Chapter 151

Chapter 151

Lou Sheng was asleep in the middle of the night when suddenly, there were two loud bangs from the room upstairs, as if something had fallen to the ground. Immediately after, the sound of a man and woman arguing broke out.

With a southern accent, it was unclear what they were arguing about, but Lou Sheng only knew it was extremely vulgar.

After a while, someone knocked on the door, though it was unclear who, and the noise finally died down.

A few days later, it was the first day of school at Beiyang High School. Lou Sheng brought the registration fee to school, but because he didn’t bring the summer homework that had been taken by the scrap collector, he was scolded by the homeroom teacher.

The homeroom teacher of Class 7 was a woman in her fifties, surnamed Liang. She was the most experienced teacher at Beiyang High School, and every year she led the best class in the school.

"Sleeping during morning classes every day, I’ve told you several times to change, and now you’re not even doing your homework? Huh?"

Lou Sheng’s face was expressionless.

"Explain yourself."

"The scrap collector took it."

Liang Ban sneered, the silver frames of her glasses glinting, clearly thinking the excuse was not clever.

"Lou Sheng, don’t waste your talent by neglecting your studies. Look at how much your grades have dropped from freshman year to now..." She was frustrated, watching a promising student who could have easily gotten into a top university gradually decline.

When Lou Sheng first entered Beiyang High, he was ranked third in the entire school. By the last exam of the previous semester, his class ranking had dropped to fifth place. It was only the beginning of sophomore year, and if he continued to slack off until senior year, getting into a first-tier university would be a question.

Lou Sheng didn’t speak, his expression indifferent, as if nothing could get through to him.

His brain was just average, not genius-level. With all the part-time tutoring he did outside, he was satisfied with his current grades.

Lou Sheng couldn’t afford to rent a place near the school, so he had to travel a long distance, spending an hour just commuting to and from school.

Beiyang High actually had dormitories, but the management was strict, and evening self-study couldn’t be skipped. With six days of classes a week, if he stayed in the dorm, he would only have Sundays to do part-time work, which wasn’t enough to cover his expenses.

If he had been able to recover his summer tutoring fees, Lou Sheng wouldn’t have had to worry about money this semester and could have focused on his studies.

After a long lecture, Liang Ban looked up and saw Lou Sheng’s distracted expression, which immediately frustrated her. "Stand outside the door!"

*

Liu Xing, after finishing his registration, saw Lou Sheng standing straight at the door of Class 7 from a distance. Even though it was only registration day, Lou Sheng had still worn his school uniform.

He was thin, with little flesh on his body, but his natural frame was large, and the short-sleeved school uniform still looked good on him, supported by his broad shoulders.

Liu Xing laughed and walked over, "Brother Sheng, it’s only the first day, why are you already being punished?"

Lou Sheng glanced at him indifferently.

Liu Xing stopped laughing, "Brother Sheng, your tutoring fees..."

Before he could finish, Lou Sheng interrupted him, "It’s hopeless, don’t bring it up again."

He didn’t have a smartphone, so there was no chat record. Without evidence, who would believe him just based on his word?

"Damn..." Liu Xing cursed under his breath, "Even scamming students, what a piece of trash!"

Lou Sheng didn’t respond.

He hadn’t even turned sixteen when he tutored that family’s child, an awkward age where it was hard to find other part-time jobs. He would never do it again, even if it meant doing manual labor.

Learn from mistakes, but at this age, the lesson was too big. He would have to pay the price for this lesson for the entire year.

"How long are you going to stand here, Sheng? My dad gave me this month's allowance and added an extra fifty for tuition. Wanna grab a meal?"

Lou Sheng curled the corner of his mouth.

Liu Xing quickly shut his mouth.

Knowing how stubborn Lou Sheng was, he shouldn’t have brought it up.

Liu Xing was Lou Sheng’s middle school classmate and had been his seatmate for a while. Back then, Liu Xing’s grades were average, and he was a troublemaker, often causing trouble outside. One day, he got into a fight and was cornered in an alley, nearly beaten to death. Lou Sheng happened to pass by and wasn’t planning to intervene, but Liu Xing, spotting a familiar face, desperately called out his name. The guys beating him assumed Lou Sheng was backup and immediately grabbed him.

No one expected Lou Sheng, who had no formal fighting skills, to handle himself so decisively.

From then on, Liu Xing began calling him "Sheng." During the high school entrance exam, Liu Xing performed exceptionally well and just barely got into Beiyang High School, where he’s been Lou Sheng’s friend for several years.

"Forget it, I’m fine," Lou Sheng said.

Liu Xing glanced at Lou Sheng’s thin arm.

Yeah, right, you’re skin and bones, and you’re not short on money for food?

Lou Sheng’s financial struggles were mostly due to his food expenses.

