Who Says a Blade of Grass Has No Heart

Chen Feng ignored everyone's astonishment. He grabbed a black marker and began scribbling across the whiteboard.

He was writing down everyone's initial rankings according to the information Zhao Hanhai had provided.

Zhou Xiaoguang took first place without any surprise.

Zheng Shaoyang ranked eighth.

What surprised Shen Qian the most was that Huo Ling'er had actually ranked fourth.

Then she's probably not far from becoming a Quasi-Martial Artist, Shen Qian guessed.

Because the student ranked second had seemingly mentioned earlier that he had just reached the benchmark for a Quasi-Martial Artist and was seeking a breakthrough.

As for Shen Qian, he ranked twelfth. The only person weaker than him was Qian Enbo, a slightly chubby boy who seemed to be a year younger than him...

That meant Shen Qian was actually the weakest.

Still, Shen Qian did not feel much about it. Apart from Zhou Xiaoguang, whose strength was unknown, everyone else's Qi and Strength was roughly between 140 and 149. The gap was not large—at least, that was how Shen Qian saw it.

"This ranking will be updated next week, and the first rewards will also be distributed then. However..." Chen Feng said coldly, "the bottom three will receive no rewards."

Everyone instantly understood the purpose of the rankings.

Whether there were rewards or not was secondary. The key was that being at the bottom of the rankings... was rather embarrassing.

Especially for a group of people accustomed to being praised.

"The cultivation method I'll be teaching you over the next two months is based on a simple principle: constantly squeezing out your potential. This is the fastest way for you to improve in a short period of time. The ranking system can also be viewed as one such method."

After Chen Feng finished speaking, he stepped aside, and Zhao Hanhai took over.

"Starting today, everyone will gather here after school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each training session will last about three hours. Remember to arrange your time properly. If you need leave, inform Class Monitor Chen in advance."

Shen Qian immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was only three days a week, which meant it would not take up too much of his own time.

After Huo Ling'er added everyone to a group through their wristbands, she announced that they were dismissed. The first offline meeting of the Seventh High School Martial Arts Youth Vanguard Group had come to an end.

Huo Ling'er had racked her brains to come up with such an embarrassingly cringey group name. After Zhou Xiaoguang's objections proved ineffective, everyone else could only accept it in silence.

Shen Qian clearly saw that even the usually stern Chen Feng's mouth twitched slightly several times.

After leaving the old Physical Testing Hall, Shen Qian had only walked a short distance before he ran into Liu Simin, who had hurried over.

"Shen Qian, how did it go? Did Director Zhao give you a hard time?" Liu Simin hurried forward. Seeing that Shen Qian was alone, she quickly asked.

"I'm fine." Seeing the anxious look on Liu Simin's face, Shen Qian felt somewhat moved.

Setting aside her teaching ability, Liu Simin really was a good teacher.

"He didn't deduct any conduct points?" Liu Simin asked in surprise.

He had even added ten points...

"No... Director Zhao set up a Training Class for top martial arts students. He called me out just now because of that. Teacher Liu, you have to keep it secret for me. Don't let the other students know," Shen Qian said truthfully after thinking it over.

"It's good that no points were deducted. Don't mess around like that again in the future." Liu Simin nodded to show she understood. "Don't worry. Even if it's a little embarrassing, I won't tell the other students."

Teacher Liu, did you misunderstand something...

Shen Qian wanted to explain, but Liu Simin did not give him the chance. She waved her hand. "All right, hurry back to class. I still need to pick up my kid."

Watching Liu Simin hurry away, Shen Qian could only shake his head helplessly.

For the entire day, Shen Qian immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge.

Thanks to Zhou Xu's big mouth, the whole class gradually learned that Shen Qian had "given up" martial arts studies and planned to focus on liberal arts instead.

Seeing how diligently Shen Qian studied, the class officers led by Lin Xiaoqian sent him another wave of warmth... a pile of study notes from the top students.

During the last class of the afternoon, Shen Qian's wristband suddenly began to vibrate.

When he pulled the wristband from his inner pocket, he froze for a moment and felt a little melancholy.

Because Shen Qian remembered that Ding Yi was gone. It seemed he no longer needed to pretend to be so poor and could openly wear the wristband on his wrist.

The wristband was still vibrating. Shen Qian had not wanted to answer since it was an unfamiliar number, but the caller kept trying without giving up.

Shen Qian glanced at Zhou Xu. Understanding immediately, Zhou Xu handed Shen Qian his wireless earbuds.

After connecting them, Shen Qian tilted his head slightly and answered the call.

"Xiao Qian, it's me." A familiar deep voice came from the phone, carrying a trace of exhaustion.

"Dad?" Shen Qian recognized Shen Liang's voice and could not help freezing.

"I'm at Jingcheng Central Hospital. Your mother has been admitted." Shen Liang's voice remained fairly calm, but there was a hint of hoarseness in it.

"What happened?" Shen Qian's heart tightened.

"Kidney failure... She might need surgery. If you can, come over now." Shen Liang hesitated before speaking.

"Okay."

Shen Qian hung up. He had no mood to waste words asking for leave. While Teacher Feng, who was teaching basic chemistry, turned around to write formulas, he slipped out of the classroom through the back door.

Jingcheng Central Hospital was an old-fashioned hospital.

New-style hospitals, it was said, had powerful Martial Artists stationed under their names and could cure the vast majority of illnesses. Of course, their treatment costs were also beyond what the vast majority of people could afford.

Shen Qian raced all the way there and found Shen Liang sitting on a chair on the third floor of the inpatient department.

After just one day apart, Shen Liang seemed to have aged considerably. The gray at his temples had become more obvious. Yet when he saw his son, Shen Liang still managed to force out a smile.

"Dad." Shen Qian called out, then asked anxiously, "Where's Mom? What happened? Hasn't she been taking her medicine all this time? How did things suddenly get this bad?"

When Shen Qian's family of three had evacuated from Lucheng, an accident had left Wang Xiaojuan exposed in the restricted zone for several hours. Her health had never recovered after that.

Only by taking special medicine regularly could she slow the failure of her organs.

"Your mom is inside. The doctors are still consulting. Let's wait a while."

Shen Liang pointed toward the ward behind him. At Shen Qian's question, he revealed a bitter expression. "Your mother switched medicines two weeks ago. I only found out just now."

"She switched them?" Shen Qian was stunned.

"I don't know where she saw some little advertisement. It said there was a cheaper special medicine that cost less than a thousand a month..."

"My mom isn't that stupid. The medicine was obviously suspicious at that price. Wouldn't she have known?"

Shen Qian could not believe it. The special medicine Wang Xiaojuan had previously taken cost four or five thousand a month. With such a stark difference, his mother was far too shrewd not to have realized something was wrong.

"She... she said she still didn't want you to suffer in the military, so she wanted to save a little more money. Then she could try to persuade you again, have you attend an ordinary liberal arts university..."

Shen Liang's tone was complicated. His voice gradually softened until it could no longer be heard.

Shen Qian stood there in a daze.