His interactions with Zhang Shun involved a lot more joking around, but underneath it all was still the deep brotherhood they had built growing up together.
Chen Mo's explosive progress had indeed put Zhang Shun through a complicated stretch of emotions at first. Of course he was surprised, and he really was envious. Then came a brief bout of disappointment, and a trace of jealousy he could barely admit to himself. Why had the brother who used to skip class with him, slack off with him, and stare blankly at math papers with him suddenly raced ahead? It felt like he'd been left behind.
During that time, Zhang Shun grew much quieter. Watching Chen Mo get up early to memorize lessons and stay up late practicing every day, he felt a fire rise in him too. He started trying to "grind" like Chen Mo.
He'd tried getting up early with Chen Mo twice. The result? He dragged himself out of bed at five in the morning, too sleepy to keep his eyes open. In class, his head bobbed as he slept soundly, and he didn't hear a single word the teacher said.
He'd gritted his teeth and bought an expensive math test-prep book, determined to conquer math. The result? After only three pages, one difficult problem had him questioning his entire existence. He felt as if his intelligence had been gravely insulted, so he promptly stuffed the book into the bottom of his backpack and never took it out again.
He'd even secretly added extra Black Tiger Stance practice. The result? Before five minutes had passed, his legs were shaking like a sieve, and his stance was all crooked. Instructor Xu caught him red-handed and scolded him in front of the whole class, warning that his form was off and he could injure his meridians.
Every attempt ended in failure. Zhang Shun's spirits sank to rock bottom.
After school that day, the setting sun stretched their shadows long. Zhang Shun pushed his bicycle along, head drooping, and spoke dispiritedly. "Brother Mo, am I really hopeless? You make studying look so easy, and you've even gotten pretty good at throwing punches. How come I... How come I'm no good at anything?"
Chen Mo stopped and turned to look at him. The streetlight's glow fell across Zhang Shun's face, making the disappointment between his brows easy to see. Even the pimples on his face seemed to radiate gloom.
He was Chen Mo's childhood friend, the one who would drink with him when they were down and laugh with him when they were happy. How could Chen Mo just watch him lose heart?
He reached out and planted a firm hand on Zhang Shun's shoulder. His voice was unusually serious. "Shunzi, listen. Everyone has their own pace. I've 'woken up,' but before that, I was a complete mess. I wasn't much better than you."
He paused, looking at Zhang Shun's confused, upturned eyes, then continued. "Here's the thing: don't compare yourself to me. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Just compare yourself to who you were before. Let's set a small goal, okay? Math and English are your biggest headaches, right? We won't worry about getting high marks. We'll just figure out how to get the basic points and the points for standard methods. In math, the first eight multiple-choice questions, the first two fill-in-the-blanks, and the first part of the first three long problems are all guaranteed points. As long as you memorize the formulas and master the example problems, you can get them. You don't like memorizing English vocabulary, so don't. We'll memorize essay templates and common sentence patterns instead, and focus on keywords in the listening sections... We're not aiming for excellence, just to avoid dragging down your score. How about it?"
Zhang Shun raised his head, and a little light slowly returned to his eyes. "You think... that'll really work?"
"Why wouldn't it?" Chen Mo smiled, his tone confident. "If you can raise your Cultural Class total by thirty or forty points, that'll be huge progress for you. And then there's Martial Arts. You've got a decent foundation—you're just a little lazy, and your balance is unsteady when you do Standing Meditation. We'll practice the areas you need to work on. I'm not asking you to become an expert, just to pass steadily, or even get close to a good grade. After that, you can pick any vocational college you want. If you're lucky, you might even scrape into an ordinary university!"
"Really?" Zhang Shun's eyes widened, disbelief in his voice, along with a trace of barely suppressed hope.
"When have I ever lied to you?" Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and patted him on the chest. "But the condition is that you follow my 'Foolproof Plan.' No slacking off. If you don't understand something, ask. No matter how 'stupid' the question is, you've got to ask, even if you have to swallow your pride. You in?"
"Damn it! You're the stupid one!" Zhang Shun laughed and cursed, then punched Chen Mo on the shoulder. It wasn't a hard hit, but it was full of energy. Most of the gloom vanished from his face in an instant. "Fine! I'll listen to you! I'm all in! But you'd better remember: if this plan doesn't work, you're buying me jianbing guozi for a whole month, with four eggs each time!"
"Deal!" Chen Mo laughed too, his smile relaxed. "If it works, you're buying for me!"
"No problem!"
In the days that followed, Zhang Shun still complained from time to time that "no human could solve this problem" or "these words are way too long," but he really did stick to Chen Mo's Foolproof Plan.
He stopped sleeping in. He still struggled to get up, but at least he spent half an hour memorizing English essay templates. He no longer stared stubbornly at difficult problems on math tests; instead, he repeatedly worked through the basic questions until he could write down the answers with his eyes closed. During Martial Arts Class, he stopped slacking off and practiced Standing Meditation alongside Chen Mo. Even when his legs trembled badly, he gritted his teeth and held on.
His progress wasn't as dazzling as Chen Mo's, but it was solid. Like an old ox pulling a broken cart, he was slow, but he really was moving forward, one step at a time.
The turning point came during a short math quiz.
The whole class fell silent for a moment when the teacher announced Zhang Shun's score.
"Zhang Shun, 61."
Sixty-one points, just enough to pass.
To the top students, that score was nothing. But to Zhang Shun, it meant everything. It was the first time he'd passed math since starting high school!
"Brother Mo! Did you see? Sixty-one points! I passed math!" As soon as the dismissal bell rang, Zhang Shun clutched his crumpled test paper and shouted excitedly in the bike shed, holding it up like an Olympic gold medal. His voice was loud enough to carry to the neighboring class.
"I saw, I saw. The whole school heard you." Chen Mo leaned against his bicycle, teasing him as he tried not to laugh.
"So what if they heard?" Zhang Shun didn't care. He carefully folded the test paper and tucked it into the deepest part of his backpack, afraid it might get damaged. Then he hooked an arm around Chen Mo's neck and declared, "Let's go celebrate! Jianbing guozi! My treat! You can have three extra eggs today!"
"Only three? Not enough, not enough. At least four!"
"Four it is! I'm in a great mood today!"
The evening glow fell across the two of them, stretching their shadows long and longer. Their clear laughter drifted through the bike shed on the evening breeze and carried far away.
Chen Mo looked at his friend, full of energy again, and felt warmth spread through his heart.
Making friends, earning the teachers' approval, and gaining his classmates' friendship were all wonderful. But this brotherhood, tested by hardship and sustained by supporting each other, was the most solid and precious thing he'd gained in this fantastic journey through another life.
He looked up into the distance. The sun was slowly setting, night was gently falling, and the lights of countless homes were coming on one by one, warm and bright. One of them belonged to his family in this world.
On Saturday, he'd go to Zhao Peng's house to test his Qi and Blood and see how far his cultivation had come. On Sunday, he'd keep updating Black Tower and not let down the readers waiting impatiently for more. Next Monday, there'd be new material to master and new proficiency to build.
Life was busy and fulfilling, and the road ahead was clear, though full of challenges.
Chen Mo tightened his grip on the handlebars and swung his right leg over the bicycle. The evening breeze blew into his face, carrying the heat of summer, but it couldn't dim the light in his eyes.
He pushed down hard on a pedal, and the bicycle began to roll, carrying him toward home.
A calm smile appeared on his face, belonging to someone who fought for his future and protected what mattered to him.
Getting to live through this youth all over again... wasn't so bad.
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