Chapter 22

Certificate of Honor

"Xiao Chao, come sit down." Director Wang stood to take the tray from Chao Musheng's hands, arranged the cups in front of Mr. Xu and Secretary Liu, and waved Chao Musheng to a seat — not wanting to tire out her most valuable asset.

"Please, Mr. Xu — your tea." Director Wang settled Chao Musheng into the chair beside her. "Since Xiao Chao enrolled, his academic performance has been consistently outstanding, and his practical abilities are equally exceptional. He's still young, of course — he would benefit enormously from a platform that could stretch and develop him further."

"A talent like Chao Musheng will shine wherever he goes." Secretary Liu noticed his employer nudging the fruit dish across the table toward Chao Musheng, and immediately understood. "I won't conceal it from you, Director Wang — I would very much like to see Chao Musheng intern with our company. That way, when he graduates and is considering employment, we'd already have a significant advantage."

"Secretary Liu flatters Xiao Chao far too generously." Director Wang smiled until the creases at the corners of her eyes multiplied. "He's so young — how could he compare with the caliber of professionals at your company? Even learning a fraction from your colleagues would serve him well for a lifetime."

Both sides furnished each other with ample compliments, conducted with the practiced ease of a mutual-appreciation ceremony.

Mr. Xu in particular — a man known for keeping largely to himself — had given the school's anniversary celebration a great deal of face by attending at all. Compared to the guests who had arrived with entourages, he and a single secretary traveling together was positively understated. But neither the school leadership nor any of the other guests treated him with anything less than the fullest ceremony.

They had barely started on the tea when the president arrived in person.

Since entering university, Chao Musheng had crossed paths with the president only a handful of times on campus. Watching him stride in at the head of the school's senior leadership, Chao Musheng picked up his own used teacup, offered a polite greeting all around, and excused himself from the VIP lounge.

Staying in the room once the president had arrived would simply not have been appropriate.

"The student who just stepped out — is that Chao Musheng from the computer science department?" The president, who did have a memory of Chao Musheng, exchanged pleasantries with Mr. Xu and in passing mentioned several of Chao Musheng's achievements at the school.

Secretary Liu privately registered his astonishment. Even someone of the president's stature — an acknowledged authority in academia — was willing to speak approvingly of this student to an outside guest. Just how highly did the faculty here regard Xiao Chao?

Mr. Xu drew his gaze back from the fruit dish, where a small hollow had appeared. He inclined his head toward the president. "Today, listening to Chao Musheng's introduction, I came to appreciate many facets of your institution that I might not otherwise have seen. I have every confidence that under your leadership, Jinghua will continue to grow."

That single endorsement from Mr. Xu settled the matter completely for the president. The school's future cooperation with Kunlun was essentially secured.

Having seen to Mr. Xu's rest arrangements, the president made a point of drawing Director Wang aside into his office to hear the full account of the afternoon's reception.

"Chao Musheng deserves the credit for today." The president smiled when Director Wang finished. "His character and his abilities are both beyond question. Now — the bullying incident he brought to your attention at noon. What's the situation?"

"There's a student in the computer science department named Chen Er. Comes from a comfortable background, hasn't always exercised good judgment. He had a conflict with two dormitory mates a while back and received a formal disciplinary warning." Director Wang sighed. "Xiao Chao came to see me today at lunch. He said that last night, passing the men's bathroom near Swan Lake, he saw Chen Er assaulting another student. Unfortunately there are no cameras in bathrooms, so gathering evidence may be difficult."

"No cameras in the bathroom doesn't mean it can't be investigated properly — it just means you have to be thorough about it." The president's expression was serious. "Every student in this school is a talent the country has invested in cultivating. Incidents of this kind must be stopped firmly."

Director Wang understood the president's position precisely. "Leave it with me. I'll arrange a full investigation starting tomorrow."

*

Chao Musheng nibbled on a small fragrant pear he'd filched from the VIP lounge's fruit dish and made his way to Dining Hall 5.

"Lao Zhou — save me!" He draped himself over Window 8. "I'm about to waste away to nothing."

"You have a performance tonight." Zhou Yi ladled a generous serving of meat into his tray. "When do you need to be in makeup? Will you be late?"

"The school leadership and guests go to dinner at half past six — the gala doesn't start until after eight." Chao Musheng accepted the satisfyingly heavy tray. "Plenty of time, I promise."

"Xiao Chao!" Zhang San and Zhao Shang came into the dining hall, each carrying milk and bread.

"Why are you bringing food to the dining hall?" Chao Musheng stepped aside to let them join the queue.

"We passed a bakery — picked some up on the way." Zhang San grinned and turned to greet Zhou Yi with the ease of someone who'd done it dozens of times. "Zhou Yi, I'll have the same as Xiao Chao."

"This is for me, isn't it?" Chao Musheng caught on. "You heard I hadn't eaten properly today."

"Some students behind us in afternoon class mentioned you hadn't had a decent meal." Zhang San took his tray a little sheepishly. "Now that you have time to eat, we can keep the bread for a late-night snack."

Chao Musheng set his tray down at a table. "That bread looks pretty good, actually — let me try a piece."

Zhang San, delighted to see Xiao Chao enjoying something he'd bought, presented it with both hands and inserted a straw into the milk carton, sliding it into position beside Chao Musheng's elbow.

