During last night’s dinner, Tan Wenbin mentioned that there would be a lottery event at the square in Shigang Town this weekend. Though the lottery industry has been established for only a few years on the mainland, the lottery craze has spread widely, with formats that are very accessible to the common people.
A big venue, with vendors lined up on both sides wearing matching outfits, and a bustling crowd milling about. People could buy tickets individually or in boxes. Once they purchased their tickets, they could scratch off the lottery tickets right there to claim their prizes. The grand prize is usually a small car displayed prominently at the highest point.
Li Zhuiyuan felt that every night before he fell asleep, it was like holding a lottery ticket in his hands, waiting to wake up to the moment he could claim his reward. Furthermore, there was always a decent consolation prize, along with occasional surprises.
For instance, this morning, upon waking up, he saw Ah Li wearing a dark gold-patterned skirt paired with a white top, which made her look both spirited and exquisite. Perhaps sensing his fondness, she had been wearing skirts more often lately. This was even the result of Grandma Liu Yumei’s heartfelt advice: “Oh, my granddaughter, he may like you, but you can’t wear the same style every day. It gets boring.”
In the room, a large table was set with paper, writing instruments, and various colors of paint. These were all brought directly from Liu Yumei's places. The paper and pens were no ordinary items – even the paint was made using ancient methods. Liu Yumei wasn’t picky about food, but the everyday items she used in life were all rare treasures, some even classified as antiques. Of course, she might not see this as extravagance, as she had lived this way her entire life.
The past gifts she gave were either jade rings or earrings, and the money she spent on gifts was nothing to her; she was not trying to flaunt wealth. The difference between flaunting and being generous lies in the intention to give wholeheartedly.
At this moment, Ah Li was busy painting. She didn’t have to wake up early to wait for the boy to get up. Li Zhuiyuan got up and stretched lazily. The girl glanced over at him, tilting her head slightly.
Li Zhuiyuan smiled, got out of bed to wash his face, and on his way back with a basin, he caught Grandma Liu Yumei waving at him.
“Grandma Liu.”
“Come, let Grandma appreciate your artwork.”
“Okay, Grandma.”
Liu Yumei smiled as she settled down. She planned to teach Ah Li the “Liu Family’s Qi Watching Technique” only after the girl had fully recovered from her illness. However, skills like playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting were not a problem to teach.
No, the boy didn’t need help with chess as he played better than she did. Li Zhuiyuan brought down two paintings and laid them out on the tea table. One was freshly completed by himself, while the other was painted by Ah Li.
Both paintings portrayed the morning scene from the second-floor balcony, gazing out over the countryside. It was this very sight that inspired Li Zhuiyuan to learn painting. Liu Yumei glanced over the paintings, furrowing her brow slightly as she spoke:
“If it were an average teacher, they might give you a genius-like evaluation because the painting is quite good.”
“Grandma, please instruct me.”
“But here lies the problem. Your technique closely mimics Ah Li’s style, making it hard to distinguish between the two, but your expression comes off too relaxed, almost forced. At first glance, it seems nice, but after careful consideration, it reveals a heavy craft bias.”
“You’re right, Grandma. This is indeed my flaw.”
Although both paintings depicted the same scene, Ah Li’s style appeared alive while his seemed kind of stiff despite creating the impression of motion.
“In painting and calligraphy, many people spend their lives focusing on technique. However, true masters explore new methods and variations, infusing their work with emotions,” Liu Yumei said.
Li Zhuiyuan looked a bit downcast.
“You are still young; creating work like this is already quite remarkable. There's no need to force inspiration upon yourself.”
“Thank you for your guidance.”
“Guidance is an overstatement. Because of you, I spoke more harshly; in fact, it’s just nitpicking.”
Li Zhuiyuan smiled and packed up the paintings. At that moment, Aunt Liu came out and announced, “Breakfast is ready!”
He sat down and reached for a salty duck egg to peel for Ah Li, only to be interrupted as the girl grabbed it first.
When trying to get another one, she took that one too.
After a short while, she finally peeled one and handed it to him. Although his eye condition had improved, some habits from before made it tough for her to revert.
As Li Zhuiyuan ate, he contemplated Grandma Liu’s words. After a month of learning, his painting skills were good enough to compete for a prize, especially in the youth division. However, when placed by the truly skilled, his work felt clunky compared to those older artists who specialized in copy paintings.
