Chapter 53

Tan Wenbin bent down and quickly lifted Zheng Haiyang.

This was enough to show that besides his academic studies, he was also keeping up with the professional training with Runsheng.

This set of standard moves was specifically for carrying a body.

He ran quickly downstairs and arrived at the medical room. The medical room door was locked; the school’s medical teacher had gone to eat.

Actually, even if the door was open and the medical teacher was there, it wouldn’t help much. The role of this medical room was just to measure students’ temperatures, approve leave slips, or give out some Qingkailing or Banlangen. Even for intravenous drips, students were sent to the health center outside the school.

Li Zhuoyuan reminded him, “Runsheng brother’s tricycle is outside.”

Tan Wenbin immediately carried the person and ran towards the school gate. The health center was in a straight line with the school, very close. At this time, shouting for a teacher to find a car was really not as good as using Runsheng’s tricycle.

A Li got off the car and walked to Li Zhuoyuan’s side, holding his hand.

On that side, after Tan Wenbin put Zheng Haiyang into the car, Runsheng immediately rode the car and rushed to the health center.

Li Zhuoyuan and A Li avoided the crowd and walked slowly. When they reached the health center door, Runsheng had already come out.

“A Li, you and Runsheng brother go back first. I have something to handle tonight.”

A Li nodded her head.

“Runsheng brother, after you send A Li back, bring our stuff.”

“Okay!”

“Which is better, the TV or this?”

“I feel this is more impressive.”

“A Li, there are books and paper in the schoolbag. You can look at them first.”

A Li sat on the car, holding the boy’s schoolbag in her arms.

After they left, Li Zhuoyuan walked into the health center and was just asking about the specific ward when a string of running footsteps came from behind. It was the class teacher, Sun Qing, bringing two other teachers.

The scene of Tan Wenbin carrying the person out of the school gate was seen by a classmate and reported to the teacher.

At this time, Zheng Haiyang, who was initially in a very scary state in the classroom, was now clearly better. He was getting an IV drip, and at the same time, Tan Wenbin was holding a large porcelain jar, “gudu gudu” feeding him water.

Sun Qing first went to find the doctor to ask about the situation. After knowing there was no danger to his life, she breathed a sigh of relief and walked back in. She looked at the porcelain jar and asked,

“Is this tap water?”

Tan Wenbin nodded, “He was very thirsty.”

Boiled water in the hospital could be obtained freely, but warm water was hard to get. Zheng Haiyang kept shouting that he wanted to drink water, so Tan Wenbin had to go to the faucet to fill it for him.

“Still want to drink, still want to drink.”

“No more, slow down.” Tan Wenbin asked, “You’ve already drunk so much.”

“Bin brother, I’m really very thirsty.”

“Okay, I’ll go get some for you.”

After drinking two more porcelain jars, Zheng Haiyang’s face finally recovered and was no longer pale, just looking a bit swollen.

Sun Qing asked, “Have Zheng Haiyang’s parents been notified?”

Zheng Haiyang heard the words, and his face immediately showed an expression of resistance and worry.

Tan Wenbin, “I still…”

Li Zhuoyuan, “Notified. His grandpa and grandma should be on their way now.”

“That’s good.” Sun Qing looked at Tan Wenbin again, “I’ve asked the doctor. Zheng Haiyang is fine. You go back to school now, there’s still an exam tonight.”

Tan Wenbin mumbled, “How can an exam be more important than a friend?”

“Tan Wenbin, you, now, immediately go back to school!”

A young class teacher must always maintain a stern face; otherwise, students will not be afraid.

Tan Wenbin stood up a bit unwillingly, looking very reluctant to leave.

“Tan Wenbin, no matter what, you can’t give up on yourself. Your parents still have high expectations for you.”

“Yes, teacher.”

Tan Wenbin didn’t not want to go back to school for the exam, but he remembered the words Zheng Haiyang shouted when he fainted and that initially terrifying reaction.

He knew that if he went back for the exam, he would probably miss something again.

Wasn’t this what he was studying so hard for?

“Binbin brother, you go back to school for the exam. After the exam is finished, then come over to visit.”

“I…”

Hearing these words, Tan Wenbin was almost certain that by the time he finished the exam and came back, everything would have already happened.

