Even though they were also students at the School of Economics and Management, they were actually local thugs.
Relying on their connection to a local bully, they ran amok in the school and did as they pleased.
"Monkey, I'll leave the rest to you boys."
"Don't worry."
The boy called Monkey wore a confident smirk.
Had it been before, they certainly wouldn't have dared to touch Zhang Hao.
But the Zhang Hao of today was no longer the young master of the past; even if they beat him up, there would be no consequences to worry about.
"Boys, let's move!"
Thud, thud, thud.
A chaotic flurry of footsteps echoed through the room.
Several figures closed in on Zhang Hao.
Right at that moment, Zhao Yong, Dazhuang, and Shaohua immediately rushed over to Zhang Hao's side.
Four years of dorm-mate brotherhood was no joke.
Seeing Zhang Hao being bullied, how could they possibly stand by and watch?
Even though they knew they couldn't win, they couldn't just sit there and watch Zhang Hao get beaten up.
"Sigh~"
Zhang Hao let out a sigh and slowly stood up.
"I already told you punies I didn't want to deal with you, yet you still keep pushing your luck. You're asking for a death wish!"
As his voice trailed off, he instantly transformed into a blur and charged straight at them.
Bang, bang, bang!
Muffled thuds rang out.
With a flurry of strikes, Zhang Hao instantly knocked Monkey and his crew flat onto the floor.
Seeing this, Yang Wei was practically scared out of his wits.
Zhao Yong and the others stared in absolute shock.
*Holy crap, since when has Haozi gotten so good at fighting? Is he possessed by Ip Man or something?*
"I'll give you five seconds to vanish from my sight!"
Hearing Zhang Hao's ice-cold voice, Monkey and the others completely forgot about their injuries and scrambled out of the dorm on all fours.
Yang Wei didn't leave.
It wasn't because he was brave, but because his legs had turned to jelly with fear.
"Young Master Zhang! Brother Hao! I know I was wrong, please show mercy and spare me this once, I swear I'll never bother you again."
"If you find that little gold-digging bitch Wang Yaoyao an eyesore, I'll break up with her right now!"
Zhang Hao turned around, sat back down on the edge of the bed, and casually said, "Scram."
"Right, I'm scrambling right now!"
With that, Yang Wei rolled right out the door like a round rubber ball.
At that moment, Zhao Yong and the others crowded around him.
"Haozi, I had no idea you were such a badass!"
"You laid Monkey and his gang out in just three punches and two kicks, awesome!"
"Haozi, you actually know kung fu? You've been hiding your talents all this time!"
The corners of Zhang Hao's mouth lifted slightly. "Keep it low profile, keep it low profile."
"You guys go back to playing games or watching movies, just let me have some peace and quiet."
Dazhuang and Shaohua nodded and left—one went back to gaming, and the other to watching videos.
Zhao Yong still stood in front of Zhang Hao, looking somewhat helpless.
"Haozi, no matter how tough you are, you surely wouldn't dare mess with Miejue Shitai, right?"
"Since you skipped her class today, just wait to get tortured tomorrow."
Zhang Hao's expression shifted slightly as he suddenly realized something.
He would need to take care of Baobao from now on, which meant he wouldn't have time for classes.
The only solution was to study while taking care of the babies.
"Dayong, I need your help with something."
"Starting tomorrow, no matter what class it is, you need to stream it live for me."
"Because I'll be taking care of the three babies and won't have time for classes."
Hearing this, Zhao Yong looked astonished.
"Haozi, streaming is easy enough, but can you actually learn anything that way?"
"We graduate in half a year. If you fail your exams, won't you have to repeat a year?"
Zhang Hao looked completely indifferent.
Education was optional to him; he had only come to university to coast through anyway.
Besides, compared to the three babies, school didn't matter at all.
"Just do as I say, it's settled!"
"If Miejue Shitai asks, just tell her I got hit by a car!"
...
The next day.
At seven in the morning, Zhang Hao woke up.
This was the earliest he had ever gotten up in all these years.
He grabbed a quick bite of breakfast by the roadside and arrived outside Su Yuyan's apartment door.
Ding-dong~
Zhang Hao pressed the doorbell, wondering if the three babies were awake yet.
The thought of the three adorable little darlings brought an involuntary smile to his face.
Creak~
The door opened.
"G-Good morning."
Zhang Hao froze.
He had expected Su Yuyan to open the door, but to his surprise, it was the nanny.
"You're here, young man. Come on in."
The nanny wore a warm smile, her eyes exceptionally kind as she looked at Zhang Hao.
"Yeah."
