As expected, after the tournament, there was a heady atmosphere in my classroom. My classmates continued to be in a buoyant mood, congratulating Jin Bai He on her championship. I also felt happy for her. This was the last time she would be participating in a high school tournament, and what better way to bow out than winning the trophy?
Embarrassed, Jin Bai He stuck to her best friend, Shi Xiao Nian. The shorter girl continued to doodle away, drawing cartoons, deliberately paying her best friend no attention. Until Jin Bai He began to complain, she focused on her scrapbook in front of her.
"You should just accept their congratulations," Shi Xiao Nian told Jin Bai He with a smile. "You deserve it, after all the work you put in."
After class, I headed to the library. If I wanted to perform well in my examinations, the only way was to study hard and work diligently.
Before I looked for a desk, I picked up a bunch of books from the shelves that were supposed to help me with studying for the exams. Then I continued moving down the aisle to look for more relevant titles. And irrelevant titles, because I gave into temptation and grabbed a couple of light novels as well as How to Write guides. I probably didn't have the time to read all of them, but I could just borrow them and read them at home later. This was called flexibility.
While I scanned the shelves, I caught sight of an interesting title. It was a book on Daoist practices and mythical sects. For a moment, I paused and stared at it. Then I decided to check the book out. It was a long shot, but Kai Li Si did say there were cultivators in this world as well. Maybe they wrote books on the subject. If that was the case, then this book might provide some useful information. Perhaps not on Heaven and Earth Formula specifically, but at least a glimpse into the secret world of cultivation.
After getting a bunch of books that I deemed useful for studying, I found an empty table and settled down on it. With the exams drawing near, it was only natural that the library was full. Normally, I would have preferred to study at home, but today I had come to the library for one reason.
"Hey, Shu Cong."
I looked up and caught sight of Jin Bai He and Shi Xiao Nian approaching me. They were carrying a bunch of books.
"Oh, hey. Are you guys here to study as well?"
"Actually, we already studied," Jin Bai He replied. "We're just about to leave."
"I was thinking it's better to study at home," Shi Xiao Nian agreed. She shuddered. "What with all the incidents involving those other poor girls…and we're not allowed to stay in school for too long."
"It's okay," Jin Bai He assured her and hugged her. "I'll protect you if any idiot dares to attack you, Xiao Nian!"
"Thank you, Bai He." Shi Xiao Nian smiled. Then she turned to me. "You want to join us? I'm holding a study party with the other girls."
"Uh, I think I'm fine here. I'm waiting for Tong Xue, actually, so I can't go.���
That was a good reason, but even if I didn't have an appointment with Tong Xue, I wouldn't have accepted the invitation. It would super awkward for me to go to a girl's home, with everyone else being female.
"You girls, stay safe. The police has yet to catch the culprit yet, so it's best to go home early. Don't stay in school too late."
"Okay then." Jin Bai He was about to leave but she caught sight of one of the books I had taken. She stared at it. "Huh? That English book…"
"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" I asked. "What about it?"
"I didn't know it would be on the exams."
"It isn't, I just took it for fun." I shrugged. "I'm thinking of doing Literature in university, so I decided to pick it up, to improve my grades in English."
"That makes sense." Shi Xiao Nian nodded before tugging Jin Bai He's arm. "We won't disturb you then. We'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay." I nodded and watched them leave before returning to my books. A few minutes later…
"Ah, Shu Cong, here you are."
I glanced up as Tong Xue hurried over, looking a little sheepish. He sat down opposite me, leaning in his chair and sighing heavily.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Usual high school drama." Tong Xue waved my concern away. "Anyway, thanks for agreeing to help me out."
"Wouldn't Ban Zhang or one of the others be better?"
"Come on, you're one of the better students in class. Aren't you good at math and history? Help me out here!"
I shrugged. Yeah, I was studious and scored above average, but that didn't make me one of the better students in class. Okay, maybe I ranked among the top ten, but there was nothing impressive about being top ten in a class of about forty students.
"What do you need help with, in particular? I'll put it out here, I'm bad at integration and matrices."
"Ah, just factorization, differentiation and trigonometry. I remember you're pretty good at trigonometry, right?"
It was just a matter of remembering which was sin, cos and tan. That was all. As long as you had the angles and lengths of the triangles, it was pretty easy. I treated it like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.
Apparently, Tong Xue didn't, and he pondered and scowled over the various equations. I helped him as best as I could, explaining quadratic equations, and struggling alongside him with integration.
"Ugh…! This is so hard!"
"I know, right?" I sighed wearily. "I'll be glad once I don't have to do all this after we get into university."
Tong Xue snorted. "I don't want to hear that from you! You always get an A for math!"
"The secret is practice, practice and more practice," I replied sternly. And then paused for a moment.
Come to think of it, that was the exact same formula for martial arts. Even though I had yet to find a sect that could teach me more techniques, I knew the only way to progress was unending practice. If I still couldn't grasp the next stage, then I would have to practice some more. And then practice again. Until I could practice no longer.
