Chapter 55: Bonuses and Commissioned Writing

"Yes! I'm doing this because of Zhai Da! I like him, not you! Happy now?!"

On the bus, many passengers turned to look their way.

Because of the time and route, there were even quite a few students from Wool Textile Middle School on board, and this dramatic scene instantly attracted the audience's attention.

Who doesn't love a good show, especially one featuring a pretty girl?

Zhai Da never expected that he, originally just a member of the audience, would suddenly become an actor...

Are we really going to play this painfully awkward card?

The moment Lin Shuyao caught sight of Zhai Da, she executed a smooth pivot, wanting to slip back out through the rear door, but the bus doors slammed shut with a heavy clunk.

Silence. A silence as dead as if it had been buried for three days.

She felt her body temperature soaring rapidly all over.

What should she do... What should she do!

Out of three options: jumping out of a moving bus, knocking everyone unconscious, or slamming her head against something until she died.

She chose a fourth option.

A moment later, adopting a "in for a penny, in for a pound" attitude, and sticking her little backside out, she stubbornly squeezed her way into the seat next to Zhai Da.

When it comes to self-esteem, once you completely abandon all pretense of shame, the ego tends to crumble further and further until it turns to dust.

Moreover, as Zhai Da repeatedly made waves at school—his essay being circulated across the entire grade, appearing on the news, and winning first place in the micro-fiction competition—her mental comparison of their "status" had gradually shifted.

In the past, Zhai Da was just a nameless extra in the rumors she heard, but now, she was merely a footnote in Zhai Da's legend.

She now had to admit that if Zhai Da were to become her boyfriend, it would be a very, very, very prestigious thing.

Of course, most of these conclusions were the product of an adolescent girl's overactive imagination, including the stubborn belief that making Zhai Da like her was the only way to prove her own worth.

Yet even if it was just a drama playing out in her own head, she had already gone too far to turn back, leaving her with only one path: to double down on her mistake.

When Wang Feng saw this scene, especially how close the two of them were as Lin Shuyao wedged her way in, he was so furious that steam practically puffed from the top of his head.

"You! Why are you on this bus? Were you waiting for Shuyao?!"

Zhai Da frowned. "What's it to you? Did the two of you buy the bus company?"

Sitting right next to him, Lin Shuyao chimed in defensively, "Exactly! Why shouldn't Zhai Da be allowed on the bus? He was waiting for me!"

Zhai Da stood up abruptly, putting a distance of several meters between them. He disdained having his thighs brushed against by Lin Shuyao. "Waiting for your grandpa! Don't drag me into your cringe-worthy little drama!"

Lin Shuyao choked back a breath, feeling exceptionally wronged.

Wang Feng, however, refused to let it go. He stepped forward to block Zhai Da's path. "What gives you the right to be so mean to Shuyao?!"

Zhai Da was utterly astonished.

That's a frog covered in tadpole tattoos—what kind of absolute clown show are you putting on?!

Can a simping pushover really reach this level? Do yourself a favor and swallow a piece of chocolate laced with poison!

Wang Feng grabbed Lin Shuyao's school uniform sleeve. "Shuyao, let's go."

Lin Shuyao shook off Wang Feng's hand, stood up, and grabbed Zhai Da's arm. "Zhai Da, let's go."

Zhai Da: ...

When the bus reached the next stop, Zhai Da got off by himself, turned around, and said to the two of them, "You guys don't need to leave, I'll go. A couple of absolute morons!"

With that, he extended a middle finger in farewell.

The bus doors closed once more and it slowly pulled away, carrying a vehicle full of onlookers whose adrenaline had peaked from the gossip, alongside two protagonists who desperately wanted to jump out of the bus but lacked the courage.

High schoolers are truly out of their minds, Zhai Da thought to himself.

Getting off four stops early—I'm definitely holding a grudge for this.

He had no intention of becoming a pawn in the bizarre romance game between a simp and a psycho.

He slipped out his deck of [Joker Playing Cards] and practiced as he walked, his right hand continuously shuffling and riffling the cards so that they flew one by one into his left hand.

As he increased the distance, the "card spring" technique began to show initial results.

The downside of special alloy cards was that they were heavier and required more effort, but the upside was that they were less susceptible to wind interference and far more stable.

After walking only a few steps, a Mercedes-Benz S350 pulled up beside Zhai Da. The rear window rolled down, revealing Lu Siwen's playful, pretty little face.

Her pair of apricot-shaped eyes curved into crescent moons, clearly showing how happy she was. "Classmate Zhai! Are you taking this route today?"

Zhai Da smiled. Heaven never cuts off all escape routes.

He raised his left hand high, letting the playing cards cascade down like a waterfall. Taking advantage of the moment Lu Siwen's attention was captured, he slipped one hand past her ear, and when he pulled it back, he was already pinching a one-yuan coin between his fingers.

