Tang Xiu laid his eyes on his study table. Just the test papers alone were stacked two feet high, and the number of reference books was even more.
It was not only Tang Xiu's table that was like that. At a glance, all the tables in the class were like that. If there was really a need to point out one difference, then it would be that all the books and test papers that were on Tang Xiu's table looked brand new and neatly arranged, while the rest of his classmates' table had their books and test papers piled up in a mess, looking like a disaster.
Tang Xiu randomly pulled out a few test papers to take a look and found out that he could not understand most of the questions. The numerous fresh red zeros on his test paper even made his face turn red.
"It seems that I must resolve the issue with my studies first before resolving the issue with my cultivation technique. Or else, I would really be expelled from school due to my grades, and mum would definitely be sad." Tang Xiu whispered to himself softly before taking out a book from his table and seriously skimming through it.
After having his soul damaged, although Tang Xiu's intellect on Earth was damaged, his attitude towards his studies was very proper. All his study materials from Year 1 to Year 3 were neatly arranged underneath his table, and Tang Xiu, therefore, would not need to waste his time and effort gathering studying materials.
As he was from a single-parent family, Tang Xiu was extremely obedient and very diligent in his studies. Since primary school to high school, Tang Xiu had always been the dictator in academic results. He was ranked first in the entire cohort for his entrance exam into Star City First High School. And subsequently, in Year 1, Tang Xiu had also dominated the entire cohort by ranking first in his final year's examination.
However, due to a car accident in the first half of the school term in Year 2, Tang Xiu's soul was damaged, and this caused his memory and comprehension skills to fall drastically. He would always lose focus randomly from time to time. No matter how hard he tried, he was not able to catch up with the pace in class, thus his results kept on falling until he became the last in his cohort.
If Tang Xiu wanted to improve his results, he would not only have to self-learn the content from Year 2 and Year 3, but also relearn all the content before Year 2. If it was the previous Tang Xiu, it would be impossible to take back all the glory that should have belonged to him using just three months. But this wouldn't be of any issue to the current Tang Xiu.
"Eldest Brother, don't bother wasting your effort, us brothers are just not fit to study. It wouldn't be of any use no matter how hard we try." Tang Xiu had only flipped a few pages of his book before he felt a hand over his shoulder, and a low voice resounded beside his ear.
The one who was speaking was naturally his tablemate Yuan Chuling. He was thinking that Tang Xiu was affected by Hu Qiusheng's words and couldn't help himself from looking through his study materials, so he wanted to console him.
Yuan Chuling was one of Tang Xiu's good friends that were hard to come by, and was considered his brother-in-arms.
Yuan Chuling's result was also extremely outstanding when he first entered school. However, during the second half of the term in Year 1, his parents got divorced, and after that, Yuan Chuling began to frantically skip classes, getting into fights, getting into relationships, and even skipped examinations. From an exquisite model student, he became a bad student that teachers hated in a short period of time.
Two years had passed, and although Yuan Chuling had calmly accepted the fact that his parents had divorced, the harm inflicted onto him by his parents was unable to be salvaged. His enthusiasm for his studies was also unrecoverable.
"Fatty, let's just study properly, or else…" Tang Xiu stopped his sentence halfway and was not able to continue. The reason why he was willing to go back to school to study was to fulfill his mother's wish, but Yuan Chuling hated his parents and so would do anything that would make his parents feel miserable.
"Ai, forget it, our situations are different. You better study hard and not let down your mum's expectation. For me, it will always be like this for the rest of my life." Seeing that Tang Xiu had stopped speaking further, the smile on Yuan Chuling's face gradually disappeared as he became downcast.
"Fatty, since you still persist to come to school for lessons on time every day, then this says that deep down you still have the passion for learning. You are only doing this because you want your mum and dad to feel miserable and regret, that's why you are giving up on yourself, am I right?" Tang Xiu stared at Yuan Chuling as he asked.
After hearing Tang Xiu's words, Yuan Chuling's expression changed, and he avoided Tang Xiu's gaze with guilt.
"Fatty, even though I don't know why your parents decided to file for divorce, but during these two years, I have seen how much they care for you. They didn't divorce because they don't love you anymore, but because they felt that they were not suited to be together. If you still continue giving up on yourself, you will suffer, and your parents will be in pain as well. So why the need to be like this?" Seeing that Yuan Chuling was properly listening to him, Tang Xiu took the opportunity to advise him.
If the bunch of experts from the Immortal World saw how earnest Tang Xiu was giving advice to a mortal ant to reflect, then their jaws would definitely have dropped to the floor.
This was because the Tang Xiu in the Immortal World was simply too arrogant. Even to his lover and good friends, he did not bother talking to them much, and he was even colder towards strangers.
It was only because Yuan Chuling had stepped forward to speak up for him in the most critical moment that made Tang Xiu felt touched, causing Tang Xiu to acknowledge and accept this friend of his.
Tang Xiu simply had nothing on his side. His family was so poor that he had trouble with his family expenses, he even had trouble gathering enough money for his school fees, his results were atrocious, and he was even suspected to be mentally handicapped. Even under all these circumstances, Yuan Chuling was still willing to help and protect him, so this only proved that Yuan Chuling really treated Tang Xiu as a friend.
"I'm also aware that my parents have their predicament on why they divorced, but I'm still not able to get over it." Yuan Chuling had an agonized expression on his face.