If he continued, he would eventually become a well-known master forgeries artist in the country. But how could he infuse emotion into his work? Perhaps it was an issue of scenery. Should he simply find a new subject to paint?
As he looked at Ah Li meticulously picking the duck egg, a thought struck him.
“Ah… ah… ah…”
Tan Wenbin’s yawn echoed loudly.
His father allowed him to stay here and even permitted him to accompany Li Zhuiyuan to and from school instead of attending morning and evening study sessions. However, he didn’t feel as relaxed as one might think.
No matter how hard he tried with his homework, he couldn’t match the speed at which Li Zhuiyuan posed questions for him. Moreover, he could feel that Li Zhuiyuan was also improving in his questioning techniques.
At first, they were challenging for Tan Wenbin, but now they had become a mix of easy and hard questions. Some of the problems he could tell were deliberately set to encourage him to think deeply to find joy in figuring them out.
Although he recognized this, he was genuinely enjoying the process. He felt like a small loach, being playfully manipulated in Li Zhuiyuan's hands, and he was quite pleased with it.
The only regret was that the past month had been too quiet without any deaths. He had asked Runsheng if it had been like this before he arrived.
Runsheng replied that he had also been puzzled as to why there were so many deaths in the village, but after Tan Wenbin showed up, it all returned to normal.
This made Tan Wenbin feel a bit guilty, believing his presence had disrupted the balance.
However, Li Zhuiyuan found no boredom in it at all. His primary focus was on painting and studying the “Right Path to Subdue Demons” while also delving into the artifacts left behind by the dwarf father and son.
The boy felt quite fulfilled in this moment. A moderate frequency of deaths would probably be better; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to tolerate the white-haired mother today, the fish pond peelings tomorrow.
Li Sanjiang had been quietly finishing his porridge for breakfast.
After the meal, Runsheng wheeled out a tricycle.
There were two small stools on it, both wrapped in cloth.
Tan Wenbin pushed out his bicycle.
The last ride back home after school had been a torturous experience; he felt he should have been under the bike rather than on it.
“Great-grandfather.” Li Zhuiyuan didn’t rush to get in the vehicle but walked over to Li Sanjiang with a slightly shy yet expectant demeanor.
“Ha ha, I understand.”
Li Sanjiang pulled out some money; it wasn’t much, at least far less than what he used to give his great-grandson in large wads. However, as pocket money, it was eye-catching to most rural and even urban children.
When it came to spending, Li Sanjiang was usually generous, especially with Li Zhuiyuan.
“Ha ha.”
Li Zhuiyuan accepted his pocket money for the day.
He had turned down Great-grandfather’s offer of a month’s allowance all at once because he preferred a little every day, bringing a bit more joy to his great-grandfather.
This way, he could also have more opportunities to enjoy happy emotions.
Climbing aboard the tricycle with Ah Li, they drove down the slope.
The girl insisted on picking him up and dropping him off at school every day.
Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Grandma Liu hadn’t sent Aunt Liu along, nor had she sent away Qin Shu, who had long departed.
She truly let her granddaughter go off like this, knowing what would benefit her in the long run.
However, with Runsheng providing protection, Ah Li wouldn’t encounter much danger.
No, even without Runsheng, it seems Ah Li wouldn’t get into much trouble; Runsheng mostly protected others who might want to get too close to her from causing real harm.
The entrance to the high school was always bustling in the mornings and evenings, with street vendors lining up along the school gate ready for business.
Sometimes Li Zhuiyuan would buy some steamed buns or fried dumplings to share with Ah Li.
Mostly just to try something new, since they had already eaten breakfast at home.
Or he would buy small trinkets for Ah Li to help fill her collection box.
Liu Yumei had told Li Zhuiyuan that every night before going to bed, Ah Li would squat by her collection box and carefully organize her treasures one by one.
Unfortunately, Ah Li couldn’t attend school.
She was now no longer resistant to family members, such as Great-grandfather, Tan Wenbin, or Runsheng; she was not unfriendly and could even restrain herself around familiar faces like Li Weihan, Cui Guiying, and others who often visited.
But to have her in a classroom full of students was something she couldn’t accept.
Most importantly, Ah Li showed no interest in school life, nor did she yearn for friends or companions. The traditional savior perspective held no meaning for her.
