Reborn as a high school freshman with an awakened system, a fat boy transforms into a male god.

the next morning.

Lin Bei woke up, threw back the covers, and sat up. Suddenly, a rare "Good Morning Greeting" from the system echoed in his mind:

[Good morning, host. Although your appearance has improved from a 4 to a 5, and you've gone from "I could still look at you if I tried" to "I can look at you without having to try," at least you're not an eyesore anymore, but you're still far from "good-looking." Host, keep it up, keep trying today.]

Lin Bei put on his sportswear.

After running six kilometers, he returned home, took a shower, and changed clothes. At seven o'clock sharp, he arrived at 502.

Su Wantang wore a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers today, with her hair tied in a high ponytail. Her complexion was getting better and better.

Two bowls of porridge were placed on the table. Next to the larger bowl was a dish of cold seaweed salad and a dish of pickles, and next to the smaller bowl were two poached eggs.

Lin Bei sat down, picked up the bowl of porridge, and took a sip. The porridge was made with preserved egg and lean pork; the preserved egg was chopped into small pieces, the lean pork was cut into thin strips, and the porridge base was cooked until thick and smooth.

"Is it good?" Su Wantang sat down opposite him.

"tasty."

Su Wantang smiled slightly and lowered her head to start drinking her porridge.

[Su Wantang's smile widened by about 5% compared to yesterday. The system didn't understand what this meant; it was simply recording data. The host can figure it out for themselves.]

Lin Bei ignored the system and continued drinking his porridge.

Halfway through his meal, Lin Bei's phone vibrated. He put down his bowl, picked it up, and saw it was a message from his father, Lin Jianhua.

"Beibei, your Uncle Chen said there are two suitable houses in Zhifang Lane. He asked if we want to go take a look. One is over 90 square meters and the other is 110 square meters. They are both vacant, with clear property rights. The owners are in a hurry to sell, and the prices are a bit lower than the market price."

Lin Bei stared at the message for a few seconds. Zhifang Lane, the innermost alley in that old town area.

The contracts for the two apartments on Ganghe Street and Tongbai Lane have already been signed, and they're just waiting for the transfer of ownership. Now, two more apartments have arrived.

He looked up and glanced at Su Wantang.

"I can't have lunch with you today," Lin Bei said. "My dad needs me to talk to him about something, so I'll be going out for a bit at lunchtime."

Su Wantang paused for a moment with her chopsticks.

"What about the food?" she asked softly.

Lin Bei understood the other meaning behind her words. She wasn't asking about the food; she was asking about him.

"You eat," he said. "I'll just grab something to eat outside."

Su Wantang glanced at him, lowered her head, and said nothing more.

[Su Wantang didn't press for details, indicating she had basic trust in her host. It's also possible she felt her host looked safe and wouldn't cause trouble. The system leans towards the latter.]

Lin Bei: "..."

After breakfast, Lin Bei returned to room 501 to pack his schoolbag, and then rode his electric scooter with Su Wantang to school.

As soon as Lin Bei entered the classroom, Zhou Ziheng jumped up from his seat.

"Brother Bei! Brother Bei! Brother Bei!"

"What is it?"

"Guess how many words I wrote yesterday?"

Lin Bei glanced at him: "Five thousand?"

"Five thousand? You underestimate me." Zhou Ziheng held up eight fingers. "Eight thousand! I wrote eight thousand words! I wrote until two in the morning! My mom got up to go to the bathroom and saw that my room light was still on. She thought I was studying and was so touched that she cooked me a midnight snack. I quickly hid my phone under my pillow and pretended to be doing math problems. My mom brought in a bowl of glutinous rice balls, saw that I was doing a math test, and her eyes turned red. She said, 'Son, you've finally grown up.'"

At this point, Zhou Ziheng spread his hands, his expression tragic.

"Then she sat next to me watching me eat glutinous rice balls. As I ate, I kept thinking to myself: 'Mom, stop watching! I need to update! My readers are waiting for my latest chapter!'"

