21: Define new action objectives

This sudden enthusiasm was beyond Shen Qian's expectations, but on second thought, it seemed right; compared to girls who care about reputation and details, boys seem to care about only one thing: whether you're badass enough.

Many things that girls find boring, as long as they're badass enough, will earn you the respect of boys—for example, devouring a whole pig in three bites.

“Sharing a dorm with me, you might have a bit of trouble finding a partner for the next few years.”

Shen Qian had actually overheard their conversation just now; one of them was hoping for a romance and didn't want to be single for four years.

“Hahahaha, it's fine, brother. You do your thing, and we'll just be in the back cheering for you. How old are you this year? Which month were you born?”

“Eighteen. Born in June.”

“What day!?”

Another boy popped his head up.

“The 23rd.”

“Hahahahaha, it's exactly as I said, you're definitely the youngest! Let me introduce myself, I'm Chang Heng. I'm the oldest here, the eldest of the dorm.”

The boy beside him adjusted his glasses.

“Wei Mingtian, from Sichuan Province.”

“Gao Haitao, I'm the second youngest, from Shandong Province.”

Shen Qian looked at these three roommates. Chang Heng's accent had a strong Northeastern flavor, making it obvious where he was from at a single listen. The other two were also from all over the country; it seemed the school had intentionally placed students from out of town in the same dorm.

“Shen Qian. You all know my name. I'm from Jiang Province.”

“Good, Third Brother, welcome to the 618 family. From today on, we're brothers. How about we all go out for dinner together tonight?”

“That sounds great. Let's see if there's anything good to eat near the school,” Gao Haitao immediately joined in.

“Try not to eat anything too spicy; I can't handle spice.”

“No way, Second Brother, you're from Sichuan Province and you don't eat spicy food?”

“Who says everyone from Sichuan Province has to eat spicy food? That's a prejudice.”

In the evening, the dorm mates sat down in a small restaurant near the school. The eldest, Chang Heng, popped open a bottle of beer with his teeth.

“Brothers, it's fate that brought us together from all corners of the world. It's all in the wine!”

“To our meeting!”

“To our meeting!”

That night, Chang Heng got dead drunk, followed by Gao Haitao. Wei Mingtian was a bit thin and weak; he could barely move one of them, let alone two.

Shen Qian felt quite helpless. When they were drinking just now, these two were the fiercest. It had given him a shock; he had been prepared to risk his life to keep them company, only to find they collapsed after just a few cups.

“Second Brother, you stay here and watch the eldest. I'll carry the fourth back first, and then we'll come back for him.”

If it weren't for the fact that this place wasn't far from the school, he would have just opened a room directly.

The next day, the eldest rubbed his head and looked at Wei Mingtian, who was brushing his teeth.

“Second Brother, where's Third Brother?”

“He... you might not believe it if I told you...”

On the playground, Shen Qian finished his last lap and found a spot to stretch a bit. The clothes he bought had good sweat-wicking performance, but because his exercise intensity was high, the clothes still clung to his body. Although his abs weren't yet clearly defined, the lines were definitely there.

After returning to the dorm, the fourth had also woken up. Shen Qian leaned against his bed and teased,

“The Tigers of the Northeast, the Wolves of Shandong, can't out-drink a little lamb from Jiang Province. I thought it was a joke, but who knew it was actually true.”

“Holy crap, Third Brother, don't be so arrogant. I'm just temporarily not adjusted to the local environment. Wait until I adjust, and I'll let you know what a massive capacity for alcohol means.”

“Third Brother, are you serious? You went running on the very first day at school? I'm telling you, you can be a scumbag, you can be a beast, but you absolutely must not be a 'King of Overachievers'! Otherwise, this is more painful than killing me!”

Shen Qian knew the guy was joking.

“Then let me ask you, am I a scumbag?”

“Not sure.”

“No, I am a scumbag. I can tell you very clearly, my goal is to be a grand scumbag. But there are thresholds for being a scumbag. First, you can't be ugly; even if you are, you have to have a good body. Second, you have to have emotional intelligence, high IQ, and money...”

“Stop, stop. Third Brother, you're not a scumbag, you're a perfect man. You're trying to become a god.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that a real scumbag, even without the conditions you mentioned, will still be a scumbag. They have no technique, just pure 'feelings'.”

Shen Qian understood. He had learned many techniques during this period, and even when facing an opponent like Xia Mengling, he could remain unmoved. No feelings, all technique.

“It's like if you confess to every girl; that's having no technique. What is a real scumbag's technique? It's being ambiguous with every girl but never actually dating them.

Sigh, you get the benefits, you get the emotional value, but when asked, you're single, forever single.”

Shen Qian knew this too, but he just felt that with such a large amount of easy money sitting there, only requiring a simple message to be sent, it would be a pity not to take it.

“Back in high school, I had a senior who dated our Campus Belle. Besides dating the Campus Belle, he also dated her best friend. Later we found out he wasn't just dating her best friend, even the Campus Belle's older sister was dating him.

At that time, the whole school was shocked. So in my view, dating two or three ordinary Girlfriends at the same time seems like a very basic operation. But dating dozens of Girlfriends at once, you wouldn't have enough time.

Given your looks, having quantity is easy; what's hard is having quality. If you can have an extremely beautiful Girlfriend and another extremely beautiful Girlfriend at the same time, that's the scumbag among scumbags.”

Wei Mingtian's words made Shen Qian sink into deep thought for the first time. It truly proved the saying: 'To study alone without friends is to be ignorant and ill-informed.'

After the system upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2, although the rewards changed, the recording of scumbag behavior had decreased.

The last time scumbag behavior was recorded was during the confrontation with Xia Mengling.

This meant that the transition from Level 1 to Level 2 was suitable for ordinary scumbags. Ordinary scumbags only pursue quantity, not quality, because as long as you have one of the traits of being tall, rich, or handsome, or if you're a smooth talker with high emotional intelligence, being a scumbag isn't difficult.

But the difficulty lay in how to upgrade the system.

Now it seemed that pursuing those girls who were hard to get would better trigger the recording of scumbag behavior.

The method of confessing to many people was useful—it could get him one or two million or even more at once—but if the system upgraded, the rewards would be even greater.

He spent so much effort hitting on girls; even if he used all his strength, he could only hit on a few dozen a day. But at Level 2, a single cashback card was a million. What if it was Level 3? Or Level 4?

Instantly, Shen Qian gained even more clarity. He needed to improve himself and also cherish his time. From today on, he wouldn't waste a single moment on girls rated below 5. He would go all out on those above 5. The goal: Level 3 of the system.