Stupid or Not?

"You weren't really struck stupid when Gao Fei smashed your head with a stool, were you? Why are you staring at me with those lecherous eyes?" The person who had rushed in suddenly spoke, and the moment he opened his mouth, a deep, rugged man's voice came out.

In the blink of an eye, Ren Jie saw that the person before him had turned into a fat man less than 1.7 meters tall and nearly a meter wide, so round he was practically a ball.

Ren Jie vigorously shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and stared wide-eyed at the person in front of him.

Had his eyes been playing tricks on him just now? Or was it an illusion from having watched an ancient human reproduction art film? But no illusion could possibly turn such a round fat man into that exquisite, gracefully curvaceous, completely naked beauty.

"Boss, y-you're not trying to scare me, are you? Let me check your injuries first, all right? Do you still remember who I am?" The fat man grew terribly uncomfortable under Ren Jie's gaze and nearly felt like turning around and fleeing, but in the end, he still gathered his courage and stepped forward.

At that moment, a dozen more people rushed in. Every one of them wore a flattering smile, and seeing Ren Jie awake, they all let out sighs of relief.

Remember who he was? At this moment, Ren Jie was also rapidly absorbing the original owner's memories from his mind. Those memories had been there when he first opened his eyes. But back then, it had been like tens of thousands of people trying to squeeze through a crowded doorway that only allowed one person through at a time; any more, and his head would ache. Now, however, things were completely different. Though the information was vast and immense, Ren Jie felt as though floodgates had opened, all the memories rushing into his mind at breakneck speed.

Ren Jie immediately thought of the greatest change before and after: during that quarter of an hour in the video, he had sensed some of the profound essence of the Five Great Sages' discussion of the Dao. Could it be related to that?

Those thoughts only flashed through Ren Jie's mind for the moment before he began paying attention to other information. The fat man asking whether he recognized him was actually named Gao Ren. They had said Gao Ren just now, not the "expert" Ren Jie had imagined.

This fat man was someone Ren Jie had met in a gambling house a year ago, before entering Jade Emperor Academy. Ren Jie had rarely won a huge sum of money that time, and in the several incidents afterward, Gao Ren had helped him devise plans. He was also proficient in every aspect of eating, drinking, and pleasure-seeking. According to Gao Ren, his ancestors had once been wealthy as well, but the family had later fallen into decline, leaving only him to drift about among the common folk.

Ren Jie had been about to be sent to Jade Emperor Academy at the time, so he brought Gao Ren in with him. Jade Emperor Academy was known as the highest-class and most luxurious academy in the Bright Jade Dynasty. It had another name as well: Hedonistic Young Master Academy. From Princes, imperial grandsons, and heirs of the great families down to the children of regional governors and wealthy clans, all were sent there. Ordinary people truly found it difficult to enter; the terrifying fees alone were beyond what most could bear. But for Ren Jie, bringing someone in was no trouble at all.

"Th-this plus this equals what?" Seeing Ren Jie still sitting there in a daze without speaking, fair and chubby Gao Ren walked up to him, raised one index finger on each hand, and carefully asked.

Damn it, he really thought Ren Jie had been beaten into an idiot.

Eh! No, that wasn't right. Strictly speaking, the original Ren Jie had not merely been beaten stupid. He had been beaten to death—murdered. At once, the earlier scene surfaced in Ren Jie's mind. That idiot had been chasing one of the academy's so-called three great beauties, Fang Qi, when she came to tell him that she actually liked Ren Jie, but Gao Fei kept pestering her. So she came up with a plan: have Ren Jie go tell Gao Fei that she was already his woman.

What a fucking idiot. Gao Fei's expression at the time, along with the things he had shouted, had made it obvious that Fang Qi had said something to him beforehand as well. As a result, that fellow had used the ironwood stool beneath him, harder than stone, to smash Ren Jie's head several times. Ren Jie had later been rescued, but he had still breathed his last.

"Three." Those memories flashed through his mind in an instant. Seeing Gao Ren's two fair, plump fingers and that expression as if he truly believed Ren Jie had been beaten into an idiot, Ren Jie answered casually.

"It's over, it's over. Young Master Jie really has been beaten stupid."

"This is bad. What do we do now?"

"Something huge has happened! The family head has been beaten stupid! Th-this, what are we supposed to do?"

The group of followers gathered around them looked worse than the next.

"Three? Look carefully. I'm asking, what does one plus one equal?" Gao Ren was startled too, thinking, Could he really have become stupid?

"Four works. Five works. Six, seven, eight all work. Zero or one works too. Even ten thousand times ten thousand would be no problem." Looking at Gao Ren, who was now standing very close, Ren Jie replied casually. Anyone from the modern world would know this was like a brain teaser; answering this way meant he was joking, not doing arithmetic. Ren Jie only found Gao Ren's fair, plump appearance rather strange. His eyes were definitely right, and his face bore some resemblance as well. The longer Ren Jie looked, the more certain he became that he had not been mistaken earlier. And he had not seen that with his eyes—it was what his divine sense had detected in the instant he withdrew it from his Sea of Consciousness.

But no matter how he looked now, he could not spot anything unusual. And this fair, chubby Gao Ren was holding up fingers to ask him what one plus one equaled, so Ren Jie simply joked in reply.

