Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 176 - 175 Retribution!

The advising teacher suddenly invited them, and both Li Zheng and Shi Yang assumed there had been another change of plans. They were in no hurry to collect their report cards and quickly followed Yu Zhiqiang out of the auditorium and into the elevator.

Inside the elevator, once they were alone, Yu Zhiqiang licked his lips and reached out eagerly, "The letter? Give it to me."

Li Zheng and Shi Yang were utterly confused.

"The joint letter, the one you organized before," Yu Zhiqiang shook his hand, "Quickly, it’s very useful now."

The two then realized what he was talking about.

Wasn’t that matter over long ago?

Unable to understand, Shi Yang asked, "Wasn’t it... weren’t you the one who told us not to do it?"

"That was then, this is now," Yu Zhiqiang clapped them on the shoulders with grave seriousness, "Both of you ranked among the top competitors, we need to fight for it... after all... it’s all for national honor..."

"But, Teacher Yu..." Shi Yang’s face contorted, "I was ready to fight long ago... weren’t you all not supportive...?"

"Nonsense, who knew you two would rank so highly back then." Yu Zhiqiang’s grip on their shoulders tightened, "Neither of you wants to miss out on the ICHO opportunity, right? Now, give me the joint letter, don’t worry about anything else, we teachers will figure out a way."

"I don’t know; it’s not with me," Shi Yang shook his head and turned to face the elevator doors, "Teacher Yu, didn’t I tell you earlier, before the results are out, it’s still reasonable, but doing it after the results are out, even I find it disgusting."

"Disgusting what? Do you know how important an international gold medal is for a school?" Yu Zhiqiang argued with frustration on his face, "And for you personally, it’s even more important. With your skills, as long as you can go to Prague, isn’t the gold medal just within your reach? Those prestigious international schools will be rushing to offer you full scholarships."

"Whatever, the letter’s long gone..." Shi Yang turned his head away, "Plus, I’ve already signed up for guaranteed admission to Ji University under Dean Zhou. It’s pretty good mixing with him."

"How about you!" Yu Zhiqiang then turned to Li Zheng, "Do you have the letter?"

"It’s not with me now either," Li Zheng said (it’s in my luggage).

"Strange... Zhou Yi said it’s not with him either... Could he be deceiving me?" Yu Zhiqiang scratched his head frantically, "We teachers were wrong before, not standing by you. Now we can really support you, if all else fails... at dinner, could you organize another joint letter?"

Li Zheng and Shi Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Luckily, the elevator arrived just in time, and when the doors opened, several teachers were standing outside.

Yu Zhiqiang couldn’t say much more, only mentioning that Sun Leyang and Yu Hong also needed them for something, and led the two towards the Jijing Team’s room.

In the corridor, he picked up another call.

"Yes, principal..."

"I’ll do my best, I’m looking for a way now."

"We must get Shi Yang to the ICHO."

"Okay, thank you for your concern too."

"..."

Li Zheng and Shi Yang followed behind, chuckling silently.

This was getting a bit disgusting...

Soon, they entered Sun Leyang’s room, where Yu Hong was also present.

Both teachers were on their phones, all smiles, apparently spreading good news to everyone.

Especially Yu Hong, her face aglow with excitement, her voice a full octave higher than usual, like a white-haired witch casting a spell.

"Yes, first place!"

"You heard right, first place!"

"Not just the city, the whole country."

"They won’t give out medals until the closing ceremony tomorrow."

"Donate to the school? Let’s not go that far."

Sun Leyang was also ecstatic, his sly smile hadn’t stopped.

"Hehe, this year our school got two golds, Ji University got six."

"The first place was also a student I taught, hehe."

"Hehehehe... don’t ask me to give a lecture, as a champion mentor, how much should I charge, hehehehe..."

It took three or four minutes before the two reluctantly ended their calls.

Yu Zhiqiang brought up the matter of organizing another joint letter again.

