The Slacker Academic Always Gets Caught (SLACKER)
“My name is Qin Heng.”
Chi Ning was momentarily dazed, the tidal surge in his ears abruptly receding.
Qin Heng bent his injured right leg, leaning crookedly against the alley wall. His hair, barely longer than a buzz cut, stuck out at odd angles. His sharp brows and eyes, firm nose bridge, and the fierce determination in his expression belied his age.
“Want some?” He lazily patted the edge of the foam box. “I’ll pour you a fresh bottle.”
“Yes.” Seeing no intention to charge, Chi Ning pulled a five-yuan bill from his pocket and stuffed it into the small jar in the bike’s basket.
Qin Heng glanced at Chi Ning’s porcelain-white fingers. “It’s on me. No need to pay.”
“Of course I should pay.” Chi Ning lifted his foot, jingling the Amulet Needle Bangle on his ankle. “You’ve already thanked me for saving your life. One thing at a time.”
Qin Heng paused, slightly surprised. The red string he’d braided was cheap, far inferior to the broken one woven with gold thread. He’d given it out of courtesy, never expecting Chi Ning to actually wear it.
The midday sun was scorching, dizzying under its glare.
Chi Ning was unbearably hot. Once the bayberry juice was in his hands, he gulped it down in one go.
He perked up like a sapling finally blessed with rain.
Handing the glass bottle back, he pulled out another five-yuan bill while staring eagerly at the ice bucket. “One more, please.”
Qin Heng found him endearing, recalling how he’d cried at the sight of blood days ago. “You’re not quite like the rumors.”
“Rumors? What do they say about me?” Chi Ning didn’t look up, his eyes glued to the bayberries submerged in the ice bucket, silently praying Qin Heng’s hand wouldn’t shake and he’d scoop more of the softened fruit.
The metal spoon stirring in the bucket hesitated, letting two of the three bayberries slip away.
Chi Ning looked up indignantly, meeting a pair of eyes brimming with quiet amusement. It dawned on him. “You did that on purpose?”
Qin Heng played dumb: "Rumors say you turn a deaf ear to worldly affairs, focusing solely on your studies."
Chi Ning stared at Qin Heng. In his past life, this man had been quite generous, bringing him a bottle of bayberry juice with every lunch delivery—each bottle always containing exactly five bayberries settled at the bottom.
This time around, though, he was being stingy.
Chi Ning snorted, speaking as if holding a grudge: "Fine. I’ll give you 300 yuan, and you’ll deliver bayberry juice to me for a month. Every bottle must have five bayberries in it."
300 yuan—just enough for Qin Heng to repay his hospital debt. This man needed money, and Chi Ning needed bayberry juice. A mutually beneficial deal, perfectly fair.
"Five yuan per bottle, 150 for a month." Qin Heng’s wrist dipped slightly as he scooped up two extra bayberries after retrieving the one that had slipped. "By your math, does that mean each bayberry is worth one yuan?"
"Idiot." Chi Ning instinctively slipped into the tone he’d used with Qin Heng in his past life. "Isn’t there a delivery fee? I can’t have you running around for free, can I?"
He counted out three red bills from his wallet and stuffed them into the small box.
Qin Heng stared at the money with his emotions churning. He’d mentioned his hospital debt offhandedly—not to ask for help—but Chi Ning seemed to have misunderstood.
This young master with his face flushed from the summer heat, had still trekked all the way to Yangcheng’s night market. Aside from checking on his injuries, there couldn’t possibly be any other reason.
Qin Heng’s expression tightened as he glanced at Chi Ning’s face, wondering: What’s his angle? Investing in me?
Under Qin Heng’s gaze, Chi Ning explained softly, "I’m not doing this to help you repay the hospital faster. It’s just that no one else in Yangcheng makes bayberry juice that tastes exactly like this. I really like it."
Qin Heng clicked his tongue inwardly, growing even more convinced of his suspicion.
Liar.
That day, Chi Ning had been so scared he was nearly in tears, yet he still helped a bloodied stranger. And after helping, he went the extra mile, finding excuses to pay off the debt too.
