Withdrawal from School

Withdrawal from School

No matter how Zheng Fa guessed, he could never have imagined that Madam would reasonably yet absurdly infer from his mastering the Spirit Crane Body that there was a Nascent Soul True Person hidden behind him.

Now, his problem was that the old man behind him—Old Man Bai—had grown tired of studying.

No, he wanted to drop out.

One evening, after he had tutored Tang Lingwu, Old Man Bai suddenly said to Zheng Fa, "Little Zheng, I probably won't have time to practice martial arts anymore."

Old Man Bai's progress in martial arts had been too slow. He could not see any results, so his enthusiasm naturally faded day by day.

Zheng Fa had seen it all along and had long expected this day.

Looking at Old Man Bai, Tang Lingwu could not help but wonder, "Grandpa Bai, you want to give up because practicing martial arts is too exhausting and painful, right?"

"What do you mean, give up?" Old Man Bai argued indignantly. "I have other important matters to attend to and can't split myself in two! Important people are busy, understand?"

"You're retired. What could you possibly have to do?" Tang Lingwu clearly did not believe him.

"You'd better believe it!" Old Man Bai raised his chin. "People from Capital University Press called me just two days ago, saying they were waiting for my new book!"

Both Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu were a little surprised when they heard that.

"You still write books, sir? We've never heard you mention it before."

"Would I brag to you two juniors?" Old Man Bai twisted his mouth. "I said I was retired, an old dried vegetable, but they're crying and begging me to write!"

The more he boasted, the more suspicious Tang Lingwu became. "What kind of book do you write?"

At that, Old Man Bai sighed. "You don't know this, but some of our university textbooks were written in the last century. It's not that they're bad—they were all written by great scholars. But now everyone has realized, eh? They seem like they could be written better, and some new knowledge hasn't been updated either."

"So the book you're writing is a Capital University textbook?"

There was a touch of awe in Tang Lingwu's voice.

"One book, just one." Old Man Bai waved his hand, looking very modest. "It's not some important book. They're just urging me too hard. I truly don't have time!"

Seeing that he did not seem to be making it up, Zheng Fa began to look at the old man in a new light.

"So it's not that I'm giving up martial arts. I really don't have the time." Old Man Bai explained again. "When I think of those students still studying those outdated textbooks, all crying for food, my heart burns with anxiety! I can't even sleep well!"

Hearing this, Tang Lingwu glanced at Zheng Fa, faint worry in her eyes.

Sure enough, Old Man Bai continued to Zheng Fa, "Little Zheng, if you have questions in the future, come to my house on weekends. I'll spare an hour or two to explain things to you. As for topology and the like, you won't need it for now anyway. It wouldn't hurt to learn it after the college entrance exam."

Tang Lingwu opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but seemed not to know how to say it.

Zheng Fa nodded, but he did not blame Old Man Bai.

Zheng Fa had genuinely benefited from Old Man Bai's private tutoring for a while. Though he had not yet begun to grasp university mathematics like topology, he was confident that he had gained far deeper insights into the mathematics tested on the college entrance exam.

As for Old Man Bai... he had practiced the Pine Crane Stance for quite some time now, yet he had truly gotten nothing out of it.

When all was said and done, Zheng Fa had been the one taking advantage.

As for Old Man Bai's current change, on one hand, practicing martial arts had clearly not given him enough positive feedback.

On the other hand, Zheng Fa really had been learning too slowly.

Disciples chose masters, and masters also chose disciples; this was even more so in the Xuanwei Realm.

Old Man Bai taught the favored sons of heaven at Capital University. It was only natural that he found Zheng Fa's learning progress somewhat lacking.

Besides, he had not meant any harm. In his eyes, Zheng Fa's main task now was the college entrance exam, not learning topology from him.

Zheng Fa was actually somewhat grateful: Old Man Bai letting him come over on weekends to ask questions showed real consideration, since he now wanted nothing from Zheng Fa.

Seeing him nod with an unchanged expression, Tang Lingwu quietly let out a breath. Then, as if she had discovered something, she fixed her gaze on Zheng Fa's face, looking utterly puzzled.

"Why are you staring at Zheng Fa?" Seeing her unblinking gaze, Old Man Bai immediately bristled and said sternly.

"He... seems to have changed?"

Old Man Bai narrowed his eyes and examined Zheng Fa from top to bottom, but seemed unable to see anything. "He hasn't changed. One nose, two eyes."

"You're presbyopic, of course you can't see clearly." Tang Lingwu ignored him completely and stared hard at Zheng Fa's face. "Zheng Fa, what skincare products have you been using lately?"

Zheng Fa knew that Tang Lingwu had noticed the changes in him after he mastered the Spirit Crane Body.

"I've made some progress in martial arts recently."

He explained it to Tang Lingwu.

"Martial arts!" Tang Lingwu's little mouth hung open, as if she had not expected Zheng Fa to give her that answer.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought..." Tang Lingwu glanced at Old Man Bai, who had gone to look for his reading glasses. "I thought you'd been fooling Grandpa Bai before."

Wearing his reading glasses, Old Man Bai thrust his face right in front of Zheng Fa and observed him closely, as though conducting some sort of research.

"Can you see the change now?" Tang Lingwu asked.

"No!" Old Man Bai replied.

"Then why have you been staring for so long?"

"How would I know what he looked like before? What change could I possibly see?" Old Man Bai said with perfect confidence. "It's not like I'm a little girl who stares at young boys every day!"

"..."

"So you mean you mastered a martial art, and then your skin got better?"

As though she had not heard the old man at all, Tang Lingwu asked Zheng Fa curiously.

"Yes. One morning, when I woke up, it was as if my whole body had shed a layer of skin."

"Then what you said before about extending one's lifespan was true too?" Tang Lingwu's eyes shone brighter than ever before.

"Of course it was true. Did you think I was lying to you?" Zheng Fa asked back, then turned toward Old Man Bai. "Did you think I was lying too?"

The two of them nodded in unison.

"Then why were you even practicing?"

"Well... retirement was boring, so I was just practicing for fun."

Old Man Bai smiled awkwardly.

"That's so amazing..." Tang Lingwu stretched out a finger, as though she wanted to poke Zheng Fa's face, but stopped herself.

"No, is that really what you two think of me?"

Zheng Fa was feeling rather depressed.

Had these two been playing house with him all this time?

"There are just too many scammers in short videos."

Both of them smiled at Zheng Fa somewhat sheepishly.

"Do you believe me now?"

"We believe you, we believe you!" Old Man Bai and Tang Lingwu nodded wildly, staring at Zheng Fa's face.

After a while, Old Man Bai's expression suddenly turned bashful. "Little Zheng... I want to learn martial arts again."

"You want to learn again?"

"I do!"

"But aren't you very busy?"

"Busy with what? I'm not busy! Who pays any attention to an old dried vegetable after retirement?"

"Aren't you writing a book?"

"I can write it more slowly."

Zheng Fa slowly shook his head. "That won't do. Your students are crying for food every day."

"Let them cry. They won't starve to death!" Old Man Bai did not care in the slightest. "What am I, anyway? It's not like I'm some great mathematician. Do I really think I'm some big shot? Even wiping one's ass with the book I write would be too hard. Not important, not important."

Zheng Fa could barely stand to look at the old man's fawning face, so he turned to Tang Lingwu.

Using one finger, Tang Lingwu pushed the milk tea she had not opened today toward Zheng Fa.

"?"

"I want to learn too." There was a passion in Tang Lingwu's eyes that was rare for her. "I'll treat you to milk tea from now on."

(End of chapter)