"Hold on, Doug, I need to take this call," Ms. Fang said as her phone buzzed loudly on the table.
She set down her chopsticks, fished her phone out of her bag, and answered with a slightly exasperated tone, "Hi, Mom. Yeah, I'm not coming home for lunch today. No, it's not that I didn't eat anything—I already ate! And no, not instant noodles either."
Doug Feng quietly continued eating while pretending not to eavesdrop, though her conversation had already piqued his curiosity.
"It's mock exam week, but I wasn't proctoring this morning, so I had plenty of time to eat. What? You want me to come home anyway? Wait—Zhang Shengjun is there? What does that have to do with me?! Mom, I've told you a million times—I'm not interested in him. No, I'm seriously eating right now. With who?"
She hesitated for a beat, then stole a glance at Doug, who was calmly chewing his rice, before blurting out into the phone, "With… my boyfriend."
Doug nearly choked on a piece of tofu.
"Yeah. My boyfriend," she repeated with more conviction, even as she lowered her voice and glanced Doug's way again. "His name? Uh… Doug Feng. That's right, Mom. So please, stop trying to set me up with Zhang or anyone else. I'm really busy at work, okay? Gotta go now. Bye!"
Click.
She ended the call and slowly placed her phone on the table like it was a live grenade.
Then, after an awkward silence, she gave Doug a sheepish look and mumbled, "Sorry… My mom's been staying in town lately. She's been dragging me into one blind date after another. I just… used you as an excuse. Please don't take it the wrong way."
Doug waved it off with a chuckle. "No problem at all. Being your human shield is my honor."
He wore a relaxed smile, but deep down he was groaning. Wait… her mom is in town? That ruins my whole plan. Doug had been planning to sneak into her apartment while she was at school and retrieve the winning lottery ticket he'd hidden there—but if her mom was home, that mission just became a suicide run.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
The phone buzzed again on the table. Ms. Fang groaned, saw the caller ID, and picked it up with a sigh.
"Mom, I told you—he's my boyfriend, and I'm not coming home for lunch. What? You want me to bring him over for dinner tonight? That's—"
She glanced at Doug, who was still pretending not to listen and focusing on his bowl like it held the secrets of the universe.
"He's really busy with work," she said hastily. "He has to work late. What? You already knew I had a boyfriend? How—Mom? MOM? Don't just hang up like that!"
Doug couldn't hear the voice on the other end, but it was obvious her mom wasn't letting this go. And that gave him an idea.
Perfect. If she drags me to her place tonight, I might be able to sneak off and find the ticket. Talk about a lucky break!
Ms. Fang, however, didn't look so thrilled. Her brows were knit in frustration.
If she couldn't convince her mom that the "boyfriend" was real, she'd be trapped in this loop of matchmaking forever. No peace, no rest, and certainly no time to focus on teaching.
She sighed. No way around it.
"Doug," she said slowly, "can I ask you for a favor?"
Doug blinked. "Of course! You've been working so hard for our class—I'm all ears."
"Well… remember how I said you were my boyfriend just now?" She gave a nervous laugh. "My mom wants to meet you. Tonight. Over dinner. I know it's a lot to ask, but… could you help me out and play the part? Just for one night?"
Doug's heart did a somersault. Wasn't this just perfect? But he had to play it cool.
"You mean… pretend to be your boyfriend?" he asked, faking concern. "But Ms. Fang, I'm only eighteen. Do I even look the part?"
She waved it off. "Don't worry! I have a friend who owns a salon. After your exam this afternoon, swing by my office and I'll take you to get a little makeover. We'll have you looking like a mature twenty-five-year-old in no time."
She gave Doug a quick once-over, mentally calculating. With his height and decent bone structure, a little grooming could go a long way.
"Well, if you insist," Doug said with mock hesitation. "I'll do it."
After all, this might be his golden ticket—literally.
That afternoon, the mock math exam started at 1:30 and ran for two whole hours. For most students, that meant full-on brain burnout. Between geometry, trig, permutations, and enough algebra to build a spaceship, even the top students were biting their nails.
"Doug, why'd you hand in your paper so early this morning?" came a familiar voice as he arrived at the classroom.
It was Linda Feng, the class president, striding over with her arms crossed and a disapproving look.
"You could've written more. Or at least double-checked."
Doug scratched his head. "Class Prez, I swear I only turned it in early because I really finished. Honest."
She gave him a side-eye. "Whatever. Just don't slack off on math. Take your time and make sure you get things right."
Despite her scolding tone, her eyes softened with concern. Doug couldn't help but smile a little.
Then the bell rang, and the exam began.
The classroom fell into a hush so complete, you could hear the scribbles of graphite and the nervous wheezing of students second-guessing their answers. Most were frantically calculating or scribbling on scratch paper, wrestling with questions like their lives depended on it.
Even Linda had her brow furrowed, focused intensely as she tackled each problem one by one.
Doug, however, was a different story.
His pen flew across the page, smooth and steady, as if the answers were being downloaded directly into his brain. In a way, they were—thanks to his newly acquired Beginner Intelligence Boost, every problem might as well have come with a cheat sheet.
The formulas unraveled before his eyes, the logic crystal clear. His only task was to copy the correct answers neatly onto the paper.
No scribbles. No erasures. Not even a single correction mark.
Just thirty minutes later, he was done.
Again.
Third mock exam, math section, complete.
Doug glanced at the clock, then raised his hand and submitted his paper, ignoring the baffled look from the proctor.
After all, he had bigger things to worry about tonight… like dinner with his fake girlfriend's mom—and maybe reclaiming a certain life-changing lottery ticket.