Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 112 - 111 Short-sighted like a dog

Afterward, the members reported their predicted scores one by one.

From the current situation, disregarding the half-done error, with a perfect score of 95, most people had around 50 points, 3 people were in the 80-90 range, and only two people scored above 90.

Among these two people, Li Zheng had already been counted.

The other one was someone everyone called "Cobalt God," whose ID was "Cobalt amino acid chelate."

Seeing his score, Li Zheng immediately widened his eyes.

94 points?

Only lost 1 point?

He solved that super hard problem?

That question was damn hard, even a graduate student in chemistry might not be able to handle it.

After all, it’s a competition exam, and the professors always have to include a problem that you couldn’t possibly solve to show off their level.

Otherwise, wouldn’t my Chemistry Department lose face?

This time, the hard problem was given up by Li Zheng, Ou Xingzhuo, and Wu Shu; they didn’t even present a standard answer.

There was no standard answer in the whole group, only this Cobalt God solved it and confidently claimed he could score 4 points.

Damn, there are indeed higher mountains beyond mountains.

Cobalt God was also very active in the group, quickly providing his solution steps, accompanied by an English essay he wrote in his first year of high school to help everyone understand.

Li Zheng read it quickly.

And didn’t understand a thing.

Is this a high school student?

Or a PhD student?

Through everyone’s chat, Li Zheng found out that Cobalt God had long been a famous name in the Chem Competitions circle.

Experimenting at six, he had set a sofa on fire, blown up a drainpipe, been poisoned, and hospitalized...

Each accident led to a severe mixed-gender doubles beating.

Sometimes the neighbors would join in too.

It was when Cobalt God’s toilet got clogged that he decisively took out chemical reagents to try to blast the poop through the drainpipe.

Somehow, the explosion occurred in the downstairs toilet.

But Cobalt God didn’t realize it and just thought the dosage was too low, so he increased the dose while also crazily spraying with a "one-shot high-pressure air plunger."

By that time, the downstairs toilet had already become a fountain.

Eventually, when the young couple downstairs came home,

as soon as they opened the door, that stuff flowed out.

The young couple’s wedding home was completely flooded, a golden mountain of poop.

This definitely wasn’t something that could be settled with an apology.

Cobalt God’s dad had no choice but to join the downstairs male neighbor in beating him.

But even after numerous beatings, big and small, Cobalt God’s passion only grew more intense and never ceased.

Viewed as a public nuisance by the entire building and with strong interference from the neighborhood committee, his experimental environment was severely restricted, so Cobalt God had to shift to theory. He started reading undergraduate chemistry in middle school, and by high school, his level was comparable to a graduate student’s.

This is true chemical fervor.

He must be an Earth Demon.

On the other hand, there was also an annoying piece of news.

The answers worked out by Ou Xingzhuo and Wu Shu had leaked out; some educational marketing accounts and websites published them without so much as a by-your-leave.

Suddenly, the group’s atmosphere changed again, and members began denouncing the traitors.

Li Zheng then turned off his phone, brewed some tea, and sat back at his desk.

A new goal naturally emerged—

Get into the training camp, shoot for the national finals!

To see this Cobalt God for myself.

To see who is more zealous.

It was at this moment that he finally took out the "Analytical Chemistry" and "Physical Chemistry" textbooks that had been itching to be touched for a long time.

Shit, I haven’t touched you two for half a month.

Let’s rock today!

...

As Li Zheng was furiously studying for the national finals, he was unaware that a group was secretly forming against him.

On WeChat, there was a group, with a very direct name: "Li Zheng Competitions."

The group had only three members: Yu Hong, Tang Zhifei, and Li Yi.

After receiving Li Zheng’s response "not bad," they weren’t reassured at all; instead, they became even more anxious.

Often times, it was the students’ parents and teachers who were more worried about their grades.

Being one of Lake Ying’s historic competition prodigies, Tang Zhifei began to feel the pressure from the school to take good care of this big idiot.

Yu Hong, on one hand, hoped for a chemistry talent to emerge; on the other, it was about keeping up appearances.

After all, her teaching level was something of a fantasy; while it was praised to her face, what people truly thought behind her back wasn’t so positive.

Over the years, she hadn’t even managed to coach a student to third place at the provincial level.

That’s why she desperately forced Lin Yujing into the competition, and she wouldn’t easily let go of Li Zheng, an unexpected discovery.