“Teacher Sun, you also go back to school to be busy. My family will be here soon. I’ll stay here with classmate Zheng Haiyang. I’ll leave when his grandpa and grandma arrive.”

“Xiao Yuan, can you?”

“Yes, my family will be here soon. If there’s anything, I’ll call the school.”

Li Zhuoyuan then recited the phone numbers of the principal’s office, Sun Qing’s office, and the school gate guard room.

Sun Qing nodded her head. She still had invigilation and grading tasks in the evening. Since the student was fine, she also had no reason to continue staying here.

“Tan Wenbin, you come back to school with me.”

“Okay, teacher.” Tan Wenbin slumped his shoulders and followed the class teacher out.

When closing the door, he specifically used a pleading look to stare at Li Zhuoyuan, who was already turning away.

Inside the ward, only two people were left.

Zheng Haiyang smiled and said, “Xiao Yuan brother, I’m fine. You can also go home.”

He knew that Li Zhuoyuan was not going to evening self-study.

“I didn’t notify your grandpa and grandma.”

“Ah, really? That’s good. Their bodies aren’t good, and I’m afraid they’ll worry.”

“Did you just faint? I mean, in the classroom.”

“This… I suddenly felt very sleepy, then I lowered my head. When I woke up, I found myself being carried to the health center by Bin brother. I was very thirsty and really wanted to drink water.

After drinking water, I felt like I was fine.”

“Did you see anything or have any dreams in the middle?”

Zheng Haiyang shook his head, “No.”

“Think carefully again, see if you can recall anything.”

Zheng Haiyang thought hard, but finally shook his head, “It seems like a blank spot. I really don’t remember.”

“Okay, then you rest well.”

Li Zhuoyuan moved a chair over and sat beside the sickbed.

Looking at him now, Zheng Haiyang had indeed recovered to normal, so walking into the yin world at this point shouldn’t reveal anything.

The main reason was that Runsheng hadn’t arrived yet, and Li Zhuoyuan was more cautious about walking into the yin world.

“Xiao Yuan brother, after I fainted, did I have any special reactions, or say anything?”

There is a bastard buried under the sea; whoever dares to dig, their whole family will die!

Li Zhuoyuan replied, “Saying some nonsense in a dream is also very normal.”

“Xiao Yuan brother, my heart is still uneasy. I’m always worried about my parents…”

Currently, the wages for working at sea are high, and the danger is also high. But high-income jobs often also mean high risk.

“What’s the point of thinking about these things now? After all, you’re so far apart. Taking good care of yourself is what your parents want to see most.”

“Brother, you’re right. I’ve noticed that you’re really different from us. You have a kind of, older feeling.”

Li Zhuoyuan closed his eyes. He didn’t like this kind of evaluation.

“Don’t say these kinds of words in front of me later.”

“Oh, okay, I know, I remember.”

Runsheng came, carrying a set of tools.

“Xiao Yuan, how is he?”

“Looking at him now, he’s fine.”

Li Zhuoyuan took out the black sailcloth, unfolded it, and then walked to the head of the sickbed, covering Zheng Haiyang’s face with the cloth.

Although Zheng Haiyang was very doubtful, he didn’t refuse, nor did he ask what this was for.

The black sailcloth had no reaction.

This proved that there was no dirty thing on Zheng Haiyang’s body.

Li Zhuoyuan then took out the talisman he had drawn and stuck it on Zheng Haiyang’s forehead.

Hmm, no change in color.

It seemed that there was indeed no problem.

“Xiao Yuan brother, this is…”

When the cloth was covered earlier, he didn’t feel anything, but any normal person would feel inexplicably scared seeing someone stick a talisman on their forehead.

“A local custom, similar to the effect of pricking with a needle.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Zheng Haiyang breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Zhuoyuan sat back on the chair. He tried to deduce in the worst possible direction.

Something happened to Zheng Haiyang’s parents. As relatives, he had a premonition, but if the premonition was expressed so intensely, it was too scary.

What kind of thing could curse you to die with your whole family, and truly cross the sea, affecting blood relatives?

Tan Wenbin rushed over after finishing his exam. As soon as he entered the door, he eagerly asked, “Did I miss anything?”

Runsheng shook his head, “No.”

Tan Wenbin didn’t believe him and looked at Li Zhuoyuan, “Xiao Yuan brother?”

