His tone was just like someone humoring a child. Jiang Fan knew the moment he heard it that Tang Fugui didn't believe him.
Actually, that was perfectly normal. After all, in other people's eyes, he was still that half-cripple with only 19N of vitality.
Although it had now risen to 25N, that was still six of one and half a dozen of the other, hardly worth mentioning.
Of course, he could also demonstrate retrieving objects from a distance in front of Tang Fugui and the others to prove he was a Spirit Master. But given his earlier considerations, he felt it was better to keep a low profile for now.
"Oh, right, Dad, here's twenty thousand yuan. Take it to help with household expenses." Jiang Fan took out another bulging envelope, which he had prepared beforehand.
He had actually wanted to give Tang Fugui a hundred thousand, but in his current circumstances, producing a hundred thousand all at once would definitely arouse Tang Fugui's suspicions.
If Tang Fugui dug down to the roots with his questions, he wouldn't even know how to conceal it.
Even with just twenty thousand yuan, Jiang Fan saw unparalleled astonishment on Tang Fugui's face.
Before Tang Fugui could ask, Jiang Fan decided to take the initiative.
"Dad, I earned all this money myself. Some came from odd jobs, and some from scholarships. It's all from completely legitimate sources."
Then Jiang Fan added, "It has nothing whatsoever to do with the Jiang family."
Tang Fugui had indeed wanted to ask a few more questions about the money, but after hearing Jiang Fan's final explanation, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
Bzz, bzz, bzz- His phone vibrated. Jiang Fan took it out of his trouser pocket. The caller ID read: homeroom teacher.
Come to think of it, he hadn't been to school for a few days, and Jiang Youtian deserved most of the credit for that.
As soon as the call connected, a middle-aged man's voice rang out.
"Jiang Fan, I've heard about what happened with your family, and I understand why you haven't come to school these past two days. But tomorrow's exam is very important. There are scholarships at stake, so I hope you can come."
"All right, Teacher Lu. I'll definitely come to school tomorrow."
"Good. Come to my office after the exam. There's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Jiang Fan could hear the concern in his homeroom teacher's voice.
Honestly, in this era that valued martial prowess over academic studies, few teachers cared about a sickly boy like him, whose physical fitness rivaled a weak chicken's.
But his homeroom teacher had never treated him coldly because of it, and had even kept encouraging him to get into a top liberal arts university.
So in his memories of his previous life, his homeroom teacher, Lu Yi, had certainly been a guiding light in his tragic existence.
After hanging up, Jiang Fan noticed Tang Fugui holding the money, his expression tangled and conflicted.
"Dad, take it. If you don't, surely you can't expect me, a student, to buy groceries and cook? Besides, my cooking isn't anywhere near as good as Mom's. Like I just said, I've decided to apply for the martial track, so have Mom buy more nutritious food these next few days. I need to nourish myself properly."
Those words had certainly struck Tang Fugui's soft spot. Yes, he could eat poorly, but little Fan was different. Setting aside that wild flight of fancy about the martial track, which was impossible, his body still needed nourishment.
"All right, I'll hold on to this money, then. I'll give it to your mom later and have her buy some good food first thing tomorrow morning."
Jiang Fan gave a knowing smile. "Mm..."
The next day, Jiang Fan headed to Ancheng No. 9 Middle School after breakfast.
The moment he entered the classroom, Jiang Fan felt his classmates' various complicated gazes.
Some were waiting for a good show, while others shook their heads and clicked their tongues.
Jiang Fan turned a deaf ear to all of it.
After finding his seat, he sat down, but just as he took out his textbook, a hand suddenly snatched it away.
Jiang Fan looked up to see a tall, burly boy spinning his textbook on a finger.
Wei Qi, one of the top martial-track prospects in their school year, was already a middle-stage martial apprentice.
Martial apprentice was the preparatory realm before becoming a Martial Artist. Its divisions were simple and clear: three stages, early-stage martial apprentice, middle-stage martial apprentice, and late-stage martial apprentice.
After passing through the late-stage martial apprentice realm, one formally entered the ranks of Martial Artists.
The vitality threshold for an early-stage martial apprentice was 80N, while a middle-stage martial apprentice needed 100N, and the late stage required 130N.
To formally enter the ranks of Martial Artists, however, one needed to raise their vitality to a full 200!
Thus, the leap from martial apprentice to Martial Artist was an extremely difficult chasm to cross.
Many martial apprentices never managed to enter the ranks of Martial Artists, carrying that regret for the rest of their lives!
Wei Qi looked down at Jiang Fan, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.
"Jiang Fan, I heard you got kicked out of the Jiang family. Tsk, tsk, tsk-aren't you pathetic? Without the Jiang family's protection, you're nothing. So I'd advise you to stay away from Shuyao from now on!"
Tong Shuyao was one of Ancheng No. 9 Middle School's two campus belles.
While Jiang Fan's mother was still pregnant with him, their elders had arranged a childhood betrothal.
Jiang Fan remembered being attacked in his previous life by many of the simps pursuing Tong Shuyao because of her.
Wei Qi was one of them.
Seeing Jiang Fan remain silent, Wei Qi felt as though his punch had landed on cotton, and his anger instantly flared.
"I'm talking to you! Are you pretending you're deaf and can't hear me?"
Jiang Fan slowly raised his head. It was as though a vicious beast lay dormant within his calm eyes.
The instant their eyes met, Wei Qi inexplicably felt himself shrink back.
Once that thought arose, Wei Qi was left utterly speechless at himself.
