The teacher's guidance book was presented to the whole class to convince Shen Zhe. As a result, not just Ms. Bai Yu, all the students saw the answer clearly.
Everybody fell silent. They looked at each other while completely dumbfounded.
An unremarkable student like Shen Zhe had written the precise answer!
How was it possible?
More importantly… All of them had calculated that it would take at least four days for their teacher to return. How could the answer on the guidance book be so preposterous?
"This is… impossible!"
Ms. Bai Yu was visibly shaking.
She had personally calculated the answer and submitted it to the school for verification. Her answer was four days, two hours and seventeen minutes… How did it turn into four hours?
Did someone change it secretly?
She shook her head and dropped the idea.
She had been keeping the book. Not even the dean could have modified it, let alone a student.
Ding-dong!
The bell rang, marking the end of the class.
Ms. Bai Yu had a gloomy look; she closed the book, knowing that things would be even uglier if she pursued the matter further. "Something may be wrong with this book… I'll check it at the office. Let's talk about Shen Zhe's punishment in the next class. You are dismissed!"
She turned around and left the classroom.
"You figured out the answer?"
"The answer is too unbelievable…"
"Shen Zhe's answer is absolutely correct. Since when has he become so good?"
…
The classroom exploded the moment the teacher was gone.
All the students looked at Shen Zhe as if he were a monster.
They all agreed that it was barely possible for their teacher to return in four days. They all thought that Shen Zhe's answer was bulls*it, but it turned out to be correct!
The worst student in the class had solved the problem that even the best students found tricky…
Could the guidance book be wrong?
It was impossible!
The guidance book had never been wrong after all those years.
Shen Zhe was just as surprised as the rest of the students.
He was 100% certain that it was a random answer. Why was it the same as the answer in the guidance book?
"Was it because of the notebook?"
The only thing that could explain this was his seemingly useless notebook. It might have played a role!
He focused on his brain again and saw the answer he had just offered on the second page of the notebook.
The pencil next to it had been significantly shortened, down to two thirds its original size.
He was greatly shocked.
The answer was written in the notebook. Was it the reason why the answer in the guidance book was changed?
Would he easily get a hundred points in the future by writing random answers on the test paper?
Shen Zhe beamed with excitement.
The notebook seemed to have sensed his delight. There was a vibration and the word 'FORTUNE' appeared on the cover momentarily; it faded out as if it had never been there.
…
There was some distance between the office and the classroom, but Bai Yu walked very quickly due to her anxiety and arrived soon.
Director Li received her with a frown.
"Director Li, do you have the guidance book for the Class of Talents?" asked Bai Yu in a hurry.
"They're all over the place…" Director Li pointed at a corner.
There were dozens of unused books in the bookshelf. The guidance books were identical, and their contents would be revised at fixed periods of time.
Bai Yu took out a random book and turned to the page where the question was recorded.
She read the answer only to be dazed again. "How could it be?"
She took out another book and opened it.
She found the same answer after checking a couple of books: four hours, forty-four minutes, forty-four seconds and forty-four milliseconds!
But the answer she had calculated was clearly more than four days!
Unable to hold it back anymore, she turned around and asked, "Director Li, how long would it take for me to return to the school with an unconscious purple iron-toothed wolf with my current abilities?"
"You?"
Director Li pondered for a moment before replying, "Four days and two hours, probably."
"That's right… But why is the answer in the guidance book different?"
Bai Yu gave him one of the books.
Director Li was also stunned after taking a look. "How would you be able to make it back in four hours? Even I couldn't make it. Who verified this answer?"
Bai Yu said, "It was you…"
His lips twitched. He checked more guidance books and remained confused. "It was indeed me who verified it, but why is the answer so unreasonable?"
He said after considering for a moment, "Ms. Bai, why don't you check this out for real? It would be considered as a business trip. Remember to take note of the time. Calculations are often not as good as real practice."
Bai Yu nodded her head.
Practice was the only way to verify a truth.
"I'll start right now…"
Bai Yu turned around and left.
…
Shen Zhe studied the notebook in his mind at length and finally realized that it did have a special ability. Whatever answer he wrote would be taken as the correct answer in the teacher's guidance book, updating the information accordingly.
