Era of Mist

"If you’ve got the guts, then slap me in the face with your grades! Come on! You got the balls?!"

Old Jia roared, slamming his hands on the desk. SLAM! SLAM! Electric Old Jia really lived up to his name. Once his voltage shot up, his face twisted into a vicious scowl, a far cry from anything remotely resembling "refined." Shi Tiexin was speechless, sidestepping slightly to dodge the spray of spittle.

He wanted to just turn and leave, but at the end of the day, Old Jia was here to lecture him about his studies. He couldn’t be that rude.

Any other teacher might have just dumped him in the trash class and washed their hands of him, happy to have a problem student out of their hair. The fact that Old Jia came all this way to yell at him was, in its own way, a kind gesture.

’Still, a kind gesture is a kind gesture, but does that mean I, Old Tie, have to lose face? That I deserve to be yelled at?’

’Dream on!’

So, Shi Tiexin spent a full two minutes mentally composing a thousand-word speech, ready to open his mouth and verbally annihilate Old Jia—

"I’m studying."

That was it.

Yes, that was it! Again!

’I could just cry!’

But Old Jia actually stopped his tirade and gave Shi Tiexin a quizzical look. "You’re studying?"

The kid had always been a man of few words. Because he spoke so little, every sentence he uttered seemed to carry extra weight. It was a cognitive bias, really. One couldn’t help but assume that with Shi Tiexin’s looks and his big-shot aura, he was the type whose every word was his bond, each one packed with meaning.

So, Old Jia believed him, just a little. He pressed on, confused, "I already talked to your Teacher Chu. You don’t listen in class, and you don’t do your homework. What kind of studying are you possibly doing?"

’What kind of studying?’

’I’m cultivating the first level of a basic mind technique, but can I tell you that?’

A thousand words swirled in Shi Tiexin’s mind as he planned to spout some nonsense to get by. But by the time the words reached his lips, they were ultimately simplified to a single word: "Foundations."

The moment the word was out, Shi Tiexin almost broke down.

’My divine gift of gab! Almost every protagonist is a smooth-talking badass, so why can’t I even speak properly? Oh, God!’

’Nope, nope, I can’t take it anymore! I’m suffocating! I can’t stay here! Gotta go, right now! I need to rush back to the comforting embrace of Wang Xingshun’s Calligraphy Copybook and find some solace!’

And so, in Old Jia’s eyes, Shi Tiexin left behind the single, weighty word "Foundations," then resolutely stood up and turned to leave. He was unhurried, yet not slow; calm, yet not arrogant. There was a powerful, resolute air about him. He looked as if fortifying his foundations was a task that brooked no delay, as if he couldn’t bear to waste a single second.

Old Jia was stunned by Shi Tiexin and baffled by his aura. By the time he snapped out of it, Shi Tiexin was already far away. Old Jia opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. He just scratched his dangerously thinning hair and muttered to himself, baffled, "Foundations?"

For the rest of the evening study session, Old Jia launched surprise attacks from the back door, repeatedly employing the "Head Teacher’s Rear-Door Peep." Old Jia was a master of doubling back; tonight, he doubled back and then doubled back again, nearly running his imaginary horse to death. After observing him all night, Old Jia found that Shi Tiexin truly wasn’t fooling around or hanging out with the usual troublemakers.

He was genuinely busy with something.

But what was he so busy with? It didn’t look like he was doing practice tests or reading textbooks.

What on earth did he mean earlier by "foundations"?

Old Jia was filled with doubt, mulling it over and over without getting anywhere. BRRRING! The bell rang, signaling the end of the evening study session. Any student from the trash class who had managed to stick it out this long was already one of the good ones. Breaking character, Shi Tiexin was the first to bolt, running like he was rushing the cafeteria line, and sprinted straight for the study hall. Old Jia waited until the trash class had all but emptied in a great rush, then furtively appeared from the back door.

He paid no mind to Zhao Qingmiao, who was staring wide-eyed from the side, and went straight to Shi Tiexin’s desk. With no concept of personal belongings or privacy, Old Jia immediately started rummaging through it.

"Wang Xingshun... Calligraphy Copybook?" Old Jia flipped through it and confirmed that’s what it was. "What is this crap?" Did this have anything to do with studying? Did it have anything to do with exams, with grades?

He rummaged some more and pulled out something new. "Little Genius Development—Basic Math Handbook?" This one seemed to have *something* to do with grades, but it was elementary school stuff.

"What is all this?!" Old Jia was furious now, truly furious. He felt like he’d been made a fool of. "This is what he calls ’foundations’? Foundations my ass! This is bullshit! The little bastard, trash will always be trash! Damn it! I never should have signed him in the first place. What a waste of the country’s resources!"

Old Jia left, disappointed.

Meanwhile, Shi Tiexin was also disappointed.

Holding a pamphlet on adolescent physiology, Shi Tiexin was at a complete loss for words.

’Where’s the ultimate secret manual I was promised? Where are the rich illustrations and text? I’ve got the text, sure, but where are the pictures? Where are the pictures? Oh, right, right, there are some biology books. Maybe there are pictures in the biology books.’

’Search, search, search... reproduction, reproduction, reproduction... Ooh, found it! A diagram related to reproduction! Let’s see, hmm... The pollen from the stamen is transferred by an insect to the pistil to complete fertilization...’

’This isn’t the kind of reproduction I wanted to see!’

’Looks like my keyword search was wrong. Let’s try another one! Woman, woman, woman... Ooh, found it! A picture related to "woman"! Let me see, hmm... Who the hell can tell me who this woman in the picture is—the one covered in bulging muscles, striking a champion bodybuilder’s pose, and smirking devilishly!’

’She’s clearly a woman, so why does she give off such a macho, muscle-bro vibe?!’

’Goddamn biology book! Give me back my youth! Give me back my innocence! Give me back my sex ed! Give me back my beautiful fantasies about women!’

[Secret Manual Completely Mastered!]

’No, I can’t give up. There must be something hidden. I need to study it carefully, find the hidden treasure...’

[Basic Biology, First Level Cultivation Progress Increased to: Qualified]

"Awesome!"

"Not letting a single word get by!"

"That spirit of inquiry is second to none."

"So... hungry... so... thirsty!"

The inscription board was doing everything it can to make its presence known, and for some reason, it felt highly intelligent. Shi Tiexin couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being roasted by the board, which put him in a strange mood. Only the skyrocketing progress bar could salvage his feelings even a little.

The night passed uneventfully.

「The next day.」

Shi Tiexin woke up bright and early and ran back to the same spot he’d used for morning reading to practice his initials, finals, and overall recognition of syllables. He had already planned it all out: from now on, every morning would be dedicated to rhetoric, while afternoons and evening study sessions would be for math. The personal study time after the evening session would be allocated to other subjects.

Ever since seeing that picture, his recent progress had been even faster than he’d estimated.

This schedule seemed to favor math a bit too much, but who could blame him? Shi Tiexin was the kind of person who treated math as his main wife. The concubines naturally had to take a backseat. Besides, basic math was the most fundamental of the Natural Sciences’ Fundamental Heart Skill. Legend had it that if one mastered this discipline, it could fundamentally enhance one’s comprehension upon completion.

A perfect mastery of Basic Math, First Level, was on the horizon. First, he’d go all out and achieve that perfect mastery of math!