Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 168: Will you die if you sign this?

On the second morning of the national finals winter camp, there were quite a few people out for a morning run.

While Li Zheng was jogging around the main building of the hotel, he ran into about 5 students and 4 teachers.

By the way, he was lapped twice and a half by Ou Xingzhuo and circled once by Wu Shu.

No way, he really couldn’t keep up.

After half an hour of comfortable running, Li Zheng, following Ou Xingzhuo’s advice, began stretching beside the stone lions at the hotel entrance.

He had barely started when a guy who had also just finished running called out to him.

"You’re Li Zheng, right?"

"Yes, that’s me. What’s up?" Li Zheng turned his head to look.

Glasses, buzz cut, sportswear.

He had no idea which one it was.

That’s the thing here; 90% of the guys all look the same, utterly indistinguishable.

The boy leaned over, tying his shoelaces, and looked up with a smile, "I heard you’re going to sweep the top two places with Cobalt God?"

"I didn’t, I haven’t said anything." Li Zheng shook his head in vexation.

"Haha, don’t be modest now, Cobalt God made such a fuss, isn’t it just so the two of you can get into the national team?" The boy finished tying his laces, looked at Li Zheng one last time with a look as if he was sizing up a fool, had his fill, then waved goodbye, "Alright, sounds great, you guys from Jijing are the best, wish you success."

Li Zheng didn’t have the chance to reply before the guy walked away chuckling.

Li Zheng was incredibly annoyed.

He was only trying to do a lunge stretch, yet his knees were almost hitting the ground.

As low-key as I am, why has it come to this?

While he was brooding, another buzz cut flashed in front of his eyes.

He turned back with a smile, revealing a similar expression to the previous guy.

The smile of looking at a fool.

Li Zheng turned his head away resentfully.

Shi Yang, you piglet.

In the national finals, not to mention first place, in all these years, there haven’t been many who dared to boast about ranking in the top ten before the event.

And now, such claims are being made even before the theory exam.

It truly is a fool’s behavior.

You’ve played the pig quite well, now the whole camp is waiting to laugh at Jijing’s expense.

I’m just worried that after everyone signs up, the results will come out.

And we really will become the laughingstock.

No, this won’t do, I have to go back quickly and keep a close eye on Shi Yang.

Make sure he doesn’t get food poisoning again.

…

Half an hour later, in the dining hall, while Li Zheng was having porridge, he once again encountered those looks reserved for fools many times.

And they weren’t being discreet at all; Li Zheng could hear their conversations.

"What are you laughing at?"

"That guy, Li Zheng, ranked number one in the country~"

"What?"

"Don’t you know? The Jijing Team is going around asking people to sign up, plotting and calculating that they can get two people into the national team."

"Jijing? Are you serious?"

"Haha, of course I’m not serious, but that Li Zheng is."

"Which one? Let me take a look."

"That one, who obviously doesn’t study well…"

Li Zheng felt awful; this had already disrupted his normal life.

Shi Yang, on the other hand, was nowhere near their own table, instead walking around clinking bowls with others with a bowl of tofu pudding, acting like the Chem Competitions social butterfly. The other provinces’ team members were also supportive, while watching the fool, they cooperated fully with the performance, determined to seek justice for Chem Competitions.

Meanwhile, Shi Yang’s newly recognized "good brother," Wei Dongyang, was just as relentless, making waves as the Jijing Team among the southern teams and enjoying a lively competition.

Breakfast was over.

Li Zheng had already become the brightest star in the arena.

After breakfast came the endlessly dull opening ceremony and lab safety education.

Then it was lunchtime.

It was basically a repeat of breakfast, which firmly established Li Zheng as the standout of the event.

In the afternoon, there was free time.

Usually, everyone would use this half-day to review a bit.

But not this year.

This year was like a bustling traffic, with lines of people queuing up to get autographs from Li Zheng and Shi Yang in their dorm room.

A group after group of buzz-cut, glasses-wearing guys.

A visit after visit to see the handsome star.

Under the siege of these "foolish grins," Li Zheng had become numb.

By four o’clock in the afternoon, they finally saw off the last of the brothers from Guizhou Team on the fringes.

Afterward, Shi Yang stared at the packed petition, counting for a full three minutes before slamming his hand down on the table.

"Done! 213 signatures."

Li Zheng, who was leaning against the bed reading a book, sighed, "I have to admit, your EQ for getting along with buzz-cut, glasses-wearing guys is really high."

"I’ll take that as a compliment," replied Shi Yang as he took out his phone to make a call, "We have to submit this thing before the exams, I’m going to call Wei Dongyang to go with me."

The call went through quickly.

