Amateur Journalists (Two-in-One)

Lin Fangxin spent the whole night researching the paper.

Meanwhile, Yan Xiao spent the whole night tutoring Guan Zhiyuan.

It was hard to believe, but after this tutoring session, Guan Zhiyuan seemed to have a breakthrough. Even someone as single-minded as him learned to draw inferences from one instance.

This made Yan Xiao realize that traditional exam-oriented education really had no joy to speak of.

By association, he thought of the historical humor book that had been a huge hit on Earth back in the day-Those Things About the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, in terms of how far the humor could go, Those Things About the Ming Dynasty still had a bit of a hiding-things-behind-the-curtain feel to it.

Just like that, with one spinning dirty jokes with wild abandon and the other catching punchlines with perfect timing, they actually completed the entire first volume of math in one night.

Once done, it needed reinforcement.

Yan Xiao left Guan Zhiyuan a set of first-year high school practice problems and went back to his room to sleep.

Guan Zhiyuan, meanwhile, fought through the entire night. After finishing one set of test papers, he still didn't feel satisfied, so he found two more sets and slaughtered his way through them.

The next day, Yan Xiao didn't get up until 11 a.m. When he came out of his room, he found Guan Zhiyuan slumped over the desk, asleep.

He tiptoed over to Guan Zhiyuan's side and reached out to pick up a completed test paper.

'Mm, not bad. Accuracy above 90%.'

Yan Xiao put the paper down, and Guan Zhiyuan woke up. He looked at the sun that had already risen to the top of the building and said:

"Da Yan, what time is it now?"

"A quarter past eleven."

"Holy crap!" Guan Zhiyuan shot to his feet. Because he used too much force, the folding chair behind him screeched and slammed onto the floor, its leg jabbing right into his ankle. "Ouch..."

Rubbing his heel with one hand, Guan Zhiyuan hopped around trying to grab his backpack.

"Even if you go to school now, you'll miss class anyway. You might as well eat lunch first and then go." Yan Xiao, looking thoroughly exasperated, picked up the stool and set it against the wall.

"That's true." Guan Zhiyuan, having come to his senses, rubbed his ankle for a while longer. Once the numbness faded, he stood up and said:

"Da Yan, how about I just stop going to school altogether? I feel like listening to you teach for one night gave me a more solid foundation than a whole year of school."

"Don't." Yan Xiao waved his hand. "If you skip too many classes, the school will expel you."

Guan Zhiyuan was noncommittal. "Our school is on the hot seat right now. They wouldn't dare expel students easily, especially a poor student like me."

He paused, then continued: "Take Lingzi from Class Seven. Word was he'd already negotiated a withdrawal with the school, but now his homeroom teacher went back on it and even told him that as long as he doesn't formally withdraw, he doesn't even have to show up.

That bastard's living pretty comfortably now."

Yan Xiao had no impression whatsoever of who Lingzi was. To avoid exposing his secret, he changed the subject: "After Zhu Jingli left, who became our class's homeroom teacher?"

"Class Five's homeroom teacher is covering us. Probably nobody will take over before we graduate." Guan Zhiyuan spoke with considerable lament, as if he really wished the class had a dedicated homeroom teacher.

"Let's just get through these next few days like this. If your second mock exam score improves a lot, have your aunt or uncle go talk to the school-say you found a famous teacher to review at home.

For now, while there's no score yet, just bear with it."

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

It was nearly noon. The two ordered takeout, ate, and then left the apartment together.

"I'm heading off then."

"See you tonight. Give me a call before you come-I don't know what time I'll be back today."

"Alright. If you're back late, I'll find a place to do practice problems on my own first." Guan Zhiyuan waved and rode off on his bicycle.

Yan Xiao, meanwhile, strolled to the bus stop, took a bus, transferred to the subway, and didn't reach the school area until nearly 2 p.m.

He wasn't in a hurry to enter the school. Instead, he first stopped at a roadside convenience store and bought a pack of cigarettes.

Tore open the pack. Lit one up.

Yan Xiao walked toward the school with the cigarette in his mouth. When he was about 30 meters from the gate, he spotted a man and a woman staring at him with burning eyes.

Hm?

Could they be relatives of Zhu Jingli and Hua Youliang?

Looking to get revenge on me?

Yan Xiao's alert level instantly shot up to the level of when he was a kid getting cornered at the school gate by people looking for payback.

He stopped, pretending to wait for someone, but in reality never letting his guard down.

