DTTM – Chapter 5 : The parent entering the hall with a bowl of porridge.

Chapter 4 | 📢 Contents 📢 | Chapter 6

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Translator: Silvery
PR: Decadence

In the subsequent 2 hours, Yu Sheng plunges into the excruciating world of “How should I smoke through these 5 questions” as if possessed.

At the same time, he puts in every ounce of effort to reign in the vicious impulse to pay these question setters’ families a visit.

This question bank seems specially tailored to torment those who came in prepared to guess. From time to time, in accordance to his speed and options, a message box would pop out suddenly, leaving him with no choice but to correct his attitude and focus single-mindedly on coming up with a new, haphazard set of ABCD options.

Be that as it may, there are still times where he is forcibly stopped and made to think for another 10 seconds because he answered too quickly.

Mouse in hand, Yu Sheng takes a huge breath. When he is made to stop for the 3^rd time, he raises his head.

The entire exam hall is locked in a state of intense focus.

The few invigilators stalk back and forth in their inspection. The Province Point students all seem absorbed and ready to jump into action in the next second, going through the questions at breakneck pace.

The entire exam hall is so quiet, even the sound of a pin dropping can be heard. From time to time, it is punctuated by the sound of clicking mouses.

Beside him, Duan Lei is staring dead at the screen and mumbling something under his breath. The tip of his pencil glides across his rough paper. He is so smothered, his face has turned pink with effort.

Duan Lei does not have a propensity for studying. Normally, he skimps out on lessons as well, but since his family is strict and he gets a beating whenever his grades fall behind, he maintains the most primitive terror and reverence for exams.

Yu Sheng doesn’t disturb him. He gradually releases the mouse which came close to being crushed in his hand, retracting his gaze.

What these people fail to realize is how Yu Sheng is actually not obedient at all.

He is only this reluctant to cause a ruckus, not because his heart is overbrimming with such love for all he can’t even bear to part with the lunch delivery duty for the detention room, but because he doesn’t want the school to contact his parents.

He doesn’t want to stand in the corner of some staff office, explain to some new teacher again why no one responds when they message, why no one picks up when they call, and why no one comes when they want to meet his parents.

He has already lived in such a manner for many years, and there were no accidents or crippling illnesses in that time. Having turned 17 like the rest of the guys around him, Yu Sheng is already plenty used to his lifestyle.

But that doesn’t mean he intends to go into the details on how he’s lived to the people around him.

Once the 10 seconds of lockdown passes, Yu Sheng counts down the seconds and clicks down again on a different and wrong answer.

His tummy hurts a little.

To a growing lad like him, eating half a pancake like a miserly old man truly isn’t enough. He’s running on empty after just half of a morning.

Yu Sheng lifts his left hand and presses down on his aching gut. He takes a sip of nothing but air and hunches down, laying on the table. While still clicking with his mouse, he continues his relentless face-off against the system.

The door to the classroom is half-opened. Occasionally, there are students who received permission to use the toilet scurrying past. In the completely silent and empty corridor, their footsteps seem to resound a lot more compared to normal.

……

The 7^th time.

The 7^th time Yu Sheng was sternly towed back by the System for a timeout, he has more or less given up.

His fist digs deeper into his gut. Lying stiffly on the table top, he seriously deliberates the connection between Big Bang and his short 17 years of life.

A pair of footsteps that is neither light nor heavy drifts closer to him.

Someone’s going to pee again.

Right now, anything is more interesting than this guessing game. He yawns as he casually flicks his eyes away. Just when he is contemplating desolately whether or not to just nap for the entire morning before going back at it, his line of sight suddenly stops.

A rather familiar black dress shirt glides through the door.

–And back.

Yu Sheng pushes himself up with his elbows and sits up a little, raising his brows. Through the half ajar door, he meets Black Blouse’ gaze from a distance.

Severe sleep deprivation, plus the perverse abuse of the system has muddled him a little, but the gears of his mind creak back to life.

Yu Sheng follows the other’s line of sight thoughtfully and looks down at himself a few times. After confirming he has not buttoned up wrongly or forgotten to zip up, he lifts his head in confusion.

Three seconds later, Yu Sheng suddenly gets a faint idea of what the other is looking at.

Yu Sheng lowers his head and sees his hand still staunchly buried in his abdomen.

He never had a stomach of steel. It pangs with every little bit of hunger, but it is also not that bad. It’s just that it gets quite discomforting whenever he has to grit through it.

He is quite familiar with the present feeling, actually. He’s hungry again after devouring that half of a pancake.

…But then again, his action is slightly ambiguous.

In the eyes of those who do not know him, he ate a pancake in the morning and is now clutching at his gut with a likely ill-looking pallor.

Anyone with a little bit of imagination would think that pancake gave him a stomach-ache after eating it.

Yu Sheng deliberates for two seconds before he slowly pulls the hand off and places it on the desk.

It’s true that he doesn’t like this Black Blouse a lot. But the pancake is innocent.

He can’t betray the pancake which has toiled hard and done him a great service.

He had most likely gotten it right. Black Blouse looks at him for a beat before turning around and his distancing footsteps disappear around the corner of the hallway.

Yu Sheng instantly smashes his hand back, crumpling without posture to slump back on the desk. Burying his face in the crook of his arm, he takes a long, deep breath.