In fact, she perhaps held no thoughts about this world; she only liked this “new world” that she encountered through the boy.
After waving goodbye to Runsheng, Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin followed the crowd of middle school students into the school gate.
High school students began their self-study sessions earlier, so besides those living too close, most high school students, especially seniors, chose to live on campus.
Tan Wenbin had stayed in the dorms before but returned home after getting into fights.
As they walked into the high school teaching building, class had already begun, leaving only the teacher’s voice echoing in the quiet.
Tan Wenbin casually swung his bangs, carrying his backpack with style, enjoying the feeling of being unique.
Even when encountering other teachers or the principal, he didn’t feel intimidated; after all, they were all quite kind to him.
This also made them nod at him in greeting.
In truth, only Tan Yunlong and his wife still hoped for their son to possess some of the genius traits of literary stars, while the school leaders and teachers found sacrificing a Tan Wenbin worth it if it ensured a provincial champion in exchange.
Li Zhuiyuan arrived at the classroom door just as Teacher Su was finishing up with some fill-in-the-blank questions.
Teacher Su waved at Li Zhuiyuan with a smile.
Li Zhuiyuan returned a shy smile.
He didn’t have to call out “report” to avoid disrupting his classmates; instead, he directly entered the classroom. Tan Wenbin sat at a desk inside first, with Li Zhuiyuan taking the seat next to him.
Pulling out “Right Path to Subdue Demons,” Li Zhuiyuan began to read.
In an English context, this “classical work” exuded an alluring fragrance.
However, after sitting for a month, he found he really didn’t like the seat at the front row by the door.
Because every time classmates walked by, they would intentionally slow down to look at him, even though he had been cautious not to engage with them.
Students from other classes seemed to treat this route as a break area, even though their homeroom was right in the middle, not a mandatory path to the restroom.
The teachers were even more exaggerated; they preferred to take a detour to return to this spot before class, pausing at the windows or doors to smile kindly, as if watering the orchids they had planted daily.
Due to his presence, the frequency of visits by the dean and principal had shot up; they didn’t have to wait for class breaks, so students in class were now too frightened to read martial arts novels or whisper.
Occasionally raising their heads would lead to a somewhat horrifying encounter, which had now turned into a grim reality facing life.
Li Zhuiyuan genuinely preferred the last row in this classroom, right by the door. It was spacious, without a trash can here but rather positioned behind the inner row.
From a feng shui perspective, sitting here allowed one to observe the world – a true hidden dragon in the depths.
Furthermore, the positions to the side of the teacher’s desk served as protectors.
Previously, Tan Wenbin had been on the right side, but that side faced the classroom door and was less advantageous, prone to unexpected disturbances.
The better position was the left protector, screened by the podium, receiving the emperor’s favor down upon the populace.
However, with the class size of over seventy students, when he was attending in his earlier years, there hadn’t been as many, and classes would be rearranged each semester, causing some students to fall behind or leave due to illness.
As the bell for morning self-study rang, the English lesson came to an end.
The high school schedule consisted of four classes in the morning and four afternoons.
But morning study could be split into two thirty-minute classes, with one hour for lunch study and four one-hour classes for evening study.
On the timetable, all self-study classes were marked with subjects, and the school required teachers to attend those periods.
With such an intense schedule, Li Zhuiyuan was startled; had they followed this kind of timetable back then, neither he nor his classmates would have coped, nor would the professors manage it eagerly.
During the break, students began quickly packing their stationery.
Curious, Li Zhuiyuan asked, “What's going on, Wenbin?”
“Today is the monthly exam; didn’t you know?” Tan Wenbin replied as he packed up his supplies.
After glancing at the cover of the book in Li Zhuiyuan's hand, he paused briefly, “It’s normal if you don’t know.”
After a month of school, it was time for the first monthly test.
To prevent cheating, students from the senior and junior years mixed together for the exam, with students taking seats in different classrooms according to their exam numbers.
In fact, at this stage, cheating among seniors was quite meaningless – sheer self-deception, yet reality often contradicted this, as many high schoolers would still attempt to cheat just to secure a decent score.
At this moment, homeroom teacher Sun Qing walked in and asked, “Xiao Yuan, are you going to take the monthly exam or sit with me in my office?”
“I’ll take it, but could you please give me all the subjects’ papers at the first exam?”
“Okay, no problem. I’ll go get them for you.”