Sun Leyang and Yu Hong were evidently more cautious than him, not immediately taking a stance upon hearing about it.

But they could not withstand Yu Zhiqiang’s insistence.

His thoughts were, successful or not, to stir trouble internally first. The crying baby gets the milk, and currently, there was already a trend for it. Who knows what might happen?

After all, the national team list would only be announced after the training camp, there was still plenty of time.

The key was, other provinces inevitably had grievances, and at times like these, that joint letter signed by 2/3 of the national finalists could be just the thing to throw back at them.

In the midst of this stalemate, Yu Hong pushed Sun Leyang forward and freed herself to approach Li Zheng and Shi Yang.

"Teacher Yu hasn’t congratulated you yet, has she?"

"I congratulate you."

"Very good, both of you did very well!"

"This year, every member of the Jijing Team did very well."

Yu Hong looked at Li Zheng, his face which had always been tense, finally relaxed for the first time in his life.

"Li Zheng, you are the best student I have ever taught, bar none, even better than Lin Yujing."

"I also apologize for all my previous prejudices."

"Someone like you, who has reached this point despite various setbacks and my personal biases."

"I believe no matter what industry, what subject, you will definitely make it to the end."

"Thank you for everything you have done for chemistry, which you don’t like."

Yu Hong bowed his head, feeling somewhat conquered.

Or rather, you’re awesome, I can’t control you anymore, go and wander.

That feeling.

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng was also encouraged and nodded, "You flatter me, studying is my duty. I indeed have no talent in chemistry, your judgment is correct, it is not a prejudice, there is no need to apologize."

Yu Hong had been in a great mood, but upon hearing this, his face tightened again instantly.

"What about you! I praise you and you don’t accept it, do you need to be happy only if I scold you?"

"Indeed... that might be true, getting this ranking, no matter how steady I am... I’m a bit carried away." Li Zheng’s expression also darkened, "With the current situation, what I lack is not praise, but a push, maybe you should scold me a few more times."

"You you you..." Yu Hong pointed at Li Zheng and struggled to find words, finally bursting out, "Go find Lin Yujing to scold you!"

"Ah." Li Zheng relaxed instantly, "Scolding like a stunned pig’s foot? That lacks strength."

"Ha!" Shi Yang seemed to catch onto something instantly, and jumped up laughing at Li Zheng, "Li Zheng, still saying you don’t have a girlfriend?!"

"Different things." Li Zheng hurriedly explained, "Do you know Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chui Xue? Do you understand friendship?"

"???" This topic jumped too quickly; Shi Yang was somewhat slow to react.

"Alright, don’t say anything more." Yu Hong, unable to bear it any longer, pushed Li Zheng away and turned to put his hand on Shi Yang’s shoulder.

"Shi Yang, to be honest, I was really not ready to praise you, because I have always used the champion’s standards to request from you," Yu Hong tried to keep a straight face, "I just want you to be more stable, your theoretical strength clearly doesn’t match this ranking. Next training camp, dare to win first place?"

"Of course, Teacher Yu." Shi Yang clenched his fists and nodded vigorously, "I’m ready to surpass Li Zheng."

"Very good, that is also a form of respect for Li Zheng." Yu Hong turned to look at Li Zheng, "And you?"

"I..." Li Zheng frowned, "Can I skip the training camp?"

"I knew it." Yu Hong squinted at Li Zheng, "The top of the national rankings, giving up the training camp, to put it mildly, our entire Jijing Chemical Society, our entire Jijing education system, our entire school, will be seriously warned and criticized; to put it broadly, it’s unpatriotic. Are you sure?"

"Uh..." Li Zheng’s voice trembled, "Then I’ll push through..."

"It’s not about pushing through." Shi Yang also glared at Li Zheng, "If you dare cut corners, I dare to quit the competition, I’m anyway guaranteed a spot."

"This is really troublesome." Li Zheng scratched his head, "This damn competition, never-ending, I should have never come."

