The Slacker Academic Always Gets Caught (SLACKER)
Chi Ning's gaze flickered. His eyes swept between Qin Heng and Zhang Qiuwen before he curled his lips. "Hah."
He recalled the burly, elite Suit Thug. "That teacher—you hired him for Zhang Qiuwen?"
Zhang Qiuwen took a step back.
How did this happen?
How was Chi Ning so good at pinpointing the key detail?
He had just rambled on for so long, even throwing in some praise—how did Chi Ning zero in on the most crucial piece of information?
Zhang Qiuwen swallowed hard under Qin Heng's murderous gaze. "Uh... B-Brother Qin took pity on me, s-so he hired me a tutor."
What else could he say?
Should he tell Chi Ning: Brother Qin was afraid I'd steal your affection, so he specially hired a tutor to discipline me?
Zhang Qiuwen struggled to add, "One-on-one tutoring helps me absorb knowledge better."
Chi Ning: "Oh." He turned to Qin Heng. "You hired Zhang Qiuwen a proper tutor? While you used five years' worth of bayberry juice to barter for classmates' tutoring?"
Qin Heng reacted swiftly. "Paid tutors aren’t necessarily better than bayberry juice. Look, Zhang Qiuwen’s grades still aren’t as high as mine."
That was true.
Chi Ning withdrew his scrutinizing gaze and asked casually, "Alright, what about the dealer stuff then?"
Zhang Qiuwen stealthily retreated two steps. Seeing Chi Ning didn’t react, he immediately bolted away.
Hah! Chi Ning’s eyes had still been smiling when he asked—he wasn’t actually angry, just teasing Brother Qin.
So why stick around? This wasn’t the time to be a third wheel.
Once Zhang Qiuwen left, Chi Ning suddenly felt the atmosphere between him and Qin Heng grow sticky, as if someone had poured syrup into it.
He suddenly felt too embarrassed to ask further.
Why bother questioning it? They were just ordinary friends anyway. Pressing like this seemed a bit boundary-less.
Chi Ning cleared his throat. "Never mind, it’s—"
Qin Heng cut him off. "Boss Xu mentioned before that his main businesses are real estate development and gambling that were mostly overseas."
"At the time, you thought 'gambling' just meant lotteries. Lotteries are one form of gambling, but the real money in this industry comes from gaming fields, soccer gambling, horse racing, and the like."
Qin Heng spoke rapidly while avoiding Chi Ning’s eyes. "Boss Xu has cleaned up a lot of his ventures. Now he focuses on real estate and investments."
He couldn’t gauge Chi Ning’s stance on the industry. Yangcheng City’s economy was booming, but...
Qin Heng said softly, "Most people raised in Yangcheng City are conservative. I was afraid you’d think I’m a scumbag if you found out."
Chi Ning was baffled. "Why would I? Did you scam people or break the law?"
Qin Heng answered quickly, "No."
Chi Ning: "Then it’s fine."
He knew about legal overseas gaming fields—they required asset verification before entry, and on-site loans were prohibited. So in legitimate venues, it was practically impossible to enter fully clothed and leave stripped bare.
If Xu Jiahao dared to return to China for business, it proved his operations were already clean.
After all, in recent years, the country had cracked down hard on "gang crime and corruption." Ordinary citizens might not have gotten the memo, but could a major capitalist like Xu Jiahao really be unaware?
If he dared to return and establish roots now, it meant he had a spotless background and the confidence to back it up.
"Nothing to hide." Chi Ning pondered for a moment, suddenly realizing the younger Qin Heng lacked the confidence of his future self.
The older Qin Heng had a formidable capital. No matter how gentle he pretended to be, an air of supremacy always surrounded him.
"Don’t worry too much about what others think. Just do what you believe is right."
Chi Ning reached out and patted Qin Heng’s shoulder, his tone light. "Of course, no breaking the law."
"Mm." Qin Heng responded softly, feeling the places Chi Ning had touched burning with warmth.
How could Chi Ning be so sweet?
Like a translucent hard candy with a minty shell but a peach filling inside.
"Alright." Chi Ning's comfort came to a swift end. "Hurry back to class and pack up. I need to go check the data—who knows if the bacteria in the constant temperature shaker have died yet."
After all, anything cultivated in the laboratory could die for all sorts of reasons.
Even a 0.5-degree temperature difference could kill them.
It was hard to feel at ease.