Li Zhuiyuan was aware of what the school wanted from him – to make things smoother for others and himself, he still needed to attend this big exam.
One reason was to ensure that teachers remained warm and friendly towards him even if he continued to not attend classes or complete assignments, and the second was to help Tan Wenbin test the waters to make it easier to pose questions for him later.
He indeed found it a challenge to teach others how to learn; hence, he was learning himself.
Li Zhuiyuan stood and went to check his exam number on the front wall.
“Brother, your number is still in place.”
“Oh.”
Li Zhuiyuan returned to his seat.
Tan Wenbin went to take the first seat in the left row.
Previously, he had read a saying in a magazine: unless you were handsome enough, you would never experience how proactive girls could be.
Now, he wanted to add: as long as your grades are good enough, the school would be equally unrestrained as well.
The first exam was math, proctored by their class math teacher, Mr. Yan.
Upon distributing the test papers, Mr. Yan placed the rest of the subject papers on Li Zhuiyuan's table, gently patting Li Zhuiyuan on the shoulder with a smile, “You can do the math, and choose any other subjects.”
“Okay.”
Then, Mr. Yan placed his tea cup on the boy's desk, “New cup, freshly brewed tea.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
The neighboring high school student allocated to the exam room looked on in horror at this scene.
As the test began, watching the little boy next to him write answers so quickly made him feel a bit overwhelmed.
Even if the answers were presented in front of him, he couldn’t keep up with that speed, could he?
Li Zhuiyuan quickly finished the math test, picking up the physics test next to write his answers.
Mr. Yan walked down, picked up the math paper, and took out a red pen to start grading.
He looked quite pleased, feeling that the boy had maintained his humility and pursuit of progress without becoming arrogant due to good results.
Look, this time he didn’t resort to solutions beyond the prescribed syllabus for the big topics, and for every answer, he wrote “Solve” before it.
When he reached the end of the Chinese exam, Li Zhuiyuan paused for a moment.
The essay topic was: maternal love.
But he only paused briefly before writing a standard essay on maternal love, with Li Lan depicted as incredibly loving and great, serving as his good example.
The only thing he couldn’t manage was the English listening section, so he skipped that.
Li Zhuiyuan checked the title of his test papers before standing up and handing all the papers to Mr. Yan.
“Are your hands sore?” “A bit.”
“I told you not to write so much.” Mr. Yan reproached him, “Go take a breather in my office, sleep for a bit?”
“I’ll go to the principal's office.”
“That’s fair, it’s quieter there. Remember to come back for a brief session on some questions during lunch study.”
“Sure, Mr. Yan.”
Li Zhuiyuan stood at the podium, looking down at Tan Wenbin sitting at his table. He had already moved on to the problem-solving portion, and he was writing steadily without many pauses while avoiding chewing on his nails.
Returning to his desk, Li Zhuiyuan picked up a book and left the exam room, heading straight to the principal's office.
When he reached the door, he heard quite a bit of noise from within. He initially planned to leave and find another office.
But amid those voices, he recognized Li Sanjiang, Li Weihan, and Cui Guiying.
He understood why his great-grandfather and grandparents were there; it was because he mentioned he was attending the senior year, and Tan Wenbin had corroborated this, even confirming that Lei Zi, Pan Zi, Ying Zi, and others had supported this as well.
However, for the elders, it remained a mystery, so they formed a team and intentionally visited the school today to witness things for themselves.
After entering, they were invited into the principal's office by Principal Wu.
No wonder his great-grandfather had been so quiet during breakfast today.
A reflex drove Li Zhuiyuan to turn to leave, knowing what would occur once he entered—delight and comfort from the elders and praises and encouragement from Principal Wu.
He craved to avoid the predictable routine.
Yet at that moment, the footsteps of Li Lan echoed in his mind, and he realized he and she were ultimately different.
This instinct regarding illness wasn’t too hard to overcome.
Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the principal’s office door. The elders, seeing him, all stood and watched the child as Li Zhuiyuan approached them, smiling as they embraced him.
Principal Wu offered many encouraging words. Li Zhuiyuan kept his head slightly bowed, appropriately shy.
After confirming this, the elders soon left. Li Zhuiyuan turned to look at the three grandparents moving towards the school gate below.
Great-grandfather had his hands on his waist, striding like an envoy exiting a stage.
