"I Love Learning": He's gotten to third place, this x.

"Learning, Learning, Learning, It's All I Live For": He's almost catching up to second place.

"English Class Representative": Looks like he has a chance, wanna bet? I think this person is definitely a dark horse among dark horses. Plus, he hasn't spoken a word until today, so aloof and cool. He looks like someone who's capable of great things, not simple at all.

"For a Better Tomorrow": What do you want to bet?

"Serving The Motherland": I bet my personal collection, the 5th volume of the 1982 middle school Chinese textbook. It's a rare find. 

"I Love Learning": He must be someone who devotes all his thoughts to studying. Watching him immerse himself in studying every day, indifferent to fame or shame and uninterested in other forms of entertainment, I feel very ashamed. How could I have the leisure to chat here?

"..."

Xie Yu has been practicing problems for several nights. Since he climbed up the leaderboard, the popularity of the account "jsdhwdmax" has been consistently high.

For this group of players who love learning, the leaderboard is as important as their grade ranking. It is a symbol of honor and a goal to strive for. They look up to the academic achievers every day, encouraging themselves to follow in their footsteps by reading, watching, memorizing, and practicing more. 

In the game "Trivia King Battle", players' scores are based on their average scores in all subjects. Having outstanding performance in just one subject won't do much good. Therefore, those who are on the leaderboard are all-rounders, and their names have hardly changed since the server opened.

It's one thing for a newcomer to suddenly rise up, but this forgettable name on the leaderboard changes position every day, like climbing stairs effortlessly.

"I only have studying in my life": Being aloof is great. It's better than first place, who's given me trauma. Every time I see the system broadcast about someone losing in a PK, I'm always afraid that the next second, two words will appear in the chat channel: "One kill."

"English Class Representative": He once got 14 kills in one night. I always feel like he's in the wrong game. [/Tears streaming down my face]. 

"For a Better Tomorrow": Is it really necessary to do this? After winning a pk, to type in the chat channel "one kill, two kills, three kills"? Is that really the person in first place?

"English Class Representative": Yes, it's him. Besides him, who else could it be? To be honest, I've always wondered what his intentions were for doing this.

"Learning, Learning, Learning, It's All I Live For": I don't understand. How could us mortals possibly understand?

"I Love Learning": Learning should always be a top priority. Gossiping is meaningless. Follow the example of the top student X and come challenge me in room 4008.

Although the Trivia King hasn't been online much since he conquered the game, his legend still lives on and is passed down through the chat channel.

Xie Yu occasionally glances at the chat channel and every time he does, his understanding of this first place is refreshed: Is this person crazy.

He was practicing problems until after two in the morning, played a few rounds of PK matches, earned enough points, and was ready to log off and go to bed.

After only sleeping for a few hours, he was woken up at seven in the morning by Gu Xuelan: "The teacher is coming soon, tidy up, wash your face and brush your teeth, then come down for breakfast. Hurry up."

At first, her tone was normal, but when she saw Xie Yu's uncooperative attitude, her anger rose again: "Did you hear me?"

Xie Yu was annoyed by her yelling: "...I got it."

Ms. Gu Xuelan really found a good teacher. This person was said to be quite famous in the private tutoring industry, having cured many lost teenagers. 

He was praised as a miracle worker who could teach any student and had a pair of magical hands that could turn decay into gold, discovering the hidden intelligence in every child... Xie Yu wanted to laugh and mock at what he heard.

On the other hand, Gu Xuelan was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the teacher. 

She, who usually controlled her diet strictly to maintain her figure, happily ate a few more bites of breakfast. "I heard that Mrs. Chen's son improved his grades by several tens of points during the break."

Zhong Guofei laughed and said to Xie Yu, "Did you hear that? Work hard and don't disappoint your mother."

Xie Yu focused on drinking his porridge and didn't even lift his head, casually responding with a noncommittal "Mm."

However, someone was not pleased.

