Chapter 24

24

Perhaps because of what happened with Shen Chong, Shen Po actually quieted down over the next few days.

He obediently went to class, arrived on time every day, and didn’t even go looking for that girl named Zhang Ming.

Even so, his mind often wandered in class, and in the end, Wen Yan ended up doing almost all of his homework.

Wen Yan just couldn’t understand it. Back in his own time, he had to study, graduate, and volunteer to teach in the countryside. Yet after finally getting a taste of life as a wealthy young master here, he still had to attend classes, do homework, and even worry about the survival of the nation.

Was there anyone with worse luck than him?!

To be fair, Shen Po hadn’t asked him for help with the homework or papers, but Shen Po was simply hopeless. Watching him sigh and groan over the assignments for half an hour, Wen Yan really couldn’t bear to watch any longer.

【I’m telling you, this is the last time. Next time, do your own homework. I’m definitely not helping again!】 Wen Yan grumbled while walking him through what to do. 【I thought you might have made some progress this time, but you still need someone else to do your homework. What are you going to do if I’m not around!】

【No matter how much progress I make, it’s not like I can learn all this overnight. I transferred majors, you know? Do you understand what transferring majors means?】 Shen Po’s pen never stopped writing, nor did his mouth stop talking.

Wen Yan: 【I heard you were in the seminary before transferring. Did you learn any of that stuff either?】

Shen Po: 【…I’ve noticed you’re really irritable lately. Are you this irritable with those elementary school kids too?】

Wen Yan: 【That’s completely different. They’re elementary school students. Besides, they’re not stupid.】

Shen Po: 【Are you saying this young master is stupid?】

Wen Yan: 【You finally caught on.】

Shen Po: 【If you’re so capable, get out of my body!】

Wen Yan actually went silent.

Shen Po stared blankly at the half-finished assignment.

This homework was due tomorrow, and the course was taught by the department head. Shen Po knew the man had always looked down on useless rich boys like him, calling on Shen Po to answer questions in practically every class.

He had no choice but to soften his tone.

【You’d be bored without anyone to talk to anyway. Since you can’t go back, just treat staying with me like a vacation.】

A knock came at the door.

“Come in!” Shen Po called out, annoyed.

The servant opened the door, followed unexpectedly by Madam Shen herself, personally carrying a bowl of soup.

“Sweetheart, Mama made some soup for you. Don’t push yourself too hard, all right?”

Hearing that her son was miraculously studying hard for once, and having it confirmed with her own eyes, Madam Shen looked at him with eyes dripping with tenderness, even stepping into the kitchen herself to stew soup for him.

Madam Shen always doted on Shen Po, but she had never been quite this emotional before.

Feeling a bit awkward, Shen Po said, “I know, Mom. Just put it down and go. Don’t interrupt my studying.”

After sending Madam Shen off, Shen Po still didn’t hear a peep from Wen Yan.

【Say something. You didn’t go back, did you?】

Only after a long while did he hear Wen Yan reply in a sullen voice: 【Say what?】

Shen Po: 【Anything. I’m really not used to you being like this.】

Wen Yan would never admit that he was actually feeling a little envious of Shen Po.

Setting aside this godforsaken era, Shen Po was born into wealth and never had to worry about food, clothing, or shelter. Even if he didn’t work hard, others would arrange a future for him, not to mention having parents who loved him dearly. That alone was enough to make anyone envious.

If life were a race, someone like Shen Po had “cheated” right from the start, beginning a huge distance ahead of everyone else. No matter how hard others ran, while some might eventually catch up to Shen Po, others never would.

Even a hundred years later, this kind of disparity still seemed to exist.

【You’re a city kid, so why did you go off to the countryside to teach? Wouldn’t it be better to stay in the city?】

Seeing that Wen Yan wasn’t speaking, Shen Po picked a random topic to coax him into talking.

【My grades weren’t outstanding, and I wasn’t sure I could land a job I liked right after graduating. So I applied for a two-year volunteer teaching stint to get preferential policy benefits and bonus points on the graduate school entrance exam.】

Wen Yan told the plain truth. If they had just met, he might have tried to save face. But Shen Po had been to the world a hundred years later and would understand the situation sooner or later anyway. Since they were currently sharing a body, there was no point in hiding anything.

【Looks like the countryside a hundred years from now is still really backward if it needs policy perks and bonus points to lure city people over!】 Shen Po seized the chance to mock him.

Wen Yan didn’t deny it: 【The countryside back home is behind the cities, but compared to a hundred years ago, it’s like two different worlds. After all, through so many years of war and only a few decades since the nation was founded, with so many mouths to feed and develop, eradicating poverty nationwide is already pretty good. The rest will just take time.】

Shen Po didn’t care for this rigid preaching, even if Wen Yan was right.

【Don’t tell me all you do after class is prepare lessons? Don’t you have any other hobbies?】

Wen Yan: 【Who said that? I can easily play Honor of Kings or LoL all night. Genshin Impact is pretty fun too, though my gacha luck is terrible.】

Shen Po: 【What are those?】

Wen Yan: 【Games.】

Shen Po’s mind always proved sharp at the wrong moments: 【Mobile games? Why didn’t you tell me when I was over there playing with your phone?】

Wen Yan: …It seemed he had let something slip that he shouldn’t have.

Shen Po narrowed his eyes: 【Why didn’t you mention this to me before?】

Wen Yan: 【I did it for your own good. I didn’t want you getting addicted and wasting your life away.】

Shen Po: 【Cut the crap. You were definitely afraid I’d get hooked and refuse to come back.】

Wen Yan gave a dry chuckle.

