Ch 25: Those who wronged me are now begging me for mercy

Treat Your Classmates with Unity and Love

A title with such a blatantly provocative meaning immediately caught the attention of everyone who saw it on the forum.

When they clicked to read the content, it matched the title’s arrogance perfectly—just two words:

“Start grinding!”

It was simple, straightforward, and utterly unadorned. Those who saw these two words instantly understood what Rong Ziyin meant.

With two months left until the submission deadline, arguing online was pointless; it was better to spend that energy writing papers.

If they pulled some strings, they could expedite the publication process in a provincial journal to just one month. In other words, if they worked fast enough and managed to write and submit three papers in the shortest time possible, they could still have a chance.

As for the review process, many of the Agricultural University’s professors had connections in the academic world. If they managed to get their papers through the backdoor into a provincial core journal and the papers met the requirements, they could still get published.

So why be afraid? A true academic overachiever should rise to the challenge!

With that, Rong Ziyin calmly posted his message and then opened his computer to start writing his paper.

Rong Ziyin was a person of action, especially when it came to his own affairs. Once he made up his mind and confirmed that his choice was correct, he would find a way to achieve his goal.

Take this paper, for instance—it wasn’t that Rong Ziyin thought he could do it; it was that he would make sure he could.

Time was of the essence, and not a second could be wasted. So, after posting on the forum, Rong Ziyin immediately began writing.

Meanwhile, back at Agricultural University, the students reading his post were left speechless, thinking that Rong Ziyin must be out of his mind.

“Screw staying up all night to grind out papers! Even growing a head of cabbage takes time to mature. Doesn’t he know writing a paper requires research results?”

“Is he just showing off? If provincial journals were that easy to publish in, why is he still stuck in the village? Shouldn’t he have been snapped up by some big-shot professor and brought into a lab?”

“Haha, I’ll just wait and see what he actually manages to write.”

But Rong Ziyin had already started working on his title.

“My first paper has begun. Progress updates every hour.”

So he was serious?

The people on the forum were stunned.

The system was even more shocked because Rong Ziyin had already opened a document.

System: Master host, can you really write these papers?

Rong Ziyin: Yes, don’t worry!

As he spoke, Rong Ziyin posted his paper’s title on the forum, along with the title of the paper he originally planned to submit to the core journal.

What does this mean?

Many people couldn’t understand Rong Ziyin’s move. Some even thought the two titles were quite similar—was he planning to write the same paper?

Confusion Value +8900

The two titles sparked emotional reactions from those following the thread, but a few people suddenly had a lightbulb moment. Clearly, some of the academic overachievers had grasped Rong Ziyin’s intent.

Creating three entirely new papers out of nothing was impossible, but they could “pad” three papers!

Sometimes, in the academic world, padding papers to bolster one’s résumé is indeed done for specific reasons.

But even so, the papers still needed substance—they couldn’t be too hollow. While this might not be possible for others, for these overachievers who had already produced real results, it was nothing to fear!

As long as they didn’t include the most critical content, they could extend and elaborate on other aspects of their projects.

Plus, their projects had been ongoing for a long time. While the timeline was tight, if they pushed themselves, it was indeed possible to “pad” out three papers.

So, it wasn’t yet the end of the road!

If they could muster the determination to grind it out!

These academic overachievers, who just moments ago were lamenting the loss of their opportunities and feeling uncertain about their futures, suddenly felt a surge of excitement.

And Rong Ziyin’s latest reply felt like a resonant strike on a bell, sending a shiver of determination through their entire bodies.

Rong Ziyin: I’ve already started! If you’re too scared to join in, you’re just a loser!

“Damn! Is that even something a human would say?”

“Three papers? My record is three days and nights of non-stop experiments in the lab without any sleep—this is nothing!”

“You’re the one who’s the loser! Whoever finishes last is the real loser!”

Rong Ziyin’s words suddenly sparked the fighting spirit in these academic overachievers, igniting a fierce determination within them.

Young people with genuine talent and knowledge often have a certain level of pride, no matter how they present themselves. How could they tolerate someone casually taunting them like that?

Moreover, they didn’t believe they were any less capable than Rong Ziyin. If he could write these papers, so could they.