It was a matter of course that not all answers were changeable, due to certain causal links.
"So… My word is the law?"
He would never need to cheat if he used that ability, because all the answers he wrote would be correct…
"Let's see if I have other abilities."
He looked at Wang Qing.
The guy didn't offer him any help when he was asked a question moments before. That wasn't something you would expect of a loyal friend.
After considering that idea, the pencil floated and quickly wrote on the notebook, "Wang Qing is a pig!"
Hu!
The words disappeared immediately after they were written. Nothing was left.
Wang Qing was still Wang Qing the moment he turned to see him. That wasn't what he had in mind.
"Wang Qing is a piece of s*it…"
The victim remained unchanged.
"It doesn't work this way…"
He tried multiple statements, but his classmate remained absolutely the same. He shook his head.
It seemed that the notebook was not as helpful if it could only change the answers to questions and make him a good student.
Wang Qing looked at him and said, "Why are you staring at me? I didn't know the answer. Besides, the teacher was right next to us. How would I dare say anything? On the other hand, I didn't know that you had the ability to provide a standard answer…"
"I have other abilities, but I haven't figured them out yet…" Shen Zhe smiled.
He was in a good mood after avoiding the disaster.
They chit-chatted for a while. The morning classes were soon over.
Shen Zhe stretched out his arms and walked out of the classroom, heading to the cafeteria.
His home was quite far away from the school. He normally visited home twice a year and had meals at the cafeteria.
While he was enjoying his food, he heard someone calling him close by.
"Why, isn't it Shen Zhe who is no longer one of the Four Gentlemen? You're not hanging around with us anymore now that your grades improved, are you?"
Shen Zhe raised his head and saw three sulky young men before him.
"Zhao Chen, Wang Xiaofeng, and Liu Pengyue!"
The names popped up in his head.
Although he didn't have the memories of the former Shen Zhe, he managed to figure out some of his previous social connections after living in that world for three days.
There were a dozen Classes of Talents in the school, and the four of them were at the last place in four of the classes. They stood at the last four places school-wide.
They were recognized as the worst of the worst among all the students!
Every teacher found them to be a headache and wanted to expel them.
As odd as it may be, they were all descendants of major families and had influential backgrounds.
They were supposed to be excellent, but their grades ranked as the worst every time.
Since they had claimed the bottom ranks of their grade and nobody else could compete with them, they cherished each other and forged an alliance which was known as 'Society of Scums'.
Of course they didn't like the name. What's wrong with having a bad grade?
Did it make them lesser than a human being?
Did they have to be despised because of that?
They called themselves the Four Gentlemen as a counter.
Shen Zhe had always been the second to last place in the school. Surprisingly, the usual last place's Liu Pengyue submitted the test paper one minute earlier than him in the last semester. Although their test results were the same, Liu Pengyue's rank became higher than his.
Shen Zhe worked harder in that semester and kept his distance from them, since he was upset by the result, and because of the physical punishments that came with it.
"What's good about having a remarkable grade? Not everybody can be a Mage, even if you get a hundred points every time. Shen Zhe, you'd better abandon your obsession! None of us are born for this, we are all aware of that. Why do you have to give yourself such a hard time?"
Liu Pengyue approached him and patted his shoulder. "All we need to do is to sleep through classes, avoid answering questions, and to secure the last places in all exams. We will be expelled that way, so we can go back to inherit our family's wealth and marry a hundred wives. Is such an ordinary life not good?"
"They're studying so hard just to be a Mage, a Martial Artist or a Body Practitioner just to protect themselves, but the learning process is killing them. Why do we have to make ourselves suffer?" Wang Xiaofeng also comforted him.
"Join us. You're one of the Four Gentlemen!" Zhao Chen nodded.
They had been best friends for a long time, having in common their weak performances in studies.
"I…"
Shen Zhe was tempted to say yes to their offer, but he hesitated when he thought about the prospect of him being beaten to death. A girl approached them right then.
"Shen Zhe, you can't listen to them. You've worked hard for such a long time and your grades are improving. You can't give up on yourself."
He sensed the vague fragrance and saw a tall and slender girl.
It was precisely the person who had secretly given him a hint in class. Ling Xueru!