"Hello, amazing voice actress. My name is Cheng Zhu. I'm an amazing… holder of a high school diploma."
Cheng Zhu thought for a few seconds before finally coming up with a title for his current self.
Right now, he was basically a blank alt account—there wasn't even a proper "designation" he could pick.
Lin Lu burst out laughing and said, "I know you! I followed Ningning and bought 0:0 too. I won money thanks to you."
Cheng Zhu looked at her and thought to himself once more, "A big‑eyed girl with dimples really does look even cuter when she smiles."
So cute that it was absurd—cute to the extreme.
His interest was piqued.
The conversation naturally revolved around football for a while.
Even though Lin Lu had only watched this one match, she chatted more enthusiastically than anyone else.
That left Shen Qingning—the only one who hadn't watched the final—completely unable to join in.
She was naturally cool‑tempered and didn't mind at all. In fact, she was quite good at listening. When others talked animatedly, she would quietly listen from the side.
Shen Minglang still felt that Cheng Zhu betting twelve thousand on a 0:0 score was insanely impressive. At this moment, he sincerely asked, "Cousin, what were you thinking when you bought 0:0?"
"I was dreaming, and someone in my dream told me."
"Who did you dream about?"
"Myself, a few years in the future," Cheng Zhu said with a straight face.
Shen Minglang immediately showed a speechless expression. Lin Lu, on the other hand, felt that this slick‑looking guy was actually pretty funny when he talked.
Wasn't there a saying like this?
—Humor is the best cosmetic surgery for men.
Just then, the dishes started coming out.
Since everyone was around the same age, they had plenty of common topics, and the meal never went cold.
As they talked, the topic shifted to college life.
After all, there were two campus goddesses about to enter their sophomore year after summer, plus two soon‑to‑be college students.
Shen Minglang had only graduated two years ago and still fondly remembered his carefree days of driving a Panamera to school, with a constantly changing lineup of girls in the passenger seat.
Suddenly, he thought of something and said, "Oh right, Lin Lu—Ningning told me you two are planning to rent a place off campus in your sophomore year?"
"Yeah, we're going to live together," Lin Lu said with a grin.
"Why did you suddenly want to move out?" Shen Minglang probed, trying to find out his sister's real situation at college.
Shen Qingning knew exactly what he was up to but didn't expose him.
"It's nothing, really. We just want to live together. Plus, there's a girl in our dorm who talks in this weird sarcastic way. Neither Ningning nor I like her," Lin Lu said.
"I see. Yeah, running into awful roommates in college really is a headache," Shen Minglang said, understanding.
"Right? You see each other every day. You can't out‑argue her, and it's just infuriating!"
After saying that, Lin Lu puffed out her cheeks and pouted. "I don't even know if there's a way to deal with people like that. I get so angry that I can't sleep at night, replaying everything over and over, thinking I didn't perform well enough in the last argument."
Hearing this, Cheng Zhu's gaze shifted to Jiang Wanzhou.
Jiang Wanzhou immediately said, "What are you looking at me for? Why are you staring at me?"
Cheng Zhu ignored him and kept staring.
Jiang Wanzhou cracked and cursed, "What do you mean? Are you implying I've got a sharp tongue too?"
Only after everyone's attention turned to him did Cheng Zhu slowly say, "How could that be? I just think that sometimes, your way of speaking is something everyone could learn from."
"If you want to sarcastically fire back, you can add the word 'ne' to the end of a lot of sentences," Cheng Zhu said calmly.
"Huh? Like what?" Lin Lu immediately perked up.
Cheng Zhu switched to a different tone. "What you said is so right, ne."
"Really, ne! Amazing, ne!"
"Thank you for your concern, ne."
Lin Lu's eyes lit up. Imitating his tone, she smiled at him and revealed her little dimples. "Then I get it now, ne!"
Cheng Zhu nodded and went back to eating.
That left Jiang Wanzhou beside him, indignant and glaring at Cheng Zhu. "That's not how I talk at all, ne! Why are you randomly copying me?"
TL: Jiang Wanzhou is so adorable I wanna grab this boy by the cheeks and squish him.
While eating the Jinsha Hall's famous braised pork, Cheng Zhu said, "Mm‑hm, I copied it wrong, ne."
Jiang Wanzhou instantly wanted to rip his mouth apart.
