Chapter 57 057. Planning
An Han knew he’d changed a lot—but he hadn’t expected his classmates to be practically stunned by his transformation.
“Who’s that girl with the short hair? She’s really pretty.”
“An Han. He’s a guy—can’t you tell?”
“Did he get plastic surgery?”
Sitting in the front row of the classroom, An Han rested his cheek on one hand, quietly listening to his classmates’ hushed whispers.
“Did he always look like that?”
“Kind of… but also not really…”
Hearing their confused chatter, An Han nearly burst out laughing.
Admittedly, being complimented on his looks did feel good—if only they hadn’t mistaken him for a girl right off the bat.
His changes were all subtle enhancements based on his original features, so while his classmates immediately noticed he looked strikingly more attractive, they couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly had changed.
“It probably wasn’t full-on plastic surgery, right? He’s always been kind of delicate-looking.”
“A little touch-up could’ve been done during the National Day holiday—it’s seven whole days.”
“But wait… wasn’t An Han already pretty before the break? Maybe he just… matured?”
Of course, no ordinary person would ever consider the existence of a “system.” In their world, such a thing simply didn’t exist—no one would ever believe a system could be meddling with reality.
So after all their speculation, the best explanation they could land on was either minor cosmetic procedures or simply that An Han had “grown into his looks.”
An Han casually glanced at the classmates still debating his appearance—and suddenly felt a jolt of alarm. He quickly queried the system for their current favorability ratings toward him.
The average was around 40.
That was nearly 10 points higher than his last check during the National Day holiday! One or two classmates had even shot up to a solid 50!
“Huh…”
He knew people were generally drawn to good looks—but this was absurd! He barely interacted with most of these classmates; some had exchanged fewer than ten words with him over two whole years.
And it wasn’t just the boys—girls’ favorability toward him had risen significantly too.
“It’s fine… everyone appreciates beauty…”
He muttered to himself, trying to sound reassured: “Besides, if even the girls like me more now, finding a girlfriend should be easier, right?”
Even as he said it, he didn’t believe a word of it himself.
Today’s lecture was important, so An Han chose to sit in the front. On days with boring, useless classes, he’d much rather lounge in the back and scroll through videos to kill time.
Setting his anxiety aside for now, he lifted his head and focused intently on the teacher.
Once, thanks to the system, he’d dismissed studying as pointless. But now he knew better—if he didn’t take his education seriously, he might end up getting exploited by the system again, all while thinking it was doing him a favor.
It was precisely because of his past impatience and lust for quick gains that the system had twisted him into this current state!
During the break, An Han didn’t even bother heading to the restroom. He simply slumped face-down on his desk, utterly despondent, trying to map out his next move.
There’d been no progress whatsoever with Long Xing. That meant he urgently needed to find a way to lower Su Peng’s favorability.
“An Han?”
“Hm?”
He lifted his head. An Ke Xin was standing right in front of him. “Got a minute?”
His tone was unusually cold. Part of him still resented her for that cursed chest-binding item she’d given him—it had nearly pushed Su Peng past moral and legal boundaries, and nearly cost An Han everything.
Logically, he knew it wasn’t really her fault—but he couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter.
“What skincare products do you use?” An Ke Xin’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Can you recommend some to me?”
Skincare?
Did his twenty-yuan, internet-best-selling face wash count?
An Han glanced around the classroom and noticed several girls watching him hopefully. Clearly, An Ke Xin was their scout, sent to investigate on their behalf.
“SK-II Facial Treatment Essence,” he replied offhandedly.
He’d heard of that stuff—thousands of yuan for a tiny bottle. Far beyond a student’s budget.
Since his unnaturally fair, smooth skin was impossible to hide anyway, might as well invent an expensive luxury brand to explain it. That way, it would sound plausible—and if the girls wanted to try it themselves, that was their problem.
“SK-II?” An Ke Xin immediately looked conflicted. “That’s super expensive…”
“Yeah, my family got it for me.”
“Oh… so your family’s actually pretty well-off?”
“Of course they are!”
An Ke Xin hesitated for a moment, then hurried back to her group of friends to share her intel.
An Han turned his attention toward the third row—where Su Peng was sitting.
What does Su Peng hate? What does Su Peng hate…?
Besides hating vegetables, he couldn’t recall anything else.
He couldn’t exactly force-feed Su Peng greens every meal, could he?
“Hey, Dong Ming! Come here a sec!” He waved over Wu Dong Ming, who was sitting with Su Peng.
If he didn’t know Su Peng’s pet peeves himself, he’d just ask Su Peng’s roommate.
“What?” Wu Dong Ming was hunched over his phone, mid-game. “Make it quick—I’m in a team fight!”
“Come outside with me!”
An Han grabbed Wu Dong Ming’s arm and dragged him into the hallway.
Just yesterday, Wu Dong Ming had been complaining about one of An Han’s terrible ideas—but today, he seemed to have forgotten all about it. He didn’t even get annoyed at being yanked away. Calmly, he asked, “What’s so secret we have to talk out here?”
“I need to know—what does Su Peng hate the most?”
Wu Dong Ming glanced up from his phone, giving An Han a quick once-over.
An Han felt a pang of guilt and instinctively looked away, focusing on a spot on the ceiling.
“You’re plotting to prank Su Peng?!” Wu Dong Ming’s eyes lit up instantly. He abandoned his game and leaned in eagerly. “He hates cockroaches! Just toss one on him!”
“Cockroaches…?”
Come to think of it, he did recall an incident involving Su Peng and cockroaches.
“Yeah! Stuff a few in his bed—perfect!”
“You’re inhuman!” An Han’s eyes gleamed, but he quickly recoiled in disgust. “Ugh… how did I end up friends with someone like you? Have some morals!”
“Then why are you asking?” Wu Dong Ming folded his arms and leaned against the railing, skeptical. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on him and just want to ‘understand him better.’”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” An Han lowered his voice. “But catching live cockroaches is gross… What if I bought some dried ones from a pharmacy—or even fake ones—and slipped them into his wardrobe…? What do you think?”
“That’s not even that dirty. And if Su Peng gets mad, it’s not like it’s a huge deal.”
Wu Dong Ming scoffed. “Clearly, you’ve been plotting this for a while—and now you’re trying to rope me in so you won’t take all the blame when it blows up in your face.”
Though that was partly true, An Han would never admit it. “Don’t slander me! I can handle this alone!”
“Sure, sure…”
“But don’t you dare tell Su Peng!”
“Fine~” Wu Dong Ming drawled, clearly not taking it seriously.
An Han, however, felt increasingly optimistic. He’d personally witnessed how terrified Su Peng was of cockroaches—apparently, one had once crawled into his mouth.
This prank was guaranteed to tank Su Peng’s favorability rating!
After all, Su Peng’s temper wasn’t nearly as forgiving as Long Xing’s.
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