Li Weihan, with his water pipe slung over his shoulder, who had once been calm and honest, was now slightly trembling with excitement.
Cui Guiying clutched a handkerchief, laughing while wiping her tears.
Li Zhuiyuan was relieved he hadn’t chosen to turn away just now.
Reminded of the essay he’d just written, he recognized that imitating Li Lan previously might have been an error; he should have treated her as a reverse example from which to learn.
Had he realized this sooner, perhaps his condition wouldn’t have developed this severely at such an early age.
“Xiao Yuan, your grandparents couldn’t even believe you’re in senior year now, ha ha,”
Wu Xinhang pulled the boy back into the office, letting him see the desk while clearing it for him to read and even popping out drinks and chocolates from his drawer.
He understood that the boy would be taking the monthly exam, which was excellent, regularly reassuring everyone.
Moreover, he was also aware that the boy was a teaching assistant in the Olympiad class.
Li Zhuiyuan picked up Wei Zhengdao to read.
The principal sat across from him, looking through documents. When he wanted to smoke, he would step outside for a quick smoke and return after.
As the bell ringing for the conclusion of the second exam in the morning rang, Li Zhuiyuan declined the principal's invitation to join a special lunch in the cafeteria.
At the school gate, he waited for Tan Wenbin, who still had Zheng Haiyang with him.
Though the three usually consumed takeout, they were not often eating things like stir-fried dishes daily; noodle and egg fried rice were the mainstays. Of course, even that was a luxury only affordable to dual-income families nowadays.
Most of the students hailed from rural backgrounds; many wouldn’t even visit the cafeteria, opting to eat the dry food brought from home in their dorms.
Salty vegetables and noodles were commonly their provisions, and quite often, they would share each other’s mothers’ cooking skills.
Tan Wenbin had become wealthier since following Li Zhuiyuan, with his parents boosting his allowance significantly, while Zheng Haiyang was even wealthier. Otherwise, those ruffians wouldn’t have the nerve to extort him.
In these times, seamen earned good salaries, often coupled with plentiful external income; gauging strictly from spending money, Tan Wenbin couldn’t hold a candle to Zheng Haiyang.
Tan Wenbin ordered five bowls of noodles, intending to eat one on his own and two in his head.
Zheng Haiyang first bought three bottles of soda and ordered three fried eggs, three lion's heads, and three chicken legs.
He was quite excited to join in their fun, as Runsheng had beaten up that gang terribly last time, and none dared trouble him lately, especially with Li Zhuiyuan’s standing in school.
“Brother Yuan, Brother Bin, I had a dream yesterday.”
Zheng Haiyang imitated Tan Wenbin by addressing Li Zhuiyuan as “brother.”
“What kind of dream?” Tan Wenbin asked with a mouthful of chicken leg.
“I dreamt my dad took me on a treasure hunt. It felt so real!”
“Isn’t your dad out at sea?”
“Yeah, diving to search for treasures. There were several sunken ships down there filled with gold, silver, and jewels.”
“Oh, how much did you recover?”
“I didn’t get much; just as I was about to grab them, I woke up.”
“What sort of dream is that? You should have at least gotten some gold and jewels! After getting to shore, you could have enjoyed it well!”
“Ha ha ha,” Zheng Haiyang scratched his head.
Tan Wenbin turned to Li Zhuiyuan, “Can this dream be interpreted?”
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, sipping his noodle soup. “I can’t interpret dreams.”
“Oh, that makes sense then. This dream sounds too extravagant; you must really want to get rich. Your family is in good shape, why do you still crave money so much?”
“Maybe it’s because I’m scared after being threatened by those ruffians; not having money means beatings, right?”
While continuing to eat, Li Zhuiyuan actually could interpret dreams. Compared to fortune telling, dream interpretation was a beginner's level task.
Most people dream about what they think about during the day.
Excluding the rare cases of those who truly feel something serious.
The most typical examples were prenatal dreams that might not be experienced directly by the pregnant woman but could occur through her relatives.
Another instance was dreams occurring when a relative passed away; people might find themselves dreaming about it the night they passed, unaware of the reality.
Sunken ships, the seabed, gold and silver, a father leading a search for treasure that ends unfinished...
Careers, risks, goodbyes… all ingredients were present.
In ancient times, when communication and roads were underdeveloped, once children dreamt such dreams when distant from relatives, they would either return home immediately or prepare for mourning.
