He spent a few days wandering around the mall.

In the end, Lin Zichen successfully found an old man to act as his purchasing agent.

This old man was a local landlord, with a few buildings rented out. Usually, he would wear big shorts and slippers while wandering around the mall, helping clean tables or picking empty bottles out of the trash to sell.

He wasn’t short on money, but he just liked collecting garbage to save money.

Every time he picked up an empty bottle, he felt especially satisfied, almost like he was floating with joy.

Lin Zichen only told this old man that all the empty bottles from his house would go to him from now on and the old man happily agreed to help him make purchases.

With the purchasing agent secured.

The thirty thousand yuan in his hand was quickly spent.

All of it was used to devour Ghost Shadow Squid meat. He devoured thirty catties in one go, directly raising the progress of the Ghost Shadow Squid’s compendium to 33%.

* * *

In the next half month of summer vacation.

Lin Zichen trained every day, exercising in the morning, noon and evening, each time with high intensity.

During breaks, he would call Shen Qinghan out from her house to help her train her body.

The days passed like this, one after another.

When the summer vacation ended, the moment came for the start of his second year of middle school.

Lin Zichen’s biological level broke through.

He successfully advanced from Ordinary Third Tier to Ordinary Fourth Tier.

At the same time, all of his body’s stats received a huge boost.

He could easily lift 1090kg with one hand.

His standing vertical jump reached 5.65 meters.

His 100-meter sprint took only 4.49 seconds.

Looking more closely though, one could see that the improvements in these three stats were not as exaggerated as the previous two measurements, which had directly multiplied or doubled.

Lin Zichen understood this. After all, the stronger the body became, the harder it was to improve. The values could not always multiply and the base numbers had to be considered.

Take strength, for example.

Going from 100kg to 400kg meant a fourfold increase.

But going from 400kg to 800kg was only double.

Yet the latter improvement was obviously greater than the former, an additional 100kg increase.

‘Before, I thought that breaking through to Ordinary Fourth Tier before graduating middle school would already count as a success. I didn’t expect that I’d break through already in the second year. Looks like I underestimated myself a bit…’

Lin Zichen smiled to himself.

* * *

Time flew by and two years passed in a flash.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan both finished their high school entrance exams, successfully graduating from Shanhai Middle School.

On graduation day, both sets of parents made time to attend their graduation ceremony.

“Come on, you two stand closer, smile brighter!”

As always, Zhang Wanxin was responsible for taking pictures of the childhood sweethearts, using photos to record every stage of their school years.

As they posed for the photo, many girls around them looked on.

Seeing Shen Qinghan leaning against Lin Zichen, all those watching girls were incredibly envious, wishing they could pull her away and replace her.

Feeling the envious gazes of her peers, Shen Qinghan felt delighted inside, thinking she was the happiest girl in the world.

Almost half an hour passed.

The photo session ended.

Lin Zichen looked down at Shen Qinghan beside him and realized that unknowingly, he had grown almost a head taller than her.

Sensing his gaze, Shen Qinghan turned her head and raised her beautiful face, her watery eyes looking at him as she asked, “You keep staring at the top of my head, is there something stuck up there?”

“No, I just suddenly noticed I’m almost a head taller than you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, you’re not a head taller. We just measured a few days ago, you’re 1.78m and I’m 1.62m, that’s only 16cm apart. A full head is at least 20cm.”

Shen Qinghan slightly pursed her rosy lips, showing her dissatisfaction with Lin Zichen’s imprecise wording.

With their height difference growing, she had become very particular about it, not willing to let even one centimeter slide.

Lin Zichen corrected her, “Don’t rush, I said almost a head taller, don’t ignore the word almost.”

“I don’t care, even almost doesn’t count, it has to be precise down to every centimeter!” Shen Qinghan said petulantly.

Looking at the growing height gap, she fretted, “You’re almost 1.8 meters now. If you keep growing in high school, in the future when I want to wipe sweat from your face, I’ll have to stand on tiptoe just to reach.”