Zhang Hao smiled. "You're here so early. Where's Su Yuyan?"
"She went off to work at the school. She usually leaves at seven in the morning, and I arrive at seven."
"Oh."
Zhang Hao nodded, walked into the living room, tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa, and excitedly headed toward the bedroom.
Just then, the nanny stopped him.
"Wait, the babies are still sleeping."
"First, go wash the babies' clothes. You must wash them by hand."
"Then cook some millet porridge—make sure the heat is high enough so it's ready when the babies wake up."
"Also, get the formula and clothes ready."
"Finally, clean up the rooms."
Hearing this, Zhang Hao immediately frowned.
Weren't these chores supposed to be done by the nanny? Why was she making him do all of them?
Could it be that this nanny always slacked off when Su Yuyan wasn't around?
As he harbored these suspicions, the nanny spoke up again.
"Young man, since you want to take care of the babies, you have to start learning from the basics."
"If you don't have patience, you won't be able to take care of them properly."
Zhang Hao gave a slight nod. Although he had his doubts, the nanny made a valid point.
Only by becoming a qualified stay-at-home dad could he take care of the babies right.
"Alright, let me know when the babies wake up."
With that, he walked into the kitchen, tied on an apron, and started doing the chores.
The feeling was indescribably novel.
Over an hour later, Zhang Hao finished the tasks the nanny had assigned.
Right at that moment, he heard a baby crying from the bedroom.
He didn't even bother to untie his apron as he strode directly into the bedroom.
He saw that all three babies were awake.
Dabao and Erbao weren't crying, but Sanbao was wailing loudly.
Meanwhile, the nanny was standing motionless beside the bed.
"Young man, you go change the babies' diapers first, then go mix half a bottle of formula."
Zhang Hao took a deep breath, his expression instantly turning gloomy.
"Auntie, don't you think you're going a bit too far?"
"If you don't want to take care of the babies, you can leave right now!"
Seeing Zhang Hao lose his temper, the nanny suddenly looked a bit nervous.
She hesitated in silence for a moment before saying, "Young man, don't be angry, I have my reasons."
"Reasons?"
Zhang Hao frowned slightly, a puzzled look on his face.
Chapter 11: Miejue Shitai's Quiz
"What reasons?"
Facing Zhang Hao's questioning, the nanny had no choice but to tell the truth.
If she made the baby's father angry, she might lose this job.
"Young man, I can tell you, but you mustn't tell Miss Su."
Zhang Hao's expression flickered; he couldn't figure out what the nanny was up to.
To get to the truth, he nodded in agreement.
The nanny continued, "Actually, I was sent by Miss Su's father—or to be exact, hired by him."
"Aside from taking care of the babies, my job is to report the situation here to Mr. Su."
Hearing this, Zhang Hao felt his heart skip a beat.
Su Yuyan's father—wasn't that his father-in-law?
But then again, why would his father-in-law intentionally keep it a secret?
Could it be because Su Yuyan had a falling out with her family?
As he pondered this, he heard the nanny speak again.
"Young man, you must never tell Miss Su."
"Even though Miss Su has broken ties with her family, what parents don't care about their own children?"
"Parents' love knows no bounds; Mr. Su also wants Miss Su to come home and doesn't want her to suffer so much."
"Besides, the only time he can come to see the babies is when Miss Su isn't around."
"Sigh~"
With that, the nanny shook her head and sighed.
Though it wasn't her own family affair, she still felt deeply anxious about it.
Especially when she saw the three cute little darlings, she sometimes felt a pang of heartache.
Having cared for the babies for half a year, she had always viewed them as her own children.
Zhang Hao gave a slight nod.
Understanding the situation, he decided to keep the nanny's secret.
As for the conflict between Su Yuyan and her family, he would definitely help resolve it if the opportunity arose.
No matter what, he bore an unshirkable responsibility.
Brring, brring, brring.
Suddenly, Zhang Hao's cell phone rang.
Pulling it out, he saw it was a WeChat video call from Zhao Yong.
Needless to say, class must have started.
"Auntie, you go change the babies' diapers first, I need to take this call."
"Alright."
The nanny smiled and nodded. "You really must keep my secret."
"No problem."
With that response, Zhang Hao accepted the video call.
However, when the call connected, the face on the screen wasn't Zhao Yong's square mug, but an utterly furious visage.
"Zhang Hao! Get your butt back here to class right now!"
A piercing roar rang out.
Zhang Hao suddenly felt a bit guilty.
Because this was none other than their head teacher, Li Yan, nicknamed Miejue Shitai.
"Miejue... Teacher Li."
