Early on Monday morning, as soon as Tao Fengche stepped into the classroom, he overheard some classmates discussing the results of the June monthly exam. They mentioned that the report card had already been posted on the bulletin board outside the teachers’ office for the second-year students, and they were planning to go check their scores and rankings together.

Tao Fengche initially wanted to go have a look as well, but after a moment’s thought, he decided against it. The report card had just been posted, so the area around the bulletin board was likely crowded. It wouldn’t hurt to wait until the lunch break to check it out.

Having made up his mind, he returned to his seat and was busy turning in his homework when a panting Wang Yuan burst into the classroom. As soon as Wang Yuan spotted Tao Fengche, he broke into a smile. “Tao-ge! Congratulations!”

“First in the grade again!” Before Tao Fengche could respond, Wang Yuan had already rushed over and given him a bear hug.

Tao Fengche, feeling hot and bothered, pushed Wang Yuan away with obvious disdain, but Wang Yuan didn’t mind. He winked at him mischievously.

“Guess what?” Wang Yuan said mysteriously. “Cai Hong barely made it this time!”

Wang Yuan’s face was glowing with satisfaction, as if it were he, not Tao Fengche, who had delivered the crushing blow to Cai Hong with his excellent results. He looked like someone riding on another’s coattails.

But Tao Fengche remained calm and collected. He just nodded lightly, acknowledging that he had heard.

To be honest, he wasn’t surprised by the result.

Among his six subjects, only biology was slightly weaker. He didn’t pay much attention in class, relying instead on cramming at home in the days before the exam. Even so, his ranking had consistently been in the top five of his grade. Recently, Sui Yuesheng had been supervising his studies, strictly prohibiting any cheating, and they had covered the exam content well in advance.

On the other hand, Cai Hong had always struggled to stay above the passing line. After being beaten up by Tao Fengche on June 1st, he spent more than half a month recuperating in the hospital, which caused him to fall behind in his studies. When he finally returned to school, he was constantly harassed by the athletic students Wang Yuan had brought in, living in a state of perpetual misery. It wasn’t surprising that his exam results were so poor.

“By the way, how did you do this time?” Tao Fengche suddenly asked.

Compared to Cai Hong, Wang Yuan was clearly more worthy of concern. After all, Wang Yuan’s father had previously warned that if Wang Yuan didn’t rank in the top 100 this time, he’d give him a beating…

This question hit the mark for Wang Yuan, who eagerly started talking, “I just made it to 100th place! Hey, Tao-ge, you wouldn’t know since you haven’t checked the rankings, but the scores were really close. The guy right after me was only one point behind. If it weren’t for that 12-point math problem you helped me with, I’d be done for this time!”

“I’m telling you, Tao-ge, you’re like a lucky star from heaven…”

As Wang Yuan continued to flatter him endlessly, Tao Fengche maintained a stoic expression, but he couldn’t help sighing inwardly. Wang Yuan, this poor guy who shines with a little encouragement, seemed to have forgotten that there was still a final exam in a few days… Knowing Uncle Wang’s character, he’d probably need to rank in the top 80 of the grade next time to barely scrape by.

With a look of sympathy in his eyes, Tao Fengche hesitated to reveal the harsh truth to Wang Yuan, who was blissfully unaware of his impending doom. In the end, he simply patted Wang Yuan on the shoulder and said, “Well done. Keep up the good work and make the country proud.”

Oblivious to his bleak future, Wang Yuan grinned cheerfully, showing off his pearly white teeth.

“Why haven’t you started morning reading yet? And why hasn’t the class representative taken the homework over?” Feng Hui entered the classroom with a stack of papers in her arms, frowning as soon as she stepped through the door. “Wang Yuan! Go back to your seat!”

Wang Yuan pulled a comical face behind her back and slunk back to his seat.

But Feng Hui wasn’t just there to reprimand them. That day was Chinese morning reading, and after handing the papers to the class representative to distribute, she cleared her throat and stood at the center of the podium. Seeing the commotion in the class gradually subside, she finally spoke with satisfaction.

“I need to take a bit of your morning reading time to inform you of something. After the school term begins, you will be in your third year. This summer, the school will, as usual, organize a month-long summer camp, this time at Z University in Country A.”

“I believe many of you have heard about this program from your seniors. I won’t go into much detail about the content. The basic plan is to tour the university and then study under the professors of Z University. Students who perform exceptionally well during the camp will have the opportunity to receive a guaranteed admission offer from Z University, which means you’ll have secured your acceptance in advance.”

As soon as Feng Hui finished speaking, the class erupted in hushed conversations. She stood on the podium, quietly observing the students without stopping them.

