Although he hadn’t been listening much, he had still written down what needed to be noted—a kind of muscle memory he had trained.
“What’s my favorite body type?”
“The succubus-like figure: slender waist, curvy hips, perky chest.”
Indeed, as the saying goes, ‘Plump, smooth skin complements splendid attire; graceful and charming, its lingering charm is long.’
Pei Du deeply believed that the beauty of a woman’s plump and full figure could not be ignored.
Whether in the 2D world or the 3D world, he would forever love the succubus-like figure—full, weighty, and tantalizingly curvy.
Even the merchandise he bought at comic cons had to feature characters with thoroughly mature, voluptuous bodies.
“Are you really finding the most perfect life partner for me?”
The boy rarely let his mind wander during class, but he truly couldn’t endure this incomprehensible system any longer.
After parting with He Chengxi and returning to class, Pei Du told the system to continue displaying the first perfect life partner it had found for him.
When the blue panel appeared once more, Pei Du looked at the photo on it, and his brain instantly went dead.
The first thing that caught the eye in the photo was undoubtedly the girl’s fresh, refined, and otherworldly, goddess-like beauty—”Arched eyebrows like distant hills, red lips bright on the outside, white teeth pure within, bright eyes that gaze with warmth, dimpled cheeks that frame her face.”
And then, nothing. He couldn’t see anything else.
The girl’s figure was wrapped in her winter uniform coat, bundled up tightly. The sliver of snow-white neck that peeked out was largely obscured by her powder-colored, lustrous ponytail.
However, Pei Du knew exactly what this was about.
That exquisitely sculpted face was unmistakably that of the top-ranked student of the grade, He Chengxi, whom he had just met not long ago.
And what that oversized uniform concealed was precisely the opposite of the voluptuous figure he pursued—it hid a slender, petite frame!
“Yes, host. Reconfirming host identity. Name: Pei Du. Age: Eighteen. Born in Jiangcheng…”
“You didn’t bind to the wrong person, so there’s something wrong with you.”
“Host, the system’s answer is derived from precise information gathering and calculations based on the proximity principle. There are no errors.”
Pei Du organized his notes.
Although he hadn’t been listening much, he had still written down what needed to be noted—a kind of muscle memory he had trained.
“What’s my favorite body type?”
“The succubus-like figure: slender waist, curvy hips, perky chest.”
“Since you understand, may I ask if He Chengxi fits my idea of a perfect body type?”
“She does not.”
“Then you…” Pei Du suspected the system was messing with him.
“According to system detection, physical appearance is not among the host’s standards for seeking a life partner.”
The system replied swiftly, as if it had long prepared its response.
Pei Du was speechless.
What could he say? Admit that he was actually quite shallow, that only someone who made his heart flutter and his belly burn could be called a life partner?
He couldn’t say it out loud.
While physical appearance might weigh heavily in his standards for a reproductive partner, from the pure perspective of a life companion, external conditions truly held very little weight.
“Are there no other options?”
He claimed not to care about looks, but any physically healthy male at eighteen would inevitably follow his own sexual preferences.
“Host, once the first perfect life partner is selected, it cannot be changed. This concerns the system’s functional authority.”
Authority… Pei Du was too exhausted to argue anymore.
A system that was useless when it should be useful and overly formal when it shouldn’t be—just perish already.
“Host, please confirm.”
“What happens if I don’t confirm?”
“Nothing happens.”
Was his golden finger impersonating some dating website? Not using it didn’t matter, and its function was just to find a partner.
The slight excitement Pei Du had felt upon obtaining the system had now completely cooled down.
“However, if the host does not proceed with confirmation, they will be unable to receive the system-prepared exclusive funding for Phase One of the romance.”
“Funding? What funding?”
He knew his golden finger had other functions! Its matchmaking function alone couldn’t fill a hundred thousand words in a novel!
“Host, please confirm.”
“What funding?”
“Host, please confirm.”
“…I confirm.”
Pei Du had figured it out. No changes, no returns.
If he wanted to use this system, he had to accept that He Chengxi was the first perfect life partner.
