I Don’t Want to Win Lying Down

Chapter 53: This Is The Power Of A Good-For-Nothing Student!

Lin Yishan shot another glare at Xu Mang, and said impatiently, “Hurry up and state the marks!”

“Oh…full marks!” Xu Mang said weakly.

“…Don’t play the fool!” Lin Yishan grumbled. “How much is it?”

Xu Mang shrunk backward a little at the tone, and he said meekly, “Then…150 marks?”

D*mn it!

Wasn’t that still full marks!?

Lin Yishan was beyond pissed, snatching the paper from Xu Mang’s hand, and he saw a shocking scene before his eyes. The glaring red ink with a big ‘150’ on it, and it even had two lines underneath it, as though emphasizing the numbers.

Pa!

Lin Yishan felt as though he was dreaming, so he pinched his cheeks, hard. His hand hurt, as did his face, and then he focused again, throwing a horrified look at Xu Mang. “You…you really scored full marks?”

“Yeah!” Xu Mang replied, nodding his head happily as a grin stretched across his face. “Awesome, right?”

Awesome? You still needed to ask!?

That was unbelievably f*cking awesome!

Lin Yishan couldn’t help but let out a string of curses internally. It looked like he really was too young! Never in his entire life had he imagined that Xu Mang would obtain a perfect score in the toughest maths exam in the history of the Ning District, it seemed as though the level of the teacher that had come up with the questions wasn’t all that great.

But that wasn’t right!

You just couldn’t compare like that, otherwise, wouldn’t that mean that all the other students were trash?

“Cough, cough…you think that just by taking full marks on the math paper, it can cover the fact that you handed in blank papers for the other five subjects?” Lin Yishan said, his face darkening. “Go back and reflect properly on your actions!”

“Oh…”

Looking at Xu Mang’s back as he left the room, Lin Yishan waited a few more minutes. After he was certain that Xu Mang had left the area and reached the classroom, he grabbed the test paper with full marks and rushed out of the office.

***

“Principal…this guy is the real deal, a genius!” Lin Yishan exclaimed, brandishing the test paper in the principal’s face, his face serious as he continued, “This is the most difficult math paper in the history of Ning District, even Yang Xiaoman only scored 146 points, but Xu Mang has a perfect score!”

“If this is not a genius, then what is he?” Lin Yishan finished.

Mu Chaomei didn’t comment on his words, his eyes scanning through the test papers solemnly, word by word. After his meticulous review, he finally raised his head and said, “Mr. Lin…do you think that there is such medicine in this world, where if you eat it, you immediately become a genius?

“That…what…” Lin Yishan was surprised as he stuttered. “I don’t think there is such a thing.”

“No?” Mu Chaomei said, disappointment in his voice. “If such a medicine didn’t exist in the world, how did Xu Mang go from being an idiot to a genius?”

“A student with only slightly more than 170 marks in his middle school entrance exam, and in less than three years, he has taken first place in the city-wide essay competition and obtained full marks in the toughest maths paper in the history of Ning District…is that even possible?” Mu Chaomei said, his voice getting higher pitched as he spoke.

Uh…when you put it into words, it did sound unusual, however, the facts were there.

Lin Yishan pondered for a while, and then, he hurriedly said, “Could it be possible that Xu Mang’s parents sent him for extra tutoring outside?”

“Oh, please, I know his parents better than you. They take a hands-off attitude when dealing with his upbringing. At most, they would ask if he has enough money to spend or not.” Mu Chaomei said, shaking his head. “Mr. Lin, with the rapid development of technology in this era, do you think it’s possible to replace the brain with a computer?”

Lin Yishan: 囧

The theories were getting more and more unlikely, stepping into the realm of science fiction now. Was The Three-Body Problem[1] going to make an appearance soon?

“Principal…I doubt that’s possible.” Lin Yishan said awkwardly. “Instead of going off tangent, isn’t it easier to just accept Xu Mang’s intelligence? Maybe he has kept a low profile in the past…don’t forget, we grew up with the ideology ‘hide your strength, bide your time’ instilled in our very bones.”

Hide your strength, bide your time.

These words could indeed explain the series of events happening with Xu Mang, but…did Xu Mang really have these abilities?