Yu Hong could no longer hold back, pointed at the door, and shouted, "Both of you, get out!"

Shi Yang hurriedly explained, "It’s not my fault, Teacher Yu, I really respect chemistry."

"No, it’s for another reason." Yu Hong pushed the two out, meanwhile gesturing towards Yu Zhiqiang who was vigorously lobbying behind him, "Our teacher has matters to discuss, wait outside for a moment."

"Oh..."

After sending the two out, Yu Hong firmly closed the door.

Outside, Li Zheng and Shi Yang exchanged a knowing look, then both pressed against the crack of the door to eavesdrop.

Inside, the room was fraught with tension.

"Enough." Yu Hong quickly joined the discussion, "It’s rare that the organizing committee doesn’t pursue the matter of the joint letter; they issued us both the champion and the runner-up, let’s just leave it be."

"Should we fight for it, make a fuss and maybe we’ll get somewhere?" Yu Zhiqiang, although annoyed, still dared not offend Yu Hong and asked obsequiously, "Besides, Mr. Yu, don’t you want to bring back an ICHO gold medal for Lake Ying?"

"I do, but I also have pride," Yu Hong retorted, "Like Shi Yang said, we should have made a fuss before the test, making a fuss now after the results are out, isn’t it just making our Jijing a laughing stock to the whole country?"

"You’re saying that now, but when Shi Yang wanted to make a fuss before, didn’t you disagree, Mr. Yu?" Yu Zhiqiang argued.

"Yes, and that’s why I disagree now as well." Yu Hong did not look at him but only turned his head to look out the window, "I have never made a fuss in my life, and it’s not worth starting now over this."

"But think again..." Yu Zhiqiang pleaded, "The skills of Li Zheng and Shi Yang are very close, and both are absolutely capable of winning gold, but there’s only one spot, only one gold medal, either our City First School takes it back, or you guys at Lake Ying take it back, each side has its own difficulties, why cause this trouble? Let’s think of a way to secure two spots, two guaranteed gold medals, why not try?"

Yu Hong chuckled, "Based on what you’re saying, Xiangnan should have won hundreds of gold medals by now, who are they supposed to talk to?"

"Yes... but this year is special, isn’t there that joint letter? Plus, we lost the team championship last year," Yu Zhiqiang gestured with his hand, "We have both public opinion and moral high ground, just as long as your wife is agreeable..."

Yu Hong grimaced, "If I can’t handle such a trivial matter, what’s the point of bringing him into it?"

"It is also your honor after all... And we could also try to get support from Dean Zhou..."

"Enough, I won’t participate in this matter at all."

"..." Yu Zhiqiang, feeling helpless, then turned to look at Sun Leyang, "What do you say, Teacher Sun?"

Sun Leyang grinned sleazily, his leer oddly flirtatious.

Me?

I couldn’t say a thing.

One from City First School, one from Lake Ying.

What does it have to do with old Sun?

"All right, all right," Sun Leyang chuckled and came closer to mediate, "Let’s not talk about anything else. I just want to ask, where is the joint letter?"

"I guess it’s in Zhou Yi’s hands," Yu Zhiqiang nodded, "We’ll go ask him together in a bit."

"Maybe we should forget about this..." Sun Leyang said hesitantly, "Even if you really want to go through with it, there’s no need to rush. We can think it over, think it over long-term."

"It is possible to think over it long-term, but now is indeed a critical moment," Yu Zhiqiang said, unable to contain his impatience, "That joint letter needs to be used now. Two-thirds of the students across the country have signed it. It’s in black and white; they won’t be able to back out, right?"

Sun Leyang quickly walked a few steps to join Yu Hong, looking out the window together, "Hey, look at this scenery in Lu Dong, it’s pretty good too~"

"..." Yu Zhiqiang was still not giving up and pressed on, "If we really can’t find the letter, let Shi Yang and Li Zheng write another one tonight."