Watching the easy smile on Zhang San's face, Zhao Shang looked down. He and Zhang San had known each other for a while now, and had cleared several instances together — but he'd never once seen Zhang San this relaxed in front of an NPC.

Relaxed as though this were just an ordinary evening. No system. No Main God. No threat of death.

The food reached his mouth. The familiar chime sounded — health +5 — and Zhao Shang received it with complete equanimity. With Chao Musheng present, the health gains were always more substantial.

After dinner, Chao Musheng hurried Zhang San and Zhao Shang along to the backstage makeup area.

"Senior — I brought two extra pairs of hands." Chao Musheng signed his name on the volunteer sheet and turned to usher Zhang San and Zhao Shang over to do the same.

"They're not enrolled students." The senior student glanced at the two visiting students from Room 404. "They don't need to sign."

"They're on a study placement here — close enough to honorary alumni." Chao Musheng smiled and passed the pen to Zhao Shang. "Go ahead and sign, both of you. The school is giving out honorary volunteer certificates to everyone participating in the anniversary activities tonight — you can take them home as a memento."

Never sign your name in an instance world. It was a reflex drilled into every player.

But Zhao Shang took the pen and, without any discernible hesitation, signed his name on the sheet.

"Bold strokes — strong and confident." Chao Musheng looked genuinely impressed. "Your handwriting is beautiful, Zhao Shang."

He glanced at Zhang San's contribution and was quiet for a moment, then turned away. "I'm going to join the makeup queue."

Zhang San: "..."

He'd rather come up with an excuse to leave than say my handwriting is terrible. Xiao Chao is genuinely a good person.

"The props team needs help moving some things — would you mind giving them a hand?" The senior hadn't crossed out either name. "One thing to bear in mind: the dressing room on the left is for the invited performer guests. If you run into any of them, please don't approach them, and absolutely no asking for autographs or photographs."

"Understood — thank you for the heads up, Senior." Zhang San accepted this cheerfully. "Where are the props we're moving? We're ready to get started."

"Turn left ahead. Once you're in, follow the props team leader's instructions." The senior relented under the warmth of Zhang San's round, good-natured face and got up to show them the way. "You're volunteers Chao Musheng brought in — I trust you both to conduct yourselves sensibly."

Zhang San thought: It's not really us she trusts. It's Chao Musheng.

This was the reward for latching onto the right person — doors opening wherever you went. A happiness this reliable deserved to be called a blessing.

By the time they'd finished helping the props team and come back, Chao Musheng was already in full makeup and costume, sitting in a rest chair chatting happily with other student performers.

Zhang San finally accepted it beyond all doubt: Xiao Chao's entire stated reason for asking them to "watch the costume" had been a fabrication designed to let Shang-bro accept the borrowed books without feeling indebted.

A staff member came around distributing milk tea — apparently compliments of one of the artist guests. Fully acclimatized by now to the food safety standards in this instance, Zhang San took a cup without thinking, inserted the straw, and drank.

[Ding! Player has consumed an unhealthy beverage. Health -0.1.]

What?

Zhang San, unconvinced, took several more large sips.

[Player has consumed an unhealthy beverage. Health -0.5.]

He knew milk tea wasn't exactly a health food. But 0.1 per sip, 0.5 for a few big ones — this was remarkably precise accounting.

A campus instance where every NPC was diligently studying. Of course the health tracking was going to be this exacting.

"The gala is about to begin. Performers scheduled in the first section, please begin preparing."

Zhang San watched several made-up students file out toward the wings, while Chao Musheng remained in his chair finishing his milk tea. He leaned over. "Xiao Chao, shouldn't you be going to wait in the wings?"

"My piece is later in the program — no rush." Chao Musheng finished the drink, stood up, and was heading to dispose of the cup when he noticed the student union senior already working her way through the volunteer sign-in list, filling in names on the honorary certificates.

"Xiao Chao — perfect timing." She reached out and caught him. "Sit down and help me fill these in."

Chao Musheng dropped into the chair beside her. "Why the rush?"

"Some of the artist guests want one as a keepsake too — they came to perform for free, so the least we can do is say yes to something this small." She pressed a stack of certificates into Chao Musheng's hands. "It all has to be filled in eventually anyway. Better to do it now while we have a moment, so it doesn't eat into study time tomorrow."

"The school seal's ink is still wet." Chao Musheng muttered under his breath. "The administrative staff were running an emergency operation tonight."

"The student affairs people went to collect the certificates from the admin office earlier and apparently heard someone in there getting a dressing-down." The senior lowered her voice. "Stay clear of the admin office for a few days."

Chao Musheng extracted two certificates from the stack and filled in Zhang San and Zhao Shang's names in his own hand, then waved them over.

"Xiao Chao, you called us?" Zhang San trotted over promptly.

"Your anniversary volunteer certificates." Chao Musheng placed one in each of their hands, then raised an eyebrow with a touch of mock-solemnity. "I wrote these myself — take good care of them."

The certificates were slim and neat — formal words of appreciation printed in bold type, the recipient's name the only element written by hand, in Chao Musheng's clean, even strokes.

Zhao Shang looked at the lower right corner of the certificate.

A vivid red school seal pressed into the paper.

[Ding! Congratulations — you have obtained the school seal and triggered a hidden quest. Infinite Points awarded: +100.]

[Hidden Quest: Kill your guide. Doing so will grant you all instance-clearing rewards.]

"What the—"

Zhao Shang heard Zhang San curse aloud beside him.