The period had been quite uneventful, without much upheaval. The black cat didn't show up to stir the pot either. The only difference was a sudden drop in temperature, making almost half the class late every day due to the cold.
Lin Jin had been carrying out his exercise plan, but because the temperature was too low, he shortened his original two-hour routine to half an hour per day. Sweating a bit and eating a little less shouldn't be a big problem. He may not lose weight quickly, but at least he wouldn't gain any more.
He also managed to complete all his end-of-term assignments and handed them over to the class monitor, Wen Xuan. As for English, it wasn't too bad. He had more or less memorized the vocabulary and some key phrases. It was all rote memorization, Lin Jin still had no idea what grammar was all about.
In the last week before winter break, Lin Jin's schedule became even more relaxed. There were only two classes each day, morning and afternoon. Each class consisted of Wen Xuan taking a USB drive to submit assignments. The other students simply signed their names and left. The whole process took up three or four days, and on Friday morning, the only written final exam for English began.
Fortunately, Lin Jin had been diligent in memorizing English words lately. Although he couldn't read them due to his lack of understanding of English phonetics, he just guessed on the listening part that was worth thirty points. He managed to complete the rest somewhat decently. Although he might not score above sixty on the written test, adding in his classroom attendance points should bring his mark above seventy.
"Lin Jin, when are you leaving?"
The English exam had ended, and half his classmates were planning to hastily leave the school that afternoon, with the rest staying for the next day or the day after.
Lin Jin was packing his clothes and other belongings into his suitcase when he heard Wu Min ask him. Looking up, he saw that Wu Min had even packed his quilt and placed it on the ground, apparently planning to leave.
"Tomorrow, you're leaving so soon?" Lin Jin stood up and stretched.
"My home is in Xiamen, my dad is coming to pick me up by car" Wu Min explained, then turned to Wen Xuan, asking, "You too, right?"
"My dad didn't send anyone to pick me up..." Wen Xuan sighed. His luggage was excessive, with a suitcase almost twice the size of Lin Jin's, plus a huge backpack, laptop bag, and a quilt. At first glance, it looked like Wen Xuan's slender frame would be crushed by all these belongings. "I'll probably leave around one or two in the afternoon. I'll check if anyone in my family is available. I can't carry all this stuff by myself."
"Do you want my dad to give you a ride?" Wu Min kindly offered.
"No need, someone should be coming to pick me up in the afternoon" Wen Xuan turned to look at Lin Jin, "What about you?"
Lin Jin curled his lip. Why do they all have a father, but his own father never picked him up or dropped him off at school since the first grade?
"I don't have much stuff, I can go back by myself" Lin Jin plopped down on a chair and zipped up his suitcase. "Besides, my family is out of town. You expect my dad to drive over here? Knowing him, he'd probably come get me on a tricycle."
The two roommates, who knew to some extent that Lin Jin's dad was a gambler, said nothing and continued packing their luggage.
Other people's dads had cars and houses and took great care of their children. His own dad couldn't even cook a meal, managing at best a bowl of clear noodle soup or instant noodles... Going home this time probably meant becoming his dad's caregiver again, doing the grocery shopping and cooking every day, and even finding time to help the neighbors and exchange some New Year's goods.
Damn it, life is tough. Besides the pitiful kids in impoverished rural areas, how many urban kids are specifically tasked with being their dad's caregivers?
"But who can blame my dad for giving birth to me instead of shooting it against a wall?"
Lin Jin twitched the corner of his mouth as he opened his laptop.
But this time it wasn't so bad, he still had over nine thousand yuan on him. He could set aside a few hundred to buy some New Year's goods and add a bit of meat to his dad's daily diet of instant noodles for the past few months. Being away for so long, his dad had probably lost 5 to 10 kg.
"Lin Jin, want to go back together?" Lin Xin walked in from the back door and spotted Lin Jin's packed suitcase. "You're leaving today?"
"Tomorrow morning, I have a ticket for eight o'clock. What about you?" Lin Jin turned to ask.
Having a classmate to share a high-speed train ride with would be nice, they could look out for each other.
"I haven't bought my ticket yet, was just about to head to the North Railway Station to get one" Lin Xin approached and rested his hands on the back of the chair. "Check if there are any tickets left on your train. If there are, I'll jot down the details and buy a ticket for the same train."
