Perhaps the young man’s eyes were too dewy, resembling a gentle fawn in the forest. Gazing into those eyes, Ms. Wang, originally filled with anger, felt her frustration dissipate. She coughed awkwardly and said, “Come to my office. Let’s have a good talk.”
And what would they talk about? Naturally, it was the results from the previous semester.
In the teacher’s office, she pulled out a printed report card from her drawer and asked the young man to find his own. Yin Minglu, quite self-aware, started looking from the bottom, quickly locating his name and grades.
The grades looked passable when compared to the entire grade, but within the context of the elite class, they were downright dismal, and the issue of being skewed toward specific subjects was glaring. Ms. Wang knew that if a student with such a subject imbalance didn’t make efforts to remedy it, heading into the crucial final year of high school with this weakness would only exacerbate the problem. Addressing it later would be much more challenging.
Ms. Wang pushed her glasses up and tapped the report card with her fingertips. “You know, your academic performance is a significant concern. The imbalance between humanities and sciences is too pronounced.” She softened her tone, not wanting to be too harsh and trigger negative emotions in the young man.
Yin Minglu nodded.
In Yin Minglu’s perspective, the original owner’s ability to achieve such grades while sleeping only two or three hours a day and having extremely low study efficiency was already impressive. It indicated that the original owner had a solid foundation, a flexible mind, but unfortunately, time for studying was insufficient.
Seeing his cooperation, Ms. Wang’s expression softened. “All the teachers, including myself, agree that, Minglu, you’re not stupid. On the contrary, you’re quite intelligent. It’s just that you’re not working hard, not taking responsibility for your studies. If you apply yourself and study diligently, you can definitely achieve more than these grades.”
Seemingly not catching the generic encouragement tone used by teachers, Yin Minglu nodded as if crushing garlic, indicating that he also felt that way.
This shameless response successfully left Ms. Wang momentarily speechless. She cleared her throat and continued, “But if you start working hard now, there’s still time. This year, I plan to establish study groups within the class. This way, everyone can learn from each other, mutually encourage…”
Yin Minglu quickly understood. Oh, the so-called study groups were like an “education support” policy, where the strong students would help the weaker ones. It involved one-on-one or one-to-many tutoring, based on a voluntary principle.
But who would be willing to sacrifice their time to give him extra lessons? That was another problem. The original owner was not well-liked in the class, and due to the less-than-admirable attitude he often displayed, everyone assumed he would be a difficult group member. They believed he might negatively influence the group’s study atmosphere, so no one wanted to take him under their wing.
He found himself quite lonely in this situation.
Just as Yin Minglu was about to tell Ms. Wang that he didn’t need a study group and could study independently, a cool voice behind him spoke, “Ms. Wang, if no one is willing to mentor classmate Yin, I can take on the responsibility.”
Someone was actually so kind as to accept him?
Yin Minglu looked up to see a tall and slender young man standing at the office door. The features of this person were refined, and although dressed in an ordinary school uniform, an aristocratic aura emanated from him, making him seem ethereal.
Noticing Yin Minglu’s gaze, the young man calmly met his eyes with a polite yet distant expression.
Having quickly identified the person in his mind, Yin Minglu knew who it was: Fu Jinxiu, the class monitor and the top student in the entire grade. He was considered a role model by his classmates, a source of pride for the teachers, and the envy of parents as the ideal child from another family.
In short, with such outstanding grades, helping Yin Minglu would undoubtedly be well within his capabilities, perhaps even a bit beneath his abilities.
However, since Fu Jinxiu volunteered for the task, Ms. Wang was delighted. She thought that her proud disciple had sensed her predicament and took the initiative to relieve her by willingly taking on the responsibility of tutoring Yin Minglu. She expressed, “If Jinxiu is willing to guide Minglu, that would be excellent. I’m sure he will appreciate your selfless assistance.”
Thus, the matter of Yin Minglu joining Fu Jinxiu’s study group was settled in this way.
Yin Minglu was actually quite indifferent to the situation, but he still asked, “May I ask, classmate Fu, how many people are there in our study group?” In his impression, although this academic overachiever had a somewhat cold personality, akin to a rare flower atop a high mountain, his striking appearance exuded a captivating charm. As a result, he was highly popular among classmates, and at least half of the girls in the class were infatuated with him. Yin Minglu figured there must be quite a few people vying to join this study group.
Doing a quick mental calculation, he estimated they would have at least seven or eight members.
However, Fu Jinxiu calmly replied, “No one else, just you.”
“Huh? Just me?” Yin Minglu was surprised. A one-on-one tutoring session – was this some unexpectedly privileged status, like being the heroine in a story? Even the class beauty might not receive such treatment. “Can I ask why? Why choose to tutor me?” Could it be that this seemingly aloof young man was secretly warm-hearted, harboring a gentle sympathy for struggling students who were despised by others and lagging behind in grades?