His guts are really motherfucking hurting.

Next time, he better eat those instant noodles.

“Sheng Gē, Sheng Gē…”

He made more of a clamour this time. Duan Lei who is in the next booth over notices his abnormality and gets a bit worried, whispering:

“You got a stomachache again?”

Yu Sheng doesn’t want to disturb him. Pressing down on his centre, he waves him off:

“It’s nothing. Focus on your test.”

Their voices are by no means loud. If this exam hall belongs to Central Third alone, no one would have minded. But at this moment, an invigilator undoubtedly from the other side comes over and sternly rebukes:

“No speaking. Answer it by yourself!”

Duan Lei gets a bit shifty and nearly shoots up to his feet:

“Teach, his stomach hurts—”

Yu Sheng pulls him back on his chair.

The invigilator appraises him with a frown. Seeing his pallor, concern rises in him as well and he briskly makes his way over:

“Are you alright? Can you still go on?”

Yu Sheng grits his teeth: “I can.”

He has never seen such an inhumane question bank. His long-gone competitiveness stirs back to life and stamps out his initial intent to head out for a breather. He must finish these 1000 questions at all costs.

His perseverance is so unusual, the invigilator hesitates for a time. In the end, he still doesn’t chide him too much and merely instructs him to raise his hand if he can’t bear it.

Yu Sheng nods, grinding his teeth as he picks up his mouse again.

Duan Lei hasn’t got a clue to his behaviour, so he is merely spurred on by his persistence in face with his illness. He grits his teeth too, taking lead from him, and plunges head-first back into the sea of questions swarming them vigorously.

Time ticks by second after second, minute after minute.

Yu Sheng wields his mouse with a tight grip as he clashes head to head with the System. With the frequency of his clicking and the pattern of his answers forming a practiced and steady tempo, he flies past page after page towards the end.

1000 MCQ. 100 for each of the 9 subjects, and another 100 spanning all subjects. Just by relying on his gut, he’s already done with a good half. Just when he is about to move on to the next page, two raps come from the door abruptly.

The entire exam hall looks up.

Yu Sheng has his ears shut to all things outside. Not even the slightest affected, he clutches his mouse and continues to throw himself single-mindedly into his guess work.

The person who knocked on the door does not show himself. He speaks to the invigilating teacher at the door in a hushed voice.

The contents of their conversation cannot be heard clearly. Only, the deep voice which is hard to hear at this age fills the corridors and reverberates. The magnetic bass is as if someone has stuffed a mic in his hands. Going by that metaphor, there might even be some high-quality subwoofer involved.

Plenty of young ladies cannot help but put down their pens, glancing non-stop out the doors.

Yu Sheng is extraordinarily annoyed by this. Rubbing hard at his ears, he tracks his pulse and counts down the seconds, clicking away at the options timingly.

The invigilator turns to look back at the exam hall as if he is in a bit of a fix. He lifts his head and quietly says something to the person outside.

His tone is polite and plenty understanding without the slightest sternness or inflexibility from when he was invigilating.

Nonetheless, the person outside the doors remains quite insistent. He says a few quiet things, but he still doesn’t leave.

Being two hours into their exam, exhaustion is at its apex and this is the time easiest to slacken. The entire exam hall has their attention stolen by the scene unfolding outside. One after another, they cave and raise their heads to look at the fun outside. Only Yu Sheng remains locked in a steadfast battle of wits and courage with the System, shooting toward the last 300 MCQ.

At last, the negotiation at the door arrives at an uncertain conclusion.

The invigilator turns and moves aside to make way, looking troubled. The door cracks open slightly.

Black Blouse ducks out from behind and follows after him.

……

This rare scene is all caught on camera, instantly catching the attention of the head teacher in the control room.

As one who can unblinkingly recite the name and in-game ID of rule-breakers through the school’s inter-com, he is undoubtedly not your average head teacher. Throughout all exam halls within Central Third High, the intercom suddenly crackles twice and the head teacher’s stern voice blasts out.

“Third Year Building. Third Year Building, 7^th Floor, Hall 10 – Yes, that parent who is carrying a bowl of porridge. The one who is entering the hall.”

The head teacher has always disdained these parents who have to even deliver food for their children. His firm belief is that the present batch of kids are spoiled rotten because they were never scolded or beaten. All they have to do is to extend their hands and they will have clothes delivered to them; open their mouths and have food fed to them with a silver spoon.

The surveillance camera and the loudspeaker are used for the sake of intimidating this parent. The head teacher taps on the mic, speaking in a heartfelt manner:

“Right now, we are having an exam. There must be a limit to doting on one’s child. You mustn’t disturb normal school activities. If it is an urgent concern, please take your child outside. We have a rule which says outsiders cannot step into the exam hall. Do you understand that?”

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Next Time on DTTM!
Chapter 6: <Why are your hands this cold?>
Preview: Be flooded by an inundating amount of MC-ML interaction like never before.

Porridge: actually Millet Congee + Red Dates -> Sweet stuff put into a cup. Yuck!

The author has something to say:
Sheng Gē: So I hear someone wants to dote on me : )

Silvery: : ) Sheng Gē, I smile at your humiliation.
Next week, we’ll see a special announcement for a new update schedule. Look forward to it~!

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Chapter 4 | 📢 Contents 📢 | Chapter 6