"We won't be sitting together anyway." Lin Jin casually opened his phone and switched to the train ticket booking app.
However, Lin Xin's keen eyes caught sight of a strange app on Lin Jin's phone screen. "What's that 'Goddess Cultivation Plan'?"
"It's a game, not very fun, forgot to uninstall it."
Indeed, it was a game, but he wasn't the player, he was the one being played. And what's more, he was being played by a black cat of uncertain origin, whether virtual or real.
"You're on the 8:30 one, huh. There are still over a hundred second-class seats left. I'll go check it out later. Gotta go for now."
After checking Lin Jin's train ticket, Lin Xin nodded and, without saying much, turned and left.
"Go on, then."
Watching Lin Xin leave, Lin Jin hastily moved the icon for the "Goddess Development Plan" app into a folder, afraid someone else might discover it. Lin Xin hadn't made a big deal of it this time, but it would be a problem if he lent his phone to some young relative to play with during the holiday, and they accidentally opened the app.
Who knows whether or not opening the app would entangle an outsider with that black cat.
Speaking of which, all the exams were over, so the tasks should be over too, right?
Feeling like a guilty thief, Lin Jin glanced at his two roommates. Seeing they were busy, he opened the app.
The black cat was nowhere to be found, and there was no notification about completing the task either. Under the task tab, the words "likely to be completed" were displayed. It would probably take a few days until the exam results were out for the task to be officially completed.
Annoying.
Once again, he saw the irritating "Feminization +10%" as a task reward. If it weren't for this specific reward, he might actually put in effort for the various other strange but effective rewards. To Lin Jin, adding to the feminization progress felt more like a punishment than a reward.
After this task is completed, the feminization would be at 47%, right?
Lin Jin frowned deeply. A sudden ten percent increase, he had no idea if there would be noticeable changes to his appearance. He didn't want to go home only to be unrecognizable to his own father.
And then there was that girl, Shi Yuli...
An image of a pretty girl with a ponytail popped into Lin Jin's mind. Just thinking about this girl, who could be considered his childhood friend, gave him a headache. He shook his head vigorously, trying his best to shake that pretty face out of his mind.
Better to avoid seeing her altogether!
The period had been quite uneventful, without much upheaval. The black cat didn't show up to stir the pot either. The only difference was a sudden drop in temperature, making almost half the class late every day due to the cold.
Lin Jin had been carrying out his exercise plan, but because the temperature was too low, he shortened his original two-hour routine to half an hour per day. Sweating a bit and eating a little less shouldn't be a big problem. He may not lose weight quickly, but at least he wouldn't gain any more.
He also managed to complete all his end-of-term assignments and handed them over to the class monitor, Wen Xuan. As for English, it wasn't too bad. He had more or less memorized the vocabulary and some key phrases. It was all rote memorization, Lin Jin still had no idea what grammar was all about.
In the last week before winter break, Lin Jin's schedule became even more relaxed. There were only two classes each day, morning and afternoon. Each class consisted of Wen Xuan taking a USB drive to submit assignments. The other students simply signed their names and left. The whole process took up three or four days, and on Friday morning, the only written final exam for English began.
Fortunately, Lin Jin had been diligent in memorizing English words lately. Although he couldn't read them due to his lack of understanding of English phonetics, he just guessed on the listening part that was worth thirty points. He managed to complete the rest somewhat decently. Although he might not score above sixty on the written test, adding in his classroom attendance points should bring his mark above seventy.
"Lin Jin, when are you leaving?"
The English exam had ended, and half his classmates were planning to hastily leave the school that afternoon, with the rest staying for the next day or the day after.
Lin Jin was packing his clothes and other belongings into his suitcase when he heard Wu Min ask him. Looking up, he saw that Wu Min had even packed his quilt and placed it on the ground, apparently planning to leave.
"Tomorrow, you're leaving so soon?" Lin Jin stood up and stretched.
"My home is in Xiamen, my dad is coming to pick me up by car" Wu Min explained, then turned to Wen Xuan, asking, "You too, right?"
"My dad didn't send anyone to pick me up..." Wen Xuan sighed. His luggage was excessive, with a suitcase almost twice the size of Lin Jin's, plus a huge backpack, laptop bag, and a quilt. At first glance, it looked like Wen Xuan's slender frame would be crushed by all these belongings. "I'll probably leave around one or two in the afternoon. I'll check if anyone in my family is available. I can't carry all this stuff by myself."