And ended just as swiftly.

Shi Yang turned to Li Zheng with a crestfallen face, "The jerk isn’t going, says I should go myself…"

"I know, I know," Li Zheng said, shaking his head as he put down his book, "I’ll go with you."

"Heh heh," Shi Yang chuckled and then picked up his phone again, "Let’s call Xing Zhuo and Wu Shu too…"

"No," Li Zheng, fixing his collar, said, "Too many people would make it seem like we’re causing trouble, just the two of us is better."

"Makes sense," Shi Yang cautiously cradled the petition, "But tell me, after all this effort, do you think we have a chance?"

"Not a chance."

"…"

The two tidied themselves up and took the elevator to the 20th floor, where they found Room 2003 based on various bits of information. This was the room of the camp director for this winter camp.

The camp director this term was Director Guan Chucheng from the Chemical Institute of the host, Lu Dong University. He was also a big name in the chemistry circle, a true academic heavyweight.

Although they had only caught a glimpse of him once during the opening ceremony speech, for such a matter, he was the only person they could turn to.

When they finally got to the door of Room 2003, Shi Yang began to panic for real.

Even though the door was ajar and clearly unlocked.

His hands were trembling and he just couldn’t bring himself to press the doorbell.

Li Zheng breathed a sigh and said, "Alright, just wait and say nothing, I’ll handle it."

"Depends on the situation," replied Shi Yang.

With that, Li Zheng pressed the doorbell.

"Come in," a resonant voice immediately came from inside.

Li Zheng then pushed the door open and walked in with Shi Yang.

As they entered, Li Zheng also paused in surprise.

Chairs, sofas, beds, they were all occupied by teachers.

This group of teachers, smiling warmly at them, made it unclear whether they had been in the middle of a meeting or just chatting leisurely.

Zhou Yi was also there, beaming especially brightly.

Li Zheng didn’t dare to linger his gaze and walked straight toward Guan Chucheng.

Director Guan, a well-built man with a square face, would have been hard to associate with academia if it weren’t for his eyes and buzz-cut hairstyle.

After taking the petition handed to him by Li Zheng, Director Guan first scoped out Li Zheng and Shi Yang before finally lowering his head to read the content.

Meanwhile, Li Zheng took a few steps back respectfully and spoke, "I apologize for disturbing all of you, teachers. The matter is that us competitors of this edition have some minor suggestions regarding the ’one person per province maximum for the national team selection’ rule. Everything is detailed in the letter."

The teachers exchanged glances, the smiles on their faces finally diminishing a bit.

No one spoke, all eyes turned to Camp Commander Guan Chucheng.

"Um... uh..." After hemming and hawing for a bit, Guan Chucheng raised his hand and handed the letter to Zhou Yi, who was closest to him. Then, turning to look at Li Zheng and Shi Yang, his facial expression didn’t change much, he only asked, "Roughly how many people signed it?"

Shi Yang, full of eagerness, rushed to answer first: "213."

A male teacher immediately cracked a smile: "Not bad, you two have really been busy these past few days."

Someone from the side followed up: "If there was an issue, shouldn’t it have been first reported to your team’s supervising teacher? Why start off in this manner?"

"Reporting it was useless, teacher," Shi Yang said anxiously. "I talked to our school’s teacher, and he didn’t pay me any mind."

"Then you could try talking to the teachers of the organizing committee," the male teacher clapped his hands together. "Think about it, starting off by stirring up a big petition, have you considered the implications?"

"It’s okay, Teacher Zhang, no need to worry." After Guan Chucheng gestured to interrupt, he turned to look at Shi Yang. "This issue has actually been discussed by the Chemical Society before, and indeed, there’s room for improvement, but this year is just too soon."

Shi Yang immediately asked, "Then, Teacher Guan, why is it too early this year? When will it be considered not too early?"

"Shi Yang!" the male teacher frowned and scolded, "How can you talk to Director Guan like that? I know you’re a top student, but even top students should show some respect!"

"It’s alright." Guan Chucheng himself was not angry, but slowly, he explained, "This is an issue that you students can’t grasp from your perspective. The teachers have received your suggestions, and we will bring them up for discussion with the organizing committee, is that alright?"

"This... This..." Shi Yang scratched his head, looking around at the teachers present, biting his teeth, and squeezing out the words between gaps, "The teachers here are the organizing committee, right?... Teachers, will you really discuss it?"

"Alright, how the teachers discuss it is not for you two to worry about." Zhou Yi closed the petition letter and turned to look at Guan Chucheng, saying, "Director Guan, I’ll hold on to this for now. I’ll go and work on it with them."

Guan Chucheng nodded in agreement.

