Chapter 4: The Science Exhibition

After returning home that evening, Chen Meng still couldn’t figure out a way to make money. After all, in his previous life, even by the time he finished grad school, he had never really earned much, and he had no experience with making money. Perhaps the only realistic option was to ask his parents for help.

In this world, his father was an engineer at the Rapid Vehicle Manufacturing Plant, bringing home just over five thousand yuan a month after taxes. His mother worked as a junior cultivator at the Spiritual Medicine Company, earning a bit more than three thousand after taxes. With their monthly expenses, plus mortgage and car payments, there wasn’t much left over at the end of each month.

By his estimate, the family’s savings probably amounted to about a hundred thousand yuan, certainly no more than a hundred and fifty thousand. But how could he get his hands on that hundred thousand?

Chen Meng felt troubled. If he could just get that hundred thousand, it would give him a thousand knowledge points, enough to completely flip through the high school runes course. With a total mastery of high school runes, he’d score at least one hundred and forty points on that subject in the college entrance exam.

“Right now, all I’m thinking about is getting money from my parents. I really am worse than a beast. But if I can get into a top university, then it’s all worth it!”

Chen Meng understood well that if he only got into a junior college, after paying the high tuition, book fees, miscellaneous fees, and accommodation, his parents might have to sell the house just to buy him the first-tier divine body advancement potion. And the future cultivation resources he’d need would be even further out of reach for his parents.

So, taking money from his parents now was, in a way, a harmless lie. Comforting himself with this thought, he felt much better.

“Mom, Dad, I have something to talk to you about,” Chen Meng began, already having prepared his excuse. “There’s a last-minute college entrance exam cram class near our school. They say that with three months of intensive prep, my score could go up by fifty points. A lot of students at my school have already signed up. I’ve thought about it and, since my grades are just around the cut-off for second-tier universities, if I could raise my score by fifty points, getting into one should be a sure thing.”

His parents were taken aback. The prospect of raising his score by fifty points was tempting indeed. They knew well how important those fifty points were to Chen Meng.

“Is it reliable?” His father, Chen Jianghe, was already half-convinced.

“Absolutely. Many of the teachers at the cram school are also our own school’s teachers. And teachers wouldn’t lie, would they?” Chen Meng said confidently, knowing that to deceive others, one must first convince oneself. He spoke with conviction and didn’t blush at all.

“How much does it cost? And will it interfere with your regular studies?” His mother and father exchanged glances. It had never crossed their minds that Chen Meng would try to deceive them—after all, he had never done anything like that before.

“It won’t interfere. The classes are held after school or on weekends, so I’ll just be a bit busier. I’ve come to realize that if I don’t work hard now, I’ll regret it forever. As for the price... it’s a bit high—they want twenty thousand.” Chen Meng felt a pang of guilt; twenty thousand might wipe out a fifth of the family’s savings in one go.

Twenty thousand!

His parents gasped, clearly not expecting such a sum. Yet, hearing Chen Meng’s words, they also felt a sense of pride, as if their child had finally grown up.

They were silent for a moment before his father, Chen Jianghe, showed resolve and made the decision. “If it can really raise your score by fifty points—or even just thirty—then the twenty thousand is worth it. As long as you can get into a second-tier university, you’ll earn that money back in the future.”

His mother nodded in agreement.

Chen Meng felt a wave of guilt, a prick of conscience. But then he thought—he wouldn’t just raise his score by fifty points. Considering his current lack of knowledge about runes, he’d surely raise his score by over a hundred points. The money would be well spent.

“I’ll withdraw the money tomorrow,” said his father, Chen Jianghe. With that, Chen Meng felt relieved. With this twenty thousand, he’d be able to flip through a quarter of the high school runes course.

A quarter—at least then he couldn’t be said to know nothing about runes.

There should still be at least eighty thousand left at home, Chen Meng mused. Once he got this twenty thousand, he’d think about how to get more.

That night, Chen Meng did some quick calculations. “If I cram for the cultural subjects, even if I’m weak, I should be able to score a hundred to a hundred and fifty points out of three hundred on the college entrance exam. For the rest—runes, alchemy, and artifact refining—I need to master all of them to have a shot at a top university. Last year, the cut-off for the best schools was just over six hundred points.”

Most cultural subjects, except for the Ancient Tongue, were common, but he’d still have to put in a sprint before the exam. Scoring a hundred and fifty points wouldn’t be easy, even though most students could manage it.

But to master high school runes, alchemy, and artifact refining, he’d need at least twenty-five hundred knowledge points—meaning he’d have to spend two hundred and fifty thousand yuan.

Would he really have to persuade his parents to sell the house?

Chen Meng, you really are worse than a beast!

Chastising himself in silence, Chen Meng nevertheless slept soundly.

...

A new day—Friday.

In this world, there were no classes on Saturday or Sunday, even for third-year high school students, and there were no evening study sessions during the week.

As soon as Chen Meng sat down, he noticed something was off about Ma Yiqun, who sat beside him—the boy looked listless.

“What’s with you?” Chen Meng asked, tossing the set of “Five Years College Entrance Exam, Three Years Mock Exams” he’d bought yesterday onto the desk.

Ma Yiqun stared at the materials, shocked. “Chen Meng, are you crazy? Wait, did you borrow money yesterday just to buy these?”

Chen Meng nodded. He’d bought them to test the system, after all.