"Do you want my dad to give you a ride?" Wu Min kindly offered.
"No need, someone should be coming to pick me up in the afternoon" Wen Xuan turned to look at Lin Jin, "What about you?"
Lin Jin curled his lip. Why do they all have a father, but his own father never picked him up or dropped him off at school since the first grade?
"I don't have much stuff, I can go back by myself" Lin Jin plopped down on a chair and zipped up his suitcase. "Besides, my family is out of town. You expect my dad to drive over here? Knowing him, he'd probably come get me on a tricycle."
The two roommates, who knew to some extent that Lin Jin's dad was a gambler, said nothing and continued packing their luggage.
Other people's dads had cars and houses and took great care of their children. His own dad couldn't even cook a meal, managing at best a bowl of clear noodle soup or instant noodles... Going home this time probably meant becoming his dad's caregiver again, doing the grocery shopping and cooking every day, and even finding time to help the neighbors and exchange some New Year's goods.
Damn it, life is tough. Besides the pitiful kids in impoverished rural areas, how many urban kids are specifically tasked with being their dad's caregivers?
"But who can blame my dad for giving birth to me instead of shooting it against a wall?"
Lin Jin twitched the corner of his mouth as he opened his laptop.
But this time it wasn't so bad, he still had over nine thousand yuan on him. He could set aside a few hundred to buy some New Year's goods and add a bit of meat to his dad's daily diet of instant noodles for the past few months. Being away for so long, his dad had probably lost 5 to 10 kg.
"Lin Jin, want to go back together?" Lin Xin walked in from the back door and spotted Lin Jin's packed suitcase. "You're leaving today?"
"Tomorrow morning, I have a ticket for eight o'clock. What about you?" Lin Jin turned to ask.
Having a classmate to share a high-speed train ride with would be nice, they could look out for each other.
"I haven't bought my ticket yet, was just about to head to the North Railway Station to get one" Lin Xin approached and rested his hands on the back of the chair. "Check if there are any tickets left on your train. If there are, I'll jot down the details and buy a ticket for the same train."
"We won't be sitting together anyway." Lin Jin casually opened his phone and switched to the train ticket booking app.
However, Lin Xin's keen eyes caught sight of a strange app on Lin Jin's phone screen. "What's that 'Goddess Cultivation Plan'?"
"It's a game, not very fun, forgot to uninstall it."
Indeed, it was a game, but he wasn't the player, he was the one being played. And what's more, he was being played by a black cat of uncertain origin, whether virtual or real.
"You're on the 8:30 one, huh. There are still over a hundred second-class seats left. I'll go check it out later. Gotta go for now."
After checking Lin Jin's train ticket, Lin Xin nodded and, without saying much, turned and left.
"Go on, then."
Watching Lin Xin leave, Lin Jin hastily moved the icon for the "Goddess Development Plan" app into a folder, afraid someone else might discover it. Lin Xin hadn't made a big deal of it this time, but it would be a problem if he lent his phone to some young relative to play with during the holiday, and they accidentally opened the app.
Who knows whether or not opening the app would entangle an outsider with that black cat.
Speaking of which, all the exams were over, so the tasks should be over too, right?
Feeling like a guilty thief, Lin Jin glanced at his two roommates. Seeing they were busy, he opened the app.
The black cat was nowhere to be found, and there was no notification about completing the task either. Under the task tab, the words "likely to be completed" were displayed. It would probably take a few days until the exam results were out for the task to be officially completed.
Annoying.
Once again, he saw the irritating "Feminization +10%" as a task reward. If it weren't for this specific reward, he might actually put in effort for the various other strange but effective rewards. To Lin Jin, adding to the feminization progress felt more like a punishment than a reward.
After this task is completed, the feminization would be at 47%, right?
Lin Jin frowned deeply. A sudden ten percent increase, he had no idea if there would be noticeable changes to his appearance. He didn't want to go home only to be unrecognizable to his own father.
And then there was that girl, Shi Yuli...
An image of a pretty girl with a ponytail popped into Lin Jin's mind. Just thinking about this girl, who could be considered his childhood friend, gave him a headache. He shook his head vigorously, trying his best to shake that pretty face out of his mind.
Better to avoid seeing her altogether!
