Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
More than three hours later.
Serenity District, Auspicious Sun City.
Sunrise Hotel.
This hotel was where all the Year 3 martial science students from Sun City were going to stay.
In Room 1608.
Fang Ping put down his luggage, glanced at the two beds in the room, and began to consider a very serious problem!
The school was extremely stingy, so they allocated four students to a room.
However, there were only two beds, so how were the four of them supposed to share?
They were four macho men, so who should sleep together? Who amongst them might cross certain boundaries at night? It was all very hard to tell…
Fang Ping glanced at the other three guys in the room. They were Wu Zhihao, Zhang Hao, and Yang Jian…
Yang Jian was a rough and tough guy, so he seemed to be quite dangerous. If he extended too far at night, resisting would be difficult.
As for the other two…
Fang Ping gave it some serious thought and then said, “Word of warning, my feet stink, I snore when I sleep, I kick the covers, and I also tend to roll around a lot…”
“What a coincidence, me too!” Wu Zhihao beamed.
Zhang Hao looked at them and said exasperatedly, “You two idiots!
“Fine, the two of you can sleep on the floor, while Yang Jian and I take a bed each!”
They exchanged looks and then burst into laughter.
After a bout of laughter, Zhang Hao complained again, “The school is crazy stingy. Couldn’t they have booked a few more rooms?”
Wu Zhihao said incisively, “They’re not stingy, they got it all figured out. A bunch of people will leave on the third.
“And once they leave, everyone who remains will get a room to themselves. I asked.”
“The heck!”
Zhang Hao swore. That was too realistic.
Fang Ping was not surprised, though. He said with a chuckle, “Let’s just squeeze together for a couple of days. All I ask is that y’all don’t reach over to me in the middle of the night.
“This is a reminder for real now. I made a breakthrough in my stance lately, so I have plenty of destructive power. You’ve been warned…”
“Scram!”
The others swore at him. As if they would be interested!
As for the destructive power he mentioned, Wu Zhihao looked thoughtful, while the other two did not take him seriously.
Yang Jian said with a little chortle, “Why don’t we ask Liu Ruoqi and the others if it’s possible to change rooms?”
Fang Ping and the others all swerved their heads to look at him!
Well, well!
They all thought he was simple-minded and honest, but he turned out to be the h.o.r.n.i.e.s.t of them all!
Yang Jian explained hastily, “I mean, the girls might have bigger rooms, so we could all switch over…”
“Haha!”
“Stop making excuses!”
“No one’ll buy that!”
“…”
The three of them were taking turns to tease Yang Jian when there was a knock on the door.
Yang Jian hurried to the door and opened it. As soon as it was open, the Tan brothers came in.
Tan Hao said as soon as he got in, “Big news!
“My dad had a chat with the leaders from the other counties earlier. Guess what I overheard?
“The standard for the physical a.s.sessment this year might be 112cal!”
As soon as Tan Hao said that, Zhang Hao exclaimed, “No way!”
Although everyone had been speculating about everything, Zhang Hao had thought 110cal would be enough.
He was not at 110cal yet, but if he took a Vitality Pill tomorrow, 110cal was not impossible to reach.
He had to pa.s.s the physical a.s.sessment at least, to make his Martial Science Exam worth it.
If he did not even pa.s.s the physical a.s.sessment, then he would have made this trip in vain.
“It’s true!”
Tan Hao explained, “Everyone’s Vitality is much higher this year. Take our Sun City for example. The statistics from the Department of Education alone say that there are at least 100 students with more than 110cal!
“Add that to the people who take pills, and cheats like Fang Ping..”
Flabbergasted, Fang Ping said, “Don’t drag me into this!”
Tan Hao chuckled. “Fine, I won’t mention you. In any case, think about the ones not included in that number, and those who just recently made the mark.
“If you add them all up, there might even be 200 students from Sun City with more than 110cal.
“There are loads from other places too. I heard that Auspicious Sun City saw a b.u.mper crop this year as well.
“According to the percentages from the previous years, unless all the martial arts universities increase their intakes this year, I’m certain the bottom line of the physical a.s.sessment will be 112cal.”
Tan Hao’s words did not affect the others much.
Of everyone present, Zhang Hao was the only one who did not meet the mark, and he was currently somewhat down in the dumps.
Sure, he said that he was just here for the ride, and that he would not mind getting eliminated.
However, when it really came down to it, there was a chance he would not even pa.s.s the physical a.s.sessment after all those years of hard work.
No matter how Zhang Hao acted like he did not care, he was still filled with despair.
“112cal…”
Zhang Hao’s smile looked more painful than a sob. “It’s impossible for me to enter a martial arts university. I probably won’t even be able to stay a few more days…”
“Zhang Hao…”
“I’m fine.”
Zhang Hao forced a smile. “I was ready for it. Still, I was thinking that I’d only know if I was eliminated after the cultural studies cla.s.s, so I’d still have some hope.
“This works too. After this, I can focus on the cultural studies subject, and later, I’ll continue through the martial arts training course!”
Tan Hao realized that his declaration had made the atmosphere somewhat heavier, so he could not help but say awkwardly, “I just heard about it from my dad and the others, so I can’t be completely sure.
“Forget about that for now. Oh yeah, is it just me or is your room kinda small?”
“Hmm?”
“Fang Ping, are you sharing a room with Wu Zhihao?”
“Huh?”
“Tao and me are sharing a room, but it’s slightly larger than yours…”
Tan Hao was just trying to change the subject, but he did not notice how Fang Ping and the others were glaring at him.
Tan Tao’s mouth twitched and he yanked his older brother’s clothes,
He felt a chilly draft in the room now. It seemed like the guys opposite them had suddenly decided to eat them alive.