Many stories recorded by literati featured similar plots; they placed great importance on this, as it related to their careers during times of sorrow.
Nevertheless, he generally refrained from delving deeply into such topics as he had been trained not to meddle in fortune telling.
Suddenly, Zheng Haiyang remarked thoughtfully, “Xiao Yuan, is everything alright?”
He was introverted, but introverts often think deeply. His previous words had been a prelude.
Li Zhuiyuan raised an eyebrow, “What?”
“I asked my neighbors, and their grandparents said this dream wasn’t a good omen, urging me to dream of something better.”
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head firmly, “It’s superstition; all those things are deceitful.”
“Pff…”
Tan Wenbin splurted out his noodles upon hearing this, even expelling two pieces through his nose.
Immediately ducking his head, he grabbed a tissue to clean up. If he hadn’t witnessed you arranging Feng Shui that ended the lives of those dwarf father and son, he might have believed you!
“Ha ha.” Zheng Haiyang’s face lit up with a grin. “How did you do in the exams this morning?”
Tan Wenbin interjected, “Except for English, I should have done well in the others.”
“Ah, did we have English this morning?”
“When we were doing math, he had already completed all his exams. Speaking of which, why didn’t you ask how I did?”
“Then how did you perform, Bin?”
“I don’t know. During past exams, it often felt like a lot of the questions recognized me, but now it feels rather familiar, like meeting an old friend.”
“So is it good or bad?”
“I’m not sure; I’m worried it might turn against me.”
“Huh?”
“We’ll see when the specific scores come out. I’m not certain whether I performed right or not, but I managed to answer everything, including the last big questions in math and physics.”
“Bin, it’s not like Chinese; writing everything down doesn’t guarantee points.”
“Go away; you don’t need to teach me that!”
After lunch, the three returned to school, with three more tests in the afternoon—while the self-study time would run as regular classes.
Li Zhuiyuan didn’t go back to the classroom but instead headed towards a small classroom usually not in session.
Inside were already over ten students, a mix of seniors and juniors, all selected by the math department teachers to prepare for the city’s Olympiad competition.
These days, the enthusiasm for math competitions was booming on the mainland, and if one made it through various rounds to achieve a good ranking, it would provide a huge advantage for college applications.
Li Zhuiyuan had originally been invited by Mr. Yan to join to study for the competition, but a few days later, several math teachers requested him to set questions.
Since the competition questions were both challenging and flexible, when he first entered the group, he frequently witnessed students and teachers brainstorming intensely together.
He quickly realized that he was like a full man unaware of the hunger of those who lacked; his learning conditions were very favorable, but this was limited to big cities.
Looking across the nation, the market for educational competition materials was just beginning to take shape; many schools struggled to obtain the simulated papers from larger institutions for their students.
On the blackboard were questions Li Zhuiyuan wrote down yesterday, half of which had been ticked off.
Li Zhuiyuan took up the chalk and began writing down the solution process below the unmarked questions.
Soon the students and teachers below revealed looks of enlightenment, continually proclaiming, “Oh, so that’s how it is!”
Li Zhuiyuan found it to be quite effortless; teaching them was much easier than teaching Tan Wenbin, as he didn’t need to ensure the steps were overly detailed or manage a balance of difficulty while protecting the students' motivation to learn.
Even if some struggled to understand the process, they would ask those beside them, and if they still struggled, it wouldn’t matter much as he could be removed to return to the regular class.
After erasing the questions, Li Zhuiyuan continued to set more.
The teachers and students below began to copy; unless it was right before a competition, everyone else typically had teaching or study tasks and thus couldn’t spend all their time in the classrooms.
Outside, Principal Wu made a quiet visit to the small classroom with several associate principals and directors, peeking in to observe.
Watching the small figure standing on a stool writing on the blackboard brought smiles of joy to their faces, as if they had dug up oil from their land.
“I think in this city competition, our school should be able to excel in a few cases.”
“I believe at least one will definitely surpass…”
“Do you think that the one performing well could likely take the top spot in the city?”
Nantong was already a prominent city for education, with six counties and a city housing reputable schools.
However, even within this county, the school wasn’t among the top tier, meaning they started with significantly higher difficulties.
Wu Xinhang stroked his chin, feeling quite gratified for his effort to serve as a driver to invite students to join.
