Awakening Elementary School System in University
Chapter 7: I Love Telling the Truth

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: I Love Telling the Truth

After all, the patron who had pitched in the hefty sum of forty yuan had spoken. Chen Lin thought about it. Eating in his dorm or eating here—there wasn’t much of a difference.

To be honest, Chen Lin wasn’t one of those guys, like Xiao Chunan, who desperately wanted to interact with girls but would get extremely nervous the moment he actually had to speak to one.

In the popular slang on Bilibili, he wasn’t "repressed."

Ever since he started his regular gig singing at a bar during the second semester of his freshman year, he had added at least twenty, if not thirty, girls to his WeChat. He could handle superficial social interactions with ease.

Besides, he was now blessed with the "Little Love Saint" halo.

The opposite sex would only be even friendlier to him in real life.

Eating a meal with a few girls his age who weren’t total strangers was no big deal.

Uh, but the atmosphere in the study room right now was definitely a little strange.

Without giving him a chance to object, Li Zihan pushed Chen Lin down into the empty seat next to Shen Yan.

Then she quickly grabbed the other three lunch boxes, pulled Zhang and Sun along with her, and scurried to a corner in the back of the room.

"We’ll eat over there so we don’t bother you two, hehe."

Li Zihan looked back and gave Chen Lin a wink, her smile screaming, ’This is the best I can do for you!’

Chen Lin: "..."

He could feel the three of them huddled together, shoveling down their food while secretly glancing over in his direction, occasionally letting out bursts of hushed, excited whispers.

He glanced at Shen Yan beside him. She hadn’t said a word since he sat down, simply opening her lunch box and quietly eating her food in small bites.

Her face seems a little redder than yesterday, Chen Lin thought. Or is that just my imagination?

’Whatever, why am I overthinking this?’

’Time to eat!’

Chen Lin also began to dig into his own lunch box.

Two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, and the portions were generous.

Maybe it was because he was starving after sleeping all day, but Chen Lin felt that Aunt Wang’s cooking today was exceptionally good.

He devoured his food like a whirlwind, each bite tasting better than the last. In no time, more than half of the packed lunch box was gone.

"Phew..."

Chen Lin let out a satisfied breath. As he looked up, his eyes met Shen Yan’s.

She seemed startled by the way he was wolfing down his food, her eyes holding a hint of curiosity and... amusement?

When she was caught looking, Shen Yan lowered her head, and her eating speed noticeably picked up.

A few minutes later, Chen Lin was the first to finish the battle, closing the lid on his empty lunch box.

He glanced at Shen Yan next to him and saw that she was almost done too. This reminded him of the string of unread messages he’d seen after waking up.

He cleared his throat, about to ask her what she had needed him for.

Unexpectedly, Shen Yan suddenly stood up, walked quickly over to Li Zihan and the others in the back, and whispered something to them.

Immediately after, Li Zihan’s exaggerated snickers could be heard.

Escorted by the suggestive gazes of her three roommates, Shen Yan walked back. She looked at Chen Lin and said in a voice that was soft but clear, "Um, Chen, shall we... go throw out the lunch boxes together?"

After speaking, she proactively reached out and collected the three empty lunch boxes from Li Zihan and her friends as well.

And so, under the watchful gaze of three pairs of eyes from the back of the study room, Chen Lin and Shen Yan each carried a small bag of trash and walked out.

The night breeze was cool, dispersing the heat of the day.

The two walked side by side along the quiet, tree-lined path beneath the Mathematics Department building. The dim yellow streetlights stretched their shadows long.

After they tossed the lunch boxes into the recycling bins downstairs, the atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

Chen Lin was the first to speak. "So, you sent me all those messages today. What was it about?"

"Yes!" Shen Yan seemed to have been waiting for this question. She nodded emphatically and began to list things off, as if giving a report.

"First, thank you! Your plan was amazing. We spent the whole day modifying the model and submitted it before the deadline. Our supervising professor read the final report and said... said we have a very good chance of winning a first-prize award in the national competition!"

As she said this, the excitement and adoration in her voice were practically overflowing.

"Oh, that’s great," Chen Lin nodded, his reaction calm.

For him, this was just standard operating procedure for the ’Little Mathematician’ title.

Shen Yan seemed used to his composure and continued, "Second, you deserve most of the credit for this competition, but the registration list was already locked, so we couldn’t add your name. So, in the ’Special Thanks’ section at the end of the report, I put your name first. Also, as is customary, the organizing committee might hold an awards ceremony in July and invite teams with outstanding results to give a presentation. I... I’d like to invite you to attend."

"July?" Chen Lin thought for a moment. "I should be home for summer break by then. Give me a week’s notice. If I’m free, I’ll make a trip back."

"Okay!" Receiving an affirmative answer, Shen Yan’s eyes grew even brighter.

She took a deep breath and brought up her final point.

"There’s a professor in the math department who thinks highly of me and wants me to join one of his research groups early. The research topic is a bit challenging for me, so... I was wondering if I could continue to consult you with some questions in the future?"

After she finished, she looked at Chen Lin nervously, afraid he would refuse.

Chen Lin raised an eyebrow. His energy was limited, and he didn’t want to spend all his time on this. He was just about to find an excuse to politely decline.

But then he heard Shen Yan hastily add, "I—I can pay for consultations! H-How about... five hundred yuan an hour? Is that okay?"

The two words, "I’m busy," that were about to leave Chen Lin’s lips did a U-turn in his throat, instantly transforming into two decisive words:

"No problem."

’She’s a genuine rich girl!’

’Are you kidding me? Five hundred an hour!’

’It would be a crime against heaven not to take this money!’