Tan Hao was slow to react, and it was only when Tan Tao pulled his s.h.i.+rt that he stammered, “What’s the matter?”
Annoyed, Fang Ping glared at him and then said exasperatedly, “Are you done? If you are, then leave now, or else we can’t guarantee your safety!”
“What’s up with y’all? Are you tryna gang up on the two of us?”
When Tan Hao said that, Tan Hao looked at him resentfully. They wanna beat you up, he seemed to say, so why did you bring me into it?
Tan Hao was no fool either. He did not give it much thought before, but now he understood easily.
To ease up the atmosphere, he immediately said with all smiles, “I’ll treat y’all to lunch!
“The hotel’s free buffet tastes like s.h.i.+t, so let’s all go out and eat, my treat!”
That had been his original motive in the first place, but he said one thing too many and dealt all four of them a heavy blow as soon as he walked in.
Fang Ping looked at Wu Zhihao, while Wu Zhihao looked at Zhang Hao. He was about to decline when Zhang Hao said vengefully, “We’ll take it. It’s not our money to waste!
“These two just sauntered in and punched us in the gut. We gotta eat enough to make it worth it!”
Now that Zhang Hao had recovered slightly, the atmosphere was no longer quite so awkward. The others laughed as they dragged the Tan brothers out of the room.
In truth, Fang Ping really was not particularly hung up over the Tan brothers sharing a room.
Their old man was the team leader, so was it unreasonable for him to give his sons a room to themselves?
No!
Not at all!
If Fang Ping was in his shoes, he would have done the same. At the most, he would pay the surcharge from his own pocket.
There was no need to feel frustrated or envious over anything. This was society.
…
After their meal outside, the grimace on Tan Hao’s face when he paid made everyone feel much better.
Once the Tan brothers left, Zhang Hao said suddenly, “The Tan brothers are pretty decent guys.
“If it weren’t for me, they wouldn’t have to play the fool to ease up the atmosphere.”
The Tan brothers had treated them to a meal and acted like it hurt their wallets. Even the issue with the hotel room was their way of easing up the atmosphere.
It probably never occurred to them that the 112cal benchmark would actually affect anyone.
It was no wonder they overlooked that possibility. After all, the two of them, Fang Ping, Wu Zhihao, and Yang Jian all had more than 112cal.
They were all the same type of people. Mentioning the standard was just their way of starting the conversation.
As a result, however, they had dealt Zhang Hao a heavy blow, and Zhang Hao was quite close to Fang Ping and the others too. That was why everything played out as it did.
As he spoke, Zhang Hao said self-deprecatingly, “To tell you the truth, I figured this out a long time ago. Society simply is unfair this way!
“Anyone who isn’t a martial artist will have to resign themselves to being a servant!
“Don’t worry, something this trivial won’t break me down. When I get into uni, I’ll start figuring out ways to earn money.
“With a little support from my family, I’ll be able to enter a martial arts training course in a couple of years.
“I might even become a martial artist sooner than you guys will!”
Wu Zhihao instantly burst out laughing, “You actually might! I heard that many students in martial arts universities reach their fourth year without becoming a martial artist.
“If you can become a martial artist before graduating from university, you’ll be even better than those students from martial arts unis!”
Next to him, Yang Jian also said with a simple-minded smile, “Either way, I won’t give up on martial arts, whether I get into a martial arts university or otherwise.
“I don’t mind taking a little longer to become a martial artist.”
“…”
The others chipped in, but Fang Ping did not really say anything.
Even so, Zhang Hao’s att.i.tude made it especially clear to Fang Ping just how big an impact entering a martial arts university would have.
That also came with its own tinge of cruelty.
Today was one thing. Once they announced the results and the benchmark of the physical a.s.sessment on the 3rd, countless students would be robbed of their determination and self-confidence.
Many students spent many years preparing for the Martial Science Exam!
Some families had fallen into bankruptcy just to sponsor their children’s martial arts studies.
Other families were saddled in debt, pinning all their hopes on their children making it big and changing their lives forever.
However, the next few days were going to shatter countless families’ dreams.
Fang Ping could even imagine many people making unwise decisions after the end of every annual Martial Science Exam.
‘Martial sciences…’
Fang Ping murmured inwardly. The government treated martial artists too well!
In fact, they treated martial artists so well that Fang Ping could not understand why. Sure, these martial artists were barely human, but was it really worth it?
Was it fair?
It was not fair, of course, not even if one martial artist was worth dozens or even a hundred men.
Still, martial artists were the minority, and most members of society were regular folk.
Such a clear difference in treatment would only create an unreasonable social gap.
w.a.n.g Jinyang’s nonchalant words from back then resurfaced in his mind,
“You reap what you sow. That’s how reality works. You can’t get anything by sitting around and doing nothing.
“While they’re busy getting dissatisfied and thinking that it’s unfair, little did they know that even the powerhouses feel mistreated too!”
Old w.a.n.g’s flippant comment cast Fang Ping deep in thought once more.
Those words were exceedingly deep.
Unfortunately, he did not have enough information now, so Fang Ping could not understand it completely right now.
…
He put that aside for now. Maybe it would all be clear once he entered martial arts university.
Fang Ping never once considered himself the smartest person in the world.
There had to be a reason why martial artists had the societal status they did.
The authorities were not stupid. Surely they had more in mind than he did.
He would not know what their considerations were unless he was in their position. Right now, he had to focus on tomorrow’s physical a.s.sessment first.
That afternoon, Fang Ping did not go out again.
The others stayed quiet too. Rather than training, they all took time to sharpen their minds in preparation for tomorrow’s Martial Science Examinations.
Most of the thousands of students in the enormous hotel were in such a state, rendering the inside of the hotel surprisingly quiet.