James Carter lowered his head and naturally opened the task interface. Unlike Baby Carter's last task, where the task prompt disappeared after completion, this one was still there: "Main Quest: Show Off in Public (1/15)"

"This is a chain quest!?" James Carter realized.

"Based on the host's inner desires—to stand out in public, to be the center of attention, to be cheered by girls, to shock other men—this quest is a chain quest."

"That's it, then. This kind of inner desire is endless. I'll never finish it in my lifetime."

The system didn't respond.

"James Carter!" A voice called from behind.

The three guys from dorm 303 rushed out of the classroom and caught up with him. James Carter stopped where he was.

John Thompson said, "Master, please accept my kneecaps."

David Harris: "How do you know Russian? None of us had any idea."

James Carter didn't have many strengths in this life, except for his sharp tongue—he was a master at talking nonsense and never showed it on his face. "It's not like you don't know who my dad is."

The three immediately understood. Not many people in the class knew about the father-son relationship between Professor Carter and James Carter, but James Carter hadn't hidden it from his roommates. After all, it wasn't a secret, but there was no need to broadcast it either. These days, grab any student from the student council and they might be related to some school leader or teacher.

Professor Carter was a remarkable man, fluent in Russian, English, and Japanese. So it made sense that his son knew some Russian too.

Evan Parker slapped his big palm on James Carter's shoulder, almost knocking him over. "I don't admire anyone, but I admire you."

John Thompson said animatedly, "You should've seen Emily Bolton's face—he looked at you like you killed his father."

"That slap was really painful, especially that line: 'Your Russian foundation is weak...' Now I get it—it's the quiet dogs that bite." David Harris said with a sigh.

The four of them left the teaching building and were about to head to the cafeteria together when James Carter's phone buzzed. He took it out and saw a text: "Waiting for you on the second floor of the cafeteria."

Contact name: "Old Man"

James Carter calmly put his phone back in his pocket, walked to the cafeteria entrance, and waved to his roommates. "My dad asked me to eat with him. You guys go ahead. Let's meet at the cafeteria entrance later and play some games together."

The second floor was the faculty cafeteria. There were noticeably fewer people than on the first floor—not too deserted, but not crowded either. The environment was nice, and more importantly, the food was on a whole different level. The old man was a rather strict and serious person; he wouldn't bring his son here for a better meal every few days, nor did he play favorites. Usually, it was James Carter shamelessly tagging along to get a free meal.

James Carter picked a seat by the window and waited quietly.

Ten minutes later, the dignified old man strolled up to the second floor, glanced around, and headed to the food counter, smiling and greeting teachers he knew along the way.

A moment later, he sat down across from James Carter with his tray—two meat dishes, two vegetables, a soup, and two bowls of rice. The portions were generous, and the presentation was much more refined than the students' cafeteria food.

The old man didn't have any particular table manners and didn't care about not talking while eating or sleeping, but he ate slowly and chewed carefully, which made him look especially elegant. However, neither of his children inherited this trait. Usually, he and Baby Carter would hold their bowls, lie on the sofa, eat while watching TV, and sometimes even fight over food. If this happened at home, the old man would flip the table.

"When did you learn Russian?" The old man took a bite, chewed slowly, and asked as if it was just a casual question.

Here it comes!

James Carter lowered his head and shoveled rice into his mouth, his mind racing. In the next second, he came up with an answer: "I've been learning for more than half a year. Whenever I have free time, I go to the foreign languages department to sit in on classes. If I'm not in class, I watch videos at home and practice pronunciation. Russian is actually pretty interesting. I like it more than English. I figured, after graduation, with just this mediocre bachelor's degree, there isn't much to look forward to, so I wanted to prepare early. The more skills, the better, right?"

What he really wanted to say was: exchanged a hundred points, instant mastery!

This time, the task was: "Translate this Russian passage and suppress Emily Bolton's arrogance, achieving a shocking effect in the room!"

There were no task items, so he could only spend points to exchange for "Russian Mastery." Luckily, he had already explored the points shop in depth, so he quickly found the language section and chose to exchange for Intermediate Russian Mastery. The task reward was two hundred points, so after deducting the points he spent, he only earned a hundred points.

"It's good that you have this insight... What do you mean by 'mediocre degree'?" The old man was originally full of pride, but suddenly realized something was off in his son's words—he was a professor at the very school that issued that "mediocre degree."

James Carter pretended not to hear.

"How's your sister doing lately?"

"She's fine. Goes to work and comes home on time every day. After dinner, she watches some TV, plays on the computer, and always goes to bed before eleven. On weekends, we go out, have some coffee, and sometimes eat hotpot." James Carter added silently in his heart: "And then we play games and rank up."

James Carter needed to report on his sister's situation to the old man from time to time. Although his sister was very smart, she was too carefree in life. Even at twenty-five, their parents still worried about her. James Carter, on the other hand, was a failure in terms of intelligence, but he'd always been a good kid—steady and mature, and their parents never had to worry about him.