Yao Tang was just about to get back to her game when a page suddenly appeared on her laptop screen. Someone was trying to attack her system.

  She narrowed her eyes and put her phone down, her lips curving slightly at the corners. She did find these attempts quite amusing.

  Fortunately for her, there never seemed to be a shortage of these fools. Yao Tanghad had to play with them at least once a month.

  ‘Now, then.’ Her fingers danced all over her keyboard, generating various lines of codes all at once.

  The light from her screen cast a shadow on the wall behind her, silhouetting her crouched figure.

  It only took a few minutes for Yao Tangto fix the issue.

  Meanwhile, at a hacker base in Country K…


  A man slammed his fist on the table as he glared at his computer screen. A huge image of a thumb pointing downward was flashing on it, mocking him.

  “Damn it! I failed again!”


  He had tried hacking into someone’s system, but he ended up being the one to get hacked. He was disappointed and frustrated with himself, but most of all, he was mortified.

  Beside him, his colleague blew on the blond locks that were hanging low on his forehead. “I know, man, what the hell were you doing? While you were busy defending your system, I went and tried to track that other person’s location. And this is what I got for my efforts.”


  The second man pointed at his own computer screen.

  The original image had been a grid-like map of sorts, and now countless red dots were blinking rapidly on different areas. They kept popping, condensing in specific points on the map. When they zoomed out on the image, they found out that the red dots actually formed a word: “Scram.”


  A heavy silence fell over the base.

  Just what kind of technology did their opponent have? It had been so many years, with many talented hackers joining in the fray, yet nobody had been able to crack the code to White Fox’s system, or even pinned down his location.

  Was there truly no one in the world who could overthrow that legendary hacker from his throne?

  It was simply infuriating!

  Yao Tang perched her chin on her tented hands and smirked at her laptop screen.

  Contrary to the chaos that was ensuing on the other side, she looked calm and unbothered, lazy even.

  Without warning, the curtain of her bunk was pulled aside, and a bottle of night cream appeared in front of her face.

  Yao Tang looked up to see that it wasLin Xin.

  “It’s getting cold these days,” the girl smiled. “You should take care of your skin before you go to sleep.”


  Yao Tang returned her smile. “How thoughtful. Thank you.”


  After taking the bottle, she reached out and pinched Lin Xin’s delicate cheek, thinking how soft and squishy it was.

  Soon, it was Tuesday again, the day when the previous week’s exam results were handed out.

  When they received their test papers, Meng Yang, Chu Yao, andXiao Pangwere all dumbfounded.

  They were thinking the same thing— “Are these really my papers?!”


  Xiao Pang turned toYao Tang, who was napping on her desk per usual. “Brother Yang,” he said, his voice hushed. “How are your scores?”


  Meng Yang was still blinking at his exam papers. “I… I actually passed in math. And I scored over a hundred points in science. What the heck is this?”


  In the past, he would only score somewhere between 40 and 50 out of 300 in science, but he had somehow managed to go beyond 100 this time.

  As for math, he had never imagined he would pass a single damn test in this subject, but he did. And with an impressive score of 91, too. ‘What the hell happened?’


  Xiao Pang stared back at his own papers, looking dazed. “The same goes for me, Brother Yang. Do you think they made a mistake while grading the papers?”.

  “Ha!” Chu Yaoleaned over the two boys with a big grin on his face. He looked like he was struggling to contain his excitement. “Brother Yang, Xiao Pang, how are your test scores?”


  They turned their heads at the same time and threw the question back to him. “What about you? What are your scores?”


  Chu Yao held up his fingers as he said, “93 in Mathematics and 138 in Science.”


  They looked at each other with similar, bewildered expressions and huddled close, careful to speak quietly in case they offended the big boss sleeping beside them. “What is going on?” Meng Yangfrowned. “I swear, I didn’t cheat. I just felt like there were a lot of problems I understood this time, so I wrote down what I know. I’m not even sure how I know these answers in the first place.”


  All he had been doing thus far was copying Yao Tang’s homework.

  Chu Yao andXiao Pangbobbed their heads in earnest. “Exactly, Brother Yang! That’s what happened to me, too.”


  The boys exchanged another look as the realizations slowly dawned on them. Then, they poked their heads out and stared at Yao Tang

  “Don’t tell me we learned about those questions from copying Sister Tang’s homework,”Xiao Pangbreathed in disbelief. Chu Yao opened his mouth, then closed it again, as if he had forgotten to speak for a moment. “You guys,” he managed after a while. “Have you realized that Sister Tang’s solutions are very clear and coherent? Even a dumb student like me can easily understand her explanations.”


  Meng Yang nodded, looking rather stunned. “Now that you mention it, that’s absolutely right.”


  “I think I understand how Sister Tangaced the first monthly exam now.”Xiao Pangswallowed hard, feeling admiration and fear at the same time. “She’s a genius, plain and simple.”


  Chu Yao nodded frantically.

  Yao Tang was single-handedly—yet effectively —cultivating the minds of underachiever students such as themselves!

  Just then, the bell rang, and the teacher walked in with his lesson plans.

  Xiao Pang swiveled in his seat to face the front of the class.

  Chu Yao also scurried back to his seat.

  “Sister Tang,” Meng Yangcalled out carefully. “It’s time for class.”


  She removed her earphones and raised her head, her face scrunched up in an impatient scowl. The air around her began to thrum with palpable tension.

  Clearly, she wasn’t happy about her nap getting disturbed.

  Meng Yang stiffened. He cautiously slid a piece of candy over to her side.

  Yao Tang instantly discarded its wrapper and popped the sweet into her mouth. All at once, the oppressing atmosphere lifted from their desk. She casually took out her Physics textbook and leaned forward on her desk, cupping her chin as she stared at the blackboard.