Perseverance and practice. That was key to mastering anything, whether it was math, history, language, art, sports, martial arts or cultivation. The more I practiced, the better I would become at it.
"Ugh! I can't take it anymore! My mind's going to blow up!" Tong Xue was clutching his head and doing his best to keep his voice low so that he wouldn't disturb others in the quiet library. He watched me in disbelief as I continued to read the workbooks and practiced writing essays according to the template. "How are you still doing this?"
"Discipline and sheer fucking will," I replied without pausing in my writing.
"Man, I don't know where you get that discipline and iron will from." Tong Xue shook his head. I didn't tell him that practicing martial arts contributed to it. He wouldn't listen to my advice. "Anyway, I need a break. I'm going to get a drink. Want one?"
"No, I don't. Go ahead."
"Later." Tong Xue rose to his feet, stretched himself, and then departed. I barely spared him a glance because I was engrossed in practicing for the Gao Kao, but I somehow managed a wave.
Finally…I had some time to myself, time I could spend studying peacefully. At least, that was what I thought, but there was a sudden furor in the library.
At the sudden commotion, I found myself looking up in exasperation, wondering what the fuss was about this time. The students in the library were making a ruckus as they all turned toward a specific direction.
"Look!"
"She's here!"
"Why is she in the library?"
"Isn't that the school's number one beauty, Na Lan Yan Ran?"
"Whoa! It really is her!"
Several of the girls waved at her while the guys ogled at her sparkling figure, their eyes turning into hearts. You know, the usual cliché scene where the most popular girl in school walked about, drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity. I probably didn't have to describe any more details.
Na Lan Yan Ran strolled across the library, her long, silky black hair waving slightly from her movements, and she scanned the desks. As I had mentioned earlier, the library was full of third year students cramming for the Gao Kao. Of course, right now almost everyone was more interested in ogling the school's idol than studying, but that didn't change the fact that almost every seat in the library was occupied.
Fortunately for Na Lan Yan Ran, she spotted a single empty seat and she quickly made her way there.
"Don't mind if I sit here?" she asked, pulling out the chair that Tong Xue had recently vacated. I blinked and glanced up at her irritably.
"Sorry, but someone else is sitting in that seat. My friend left to get something. He'll be back soon."
"Oh, really?" Na Lan Yan Ran asked in disbelief. "A real friend or an imaginary friend?"
I sharpened my gaze and jabbed a pen at Tong Xue's stationary and workbook. "Do those look like they belong to an imaginary person? Or are you really that stupid to think I would deliberately bring along a second set of stationary and books just to pretend that I'm studying with someone else?"
"How would I know?" Na Lan Yan Ran retorted. "There are plenty of crazy people in this world. Maybe you're one of them."
I glared at her for a moment, and then shook my head.
"Then it's best if you don't share a table with a crazy person like me. Besides, my friend isn't going to take very long"
"Hah! You can keep that act up. How can a loser like you have a friend?"
This bitch was getting on my nerves. Unfortunately, this was the library so I couldn't afford to raise my voice and snap at her. Especially not when the ghost had already hushed me. Speaking of which, the ghost hadn't reacted to the commotion so far, choosing to bury her phantom features in the book she had chosen.
If the students continued raising the volume, they were going to be screwed.
In any event, I would like to laugh at Na Lan Yan Ran's expression when a stupefied Tong Xue showed up to find that the school's number one beauty had taken his seat. Most likely he would just give it to her while trying to hit on her. Knowing her character from the rumors I had heard, she would most likely boogey out of there before long.
Na Lan Yan Ran was not known for being patient with guys approaching her.
For some reason, she was currently eying one of the books I had borrowed. Something about Daoist magic and mythical sects. I had picked the book earlier on a whim because I was searching for information on Heaven and Earth Sect or at least cultivator sects. Of course, it was unlikely that any of the information in the book was true, but I thought I might as well give it a shot.
Without asking, Na Lan Yan Ran reached out to take it.
"Ho? You're interested in such subjects as well?" She scoffed. "Not that it's going to be of any use to you. I'll be borrowing this book instead."
"Oi!" I was beginning to lose my patience. School's number one beauty or not, she was quite the rude and arrogant brat. What was with her entitled attitude? "I borrowed that book. You could at least ask me before you take it."
"Why so petty?" Na Lan Yan Ran retorted coldly. "Since you're a man, you should be more bighearted."
What was with this sexist bullshit? Some women were like this, always demanding for gender equality, but then switching to this misogynistic nonsense when it benefited them. They wanted to have their cake and eat it.
I was about to protest, but then I saw the white ghost turn toward me sternly. It wasn't a good idea to kick up a fuss right now, not until I had gotten rid of the ghost. I shouldn't waste too much time. Even though I wanted to allow her to finish reading her book before she passed on, I was worried that she might pose too much of a danger to the students in the library.
Perhaps I should get on with it.
Before I could stand up, though, there was another uproar. This time, the students in the library were clamoring over another person.
"Oh! It's Young Master Ting!"
"Young Master Ting is here!"
"…what is it with this clichéd turn of events?" I asked, already dreading the next predictable event that I knew would definitely come to pass.