If he were ever dragged into a van and sold, he’d probably count the money for the traffickers himself.
Might even wave goodbye with a "You’re actually pretty nice!"
The thought flashed by, but it still irritated Qin Heng. His face cold, he said, "Got it."
Chi Ning exhaled in relief. Why is young Qin Heng even more intimidating than the grown-up version?
Without thinking, he murmured, "You really are quite nice, though."
Qin Heng froze, suddenly feeling like a human trafficker from Taiguan District, ready to skin a lamb and feast on mutton.
No one who knows me would call me a good person. Where the hell did Chi Ning get that idea?
Just as Qin Heng was about to say something, a loud voice called out from behind, "Hey, Qin-ge? You know Chi Er-shao?"
Chi Ning turned to look.
The newcomer wore a No. 1 High School short-sleeved shirt with the collar wide open without a single button fastened, revealing a toned upper body. He strode over with an easy familiarity, pointing at himself. "I’m Zhang Qiuwen, Class 18 at No. 1 High."
"Hello." Chi Ning took a half-step back, instinctively moving closer to Qin Heng. "You know me?"
He didn’t recall ever knowing someone who wandered around shirtless like this.
Isn’t this just a gangster?
"Of course I know you! Who doesn’t?"
Zhang Qiuwen pulled out a newspaper folded into a long strip from his waistband, unfolded it, and began reading with dramatic flair, "Jiang Shijie provokes Second Young Master Chi Ning only to be humiliated! Eldest Young Master Chi was kicked out of the house for taking the second young master to a party in Hongnan at night~ You're famous now. This paper even has your photo, so of course I recognized you."
Chi Ning raised an eyebrow.
This morning, wasn’t it about a KTV boy and Eldest Young Master Chi racing cars late into the night, and even inseparable?
Did the newspaper change the story after Dad made a call?
He leaned over to look. The front-page photo showed him bending over to play pool.
The shot was clear and striking.
The overhead light of the pool table was the only source of illumination in the darkness, casting his profile in sharp relief, making the photo look like an artistic portrait.
Zhang Qiuwen pointed at the picture and praised, "Your pool stance is pretty standard."
"Yeah, my brother taught me." Chi Ning pinched the edge of the newspaper and flipped to the next page, where the next photo showed Jiang Shijie’s furious, contorted face.
This time, the paparazzi had been unusually honest, without any embellishments.
They had recounted the entire incident from start to finish, vividly and clearly, making it more entertaining than the trashy novels sold on the streets.
Chi Ning’s eyes curved slightly, but his expression darkened.
Something wasn’t right.
Judging from the angle of the photo, the paparazzo must have been far away—at least near the bar counter by the entrance.
Their pool table was by the inner windows, the deepest part of the floor, about forty meters from the bar.
From that distance, there was no way the paparazzo could have heard what he said to Jiang Shijie, let alone accurately quoted, "You lost, just call me 'daddy' and we’re even."
Unless someone from the group his brother was with had deliberately leaked the details to the paparazzi, the whole thing made no logical sense.
Who would do that?
Once this kind of news broke, the Chi family’s stock price would inevitably take a hit. Who stood to benefit?
Chi Ning frowned slightly, his fingers whitening from gripping the newspaper too tightly.
The young man’s furrowed brows and downcast eyes exuded a fragile delicacy, accentuated by his slender frame—even the protruding vertebrae at the nape of his neck seemed delicate as he lowered his head.
Zhang Qiuwen’s heart skipped a beat.
Damn it. A well-behaved kid like Chi Ning must have grown up surrounded by praise. These paparazzi were just spewing nonsense, exaggerating everything—phrases like "a waist so slender it could be held in one hand" and "Jiang Shijie harboring ill intentions" were thrown in.
Could Chi Ning handle such slander? Why had he impulsively pulled out the newspaper?
"I... uh..." He swallowed hard. "Don’t be upset. The paparazzi just make stuff up."
"What?" Chi Ning glared at him, tapped the newspaper, and straightened his posture. "I’m exactly as fierce as they say here."
