I Don’t Want to Win Lying Down

Chapter 19: Dunce And Genius

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The monthly exams came and went like the wind.

As the third-year students started back on their classes, those teachers who were busy grading the test papers were extremely swamped. They needed to churn out the completed graded papers in the shortest time possible.

The process was dry, but the teachers always found some fun in this process. Taking the Chinese test for example, the essay portion of it was their entertainment. There were about four to five hundred students in the entire Year 3, so there would definitely be a few essays that would make them excited and happy.

Sigh!

“This student…the essay looks decent!” One of the female teachers had skimmed through a random student’s essay and stated it to the Chinese teacher who was sitting in the office. “Should be a good one!”

“Oh?”

“Which student is that?” One of the male teachers asked.

“Let me see…the name is…Yang Xiaoman.” The female teacher said, surprised. “Ohh, it’s her. No wonder.”

“Mr. Tian, for Yang Xiaoman’s paper, you can just give her 150 marks straight and it wouldn’t be strange at all.” The male teacher who had spoken previously said. “I think the university entrance exam champion should be our Yang Xiaoman for this year, maybe even the entire province.”

Everyone knew about Yang Xiaoman’s academic strength even though this was the first time she was sitting for her monthly exams in this school. Regardless, all her previous records were already better than 99.99999% of the students here.

“Oh my God!”

“I’ve got an idiot!”

Suddenly, another middle-aged teacher exclaimed. “Oh my god, is this student looking to die? Everything is blank, even if it’s just copying the question, that would also be better than nothing. You would have gotten at least one point…is this student that lazy?”

The teacher’s words aroused the curiosity of most people, but there was one teacher who was indifferent, and that was Xu Mang’s Chinese teacher… Wang Xue. Wang Xue looked as though she had an indifferent expression on her face, but in her heart, she was cursing up a storm.

This guy…

Could really drive someone to madness!

Wang Xue desperately wished she could drag Xu Mang here right now and give him a ferocious scolding.

“It’s him!”

“Xu Mang…the famous dunce in the entire school.” One of the other teachers laughed as he said, “Sigh, Ms. Wang, he’s your student, right? I heard that he entered the essay competition and on your recommendation!”

“This…that…what…” Wang Xue stuttered, not able to form words.

The rest of the teachers didn’t continue their teasing. After all, they were all colleagues in the same school and they saw each other every other day. Nobody wanted to sour their relationships among friends, and after a short round of laughter, the office fell into silence once again.

But not long after, the teacher who had been grading Xu Mang’s test paper let out a surprised shout again.

“My goodness!”

“Is it that I am too young…Xu Mang is actually a genius!” The same teacher continued, his face full of surprise and even a hint of awe.

Ah?

Was the teacher drunk?

Didn’t he hand in a blank paper? Why was he suddenly considered to be a genius despite handing in an empty paper?

“Mr. Tan. Is it possible that you’re hallucinating about Xu Mang’s paper?” The female teacher laughed. “We all saw that the paper was blank, how is he a genius?”

“No! I mean, yes, he didn’t write anything in the front, but the essay portion…he finished it!” The teacher said in a serious tone. “This essay is the best I’ve seen in my life, I’ve never seen anything like this before, and I probably won’t ever see anything like this again.”

Was this for real?

Many of the teachers were well aware that Xu Mang was a contestant in the upcoming essay competition, but they hadn’t paid much attention to it. But now, it seemed…the situation had changed completely!

Xu Mang’s essay was quickly spread throughout the entire office. Two words highlighted the entirety of his essay: sad and depressing.

The essay talked about the fast-paced lifestyle in modern society, the rapid economic progress, but people were getting more tired of living despite it. And in the end, you couldn’t help but to have one thought—humans…why do they live?

The entire essay didn’t give any answer to that thought, just the problems that were encountered by several protagonists in the essay, and it allowed the reader to think about it.

Was it because of nostalgia?

Was it for a dream?

Was it just the will to live on?

Or was it for the last departure?

There was no answer.

At the end of the essay, the protagonist returned to his hometown after 30 years, and finally…he still decided to live in the city.

“This essay…”

“I feel…I feel like…” The teacher who was grading Xu Mang’s essay pondered as a look crossed his face. “I don’t know how to say it, I can only feel that…Xu Mang has gone through things that other students have not been through, and he thinks of things that other students cannot think of.”

“Ms. Wang…”

“Your recommendation for Xu Mang to enter the essay competition… that was really a wise decision!” The teacher continued, smiling bitterly. “I can’t imagine that his strength was in essay composition, how did you manage to find this hidden talent?”

As soon as he said that, all eyes were on Wang Xue, wanting to know the story behind it.

Xu Mang was recognized to be the most idiotic person in the entire school, and unexpectedly, it was discovered that he was an essay genius. If you didn’t have super sight, you would definitely not be able to find such powerful potential in Xu Mang.

“That is…”

“Actually, there isn’t much to it. I’ve always held on to the principal of not giving up on any of my students.” Wang Xue suddenly changed her stance, laughing in delight. “Maybe it’s because of that, the fact that I felt something in Xu Mang and he drew some influence from that, and he no longer pretended and fully came out as the genius that he was.”

“…”

This was equivalent to saying nothing at all.

Most of the teachers were helpless and somewhat regretful… why weren’t they the ones to find the hidden potential in Xu Mang? The office once again returned to its silent state, and you could only hear the scribbling of the pen against paper as they continued to grade.

***

“Yawn~”

“Oh boy…why am I so tired?” Xu Mang groaned as he sprawled across his table, listening to his class teacher, Lin Yishan’s lecture. He felt as though his entire body was tired, and even though he had just gone through his monthly exams, it didn’t arouse his fighting spirit at all.

He was just joking, what even was fighting spirit anyway?

After all, it was more comfortable to lie down, continuing to do so was very, very comfortable.

During break, Xu Mang was preparing to head to the cafeteria but was stopped by Yang Xiaoman.

“Where are you going?”

“The cafeteria.”

“When you come back, help me buy bread and milk.” Yang Xiaoman said. “The bread should be the soft kind, not the one with cream. For the milk…it’s best if it’s skimmed pure milk, but if it isn’t skimmed milk that’s fine too.”

“Don’t you have legs?” Xu Mang said, rejecting her. “The shop isn’t that far from our classroom, are you so tired that you can’t just make one run? So lazy!”

“…”

Yang Xiaoman was pissed. Being called lazy by the God of Laziness, so embarrassing!

After a round of beating, Xu Mang was holding Yang Xiaoman’s fifty bucks, running to the school’s shop and buying the items that had been requested by her. Holding that violent flat-chested savage’s lunch as well as his own, as Xu Mang passed the school’s infirmary, a bold idea popped up in his head.

[Note: Warning, don’t dig your own grave, Host!]

Xu Mang smiled awkwardly and indeed, this was seeking his own demise. Once the plan was implemented, even though he could get back at Yang Xiaoman, what would happen after that? Sure, it would be satisfying, but it was not as simple as just receiving a simple beating in return.

At this time, another bold idea popped up in his mind, and he ran back to the classroom.