Fu Jinxiu said, “Nothing special. I just thought your grades were really bad, and one person could single-handedly contribute to lowering the class average by 1.3 points. That’s quite impressive.”
Yin Minglu: “…”
The two walked in silence until they reached the classroom door. Suddenly, Fu Jinxiu paused and said, “Meet me at the milk tea shop near the school gate after school.”
“Alright,” Yin Minglu nodded obediently. The two went their separate ways; Fu Jinxiu returned to his seat, the prestigious VIP spot right in the center, facing the blackboard. On the other hand, Yin Minglu went back to his designated seat at the back, the cold bench near the rear door.
It was a place of extremes, warm in summer and cold in winter. During the winter, with people constantly coming in and out, the chilly wind would awaken him numerous times. Furthermore, it was close to the restroom, enduring a perpetual assault of noxious fumes. Many students were unwilling to sit in such a location.
It fell upon the socially isolated and usually unopposing little transparent—the original host—to occupy this spot.
But today, upon returning to the classroom, the once-ignored little transparent was now the focus of numerous eyes. Those gazes held disdain, curiosity, inquiry, and various other expressions. Yin Minglu, initially unaware of what had happened, quickly learned the truth from the hushed whispers of his classmates.
“Did you guys watch that video? The brave young man in it, is he really Yin Minglu?”
“I think so. Take a closer look; he’s wearing our blue and white school uniform. The silhouette and body shape match. He was late today, and considering the time in the video, it all adds up. It must be him! He went to the rescue this morning, that’s why he was late!”
Qiao Kai was the first to discover the video and share it with the classmates. In the first physics class of the morning, the teacher, combining it with the topic of magnetic fields related to the ‘Floating City,’ droned on about a subject that was boring to death. Qiao Kai, finding no interest in the class, aimlessly pulled out his phone to browse the internet, stumbling upon the trending video.
Originally just casually clicking into the video, he was soon shocked. The video was very short, but the content was extremely thrilling. A young man first sprinted a hundred meters to the intersection, not to mention how fast that speed was, breaking the record of national athletes. The young man quickly demonstrated astonishing jumping power, almost popping out his eyeballs. He leaped over the roof and, in front of everyone, forcibly stopped the van. Without hesitation, he used his elbows to shatter the toughened glass, rescuing the kidnapped girl who was hanging by a thread.
The entire process was seamless, taking less than a minute. In such a short time, it presented a coherent and movie-quality action scene. Not to mention the shattered glass, Qiao Kai could barely catch his breath.
Heavens! That was the reinforced glass that could withstand extremely strong impacts and remain intact. Yet, the young man nonchalantly shattered it; his moves were fast, accurate, and ruthless, almost unimaginable.
This level of physical fitness definitely indicated that he was an “evolver” or a reserve with the “potential to evolve.” Regardless of which category, these were outstanding qualities sought after by various countries. It was very exciting to think that such a talented person shared the same school uniform, attended the same school, and possibly belonged to the same class as Qiao Kai. The mere possibility that this exceptional individual might be none other than Yin Minglu left Qiao Kai trembling with excitement. He wished he could proudly tell everyone that the person was undoubtedly Yin Minglu!
After watching the video dozens of times, comparing various details, and being almost certain that the person was Yin Minglu, he was now 80% sure. The video only showed the youth’s sleek figure, and half of his face was hidden, causing their classmates to have doubts. However, considering the morning incident of Yin Minglu being late and the timing of the video recording, it seemed very likely that he was the one in the video.
Could it really be true? Was the unsung classmate who had been quietly with them for a year the hero now making headlines for his brave act?
Thinking about this possibility, everyone held their breath, and the curious gazes directed at the young man intensified.
However, there were those who were confident, and there were those who poured cold water on the excitement.
Wang Panpan1This lil shit pissed me off was the one daring enough to raise doubts and even mock everyone’s conscience. Seeing her classmates heatedly discussing, especially Qiao Kai’s resolute expression, she sarcastically quirked her mouth, “Do you all have eight-fold magnifying glasses in your eyes? The video quality is so blurry, and you claim it’s Yin Minglu. Impressive. Have you considered his usual performance in physical education? He struggles to run a 1200-meter race, working harder than the girls. How does such physical fitness resemble the person in the video? Moreover, being late at this point, I think it’s entirely a coincidence. Is today the only day Yin Minglu has been late? Clearly, it’s not just today or yesterday; he’s late every morning. Can you say that the reason he’s late is because he’s being a hero every morning? It’s ridiculous!”
In reality, the original owner did engage in heroics every morning. Yin Minglu silently remarked to himself.