Realizing he had used the wrong nickname, Zhang Hao quickly corrected himself. "I got hit by a car when I went out last night, and I'm at the hospital right now."
"I asked Zhao Yong to help me ask for leave, didn't he tell you?"
Li Yan was so angry her eyebrows twitched. "He did! He said you became a father, and triplets at that—who does he think he's fooling?"
"I'll give you ten minutes to appear before me, or I'll dock your credits! You can forget about your graduation certificate, too!"
Just as her voice trailed off, Zhao Yong's innocent voice came from the other end.
"Teacher, I really wasn't lying to you, Haozi actually became a dad!"
"Shut up! Go right ahead and mess around with Zhang Hao, let's see what kind of good habits you'll pick up!"
Hearing Miejue Shitai roar, Zhang Hao felt rather helpless.
Things had reached this point, so there was no point in hiding it anymore.
"Teacher, Zhao Yong isn't lying to you, I really did become a dad."
As he spoke, he moved the camera to show the three babies.
Miejue Shitai snapped harshly, "Zhang Hao! I'm warning you! If you keep messing around like this..."
Before she could finish, her voice cut off abruptly.
Seeing the three babies, Miejue Shitai froze.
But the next instant, the anger returned to her face.
"Hmph! Don't you dare try to fool your teacher with someone else's babies!"
"You're still wet behind the ears, how could you possibly have children?"
"Besides, you aren't even of legal marriage age—who would marry you and have kids? Did some wealthy sugar mummy keep you or something!"
With that, a burst of laughter erupted in the background.
Miejue Shitai rebuked angrily, "We're in class! No laughing!"
Instead of arguing, Zhang Hao handed the phone to the nanny.
"Auntie, please explain it to her."
"Alright."
The nanny smiled, took the phone, looked at the screen, and said, "Teacher, I can vouch for Zhang Hao; he really is the babies' father."
Miejue Shitai said with absolute certainty, "Impossible, he's so young, how could he be a father?"
"Madam, the kids are just messing around, why are you joining in on the nonsense?"
The nanny was left utterly speechless.
Right at that moment, Zhang Hao brought over the three paternity test reports.
"Teacher, you don't have to believe me, but surely you can't disbelieve judicial authorities."
With that, he aimed the camera directly at the three paternity test reports.
Miejue Shitai squinted to look closely, her expression suddenly turning to shock.
"This—this is actually real!"
"Student Zhang Hao, you really became a father, and triplets at that!"
Zhang Hao smiled and nodded, finally convincing Miejue Shitai.
"Yes, Teacher, I need to take care of the babies now, so I won't be able to come back to classes for a while."
"Don't worry though, I won't fall behind on my studies. Having Zhao Yong stream the classes lets me study just the same."
Miejue Shitai nodded. "Fine. Given your special circumstances, you're temporarily excused from coming to school."
"As for what to do next, I'll discuss it with the principal and decide later."
"Zhao Yong, give me your phone back."
Immediately afterward, Zhao Yong's square face reappeared on the screen.
Zhang Hao directly scolded him, "Well, look at you, Zhao Yong. I asked you to ask for medical leave, and you went and spilled the whole truth to Miejue—are you trying to sabotage me?"
Zhao Yong put on an innocent look. "Am I to blame? The whole school already knows you're a dad."
"Besides, there's nothing shameful about it. I'd love to be a dad, but nobody's having kids for me."
Zhang Hao was left speechless with embarrassment.
"Alright, stop broadcasting your big flat face and point it at the blackboard."
"You got it."
Zhao Yong pointed the camera at the blackboard.
Zhang Hao tossed his phone aside, not even bothering to look at it.
Having Zhao Yong stream the class was just a way to appease the teacher.
Since he hadn't studied hard in the past and wouldn't understand it now anyway, why waste time on studying?
As he pondered this, he watched the nanny change a baby's diaper and went straight to mix the formula.
"Babies, time for milk."
Before long, Zhang Hao returned to the bedroom with three bottles of milk at the right temperature.
He placed a bottle in front of each of the three little darlings, and the babies immediately gripped the bottles tightly with their tiny hands, suckling away happily.
Seeing this, a radiant smile bloomed across Zhang Hao's face.
At this moment, he felt as though he were the happiest person in the world.
"Haozi? Can you hear me, Haozi?"
Suddenly, Zhao Yong's voice came through the phone.
Zhang Hao walked over with a smile and asked, looking at Zhao Yong on the screen, "What is it?"
"The teacher is asking you a question about what she just covered: translate the idiom 'seven up, eight down' into English."
"Uh..."
Zhang Hao was momentarily struck speechless.