Li Zhuoyuan also shook his head.

Finally, Tan Wenbin confirmed with Zheng Haiyang again before breathing a sigh of relief and saying with lingering fear, “Good, nothing happened.”

Zheng Haiyang said very gratefully, “Bin brother, I’m sorry, I made you worry.”

“Ah…” Tan Wenbin avoided his eyes with some guilt and reached out to pat his arm, “We’re brothers, we should.”

In the evening, Sun Qing came again and confirmed that there was no problem.

When she asked about Zheng Haiyang’s grandpa and grandma, Li Zhuoyuan replied that they had gone home to cook and would bring the meal over.

Seeing so many people still in the ward, Sun Qing didn’t suspect anything and left.

Zheng Haiyang wanted to be discharged. To prove that he was indeed fine, he even got out of bed and walked around.

Tan Wenbin went to handle the discharge for him. Not long after he left, he was called out by Li Zhuoyuan.

“What, Binbin brother?”

“I just saw Zheng Haiyang’s grandpa and grandma downstairs. They are also handling the discharge. They refused the doctor’s suggestion to stay in the hospital for observation, saying they were afraid their grandson would be anxious if he couldn’t see them after going back home.

Xiao Yuan brother, this matter is too strange. Something happened to the whole family. Doesn’t that mean Haiyang’s parents…”

“This kind of talk shouldn’t be said by us.”

“Oh, right. Then should I continue to handle the procedures for Haiyang?”

“Yes, let Runsheng brother send him home.”

That evening, Li Zhuoyuan rode back home on the back seat of Tan Wenbin’s bicycle. After Runsheng returned, he briefly described that Zheng Haiyang and his grandpa and grandma didn’t know that the other had gone to the hospital.

The next day, Zheng Haiyang came back to class as usual.

The monthly exam scores for each subject were also being announced step by step. From yesterday afternoon, the teachers in each subject group were grading papers while also invigilating. The more troublesome part was the score statistics, but this could be sent to the lower grades to let the younger classmates help calculate the scores.

During class teacher Sun Qing’s Chinese class, she started handing out the Chinese test papers. She would call out a name, report the score, and then the classmate would come up to get their paper.

Chinese is a very magical subject, magical in that even if you haven’t come to class for two months, your exam score might not necessarily be worse than last time.

But at the same time, it is a subject that is very difficult to improve quickly through intuitive effort. Excluding occasional special situations, the Chinese scores of students in the class often fluctuate stably within their respective score ranges.

Tan Wenbin was very happy after getting his paper because he had broken the curse and his score had jumped a segment.

Originally, his Chinese score was below average in the class, but now it had become average. This time, all the ancient Chinese questions were correct.

This was all thanks to Wei Zhengdao.

He was reading “Jianghu Strange Record,” but he was reading very slowly.

When Li Zhuoyuan first read this book, because the words were written well, he enjoyed it very much and could easily read several volumes a day.

Tan Wenbin, on the other hand, had to chew slowly page by page because there were too many rare words and phrases he didn’t know the meaning of. He could only hold a dictionary and constantly flip through it, taking notes.

The last score announced was Li Zhuoyuan’s. When the score came out, the whole class gasped because this score was only a few points away from full marks.

This wasn’t elementary school Chinese. In high school Chinese, some topics are inevitably deducted points. For example, essays, where deducting few points means it’s an excellent essay.

Getting this score basically proved that the objective part of the questions was all correct.

Sun Qing smiled and said, “Actually, our grading teachers for several grades also had headaches for a long time. Giving full marks wasn’t appropriate, but it was also very difficult to find other places to deduct points. Although classmate Li Zhuoyuan’s test paper didn’t get full marks, his answers were very complete, and his handwriting was also very good.”

“Okay, come, let’s start lecturing on the topics on the paper.”

Sun Qing didn’t hand the paper to Li Zhuoyuan, but directly took his paper and started lecturing.

Tan Wenbin pushed his own Chinese test paper towards the middle, meaning, let’s look at it together.

After doing this action, Tan Wenbin felt it was very redundant.

Moreover, letting Xiao Yuan look at his test paper made him feel a great sense of shame.

“Brother, how was your essay?”

“Just applied the formula.” Li Zhuoyuan pointed to the reading comprehension questions, “You don’t need to care about the original author’s views, you just need to guess the intention of the question setter.”

