"If, in our lives, we have never discovered anyone who traveled back from the future, then it means humanity went extinct before inventing a time machine." —Hawking.
Li Ye lowered his head and stared blankly at the battered desk before him, not moving his gaze for a long while.
It was a two-person school desk, its surface covered in obvious man-made scratches.
The scratches were a chaotic mess, and the ink staining them had likely come from different students from different eras.
Layer upon layer of colors blended together, brimming with abstract artistic flair, as though they had condensed the boring old days of countless green youths.
There was an exam paper on the desk. It was not the kind produced by machine printing, but the "mimeographed paper" Li Ye had only heard his parents mention before.
A mimeographed paper was made by first carving words onto thin wax paper with a metal stylus, then using a hand-operated mimeograph machine to press ink through the wax paper and onto sheet after sheet of white paper.
These papers were crudely made, and the ink easily smudged, but they were cheap and convenient, making them extremely popular in the 1980s.
That was right—the 1980s.
Li Ye slowly raised his head and looked at the leader's portrait above the blackboard, so full of the flavor of that era. He still could not believe that his soul had crossed into a parallel world in 1981, where he had become a high school repeater with the same name and surname.
The yellowed walls, the patchy blackboard, the worn desks, and all the "country-bumpkin-looking" classmates as far as the eye could see dealt Li Ye a powerful blow. Though he had been in this world for quite some time, his soul and memories had yet to fully merge.
Li Ye stretched out his hand, and a section of an arm belonging uniquely to a teenager slipped out from his sleeve.
The skin was taut and elastic, the muscle lines long, beautiful, and well-defined, while faint bluish veins could be seen beneath the surface.
With body fat this low and skin this good, in his previous life, he could not have achieved it without pouring a fortune into a gym, getting acquainted with six or seven pretty trainers, and taking hundreds of private lessons.
Li Ye, who had once bitterly regretted growing gray hair early from staying up late, could not help sighing inwardly. Being young is wonderful!
"Hu Man, no one in the whole class got this question right. Have you figured out how to solve it?"
"I don't really understand these hyperbola questions either. I think it should be—"
"Yes, yes, yes, that was what I thought too, but there wasn't enough time, so I didn't finish it."
"That method is wrong. I solved it that way, and got no points at all."
Heated discussion buzzed behind Li Ye's head, pulling his attention back from his tangled thoughts.
Rule One for transmigrators: adapt to society, starting with the people around you.
Li Ye turned around and looked through the gaps between several classmates. Before long, he understood the details of that hyperbola problem.
Seeing several classmates frown, scratch their heads, and get nowhere, Li Ye leaned in, squeezed between them, grabbed a pen, and began writing out equations.
"This question is actually very simple. We already know that the right focus M(3, t) of hyperbola C1 lies on hyperbola C1, so we can set up an equation to find t squared, and then—"
Silence. A silence so deep one could hear a needle drop.
Li Ye had not even finished writing his equation before he was forced to stop.
Because the classmates who had just been discussing the problem so enthusiastically were all looking at him strangely, as if they were staring at some rare animal.
Several seconds later, Hu Man, who sat behind Li Ye, reached out, took the pen from his hand, and silently pulled it back.
The pen was hers, a Hero brand fountain pen, and she did not like lending it to others.
The other classmates involved in the discussion all turned back and continued talking, with no intention of paying Li Ye any attention.
This was fucking awkward!
I kindly explained the problem to you, and this is your attitude? Am I invisible?
"Li Ye, you got it wrong yourself, yet you still have the nerve to explain it to Hu Man and the others? What was that saying again? Right—a blind man riding a blind horse!"
The mocking, sarcastic words came from the last row of the classroom.
Li Ye paused, then glanced back and saw a boy whose clothes and hairstyle were both rustic beyond belief, his face full of teenage chuunibyou energy.
He Weiguo, a poor student repeating for the second year. He had a distant uncle who was a teacher, and he constantly mocked his classmates whenever he had nothing better to do. He was a shit-stirring pest not worth dealing with.
Li Ye turned back and looked once more at his mimeographed exam paper.
28 points.
Two bright red numbers stood proudly upon the paper that carried the smell of ink.
Sigh.
Li Ye fell silent.
Even during those years in his previous life when he had been addicted to World of Warcraft and Honor of Kings, he had never scored anything this absurdly low, okay?
And after looking at the wrong answers, he was even more speechless.
He had misread the questions, used the wrong formulas, and even when he finally got the solution approach right, he had made calculation errors. With that level, where had he found the nerve to repeat a year? Wouldn't it be better to go work in a factory screwing bolts?
