"Huh?"
She, who had never been rejected by anyone before, hadn't anticipated Lv Zhong rejecting her. Leng Mei was momentarily stunned, an aura of aloofness enveloping her. With a quick glance at Lv Zhong, who was walking away, she withdrew the information she had offered him.
…
"I'm back!" Called Lv Zhong as he arrived home.
In the living room, Lv Zhong's father, Lv Tianlin, was sitting on the sofa, engrossed in a medical book. Lv Tianlin was a physician at the town's central hospital in the suburbs of Yan City, his primary specialty being pediatrics. His medical skills were not bad. However, he studied western medicine and didn't inherit much of his father Lv Haoran's traditional Chinese medical expertise. Today was his day off, hence why he was at home. Oblivious to his surroundings, he didn't notice Lv Zhong had returned from school.
"Oh? Little Zhong, you're back? Go call your sister, it's time to eat." Liu Shuxian, walking from the kitchen with a plate of food, noticed Lv Zhong and spoke immediately.
"Ok."
Lv Zhong gave a response and walked towards his younger sister's room...
Around the dinner table, the family of four chatted while eating. It was very warm and cozy.
Lv Tianlin's monthly salary including bonuses was about five thousand, and Liu Shuxian worked as an accountant at a supermarket in the town earning around two thousand a month. In terms of household income, they were just getting by. However, they had three children to take care of. Their eldest daughter, Lv Lei, was a senior at the South China University's medical school and was interning at the City Attached Second Hospital. However, it took half an hour to commute from home to the city center, so Lv Lei rented a place in the city for convenience. Their second child, Lv Zhong was in his senior year at City No. 1 High School, an expense in itself, and would soon be attending university which was another large expense. And their youngest, Lv Xiaojin, was already in her second year of middle school and would be starting high school in a year or two, another substantial cost.
All three kids were at an age where they needed a lot of financial support. Consequently, the family was living quite frugally.
"Little Zhong, how did you do on this test?" Lv Tianlin asked suddenly, while sipping his soup.
Hearing his father's words, Lv Zhong's expression changed slightly. He slowly swallowed a quail egg and replied calmly, "My score has dropped again, to just 499."
At Lv Zhong's words, the atmosphere at the table suddenly cooled, disturbing the previously cheerful and harmonious mood.
"Why would you ask something like that during dinner? You know how hard our son has been working. Anyway, our son is very smart, let's just think of it as a little setback. He still has four months until his college entrance exams. With Little Zhong's quick wit, getting into a good college should be no problem at all," Liu Shuxian glared at Lv Tianlin resentfully.
Lv Zhong remained silent, sipping his hot soup, and then bit into a hot, spicy pepper with a blank expression.
"Hmm, yes, there's still four months before the college entrance exam. Little Zhong can definitely catch up!" Under Liu Shuxian's stern gaze, Lv Tianlin gave a wry smile and nodded in agreement like a pecking hen.
"That's right! That's right! My teacher always says that older brother was a genius in our high school and even encourages me to learn from him. How could the college entrance exam be a problem for him?" Lv Xiaojin quickly joined in, lifting her chin with a hint of pride.
Touched by his family's supportive words, Lv Zhong felt an increasing sense of guilt, as if he was letting them down. He mustered a smile for his younger sister, then fell silent again.
Seeing Lv Zhong was a little down, Liu Shuxian quickly said, "Little Zhong, your uncle invited us over for dinner tonight. Let's go together?"
Lv Zhong shook his head. "Mom, you guys go. I need to study."
"Uh…" Liu Shuxian didn't admonish her son, but instead shot Lv Tianlin a resentful look, upset that he'd made their beloved child unhappy.
After lunch, Lv Tianlin and Liu Shuxian took their daughter Lv Xiaojin to their uncle's house. The uncle's house was in Nanyue. It usually only took one hour to travel from Yan City to Nanyue, but the road was currently under major repairs. Now, it was impossible to reach Nanyue in less than two hours. That's why Lv Tianlin and Liu Shuxian had to set off early.
After his parents and younger sister left, Lv Zhong took a nap for an hour at home before opening his books. Even though he felt studying was not very helpful now, if he stopped, he'd probably forget the things he learned even faster.
After reading for a while, Lv Zhong felt a wave of fatigue wash over him, and his mind began to get fuzzy again.
"I can't sleep! I can't!" Resisting the strong urge to sleep in his mind, Lv Zhong helplessly went to wash his face with cold water to fend off his sleepiness. Equally, he filled a big cup with cold water to drink when he felt sleepy again.
Even though he knew that drinking ice water in the winter is not good for his health, he saw it as the best way for him to resist sleepiness.
After returning to his study, Lv Zhong did a couple of problem sets and made some mistakes when compared to the answer key. Frustrated, he turned on the computer, searched for the solutions and realized those problems were actually very simple.
This made Lv Zhong's heart sink. He couldn't understand how he managed to get even those simple problems wrong. Giving a bitter laugh, Lv Zhong reached into his pocket and took out a mysterious bead.
This bead was the size of a marble, with a smooth shiny black surface and mysterious patterns on it. However, when touched, it was mysteriously devoid of any bumps.
Lv Zhong had found this bead incidentally when he was picking herbs at Mount Heng during the summer holiday this year. Captivated by its appearance, Lv Zhong kept it. He put it in a sachet and attached it to a red string, wearing it as a necklace.
After wearing this bead, Lv Zhong found that his physical strength had significantly increased. Even his Baji Fist had been improved to the Ming Jin middle stage within a few months. That's why Lv Zhong thought it was a treasure and didn't throw it away.
Now, looking at this mysterious black bead, Lv Zhong began to doubt. It seemed that his memory had been declining ever since he started wearing this bead.
Could it be that while this bead strengthens the body, it damages the mind?
As this thought crossed his mind, Lv Zhong immediately held the bead in his palm and studied it carefully, preparing to experiment.
However, just as this idea formed in his mind, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his brain. Lv Zhong screamed and collapsed in front of the computer desk.
Just before collapsing, his right hand accidentally knocked over a cup on the desk. Instantly, a full cup of water was poured on the laptop computer and even on the socket on the desk.
At this moment, a strong surge of electricity hit him, and Lv Zhong lost consciousness immediately.
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