Zhong Jie sat across from Xie Yu and said indifferently, "Everyone is different. Just because someone else's son improved by several tens of points doesn't mean your son can do the same. Maybe you shouldn't put too much pressure on him. If he can't do it, he can't do it."

As soon as these words were spoken, the previously harmonious atmosphere at the dining table instantly plummeted to freezing point. Gu Xuelan awkwardly put down her spoon, unsure of what to say.

"Do you know how to speak?" Xie Yu calmly finished his porridge, then lifted his head and repeated, looking into Zhong Jie's eyes, "Do you know how to speak?"

Gu Xuelan hurriedly pulled on Xie Yu's clothes.

The phrase "What's it to you?" circled around in Xie Yu's mouth, but in the end, he didn't say it.

"Did I say something wrong?" Zhong Jie's smile grew bigger and bigger, "You cheated on your high school entrance exam, are you planning on cheating on the college entrance exam too?"

If it weren't for Gu Xuelan holding him back, Xie Yu would have sent Zhong Jie to the hospital, the kind where he would be bedridden and unable to take care of himself for a month.

Zhong Jie looked somewhat similar to Zhong Guofei, but their personalities were vastly different. He always carried a hint of sarcasm and cruelty in his interactions with others. 

He was about to start his freshman year, and his grades were not good enough for a top-tier university. But Zhong Guofei had connections, and despite being more than ten points short, he managed to get him into Nanjing University. 

This admission gave him the confidence and pride of being a "prestigious university student."

"I don't need you to worry about me for the college entrance exam." Xie Yu wiped his mouth and stood up, taking a few steps before stopping to ask, "By the way, are you full?"

Zhong Jie didn't know what he meant by that question.

Xie Yu said, "After eating your fill, I hope you can find something better to do."

Zhong Jie: "..." Was he being scolded for having nothing better to do after eating his fill?

The meal ended on a sour note.

After dinner, Zhong Jie and Zhong Guofei left for the company, while Gu Xuelan stayed at home to wait for her private tutor and talk to Xie Yu: "Although Xiao Jie that child did something wrong, you can't talk to him like that." 

"That child?" Xie Yu said, "He's a child when facing you, but he's also a child when facing me?"

Gu Xuelan didn't know what to say. She just didn't want her family to be so tense every day. 

"You...you know what his personality is like. Just bear with it and let it go. If you take a step back, the sea and sky are wide."

Xie Yu was getting annoyed. "Why should I? I can't indulge his shitty attitude."

"Your Uncle Zhong has already talked to him. Next time, be polite. Please, for my sake. Can you do that? You usually live at school and Mom can't even see you when I want to. It's rare for you to be home during the holidays, so be good and listen."

As they spoke, the doorbell rang.

A tutor was standing at the door with a black briefcase. He looked quite young and wore gold-rimmed glasses, giving off a gentlemanly vibe. "Mrs. Zhong, Young Master Zhong." 

As soon as she saw the guest arrive, Gu Xuelan ended the conversation and got up to greet him in the living room. The two of them sat on the sofa and chatted for a while about the child's poor academic performance and other issues.

Xie Yu sat across from them, bored out of his mind as he picked a grape from the coffee table. The tutor's surname was Huang, and he was a graduate of a prestigious school. 

He spoke confidently about education issues, but Xie Yu thought this legendary "turning stones into gold" was nothing special. He soon grew sleepy after listening for a while.

"The best teacher for students is their own interest. My educational philosophy is to guide students to develop an interest in learning, and then teach them according to their abilities. I help them find the right learning methods and once they find the correct method, they can achieve twice the results with half the effort." This Teacher Huang had thick layers of hair gel on his hair and habitually used his fingers to adjust his glasses while speaking.

The grape juice was sweet and sour, and Xie Yu casually took out a tissue to spit out the grape seeds.

He secretly opened his phone contacts and found Lei-zi. Taking advantage of the fact that Ms. Gu Xuelan was chatting with someone else, he quickly sent a text message with one hand: Call me back, quickly.