But Li Ye had gone silent, while the guy behind him refused to let up.
"Li Ye, are you still dreaming of getting into the capital to find Lu Jingyao? Your Chinese is pretty good, so can you explain something to me? What does 'a toad lusting after swan meat' mean?"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Laughter erupted throughout the quiet classroom.
It was not just the last row. Even several boys near Li Ye let out suppressed snickers.
Hu Man, who had just taken back her fountain pen, and several other girls, however, frowned deeply, their faces filled with indignation.
Then a needle-like pain flashed through Li Ye's mind.
After his soul transmigration, Li Ye's brain seemed to have become a computer. Whether it was fine details from his previous life or part of the original owner's remaining spiritual legacy, everything was stored on the hard drive, ready to be retrieved with perfect clarity whenever needed.
A string of images swept through Li Ye's mind, showing him the past interactions between the original owner and Lu Jingyao.
"Was it the first sword after reaching shore—slaying the beloved first?"
Li Ye shook his head and laughed it off.
These days, even educated youths returning to the city could pull out their pants and turn heartless. Let alone someone who had leaped through the dragon gate and become a "government employee."
"Brother, go in peace! A woman like that isn't worth it."
Li Ye had plenty of experience with fighting and losing repeatedly in his previous life. He had seen all kinds of scumbags and fake innocent girls. Getting hurt over love was the sort of foolish behavior that had nothing to do with him, and he had even less desire to start pointless conflicts over it.
As Li Ye murmured softly, that thread of obsession that had stabbed straight into his heart vanished like smoke.
But though the tree wished for calm, the wind would not cease.
Li Ye's calm composure instead made He Weiguo in the back row feel challenged.
He simply stood up, walked over to Li Ye, and reached out to take Li Ye's exam paper.
"Twenty-eight points—not bad! You gained seven points after repeating for one year. If you repeat two years, you'll gain fourteen points. If you repeat three years, Lu Jingyao will have graduated already, hahaha—ah, ah! Let go, let go!"
Li Ye grabbed He Weiguo's hand, bent two of his fingers backward, then slowly rose to his feet and coldly watched He Weiguo bare his teeth in pain.
"Let go—hiss, hiss—let... go, fuck... Lu Jingyao..."
He Weiguo's fingers were nearly bent out of shape by Li Ye. He wanted to rise up and fight back, but the pain in his hand left him weak and limp.
And compared with the pain in his body, the panic in He Weiguo's heart was even stronger.
More than half a year ago, He Weiguo would not have dared provoke Li Ye. Li Ye's fists were not ordinarily hard.
Though the original owner looked thin, he was not some frail youth who could not even truss a chicken.
Li Ye's father and grandfather had both served in the military. His grandfather had practiced martial arts when he was young and later trained quite a few disciples.
Li Ye had been tempered by his grandfather since childhood. He might not have been a true martial artist, but he had rarely lost a fight since he was young.
But after He Weiguo discovered Li Ye's "fatal weakness," he felt as though he had grabbed a bull by the nose rope. He could show off however he pleased.
That fatal weakness was Lu Jingyao.
After Li Ye repeated the year, whenever anyone provoked him with talk of Lu Jingyao, he would fight. And after every fight, rumors would spread through the school that "Lu Jingyao got into the capital and dumped Li Ye."
This era had few forms of entertainment, so gossip had tremendous power. Every time, Li Ye was so embarrassed that he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the ground.
Besides, fighting at school was bad behavior. If things got too severe, parents would be called in. After several incidents in a row, not only did his family complain about Li Ye, even the teachers no longer looked at him as they once had.
At seventeen or eighteen, one's mind was at its most sensitive. The once-kind youth had gradually become inferior, withdrawn, and depressed, able only to swallow his furious roars deep into his chest.
He wanted to get into college. He wanted to go to BJ. He could not ruin his pure and precious love by causing trouble.
But suppressed forbearance only invited ever more vicious bullying.
So what if you're handsome? So what if girls like you? Aren't you still clay in my hands, to knead and pinch as I please?
You damned attention-seeker. If I don't bully you, who should I bully?
He Weiguo, who had envied Li Ye for a long time, had found his chance to show off.
When Li Ye's grades improved, he would say in a strange tone, "Oh, oh, oh, planning to get into the capital to find Lu Jingyao, are you?"
When Li Ye's grades were poor, he would gloat, "With grades as rotten as yours, you still want to find Lu Jingyao?"
Whenever He Weiguo deliberately stirred up conflict and watched Li Ye clench his fists tightly while enduring the humiliation, his heart felt as sweet as honey.
