In the classroom, Xia Yan approached Jiang Xiao as soon as the marked scripts of the English examination were distributed.
Staring at the script in Jiang Xiao’s hand, she said with a look of admiration, “Wow, 121 points? Not bad, eh?”
She didn’t think that Jiang Xiao had obtained that score by cheating. After all, everyone knew that his grades had been improving steadily. Besides, compared to the invigilators, Jiang Xiao who sat behind Han Jiangxue was much stricter.
Did he make a cheat sheet?
Definitely not!
“Your grades have improved very quickly. It’s no wonder your sister gave up the offers from so many schools and set her sights on Beijing Star Warrior University.” Xia Yan rubbed Jiang Xiao’s head and continued, “You’re clearly such a reliable guy, but why do I find you to be really mischievous?”
The live-stream host Su Rou, seated in front of Jiang Xiao, turned around and aimed the camera of her mobile phone at him.
“Wow!” Su Rou’s reaction was rather exaggerated. After all, she was a host and knew how to improve the effects of the live-stream. While holding her mobile phone and aiming it at Jiang Xiao’s test paper, she muttered to herself, “Look at this kid. He’s mischievous and frivolous on the surface, but he’s definitely the type to burn the midnight oil and study secretly at home. You guys probably have plenty of classmates like him, don’t you?”
Xia Yan was rather emotional about that statement because Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue had been staying at her home. Hence, she knew how much effort and hard work they had put in.
Be it in terms of fighting or learning, Jiang Xiao was extremely serious, a stark contrast from his usual self.
Xia Yan had gotten a clear understanding of him.
Toxic healer, Jiang Xiaopi, a ruthless man!
Jiang Xiao waved his hand at the mobile phone and said with a suave smile, “You’re already amazed by this score? Haha, I haven’t done my best yet.”
Su Rou stared at him foolishly with her mouth wide open.
Jiang Xiao said indifferently, “During the exam, I took half an hour to review my glorious life, and another half an hour to anticipate and look forward to my glorious future. I then took another half an hour to casually write my answers. For the remaining half an hour, I have been dreaming about Han Jiangxue’s cold and aloof appearance and her exquisite face. I dream of being able to be in a relationship with Goddess Xue one day…”
Xia Yan was dumbfounded.
“Ah…” Jiang Xiao sighed and shook his head silently. “What happened in the end? After the exam, I turned around and Han Jiangxue, seated right behind me, asked if I was hungry. She even asked what I wanted for dinner, claiming that she wanted to cook for me. Ah, life is really boring! Why is it so… so easy to reach the pinnacle?”
The screen was instantly flooded with pop-up messages:
“What the heck!?!”
“Hear this out. Such outrageous words!”
“What an adorable little toxic healer. How long will he cry for if I punch him? *smiley face*”
“Beat him to death! Pork Bun! I order you to kill him! I’ll give you a huge boost! Beat him to death! Beat! Him! Until! He! Dies!”
“Beat! Him! Until! He! Dies!”
“Beat! Him! Until! He! Dies!”
“Now! Immediately! At once! Hit! Him! Until! He! Dies!”
Su Rou was dumbfounded. Seeing that Jiang Xiao was looking up at the window at a 45-degree angle, she shoved her mobile phone towards Jiang Xiao and exclaimed, “Come on! Take the mobile phone! conduct the live-stream!”
“Han Jiangxue, Xia Yan and Jiang Xiaopi,” said Liu Ye, the teacher who taught politics. Standing by the door, she continued, “Please come out.”
Han Jiangxue was in the midst of checking her answers when she heard the teacher’s voice. She could not help but frown and feel a little annoyed.
The situation had been going on for a week and there were too many visitors. Hence, the three of them were constantly being asked to excuse themselves from class at all sorts of timings.
Before Li Weiyi left, the four of them were taken away and Li Weiyi had now embarked on his journey to Liaolian City to attend the interview conducted by the Northern National Technological University of Defense. Hence, only the three of them were left.
