The joy of a top student is something underachievers can never understand.
In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday again. At 11 AM, the test results were released—Chu Fei had once again scored full marks.
However, Li Honggang and Lu Hong, the class president and vice-president, had both lost points.
At the front of the class, Li Honggang glanced sideways at Chu Fei with an unfriendly gaze.
Cao Liwen held a bamboo stick in his right hand, gently tapping his left palm as he looked at Li Honggang, Lu Hong, and Zhang Xuan. He spoke calmly:
"Last week, you all scored full marks. Why did you lose points this time?"
Zhang Xuan looked a little uneasy, but still whispered, "Teacher, we learned too much content this week."
Cao Liwen said nothing and turned his gaze to Li Honggang and Lu Hong.
The two exchanged looks. Li Honggang also whispered, "Teacher, we had too much material this week. We need more time to review."
Lu Hong immediately nodded. "Yeah, teacher, the content increased too quickly."
As the course progressed, the difficulty ramped up rapidly, and the demands on learning ability increased as well.
After hearing their explanations, Cao Liwen glanced at Chu Fei and said, "Last time, the four of you all scored full marks, so you were tied for first place.
Now, Li Honggang is second, Zhang Xuan is third, and Lu Hong is fourth.
Rules are rules. Fall behind, and you get punished."
Lu Hong immediately held out his left hand.
But Cao Liwen sneered, "Messy handwriting earns a palm strike. Falling in rank doesn't!"
The expressions on the three students' faces changed.
Ten minutes later, everyone was screaming in the plaza outside.
Li Honggang had only dropped one rank, but as class president, he had to set an example—he got two lashes.
Lu Hong received six.
Zhang Xuan only got two. Surprisingly, the girl didn't scream but gritted her teeth and endured it.
After the punishment, the students headed to the medical room one after another.
Chu Fei didn't go, nor did he watch the punishment in full. He used the time to study instead.
Before long, a slightly staggering figure came to sit beside him and began studying.
It was Zhang Xuan.
Chu Fei couldn't help but glance sideways. "You didn't go to the medical room?"
It seemed Zhang Xuan had recovered and went straight to the classroom.
She finally replied, voice trembling, "There's a line… at the medical room. I want… to study first."
Chu Fei nodded slightly. "Keep it up."
With that, he turned back to his studies.
If a girl could grit her teeth and persist after being whipped, why couldn't he?
A subtle pressure settled around him.
Let's all grind, then!
Before long, it was lunchtime. Chu Fei stood up and walked out.
"Wait for me," Zhang Xuan called out.
Chu Fei looked at her, surprised. "You still haven't gone to the medical room?"
Zhang Xuan opened her mouth and muttered, "You sound so surprised."
Chu Fei gave a casual "oh" and continued walking.
Zhang Xuan was genuinely surprised. "Chu Fei, whether it's Li Honggang or Lu Hong, they both care a lot about relationships with classmates. Why are you so… cold?"
Chu Fei didn't even turn his head. "Does that help with studying?"
"…"
Zhang Xuan was stunned.
But Chu Fei kept walking away, not caring whether she answered or not.
He truly didn't care about classmate relationships.
And besides, look at where they were.
Can bonds with classmates improve your learning? Can they help you avoid getting whipped? Can they change your fate?
Once you understand those three questions, you'll know exactly what to do.
Especially under the pressure of the whip, it had only been less than a month, yet everyone was already grinding their teeth competing with each other. If this lasted a year, they might just tear each other apart.
These kinds of "classmates" weren't worth it.
Thinking of the way Li Honggang and Lu Hong looked at him, Chu Fei tossed the word "classmate" to the back of his mind.
"Hey, wait up." Zhang Xuan caught up again.
Chu Fei finally stopped and turned. "You're still not going to the medical room?"
"I'm fine now. I'll go after eating."
Chu Fei nodded and kept walking.
Zhang Xuan sped up to walk beside him. "I have a question. The chemistry teacher said all chemical reactions are equivalent exchanges, but the physics teacher said no chemical reaction is truly equivalent.
It feels like they're contradicting each other."
"That's simple," Chu Fei replied while walking. "We know that energy is mass. So, if there's any energy exchange, there must be a loss in mass.
Chemical reactions are just too weak compared to nuclear energy, so the loss is negligible."
Zhang Xuan suddenly understood and paused to think.
She wanted to thank him, but when she looked up, Chu Fei had already gone up the stairs into the cafeteria.
"…"
Chu Fei hadn't waited for her.
That afternoon, Chu Fei returned to the Dawn Squad for his "part-time work."
It was his second afternoon living the work-study life.
Zhao Hongyue wasn't there today, but Captain Huang Gang was.
When he saw Chu Fei arrive, Huang Gang grinned. "Looking around? Disappointed that Sister Zhao isn't here?"
Chu Fei, "…"
The nearby burly men burst into laughter.
Chu Fei simply greeted them and went straight to the logistics area to get to work.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was nearing dinner.
Chu Fei looked up at the freshly maintained weapons in front of him and smiled brightly.
During the process, he had learned a lot. Just one afternoon of weapon maintenance had earned him a full drop of Wisdom Dew.
After packing up the tools, Chu Fei thanked the master beside him.
Suddenly, a strong figure stepped in front of him. A steel left hand picked up a weapon Chu Fei had just maintained and began inspecting it.
It was Captain Huang Gang.
After a while, he picked up a small-caliber submachine gun and fired a burst at a target.
Amid explosions and flames, a dent appeared on the target.
"Very nice!" Huang Gang said. "This gun was deliberately placed here. It had started aging and had reliability issues. Now it's practically fully repaired. How'd you do it?"
Chu Fei blinked. "I replaced the barrel, firing pin, and spring. The barrel and firing pin were originals, but I trimmed two coils off the spring after several calculations.
The gun's old—brand new springs would actually reduce reliability."
Huang Gang nodded approvingly. "I saw the weapons you maintained last time. All excellent. You don't seem like an apprentice. Have you done this before?"
"Yes. I helped maintain weapons in my village. But mostly, it's thanks to the great teaching from the masters here."
Huang Gang laughed and patted Chu Fei's shoulder. "Very good. You're a natural-born warrior."
Chu Fei was a bit confused. What did weapon maintenance have to do with being a warrior?
Seeing his puzzled look, Huang Gang asked with a grin, "Confused?"
Chu Fei nodded.
Huang Gang's expression turned serious. He said each word clearly: "Ten years of training, one shot to end it."
Then he touched his left arm and sighed. "I brushed past death's door before I truly understood those words.
No doubt, awakened beings are strong—but how many of them are there?
These years of battle and survival taught me the essence of being a half-awakened."
Chu Fei perked up his ears.
Then Huang Gang suddenly grinned playfully. "Want to know what it is?"
"I do!" Chu Fei answered without hesitation.
Huang Gang crossed his arms and smirked. "Then, what are you willing to pay?
Knowledge isn't free—especially knowledge paid for with blood."