Lin Bei's lips twitched slightly: "Does your mother know you write novels?"

"I don't know." Zhou Ziheng lowered his voice. "She thought I was staying up late every night to study. I told my dad, and he said, 'Can you make money writing that?' I said, 'Not yet.' My dad said, 'Then tell your mom when you make money.' So now my dad is my accomplice, covering for me in front of my mom every day."

"Your dad is quite open-minded."

"What do you mean 'enlightened'? He just doesn't want to get yelled at by my mom." Zhou Ziheng pushed up his glasses. "When my mom gets angry, all three of us in the family suffer... my dad, me, and our dog. Last time I bombed my monthly exam, my mom yelled at me for an hour, and our dog was so scared that it hid under the sofa all day and didn't come out."

[The system refers to Zhou Ziheng's family structure as a "matriarchal clan society." His mother is the clan leader, his father is an elder, Zhou Ziheng is the laborer, and the dog is a refugee. The system advises the host to cherish his family; at least your mother won't yell at you for an hour because you failed your exam.]

Lin Bei ignored the system, put down his schoolbag, and took out his textbooks.

The third period in the morning is math.

Gu Yuanshan walked into the classroom as the school bell rang, his hair still perfectly styled and his leather shoes still gleaming. He placed his lesson plan on the podium, but instead of starting immediately, he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and scanned the classroom with his gaze.

"Classmates, I have something to tell you."

The classroom fell silent.

"The school just announced the date for the first monthly exam. It will be held three days after the National Day holiday, from October 8th to 10th, covering nine subjects. Chinese, Math, and English are each worth 150 points, and the other six subjects are each worth 100 points, for a total of 1050 points."

A wailing sounded in the classroom.

Zhang Mingyuan called out from the back row, "Teacher, can we open the book?"

Gu Yuanshan glanced at him: "You can do an open-book exam. As long as you don't care about the numbers on your transcript."

Wang Jun then asked, "Teacher, can we postpone it? I'm not ready yet."

"You can postpone it." Gu Yuanshan said expressionlessly. "You can take the exam when you're eighty. You can be in a wheelchair then, and I'll push you into the exam room. You'll be a special candidate."

The whole class burst into laughter. Wang Jun clutched his chest, made a "stabbed" face, and pretended to be dead, lying on the table.

Gu Yuanshan cleared his throat and continued, "Today is September 18th. There are still about three weeks until the monthly exam, with the National Day holiday sandwiched in between. How you spend these two weeks before the holiday will determine whether you can have a fulfilling National Day holiday. I hope that from now on, everyone will take every class and every assignment seriously. Don't wait until after the exam to regret it."

He paused, his gaze sharpening.

"There's one more thing. After the monthly exam, I'll post the report cards on the back wall of the classroom. That way, it'll be clear who did well and who didn't. You can decide for yourselves."

As he said this, his gaze swept around the classroom before finally settling on Lin Bei.

Lin Bei's back straightened instantly.

[Old Gu is looking at the host. The system recognizes that look... it's the look of "I've got my eye on you." The system suggests the host prepare themselves mentally; Old Gu might call on you in class.]

Sure enough, Gu Yuanshan opened his textbook and added, "Especially some students, it's been three weeks since school started, and I haven't seen you raise your hand even once. Let's see how you are in the monthly exam."

All eyes in the class turned to the last row.

Lin Bei remained expressionless, but in his heart he had cursed the system eight hundred times.

"Alright, let's begin the lesson."

Lin Bei opened his textbook and took a deep breath.

Just then, a crisp notification sound exploded in his mind.

Ding!

A semi-transparent interface appeared out of thin air in the center of his field of vision, with blue text on a black background.

[New task has been released!]

[Task Name: Breaking Through the Monthly Exam]

[Task Objective: To rank among the top 10 in the class in the first monthly exam.]