Their surprise was understandable—Feng Hui herself had been shocked when she received the notification. After all, it was Z University!

Country A was the strongest nation in the Western Continent, rivaling Jiuzhou in terms of comprehensive national power. Z University was a world-renowned institution, consistently ranked among the top three globally, and it never lacked for students. It rarely held summer camps specifically for high school students.

It was indeed a rare opportunity, one that even made Feng Hui a little envious. After giving the students a moment to react, she tapped the blackboard to regain their attention. “But the spots for the camp are limited.”

“Priority will be given to students who have won awards in national-level or higher competitions. The remaining spots will be directly linked to your exam scores.”

“The grade team will compile your cumulative results from all the midterm and final exams since you started high school, and then rank everyone. The spots will be filled in order from the highest to the lowest rank. This Thursday and Friday are the final exams for this semester. The next few days are for you to review. I’ve discussed with the other teachers, and we’ll be providing you with a systematic review and addressing any gaps. I hope you all perform well in the exams.”

As soon as Feng Hui finished speaking, the monthly exam papers were distributed, and she instructed the class representative to oversee the morning reading while she left with a stack of homework.

So that’s what Yan Yi was talking about. Tao Fengche suddenly realized. Given her close relationship with Feng Hui, it wasn’t surprising that she knew about this in advance.

Z University was a dream school for many of his classmates, and whether it was due to the summer camp news or not, that morning’s reading session was unusually orderly. The synchronized reading voices could be heard all the way down the hallway.

But Wang Yuan’s voice was notably absent from the unified reading.

A crumpled piece of paper rolled over from the front row, eventually landing on Tao Fengche’s desk. He unfolded it to find a line of scribbled handwriting.

[Wang Yuan]: [Tao-ge, want to go to the summer camp together?]

Wang Yuan had won first place in the national information competition at the end of last year, perfectly qualifying him for the summer camp. And since Tao Fengche had previously mentioned his interest in certain university majors, and Z University’s biology and chemistry programs were always top-ranked, it wasn’t surprising that Wang Yuan would ask him this.

Z University had always been Tao Fengche’s target school, and this was indeed a great opportunity. But this time, he really didn’t want to go.

The reason wasn’t complicated.

Even without participating in this summer camp, Tao Fengche was confident that he would successfully receive an offer from Z University, and he indeed had the confidence to back it up. Thus, the summer camp was not essential.

Moreover, the summer vacation after the end of the second year of high school was very short, just a little over a month and a half. If he participated in the summer camp, it would take up a whole month, which would mean spending more than half of his vacation on it. After all, he was just a high school student, and the school probably wouldn’t let them engage in any core activities. At most, he would be a minor participant in peripheral projects and wouldn’t learn much.

In comparison, it would be better to go to the Tao family’s research institute. Just yesterday afternoon, he had received a notification from Jing Ning, saying that he could resume classes. Tao Fengche was quite eager to go.

Besides, the traitor among the high-ranking officials had not yet been identified, and Tao Fengche often felt that his father’s soul couldn’t rest in peace.

With so many things on his mind, he truly had no interest in playing house with naïve high school students.

Moreover… he had his own personal reasons.

After a long separation, he had finally reunited with Sui Yuesheng, who was extremely busy and had little time for interaction. They had also been distanced due to a misunderstanding. Now that their relationship had finally improved, if he were to go abroad at this time…

Tao Fengche asked himself honestly, and he was reluctant.

Having thought about it, he picked up his pen and wrote:

[Tao Fengche]: [I have other things to do and most likely won’t go.]

The note was passed along through classmates and, once it returned to the original owner, Wang Yuan was so shocked that he almost twisted his neck while turning around, only to meet Tao Fengche’s calm face.

After a moment, the crumpled note was passed back.

[Wang Yuan]: [Wait, you made the decision so quickly? Aren’t you going to think about it some more?? Will your guardian agree???]

The series of question marks conveyed Wang Yuan’s astonishment perfectly.

Faced with the triple-question assault, Tao Fengche frowned and wrote quickly.

[Tao Fengche]: [As long as I don’t say anything, he won’t know about it.]

Passing notes around through classmates was quite bothersome, so Tao Fengche crumpled the note and threw it back, refusing to reply further.

…

Tao Fengche was confident in his ability to keep secrets, but by the evening, he was instantly proven wrong.

Since there were no social engagements for Sui Yuesheng that day, the two of them had dinner together at home. The kitchen had prepared bamboo fungus coconut chicken, and just as Tao Fengche was serving his second bowl of soup, Sui Yuesheng spoke.

“Isn’t there a summer camp at your school this year?”