Chen Muye: "???"
Though bewildered, he still tapped accept.
These days, who would turn down a beauty adding them on WeChat, let alone a goddess-tier campus belle?
Once they were friends, Li Shujin sent Chen Muye a message.
Li Shujin: "Hello, I am Li Shujin. Have we met somewhere before?"
This message was followed by a cute emoji of a hand supporting a cheek.
Good grief.
You must have said you loved me hundreds of years ago.
Otherwise, how could you tell at a glance that we seemed to have met somewhere before?
Chen Muye's fingers danced rapidly across his phone screen.
Chen Muye: "I'm in Class 6, right next to your class."
Li Shujin: "You're also a senior at Yongcheng No. 1 High School?"
Chen Muye: "Yes."
Li Shujin: "No wonder I felt like I'd seen you somewhere before."
Maybe we were husband and wife in our past lives.
Before Chen Muye could finish typing his reply, a prompt popped up on his phone.
"Battery low. The phone will shut down automatically."
The next second, the screen went completely black.
Damn it!
Useless phone, failing me at a crucial moment.
And here I was, trying to build a connection with the campus belle and discuss the meaning of life!
With no other choice, Chen Muye had to head home.
Fortunately, he still had a few bucks in cash.
Otherwise, he would have had to walk home.
Meanwhile,
Li Shujin and Li Tiangang had also returned home.
In the car just moments ago, Li Tiangang had told Li Shujin about Chen Muye's terminal lung cancer.
Worried that her granduncle was getting old and might be getting scammed,
Li Shujin had asked her uncle, who served as a department director at the Yongcheng First People's Hospital, to look into it.
To her surprise, it was true.
For a moment, a whirlwind of emotions stirred within Li Shujin.
She had lived a happy and fulfilling life since childhood.
She had never encountered anything like death.
Although she had no prior interactions with Chen Muye,
the thought that a young life would vanish in a few months made her feel rather sad.
After adding Chen Muye on WeChat and learning that he was a student just like her, her heart ached even more.
A young girl's overflowing sympathy welled up at that moment.
Normally, she felt pity even for stray cats and dogs on the street and wanted to help them,
let alone Chen Muye, who was a living, breathing human being.
Seeing that Chen Muye hadn't replied, she put her phone back in her pocket.
She had no appetite for dinner.
After eating a little bit, she went back to her room and began searching online: Can terminal lung cancer be cured?
No matter how she searched, the ultimate answer was always no.
Refusing to accept this, Li Shujin specifically asked her uncle, the hospital director.
Her uncle gave her an answer no different from the internet—it was still no.
For the first time, Li Shujin felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
Adolescent girls are always sentimental.
Sitting by the window and gazing at the night sky, Li Shujin felt a faint sorrow flowing through her heart.
......
......
......
After a journey of more than an hour,
Chen Muye finally arrived home.
This was an old residential complex nestled on the edge of the city.
He was an orphan; the only things his parents left him were a two-bedroom apartment in this old neighborhood.
The home wasn't large, only 75 square meters, but Chen Muye kept it meticulously clean.
The first thing to do upon getting home was, of course, to charge his phone.
He still had to build a connection with the campus belle and discuss the meaning of life.
Charging the phone would take a little time.
On the bus just now, Chen Muye had come up with a new idea.
If practicing the Taiji Guiding Technique could increase his lifespan,
would practicing other martial arts techniques work as well?
He had wanted to test this on the bus,
but the space on the bus was too cramped,
and the punches he wanted to practice required movements too large to execute properly.
Now that he was back home with plenty of space,
he immediately began testing his hypothesis.
This set of boxing forms was rather profound, and executing them required matching background music.
So he turned on the speakers and played a familiar tune.
"Battery battery! Battery come grace! Ping de ping de! Ping de beep pigeon beep pigeon pei!..."
After finishing a set of Kun boxing forms, the system showed no reaction at all.
Chen Muye didn't get discouraged; he switched the music and continued.
"Chicken you are so beautiful!..."
Turning into an Iron Mountain Lean.
After finishing, the system still showed no reaction.
Chen Muye figured it must be because his mastery wasn't deep enough—after all, he had only practiced for two and a half years—so he switched to another set of punches.
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
After finishing the Lightning Fivefold Whips, the system still remained completely unresponsive.
"How strange! This is Master Ma's signature boxing technique, yet it's useless too."
He tested various martial arts forms,
but the system gave no response whatsoever.
Chen Muye had no choice but to refocus his attention on the Taiji Guiding Technique.
He went back to his room, turned on the computer, and searched around.
Finally, he found a Taiji instructional video that looked quite similar to what Grandpa Li practiced.
He followed along with the video for a while,
but the system still showed no reaction.
Chen Muye sat in his chair and pondered: Where on earth did it go wrong?
Did the system malfunction?
No, that couldn't be it.
When he concentrated slightly, the system panel immediately floated before his eyes.
【Name: Chen Muye】
【Lifespan: 71 days】
【Aptitude: 8】
【Physique: 3.2】
【Mental Power: 7】
【Available Attribute Points: 0】
【Cultivation Manual: Taiji Guiding Technique (First Realm: Beginner's Practice 10%)】
The system was fine.
Then the problem lay in the martial arts forms.
It seemed he would have to ask Grandpa Li tomorrow what made his set of the Taiji Guiding Technique different from other Taiji styles.
After moving around a bit, Chen Muye started sweating again.
Looking at his shirt soaked through with sweat,
Chen Muye shook his head helplessly.
Right now, he was just a frail weakling.
Even if an opportunity were handed to him, he might not be useful enough to seize it.
After resting a moment, he grabbed a change of clothes and went to wash up.
Once he finished washing,
his phone was fully charged as well.
He lay in bed, ready to reply to Li Shujin's message.
Yet the moment he opened the chat box, he forgot what he had wanted to reply.
Glancing at the chat history, he still couldn't remember.
In the end, he simply sent a "good night."
Before long, Li Shujin replied with a good-night sticker as well.
That night, Chen Muye slept soundly, and even his dreams were sweet.
The next day.
Chen Muye woke up early in the morning.
He checked his system panel.
【Name: Chen Muye】
【Lifespan: 70 days】
【Aptitude: 8】
【Physique: 3.2】
【Mental Power: 7】
【Available Attribute Points: 0】
【Cultivation Manual: Taiji Guiding Technique (First Realm: Beginner's Practice 10%)】
His lifespan had decreased by one day.
He had to master the Taiji Guiding Technique as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, every passing day felt like being targeted by Black and White Impermanence,
who might come and drag his soul away at any moment.
He turned on his phone, intending to ask Grandpa Li when he would be free to teach him the Taiji Guiding Technique.
Instead, he received a message from Li Shujin first.
Li Shujin: "Good morning!"
It was followed by a cute emoji of a cat opening its eyes.
Chen Muye froze for 6.66 seconds.
She actually...
She actually took the initiative to message me!
Could it be that she likes me?
Realizing he was gradually turning into a simpering dog, Chen Muye quickly went to pee and take a look at himself in the mirror.
It wasn't that he was being narcissistic.
Aside from looking a bit pale and haggard, his face was actually rather handsome.
However, he knew very well
that a girl as outstanding as Li Shujin would never fall for a weakling like him.
At least, not right now.
There had to be some other reason she was messaging him.
Chen Muye replied with a "morning,"
and then opened his chat box with Grandpa Li.
Chen Muye: "Grandpa, good morning!"
After sending it, Chen Muye felt something was off.
He faintly had the bizarre illusion that the campus belle was simping for him, while he was simping for the campus belle's granduncle.