Those two at the gate were indeed there for Yan Xiao.

They were teachers from Jinghua University's admissions office.

Ever since Yan Xiao's essay was exposed online, the leaders of Jinghua University had decided to do everything in their power to recruit Yan Xiao.

Later, when the Xicheng District first mock exam results were released, it only solidified their resolve.

Of course, the "extortion gate" incident that Zhu Jingli and Hua Youliang cooked up made the leaders hesitate slightly.

But as the incident reversed, they once again wanted to find Yan Xiao with unprecedented determination.

They knew very well that this matter was not simple.

But!

A top student with tactics and savvy was, in their view, far more important than a purely academic top student.

After all, in the real academic world, being good at studying and having strong academic ability alone isn't enough to thrive.

"Director Li, is that person really Yan Xiao? Why do I feel like that kid looks like a delinquent waiting at the school gate to rob people?"

Director Li hesitated, then pulled out his phone, opened Yan Xiao's photo, compared, and replied,

"I think it should be him. He looks exactly like the photo. The only difference is his aura. It should be him, right?"

"How about we go ask?"

Their conversation was observed by Yan Xiao.

Especially the man's action of "looking at his phone one moment, then at him the next," which made Yan Xiao even more certain:

'These guys are definitely here to corner me!'

Could he win a fight?

1v2, not an advantage.

As the saying goes, a wise man does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Yan Xiao dropped his cigarette butt, crushed it underfoot, and crouched down to tie his shoelaces.

Lin Fangxin, sitting by the window, saw Yan Xiao from the window and thought: 'You're finally here...'

She had been waiting at school all morning for Yan Xiao to discuss the paper.

But by noon, there was still no sign of him, which infuriated her.

It gave her the feeling of the emperor not being anxious while the eunuch was.

In the afternoon, Shang Hong'an and Wu Xiaohong came to the school together, and it became three people waiting for Yan Xiao.

The two deans probably knew that Lin Wushu's daughter would ultimately choose either the math or physics department, so after a few pleasantries, they chatted among themselves.

Lin Fangxin, meanwhile, kept looking up out the window, searching for Yan Xiao's figure.

Finally, she saw Yan Xiao appear in her field of vision.

"Yan Xiao's here," Lin Fangxin said.

Hearing Lin Fangxin's words, Shang Hong'an didn't put on airs. He walked to the window and looked out, just in time to see Yan Xiao finish tying his shoelaces and stand up.

"Not bad, a fine young man. He really does have the aura of a scholar!"

"Shameless. That's the aura of an explorer!" Wu Xiaohong retorted, also appearing at the window.

However, what no one expected was-

When the man and woman at the gate tried to approach him, he turned and bolted.

Very fast.

In a flash, he vanished around the street corner.

This left everyone petrified...

"How about you give him a call?" Shang Hong'an said to Wu Xiaohong.

"Alright, but I think we should wait a bit. He ran so fast just now, he probably can't hear it ringing."

"No 'probably' about it. He definitely can't hear it."

After waiting about ten minutes, Wu Xiaohong pulled out his phone and dialed Yan Xiao.

As soon as the call connected, Wu Xiaohong asked, "Why did you run?"

"Dean Wu, you saw me?" Yan Xiao's voice sounded surprised.

"Yes. I sold the oracle bone script you translated, and now they want to register you and give you a bonus."

As he spoke, Wu Xiaohong gave Shang Hong'an a provocative look, then continued: "Why did you run?"

Yan Xiao certainly couldn't say "there were two people at the gate who wanted to beat me up," nor could he just say nothing at all. After all, school resources were there to be used.

Clever use was the best choice.

He replied, "I just saw two reporters at the school gate. I didn't want to be interviewed, so I ran."

"There are reporters at the gate?" Wu Xiaohong marveled inwardly at reporters' omnipresence. "No worries. I'll have security send them away. Come back."

"Alright. I'm a bit far from school right now. I'll head back immediately."

Yan Xiao lifted his foot off the bus and turned to leave under the driver's furious glare.

Wu Xiaohong hung up and immediately found the security guards.

They went downstairs and found Director Li and his female subordinate still waiting at the gate.

"What are you two doing here?" Wu Xiaohong asked.

"Nothing. We're looking for someone," Director Li replied.

He certainly wouldn't reveal that he was from Jinghua University. After all, everyone in the industry knew this was Jida University's turf.

Openly poaching students was breaking the rules.

If exposed, they would become targets of the entire industry.

