Ch. 251 - 360 Vacation Days a Year, Perfectly Reasonable

May 20th.

Chen Shu was in the middle of his afternoon nap when his phone rang.

"Chen Pi, what the hell are you doing?! Are you going to school or not?!"

Shen Wushuang's roaring voice came through.

He'd assumed Chen Shu had gone home for some personal matter. Turned out the guy just flat-out hadn't shown up at all...

Chen Shu answered earnestly: "I'm on vacation!"

"The college entrance exam is right fucking there. What goddamn vacation?!"

"My Champion Vacation!"

"???"

Shen Wushuang fell silent. You've gone and invented your own holiday category now?

He took a deep breath, suppressed his rising fury, and said:

"How about you write the national calendar next year?"

"The country hasn't invited me. Otherwise, I'd definitely write it myself. Three hundred sixty vacation days a year — I think that's perfectly reasonable!"

"You really are sick in the head."

Shen Wushuang said: "Get your ass to school, now. Today's the day to register for your exam ID! If you miss the college entrance exam, I suspect the entire city of Nanjiang would back me up in burying you alive!"

Nanjiang City had finally produced a promising talent.

And then he just missed the college entrance exam outright? Wasn't that pure bullshit?

"Oh, oh!"

Chen Shu packed up. Conveniently, two days earlier he had just completed his system's option reward and received the two bottles of Explosion Potion he'd been itching for.

Composed and confident, chest out and head high, he made his way to school.

A champion had to have a champion's bearing!

"Hello, Senior Chen Shu!"

"Hello, Senior Chen Shu!"

The moment he stepped onto campus, passing students greeted him with reverence in their eyes. Some even pulled out their phones to take pictures.

"Yes! If everyone's good, that's the real good!"[1]

Chen Shu clasped his hands behind his back, feeling utterly refreshed.

Riding the high, he began a leisurely stroll around campus. Everyone he passed greeted him proactively.

Chen Shu's name recognition was off the charts now — practically a celebrity, at the very least a household name across Nanjiang City.

"All good, all good!"

Chen Shu nodded in acknowledgment, feeling like he'd truly ascended to life's peak.

Smack!

Suddenly, Chen Shu took a hard knuckle to the skull!

"Who's got the nerve to lay hands on the Nanjiang Bandit?!"

Chen Shu spun around — and immediately saw Shen Wushuang's face, dark and heavy as an oncoming thunderstorm.

Shen Wushuang said: "Go fucking register for your exam ID, dumbass! What the hell are you prancing around for?!"

Chen Shu had talent, no question. But he really was sick in the head too, also no question.

"The whole grade's waiting on you alone. Are you taking this exam or not?!"

"Taking it! Taking it!"

Chen Shu arrived at the exam registration station. The entire grade's students were waiting for him.

"Hello, everyone! Thank you for your hard work!"

Chen Shu walked over with his hands clasped behind his back, like a government official on an inspection tour.

As the strongest in the grade, making a grand finale entrance — was there a problem with that?

He stepped up to the staff's station and entered all his personal information.

Then, with a wide grin, he had a brilliantly sunny photo taken.

"Everyone, free study period!"

Shen Wushuang dismissed the students, then pulled Chen Shu aside separately:

"Also, during this period, you better keep your damn head down! No disrupting anyone else's studies! If you're really that bored, just go home!"

He was genuinely worried Chen Shu would pull something again. If the whole grade failed the exam except Chen Shu alone going off to university — wasn't that just absurd?

......

Chen Shu didn't go home, though. As far as he was concerned, school was just as good a place to vacation...

The college entrance exam crept closer. The entire grade moved around campus with hurried steps.

The slackers were only a minority. The vast majority were grinding hard.[2]

Cramming at the last minute — even if it wasn't deep, at least it was something![3]

With the exam now imminent, the teachers had stopped micromanaging. It was completely self-directed study.

The next morning.

Chen Shu, bored out of his mind, wandered over to the Beast Taming Arena.

The special training class students were all hard at work — sparring against each other, refining skill techniques, improving contract spirit obedience levels...

The moment Chen Shu set foot in the Beast Taming Arena, the entire venue fell silent.

The Bandit's oppressive presence descended once more!

Everyone looked at him with complicated expressions — some fearful, some reverent...

But they had all come to understand one thing.

The gap between him and them had grown too vast. They practically weren't even living in the same world anymore.

Even the strongest among them — Xu Xiaoyu, Du Long, and the others — couldn't even glimpse his back anymore.