He Weiguo believed he had become the "big brother" of the entire class and could earn everyone's admiration, especially that of all the girls.
But now, as He Weiguo looked into Li Ye's eyes, his heart could not help pounding in terror.
Too calm.
There was no inferiority, pain, or anger in Li Ye's eyes anymore—only terrifying calmness and indifference.
At that moment, He Weiguo felt that Li Ye was as terrifying as the tigers in the provincial zoo.
A tiger might seem lazy and unaggressive, but that was only because it was full and could not be bothered to move.
When a tiger truly fixed its gaze upon you, the oppressive eyes of a predator at the top of the animal chain could magnify the fear in your heart until you had to clamp your legs together, lest you lose control of your bowels.
Without exaggeration, Li Ye, who had lived two lives, utterly crushed a high schooler like He Weiguo in terms of mental strength. He might not be able to kill the other man with a glance, but the two were not even in the same league.
He Weiguo was afraid. He was truly afraid.
He feared that hotheaded punk who could break bricks one-handed had returned.
"Teacher's here!"
Just as a classmate's warning fell, a thin little old man appeared at the classroom door.
"What are you doing? Are you all asking for a beating?"
The crowd of students watching the show immediately scattered like birds and beasts, rushing back to their seats and pretending to be good little children.
There was no such thing as "corporal punishment" in name back then. Teachers naturally did not bother with loving guidance for disobedient students. Being made to stand was a light punishment; a resounding slap across the face was the proper way to handle things.
Students who got disciplined did not dare tell their parents, either. If their parents found out, they would receive a second round of reinforced education, adding injury upon injury and snow upon frost.
"Teacher's here. Let go of me..."
Seeing his savior, He Weiguo began struggling desperately, hoping to muddy the waters and frame Li Ye as the attacker.
Li Ye released He Weiguo's hand. He merely gave the little old man a slight bow before sitting down.
Li Ye had also suffered bullying at school in his previous life in China, so of course he knew how to deal with this sort of thing.
The less you treated it as a big deal, the less trouble there would be. The more afraid you were, the more trouble you would face.
The little old man paused. Li Ye's calmness clearly surprised him greatly.
He had a deep impression of Li Ye. By all rights, Li Ye should have been nervous and at a loss right now. Most students reacted that way.
But Li Ye's current appearance was nothing like that of an ordinary student. He seemed more like a sage weathered by wind and rain.
"Class Monitor, what happened here?"
Hu Man stood and answered, "Teacher Hu, just now He Weiguo mocked Li Ye for doing badly on the exam. Li Ye only did badly this time because he had a fever."
This time, Li Ye was surprised.
This little girl who had just pulled her fountain pen from his hand was clearly speaking up for him now.
"I was sick" was the all-purpose, ultimate excuse of poor students.
Of course, the original owner really had run a fever recently—one severe enough to directly replace his soul.
But He Weiguo immediately cut in, "Li Ye only got a fever after the exam."
"Enough!"
Teacher Hu irritably cut He Weiguo off and mocked, "He Weiguo, you still have the nerve to laugh at someone else? Get back to your seat."
He Weiguo returned resentfully to the back of the classroom, not forgetting to shoot Li Ye a vicious glare, wearing an expression that said, "Just you wait."
Li Ye was not afraid in the slightest!
What kid in this era had not fought before?
Throw one punch to avoid a hundred more.
This body's combat ability was quite high. As long as he did not chicken out, ruling Suzuran was not just a dream.
As for the teachers' attitude, Li Ye believed that once he showed the bearing of a top student, the school would understand his difficulties.
"This mock exam was somewhat difficult, but it was also closer to the real college entrance examination. Many students scored only in the teens or twenties."
"Of course, grades do not represent everything. Some students still have tremendous potential, such as Li Ye.
"Although he scored only twenty-eight points, which may seem a little low, he has improved greatly compared to before. As long as he keeps working hard from now on, he has a good chance of passing the preliminary exam. Getting into a vocational secondary school is not impossible either."
What?
Li Ye was somewhat stunned.
Twenty-eight points. Improved greatly? A little low?
Dear Teacher Hu, you were truly too tolerant, too good at comforting people.
But you said getting into a high school vocational secondary school was merely "possible"?
What kind of joke was that?
Although the vocational secondary schools high school students tested for were different from the junior vocational secondary schools middle school students tested for, I was a second-tier university contender who had fought my way through mountains of books and seas of problems in the new century, and you wanted me to attend a vocational secondary school?
If I did not get into a nationally key university, I would be letting down all those years of my P.E. teacher's teachings.
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