Ma Yiqun looked like he wanted to say more, but just then a fierce-looking man strode into the classroom. “Who’s Ma Yiqun? Stand up!”

The moment Ma Yiqun saw him, his heart sank.

It was the discipline director, the one who dealt with student infractions. The only thing Ma Yiqun could have done wrong recently was last night.

Many students glanced over at Ma Yiqun, some looking sympathetic.

“Ma Yiqun, you broke school rules by sneaking off to an internet café on Qicai Road last night. This is a serious offense. Your parents must come to school on Monday.”

“I... I—okay,” Ma Yiqun stammered. He’d wanted to argue, but the director’s look made it clear they had hard evidence.

Chen Meng couldn’t help but feel sorry for Ma Yiqun. Why’d he have to sneak out to surf the internet? Now he was in real trouble.

In this world, internet use was much more tightly controlled for students.

...

Finally, class was about to begin, but the teacher hadn’t arrived yet. The class monitor, Ni Hu, stepped up onto the podium.

“I have an announcement. Tomorrow, Saturday, there’s a Divine Body Science Exhibition, and the school requires all third-year students to attend. So, come to school at the regular time tomorrow morning, and we’ll take the school bus to the exhibition hall. Also, I heard there will be a display of a Tier Five Divine Body prehistoric creature.”

A Tier Five Divine Body prehistoric creature!

Chen Meng didn’t react, but Ma Yiqun’s eyes lit up, and the rest of the class burst into excited chatter.

“Chen Meng, that’s a Tier Five Divine Body being! I’ve heard that even rocket grenades are like a tickle to them. We have to see this!”

“Definitely! I’ve always heard about Divine Bodies, but never seen what one actually looks like.”

Chen Meng murmured to himself, his anticipation for tomorrow growing.

...

At noon, Chen Meng noticed a classmate was about to recharge his card. He offered to help but found that this kind of proxy spending didn’t convert into knowledge points. Back in class, he tried selling his set of “Five Years College Entrance Exam, Three Years Mock Exams” to a fellow struggling student, then buying it back with the cash—but that didn’t work, either.

After a series of bizarre tests, his classmates began to wonder if he was possessed—some even considered calling an ambulance.

That was the end of it for Chen Meng. Clearly, maliciously gaming the knowledge points system was impossible.

The money had to be spent by him, and it had to be his own—or at least borrowed in his own name—for it to count as real consumption and convert into knowledge points.

...

On the way home from school in the afternoon, as usual, Ma Yiqun walked with Chen Meng. Near their neighborhood, seeing no one around, he whispered, “Chen Meng, last night I read a post online. It said that bathing in the blood of a fellow Divine Body being of the same race could also let you advance to the first tier—there’s no need for expensive advancement potions.”

Chen Meng’s eyes grew cold. Bathing in the blood of your kin—would someone actually try to kill their own kind for this?

Whoever posted that must have truly vicious intentions.

“Yiqun, there are too many scams online. Most likely, that was posted by some cult. I saw on the news that just last week, the authorities in Jiangzhou caught a Crescent cultist in hiding. The country doesn’t let us go online before college because they’re worried about the impact of negative influences. Even if that information were true, we could never harm our own people. That’s a basic principle of being human,” Chen Meng said, soberly.

Ma Yiqun nodded—he understood that much.

“You should work harder too. Your grades are better than mine, so getting into a second-tier university shouldn’t be a problem, but there are good and bad schools even in that category. The better the university, the more chances you’ll have to advance,” Chen Meng added.

Ma Yiqun froze, thinking Chen Meng seemed different somehow.

...

When he got home, his father, who was almost always home on time, hadn’t arrived yet. Chen Meng guessed he was probably out getting the money for him.

Sure enough, half an hour later, his father, Chen Jianghe, returned.

“Son, I’ve got the money,” Chen Jianghe said cheerfully, handing him a canvas bag.

Looking at his father’s travel-worn face, Chen Meng silently cursed himself for being a beast all over again.

“Thanks, Dad!” Chen Meng grinned as he took the money, feeling more motivated to study than ever.

...

After dinner, Chen Meng lay on his bed and picked up his phone—a special student edition unique to this world.

It was a simple device, with only a few essential apps and links to educational websites.

Scrolling through, he noticed the family group chat was bustling with messages.

“Relatives?” Chen Meng muttered, eyes suddenly gleaming with an idea.

...

Saturday—time for the Divine Body Science Exhibition. Chen Meng took his phone along, since it wasn’t a formal class and the school allowed it.

When he arrived, most students were already there. He spotted Ma Yiqun—after everything he’d been through, his hair was a mess and dark circles ringed his eyes.

“He must have confessed about sneaking onto the internet; after all, his parents have to come in Monday.”

Chen Meng patted Ma Yiqun’s shoulder, saying nothing. Maybe he was partly to blame—if Ma Yiqun hadn’t thought he’d gone to the internet café, he might not have gone, either. But Chen Meng hadn’t even gone!

After ten minutes, class monitor Ni Hu began roll call. Only Tang Wenjing was missing.

Noticing his classmates’ confusion, Ni Hu explained, “Tang Wenjing will make her own way to the exhibition; she doesn’t need to take the school bus with us. All right, get ready—our class is on bus seventeen. Don’t get on the wrong one.”

Chen Meng and his classmates couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy. Making her own way? Obviously, she had a private driver.