Hearing Director Li's words, Wu Xiaohong thought: 'Good eye. These two really are reporters.'

As he thought this, he looked around, trying to spot any hidden cameras or recording equipment.

After a full sweep with no findings, Wu Xiaohong categorized these two as-

Magazine reporters, looking to arrange an exclusive interview.

"You're here for Yan Xiao, right?"

Director Li's expression shifted slightly at having his target exposed. He thought he'd been found out, which would make things difficult. Helpless, he could only admit it: "We are indeed here for Yan Xiao. We wanted to chat with him, but we mean no harm."

Wu Xiaohong nodded in full agreement. "There's no problem with you wanting to interview Yan Xiao, but you should have given advance notice. Showing up without a word and scaring off my prized disciple-that's not right!"

???

Interview???

Director Li's mind raced, and he immediately admitted, "Sorry, you're right. We were rash."

Having admitted the mistake, Director Li pressed his advantage. "We actually just wanted to interview Yan Xiao, to see if he could share his valuable study methods with more students.

By the way, we'd also like to learn about his future aspirations and such."

"Fine. We won't pursue your mistake this time. I'll accept this interview on his behalf. Which magazine are you from?"

Director Li nearly blurted out his actual workplace. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and pulled out a name that wasn't too familiar to either school but was well-known in the industry-Education Reference.

This magazine's status was roughly equivalent to Readers in the literary world,

or Basketball World in the sports world.

Wu Xiaohong's status certainly wouldn't allow him to personally receive these two "reporters." He had security escort Director Li and his female subordinate upstairs, while he and Shang Hong'an waited downstairs for Yan Xiao.

After about twenty minutes, Yan Xiao finally arrived.

"Why are you so wary? Those two are just reporters who want to interview you. Everything's been cleared up." Wu Xiaohong said.

"They really are reporters?"

"From Education Reference weekly. A pretty famous magazine."

"Oh..."

Whether Education Reference weekly was actually famous, Yan Xiao had no idea.

He wasn't even familiar with any magazines in this world besides Anime King...

So his reply was casual and indifferent.

Wu Xiaohong saw this and inwardly praised him again: 'Good! To remain so calm in the face of a well-known media outlet-truly the bearing of a great general!'

"I've accepted this interview on your behalf. I think it'll be good for your future development."

"This..." Yan Xiao nearly bolted again.

But then he thought: there are so many people at school. If it really came to a fight, our side would have an absolute advantage.

In an instant,

his confidence surged...

"Alright, then. Thanks, Dean Wu."

The two went upstairs and entered the classroom. When Director Li saw Yan Xiao, he could only act extremely enthusiastic. "Student Yan Xiao, I'm Xiong Naiwen, editor-in-chief of Education Reference. I've come today without notice and startled you. I'm truly sorry."

"It's fine. I was just being overly cautious. You know, I've been 'burned' before." Shaking his head and sighing, Yan Xiao acted very convincingly.

"No, it was our lack of consideration." Before Yan Xiao could speak, Director Li proactively changed the subject. "How about we do a simple interview now?

And arrange a full exclusive when there's a chance?"

Yan Xiao looked at Wu Xiaohong, who nodded in approval. Only then did Yan Xiao say, "Alright, let's begin."

With that, he sat down on a chair.

Director Li pulled out his phone and opened the recording app, wearing an apologetic expression. "I wasn't paying attention when I came out. My bag was picked on the bus-my recorder and wallet were all stolen. Luckily I had my phone on me. Sorry for seeming unprofessional."

"It's fine, I understand. Shall we begin?" Yan Xiao said indifferently.

"Alright, let's begin." Director Li recalled the top-student interview articles he'd read before and said:

"In this Ji City first mock exam, you achieved first place in the entire district with a perfect score, also setting the record for the highest first mock exam score. How do you feel?"

'Why does this sound like a sports interview?' Yan Xiao complained inwardly, but answered without hesitation: "Just luck."

"This is hardly luck. Your perfect-score essay was the first thing exposed online. What was the true meaning behind your final sentence?"

Yan Xiao smiled. "'Repay kindness with kindness, repay grievance with justice' is easy to understand-it's about reciprocity.

And the phrase 'if you repay grievance with kindness, with what will you repay kindness?' isn't actually limited to individuals. It's about legislation.

Roughly speaking, it means every harm should have a corresponding law to restrict and punish it.

If someone does something heinous and only faces moral criticism, that's repaying grievance with kindness."