How could it be made up? This article made him sound so charismatic! The board members would surely stop forcing the inheritance on him after reading this.
—
Qin Heng felt like he was watching a kitten puff up its fur.
The tabloid’s portrayal of Chi Ning wasn’t fierce at all. Most of the mockery was directed at Eldest Young Master Chi and Jiang Shijie, while the descriptions of Chi Ning mostly focused on his stunningly beautiful face and his wide-eyed glare when provoking others.
Qin Heng glanced at Zhang Qiuwen, frowned, and said sternly, "Zhang Qiuwen, did you come here to chat? Don’t you have actual business to attend to?"
Zhang Qiuwen immediately straightened up. "No, Brother Qin, I do—I have business."
"I asked Boss Xu, and he said we can use his billiards hall for free from Monday to Friday mornings, but we have to help watch the place on weekends. Bro, are we doing this?"
"We can do it," Qin Heng said.
Chi Ning: ...Huh?
That strange feeling he got when seeing his doting father show favoritism and his rebellious older brother bringing him Old Oil Shrimp Cakes came rushing back to his head.
In his past life, Qin Heng claimed to be a hardworking, scholarship-winning model student—excellent in academics, well-rounded in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education, with scholarships coming his way effortlessly.
The hardworking part seemed to match, but the rest?
This guy planned to play billiards at the hall from Monday to Friday mornings.
Sell Bayberry juice at the night market in the evenings.
And then help watch the place on weekends.
Where would he find the time to become a top student?
Unless... the future-renowned CEO Qin was actually a USB drive reincarnated, plugging into a computer to download knowledge directly?
Damn, his brain was overheating.
Why was everyone so different after his rebirth?
"Don't you guys go to school?"
Chi Ning pointed at the job listings on the last page of the newspaper and tentatively suggested, "If you really need to work, you could do hourly jobs. They pay by the hour and don’t interfere much with school."
Zhang Qiuwen smiled at him. "In Class 18, fewer than five people show up to study every day. We have bad grades and need to make a living—the school doesn’t care much. As for hourly pay..."
He paused, then continued, "That money isn’t enough. The Yangcheng Billiards Tournament in three months is sponsored by the Jiang family. The champion gets 200,000 yuan, and the winner can advance to the national competition. If you win the national title, not only do you get 3 million, but you can also get into college through special admissions. For students with poor academics, it’s a one-shot deal."
Chi Ning made an understanding sound and turned to Qin Heng. "Are you also aiming for special admissions?"
Qin Heng was about to nod, but meeting Chi Ning’s gaze, his words took an unexpected turn. "I need the money to start a business."
Chi Ning sighed in relief.
Right, Qin Heng built his empire from scratch—it made sense he’d spend more time earning money. Maybe he was working and studying at the same time?
This man had been so good to him in his past life. As his lab colleagues put it, "The big CEO worked his fingers to the bone for Professor Chi."
He shouldn’t doubt Qin Heng.
Looking at the highly motivated Qin Heng, Chi Ning suddenly felt that slacking off couldn’t be absolute.
Slacking was one thing, but laziness was another.
Some people clawed their way through school, while others squatted on curbs eating boxed meals just to survive.
He couldn’t just lie around at home after paying tuition, then top the exams—that would be demoralizing.
What if people accused him of cheating or pulling strings?
At the very least, he should slack off at school.
Competitions were definitely out. Winning those would get nationwide coverage, and the board would find out.
But the patents that should’ve been his in his past life—those had to stay in his hands.
Some had been taken by the board and gifted under others’ names. Others were stolen by rival companies and became their assets. In the end, less than a third remained his.
With just that third, he’d still won the highest scientific awards—imagine the value of what was taken.
This time, he’d file them first!
Doing it all over again wasn’t hard. Without the board’s exploitation, he could work nine-to-five and play when tired.
Playing basketball is quite interesting; it can be a regular way to unwind.
Playing with my brother is fun, but there are too many mood-killers. It's better to...
"Where is Brother Xu's court?"
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