Knowledge is Priceless

Knowledge is Priceless

The joys of a top student were something underachievers could never experience.

In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday again. At eleven in the morning, the test results came out, and Chu Fei had once again scored full marks.

Meanwhile, Li Honggang and Lu Hong, the class monitor and vice monitor pair, had both lost points.

At the front of the classroom, Li Honggang shot Chu Fei a sidelong look, his gaze unfriendly.

Cao Liwen held a bamboo cane in his right hand and lightly tapped it against his left palm as he looked at Li Honggang, Lu Hong, and Zhang Xuan. He spoke blandly, "You all got full marks last week. Why did you lose points this time?"

Zhang Xuan looked somewhat uneasy, but she still said softly, "Teacher, we learned too much this week."

Cao Liwen said nothing and turned to look at Li Honggang and Lu Hong.

The two exchanged a glance. Li Honggang also said quietly, "Teacher, there was too much to learn this week. We needed to review it."

Lu Hong immediately nodded. "That's right, Teacher. The material increased too quickly."

As the courses progressed, the difficulty of the knowledge rose rapidly, and the demands on their ability to learn continued to increase.

After hearing the three explanations, Cao Liwen first glanced at Chu Fei. "Last time, all four of you scored full marks, tied for first place.

Now, Li Honggang is second, Zhang Xuan is third, and Lu Hong is fourth.

Rules are rules. Those who fall behind must be punished."

Lu Hong immediately held out his left hand.

But Cao Liwen gave a cold laugh. "Untidy test papers get a slap on the palm. Falling grades are another matter!"

Li Honggang, Lu Hong, and Zhang Xuan all changed expression.

More than ten minutes later, everyone was screaming together in the square outside.

Li Honggang had dropped only one rank, but as class monitor, he had to set an example, so he received two lashes.

Lu Hong was similar and received six lashes.

Zhang Xuan received only two lashes. Yet the girl did not scream. She gritted her teeth and endured them.

After the whipping, everyone headed for the infirmary one after another.

Chu Fei did not go to the infirmary. He had not even watched the entire punishment. Instead, he seized the time to study.

Before long, a slightly staggering figure came over and began studying beside him.

It was Zhang Xuan.

Chu Fei could not help turning his head. "You didn't go to the infirmary?"

It seemed Zhang Xuan had recovered somewhat and rushed straight back to the classroom.

Zhang Xuan finally spoke, though she could not stop herself from trembling a little. "If I go to... the infirmary now, I'll have to line up. I want to... study."

Chu Fei nodded slightly. "Keep it up."

With that, he turned back and continued studying.

Even a girl could grit her teeth and persist after being whipped. What right did he have not to persist?

A faint pressure bore down on him.

Let everyone start grinding!

Before long, it was lunchtime, and Chu Fei got up to head outside.

"Wait for me," Zhang Xuan said.

Chu Fei looked at Zhang Xuan, suddenly realizing something. "You still haven't gone to the infirmary?"

Zhang Xuan opened her mouth, then could not help saying, "You seem very surprised."

Chu Fei gave an oh and turned to walk out.

Zhang Xuan was genuinely a little surprised. "Chu Fei, both Li Honggang and Lu Hong care greatly about their relationships with classmates. Why are you so... cold?"

Without looking back, Chu Fei said, "Does any of that help with studying?"

"..."

Zhang Xuan froze for a moment.

But Chu Fei gradually walked farther away, as though he did not care in the slightest whether Zhang Xuan answered.

Chu Fei truly did not care much about relationships between classmates.

Did they not see what kind of place this was?

Could relationships with classmates help him improve in his studies? Could they keep him from being whipped? Could they change his current fate?

Once he had thought through those three questions, he knew what he should do.

Not to mention that under the might of the whip, it had not even been a month, and everyone was already grinding themselves until their teeth ached. If this went on for a year, they might tear each other apart alive.

These were not the kind of classmates worth having.