While Han Jiangxue and others were leaving, Su Rou took a quick shot of Han Jiangxue’s desk, and saw the score that was written in red on the paper – 143.
Su Rou gaped and her hand shook a little, causing her to almost drop her mobile phone onto the ground.
Su Rou’s actions did give Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue plenty of fans.
This society respected and admired those who excelled in their academics and were knowledgeable.
The pop-up comments on the screen were all compliments and praises for them.
Of course, there was also some truth in the pop-up comments – The cultural subject examination was much easier for the Awakened students, as opposed to the ordinary ones.
If an ordinary student were to score 143 marks for English, they would really be an academic genius.
As expected, the teacher Liu Ye told them to report to the principal’s office when the three of them reached the door.
Jiang Xiao’s heart tensed up and he wondered, Did Principal Yan find out about the jingle I spread?
No, if it’s a punishment, he would have just asked to see me. There would be no need to summon Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan too.
Could it be…
Jiang Xiao’s eyes lit up, and he wondered, Has Principal Yan finally found his conscience and realized what he should do?
Is he really going to give me a reward? He’s not planning to take the 350 million yuan and elope with his mistress?
Or is this another college interview?
In the past week, Jiang Xiao and his teammates had been through numerous interviews. Some of the schools sent representatives to poach them while some sent written invitations.
However, since Han Jiangxue made it clear to Principal Yan that she was aiming for the top universities in China, and hoped that he would help them decline the invitations so that she could focus on studying, shouldn’t such situations be prevented from happening?
What happened?
The three of them knocked on the door of the principal’s office and Jiang Xiao got an answer when he saw the people inside.
Big shots!
It was no wonder that Principal Yan couldn’t stop them. There were two young men sitting on the sofa with solemn expressions. They were all about 28 or 29 years old.
When Jiang Xiao saw Qin Wangchuan’s serious expression, he couldn’t imagine that he was the joker who blocked him in hte corridor on that night.
Jiang Xiao’s most vivid memory of Qin Wangchuan was the scene of him placing one hand on his head and one hand on his mouth while saying, “It’s me! I used to…”
Although the other person was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket, his buzzcut hairstyle and the fact that he was sitting upright made it obvious that he was a soldier.
Logically speaking, the Wasteland Reclaimers whom Jiang Xiao saw back in Central Street, were all dressed in different clothes and they looked rather cool. The way they sauntered made Jiang Xiao think of the word “untamed”.
However, he felt that they were no different from regular soldiers.
Perhaps, it was because all the other teams on Central Street back then were uniformly dressed? That was perhaps why Jiang Xiao developed an illusion about the Wasteland Reclaimers and thought that they were mavericks.
“Come on, kids, hurry and come in,” Principal Yan said benevolently.He smiled and waved at Jiang Xiao, but Jiang Xiao knew how sharp and shrewd his kicks were.
After letting them enter the office, Principal Yan closed the door and left. He was the principal of the school and by doing that, he was already giving them enough honor.
“Hello, we’re the Wasteland Reclaimers. My name is Qin Wangchuan and this is my captain, Zhang Bingyang,” Qin Wangchuan introduced pretentiously, as if he had never seen them before.
The man in the leather jacket also stood up with an austere expression. He looked just like a stone sculpture and he seemed to be mean and domineering. However, his words were rather heartwarming. “I’m Zhang Bingyang, please allow me to extend my greatest respect to the seniors of the Han Family and Xia Family.”
The Han couple who were Wasteland Reclaimers went missing during the mission and was declared to be deceased.
Xia Shanhai was also severely injured and withdrew from the team. Both families have indeed fought their guts out for teh Wasteland Reclaimers.
Facing the descendants of the two families, Zhang Bingyang began to give his explanation.
However, to Jiang Xiao’s bewilderment, he felt that they ought to send someone who was good at talking if they were really planning to recruit them to become apprentices of the Wasteland Reclaimers.
He doesn’t have to use any fancy words but he can at least speak nicely?
Other than the first sentence this Zhang Bingyang said, the standards of his subsequent sentences plunged drastically.