With years of brotherly friendship, this kind of thing was easily resolved.

A call rang from Zhou Dalei the next second.

Xie Yu stood up and said, "Mom, Teacher Huang, I'm going out to take a call."

Zhou Dalei's side was filled with the sound of keyboard typing. 

Xie Yu was about to say, "Are you at an internet cafe?" when he heard Zhou Dalei take two deep breaths and then shout loudly, "F*ck your uncle, you stole my Ziwu, I'll kill your whole family!"

Xie Yu: "..." 

Zhou Dalei was cursing and throwing a tantrum. He slammed his mouse and almost smashed his keyboard. The owner of the internet cafe rushed over, "Little Lei, calm down. If you break anything, you'll have to pay for it. The things in the game are just fleeting, be calm. The world is full of right and wrong..."

"I can't be calm, this isn't over," Zhou Dalei was extremely persistent. "My love interest can be stolen, but I can't let go of this limited edition Ziwu."

After Zhou Dalei finished speaking, he remembered that his call was still going on, "Boss Xie? Let me tell you, I'm so angry I could explode."

Xie Yu asked, "Limited edition Ziwu?"

"Yes, this monster was clearly killed by our team. The drop rate is only 0.1%, we've been farming this hidden boss for days, and just as we were about to get it, someone else snatched it away." Zhou Dalei said, "These people are so dirty, really dirty." 

Zhou Dalei said again, "I made an appointment with them for a decisive battle today. Whoever doesn't come is a loser. Will you come or not?"

Xie Yu replied, "I don't play your martial arts game."

"It's not in the game, it's on Nanjing Road."

How the hell did he manage to arrange this?

Zhou Dalei: "They're in city A, we're in city B. We drew a line on the map and took the midpoint. Two hours later, we'll meet at the center of Nanjing Road.'

Xie Yu turned to look at Mrs. Gu, who was still chatting with the tutor. 'Okay, wait for me. Big brother will come and support you.'

Gu Xuelan chatted with Teacher Huang for about twenty minutes, and Xie Yu had already left by the time she realized something was wrong.

He said he was answering a phone call, but he didn't come back for a long time.

"Where is he?"

Upon seeing that the madam's face was dark, Ah Fang hesitated for a long time not knowing what to say. "...H-He's gone already. Second Young Master said before he left that you shouldn't waste your time."

Gu Xuelan almost dropped the ceramic teacup in her hand.

Xie Yu was the last to arrive.

When he arrived at the central square, the two groups of people had already lined up facing each other, apparently trying to argue first before fighting.

There were more than ten people in total.

Xie Yu had no intention of fighting, he was just here to watch. So he found a scenic and shaded spot nearby to stay.

In the hot summer, two groups of young men with an average age of fifteen or sixteen were standing under the sun at half past ten in the morning, cursing each other's families over a game item.

Zhou Dalei led the charge, his voice booming: "You still have the nerve to say that? Is it even yours?" 

The group across from them refused to back down: "It's ours, how can it not be ours?"

"Have some shame, bro. It's just a game, don't be so dirty-minded."

"Opportunities are always for those who are prepared. We've been camping out here for three or four days to snatch this item. What do you know?"

"Oh, you're proud of yourselves, huh? Looking for a fight?"

"Come on then, who's afraid of who?"

Zhou Dalei was almost driven to madness. 

He took a deep breath and squeezed out a sentence through his teeth: "While I can still talk to you calmly, hand it over. If you give it up, I won't make things difficult for you. Let's just pretend this never happened." 

As Xie Yu scanned the crowd, he noticed a person who had originally been at the back of the line slowly making their way forward. This person wore a black mask and stood out from the rest. The people around him were extremely cooperative, making way for him to pass.

The person's voice came through the fabric of the mask, muffled and low: "If I stole the equipment fair and square, why should I return it?"