"You're all training pretty well!"

Chen Shu folded his arms across his chest, strode to the front, and declared with theatrical anguish, beating his chest:

"As your class president, I am deeply ashamed! All this time, I've paid so little attention to everyone's studies!"

"Today, I shall personally guide you all!"

Everyone looked over. A faint glimmer of expectation stirred in their hearts — was he about to share some secret technique?

But Tang Lie and a few others sensed something was off.

Would this guy really be this generous?

Boom!

A thirty-six-meter Slime materialized in an instant, making the training platform tremble.

"I imagine everyone's beast taming ranks have gone up by now. You can all come at me together. If you can defeat me, each of you gets five million Huaxia yuan!"

In an instant, everyone's expressions flickered. Their breathing quickened.

Five million — for an ordinary student, that was already an enormous sum!

"Of course, the challenge entry fee is one hundred thousand. A full fifty times return on investment! Don't miss out, everyone!"

At those words, it was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over the crowd. They snapped awake instantly.

You motherfucker — you're here to squeeze money out of us again?!

Without hesitation, everyone turned and headed for the Beast Taming Arena exit.

"Hey, wait — fine, fifty thousand entry fee, alright!"

Chen Shu immediately tried to stop them. Such high returns and no one was taking it?

"Thirty thousand... ten thousand... Fine! No fee at all! Fight me for free!"

Chen Shu backed down again and again, and even when it was free, still no one stepped up to challenge him.

In the end, the Beast Taming Arena was left with just Chen Shu and Xie Sunan...

Chen Shu noticed the eager, raring-to-go look in Xie Sunan's eyes.

Chen Shu's entire body jolted. He pointed at him: "Don't you fucking try anything!"

He really did not want to enjoy the radiance of love!

"We're brothers. How could I possibly raise a hand against you!"

Xie Sunan sidled right up to him and said: "Bro, for the college exam, I'm counting on you!"

"Wait, you're not trying to cheat, are you?! That's straight-up illegal!"

Xie Sunan was utterly baffled. Those words — coming from you?!

He shook his head and explained:

"This year, to better assess teamwork ability, the college entrance exam will have you grouped in teams of three or four."

Chen Shu paused, stroked his chin. That could actually work.

Little Star's Thunder Bird was unmatched in speed, Old Xie had reconnaissance capabilities, plus his own overwhelming combat power —

Wouldn't they just steamroll a Common-rank alternate dimension?

Of course, the specific exam scores would still be graded on individual performance.

You wouldn't get extra points just for clinging to someone's coattails.

If the gap between you was too large, it could even negatively influence the examiners' subjective impression and get you a lower score.

"Little Star!"

The two left the Beast Taming Arena. The three walked across campus, discussing their battle plan for the college entrance exam.

It wasn't until Chen Shu had left that the special training class students slowly trickled back into the Beast Taming Arena...

"To score big on the college entrance exam, we've got to win through unconventional tactics!"

Chen Shu licked his lips, an unholy glint in his eyes, and said:

"I suggest we just blow up Lieyang Hills!"

Xu Xingxing: "???"

Xie Sunan: "???"

[1] 大家好才是真的好 (dàjiā hǎo cái shì zhēn de hǎo): "If everyone's good, that's the real good." A legendary Chinese advertising slogan for 好迪 (Hao Di) shampoo, so ubiquitous in the 2000s that it became permanently lodged in the national consciousness. Chen Shu, being a walking meme dispenser, naturally repurposes a shampoo commercial as his celebrity greeting to adoring students. The humor lies in both the absurdity of using an ad slogan as a philosophical statement and the fact that Chen Shu treats it with complete sincerity.

[2] 摆烂 (bǎilàn): Internet slang literally meaning "to let it rot." Describes the attitude of giving up entirely, refusing to try, and embracing failure. The opposite of 内卷 — while involution is burning out by overworking, 摆烂 is checking out completely. Here used to describe the few students who'd already given up on the exam.

[3] 临阵磨枪，不快也光 (lín zhèn mó qiāng, bù kuài yě guāng): A classical Chinese proverb: "Sharpen your spear at the battlefield — even if it's not sharp, at least it'll shine." The original metaphor refers to last-minute preparation before battle. In modern usage, it describes cramming before exams — the preparation may be shallow, but at least you went through the motions. The second half ("不快也光") carries the wry self-awareness that this effort is more about appearances and mental comfort than actual effectiveness.