
Her eyes fixed on that face. The moment she recognized who it was, her hand trembled faintly.
She truly hadn’t known… that he had attended a local high school in his youth.
Shen Hanyin. So, in the days she’d never paid attention to, their paths might have crossed.
She just hadn’t realized it.