"Ai, let's not talk about my issues. Previously, Tiger Hu had said that he wants to kick you out of this class or expel you from the school, but why do I feel that you are not worried about this at all?" Yuan Chuling did not want to continue talking about the issue regarding his parents' divorce, so he simply changed the topic.
"My results are simply too atrocious, so it was normal for Tiger Hu to be this agitated. Furthermore, don't you think that this class totally lacks sympathy for others? Maybe a change of environment would be good." Tang Xiu smiled as if nothing had happened, as he did not put this matter to heart.
"Why do I feel that you became another person today?" Listening to Tang Xiu's reply, Yuan Chuling almost thought that his hearing had problems. Following that, he couldn't help but size Tang Xiu up from head to toe.
Gradually, Yuan Chuling's eyes started getting brighter as his face revealed an excited expression. He asked nervously, "Your… Your… Your mind has become brighter!"
"That's right, my mind has recovered back to normal, thank you for always taking care of me this past two years. As a way to express my gratitude, I have decided to let you seat on the throne for last in the class." Seeing the sincere smile of joy on Yuan Chuling's face, Tang Xiu felt very warm deep in his heart as he punched his fist onto Yuan Chuling's chest with a light smile.
"Damn… I'm just simply too happy now. Let's go, I'll treat you to some beer, we need to celebrate." After he got a confirmation for his suspicion, Yuan Chuling was overjoyed. He grabbed onto Tang Xiu's arm as he pulled him to the exit of the classroom, ignoring the ridicule behind Tang Xiu's back, and also the clear lesson bell that was ringing.
Tang Xiu had the intention to resist, but couldn't do anything as Yuan Chuling stature was three times as big as his. Yuan Chuling's strength was not something that the current Tang Xiu could contend against.
"The two of you, stop where you're going. It's time for the lesson, so go back to your seats." Tang Xiu and Yuan Chuling were stopped by Hu Qiusheng just as they reached the exit.
Yuan Chuling clearly didn't expect that Hu Qiusheng would return after going away. He couldn't help but freeze momentarily as he let go of Tang Xiu's arm hastily and looked at Tang Xiu with an apologetic expression.
One must know that even though Tang Xiu's results were not satisfactory in the past one year, but his discipline in school was well-known to be good. He was never absent from any class or played truant, and there was never even an incident of him being late for class before. But right now, he was being dragged by Yuan Chuling to skip class, so Yuan Chuling would naturally feel bad about it.
"Teacher, Tang Xiu isn't feeling very well, so I want to accompany him to the sick bay. Can I take half an hour leave from you?" Yuan Chuling immediately sprouted out some nonsense as an excuse.
Hearing that excuse, Hu Qiusheng swept his sharp gaze on Tang Xiu from head to toe and asked in a mocking tone, "Yuan Chuling, do you need me to accompany you to send Tang Xiu to the sick bay together?"
"It's alright teacher, we will persevere for a while and head to the sick bay during the break!" Hearing Hu Qiusheng's bone-piercing cold tone, Yuan Chuling shook his head in a flurry and pulled Tang Xiu back to their seats.
Seeing that Yuan Chuling and Tang Xiu had returned back to their seats, Hu Qiusheng made his way slowly to the teacher's desk.
Following Hu Qiusheng's light cough, the whole class turned silent in an instant.
"After discussing with the teacher-in-charge of Year 3 in the principal's office, Tang Xiu will no longer be a student of Class 5. In the next three months, Tang Xiu will go to Class 10 to continue his studies." Hu Qiusheng took a glance towards Tang Xiu and Yuan Chuling's direction before reading aloud the file in his hands.
Upon hearing Hu Qiusheng's words, Tang Xiu's heart contracted as his face turned deathly white. Although he said that he didn't mind, but being kicked out of class and leaving the class on his own accord were two different matters. Furthermore, Hu Qiusheng had read out the notice in front of all his classmates, not sparing any consideration for his dignity and feelings. This was like giving Tang Xiu a tight slap on his face, causing Tang Xiu to have an indescribable rage and despair.
Yuan Chuling also didn't expect that Hu Qiusheng would stop them from going out just to announce Tang Xiu's dismissal from the class. This made Yuan Chuling pant in anger as his face flushed red. But taking a glance at Tang Xiu's deathly white face, he resisted the urge to retort back.
"This is simply too good! With Tang Xiu leaving, our class' average marks would definitely go up!"
"I have calculated it seriously before. If Tang Xiu were to be absent from the exams, then our Class 5's average marks would be the highest among the rest of the class. It was because of Tang Xiu's existence that caused our average marks to fall by such a large gap."
****
After Hu Qiusheng finished reading the announcement, the class was silent for a brief moment before thunderous applause burst out with some the students cheering loudly.
Hearing the heated discussion in the class, Yuan Chuling clenched his fist tightly. However, Tang Xiu's expression was very calm, and did not change at all, as if nothing had happened.
"Teacher, Tang Xiu has already recovered completely from his repercussions from the car accident, so his results would improve soon. I plead you to help say a few words in the principal's office to retract back the decision." After staying silent for a while, Yuan Chuling suddenly stood up and pleaded loudly.
"I have already listened to this kind of promise for many times now, so I will not trust any kind of promises from both you and Tang Xiu. Furthermore, the principal and the Year 3 teacher-in-charge's approved decision cannot be easily changed or retracted. Besides, I do not believe that Tang Xiu has the ability to pull up his grades in just three short months." Hu Qiusheng calmly replied as he glared at Yuan Chuling.