Monday.

The class was about to begin.

Xu Musen woke up and checked the app’s backend. Overnight, the number of players had already surpassed a thousand.

He had stayed up late again, designing a hundred more levels.

This kind of tile-matching game thrived on randomness—tweaking just a few parameters could generate an infinite number of new levels. Designing it was practically effortless.

More importantly, plenty of players had already invited new users overnight. By today, some would surely reach the cash-out threshold.

And once the first payouts went through, the game would explode with even more referrals.

He had to admit—Pinduoduo’s viral marketing strategy, despite all the criticism, was truly genius.

Spending 100 yuan to get 100 new users, with the potential to reach thousands more through word-of-mouth—where else could you find such cost-effective advertising?

This kind of aggressive, low-cost marketing was practically a cheat code in today’s landscape.

Xu Musen grinned, waiting for the first wave of revenue to roll in.

But before that, he needed to find a way to cover the initial payouts.

These early users, the first ones to cash out 100 yuan, would be his most powerful testimonials.

No matter what, he couldn’t afford to let them down.

Where else could you find a boss as responsible as him?

Xu Musen stepped out of his apartment.

In the past, he would have gone to Yao Mingyue’s house to pick her up, sharing a ride to school in her car.

Honestly, rolling up to school in a BMW—whether in scorching summer or freezing winter—was pretty damn nice.

But now? He couldn’t stay away fast enough.

Instead of heading in her direction, he walked straight to the bus stop. It wasn’t far from the entrance of his neighborhood anyway.

As he left, the curtains on the second floor of a nearby villa quietly shifted.

Yao Mingyue, biting her lip, stood behind the window.

She had woken up early today, deliberately waiting for him to come knock on her door.

Now, watching his figure disappear into the distance, she let out a cold huff before storming downstairs.

“Miss Mingyue, aren’t you waiting for Musen today?” the housekeeper asked as she climbed into her car.

“Let him take the bus if he wants,” she snapped, her tone icy.

But the way she clenched her jaw betrayed the storm brewing inside her.

You’d better get used to it, because you’re never stepping into my car again!

Meanwhile, Xu Musen had already dropped his coin into the bus fare box.

Sure, a private car was comfortable and convenient, but public transport had its own advantages—cheap, hassle-free, and no maintenance costs.

Of course, if he had his way, he’d just buy an entire fleet of cars.

Then he could take his pick every morning.

The bus was packed with students from his school, and the whispers started almost immediately.

“Isn’t that Xu Musen? Taking the bus? Guess Yao Mingyue finally dumped him.”

“Yeah, after what happened last week? No way she’s letting him ride with her anymore.”

“Seriously, with his background, how does he even have the nerve to say those things to her? He should be grateful she ever let him near her.”

Xu Musen ignored the chatter around him.

Teenage boys had two things on their minds—s**, and how to get it.

Of course, not all the attention was negative.

Some girls were stealing glances at him.

Sure, Xu Musen had been Yao Mingyue’s loyal puppy.

But he wasn’t exactly lacking in the looks department.

At 182 cm, with sharp, well-defined features, he had recently ditched his cringey bowl cut for a clean, fresh trim. His deep-set eyes now looked even more striking.

Even if he had been a pathetic simp before, he had been a damn good-looking one.

Now that he had publicly declared his independence from Yao Mingyue, other girls were starting to take notice.

Just then, a red BMW pulled up alongside the bus.

The window rolled down just slightly.

Yao Mingyue’s sharp, phoenix-shaped eyes scanned the crowd inside the crammed bus, pinpointing Xu Musen in an instant.

And the girls standing a little too close to him.

Despite the summer heat, they suddenly felt a chill and instinctively shuffled away.

Satisfied, Yao Mingyue shot him one last glare before rolling up the window and speeding ahead.

Xu Musen sighed.

That little psycho wasn’t going to let him go so easily.

Maybe she wouldn’t openly cause a scene, but with those death stares every day, what girl would dare get near him?

Listen, Yao Mingyue—I refuse to be single for the rest of my life just because of you.

And truth be told, finding a girl who could stand her presence wasn’t going to be easy.

Still, something cheered him up—he spotted a student on the bus playing Sheep a Sheep.

The game was already spreading like wildfire among students.

At school, the air was thick with summer’s lingering heat, mingling with the faint scent of gardenias and teenage hormones.

Ugh. And that disgusting stench from the Chinese privet trees—why do those things even exist?

“Xu Musen!”

At the entrance, He Qiang jogged up, bumping his shoulder playfully.

“Dude, your game is insane! Even my dad played it—he shared it in his fishing group and actually got the 100-yuan payout!”

Xu Musen grinned. “Of course. I wouldn’t scam people.”

He Qiang lowered his voice. “But… you’re running out of cash, right? More people are gonna start withdrawing soon.”

“Eh, I’ll manage. Worst case, I ask my family for some. If I can hold out for ten days, the first wave of revenue will come in.”

He had calculated it—based on the game’s current numbers, only about thirty or forty people would successfully cash out before the profits started flowing.

It would be tight, but survivable.

He Qiang nodded, as if wanting to say more, but the school bell cut him off.

They headed inside.

At that moment, at the school gates, a girl in a soft pink dress wheeled herself through the entrance.

When Xu Musen stepped into the classroom, the usual lively atmosphere dimmed for a moment.

At the front, Yao Mingyue sat with her long, silky hair pulled into a high ponytail, her pale neck almost luminous under the morning light.

It was Monday—uniform day.

While everyone else looked a little sloppy in their oversized school clothes, she somehow made hers look like a designer outfit.

Her slender frame, her effortless grace—it was no wonder half the boys in school saw her as their unattainable goddess.

If this had been before, the whole class would have erupted in teasing the moment he walked in.

And he? He would have dutifully gone to wipe down her desk, maybe fetch her a cup of warm water.

But today, he barely spared her a glance before heading to the back row with He Qiang.

The room buzzed with silent curiosity.

Yao Mingyue kept chatting with her friends, her expression unchanged.

Xu Musen whispered with He Qiang as if nothing had happened.

The two of them—once inseparable—now felt like strangers.

“Dude, is it just me, or is the air in here kinda… weird?” He Qiang muttered.

“Nah, I think it’s great,” Xu Musen replied, grinning.

Compared to his last life—locked away, tormented by Yao Mingyue’s suffocating obsession—this was absolute freedom.

He Qiang rolled his eyes. Sure, buddy, whatever you say.

As the lesson began, Xu Musen picked up his textbook.

Then something strange happened.

The moment he looked at the test questions, the answers surfaced in his mind—neatly organized, like files in a database.

Was this… an ability?

Some people said genius learners had a “palace of knowledge” in their brains, where every fact was instantly accessible.

Had he unlocked his own?

Maybe quitting his “simp” lifestyle had finally freed up some brainpower.

Ding—congratulations, your cheat code has arrived.