Li Cheng stood in the hallway, staring blankly at the ceiling as the last system notification faded.
[Reminder: This is your normal life now.]
He exhaled slowly.
"Normal," he muttered. "Right. Sure. Why not. Surveillance teachers, rival idiots, grandma sending servants… yes, totally normal."
Mengyu walked beside him, still wearing that suspicious, borderline-interrogation expression.
"Stop mumbling," she said. "People will think you finally snapped."
"I did finally snap," Li Cheng replied. "I just did it quietly."
They reached the shoe lockers.
And that was when they saw it.
No—When they saw them.
A mountain.
A ridiculous, absurd mountain of—
CHOCOLATE BOXES.
Piled all the way up to the ceiling.
Li Cheng stared at the stack in exhausted disbelief.
Mengyu stared at him.
Li Cheng whispered, "…If this is Qiao Ren's doing, I'm moving to another country."
But a girl rushed toward him immediately.
"Li Cheng! Please accept this chocolate!"
Before he could react, she shoved a heart-shaped box into his arms.
Then another girl.
Then another.
Then a boy.
Then the entire hallway.
And the mountain of chocolate grew even taller.
Li Cheng's soul left his body.
Mengyu elbowed him lightly.
"Well… looks like you already won Qiao Ren's challenge."
Li Cheng groaned. "I didn't want to win… I wanted to mind my business."
A small group of boys huddled nearby watched him collect chocolates like a magnet.
One whispered, "So this is the power of a CEO…"
Another muttered, "No. This is the power of being Li Cheng."
A third added gravely, "We are all just background characters."
Li Cheng pinched the bridge of his nose.
Enter: Qiao Ren, Destroyer of Dignity
A dramatic voice echoed from the stairs:
"LI CHENG!!!"
Li Cheng didn't turn around.
"Please," he said softly, "please go away."
But Qiao Ren marched toward him with the confidence of a man who had already lost but refused to accept it.
He looked at the chocolate mountain.
He looked at the chocolate in Li Cheng's arms.
He looked at the chocolate being handed to him by a girl, which he refused to take.
Then he pointed an accusing finger.
"You bribed them."
Li Cheng blinked. "With what? Free oxygen?"
Qiao Ren puffed his chest. "You think this scares me?"
Li Cheng raised a brow. "It should."
Qiao Ren dramatically opened his locker.
Inside was a single chocolate bar.
Just one.
He grabbed it proudly and held it up like a trophy.
"BEHOLD!"
Li Cheng stared. "It's half-eaten."
"It's a relic!" Qiao Ren snapped. "Symbolic. Meaningful."
Mengyu coughed into her hand. "Pathetic."
Qiao Ren pointed at her.
"Don't interfere!"
She pointed back.
"Who wants to?"
Li Cheng sighed deeply.
"Qiao Ren, please go to class."
"Never!" Qiao Ren declared. "I shall rise again!"
He tripped on chocolate boxes, fell face-first into the mountain, and disappeared under the pile.
Li Cheng looked at Mengyu.
Mengyu looked at him.
They walked away.
Teacher Yaling's New Mission
Class started smoothly—if "smoothly" means half the students staring at Li Cheng like he was a celebrity.
Teacher Yaling walked in calmly, carrying her attendance file.
Her eyes swept the room.
"Before we begin today's lesson, I need Li Cheng to stand up."
Li Cheng froze. "Teacher… please… I beg you…"
"Now."
He stood reluctantly.
Teacher Yaling nodded.
"As your homeroom teacher, I officially request that all students refrain from swarming Li Cheng with chocolates. At least during school hours."
The class groaned.
"Teacher, that isn't fair!"
"Let us express our admiration!"
"He's handsome, talented, and humiliates bullies! We admire that!"
Yaling tapped her pen sharply.
"School hours," she repeated. "Only school hours."
Li Cheng collapsed into his seat.
"Teacher," he whispered, "you're making it worse."
Yaling smirked faintly. "You're welcome."
Mengyu's eyebrow twitched.
CEO Life, But Make It School Edition
During lunch break, Li Cheng stepped outside to get air.
He didn't get air.
He got—
"CEO LI CHENG!"
Several members of the business club surrounded him, notebooks ready.
"We heard you founded a company!"
"Can we intern there?"
"Please teach us your business philosophy!"
Li Cheng blinked. "My business philosophy is 'sleep early.'"
They wrote it down seriously.
Mengyu leaned against a pillar nearby, watching the chaos unfold with a calm expression that didn't match her eyes—her eyes were screaming internally.
Li Cheng tried to escape.
He failed.
They followed him.
All the way to the cafeteria.
All the way to his seat.
Even while he ate.
He stared at Mengyu helplessly.
She sipped her juice, eyes narrowed, enjoying his suffering a little too much.
The Walk Home — Interrupted
School finally ended.
Li Cheng felt drained.
More drained than fighting a goddess.
More drained than dealing with weird system quests.
He and Mengyu walked toward the gates when—
A sleek black car pulled up.
The window rolled down.
Teacher Yaling sat inside.
"Li Cheng," she said, "I'll give you a ride."
Li Cheng took one step backward. "I refuse."
Mengyu raised an eyebrow.
Yaling smiled.
"Your grandmother told me to."
Li Cheng froze in terror. "…I accept."
He turned to Mengyu.
"I— I'll see you tomorrow."
Mengyu's expression was unreadable.
"Tomorrow."
He had no idea if he was being forgiven or buried alive emotionally.
He got into the car.
Yaling smiled as the car pulled away.
"You'll adjust."
Li Cheng whispered, "To what?"
"To being someone people can't ignore anymore."
He closed his eyes.
"Normal life, huh…"
Yaling nodded.
"This is normal."
Li Cheng groaned.