Thinking of the looks Li Honggang and Lu Hong gave him, Chu Fei tossed the word "classmate" to the back of his mind.

"Hey, wait for me." Zhang Xuan caught up.

Chu Fei could not help stopping. He finally turned around. "You're not going to the infirmary?"

"I've recovered now. I'll go after I eat."

Chu Fei nodded and continued onward.

Zhang Xuan hurried two steps forward. "I have a question. The chemistry teacher said chemical reactions are all equivalent exchanges, but the physics teacher said no chemical reaction is equivalent.

It feels like the physics teacher and chemistry teacher said completely opposite things."

"That's simple." Chu Fei spoke as he walked. "Once you know that energy is mass, the issue becomes clear. As long as energy is exchanged, there will inevitably be a loss of mass.

It's just that compared to nuclear energy, chemical reactions are far too weak, so it can be ignored."

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood and stood where she was, lost in thought.

After a while, she wanted to thank him, only to discover that Chu Fei had already climbed the steps and reached the cafeteria.

"..."

Chu Fei had not waited for Zhang Xuan.

That afternoon, Chu Fei went to the Dawn Team again to "work."

This was the second afternoon since Chu Fei had begun his "work-study life."

Zhao Hongyue was not there today, but Captain Huang Gang was.

When he saw Chu Fei arrive, Captain Huang grinned. "What are you looking around for? Can't see Sister Zhao? Disappointed?"

Chu Fei, "..."

Several burly men around them burst into laughter.

After greeting them, Chu Fei headed straight to logistics and began working.

Without realizing it, it gradually neared dinnertime.

Chu Fei looked up at the weapons that had been maintained in front of him, and a brilliant smile appeared on his face.

He could learn so much during weapon maintenance. Just one afternoon of maintaining weapons had accumulated a full drop of Wisdom Dewdrop.

After putting away his tools, Chu Fei thanked the master beside him.

Suddenly, a mighty figure appeared before Chu Fei. A steel left hand picked up the weapon Chu Fei had maintained and began inspecting it.

It was Captain Huang Gang.

After looking it over for a while, Huang Gang picked up a small-caliber submachine gun and emptied a magazine at the target.

Amid a burst of explosions and spurting flames, a cluster of dents appeared on the target ahead.

"Very good!" Huang Gang said. "I deliberately placed this gun here. It had begun to age, and its reliability had noticeably declined. But now it's basically been fully restored. How did you do it?"

Chu Fei blinked. "I replaced the barrel, firing pin, and spring. The barrel and firing pin were original parts, but after repeated calculations, I cut two coils off the spring.

The gun is getting old. A brand-new spring would instead affect its reliability."

Huang Gang could not help nodding. "I looked at the weapons you maintained last time. They were all very good, nothing like the work of an apprentice. Have you done this before?"

"Yes. I took part in maintaining weapons and such in the village. But more than that, the master craftsmen here taught me well."

Huang Gang smiled and patted Chu Fei on the shoulder with his right hand. "Very good. You're a natural-born warrior."

Chu Fei was a little puzzled. What did weapon maintenance have to do with being a warrior?

Seeing Chu Fei's slight confusion, Huang Gang smiled and asked, "Confused?"

Chu Fei nodded.

Huang Gang turned serious and said, word by word, "Cultivate for ten years, drop them with one shot!"

Then he touched his left arm and sighed. "Only after taking a trip to the gates of hell did I truly understand those words.

There's no denying that true Awakened are powerful, but how many such people are there?

More than ten years of fighting and living have allowed me to grasp the True Intent of a Semi-Awakened."

Chu Fei pricked up his ears.

Then Huang Gang suddenly revealed a teasing smile. "Want to know?"

"I do!" Chu Fei answered without hesitation.

Huang Gang folded his arms, smiling without quite smiling. "Then what are you prepared to pay?

Knowledge is not free, especially knowledge bought with one's life."