After wrapping up the final preparations at the company, Mei Fang entered his own personal hell for the last week of break—

Catching up on homework.

Even though he had the ultimate cheat sheet in Lin Youxi, the super-genius of their trio, they weren’t in the same class, and their assignments differed completely. There was no way around it—he had to buckle down and do it himself.

As for Xia Yuan, the humanities student? She was even less help. The entire week, Mei Fang and Xia Yuan battled through their studies in the living room, but poor Mei Fang had it worse—on top of homework, he also had to intermittently cater to Lin Youxi and Xia Yuan’s clingy demands.

If anything, girls could be way more shameless than boys when it came to affection. They’d smother him until he was dizzy, then whine when he couldn’t keep up.

Luckily, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi were considerate at heart. Once they noticed Mei Fang’s exhaustion, they eased up—Yuan offered lap pillows, while Youxi amused herself with various feeding games, leaving the little bastard Mei Fang to bask in his cushy, indulgent life.

This kind of luxury? He wouldn’t trade it for being emperor.

With the new semester, Mei Fang, Lin Youxi, and Xia Yuan finally escaped their hectic winter break and returned to high school life.

Jiangcheng Shiyi High was a liberal, open-minded school where students largely self-regulated their studies. But by the second semester of sophomore year, the tension of college prep had begun to seep in. Fewer classmates pestered Mei Fang to copy homework—most were buckling down to write their own.

Among Mei Fang’s close friends, Xiang Bingbing was the last to learn he ran a company—and she’d only found out through Wan Chaoxiong’s offhand remark, assuming she already knew. She was not pleased.

“We’ve been desk mates since freshman year! Best buddies! How could you keep the ‘I’m a big-shot CEO’ news from me until last? And I had to hear it from Wan Chaoxiong? A-Fang, you’re way too distant!”

She shook Mei Fang violently, nearly rattling his brains loose.

“It wasn’t on purpose! Everyone else knew because they helped with the game development. Bingbing, you barely play games—of course you wouldn’t know, hahaha…”

“I do like games! I’ve just been busy lately… Ugh, college entrance exams are so stressful.”

“You’re a sports recruit—your academic score threshold should be lower, right?”

At this, Xiang Bingbing’s expression darkened further.

“I’m only slightly taller than average. My skills are way worse than the rest of the team, especially with the new recruits. At this rate, I’ll be benched as a backup.”

Listening to her vent, Mei Fang recalled the Xiang Bingbing who’d first arrived at school, proudly boasting about being the undisputed basketball queen of Shennongjia.

Not everyone was a natural prodigy like Lin Youxi. Xia Yuan wasn’t one either—her talents had been amplified by Mei Fang’s “borrowed” works. (Though in looks and figure, she was undeniably top-tier.) Mei Fang’s luck in starting life with two SSS-rank childhood friends was truly a cheat in itself.

But sooner or later, everyone had to confront their own mediocrity—a painful yet inevitable rite of passage. Xiang Bingbing seemed to be grappling with that now. Empathetic as ever, Mei Fang couldn’t help but comfort her:

“It’s okay… As long as you fought for your dreams, that’s what matters.”

“Fighting without results just feels empty. Even getting into Jiangcheng Shiyi was a fluke for me…”

She suddenly perked up, leaning in. “Hey, since you’re a big-shot CEO now, if I fail my exams or don’t get recruited, can I crash at your company? I’m slow at learning, but I’m tough! I can do grunt work—fetch tea, sweep floors, whatever!”

“Grunt work is kinda—”

Before he could finish, Zhu Nainai’s cheerful voice piped up from the window: “Give it up, Bingbing-jie! Grunt work is my job now!”

She leaned on the windowsill, grinning, then waved at Mei Fang. “Long time no see, Station Master!”

“Shh! Shh—” Mei Fang frantically gestured for silence. “Don’t call me that at school.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Zhu Nainai pouted. “But honestly, I miss Fangbao the idol. When’s your next song? I’m your number-one fan.”

“Let Yuan handle the singing—I’m terrible at it.”

“Who said that? I love your voice.” She huffed. “I joined Ximilu Studio just to hear you sing, and then you retired right after debuting. What’s the point?!”

“Retired? Not exactly… Didn’t I do that duet with Yuan?”

“A single! I want a proper single! Like ‘I’m Willing’! If you don’t release a new album soon, I’ll—I’ll—”

Zhu Nainai waved her fists in protest, only to freeze as hands suddenly clamped down on both her shoulders.

“You’ll what, Nainai-junior?”

“I’ll… cry for a whole day!”

Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi smiled sweetly at the underclassman audaciously simping for their A-Fang. Zhu Nainai stood rigid, not daring to twitch.

Lin Youxi added mildly, “Blind idol worship is unhealthy. You should focus on your own life, junior.”

“Y-yes, Senior Youxi…”

Zhu Nainai always seized breaks to fawn over her beloved upperclassman—but the moment the main wives appeared, she’d shrink into a meek, motionless statue.

“Though Nainai has a point,” Xia Yuan mused. “A-Fang, when are you dropping another single? You could feature on my third album!”

“Releasing my single on your album feels weird.”

“I could harmonize or something! It’d be fun. No rule says albums can’t have multiple singers… We are a trio, after all.”

“Fair.”

Lin Youxi gently interjected, “Do you have time to walk with us now?”

“The gazebo?”

“The gazebo.” She nodded. “It’s been too long.”

“Sure.”

Xiang Bingbing stood to let Mei Fang pass but pouted. “Wait—if I can’t fetch tea, I could be a bodyguard! I look intimidating, right? If you don’t have a security chief yet, I’m perfect! Yuan’s a celebrity now—she needs protection.”

(This girl’s aiming straight for management!) Mei Fang coughed. “W-well, if you really don’t get into college… maybe.”

“How much would you pay me? If it’s enough, maybe I’ll skip exams altogether! Just hire me as Yuan’s full-time guard!”

Bingbing kept clinging to Mei Fang right in front of Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi, whose smiles grew strained.

“Okay, Bingbing~” Xia Yuan laughed, prying her off. “Hand A-Fang over now!”

Once liberated, the trio headed to their cherished gazebo. The moment they arrived—before Xia Yuan could even check for eavesdroppers—Lin Youxi pounced.

“Youxi! Stop bullying him!” Xia Yuan yanked her back. “If you’re this aggressive before going public, poor A-Fang won’t survive when you do! Be gentler!”

Lin Youxi licked her lips, unsatisfied. “But the gazebo just hits different.”

As Xia Yuan tenderly wiped Mei Fang’s mouth, prepping for her turn, his phone suddenly buzzed.

Normally, all their phones stayed silent—except for priority contacts.

“Hold on, let me check—”

“Who else is your ‘special care’ besides me and Youxi?!”

Xia Yuan huffed, peering over. Mei Fang scrambled to explain: “Just Guo Yun! For work updates! She never messages casually—here, I’ll show you the logs—”

He pulled up the chat, only for Guo Yun’s latest message to slap him mid-sentence:

[Mei Fang, do you have time… to talk? I’ve been struggling lately…]