"Absurd!" Yu Hong burst out angrily and turned to leave, "You can do what you want, but don’t drag our Li Zheng into this."

Yu Hong hurried to the door, and upon opening it, confronted two people standing by the wall.

"It’s alright now. You guys go play," Yu Hong waved them off and was about to leave, then turned back to remind them, "Your reputation is very important for your future. I advise you not to get involved in this anymore. If you’re really in doubt, you can consult Dean Zhou."

"Don’t worry, Teacher Yu, we won’t mess with it anymore," Li Zheng nodded, "And I hope that Teacher Yu stops it here."

"Yes, don’t bother with him anymore," Yu Hong casually looked Li Zheng over. "Hurry up and sign to collect your scores, and find a place to get a haircut and take care of your beard too. They’re going to interview you at the closing ceremony tomorrow. With your current unkempt appearance, I’m afraid you might set a bad example for students nationwide who aspire to chemistry."

Li Zheng was displeased when he heard this.

He personally quite liked his slightly stubbled, melancholic style.

For a simple reason.

His aspiration for art had now surpassed his interest in chemistry.

Initially, Li Zheng did feel inferior because of his looks and envied those with buzz cuts and glasses for their good academic performance.

But now, times had changed.

He was the true academic champion.

It was time to declare war on the old aesthetic standards.

Tomorrow, I, Li Zheng, am going to redefine.

What look truly signifies good academic performance.

Shi Yang, however, lacked Li Zheng’s realization; he just adjusted his glasses and tried to look cool as he asked, "How about me, Teacher Yu? Does my look work on camera?"

"Eat less, that’s better than anything."

"..."

...

Li Zheng and Shi Yang returned to the auditorium, where there were far fewer people, but the key players from the provincial teams had not left. Upon their return, they approached them to inquire about the joint letter.

Seeing this outcome, their team leaders had panicked, fearing that Shi Yang and Li Zheng might produce the letter and create issues again.

Before, it was just students causing trouble, which naturally wouldn’t have amounted to much.

But now, teachers from Jijing, even Zhou Yi, were likely to stand by them, which could complicate things greatly.

Hence, the provincial teams sent students to probe the situation.

Li Zheng and Shi Yang truthfully explained the real situation, stating that this matter was already past.

As for Yu Zhiqiang, they really couldn’t do much about him.

This whole big scheme had made Li Zheng quite sick.

This type of social interaction based on interests, better to avoid it in the future.

No more coddling Shi Bao’er.

After all, school was better.

He had only left school a few days ago, yet Li Zheng was already homesick.

He missed Zhang Xiaoke’s perfume, Lin Yujing’s spiky hair.

Liu Xin’s greasiness, Jiang Qinghua’s dandruff.

Qiao Bixia’s pampering, and Teacher Mengxi’s towel.

Even just seeing Tang Zhifei get angry was terrific.

Reminiscing about all these, Li Zheng finally reached the front of the line to sign his name.

Coincidentally, the person in charge of the table was that rude teacher they had encountered before.

Both of them didn’t even look at each other.

The man simply slid the paper over and pointed to where to sign.

Li Zheng wasn’t really interested in confronting him, but he was genuinely curious.

"So, teacher, where did I lose that 0.5 points?"

"Cough..." The teacher turned his head away, "The scores have been adjusted already, please ask your team leader about the specifics."

"Oh." Li Zheng didn’t say anything more and signed his name.

The teacher was somewhat surprised, having expected Li Zheng to argue a bit, but didn’t expect him to be so compliant this time.

After Li Zheng had signed, the teacher finally said, "Do you need me to tell you verbally? After all, we’ve all seen your test paper."

"Okay," Li Zheng nodded.

"For the last part of question six, there was a section that needed explaining the principle. The marking requirement was to elaborate on three main reasons, but you provided six, including one that is still a hypothesis and hasn’t been fully accepted by the mainstream yet."

"I see..." Li Zheng picked up his report card and sighed, "I’ve been reading too many foreign language textbooks these days, showing off too much. I’ll be careful next time."