"This is terrible. He really was beaten stupid. This is no small matter. Ren Jie might be a Hedonistic Young Master, but at least we'd gotten familiar with each other. If he becomes stupid, won't I have to wander the streets again..." Gao Ren thought to himself, then hurried forward. "Let me examine you and see whether I can prepare some medicine..."

Ren Jie knew that apart from a large bump on his head, he was actually fine. As for the original Ren Jie, he had long since died. And from his memories, he knew Gao Ren was an apothecary. He knew a little of everything else too and was rather mysterious. Ren Jie truly feared being found out by him.

"It's fine. I was only joking with you. One drop of water plus one drop of water still equals one drop of water, doesn't it?" Though he had received all the memories intact, Ren Jie still had his misgivings. Especially after witnessing that miraculous sight earlier, and now being unable to find anything strange about Gao Ren even while he stood right before him, Ren Jie felt it was better to be careful and not let him examine him.

"Mm..." Gao Ren froze. A joke? One drop of water plus one drop of water really was still one drop of water.

The people around them also froze, each pondering Ren Jie's words. Such an ordinary saying in the modern world, yet when heard for the first time by someone unfamiliar with it, it always seemed to contain some deeper meaning, like a Zen saying from Buddhist scriptures.

"Then why did you say it equaled three?"

"One man plus one woman equals three, doesn't it?" Ren Jie answered casually. Not wanting so many people crowding around him, he waved his hand. "All right, get out."

"One man plus one woman—how does that equal three?"

"Idiot, you have to make it."

"Oh, as expected of Young Master Jie. Amazing."

Some of them initially did not understand, but after one person figured it out and explained, everyone else's eyes lit up. Now they truly believed Ren Jie was fine, because they had taken his words as some kind of dirty joke, and their laughter all sounded rather indecent.

Gao Ren paused, then shrugged. This guy really never changed. He was just beaten this badly, and the moment he wakes up, he's saying things like this.

"I told you long ago that Fang Qi was no one to provoke, but you wouldn't listen. This incident was definitely that woman's doing. We absolutely can't let this slide. Once I prepare a dose of Super Purgative, hmph!" After everyone else had left and Gao Ren saw that Ren Jie was fine, he immediately changed the subject. In Gao Ren's eyes, Ren Jie saying one man plus one woman equaled three meant he was starting to turn things lewd again.

"Mm, that woman truly isn't a good bird. 'A heart of snakes and scorpions' suits her perfectly." Recalling the earlier memories, Ren Jie nodded in agreement.

"You're absolutely right. A heart of snakes and scorpions... Ah..." Gao Ren nodded repeatedly upon hearing that, but the next instant, he stared at Ren Jie in even greater horror than when he had suspected Ren Jie might be an idiot. He simply could not believe it.

Heavens, was this still that lovesick young master? Before, if Gao Ren said even one bad thing about Fang Qi, Ren Jie would argue with him for half the day. If it were anyone else, Ren Jie could directly pick a fight with them for half the day.

This guy had pestered Fang Qi for nearly a year, making no shortage of jokes because of her. What was going on today? "Why are you getting so close? You're not a beauty either. I'm not interested in fat people or men. If you want to get close to me, you'll at least have to turn into a woman first..." The two had already been standing close. Gao Ren was so shocked and disbelieving that he could not help moving nearer to get a clearer look and hear more clearly, wondering whether he had gotten it wrong. As a result, they were now extremely close. Ren Jie could not help recalling what he had seen earlier. Though it was hard to connect this fair, chubby fat man, nearly a meter across, with the beauty he had seen just now, Ren Jie still could not help joking.

"Ah... What woman? You've gone mad thinking about women..." Gao Ren jumped in fright, abruptly took two steps back, and shot Ren Jie a glare.

Damn it, Ren Jie looked at Gao Ren's expression and felt that reaction did not seem like something a man should have. Without realizing it, the atmosphere had become somewhat...

"Reporting to the family head, today is the day for the Lineage elders' council. Seeing that the family head had not returned for a long time, they ordered this subordinate to come and request that the family head return immediately." At that moment, a guard's loud voice suddenly rang out from outside, easing the particularly awkward atmosphere.

Family head, Lineage elders' council...

Who would have thought this guy was actually... the family head of the Ren Family, one of the Bright Jade Dynasty's Five Great Families? No, now it should be said that it was Ren Jie himself!!

"Fine..." Ren Jie also felt a little awkward. After all, looking at a man—a fat man shaped like a ball—and constantly thinking of him naked was uncomfortable. And no matter how Ren Jie looked, he could not tell which parts of Gao Ren's flesh were fake, so he readily agreed, quickly got out of bed, and left.

Gao Ren watched Ren Jie depart and also felt somewhat strange. He kept feeling that Ren Jie was a little different from usual today.

He could actually say Fang Qi had a heart of snakes and scorpions, and even say that one plus one equaled one. Had Gao Fei's blow to the head knocked some sense into him, or was this nonsense after being traumatized?

Fair and chubby Gao Ren's eyes darted rapidly. Perhaps he was simply overthinking it. At the very least, Ren Jie could never possibly know...