The sweetness in Qin Heng's mouth vanished abruptly as he hurriedly followed Chi Ning to hail a taxi home.
Fortunately, the bacterial strains and cells in the shaker were alive and well, full of vitality.
Chi Ning breathed a sigh of relief.
He wasn't as poor as when he first returned, but the little money he had was barely enough to keep his private laboratory running.
If the cultivated strains kept dying off, he'd be broke sooner or later.
Thank goodness.
Everything he was working on now was replicating the published papers and research results from his past life. As long as the experiments went smoothly, nothing else would go wrong.
After tidying up the laboratory, checking the temperature controls of all the equipment, and helping Qin Heng with some new study points, Chi Ning took a taxi home and managed to fall asleep before 11:30 p.m.
No late nights, ultimate wellness—healthy and happy.
Home, school, laboratory.
The three-point routine was overwhelmingly fulfilling.
So fulfilling that by the time the next monthly exam ended, Chi Ning realized a whole month had passed.
During the post-exam class meeting, Wang Quan leaned on the desk and announced, "Everyone, take note. Starting this time, Class 1 and Class 2 will no longer receive difficulty surveys for monthly exams."
Led by Li Qiuhe, the whole class chorused, "Huh?"
That single syllable echoed melodramatically around the classroom twice.
Wang Quan was torn between laughter and exasperation. "It's pointless anyway—you'd all just write 'too easy.' These papers are the closest to this year's college entrance exam difficulty. You're all used to competition-level questions, but the regular classes can't handle this kind of intensity."
The students replied in unison, "Oh!"
Wang Quan continued, "Alright, today's meeting is about the sports day next Wednesday. I hope everyone participates enthusiastically. The P.E. monitor, come get the sign-up sheet—we're doing this now."
The moment he finished speaking, the agony on the students' faces became unmistakably genuine.
Li Qiuhe muttered, "Wonder who the unlucky one will be this year to roll the 5000-meter run."
Wang Quan grinned and pulled out a raffle box from under the podium. "I know no one wants certain events. Our class isn't exactly athletic, so for fairness, the drawing order will follow last month's exam rankings. Chi Ning, you're first."
The earlier your rank, the more random your draw—and the lower your chances.
Under the envious gazes of his classmates, Chi Ning stepped forward, reached into the raffle box, and unfolded his slip: shot put.
Wang Quan pouted, his face full of disappointment at missing out on the drama. "Shot put, huh? Go register with the P.E. monitor."
Voices immediately rose in the classroom.
"So jealous! God Chi has such good luck. I wanted shot put too."
"That's so easy—just throw it and then sit back and watch."
"Only one draw per person? What if we run out of events? What do the rest of us do?"
"I don't know."
Soon, the unlucky one was revealed. Li Qiuhe's hand trembled slightly as he held the slip of paper. "F-five thousand meters."
Wang Quan patted his shoulder. "A man must accept the consequences of his gamble."
Li Qiuhe walked dazedly to the sports committee member to register, then wandered back to his seat muttering, "All gifts from fate come with a hidden price..."
Chi Ning didn't understand: "Huh?"
Li Qiuhe pulled out the academic prodigy's notebook. "I used up all my luck for this year when I found your notebook."
What Chi Ning had lost wasn't just one notebook, but an entire stack.
Workbooks, textbooks, notes—all his academic materials across every subject had been discarded.
After retrieving them, they'd flipped through and realized that except for the textbooks which were useless, the rest were like martial arts manuals.
Whoever comprehended them would prosper.
They'd spent over four months carefully digesting the materials and still hadn't finished. One particularly perceptive student had already gone abroad to compete and reportedly made it to the finals, and was also likely to receive guaranteed university admission soon.
Truly, when one whale falls, a thousand creatures thrive.
Li Qiuhe paused, then spat three times—God Chi had already received his guaranteed admission.
He puffed out his chest like a hero facing certain death. "It's fine! Even if I have to crawl, I'll finish that 5000 meters!"
Chi Ning was impressed. "Good luck."
He propped his chin on his hand and gazed out the window absently.
The Laboratory had successfully reproduced a complete set of data. The first project had reached the paper-writing and patent application stage, so he could rest for a few days.
Might as well go straight home today.
Chi Ning hailed a taxi and, for the first time in over a month without worrying about the little life growing in the shaker, happily returned home.
Uncle Chen and Grandma were watering flowers in the garden.