There was a giant question mark in Mu Chaomei’s heart. It was not that he looked down on Xu Mang, but he was clearly aware and understood Xu Mang’s family environment, which was a typical upstart household.

However, this explanation was clearly reasonable and logical.

“Of all things…hide your strength and bide your time, huh?” Mu Chaomei let out a tired sigh. “You’re dismissed, go on back.”

“Alright. Oh, right, principal. Isn’t the school going to participate in the Mathematical Olympiad…do you think that the probability of winning the championship would be better if…” Lin Yishan trailed off, not finishing his words. This was the art of speech, ambiguous but straightforward.

“That matter…I will settle it.” Mu Chaomei said, then paused as his eyes narrowed slightly, “Don’t give too much praise to the kid, otherwise, he’ll be tearing the school down with his big head.”

“Understood!”

Closing the door, he had not even taken two steps away from it when Lin Yishan heard a loud shout from the office that he had just left.

“Beautiful! Our school can finally hold its head up and be proud again!”

Lin Yishan smiled to himself, his heart also feeling a sense of pride, and the cause of it was Xu Mang.

‘Is this the power of a good-for-nothing student?’

‘How utterly terrifying!’

***

The results of the joint exams were announced, and there were some who were pleased, and some who were disappointed. Yang Xiaoman had taken the top spot once again. She wasn’t just top in the entire school, she was also top in the entire city joint exam. The gap between her and the one who placed second was about a hundred marks.

Apart from Yang Xiaoman taking the top spot, there was another important incident that occurred.

Xu Mang.

Chinese: 0 marks

Maths: 150 marks

English: 0 marks

Geography: 0 marks

History: 0 marks

Politics: 0 marks

This was a miraculous report card, and the appearance of this person had ended all arguments about being partial to a specific subject. Since then, no one dared to say that they were partial to one subject.

You were partial and overboard on one subject?

Please look at Xu Mang’s results, and only then, come to say again whether or not you were partial to one subject.

At this time, Xu Mang held his paper in his hands, heading to Class 6 to show off and brag.

It was said that ‘where there are people, there is hierarchy’, and it was no different in school. There were all kinds of representatives which could be compared to ancient times here. The imperial power, which was the school management, the secret guards, which were the student council, the pirates, which were the basketball team, and lastly, the artisans, who were represented by the other students in the classes.

Here, it looked to be a calm picture, but within it was hidden turbulence all around. Xu Mang’s poking of the bears was extremely dangerous at this time and could potentially lead to a giant war between the art and science stream students, but he didn’t care at all for it.

His identity in the school was special. Firstly, his father and the principal were old schoolmates, thus, he was considered to be the relative of the imperial family. Secondly, being the champion in the city-wide essay competition had made him equivalent to a master in the art stream classes. Thirdly, he was also a peerless master in the science stream classes.[2]

Three layers of protection had created this one demon king.

“Oh? Everyone is here?” Xu Mang said, standing at the entrance of Class 6, looking at the students whom he wasn’t overly familiar with. He laughed and continued, “Looking at your expressions…it must mean that the entire army has fallen… do you feel that you’re useless? That you actually allowed me to obtain full marks?”

“Don’t fret! Because compared to the days to come, this may be the peak of where you will go!” Xu Mang said dramatically, and then, he pointed at two random students. “Especially for the two of you!”

Saying that, Xu Mang turned and left class 6, leaving them with the impression of his back.

“Study hard, I’m going to buy some oranges.”

All the students present weren’t idiots, they knew the insult for what it was, and the payback it was meant to be.

How aggravating!

But what else could be done?

Naturally, every class had a couple of students who weren’t really students. Their academic results were poor, but they definitely had the brawns for fighting. Class 6 was slightly more special, the vice-captain of the basketball club was in this class.

Fighting in school was banned, and the vice-captain of the basketball team had no intentions of being expelled. However…once you stepped out of the school grounds, that was a different story altogether.

Ugh…the day after tomorrow was Saturday. Let’s make our move on that day then!

[1] The Three-Body Problem is a science fiction novel by Chinese writer—Liu Cixin.

[2] When Xu Mang mentioned he was a master in both art and science stream classes, he was most likely talking in terms of the mutual subjects both streams have, i.e Chinese, Maths, English.