Of course, he had no intention of compromising with the system. His future could only be decided by himself. Agreeing was just a stalling tactic—he would first see what “funding” came after confirmation and then make plans.
Upon hearing the words “I confirm,” pink text appeared below the photo.
[Phase One: The “Perfect Life Partner” System provides one million in romance startup funding.]
One million.
Interesting. Clever, diligent himself combined with a multifunctional system was like a vampire no longer fearing sunlight, a tiger sprouting wings—he would surely trample the entire world underfoot one day.
I am Pei Du, possessor of the invincible [Perfect Life Partner System].
My life goal is simple: to live well.
My current small goal is to figure out how to splurge the one million I’ve gotten.
Should I first buy the most popular merchandise? Or get a photo with my favorite voice actor?
Just as Pei Du was envisioning a wonderful future, another line of text appeared on the panel.
[Note: Romance startup funds can only be invested in romantic pursuits and cannot be used under any other circumstances.]
[Note: The host must provide a legally registered personal bank account number (debit card or savings card acceptable).]
This useless system was endless.
Pei Du closed the panel and focused on listening to the lecture, regretting having wasted class time talking to the system.
It was funding one million for dating, but if he didn’t spend it on romance, he couldn’t use it.
Never mind that he had absolutely no relationship with the top-ranked He Chengxi.
Even if they did have some relationship… well, if they did have some relationship, then this one million would be quite nice.
Having someone fund your dating life—however you thought about it, it sounded wonderful.
The problem was, there was no relationship now!
Pei Du snapped his pen cap shut with force and flipped the test paper the Chinese teacher was discussing to the essay section.
Teacher Wang, the Chinese teacher, was a student who had graduated just a few years ago.
Although it was her first time teaching a senior-year class like theirs and she lacked experience, her teaching methods and professional skills were excellent.
For the essay section, she not only analyzed the prompts from the perspective of the most point-garnering argumentative essay templates but also discussed them from the unconventional angles of narrative or prose styles.
Her analyses were thorough and incorporated current events.
Following her steps diligently could easily get you a score around 45 points on the essay.
Essays had always been Pei Du’s weakness, which was also why his Chinese score was stuck around 120—he struggled to adapt to the formulaic writing required in recent years, which demanded integration with practical current events.
Therefore, he absolutely did not want to miss Teacher Wang’s intensive essay lecture.
He would set aside the system, which couldn’t help him at the moment and only made him angry, for now.
“Remember to memorize the materials.”
“Also, make sure to incorporate those current affairs news articles I handed out. They’re a universal formula.”
“If nothing unexpected happens, this year’s prompts will likely allow this news piece to be used as a transition in basically all argumentative essay topics.”
…
Reviewing test papers, writing on test papers, occasionally doing exercise booklets, and then shuttling between the classroom and the bathroom—that was pretty much how a senior year morning passed.
There was no trip to the school convenience store; it was on the first floor, too far away.
“Young Master, are we going out for dinner later?”
Zhao Yu had a piece of chicken thigh meat stuffed in his mouth as he asked Pei Du across from him while shoveling rice.
“To my place. My mom ordered a cake.”
Pei Du stared at the carrots mixed in with the shredded pork, unable to bring himself to eat them.
He didn’t know why, but the smell of certain foods made him nauseous, and carrots happened to be on that list.
“Anybody else coming?”
“No. Family’s at work, can’t make it back. They might celebrate my birthday again with me when they get back.”
“I meant, are any other classmates coming?” Zhao Yu took a big gulp of tomato soup, fogging up his glasses. “You didn’t invite Xiao Zheng and them?”
“Xiao Zheng and them” referred to the other friends in their circle, though their relationship wasn’t that close.
They were at the level of going to the bathroom together and chatting but wouldn’t make plans to hang out.
“The only people in the whole class who know today’s my birthday are you and the homeroom teacher.”
Pretending to be casual, Pei Du picked out the carrots and set them aside, then took a small sip of soup.
It was quite flavorful, just a bit too greasy and rich.
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