They were visibly surprised to see Chi Ning. "You're back so early today?"
"Yeah," Chi Ning replied.
Since he'd refused Uncle Chen's after-school pickups, Uncle Chen had become his eldest brother's personal driver in the evenings, fetching Chi Baichuan and Chi Yang after work.
If Uncle Chen was home at this hour, it meant his father and brother were already off work too.
Chi Ning thought: The four of us really are in sync.
He took out his keys to open the door and step out of his shoes neatly at the entrance with practiced ease. "Bro, I'm home."
Chi Yang grunted in acknowledgment, his tone carrying quiet authority.
Chi Ning glanced around and noticed several unfamiliar pairs of shoes at the entrance—guests must be visiting. "I'll head upstairs then."
Chi Baichuan said, "No need. Come join us."
"Alright." Without hesitation, Chi Ning walked over and sat comfortably beside Chi Yang before casually grabbing a handful of Dried Tangerine Peel Pills to snack on.
While eating, he studied their guest.
He remembered this man—Sun Boxing's father, Sun Bowen.
Perched awkwardly on a single sofa with his limbs drawn in, he looked much more restrained than during their previous barbecue gathering.
Chewing on the herbal pills, Chi Ning thought: Something must have happened.
Chi Baichuan poured Old Sun a cup of tea. "Old Sun, I had a feeling the materials would be stolen. Luckily, we swapped out the real ones—what they took was fake data."
Sun Bowen held the cup but remained silent.
Chi Baichuan sighed and asked, "Do you know who took it?"
The middle-aged man’s back was slightly hunched as he lowered his head and his lips kept parting before closing again.
Chi Baichuan chuckled. "I don’t mind telling you—it was Ningning who overheard Sun Boxing and Shen Minyi discussing stealing the data and came to warn me. Otherwise, how could we have swapped it out so quickly? I’m no prophet."
Sun Bowen let out a long, weary sigh, exhaustion and age settling heavily on his frame in that moment.
"Boxing has always been such a good boy… How could he… How could he steal…"
Chi Baichuan smiled faintly. "The fake data we swapped in contained falsified clinical trial reports and patent application materials."
His expression turned cold. "Old Sun, if the Shen Family re-runs clinical trials before applying with this data, they might be fine. But if they rush and submit it directly, the consequences will be severe. Shen Minyi will likely pin the blame on your son."
Chi Baichuan stood and patted his shoulder lightly. "Either send your son abroad early and make sure he never returns, or let him turn over a new leaf and turn himself in."
"Old Sun, once this is settled, we’ll still be brothers."
Chi Ning chewed on the Dried Tangerine Peel Pills, the taste sour and bitter.
He knew this brotherhood was likely over. Choosing between decades of friendship and blood ties was an impossible dilemma.
Sun Bowen hadn’t taken a single sip of his tea. His hands trembled as he set the porcelain cup down, voice shaking. "Brother Baichuan… he’s still my son. I’ll take him abroad, far from Yangcheng City. I—"
He faltered before closing his eyes with difficulty. "I’ll resign…"
Sun Boxing pulled out his Laboratory access card and placed it on the tea table. "Give this to someone else."
If it had been anyone else who stole, it wouldn’t have hurt this much—even if it were the housekeeper.
Even if it were some nameless thief.
But no—it was his son.
Chi Baichuan looked at the card. "I told you, this doesn’t change things between us. I know your character. Your son is your son, and you are you. There’s no need to resign."
Sun Bowen wiped his eyes. "I can’t get past this. Every time I step into that lab, I’ll remember my unfilial son stealing. I was too busy—I didn’t raise him right. I’ll go abroad with him and try to set him straight as much as possible. We won’t come back."
Chi Baichuan fell silent, then sighed deeply. "Alright, then we part ways. A clean break."
Watching the scene, Chi Ning thought: Shen Minyi really is a piece of work.
"Dad, what was the fake drug in the data? If they actually produce it, it won’t endanger lives, will it?"
Chi Baichuan shook his head. "Of course not. It’s just a skincare product—for feet."
The kind you wouldn’t even use on your face.
Chi Ning: Oh…
His dad had quite the sense of humor.
Shen Minyi, thrilled after stealing the data, thought: Let me see what kind of miracle drug the Chi Family has been guarding so fiercely for over a decade.
He flipped through the files.
Foot cream.
Hah.
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