He placed it into the palm of the stunned Lu Siwen, smiled, and said, "Just in time—can I catch a ride on your car for one yuan?"

The astonishment and pleasant surprise in Lu Siwen's eyes were already beyond description. "Of course! Let me give you a ride."

As she spoke, she had already pushed open the rear door.

At almost the exact same moment, Zhai Da finally heard the system notification sound.

"Spotlight unsealing task progress +1. Current progress: (1/10)"

Perfect!

There was finally some progress! During this period, he had occasionally used Wu Yue and Lu Wei to test out his magic tricks, but none of them had triggered a prompt. It seemed his skill level had finally won the system's recognition.

He wondered if performing multiple times for the same person would still grant progress, even though his repertoire was quite limited...

Still, Lu Siwen was delightfully naive and cute!

Zhai Da smiled and didn't stand on ceremony. He swung his schoolbag around to his front and climbed into the luxury car.

"I'll show you a few more magic tricks on the way."

Lu Siwen beamed. "Yay, yes please!"

The car door closed, and the vehicle's exceptional soundproofing and shock-absorption effects were immediately apparent, shutting out all external noise completely.

Yet Zhai Da also fell silent.

He never imagined that a single morning could be so intensely cringe-worthy...

Once inside, he realized that someone else was sitting in the front passenger seat—a middle-aged woman with delicate bone structure, but an expression that was somewhat stern and fierce.

Even ignoring the facial features that bore a three-tenths resemblance to Lu Siwen, judging merely by her temperament and attire, one could easily guess she was definitely not a nanny or a housekeeper...

A pair of phoenix eyes were staring directly at Zhai Da through the rearview mirror.

Lu Siwen asked, "How did you do that trick with the coin just now? Do you know any other magic tricks?"

Zhai Da directly ignored Lu Siwen, gave a light cough, and said, "Good morning, ma'am. I didn't know you were in the car, so this is somewhat abrupt of me."

The corners of the middle-aged woman's mouth twitched upward, but her eyes held not a trace of a smile. "Little Zhai, is it? I've heard Siwen mention you. She said you two are pen pals."

In her eyes, magic tricks used to fool young girls were probably pure negative points.

However, Zhai Da felt only awkwardness rather than fear; after all, he wasn't trying to get anything out of Lu Siwen.

"Yes, strictly pen pals meeting through writing."

"You know magic?"

"I've taught myself a little bit."

"It seems your academic pressure isn't very high usually. The college entrance exam must be a sure thing for you then."

"It's alright. Actually, we've only recently become friends."

The conversation lacked any real substance, yet every single sentence was a probe.

Just as the atmosphere was beginning to freeze over, Lu Siwen suddenly spoke up, "Classmate Zhai, I actually have something to tell you. You didn't reply to my messages again last night."

Zhai Da scratched his cheek. Last night he must have been stargazing on the rooftop with Lu Wei.

Lu Siwen took out a small notebook. "The staff from Sina contacted me earlier and said that the thirty thousand yuan prize money will be paid out as ten thousand this week. Afterward, as long as 'The Duvet Explorer' guarantees its updates every week, they'll make two more payments of ten thousand each. I've already given them your card number."

The journalist from before had only handled the interview, so Lu Siwen was still the one coordinating these matters.

Even though ten thousand yuan was more than half a year's salary for an ordinary worker in this era, Zhai Da was still left speechless.

"What a dragged-out payment plan..."

"They said that prize money under ten thousand doesn't require paying the individual income tax on windfall gains, so breaking it into three payments is better. I checked, and the tax rate is a whole 20%!"

"Splendid financial planning. I like this arrangement."

---

In the front passenger seat, Lu Siwen's mother, Qian Yarong, appeared to be staring straight ahead, but her mind was entirely focused on the back seat, and her ears were perked up.

Listening to Lu Siwen's articulate and logical explanation of the communication results, Qian Yarong nodded inwardly. Although her impression of Zhai Da wasn't particularly good, at least this would serve to hone Siwen's capabilities...

High schoolers rarely came into contact with such information. In her eyes, academic performance was certainly important, but capability mattered even more.

As for that young man, he was more mature than she had imagined, yet also more ordinary than she had imagined.

She meant in terms of appearance.

She had expected some kind of breathtakingly handsome young man to have left her daughter so enchanted.

However... the kind of parents who immediately jump out to express their disapproval the moment their children interact with the opposite sex only existed in television dramas.

She didn't have the time for that anyway.

She simply couldn't help but sigh inwardly: her daughter truly took after her, having zero resistance to men who knew how to wield a pen.

That was exactly how she had been back in the day, which was why she ended up marrying a writer.