Soon enough, someone responded, “Social sciences, I’ve opened my document and started on my first paper. The title is…”

Then, a mechanical engineering student chimed in, “Reference materials are all set.”

And from the landscape architecture department: “I’ve started too!”

…

As more and more of them replied, those who had been on the fence began to feel the urge to join in.

At first, the thread had been full of people mocking Rong Ziyin. But when these top students started to get involved, it became clear that Rong Ziyin wasn’t just all talk—he was rallying them to write three papers as quickly as possible to regain their chance to submit to the core journal.

“But, can they really do it? There’s only two months left!”

“Not a chance, the timeline’s too tight. It’s impossible.” Some continued to express doubt.

But then, others stood up to counter those doubts.

“No, no, I think they can do it! I just saw the pretty senior from landscape architecture heading to the lab with her laptop!”

“Same here! In the men’s dorm, the senior from civil engineering just left too!”

“Whoa, whoa, I’m in mechanical engineering, and I heard from our class group that our top student just went to see his advisor. Looks like he’s planning to go for it too.”

“Wow, are they crazy?”

Yeah, are they crazy?

Watching these students’ seemingly insane actions, the entire campus was shocked.

But as the hourly progress reports started rolling in, it became clear that they were all dead serious! They were pouring everything they had into this, determined to see the fruits of their years of hard work, and to resist this sudden twist of fate.

They refused to accept it!

They refused to accept that just because of a report, the core journal had set a new threshold that cut them off. They were determined to see which one of them, without real talent and hard work, would ultimately fail to finish their papers!

Academic research is a long and arduous road, and they had no intention of giving up!

The atmosphere in the school suddenly became charged, driven by these paper-grinding overachievers. But among them, the most intimidating figure was still Rong Ziyin.

Why? Because Rong Ziyin had a job to do.

Unlike those who could spend all their time in the lab, with easy access to resources and advisors, Rong Ziyin only had the materials he brought from school and a computer connected to an academic database.

And during the day, he still had to take care of the villagers’ livestock.

Fortunately, the villagers knew Rong Ziyin was busy writing papers, so they rarely disturbed him unless it was absolutely necessary. This gave Rong Ziyin a relatively quiet environment to work in.

Later, the couple who ran the snack shop noticed how busy he was and, worried that he might overwork himself, began bringing meals directly to his office so he wouldn’t forget to eat.

As the village head put it, “Our little Dr. Rong is working hard and making progress! If his paper gets published, it’ll be an honor for our village.”

Surrounded by such kindness, two days later, Rong Ziyin updated the thread with his progress: “One paper done, starting on the second.”

This caused the thread to explode. Not only were the onlookers stunned, but even the other overachievers who had started writing their papers alongside Rong Ziyin were left speechless.

“Two days for one paper? Is Rong Ziyin even human?”

“And he’s also taking time out to treat chickens, ducks, and geese?”

“I don’t care; I’m going all out!”

The overachievers, now feeling spurred on by Rong Ziyin’s rapid progress, redoubled their efforts and plunged into their work.

It was 1:30 a.m., and Rong Ziyin had just finished the prep work for his second paper. He decided to take a break, shower, and change his clothes.

Meanwhile, other overachievers were still awake, reporting their progress on the forum. As Rong Ziyin browsed the updates, he felt like something was missing.

System: Nothing’s missing, right? Isn’t everyone here?

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment: No, the rich young master isn’t here.

System: Does he even count?

Rong Ziyin: This is a group effort, after all. Not inviting him feels like we’re excluding him.

“Treating classmates with unity and love is important,” Rong Ziyin said as he opened his payment app and sent the rich young master one cent, with a note: Come on! Write your paper!

In Beijing, the rich young master had just finished chain-smoking an entire pack of cigarettes. Seeing the message, he was so furious he immediately smashed his phone.

Who the hell is this bastard?!

Anger Value +4000

To him, Rong Ziyin’s invitation was nothing short of schadenfreude.

His situation was dire—he couldn’t find anyone suitable to ghostwrite his paper. If the whole school had given up, his own failure would have seemed more acceptable. But Rong Ziyin’s rallying cry had fired up everyone’s determination.

Now, with everyone on the forum fired up and working hard, he was the only one who remained silent. This led to speculation that it was his alleged academic fraud that had triggered the core journal’s strict measures in the first place.