Zhou Yi then rose to his feet, guiding Li Zheng and Shi Yang towards the exit, "The teachers are still in their meeting, you two come out with me first."

Seeing Zhou Yi take action, Shi Yang didn’t argue any further and let himself be ushered out of the room with Li Zheng.

Zhou Yi turned his face and closed the door, his expression instantly turning steely as he pushed the two a few steps away before suddenly lifting his hand and delivering a smack to both of their heads.

"Have you two lost your minds..." Zhou Yi glared, his voice lowered as he scolded, "It’s only because I’m here. If I weren’t, if you kept causing trouble, they would dare to cancel your qualification to compete, believe it or not?"

Shi Yang, holding his head, indignantly said, "Isn’t it a very reasonable suggestion, Dean Zhou?"

"What does ’reasonable’ matter?" Zhou Yi scolded. "Only you two have the ability, only you two understand? Your suggestion may be right, but the approach you’ve taken is completely wrong, terribly wrong! Getting more than 200 students to sign, organizing a petition, do you have any idea how serious this is? Also, with so many people signing, why did only the two of you come? What about the representatives from other provinces, people like Wei Dongyang and such, why didn’t they come?"

"He’s got diarrhea..."

"You believe that?" Zhou Yi was about to raise his hand, evidently ready to smack Shi Yang again, but in the end he swung nothing but air, and pointed at them as he continued scolding, "You’re putting Jijing on the griddle."

After berating Shi Yang, Zhou Yi turned to look at Li Zheng: "And you, aren’t you normally very steady? How come you couldn’t restrain yourself all of a sudden? You think you’ve grown so capable that you’re guaranteed to be on the national team? You think you’re above everyone in the country?"

"Sorry for causing you trouble, Dean Zhou." Li Zheng had no doubts about the outcome, simply nodding and admitting his mistake, "We understand we were wrong, let’s just pretend this letter was never here."

"Hmm, when I get back, I’ll speak a few more words for you." Zhou Yi then folded the letter a few times and stuffed it into his pocket, "I’ll keep the letter for now, after the competition, we’ll return it when you two have calmed down."

"How can that be???" Shi Yang glared this time at Zhou Yi, "Dean Zhou, how is this approach wrong?"

Zhou Yi was also quite angry, glaring back: "You’re going to challenge me now?"

"Enough..." Li Zheng forcefully stepped in front of Shi Yang, "This rule was established before we came, and if it’s to be changed, it should wait until the next edition."

Zhou Yi nodded in agreement, "Li Zheng has made himself clear, hasn’t he?"

"..." Shi Yang fidgeted, visibly uncomfortable, but unsure of what else to say.

He couldn’t find the words, but inside the room, the people didn’t hesitate to start cursing—loud enough to be heard through the door, it was that male teacher with a short temper from earlier—

"Xiangnan has had many strong competitors over so many editions and never pulled this kind of stunt. Jijing’s won just a few gold medals and they’re already pulling this? The exams haven’t even started, and they’re already this arrogant? They really think other provinces are pushovers?"

Another female teacher followed with a sigh, "This Shi Yang is not simple either... Looks subdued, but just in two days, he managed to come up with this... Once he’s in university, I fear he’ll be quite a handful."

The male teacher huffed, "Pff, Dean Zhou’s got a big heart and isn’t afraid of trouble. Our school definitely wouldn’t dare to sign any petition, no matter how high the stakes; it’s like asking for trouble for our own school."

Then came Guan Chucheng’s voice.

"Alright, it was just the students being impulsive for a moment. Dean Zhou has already gone to talk to them, let’s not bring it up anymore."

The voices inside the room gradually quieted down.

Hearing all this, Zhou Yi didn’t get angry but just gave a long sigh.

"Ah..." He put his hands on both of their shoulders, saying, "No matter what, please think of yourselves first. You don’t need to make the national team, as long as you’re on the training squad, I assure you I’ll secure your admissions. To be more precise, aim for the top 40; let’s achieve this goal first and then we can talk about the rest, alright?"

"Then there’s nothing to talk about, Dean Zhou," Shi Yang said urgently. "If Li Zheng and I truly stand out, and we kick up a fuss with those rankings, that would truly earn us scorn, right?"

"Don’t worry, you’re already earning scorn now."

"No, it’s not like that, they all support us, over two hundred people are behind us! Why wouldn’t they support something that’s right and proper?" Shi Yang insisted, his head held high as he reached out, "Dean Zhou, I insist on submitting this. I won’t say anything when I go in, I’ll just slam the table and walk out."

"You... your mother’s..."

Even Zhou Yi couldn’t help but curse as he rubbed his forehead, overwhelmed with frustration.