Back in Dorm Room 406, things were unusually lively.

Fatty Zhao, Li the Monkey, and Wang Tao had their heads huddled together, intensely discussing something on a phone screen.

"Holy shit, is this for real? At that speed, he could be in the Olympics, right?"

"It’s definitely fake! Either that or the video was sped up. I refuse to believe our university has such a beast!"

"But the recruitment chats for several sports clubs are blowing up! They’re all asking who that Flash was, the one who was sprinting down the main road this evening. They’re saying if he’s willing to join, they’ll train him as a core member!"

The moment Chen Lin heard this, he knew what they were talking about.

He nonchalantly walked over to his desk, turned on his computer, and acted as if it had nothing to do with him.

’Chen Lin had actually considered whether he should pursue a path in athletics using his ’Little Champion’ ability.’

’But he quickly dismissed the idea.’

’Of the three abilities the system had rewarded him with so far, the most powerful was ’Little Mathematician.’ It functioned regardless of his own innate skill and consumed his energy.’

’The other two abilities, ’Little Love Saint’ and ’Little Champion,’ were percentage-based enhancements of his own existing capabilities.’

’In other words, they scaled with his own base stats.’

’Chen Lin didn’t know much about sports. His main exposure to the NBA came from Bilibili, where he’d occasionally hear memes in some creators’ videos about rankings like "Executive Vice-GOAT" or see bullet-screen comments flashing with phrases like "Wild! Shocking all of Asia!"’

’But he did watch the Olympics every four years.’

’Take the 100-meter dash, for example. Chen Lin remembered that the top male sprinters all had times under 10 seconds. Even with his ’Little Champion’ ability, he couldn’t run that fast yet.’

’To reach that level, he would have to train every day, which was too slow.’

’Besides, achieving good results in sports competitions would lead to massive public exposure.’

’While he had faith in his country, he didn’t have much faith in human nature.’

’If one day he was suddenly kidnapped, taken to the USA, and sliced up for research or something, it would be game over.’

’So, Chen Lin decided to keep his achievements and reputation hidden. He would definitely keep training, and later, he’d find an opportunity to learn some practical martial arts.’

’Chen Lin felt that with his enhanced physical condition, he had a chance of reaching Captain America’s level.’

’At least, it would be enough to protect himself within the country.’

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Li the Monkey suddenly exclaim, "Holy crap! Bros, come look! There’s some juicy new gossip on the campus forum!"

His shout instantly captured the attention of Fatty Zhao and Wang Tao.

"What gossip? Did another department belle break up with someone?"

"Let me see!"

The three heads huddled together again.

Li the Monkey could be heard reading the post’s title in an extremely exaggerated tone: "Shocking! Math Department Goddess Shen Yan Suspected to Be in a Relationship! Spotted Chatting Intimately with a Mystery Man Outside the Department Building After Dinner!"

"What the hell?!" Fatty Zhao’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Shen Yan? Isn’t she immune to all male creatures except math?"

"There’s a picture, so it must be true!" Li the Monkey said excitedly as he scrolled down the screen. "The original poster said he saw them and even took a photo from afar!"

Chen Lin’s heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously leaned over to look.

On the screen was an extremely blurry photo, taken from too far away and in dim light.

In the photo, a man and a woman were standing under a streetlight, their general silhouettes and the color of their clothes being the only clear details. The girl’s figure and long hair did indeed resemble Shen Yan.

And the man was wearing a simple white T-shirt and dark casual pants.

Chen Lin looked down at himself.

White T-shirt, dark casual pants.

Uh-oh.

Before he had a chance to comment, he felt the atmosphere in the dorm room suddenly turn strange.

Three pairs of eyes, six gazes, shifted in unison from the phone screen, slowly, inch by inch, to land on him.

From his white T-shirt, to his dark casual pants, and finally, to his handsome face.

The air seemed to freeze.

Three seconds later.

"Holy... shit..." Fatty Zhao pointed at Chen Lin, then back at the phone screen, his mouth hanging wide open, unable to utter another word.

He suddenly remembered last night, when Chen Lin had been sprawled on his bed, weakly claiming he had been doing math modeling with Shen Yan all night.

At the time, they had all thought he was just bullshitting!

But now...

’Turns out, I was the clown?!’

"Lin... Brother Lin..." Li the Monkey’s voice trembled. "Th-the guy in this post... it can’t be you, can it?"

Wang Tao, on the other hand, lunged forward, grabbed Chen Lin’s shoulders, and shook him forcefully. "Speak! Was everything you said last night true?! Were you really with Shen Yan last night?!"

Chen Lin, dizzy from the shaking, irritably smacked his hands away and sighed dramatically. "I always tell the truth. It’s a shame you guys never believe me."

"I’m gonna kill you!" Fatty Zhao roared with mock indignation and pounced. "Believe you, my ass! Hurry up and tell us bros—"

Chen Lin dodged to the side.

Li the Monkey joined the assault. "Brother Lin, that’s not cool! You got a girlfriend and didn’t even tell us! You have to treat us to a meal, right?!"

"Definitely! Barbecue on the fourth floor!"

"Hold him down! Confess for a lighter sentence, resist for a harsher one!"

The dorm room erupted into chaos. The three single guys, feeling abandoned, channeled their grief and indignation into strength and surrounded Chen Lin.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Chen Lin could only struggle and shout, "There’s really nothing between us! She’s a client! Do you understand the word ’client’?!"

"We get it! We totally get it!"

"Hehehe, Brother Lin, don’t bother explaining!"

"Explaining is just a cover-up! We’re gonna make you bleed some cash today!"

A joyous atmosphere filled Dorm Room 406.