Jiang Fan was the weakest, most worthless person in their No. 9 Middle School in terms of vitality, while he was destined to be a favored son of heaven on the martial path. How could a single look from Jiang Fan frighten him?
"What are you looking at? Keep looking and-"
Before Wei Qi could finish, Jiang Fan interrupted him.
"What, don't you want to copy my answers on the exam later?"
That single sentence choked Wei Qi into silence. Several seconds passed before he found his voice again.
"Just try not letting me copy! You'll get it after class!"
Just as he finished speaking, the bell rang.
After delivering his threat, Wei Qi turned to head back to his seat.
But he had only taken one step when he tripped over a stool that had somehow appeared in front of him.
"Ow-" Wei Qi stumbled and went flying, finally landing face down in a dog-eating-shit sprawl.
"Hahaha-" The class erupted in laughter.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! You punished a classmate's bullying and did a good deed. Points +20]
At the notification, Jiang Fan raised his eyebrows slightly and marveled, Even that counts?
"Fuck! Who the fuck put a stool next to me?!" Wei Qi had landed front first and felt as though his faucet was about to burst from the impact. But in front of so many classmates, he couldn't very well rub it, much less check it immediately.
Furious, he kicked the stool that had tripped him, sending it flying into the blackboard at the back, where it shattered into pieces.
Watching it all, Jiang Fan remained unmoved on the surface, while inwardly thinking that this was indeed the strength of a middle-stage martial apprentice. That terrifying destructive power was beyond anything an ordinary person could match.
Wei Qi swept his gaze over the surrounding classmates, suspecting that one of them had played an outrageously bold prank.
The only person excluded from his scrutiny was Jiang Fan.
He had been facing Jiang Fan the entire time, and Jiang Fan had remained seated without moving at all. It could have been anyone but him.
The other classmates exchanged bewildered looks. They also wanted to know when that stool had gotten there.
Just then, their homeroom teacher walked in with a stack of exam papers. Seeing Jiang Fan, a look of relief appeared in his eyes.
"Everyone, take your seats. The exam is starting. This exam is very important. If you do well, the school will award you a scholarship."
After receiving his math paper, Jiang Fan quickly got to work.
He soon discovered something astonishing.
His academic grades were good, ranking near the top of the class, but he was by no means a super study god.
Yet now that he had the paper, he found all the questions incredibly simple. Normally, complicated calculations required scratch work and careful study, but now, just looking at a question let him rapidly work through every step in his mind, as fast as tapping a keyboard while gaming.
As for the word problems, a single glance told him how to answer them.
He wondered whether it had something to do with his being a Spirit Master now.
He felt that must be it.
Psychic Power was connected to the brain. Having become a junior psychic, he could not only watch all directions and hear from every quarter, but also think freely and reason clearly.
In less than five minutes, Jiang Fan had finished the entire front side of the paper.
Wei Qi, who was waiting to copy his answers, had been watching Jiang Fan all along.
Thus, he had seen Jiang Fan's entire process of answering the questions.
Could Jiang Fan be scribbling random answers? It's only been five minutes, and he's already finished half of it?
Wei Qi also noticed that Jiang Fan never spent more than three seconds reading a question. If he hadn't known there was a scholarship riding on this exam, and that Jiang Fan, who never passed up a scholarship, would never mess around, he would definitely have suspected Jiang Fan was deliberately writing nonsense to screw him over.
Another five minutes passed, and Jiang Fan finished the entire math paper.
Wei Qi's mouth fell open and stayed that way for a long while.
That speed! However much he hated Jiang Fan's relationship with Tong Shuyao, he still had to give him a mental thumbs-up.
After taking a moment to suppress his shock, he glared at Jiang Fan, meaning: Hurry up! Let me copy.
Jiang Fan was quite generous, pushing his paper to the side so Wei Qi could see it more easily.
Wei Qi's gaze said: That's more like it. At least you know what's good for you.
But even so, afterward, he would still hate Jiang Fan just as much and continue targeting him as before.
Jiang Fan turned to look at the scenery outside the window, keeping track of the time. When Wei Qi had nearly finished copying, he unhurriedly raised his hand.
His homeroom teacher noticed and asked in confusion, "Jiang Fan, is something wrong?"
In the same calm tone he might have used to say, "The weather is nice today," Jiang Fan said, "Teacher Lu, Wei Qi is copying my paper."
At those words, Wei Qi, who was writing furiously, pressed so hard that his pen punched straight through the paper. Then he mechanically turned his neck to look at Jiang Fan.
At that moment, the classroom fell utterly silent. Everyone stopped answering questions and, in perfect unison, turned their attention to Jiang Fan and Wei Qi.
In contrast to the deathly silent classroom, a system notification rang out in Jiang Fan's mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! You reported a classmate for copying and made a tremendous contribution to his future, doing a good deed. Points +30]
Not bad. Another 30 points earned off Wei Qi. Added to the earlier points, that's fifty altogether.
Without the slightest delay, Jiang Fan opened the system panel and converted his newly received points into vitality.
Now he had 30N of vitality.
Going from 19N to 30N, Jiang Fan had to admit that he no longer felt so sickly. Although he still felt somewhat weak, his breathing was noticeably smoother, and his body felt lighter than ever before.
Lu Yi adjusted his glasses and looked at Wei Qi. "Did you copy?"
"N-no! Jiang Fan is talking nonsense! Why would I ever copy his paper?" Wei Qi flatly denied it and instead glared viciously at Jiang Fan.