He couldn't even be bothered to study Chinese literature, let alone English.
Yet facing a teacher's question, he couldn't just ignore it.
"Let me think... Seven up, eight down? I know this one: *seven up, eight down*!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a burst of laughter erupted in the background.
Chapter 12: Super Scholar Skill
"Hahahaha..."
"Young Master Zhang, your Chinglish is too awesome!"
"I've never admired anyone in my life, but you're the first!"
"Haha, are you a comedian sent by Monkey?"
Then came Miejue Shitai's furious voice.
"We're in class! No laughing!"
"Zhang Hao, if you want to learn, listen attentively. If you don't want to learn, you don't ever have to come back!"
"Hang up! Don't distract student Zhao Yong from studying!"
The corners of Zhang Hao's mouth twitched.
Though he truly didn't want to study, he couldn't just refuse outright, or Miejue Shitai would eat him alive.
Just as Zhang Hao was feeling helpless, the System's voice suddenly rang out.
[Ding: Detected that the host is worrying about studies. Would you like to purchase the Super Martial Arts Skill—wait no, the Super Scholar Skill?]
Zhang Hao's eyes lit up instantly.
The Super Scholar Skill!
Just the name alone sounded insanely awesome.
Could it be just like the Super Martial Arts Skill, where purchasing it would turn him into an all-knowing academic genius?
At this thought, Zhang Hao made his decision instantly: "Purchase!"
[Alright, purchasing... Apologies, detected that the host's bank card balance is insufficient. Purchase temporarily unavailable.]
"Huh?"
Zhang Hao was completely dumbfounded.
System, are you kidding me?
The systems in other people's novels give out direct rewards, but you? Not only do you require payment, but you also claim my balance is insufficient.
What use do I have for a system like you?
[Ding~]
Suddenly, the System's voice sounded again.
[Host, if your balance isn't enough, you can set up an installment plan.]
"Installments?"
Hearing those two words, Zhang Hao felt as though ten thousand alpacas were stampeding across his brain.
Was this System here to reward him or to punish him?
It even offered installments.
The System continued: [Host, don't be upset yet. You can split it into ten installments, and interest will only accrue if you default.]
Ten installments meant ten months.
Zhang Hao nodded, thinking this was at least acceptable.
"System, how much is the Super Scholar Skill?"
"One hundred thousand."
"Buy it!"
Zhang Hao didn't hesitate for even a second.
[Ding: Congratulations to the host for a successful purchase. Due to the installment plan, 10,000 will be deducted every month. If you fail to repay past the due date, a 24% interest rate will apply.]
Zhang Hao smiled.
Was this System a law major? The interest rate was set so precisely.
Right at that moment, Zhang Hao felt a subtle change sweep through his mind.
His brain felt noticeably sharper than before.
A vast amount of knowledge he had previously studied and forgotten now flooded back into his consciousness.
What left him somewhat depressed, however, was that he still hadn't become an all-knowing genius.
"System, since I acquired the Super Scholar Skill, why haven't I turned into an all-knowing scholar?"
[Host, you are now an academic scholar; you possess photographic memory and can grasp any concept instantly upon a single hint, but you still need to study.]
"Fine."
Zhang Hao didn't argue further with the System.
At the very least, he could now answer the teacher's questions.
"Teacher Li, I know how to say 'seven up, eight down' in English now. It's *an unsettled state of mind*."
Miejue Shitai said displeasedly, "Hmph, you definitely looked that up online."
Zhang Hao was momentarily at a loss for words, then thought better of it and said, "Well then, how about this? You can test me by asking me to translate anything you want."
After all, he had studied English from primary school through junior high, high school, and university.
Though he had forgotten it all clean, once he acquired the Super Scholar Skill, all that long-sealed knowledge thoroughly awakened.
"Fine, you asked for it. Translate Xu Zhimo's *Second Farewell to Cambridge*. If you get it all right, I'll hand you your graduation diploma right now."
Miejue Shitai naturally didn't believe him.
Because this was challenging even for the English class representative.
"No problem."
Zhang Hao was full of confidence.
Then he began his translation.
"Softly I take my leave, gently I left..."
Before long, Zhang Hao recited Xu Zhimo's *Second Farewell to Cambridge* aloud in English with deep emotion and clarity.
At that moment, Miejue Shitai was struck utterly dumbfounded.
She never imagined that Zhang Hao, a slacker who usually fooled around in his studies, could actually recite *Second Farewell to Cambridge* in accurate English.
Since his English was this good, why were his test scores always at the bottom?
And why had he even botched the simplest 'seven up, eight down'?