Shen Po: 【Hurry up and tell me! What kind of game could even hook someone who actually lives there? It has to be way more fun than scrolling through Weibo, right?】

Wen Yan: 【It’s pointless for you to know anyway. It’s not like you can go back.】

Shen Po: 【Are you going to tell me or not? If you don’t, I’ll turn traitor and go tip off the Japanese.】

Wen Yan scoffed: 【Go ahead, let’s see if the Japanese believe you!】

Shen Po: 【Don’t be so ungrateful!】

Wen Yan: 【What do you want?】

Shen Po: 【Bro!】

Wen Yan: …

Driven to his wit’s end by the badgering, Wen Yan had no choice but to tell him a bit about modern online games.

There were mobile games, PC games, console games played with controllers plugged into monitors, along with the main genres, how they were played, and so forth.

Just hearing about it was enough to leave Shen Po completely spellbound, wishing he could travel across time this very instant.

This was the true charm of life a hundred years in the future!

【What’s the deal with your body anyway? If you were just knocked unconscious, we still have a chance of going back!】

Shen Po scratched his ears and cheeks in agitation, more desperate than Wen Yan just for a chance to play online games.

Wen Yan: 【I don’t know either.】

At the time, he felt like he had been knocked out cold in an instant without feeling much pain, but waking up here made him suspect the consequences were severe.

As the two bantered, a servant knocked on the door and brought in a letter, saying someone had dropped it off outside and left immediately. There was no signature on the letter, but it was addressed specifically to Shen Po.

Shen Po took the letter and tore it open in a flash, his previously relaxed expression instantly changing.

Sharing his field of vision, Wen Yan also saw the letter’s contents clearly.

It had very few words, just two lines:

January 15th, 7:30 PM.

Invite Zhang Yuanji^[1] to dinner at the Romantic Western Restaurant.

The Romantic Western Restaurant was a Western establishment across the street from The Commercial Press. It had not been open long, with a foreign owner and foreign chefs, and ordinary people could hardly afford to dine there.

But none of this was the point.

The point was that the letter instructed Shen Po to invite Zhang Yuanji to dinner there tomorrow night.

Old Du had undoubtedly sent someone with this letter.

Over the past two days, communicating back and forth through Old Du’s subordinates, they had finalized the entire plan.

He intended to have someone infiltrate the library and create an accidental fire when the opportunity arose. The fire could not be too large, otherwise the precious books would be destroyed without the Japanese even having to lift a finger, but it could not be too small either. It had to look convincing and burn some less important books so they could persuade Zhang Yuanji to close for repairs and keep the Japanese from becoming suspicious.

Old Du had actually wanted to set off an explosion at first, which was his specialty, but Wen Yan rejected it. Explosives would make people suspect it was intentional and lead Zhang Yuanji to think the Japanese were threatening him. If the old man’s stubborn donkey temper flared up, it would be even harder to convince him to relocate or do repairs.

In the end, everyone discussed and agreed to let Zhang Yuanji witness the library catching fire with his own eyes. That way, he would find it much easier to make up his mind about closing for repairs, after which they could carry out their plan to steal, ah no, move the books.

But Shen Po and the others had waited for two days without getting a specific date for the operation.

Now Old Du had finally sent word, clearly setting the date for the fifteenth, which was tomorrow night.

Shen Po’s task was to invite Zhang Yuanji to dinner there and persuade him to agree to close for a while.

Here lay the problem. Shen Po was hardly well-acquainted with Zhang Yuanji. A prominent social figure like Zhang Yuanji, even if Shen Po was a younger distant relative who had met him at the salon, would not have the time to go eat Western food with a young kid. How could Shen Po successfully get Zhang Yuanji to come?

Shen Po scratched his head furiously: 【I’ve got plenty of experience asking girls out, but how am I supposed to ask a crusty old man to dinner?】

When he heard no response from Wen Yan, he grew a little anxious.

【Say something! You came up with this plan, so don’t you play dead now!】

Wen Yan: 【I have an idea, though it’s rather risky and thrilling.】

Shen Po: 【Thrilling? I love thrills! Spill it, quick!】

Wen Yan: 【You have experience asking girls out, right? Then find a way to invite that Zhang Ming you like along with Asai Sui, the Japanese man who wanted to borrow books for the exhibition at the salon that day. With them there, Zhang Yuanji will likely accept the invitation. It will also let the Japanese see Commercial Press catch fire with their own eyes, or else they’ll definitely be suspicious afterwards.】

Shen Po: 【…Aren’t you overestimating my abilities a bit? Can you be sure I won’t slip up in front of the Japanese?】

Wen Yan: 【Don’t you love thrills? The time has come to test your abilities.】

The corner of Shen Po’s mouth twitched: 【Thrilling, yeah, way too thrilling.】

He really had taken a liking to Zhang Ming before; if not for that, he wouldn’t have considered transferring departments.

But after all that had happened recently, between visiting a hundred years into the future and everything that occurred with his brother, Shen Po’s intense interest in Zhang Ming had gradually faded. Hearing her name barely provoked a reaction from him now, and knowing she was quite close with the Japanese only made him feel an indescribable unease.

Now Wen Yan wanted him to invite Zhang Ming, and for tomorrow of all days…

Wen Yan: 【You don’t need to make her like you. You only need to let her know that you like her, and let her know you can get Zhang Yuanji to join for dinner. She’ll definitely take the bait.】

Shen Po: 【I have a bad feeling I’m going to make a fool of myself tomorrow.】

Wen Yan encouraged him: 【The survival of one of the Chinese nation’s cultural lifelines rests entirely on your shoulders. Believe in yourself!】