Chapter 15 - Mom! Is This Heaven?
After Sister Qi, the lady boss, had familiarized Chen Yu with the cigarette shop's business operations, she headed out.
Saying that she was going to find him a school.
This certainly wouldn't go smoothly.
Because there were only 32 days left before the College Entrance Examination. High schools were deliberately screening out underachieving students to ensure their academy's admission rate.
The amount of funding they would receive for the following year mainly depended on this data…
"There are still a lot of good people in this world."
Watching Sister Qi's receding figure, Chen Yu sighed. Then, he took out the small notebook from his bag, turned to the first page, and crossed out the words [Lady boss of cigarette shop].
Then, he leaned back on the boss's chair, crossed his legs, and started watching a movie on the lady boss's tablet.
[In the process of being lazy: Vigor +2]
[In the process of being lazy: Vigor +1]
Watching a movie wasn't enough. He subconsciously grabbed the pack of Red Pagodas from his pocket, but when he realized there were only a few sticks left, he couldn't bear to smoke one.
Looking around, he found that in an ashtray off to his side, there were more than a dozen cigarette butts that Sister Qui had left behind. He was overjoyed. Without hesitation, he found a lighter, lit up five of them, and stuffed them into his mouth.
Sister Qi was a rich person, which meant her cigarette butts were much longer than Chen Yu's.
Some were only half-smoked.
"Fffff——"
[Subjected to an attack by malignant gases: Vigor +43]
[Subjected to an attack by malignant gases: Lung health +1; Physical health +1; Body Resistance +2; Immunity +1; Life expectancy +1]
"Puff…"
Narrowing his eyes while exhaling smoke, Chen Yu saw an opened bottle of coke on the table. He picked it up, shook it, and found out that nobody had taken sips out of it. Thus, he joyfully took a big sip.
"Gulp."
[Drinking unknown liquid: Bone Toughness +1; Health +1]
"Fffff…"
[Subjected to an attack by malignant gases: Vigor +49]
[Subjected to an attack by malignant gases: Lung health +2; Physical health +1; Body Resistance +1; Immunity +2]
"Gulp."
[Drinking unknown liquid: Bone Toughness +1]
[In the process of being lazy: Vigor +2]
"Not bad."
"This place isn't bad at all."
...
At the same time, Sister Qi had already arrived at Green City No.1 High School. She was drenched in sweat from walking under the scorching summer sun. She walked into the teacher's office and presented the director a pack of cigarettes.
Cigarettes were good stuff.
The director immediately revealed a smile.
But after he learned about Sister Qi's request, he hesitated.
He navigated to the backstage education website. When he found out that Chen Yu was expelled because of smoking, he shook his head repeatedly. "This can't be done. No.1 High School can't accept such a student."
"Give it some further thought, maybe?"
"No, no, no. We don't accept problematic students. This is a matter of principle…"
...
Inside the cigarette shop.
Chen Yu ordered a spicy crayfish for takeout with his mobile phone.
Puffing on cigarettes, watching movies, drinking cola, and munching on crayfish.
[Subjected to an attack by malignant gases: Vigor +44]
[Drinking unknown liquid: Bone Toughness +1]
[In the process of being lazy: Vigor +1]
"This shop's crayfish is hella tasty. It's spicy enough. Oh, I think the head is edible too…"
[Intake of Unhealthy Food: Health +1]
"Ah!"
"Feels good."
...
Green City No.3 High School, office of teaching and instruction.
"Director, please make an exception."
"No. You can go to other schools. No.3 High School isn't a garbage dump."
"Director…"
"I have other work to do. Thank you…"
Walking out of the gates of No.3 High School, Sister Qi felt hot and hungry, but after she looked at the time on her watch, she decided to visit another school before the school's management got off work...
...
Inside the cigarette shop.
It was dinner time. Chen Yu ordered rice noodles and a can of ice-cola. He was playing the game "Arena of Valor" on his tablet.
He was playing, eating, drinking, and smoking, all at the same time.
"Ah…"
"A toast to freedom!"
...
8 o'clock at night, when the lady boss returned, utterly exhausted, Chen Yu had already quenched his thirst and hunger, cleaned up the desk, and was sitting there like a good boy.
"Sister Qi, you're back." Chen Yu stood up to greet her.
"Yeah." Sister Qi sat on the boss's chair exhaustedly. "What have you done the entire afternoon?"
"Training," Chen Yu answered. "I know that I lack talent, so I can't afford to slack off at any time. Aside from hard work, I have nothing else."
Sister Qi nodded, feeling somewhat pleased.
If she could help a good student who was motivated to improve, this little amount of tiredness was nothing…
"Then why do you still smoke?"
"I think you can say that smoking is a part of my training…"
"To relieve the pressure?" Sister Qi saw the empty ashtray on the table. "Did you clean up all the cigarette butts?"
"Yep."
"Hmm, good job, I guess. At least my efforts don't feel wasted."
"Any results yet?" Chen Yu asked.
"No." Sister Qi lit a cigarette. "You were expelled for smoking. High School No.1, 3, and 4 won't accept you. I can only go for the more ordinary high schools after this."
"That won't be an issue. It'll be fine as long as I can sit for the College Entrance Examination."
"Yo, pretty confident in yourself, aren't you?"
As she spoke, Sister Qi reached out and touched Chen Yu's abdomen. Feeling the Vigor circulating in his energy center, she was surprised. "It's really big."
"How big is it?"
"Almost the size of a Level 0.4 warrior." Withdrawing her hand, Sister Qi looked Chen Yu up and down. "If you try harder, you may very well get into junior college, and if you repeat one year, you may have a chance of getting into university. No.2 Middle School shouldn't have expelled you."
Chen Yu spread his hands and said, "Perhaps, this is life…"
Sister Qi: "…"
...
9 o'clock in the evening.
The cigarette shop closed on time.
After turning the OPEN sign around, Sister Qi said to Chen Yu, "Let's go. I'll take you to dinner."
Chen Yu: "I think I'll pass. You can go ahead. I'm not really in the mood right now… burp."
"…"
"I'm kinda different from normal people. The hungrier I am, the more I burp."
"…Then since you're so hungry that you're burping, that's more of a reason for you to eat." Sister Qi pushed open the door of the shop and urged, "Hurry up and come with me. It's just going to school, is it not? Since I already told you that I'm going to settle it for you, it'll be done."
"But…"
"If you suffer from malnutrition, who will you be able to beat in the arena of the College Entrance Examination?"
"Alright then." Chen Yu nodded reluctantly. "I'll just have a bit…"
At the restaurant.
Just like he said, Chen Yu only ate a little bit.
He had no choice.
The more he ate, the hungrier he would get.
He would drop dead if he were to continue eating.
But when Sister Qi saw this, she thought Chen Yu wasn't eating that much because he was still worried about going to school. As a result, she found herself overcome with 37-year-old motherly love.
"This child."
"He's so pitiful…"
After eating, they went back to the cigarette shop.
Chen Yu, who had gained a +20 in favorability with the lady boss, was told that he could use the bathroom and kitchen as he pleased.
Whenever he was thirsty or hungry, he could grab any of the snacks and drinks in the refrigerator.
Chen Yu was very moved.
That night, he took some seven to eight cans of coca-cola.
Three bags of chips.
Two bags of dried sour plums...
Lying on the folding bed in his room, he was swiping through social media, playing games on his Switch, drinking coca-cola, eating potato chips, and smoking Red Pagodas.
He felt like he was in paradise.
Abandoned to pleasures.
"Mom…"
"Is this heaven…?"
....