"Dean Zhou, give it to me..." Shi Yang said with trembling hands, "And... they all respect you... If you stand with us, there’s a chance..."

"I can’t even protect you all, let alone stand?" Zhou Yi clenched his teeth as he grabbed the joint letter, pulling at both ends, "I’m going to destroy this thing now. You can hate me; I’m sorry."

"Dean Zhou!"

Although Shi Yang shouted this, he ultimately did not rush forward to grab it from Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi said this, but he couldn’t bring himself to just tear up the joint letter bearing over 200 people’s names.

At this moment, Li Zheng raised his hand silently: "Then... how about this... I’ll submit it... I don’t care anyway, I don’t need a guaranteed admission, nor do I plan to study chemistry, it doesn’t matter if I’m disqualified, even if I really want to go to Ji University Chemistry Institute... I can still get in on my own."

Both men glared at Li Zheng, wanting to curse, but not knowing where to start.

"That..." Li Zheng first looked at Shi Yang.

"My dad told me, the world didn’t become what it is today overnight, and you can’t change it in a day either."

"I didn’t even hope that the joint letter would do any good; as far as this Chem Competition is concerned, the only thing that could change the current situation is more people like Dean Zhou."

"If there were at least three leaders of Dean Zhou’s caliber in the committee, focusing solely on external competition, as long as the national team is strong enough, even if they were all from Xiangnan, it wouldn’t matter, and the rules would have changed a long time ago."

"So, don’t shout about it here; it’s useless."

"Wait until you become a person like Dean Zhou; then use your strength to make a stand."

Having said that, Li Zheng turned to Zhou Yi.

"Dean Zhou, look at Shi Yang’s sorry state."

"Bear with him one more time."

"He is the person I’ve met and heard of who is most likely to become a world-class chemist."

"Since Shi Yang is so insistent, let this foolish student of mine make the sacrifice this time; consider it a lesson for him, to understand the price of impotent passion."

Finally, Li Zheng stretched out his right hand: "Okay, give it to me."

No one spoke, no one moved.

In the silence, although Shi Yang was unwilling, he also lost the rationale to make further fuss.

"Alright... I’m... I’m sorry to all of you... It’s all because I’m an idiot... although I still don’t understand why something so clear could lead to such severe consequences... but I’m sorry for troubling you... it won’t happen again..."

Shi Yang wiped his eyes fiercely and dashed towards the elevator.

After a long silence between Li Zheng and Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi gave Li Zheng a noogie.

"You youngster can even be poetic, huh!"

"Hmm, two to four hours of reading classics every day is indeed not in vain," Li Zheng chuckled and rubbed his head, "I’ve caused trouble for you, Dean Zhou."

"Motherf*cker," Zhou Yi scratched his head in agitation, "What do you want me to do? I practically spoon-fed you the protection... would signing kill you?"

"Ah... I’m also very annoyed," sighed Li Zheng with a look of frustration, "How good it would be if you were the Dean of the School of Physics, or even Math I could settle for. Speaking of which, is it too late for you to switch fields now?"

"Hahaha!" Zhou Yi couldn’t help but laugh and gave Li Zheng another noogie, "Alright, enough nonsense, I’ll mention you to the people at the School of Physics if there’s a chance."

"Heh heh."

"As for this..." Zhou Yi handed the joint letter to Li Zheng, "I’ll leave it to you. Your last words were very right. As long as it is the strongest national team, it wouldn’t matter if they were all from Xiangnan. You didn’t succeed this time, but you’ve made your voice heard, and that is not a failure."

"Thank you, Dean," Li Zheng carefully put away the joint letter.

"Hmm," Zhou Yi patted Li Zheng one last time, "No matter what, do well on the examination. You seem very demotivated right now."

"I do have it, Dean Zhou; right now I’m quite motivated," Li Zheng couldn’t help but glance at the door, "Even if our approach was improper, the attitude of certain teachers inside was just too appalling. Right, I’ll pretend they are all vegetarians and I’ll paste this attitude on their faces."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi immediately beamed, his entire face looking like it might form a Cheng Huan.

"Shh..." he whispered to Li Zheng, "That Teacher Zhang is a subordinate of Director Guan... indeed lacking in ability... just here to brown-nose. If you can really get one of the top spots, I’ll try to have him present you the award, haha..."

"Make sure he does, haha."

After saying goodbye to Zhou Yi, Li Zheng, on the elevator down, tucked the letter deeper into his pocket.

Even though the letter had lost its practical significance,

it was a good memento.

Years later, people on the letter would have surely shone brilliantly in their respective fields.

Then, taking it out to see how foolish one was in youth would also be amusing.