The night was not something the two people have expected. After the parents of the two acknowledged the matter, they left them alone. In the end, Luna, Shi John, and Charlotte threatened Shi Lang to take care of Amelia and never to let her cry.
Amelia was blessed by his parents and doted to the point where Shi Lang doubted if he was their real son. After dinner, Shi Lang was asked to drop the girl downstairs at the vehicle, that came to pick her up.
Shi Lang did not say anything and neither did the girl say anything. The two people walked side by side, when they came to the ground floor, Shi Lang said, “I am sorry, if we had not walked over to my place then you would not have been implicated.”
Amelia raised her head and looked at him, and said, “I do not know what to say to you my mother is also responsible for this matter. I will talk to her about this. Do not worry if you do not want this tie. I will help you resolve it.”
Her voice was calm and she was being honest with her words. Shi Lang suddenly said, “Who said I do not want it?”
Amelia was shocked, and the one who said this was shocked himself. He had never experienced love outside the boundaries of his family. He has become cold ever since he had stepped out of the space elevator in the morning. Even when he was with his friends, the warmth he showed was forcefully brought out.
Later when he was walking with Amelia, it felt as if he had been enchanted by her. He could not explain why he was so calm when he was talking to Amelia and he did not know why he exposed his inner thoughts to her just now. Amelia did not expect such an answer from him, she looked down and said, “I will be going now, see you tomorrow.”
Shi Lang nodded stiffly as the figure in front of him rushed away to the car like a butterfly. Watching her receding slender back he smiled faintly and sighed. He mumbled, “Seems like I will not die single.”
With that said, he walked back to his house with his hands inside his pockets. The night flashed away quickly and Shi Lang slept peacefully. This sleep was not like the one in the bus where he was half asleep and half awake, he was sleeping properly.
He woke up to the vibration in his communicator. The time zone was different and just to make sure that he was not late, he set up an alarm. The boy took a shower and then dressed up in his school uniform. The shirt was made of synthetic smart fiber which could adjust to any size, and it fit perfectly.
His parents were already eating breakfast at the dining table when he came out. His mother’s eyes were still red from the onion chopping. Shi Lang did not say much and ate his food in silence. The lady spoke up, “Lang, are you fine with the engagement?”
The boy said, “Mom, I am fine, but I ask you to not flash it around in your family or friends. We are not old enough to be engaged or something, now we both are focusing on our careers.” his tone was calm.
Luna nodded and said, “Do not worry, I have not told anyone, and neither will I tell. But you must take care of Amelia, she is a sweet child.”
Shi Lang nodded and ate his food silently. After the boy was done eating he stood up and left the house without his bag, he stuffed his ID card and a pen to do with the theoretical exam. He did not board the bus or metro but decided to jog to the school. With his current physique, this much distance could be covered easily, and running had become a habit of his.
As he started running on the sidewalk, he noticed a lot of people were also walking there, his training worked now, it was as if an instinct, he moved through the gaps swiftly and his speed kept on increasing. He liked this rush, the obstacles were moving, however, what gave him some pressure was to make sure that none of the obstacles were affected by his speed and approach.
He would jump through stalls while running and the people will look at him in astonishment. Some of them did not even react while Shi Lang vanished. After half an hour, he reached the school. The guard on the duty saw him and let him pass.
Shi Lang raised his left hand to check the time and found that it was only one minute before reporting time. He made a quick sprint to the classroom so that he was not reprimanded by the head teacher.
On the way, he saw Amelia, who was lost in a daze. He spoke, “All the best, wife.” as he brushed past her. He made sure to keep his voice low enough that it was audible to only the two of them. The girl woke up from her daze and was about to say something to him, but she only caught a glimpse of the end of his blazer as Shi Lang turned around the corner.
She sighed as her gaze looked at the corner, and suddenly the head of a handsome boy peeked at her and cheekily blew a kiss at her. She blushed and looked around if anyone else saw it while clenching her fists. She wanted to react to the boy but the latter had vanished.
She mumbled, “After the exams, I will beat you up.”
…
Shi Lang stepped inside the class, and the bell rang. He released a sigh of relief and walked to his seat as the others all smiled and greeted him. Rosa Blues stepped inside the class wearing her usual black heels and came to stand on the podium. She said, “Okay, so everyone, today is the day when you decide the rest of your life. Do not panic, just do the best that you can.”
The class replied in unison, “Yes, Headteacher.”
Rosa Blues said, “Use the holo-desk, the question papers are inside, inside the box storage, there is paper sheet. Do record your answers on it. You have one hour. Begin.”
The students were asked to record the answers down on the paper sheets, with respect to the roots of humanity. The answers written in the final graduation examination were considered as the final mark left by students before they join the society and build status for themselves.
Shi Lang took out the paper sheet with one hand while his other hand was already using the holo-desk. His gaze scanned the questions and after taking out the pen from the pocket, he began to write. He has not only been trained to manage himself but also, to lead people.
The teacher of his strategy studies was none other than Charlotte Knight, the war maiden. She would give him data to read and some already public war data. She would later ask him questions and they would play a version of chess that was styled like the modern army. He was trained for it all.
The punishment of losing was a session of brutal pain endurance with John. Sometimes to give him a change, they will poison his food. However, the boy endured it all, and this was also the reason why he used brash language to them when he was out to do a task.
Time seemed to have grown wings. The whole technical class was filled with nerds who all had a nick for analysis and decision making, they were all just limited by their potential to grow physically stronger. Thus they could only be adjuvants to the lower-level officers and the monitoring crew in the military.
Shi Lang answered the questions swiftly and then did a double-take on them. The next thing was to compose an essay on how to motivate yourself in the face of defeat. This was a freebie he cashed in.
The boy was done with his answers and then he raised his hand to indicate that he was done with the paper. There were still five minutes left. Rosa Blues walked over and took over his paper. If you can finish the exam early then you will get an extra point for that. This was the reward to geniuses. Also, a motivating candy for the rest.
An extra point would be a remark on the passing certificate that can be said to be a beam of bright light on your face when you enter the stage of recruits. After the teacher collected the exam Shi Lang silently stood up and walked outside the class from the back door. He did not leave and leaned against the wall with his hands inside his pockets.
He was thinking about what to do in the next rounds, because, they were not as easy as the theory exam. The biggest worry in his head was the real group battle. This battle was something that will change the entire nature of the exam. He really wanted to cut open the brains of the person who came up with this idea.
As he was pondering a voice called him, “Lang, what are you thinking?”
The speaker was Jane, she had also finished her exam and came out of the room. The boy did not turn his gaze back and said, “Hmmm, about how to tell you guys that I got engaged last night?”
His words left Jane shocked, he did not want her to be worried but this news was even more drastic than his thoughts about the group battle.