Lin Lu found the guy more and more amusing.
As they continued chatting, the topic shifted again—to college classes.
Shen Minglang said that he spent most of his time sleeping in class, and the teachers wouldn't bother you at all. It was way better than high school.
"Cousins, when the time comes, feel free to sleep as much as you want," Shen Minglang said, speaking from experience.
Shen Qingning finally spoke up, "What kind of nonsense are you teaching them all day?"
Cheng Zhu followed the topic, deliberately saying it for Jiang Wanzhou to hear. "If it's a decent university, some professors' classes are actually worth listening to."
"How so?" Shen Minglang asked.
"I once heard a saying," Cheng Zhu replied. "Your college professors might be the people with the highest social status you'll ever have access to in your life. Without the platform of a university, you'd never be able to interact with people at that level once you enter society."
Shen Minglang was about to refute him, but suddenly blurted out, "Holy shit."
"Holy shit, that actually makes some sense. I have a friend who studied law. His professor looks like he just teaches criminal law, but behind the scenes he's a living King Yama—hands down over six hundred death sentences a year."
For a rich second‑generation like him, he could still come into contact with people of high social status, so that was the example his mind jumped to—people he never wanted to meet in his life.
But for many ordinary people, it really was like this. You might bad‑mouth your teachers every day when you're in school, yet once you enter society, you wouldn't even be qualified to speak to them.
They might be the specialist whose appointment you can't get even if you fight for it.
The lecture you're listening to could cost tens or even hundreds of thousands per session outside.
Their consultation fee might be thousands per hour.
Your textbook might have been compiled by them.
When they're explaining a case they worked on, they might still be waiting on a two‑million final payment.
Their opinions might even count as policy in the local area.
Cheng Zhu never intended to completely skip classes after entering college. He also didn't want Jiang Wanzhou to just drift through school, so he made a point of saying this.
Even Shen Qingning couldn't help but glance at him.
Lin Lu felt the guy was a bit contradictory. Sometimes he seemed flippant and playful; other times he felt more mature than an average high school graduate.
The voice actress girl thought his words made a lot of sense, but still sighed. "Sigh… it's a shame. Ever since I was little, I get sleepy as soon as I start studying."
Cheng Zhu raised his eyes and suddenly said, "Is that because you often did homework late into the night when you were a kid?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Lu immediately got excited. "I was always super slow at homework. Other people finished quickly, but it took me forever."
"Then that explains it," Cheng Zhu said with a smile, thinking of something he'd once seen on the debate show *U Can U Bibi* in his previous life.
It happened to be something Chen Ming talked about—and coincidentally, Chen Ming was also a university professor.
"Behaviorist psychology tells us that if someone is always studying when they're sleepy, then in the future, the moment they study, they'll feel sleepy."
"You all know Pavlov's dogs, right? Ring a bell, eat food, drool. Ring a bell, eat food, drool. Later on, just ring the bell—no food—and they'll still drool."
"This is what's known as classical conditioning."
"By the same logic, studying, late night, sleepy. Studying, late night, sleepy. Eventually, even when it's not late at night, studying still makes you sleepy."
"That's how the conditioned stimulus environment forms."
As he spoke, he smiled gently at Lin Lu. "So it's really not your fault. It's all those late nights from childhood."
Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Qingning: "???"
Shen Minglang's inner thoughts: "Damn it, I learned something. Why is it that when I talk to girls about this kind of topic, all I can say is that I get sleepy too?"
Lin Lu was stunned at first. The more she listened, the more it made sense. In the end, she was completely convinced, feeling like she'd met a famous doctor who had finally identified the root of her illness.
Seeing the shocked little expression on the voice actress girl's face, Cheng Zhu said earnestly, "So if you have a child in the future, take this as a warning—don't let her study too late at night."
"Okay, okay!" Lin Lu nodded vigorously. "I'll remember it, I'll remember it."
Then she added, "Having kids is still a long way off, though. If I forget how serious this is in the future, you have to remind me."
Cheng Zhu—who never seemed to actively start topics but was always controlling the rhythm—grinned when he heard that.
—The objective had already been achieved.
He bared his 'fangs' in a slow smile, looked at the energetic girl with dimples who smiled especially cutely, and said leisurely:
"But I don't have your contact information."
TL: If you want to read ahead, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup