The Future Was Bright

Class Five's homeroom teacher, Chen Yan, was an oddity at Fifth Middle School.

She didn't bully students, accept gifts from parents, or peddle substandard medicine from small pharmaceutical companies.

She genuinely cared about every student in her class. She took her teaching seriously and devoted all her time and energy to educating them.

But not everyone understood her sincerity. Because she refused to sell medicine for the small pharmaceutical companies, many students couldn't get access to cheap medicine and had no choice but to use their connections to transfer to another class.

By now, more than half the students in Class Five had left. Only fifteen remained.

Gao Teng had packed his schoolbag and was heading toward the floor where Class Five was when he saw Chen Yan waiting in the corridor. She wore a gray suit dress, rimless glasses, and her hair was tied neatly behind her head. She had an air of competence about her.

"Teacher Chen."

Gao Teng greeted her first and hurried over.

Chen Yan smiled warmly. "You must be Gao Teng. Welcome to Class Five."

"Thank you, Teacher."

Gao Teng responded politely.

"The principal told me you had a little disagreement with Teacher Zhao," Chen Yan said. "He really is an unpleasant man. I've disliked him for a long time, too."

Chen Yan's words touched Gao Teng. The awkwardness of being in a new place quickly began to fade.

Chen Yan continued, "The principal also told me your martial arts grades aren't very good, and that you were at the bottom of Class Eight.

"But that's all right. There are still two months until the college entrance exam. As long as you work hard, you'll definitely get into a junior college."

Gao Teng's expression turned serious. "Teacher, I'll work hard."

Chen Yan nodded. "Come with me. I'll introduce you to the class."

"Okay."

Chen Yan led him into the classroom, and Gao Teng stood at the front to give a brief introduction.

After offering him a little goodwill, his classmates went back to their cultivation.

With only sixty days left until the college entrance exam, they had to make every second count. Wasting time meant ruining their futures!

Gao Teng took a seat in the last row. His deskmate was a little ugly, but very friendly.

"My name's Liu Ming. If there's anything you don't understand about cultivation techniques or martial skills, you can ask me. I don't understand any of it anyway."

Gao Teng: "..."

"Hehehe..."

Liu Ming couldn't help laughing.

Gao Teng shook his head. His deskmate might have been a little ugly, but he was pretty cheerful.

Liu Ming cleared his throat and said seriously, "I was joking just now. Actually, I've trained all the basic techniques and martial skills for the internal, external, mental, and martial disciplines to level nine. If you have any questions, you can really ask me."

"Oh?"

Gao Teng was a little surprised. His deskmate might have been a little ugly, but he had no shortage of talent in martial arts.

He asked curiously, "Why are you helping me?"

Liu Ming was taken aback. Looking thoroughly puzzled, he said, "Isn't helping a classmate the right thing to do?"

Gao Teng was deeply moved. His deskmate might have been a little ugly, but he had a kind heart and loved helping others.

"All right, I'll stop talking," Liu Ming said, sitting cross-legged in his chair. "We can chat later. I need to cultivate."

With that, he closed his eyes and began circulating the Basic Breathing Technique to refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Gao Teng took a long look at his deskmate. The atmosphere in Class Five really was different. The students were so much friendlier.

He glanced around. Everyone was quietly cultivating, so he followed their lead and got to work.

After a full day of hard work at school, Gao Teng walked out of Fifth Middle School beneath the fiery red sunset.

Aside from lunchtime, he had cultivated nonstop, but in the end, he'd gained only a few points of cultivation. His talent was so terrible it was almost laughable.

If he couldn't steal cultivation, he'd probably never get the chance to turn his life around!

"Good thing heaven's on my side."

Gao Teng let out a long breath, feeling incredibly lucky.

Just as he was about to get on his bicycle and ride home, someone slung an arm around his shoulders.

Gao Teng turned to look. The man had regular features and wore a black tracksuit. It was Zhou Xing.

"I heard from the teacher that you transferred your twenty-percent discount to me. Thanks."

"Oh, it was nothing." Gao Teng waved a hand. "That discount's no use to me. With my grades, even getting into a junior college would be a problem.

"You're different. If you work hard over these last two months, you can definitely get into a top university."

Hearing that, Zhou Xing's mood sank.

His cultivation was dropping every day. At this rate, he might not even make it into an ordinary university, let alone a top one.

Zhou Xing gritted his teeth. To keep his cultivation steady, he had no choice but to take even more medicine.

"Gao Teng, do you have any money on you? Lend me some."

Gao Teng rolled his eyes. "Come on, man. I still have a pile of online loans to pay off. Where am I supposed to get money?"

Zhou Xing's expression darkened. "You think I'm asking? Hand over all the money you have!"

"I really don't have any."

Gao Teng pulled out his trouser pockets. Apart from a battered phone with a cracked screen, he didn't have a single cent on him.

Zhou Xing frowned deeply, his eyes full of disgust. "You shouldn't have spent money on medicine in the first place. With your talent, what could you possibly accomplish? You're just wasting money!

"Give me a thousand yuan within a week. Got it?"

"Y-yes, got it," Gao Teng answered timidly, his voice shaking.

In a week, he'd be stronger. He could settle things with Zhou Xing then. For now, he'd let him act high and mighty.

"Good."

Zhou Xing smiled with satisfaction.

Although Gao Teng had gotten stronger, he still had to behave himself around Zhou Xing.

He patted Gao Teng on the shoulder and said in a gentler tone, "Don't feel wronged. Once I get into a top university and have a bright future, I promise I won't forget that you all supported me.

"You're helping me now, and I'll repay you a hundredfold in the future. I've always been someone who remembers both kindness and grudges. I never forget the people who treat me well."

Gao Teng sneered inwardly. He'd sooner believe a beautiful girl would drop from the sky and give him money, a car, and a house than buy that nonsense.

He exchanged a few polite words with Zhou Xing and watched him leave, full of self-satisfaction. A mocking smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

In a week, Zhou Xing would be even weaker, and Gao Teng would make him pay back every bit of humiliation—with interest!

Gao Teng silently looked away. His phone suddenly vibrated.

He unlocked it and glanced at the screen. It was another reminder from an online lending platform to pay his loan.

Gao Teng's mouth twitched as he shoved the phone into his pocket.

He was used to the payment reminders by now. In the week since he'd arrived in this world, he'd gotten dozens of them every day.

His predecessor had borrowed from one lender to pay another, racking up more than three hundred thousand yuan in debt. In the end, he'd taken too much medicine and suffered cardiac arrest. Now all the debt had fallen to Gao Teng.

But it was all right. He didn't need cultivation resources to grow stronger by leaps and bounds. Paying off this debt wouldn't be difficult.

"The future was bright!"

In a great mood, Gao Teng swung onto his bicycle and rode toward the urban village.