"Well...this..." the male teacher pursed his lips and said, "Actually, having a pioneering spirit is good, it’s just that the essence of the competition is still a selection exam, and giving full marks is still... quite reluctant."

"Yes, I understand," Li Zheng nodded, "When facing an exam, one should adopt an exam-oriented attitude, just as one must write a Chinese composition without any controversy. It’s the same with chemistry exams. Thank you, teacher, I’ve improved a bit more."

"Ah...okay..." The male teacher ran out of steam too, only smiling and saying, "Also, your drawings were good. All the teachers in our marking group highly praised them."

"Oh? Then, is there any room for improvement in my drawing skills?"

"You’re enough! Next."

...

By the time Li Zheng and Shi Yang left, Ou Xingzhuo and Wu Shu had just arrived, not knowing if they were really calm or just addicted to playing chess.

They were both very satisfied with their scores from the group of over fifty participants.

As they collected their report cards and walked out, Ou Xingzhuo couldn’t help but get excited again.

"Perfect." He lifted his glasses and smiled, "Just right to earn enough for Dragon Ball, without having to go to the training camp, and a rank higher than someone else."

"That’s so boring..." Wu Shu turned his head and cursed, "I deliberately didn’t score higher to avoid the training camp. Normally, I should have scored 3 points higher."

"Oh really? I intentionally lowered mine by 4 points."

"I did 5 points!"

"I did 10 points!"

Although they were just bragging, Li Zheng took them seriously.

"Hey..." Li Zheng swallowed, "Is the training camp that terrible that you guys are competing like this?"

"It’s terrifying..." Wu Shu looked up, recalling his days in physics competitions, "Half a month... doing nothing but solving and discussing problems non-stop, over ten hours a day... I could survive the physics training, but chemistry... I might go mad."

Chills ran down Li Zheng’s entire body as he listened.

"Can’t I... just take the final exam?"

"Ha, you should tell that to Yu Hong."

"..."

...

That night, Li Zheng’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing; people from all over were sending congratulations, and he could only reply with a bunch of thanks.

The only place where he expressed his true feelings was in the small WeChat group for the basketball six-man team.

[Li Zheng: This is terrifying... Now whenever I see a chemistry problem, I feel like throwing up...]

[Li Zheng: But I still have to stay here for half a month... I want to escape...]

[Li Zheng: Will I end up with a split personality, and develop a chemistry persona?]

Unexpectedly, the first one to respond to him was her!

[Lin Yujing: ~~~]

[Li Zheng: Why are you like this? Don’t you have any sympathy?]

[Lin Yujing: Psht! Served you right!]

[Li Zheng: What did I do to bother you?]

[Lin Yujing: Karma! (fierce)]

[Xu Mengxi: Um... this... If I remember correctly, you forced Jingjing to participate in the prelims of Chem Competitions, Student Li.]

[Li Zheng: ...]

[Xu Mengxi: Can you feel now how Jingjing felt when solving chemistry problems?]

[Li Zheng: It’s not the same, I’ve done thousands of problems until I felt nauseous. Don’t tell me Lin Yujing, doing a few dozen problems, could realize the level of doing thousands... wait... is it really like that...]

[Jiang Qinghua: It’s exactly like that.]

[Liu Xin: It’s exactly like that.]

[Qiao Bixia: It’s exactly like that.]

[Xu Mengxi: Then I’ll just go with the flow too...]

[Zhang Xiaoke: Enough! Protect the master, no bullying the master!]

[Lin Yujing: Disruption wave ? Protective barrier failure!]

[Zhang Xiaoke: Ah! I can’t do it anymore, master... I’m going to soothe Jingjing... Master, stay strong and carry on.]}

[Lin Yujing: ??]

When Li Zheng spoke again, no one paid attention to him anymore.

Damn, this group seems to have way too much fun at school.

I’ve got to figure out a way to escape...