Li Yi was a bit more straightforward.

He just wanted to glean some information about his potential daughter-in-law.

At first, he even naively thought that Lin Yujing’s parents might join the group.

Wishful thinking, completely wishful thinking.

Although the group only had three people, it was surprisingly lively at this moment.

[Tang Zhifei: Mr. Li, what exactly did your son tell you?]

[Li Yi: Not bad.]

[Yu Hong: I got ’not bad’ too.]

[Tang Zhifei: This… The preparation time was indeed too short, the performance may not have been great, be sure to comfort him properly when you get back.]

[Li Yi: That dumb kid doesn’t need comforting, he doesn’t even like chemistry anyway.]

[Yu Hong: …Mr. Li, there’s no need to stress that point so much.]

[Li Yi: But… Li Zheng does respect you a lot, Teacher Yu.]

[Yu Hong: Alright, let me summarize, it’s normal for Li Zheng to not perform well, the preparation time was only half a month, even getting a provincial third place would be a great achievement. We have next year if not this one.]

[Yu Hong: I’m also a member of the Jijing Chemical Society, and I’m going to mark papers tomorrow, the results are expected to come out very quickly this year, I’ll try to get the scores before they’re publicly announced and notify you guys early.]

[Li Yi: Yeah, let us know whether it’s good or bad news early. It’s good for young people to face some setbacks, toughens their mind.]

[Yu Hong: Please pay attention to guiding him; my goal for him is next year, make sure he doesn’t give up this year...]

[Li Yi: Ah, I see, I see. Oh right, isn’t there a classmate who took the exam with Li Zheng? How did she do?]

[Tang Zhifei: I dare not ask.]

[Yu Hong: Neither do I.]

[Li Yi: What’s there to be afraid of, just bring her parents into the group, I’ll help you ask.]

[Tang Zhifei: I’m going to eat dinner, don’t forget the parent-teacher meeting on Wednesday, Father Li.]

[Yu Hong: Time to sleep, let’s chat next time.]

Li Yi in the office placed his mobile phone on the desk, feeling somewhat hurt.

It was just a conversation with his son’s teacher.

Yet, it ended up tasting like a spurned loyal dog.

It’s 3 PM now, couldn’t the two teachers be a little more considerate in their choice of words?

Ding-ding.

Another alert from the phone on the desk.

This time it’s a credit card message.

His son had been spending again.

Over 800 in one go.

Again on the Brother Dong APP.

Li Yi chuckled with satisfaction.

Brat.

Clearly, things were set, he’s even started buying materials for the nationals now.

If that’s how you two teachers are going to be with me,

then I just won’t tell you.

...

After another Chemistry weekend had passed, an eagerly anticipated Monday arrived.

No sooner had Li Zheng entered the classroom and put down his backpack than someone began to sneer.

"Did you win the province first place, Master?"

As she spoke, Zhang Xiaoke had a smirk on her face.

Master, you deserve a taste of hardship, to be tormented by a real tough one.

"I don’t know," Li Zheng pulled up a chair to sit down, flipping through his textbook as he said, "The result isn’t important, the key was meeting some like-minded friends, it was very rewarding."

"Oh, what matters is participating, huh?" Zhang Xiaoke giggled behind her hand.

Ha ha, Master, even you have days like this.

"Yeah, I’m very happy I could participate," Li Zheng suddenly turned his head and asked, "By the way, do you know Ou Xingzhuo?"

Zhang Xiaoke was stunned, "He’s the male god of our senior year…"

"Male god?" Li Zheng thought of that pretentious face, puzzled, "Does Ren Da Fu have a hidden charm trend?"

"Shh." Zhang Xiaoke quickly shushed Li Zheng, whispering, "Image is one thing, but the key is he dominates all subjects. He has been winning awards since the first year, without missing any... What’s more terrifying is... he also won the city high school students’ championships in the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter run..."

"Damn." Li Zheng was also startled by these two track and field medals.

It turned out, his understanding of this freak was just the tip of the iceberg.

"What about Wu Shu?" Li Zheng asked again.

"Pfft!" Zhang Xiaoke burst out laughing, wiping her mouth for a while before asking, "You... met her too?"

"Yeah, we even added each other as friends."

