305: Chapter 305 What's the bad news?

The next morning, third period, math class.

Directly above the blackboard, the red countdown sign with white lettering was particularly eye-catching—Days until the Gaokao: 278.

Autumn sunlight sliced through the window frames, hitting those digits exactly, making the red glow with heat.

The math teacher, Wu Jianghe, held a half-stub of chalk, pacing back and forth in front of the podium.

He wrote frantically on the blackboard, deconstructing an exponential function from a past exam paper in just a few strokes.

“Look here, everyone! The change-of-base formula—this is a huge pitfall! In previous years' Gaokao grading, thirty percent of students died at this step!”

The chalk tip tapped precisely against the blackboard, causing dust to pitter-patter down.

Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, as the top school in Jiangcheng, carried the heavy responsibility of the entire city's college entrance rates on its shoulders.

At this moment, even the air seemed laced with the scent of gunpowder.

In the front row, Li Bowen hadn't lifted his head once; his scratch paper was already on the fourth page, the rustling sound of his pen nib against the paper forming a continuous drone.

Zhang Ya held a highlighter, precisely color-coding her notebook of corrected mistakes.

Even Wu Di, who usually couldn't keep his eyes open in class, sat with his back ramrod straight today,

staring intently at the blackboard to copy the steps; even though his lines were getting mixed up, his aura was locked in tight.

Lin Que sat in the back row by the window, a blind spot, observing this life-and-death academic grind for three minutes.

Then, he propped up a thick copy of 'Five Years of Gaokao, Three Years of Simulations' on the edge of his desk, folded his arms, and buried his head inside.

The third year of high school was indeed bitter.

At least, he had experienced it deeply in his previous life.

But now, he no longer needed to join in this frantic rush.

Next Saturday was the four-city premiere of Fu Zhi Yao arranged by the Writers Association; he had to go to Shanghai to act as a dutiful mascot.

Dealing with the media and those literary seniors was going to be exhausting work.

After running through the phrasing for how to ask Old Shen for leave on Friday in his mind,

and getting it sorted, he adjusted himself into a comfortable position,

and began to close his eyes to rest.

...

As the pleasant bell for the end of class rang,

the spines of the entire Grade 12 Class 3 collapsed in unison.

The moment Wu Jianghe stepped out the back door, the tension in Class 3's air flooded out instantly.

People rubbed their wrists, stretched, and compared answers as a buzzing sound gradually rose.

Lin Que timed it perfectly, lifting his head from the crook of his arm,

lazily laying flat the teaching aid he'd used as a shield, habitually pulling out the physics textbook for the next period, and continuing to lie down.

At that moment, Fang Zhiyuan, sitting diagonally in front, suddenly slapped his thigh and let out a howl.

“It’s out! It’s out!”

This shout was full of vigor, causing the guy next to him, who had just lain down for a nap, to bolt upright on the spot.

Fang Zhiyuan usually loved to hide his phone under his pencil case to browse the news; he was Jiangcheng No. 1 High School's famous 'Know-It-All.'

Wu Di, annoyed by the noise, frowned and turned around to snap irritably,

“Did your house's demolition notice finally come out?”

“Go away, go away!”

Fang Zhiyuan’s face was flushed red as he held his phone high, waving the screen outward.

“Big news! The official Weibo of the Huaxia Publishing Department just posted an announcement: next Saturday at 10:00 AM, the Fu Zhi Yao winning works collection will have its national four-city simultaneous premiere!”

The classroom went silent for a second.

This was followed by a wave of dismissive boos.

“That's it? Old Shen gave us the lowdown yesterday. Your internet speed can't even keep up with the old man at the village entrance.”

“We knew that ages ago. But setting it for Saturday is good; no need to ask for leave. Anyone want to take the high-speed rail to Shanghai on Friday night to join the fun?”

Facing the group's mockery, Fang Zhiyuan got anxious, frantically scrolling through his screen.