Teenage boys in their growth spurt naturally have big appetites. Even if Lou Sheng ate pickles with steamed buns, he could easily spend three to five yuan on a meal. At school, a bun cost fifty cents, and when he was really hungry, he could consume eight or nine of them. In his first year of high school, he was hospitalized due to long-term malnutrition. His parents hadn’t covered him with health insurance, so the few days he spent on IVs cost him several hundred yuan.

After that, he became more careful, switching from plain buns to stuffed buns and egg pancakes.

Once his nutrition improved, his height soared this year, and his energy consumption increased. He’d finish a meal, and within two hours, he’d feel hungry again. Lou Sheng had no choice but to resort to filling his stomach with water in class.

Every afternoon, during the last of the four classes, he’d endure it on an empty stomach.

An unfortunate growth spurt.

"Then I’ll head off, Sheng?" Liu Xing said.

Tonight, his family was going out for barbecue. It was his dad’s way of giving him a farewell before school started tomorrow. Liu Xing also wanted to get back early to check his beloved phone one last time.

"Yeah."

Liu Xing glanced at Lou Sheng one more time before turning to leave.

Lou Sheng stood there until six in the evening.

After Liang Ban finished checking all the registered students’ names and collected a thick stack of homework from the desk, she came out of the classroom, scolded Lou Sheng with a cold face, and let him go.

Lou Sheng took the bus home. When he got off, the sky hadn’t fully darkened yet.

The place he lived in was like a different world compared to the neighborhoods near Beiyang High School. The roads were greasy and black, the low-rise residential buildings had peeling walls in a faded yellowish-brown, as if they were trapped outside of time—backward, old, and dirty. Just a few steps away, you could see adult shops hidden in corners, more explicit than those in other areas. When Lou Sheng first came to the city, he would blush at the sight of such things, but now he just felt disgusted.

The shops and storefronts on the first floor were all small and oddly cramped. Some unscrupulous business owner had dumped kitchen waste into the sewer, and with the late summer heat fermenting it, the air carried a faint, lingering stench.

But it wasn’t all bad. The food here was cheaper than in other places, with generous portions and good value.

Lou Sheng bought a few buns from a nearby shop for dinner. He had just paid his tuition and miscellaneous fees, and the little money he had left was almost gone. He originally wanted to buy eight buns, but after cutting back, he ended up with just four. He’d have to eat early and go to bed.

The building where he rented had a garbage station downstairs, serving several nearby buildings. The trash bins were overflowing, and it was unclear when they’d be cleaned.

Someone had placed garbage that couldn’t fit into the bins beside them, and a cat was pawing at a black garbage bag nearby.

As Lou Sheng passed by, he casually glanced over and stopped in his tracks.

It was a scrawny stray cat. At first glance, it appeared dusty gray, but a closer look revealed it was actually white.

Perhaps due to its extreme thinness, the cat's appearance was rather unappealing. Its slender face resembled the pesky monkeys of Mount Emei, far from being cute.

Size-wise, it was still a kitten. If it had looked a bit better, someone might have taken it in. If it had been born in a wealthier area, or in a school or tourist spot, it wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for life.

Unfortunately, it wasn't so lucky, living in an area where people could barely take care of themselves—who would want another burden?

Everyone has their own fate, cats included.

The cat stared at him, back arched, somewhat wary, but its blinking eyelids seemed like an attempt to please.

Lou Sheng took a bite of the bun, swallowed, and said coldly, "I can barely afford to eat myself."

The white cat's eyes remained wide open, still fixed on him.

Lou Sheng pursed his lips, stood there staring at it for a moment, then broke off half the clean bun skin and tossed it over.

The dusty gray cat walked over, sniffed the dough twice, and didn't budge.

After a couple of seconds, it retreated to its original spot and went back to pawing at the garbage bag.

"You damn..." Lou Sheng nearly choked, realizing why the cat was so thin—it was just picky and had itself to blame.

He pointed at the black garbage bag and asked, "You'd rather eat that crap than my bun? Who are you insulting?"

Lou Sheng, holding his breath, walked around the cat with his remaining half bun.

After a few steps, he glanced back.

The kitten's belly was badly sunken.

"Stupid cat," Lou Sheng muttered through gritted teeth.

He went back to the bun shop, bought a boiled egg, broke it into pieces, and tossed them to the cat.

The stupid cat finally ate, but it was picky—eating the yolk first and only nibbling at the egg white, leaving most of it.

Lou Sheng: "..." (silent frustration).

After eating, it ignored him, shamelessly curling up in a corner and meowing at him.

Lou Sheng: "Get lost." (annoyed).

"Gratitude points received: three."

"Binding conditions met. System binding in progress..." The flat, emotionless mechanical voice announced.

Lou Sheng was stunned, raising a hand to his forehead.

What was that sound in his head?

"Gratitude System, serial number 009-017, at your service." (gentle tone).

"Hello, little host." (softly).

Lou Sheng, holding his forehead, slowly crouched down.

Under his eyelids, the half-eaten egg white lay on the dark ground.

This must be a hallucination from hunger...