But Wang Panpan’s words did carry some credibility, waking up quite a few people. Many, who initially found it unlikely, dispelled their doubts after hearing this well-reasoned analysis. It indeed seemed improbable.
Even those who had considered verifying Yin Minglu’s whereabouts reluctantly stopped in their tracks and returned to their seats. Even if they were to ask, Yin Minglu wouldn’t admit it.
Satisfied that everyone seemed to have listened to her words, Wang Panpan, taking advantage of her position as the study committee member, continued with her rhetoric, “As for your talk about ‘evolved individuals,’ that’s obviously even more impossible. Evolved individuals are those whose physical and intellectual abilities exceed those of ordinary people. Look at Yin Minglu’s messy grades; where does he resemble an evolved individual? He’s just a piece of mouse droppings dragging down the class average, making Teacher Wang worry about him. Teacher Wang has to stay late every day to correct our assignments. Besides, she also has to worry about his academic problems. It’s not easy at all, and yet he’s so indifferent. It’s really annoying. Why doesn’t he cherish Teacher Wang’s efforts?”
The later part of Wang Panpan’s speech began to carry a hint of personal attacks. Some people listened, while others couldn’t be bothered anymore. Nevertheless, everyone believed that it was indeed the case. Whether it was the revealed physical abilities in the physical education class or the boy’s usual academic performance, it didn’t seem to have any connection with evolved individuals. It appeared that the person in the video wasn’t him.
There was a moment of disappointment.
But Qiao Kai still refused to give up. During the break, he somehow found a piece of wood, and without being gentle at all, he even seemed a bit impatient as he forcefully nudged the boy who was sound asleep on the desk, saying excitedly, “Yin Minglu, try to see if you can split this wooden board. Give it a try.”
The boy, interrupted from his rest, curved his eyebrows upon hearing this and, forming his hand into a blade, vigorously slashed the wood horizontally.
In the gaze of Qiao Kai and some others, the sound of hitting the wooden board was loud, and the momentum was amazing, as if it carried the force of thunder. However, in the end, there was not even a crack on the wooden board.
Looking at the intact wooden board and then at the youth who was still sleeping with his head buried, Qiao Kai began to doubt life, thinking, “Could it be that I really mistook the person?”
For the rest of the day, he was absent-minded, keeping an eye on the youth with some suspicion, wondering if the youth was deliberately concealing his abilities in the morning. So, he kept observing, hoping to find any clues.
Conveniently, the third class in the afternoon was physical education. If the person was truly an evolved individual, their special abilities would undoubtedly be revealed! Qiao Kai rubbed his hands together, eagerly anticipating the moment when the classmate’s facade would be unveiled.
As a result, as he observed, he became more doubtful about his judgment. The classmate, wearing sneakers, lagged behind in the 1200-meter run, panting with his cheeks and lips turning pale. His cute yet pitiful appearance made people wonder if he might collapse on the track.
Several times, it seemed like the classmate might run to exhaustion on the 1200-meter track. In the end, it was the cold-faced class monitor who supported him, preventing him from falling to the ground.
The class monitor kindly handed the classmate a bottle of water. However, the youth couldn’t even unscrew the bottle cap!
How could someone like this resemble an evolved individual?
Qiao Kai was shocked, grabbing his hair and falling into a state of questioning life once again.
Seeing that this classmate, who loved to investigate, finally dispelled his suspicions, in a corner where others couldn’t see, Yin Minglu smirked slightly. He tilted his head back, took a sip of water, and then said to the tall and handsome boy in front of him, “Classmate Fu, thank you for the water. It’s really good.”
It even tasted a bit sweet.
After being thanked, Fu Jinxiu had no expression on his face. He twirled a ball in his hand, then casually remarked, “See you after school.”
“Okay,” Yin Minglu replied.
In no time, it was time to leave school. Just as the young man was packing his bag, getting ready to step out of the school gate, a red alert blared in his mind, sounding extremely urgent.
【Ding~A strong distress signal has been received at the Jiangxin Bridge 4.7 kilometers from this location. Evolver N, please go for rescue immediately!
【Warning! Warning! A large-scale incident is predicted to occur in ten minutes, with the target moving steadily. Evolver N, please go for rescue! Do not hesitate; go for rescue immediately!】
Sensing the passing of time, Yin Minglu hesitated for not even a moment. He swiftly showcased his abilities, donning his battle attire and maneuvering with ease over rooftops and through the cement forests.
By the time the incident had come to a complete close, the sky had already darkened.
The two cups of milk tea on the table had turned cold.
The shop attendant watched as the handsome and aloof young man silently packed up his belongings and left the store.
T/N: While translating the part where Wang Panpan made an appearance I seriously had to take a few breaks because that little ***** pissed me off, like who tf does she think she is berating Minglu like that, anyway I feel bad for Jinxiu he got stood up.
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