"That's so unfair of Mr. Qiu! He actually gave you a demerit?"
Hearing what Howie said, Linda's brows furrowed in concern. Her gaze landed on Doug Feng, who looked exasperated and helpless, and a pang of guilt tugged at her heart. After all, he only got into trouble with Lin Yi because he was trying to help her.
Ding!
Doug blinked. Huh? Her favorability just jumped again? He looked up—sure enough, the number above Linda's head had climbed another five points. Now it was at 80.
He held back a grin. If this keeps going, maybe I can get her favorability to 100 someday. Heck, maybe I can even unlock… whatever happens after that.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Linda asked, tilting her head. "This is serious. I feel awful—you got a demerit because of me. I'm going to talk to our homeroom teacher later and try to get that removed."
To a top student like Linda, a demerit wasn't just a school punishment—it was a stain on one's academic record, something that could follow you for life. And as far as she could tell, Doug hadn't done anything wrong.
Doug waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, really. It's just one demerit. You need three to get expelled, and we've only got two months left before the college entrance exams. Not a big deal."
For the first time, Doug found himself able to meet Linda's eyes directly. She was the kind of girl he'd always admired from afar—smart, beautiful, the kind everyone else talked about but few ever approached.
Over the last three years of high school, Doug had probably spoken fewer than a hundred words to her. It wasn't for lack of trying—just that guys like him were never in the same orbit as girls like her.
But this time was different.
This time, he wasn't the same Doug. He'd come back from the future, armed with knowledge, confidence—and the Favorability System.
"You can't just give up on yourself like that," Linda said, frowning slightly. "Sure, the demerit might not stop you from taking the gaokao, but it will follow you afterward. And you didn't even do anything wrong. This is just… unjust."
Doug looked away, a bit stung. She's right.
He had given up on himself in the past—skipped class, wasted time at internet cafés and arcades, never took anything seriously. But now he was back, and he had a second chance.
Seeing that her words had struck a chord, Linda gave a small, encouraging smile. She even patted Doug gently on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I'll talk to Ms. Fang about it. Maybe she can get through to Mr. Qiu."
Then she turned and walked back to her seat, already pulling out her books for the next class.
Doug stared after her, stunned. She… touched me?
He glanced up again. The number above her head had gone up—now it was at 82.
This is insane, he thought. The favorability system actually works. She's seriously starting to like me. But man—what a waste with my crappy grades.
He spent the rest of the morning staring off into space, barely listening to a single word the teachers said. His eyes kept drifting toward Linda's seat.
Even Howie noticed.
"Yo, Feng, you okay?" he asked, poking Doug with a pen. "You've been zoning out all morning. Don't tell me you've really fallen for the class rep?"
Doug smirked but didn't deny it.
Howie chuckled. "I mean, come on. Just because you stood up to Lin Yi this morning doesn't mean she's gonna fall for you. Girls like Linda? Surrounded by straight-A boys with rich daddies. You think she'd go for someone like you?"
Doug sighed and shrugged. "Guess I'm just a low-tier loser then."
He paused. Wait— That phrase hadn't existed in 2005. That was something that blew up online around 2012.
"'Loser'? What's that supposed to mean?" Howie asked, confused. Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah—guess what? Zhang Caijie's got this idea. He wants everyone to pitch in and buy a lottery ticket. Like, for good luck before the exams. He's doing a pool for the Double Color Ball draw. Said if we win, we'll be millionaires and can skip college altogether."
"Lottery?" Doug blinked. "Double Color Ball?"
The name triggered a long-buried memory. Zhang Caijie. Class lottery pool. Random numbers. The ticket…
Wait a second.
Didn't we almost hit the jackpot that year?
He racked his brain. If he remembered correctly, no one hit the whole thing—but someone got the first three numbers, another got the last three, and he got the bonus number. They joked about it in class the next day. But no one had put them together on a single ticket.
If I remember the winning combination… and I buy it now…
Doug's heart skipped a beat. That jackpot was over a hundred million yuan.
His mind raced. Screw exams. Screw demerits. If I play this right, I'll be richer than Lin Yi's dad by next week.
"Howie," he said, trying to keep calm, "you guys picked your numbers yet?"
"Yeah, Caijie's collecting them now. Why?"
Doug grabbed a scrap of paper and scribbled down seven numbers: 02, 04, 08, 16, 25, 33, and the bonus number, 12. He handed it to Howie with shaking hands.
Howie squinted at the paper. "You serious? This looks like a damn math problem. You trying to calculate pi?"
Doug ignored him and marched straight over to Linda. He leaned down, grinning. "So, class rep—what numbers are you playing with?"
Linda quickly covered her paper. "None of your business! Go pick your own."
"Aww, come on. I already gave mine to Howie. I'll even hand yours in for you—purely as a public service."
"Nice try."
Linda shot him a look but smiled faintly, not entirely annoyed by his teasing. Doug laughed, but inside, he was burning with anticipation.
This time, I'm not just going to pass the exam.
This time, I'm going to rewrite my entire future.