In previous meetings, he would watch them affect a facade of humility while sparring among themselves with sarcastic tones; he had drafted many rebuttals himself, it seemed this time was his chance to shine.
At that moment, a nearby director appeared a little overjoyed, a bit tipsy, muttering, “Doesn’t this count as an immigration for the gao kao (college entrance exams)?”
Several colleagues nearby aimed bewildered glances at him.
Wu Xinhang laughed, foreseeing the future sarcasm well enough: “Who would intentionally immigrate from Jing to Jiangsu just to take college exams?”
Pausing momentarily, he added, “You smart aleck, why don’t you transport coal from Northeast to Shanxi for sale instead?”
The director quickly raised his hand to explain, “I meant this kind of joy.”
After finishing the Olympiad study session, Li Zhuiyuan returned to the principal’s office.
He saw the principal and two PE teachers setting up curtains, behind them was an old spring bed.
“Xiao Yuan, you’ll be resting here in the future, the desks in the classroom are too hard.”
After finishing the afternoon exam, with still some time left until the end of school, Li Zhuiyuan returned to the classroom.
In the class, everyone appearing drained after a long day of exams seemed lifeless.
Even Tan Wenbin was letting his head droop.
However, there were still exams in the evening, so to save time, they would finish all the tests today.
This also meant that Tan Wenbin wouldn’t be returning home with him that night.
“Brother Bin, are you returning home tonight?”
“No, after the evening exam, I’ll go to Zhuangzhuang’s house.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll wait for the scores from the monthly tests to come out before heading back.” Tan Wenbin stretched his neck, flipping through a book to memorize the key points.
After a while of studying, he lowered his head again, rubbing his belly; he was likely hungry and his mind was going blank.
Li Zhuiyuan pulled out some chocolate from his pocket and handed it to him.
“Eh?” Tan Wenbin quickly took it, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into his mouth, “Where did you get this?”
“From the principal’s office, heh heh.”
“Don’t lie; it genuinely tastes good. No wonder it’s blessed by the principal.”
As he spoke, Tan Wenbin raised an arm to make a basket-like throw, tossing the chocolate towards Zheng Haiyang, hitting him squarely on the head and startling him, making him laugh only once he realized it was just chocolate.
The class monitor turned her head at the noise with a glare.
Tan Wenbin didn’t flinch, returning the gaze defiantly.
Come on, if he were afraid of the class monitor, how could he still call himself the right protector?
After that, Tan Wenbin made another toss.
“Ding-dong!” the chocolate landed perfectly on the class monitor’s desk.
Her face flushed with embarrassment instantly.
Classmates around her exclaimed, “Wow~”
However, Tan Wenbin was entirely oblivious; after tossing, he lowered his head and asked Li Zhuiyuan, “Brother Yuan, aren’t you anxious about not seeing any deaths recently?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t you like seeing deaths the most?”
“Um, if I can’t encounter them, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Not going out to look for them? You go to school every day; they can’t possibly come to school to check on you—they’re not leaders.”
“Last time my eyes were problematic.”
“Ah, isn’t that better now?”
“Great-grandfather worries.”
“Oh, I see.” Tan Wenbin nodded, “Indeed, then let’s just leave it to fate.”
“Dinglingling!!!”
The school bell rang for dismissal.
Students forced themselves to stand, trudging out of the classroom in search of food, knowing there were still several tests awaiting them, they all appeared lifeless, like marionettes.
“Brother Bin, can I borrow a few books and papers to take home?”
“Planning to set up an offering table for good luck with the monthly exam results?”
“It’s for Ah Li.”
“Okay, I’ll get them for you. I’ll help carry them since I have to grab food with Haiyang at the school gate, and it’ll be convenient to deliver them to Runsheng. Haiyang, Haiyang, why are you still sitting there? Let’s eat!”
By then, everyone had left the classroom, leaving only Zheng Haiyang leaning on the desk.
Tan Wenbin walked over, patting his back, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? You seemed fine a moment ago.”
Unexpectedly, that one pat caused a squelching sound.
Zheng Haiyang reflexively straightened up, his face white as a sheet, water pouring from his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.
Even under him was a puddle of water that kept expanding rapidly.
He looked pale and dazed, the next moment, like a drowning person, he raised his neck and shouted, “There’s a turtle buried beneath the sea; who dares to disturb it will doom their entire family!”
(The chapter ends)