"Oh my god, what kind of dumb luck is that…" Zhang Xiaoke clutched her head and cursed, "Wu Shu is even more bizarre... She’s been on the national news since elementary school, do you have any idea how terrifying it is for a girl to win an international physics gold medal..."

"I don’t know, but now I understand the feeling of being doggie," sighed Li Zheng, looking at Zhang Xiaoke, "You have it tough, keep it up, work hard, stay strong."

"Boo-hoo-hoo…" Zhang Xiaoke was instantly reminded of the painful memories, "I told you, they’re much scarier than Lin Yujing."

As they were talking, suddenly a little hand tapped on Zhang Xiaoke’s shoulder.

When Zhang Xiaoke turned her head, she saw the ferocious Lin Yujing.

"Um!" Lin Yujing opened her mouth wide, baring her two rows of little white teeth, "Scary!"

"Ha-ha, not scared at all," Zhang Xiaoke chuckled as she pinched Lin Yujing’s cheek, "Fierce but cute."

"Don’t touch…" Lin Yujing’s pride was wounded, she brushed away Zhang Xiaoke and stomped back to her seat.

"Humph, you seem to be in good spirits today," Li Zheng asked loudly from afar, "I sent you the standard answers, have you estimated your score?"

Lin Yujing waved her hands frantically, as if she no longer wanted to discuss chemistry.

As they were talking, Jiang Qinghua and Liu Xin also returned from the restroom, pulled out their chairs, and asked, "Did you all estimate your scores? How much?"

"It’s a bit shameful, forget it," Li Zheng quickly shook his head.

"Hehe, just keep pretending," laughed Jiang Qinghua.

"No, don’t use common sense to judge Brother Li," said Liu Xin with a worried face, "When he says it’s shameful, it must really be shameful."

"That’s true," Jiang Qinghua also began to worry, "It’s okay Li Zheng, there’s still next year."

Li Zheng shook his head, "Next year I have to prepare for math, physics, biology, and informatics competitions, it’s very pressing."

Jiang Qinghua froze, "You know, maybe win one competition before you think about others?"

"Yeah," Li Zheng answered awkwardly.

"Heh, let it go," Zhang Xiaoke snorted with laughter, "The master has met a few big shots, he’s become highbrow and started to drift~~"

"I haven’t," Li Zheng retorted, "Participating in multiple subject competitions is not a big deal, you’re the one who’s short-sighted."

"Hehe," Zhang Xiaoke spread her arms and laughed, "Did you win province first place? And you call me short-sighted, I’ve met just as many big shots as you have."

"Whatever."

From behind, Liu Xin commented, "Brother Li, look, Xiaoke is going this far, just indulge her."

"What?" asked Li Zheng.

"Ahem…" Jiang Qinghua also coughed, "Although Teacher Tang has forbidden me from gambling, I’m still happy to act as a fair witness."

"Never mind, I’m not playing," Zhang Xiaoke quickly waved her hand, "I was just... teasing... I’ve learned my lesson, I won’t bet with the master anymore."

"You’re lying to yourself, Xiaoke," Jiang Qinghua raised an eyebrow, "It’s not that you don’t want to bet, it’s just that the odds aren’t enticing enough."

"Err…" Zhang Xiaoke felt tempted and couldn’t help glancing at Li Zheng.

Half a month’s review... the shameful score...

Seems like there’s something to play for...

Although their roles as master and disciple were established,

she couldn’t always be ruthlessly bossed around.

Right now, her status seemed too low,

like a pet to her owner.

Maybe try it...

Just this once, just to get back on her feet.

Never play again after this.

Really.

"Come on, I’ll set the stakes," Jiang Qinghua smiled, "How about province second place?"

"No way, province first!" Zhang Xiaoke said immediately, "I’m not playing if it’s less than province first."

Liu Xin frowned, "That’s kind of difficult though, Brother Li has only been reviewing for half a month."

"No, it has to be province first," Zhang Xiaoke insisted, her teeth gritted, "You can’t judge master’s learning ability by common standards, I’ve learned my lesson from that."

Jiang Qinghua asked, "So Li Zheng, is province first okay with you?"

"I’m not playing, it’s meaningless," Li Zheng waved off the idea, "Let Xiaoke study properly, stop this nonsense."

Seeing Li Zheng avoid the gamble,

Zhang Xiaoke’s confidence surged.

Opportunity, such a rare chance.