Jiang Xiao felt like he had heard the ending line of a elementary student’s essay.
“You are all descendants of Wasteland Reclaimers, you ought to follow in the footsteps of your ancestors!”
“I believe that you know enough about the signifiacne of wasteland reclamation! I believe that you also believe in inheritance, like I do. I believe that you yearn for glory! Let us complete the unfinished careers and tasks of our seniors! Let us move forward and reclaim the land that they have yet to set foot on! ”
“Join the Wasteland Reclaimers and let’s work hard together for the rise of China! Fight for the industry of Wasteland Reclamation, for the rest of your lives!”
This guy is a little adorable?
Zhang Bingyang had a stiff and emotionless face while reciting his speech which resembled an essay written by a primary school student. Jiang Xiao even felt that he was doing it on purpose.
As the conversation progressed, Jiang Xiao slowly sensed that he had damaged his brain because of excessive training.
He thought, Just like bookworms and nerds, this guy could very likely to be lacking in some ways.
Did you guys think Wu Haoyang was a silly dimwit who knows nothing except for fighting?
No, Zhang Bingyang is worse than him…
Without a doubt, he definitely had impressive combat effectiveness since he could become a team leader of the Wasteland Reclaimers.
He might not have been sociable and tactful enough but his battle wits and combat effectiveness were definitely superb. Perhaps, he was just better at some aspects of life.
Jiang Xiao couldn’t understand why the Wasteland Reclaimers decided to send someone like him to be the messenger.
However, Jiang Xiao seemed to have understood something when he looked at Qin Wangchuan who was a better communicator.
Perhaps, the actual messenger was Qin Wangchuan and he only managed to win the opportunity to do so because of the support given by his captain Zhang Bingyang.
It seemed that Qin Wangchuan didn’t go back on his word.
“If you become an apprentice of the Wasteland Reclaimers, you will enjoy special educational resources. We understand your situation very well. For example, you two may be receiving special care by the government because you’re teh children of martyrs, it still is too difficult for you to acquire Star Techniques,” Qin Wangchuan rattled on and on about the benefits endlessly.
Qin Wangchuan continued, “Once you become an apprentice, you will not only have teachers to train you one-on-one, you will also have a clearer plan for your Star Map. We will help you get precious Star Beads…”
Qin Wangchuan said, “Believe me, since your parents are the pioneers of the Wasteland Reclaimers, everyone in the team will take special care of you.”
Jiang Xiao suddenly said, “A few months ago, someone reserved me as an apprentice of the Guardians of the Night.”
Zhang Bingyang’s face grew sullen and his stiff face became even gloomier. He asked straightforwardly, “Who?”
Jiang Xiao said, “Don’t bother about that for now. I only have one question for you. Can I be a part-time apprentice?”
Qin Wangchuan was dumbfounded.
What does he mean?
This kid wants to be an apprentice of both the Guardians of The Night and the Wasteland Reclaimers at the same time?
An apprentice of the top teams in China?
Damn it?
Can he do that?
Seemingly having heard an absurd idea, Qin Wangchuan looked at Jiang Xiao with his eyes wide open in a dumbfounded manner. He asked with uncertainty, “You want to be the apprentice of two different teams? Guardians of The Night and the Wasteland Reclaimers?”
Jiang Xiao shrugged and said, “This is my life.”
“Only children make choices.” Jiang Xiao pointed his left finger at Han Jiangxue, and pointed his right at Xia Yan before continuing, “I want both.”
Bang!
Xia Yan kicked Jiang Xiao out of the office and the sounds of shrieks could be heard throughout the entire Teaching Block.
Principal Yan who was smoking at the door was so frightened that he shuddered…
Meanwhile, the students in the Teaching Block got into an uproar and began actively discussing amongst themselves.
“Does Principal Yan really want to enter the Chinese national soccer team?”
“The miserly Principal Yan is the new hope for China’s soccer team!”
“Sexy Jiang Xiaopi comes online to beg again? He also begs offline?”