Over the past two days, both his mentor and grandfather had been pressing him about what was going on.

Especially his mentor, who even suggested that he follow Rong Ziyin’s lead and pad out some papers, even giving him directions and topics to work with.

But the key issue was that the rich young master was utterly clueless—having a direction and a topic was useless if he couldn’t write anything!

Under immense pressure, the rich young master was on the verge of breaking down, and yet Rong Ziyin was still teasing him.

In a fit of impulse, the rich young master wanted to curse back, but he didn’t know where to start. While he hesitated, Rong Ziyin sent another reply.

“Forget it, you should just go to bed early. After all, with that Mediterranean-style seborrheic alopecia of yours, you should take care of yourself. Don’t get too stressed, keep a positive mindset, or your hair will fall out even faster.”

The rich young master’s vision went black. Rong Ziyin had hit the nail on the head—he really was balding!

Seeing the 8,000 gold coins instantly earned, the system couldn’t help but feel that the rich young master was losing his hair because Rong Ziyin had been relentlessly milking him dry.

Over the next week, Rong Ziyin was too busy to continue tormenting the poor rich young master.

At Agricultural University, the administration began providing support to the hardworking students trying to churn out their papers, keeping the library and labs open 24/7. The mentors were also doing everything they could to help their students.

But even with everyone giving it their all, Rong Ziyin still had the fastest progress.

“Rong Ziyin, do you ever sleep?” One of the most diligent students finally broke down, feeling an urge to give up altogether because he was simply too exhausted.

He really wanted to know how Rong Ziyin was maintaining such a terrifying pace.

Rong Ziyin’s response came quickly.

“Of course I sleep. At least six hours a day.”

“Then you spend the rest of the time working on your papers?”

Rong Ziyin: “No, not entirely. I have a job to do.”

“What kind of job?” The student asked instinctively.

Rong Ziyin quickly uploaded a photo: a chicken was strapped to a surgical table, and Rong Ziyin appeared to be reaching into its abdomen, as if he was extracting something.

What is he doing?? The student stared at the photo for a long time without understanding.

After a closer look, a veterinary student explained, “It seems the chicken is egg-bound. Rong Ziyin is performing surgery to remove the egg.”

Rong Ziyin promptly confirmed, “Yes, it’s an egg extraction surgery. If you’re interested, I can give you a live demonstration sometime.”

“No thanks, I’m good!” The student quickly declined. It wasn’t the procedure itself, but the term “egg extraction” that made him feel a strange chill down there.

Another day passed, and the intense workload started taking a toll on many of the overachievers.

One afternoon, a girl posted that she couldn’t take it anymore—her stomach hurt, her head hurt, her eyes hurt, and her hair was falling out in clumps. All she wanted to do was cry.

The people in the thread rushed to comfort her, but her mindset had completely collapsed, and the more they tried to console her, the more agitated she became.

At that moment, Rong Ziyin appeared.

Everyone expected him to offer some words of comfort since he was the one who had started this paper-writing frenzy. But they forgot that for a straight guy like Rong Ziyin, the concept of “romantic and poetic” was practically non-existent.

Rong Ziyin: “Do you need me to call 120?”

What kind of response was that? The girl was having a breakdown, and he was offering to call an ambulance? Everyone on the forum was stunned.

The female overachiever, however, couldn’t help but laugh despite herself. Was Rong Ziyin underestimating her?

Gritting her teeth, she dragged herself to the campus clinic, took some stomach medicine, got an IV, and after a half-day of rest, she was back in action as an unstoppable warrior.

After this minor incident, Rong Ziyin noticed that many of the students were so busy they didn’t even have time to eat—it was truly pitiful.

So, he decided to lean fully into his unrelenting nature. Every day at meal times, anyone who checked the thread would see Rong Ziyin’s “beastly” updates.

“Taking a break, the brother from the snack shop just brought me breakfast.”

“Taking a break, the brother from the snack shop just brought me lunch.”

“Taking a break, the brother from the snack shop just brought me dinner.”

Kung Pao chicken, Sichuan boiled pork, twice-cooked pork, sweet and sour pork, fish-flavored shredded pork—three meals a day, and every one of them was a feast.

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