“You’re overthinking. You’re so short, even standing on tiptoe you won’t reach me. You’d at least have to stand on a chair.”

Lin Zichen teased, patting her head.

“Yeah, right!” Shen Qinghan rolled her eyes, “In a few years, I’ll be so short I’ll have to jump just to hit your knees!”

Zhang Wanxin watched them with an indulgent smile, “It’s fine, Hanhan. If tiptoes aren’t enough, Xiao Chen can just pick you up so you can wipe the sweat off his face.”

“Aunt Xin, you’re teasing me again~” Flustered at Zhang Wanxin’s joke, Shen Qinghan’s face turned red with embarrassment.

Lin Zichen didn’t mind, just smiling while watching.

That said, it had been a long time since he had hugged Shen Qinghan.

Back in kindergarten, he often carried her. Every time during nap time, she liked crawling into his bed to sleep while holding him and over three years, she wet his bed nearly a hundred times.

In elementary school, he only carried her a few times, though he often piggybacked her.

As for middle school, he only carried her once when cultists caused trouble. After that, never again.

In the end, they had grown up.

Their physical differences became greater, gender distinctions more apparent and physical contact with the opposite sex became more sensitive.

Because of many concerns, they could no longer hug casually like before.

* * *

Half a month later.

The high school entrance exam results were released.

As everyone expected, Lin Zichen ranked first in the district.

Whether in academics or in the physical test data needed for applying to the Martial Arts Class, he was absolutely first in the district.

In fact, he could have ranked first in the city, but he thought it better to stay low-key, so district first was enough.

On Shen Qinghan’s side, however, something unexpected happened.

Her academics were outstanding, performing far beyond expectations to rank in the district’s top 100, easily qualifying for Shanghai High School.

But in the physical test, she failed to reach the cutoff score for Shanhai High School’s elite Martial Arts Class, falling short by more than ten points. The gap was too large.

“Xiao Chen, I really did work hard at training, but my physical test scores just won’t improve. I don’t think I’m suited for martial arts.”

Shen Qinghan lay flat on her bed, covering her eyes with her right arm, looking utterly discouraged.

Lin Zichen sat on the edge of the bed, comforting her, “Don’t lose confidence in yourself. You just didn’t make it into the elite class, but you’re already stronger than many people. And you’re still young, only 15. Your body hasn’t fully developed yet and your potential is still great.”

“What do you mean I’m still young? You’re only one day older than me, yet you say it like you’re my father.” Shen Qinghan couldn’t help but complain.

Lin Zichen teased with a laugh, “I don’t mind being your father.”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying. I’m already this upset and you’re still joking with me!”

Shen Qinghan lightly hit Lin Zichen, more like playful banter between a couple than anger.

After that, she sighed helplessly, “Our bodies are both not fully developed, but your test data is so much better than mine. Compared to you, I’m just like a useless shut-in girl.”

Lin Zichen was about to comfort her again when his phone suddenly rang in his pocket.

It was a call from Zhang Wanxin.

When he picked up, he learned that the principal of Shanhai High School had come to his house, personally visiting this genius top student who had ranked first in the district.

The purpose of the visit was to ensure he would move on to Shanhai high School and not be poached by another school.

After hanging up, Lin Zichen said to Shen Qinghan on the bed, “Hanhan, the high school principal is at my house. Come with me to meet him.”

“I don’t want to go…” Shen Qinghan, still in a bad mood, just wanted to stay in her room quietly.

Lin Zichen gently persuaded, “Come with me, say hello to the principal. Let him get to know you, so that when the school year starts we can still be in the same class and sit together.”

Hearing that, Shen Qinghan bit her lip, reluctantly got up from bed and followed Lin Zichen to meet the high school principal.

After all, with her ordinary physical test scores, she definitely couldn’t enter the elite Martial Arts Class.

If she wanted to stay in the same class as Lin Zichen, she would have to rely on their connection, just like when they first entered middle school, using her relationship with him as a back door.