“Don't be in such a hurry! I haven't finished reading. There's movement on the New Tide APP side too, a push notification just popped up...”

Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes widened as he stared at the screen.

A second strange cry broke his voice, rising two octaves higher, carrying a hint of ghostly horror.

“Holy crap—!!”

This time, even the good students in the front row buried in their problems turned their heads.

Wu Di reached his limit, kicked his chair back, and stood up.

“Fang Zhiyuan, did you forget your meds today? It's a good thing Old Fei isn't wandering around outside, or you'd be in his office receiving 'care' right now!”

“What kind of scandalous thing are you looking at anyway? Let me see.”

While scolding, Wu Di leaned over to peer at Fang Zhiyuan's phone screen.

The moment he saw the line of bold white text on a black background, Wu Di's muttering stopped abruptly.

His angry face underwent a bizarre distortion, finally freezing into a look of sheer stupidity.

His Adam's apple bobbed twice as he squeezed a few words from between his teeth.

“Holy... shit! Holy shit!”

Those two exclamations were full of twists and turns, rich with emotion,

startling a girl in the front row who was drinking water into a massive coughing fit.

Now, the entire class's attention was completely drawn to these two clowns.

Over thirty people stared in unison at the back row.

“Wu Di, are you possessed too?”

“What's the big gossip? Spill it already!”

Ignoring the surrounding urges, Wu Di turned around stiffly to face the class.

His eyes were glazed, and his tone was airy.

“Jian Shen... Teacher Jian Shen's physical book for 'ordinary world' has its release date set.”

The room was quiet for half a second.

Li Bowen in the front row pushed up his glasses, a bit puzzled.

“This has been circulating in the web novel circles for a while. New Tide also said during the serialization that a physical edition would follow. Is that enough to scare you two like this?”

“The physical book isn't the point!”

Wu Di slammed the table twice, raising his voice in pained frustration.

“The point is the release time!”

He held up his left index finger: “The Fu Zhi Yao champion series physical publication, next Saturday at 10:00 AM!”

Then he held up his right index finger: “The 'ordinary world' physical book... is also next Saturday at 10:00 AM!”

He crashed his two fingers together.

“The same day! The same time! They've clashed perfectly!”

In the classroom, even the sound of breathing stopped.

Everyone's minds quickly processed the situation.

Lin Que, the great talent from their class,

had just fought his way through the highest-spec essay competition in the country and won the gold-standard overall championship.

Next Saturday should have been the highlight of his life, a solo show where he enjoyed flowers and applause.

But as luck would have it, he clashed with Jian Shen.

Who was Jian Shen?

He was the monster who had single-handedly upended both the web novel and traditional literature circles, earning praise even from literary titans.

Although his new book had already been serialized online, it had achieved massive success,

and now that the physical edition was debuting, forget a high schooler's essay collection—even any veteran author releasing a new book would have to avoid his momentum.

This wasn't just a clash;

this was riding a bicycle onto a highway and having a head-on collision with a fully loaded heavy-duty truck.

Wu Di slumped back into his chair with a thud and turned to look at Lin Que.

That look was as pitying as could be, exactly like looking at a martyr about to head to the execution ground.

He leaned over and shook Lin Que.

“Brother Que, Brother Que, stop sleeping!”

Lin Que hadn't actually gone back to sleep since Fang Zhiyuan's first exclamation; he just couldn't be bothered to open his eyes and kept lying there.

Seeing that he was about to be shaken apart by Wu Di, he slowly lifted his head.

“Brother Que! One piece of good news, and one piece of bad news!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

Lin Que asked intentionally.

“Brother Que, the publication date for your winning work in Fu Zhi Yao has been set, but it clashes... with Teacher Jian Shen's 'ordinary world'!”

The surrounding classmates all looked at Lin Que in unison, their eyes filled with sympathy.

Meeting the pitying gazes of the entire class, Lin Que unhurriedly covered his mouth and yawned.

His eyes were clear as he slowly spat out a sentence:

“Oh, so what's the bad news?”

...