After all, even if the original author came to write the reading comprehension for their own article, they probably wouldn’t get full marks.

Tan Wenbin scratched his head, “I seem to understand a little, but it feels different from what I thought before.”

“You have to learn how to take the exam.”

On this side, Li Zhuoyuan was whispering with Tan Wenbin, while Sun Qing stood in front, but didn’t criticize or stop them.

However, soon, Tan Wenbin noticed that Xiao Yuan’s face had darkened.

Because the teacher took Li Zhuoyuan’s essay as a model text and recited it to the whole class.

After listening to it, it wasn’t just noticing that Xiao Yuan brother’s face was wrong, Tan Wenbin couldn’t help but sincerely sigh: Your mom is really good.

But he still asked, “Brother, how do you write an essay?”

“Neat format, gorgeous beginning and end, strict paragraph division in the middle, and good handwriting.”

“Just like that? What about expressing emotion?”

“A grading teacher who spends ten seconds looking at your entire essay is considered dedicated.”

“Holy crap!”

Sun Qing frowned and glared over.

Tan Wenbin immediately waved his hand, lowered his head, and apologized, then continued to lean in front of Li Zhuoyuan, excitedly saying, “Brother, I feel like I’ve been enlightened.”

After class, classmates started gathering around them.

Before, everyone had just heard rumors of a child prodigy, but this time they finally saw it with their own eyes.

Tan Wenbin spread his hands, signaling everyone to move away, “All of you old men, scatter! Don’t affect my Xiao Yuan brother breathing fresh air!”

His persona of a carefree big shot in this class successfully drove the crowd away.

The next class was math. Teacher Yan also reported the scores and handed out the papers as soon as he came in. Li Zhuoyuan got full marks.

The whole class of students performed another attention ceremony.

This time, the math was actually a bit difficult, and it had only been a month since the start of the third year of high school. Old knowledge points hadn’t been reviewed yet, and many students had forgotten them.

Teacher Yan, “Tan Wenbin, your exam was not bad this time. Keep up the good work.”

Tan Wenbin’s face was beaming. He actually got a medium-to-upper score in math this time.

For a normal average student, this was nothing, just playing well, but for a low-achieving student, it was no less than pushing down the Berlin Wall.

Because for low-achieving students in science subjects, many times it’s not about whether the problem is difficult or not that they can’t do it, but that they don’t even understand the question. You want to try to write something, but you don’t even know where to start.

“I was wondering why these questions felt familiar. Tsk tsk, they are indeed familiar to me, but at least they left a little face.”

Next class, continue handing out papers.

When it came to the English class, everyone’s initially numb gaze showed surprise when they heard the English scores.

Teacher Su smiled and explained, “Due to a special reason, classmate Li Zhuoyuan did not do the listening comprehension questions, but got full marks on the other questions. In addition, the score ranking is out. Classmate Li Zhuoyuan broke the record and ranked first in the whole school in this monthly exam.

Okay, next we will lecture on the paper.”

Li Zhuoyuan silently took out Wei Zhengdao.

Under the foreign language atmosphere, it seemed more suitable to concentrate on reading, like having suitable background music.

After the third class in the afternoon, during the break, Li Zhuoyuan went to the toilet, and Tan Wenbin accompanied him.

“Haha, brother, I’m going back to Binbin’s house tonight.”

This time, with the scores out, his total score ranked in the upper middle of the entire grade.

“Okay, Binbin brother.”

Tan Wenbin sang with a pinched voice, “Not returning home when rich, like walking in the night in fine clothes ya~”

He had already planned to go back and first cry sadly to get his mother’s comfort.

At the same time, he would fiercely throw the paper and score sheet onto his father Tan Yunlong’s face before his father could untie his belt to hit him!

No,

Should he let himself be hit with a belt first to deepen his father’s guilt?

In short, pocket money, add some!

Back at his seat, Li Zhuoyuan lay on the table and napped.

He had to draw pictures and research dwarf things after returning in the evening, so he couldn’t spend all his energy on reading.

Class monitor Zhou Yunyun walked to the desk and looked at Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin rested his head on his arms, leaning back in his seat, just comfortable in his fantasy.

Zhou Yunyun walked to the door, waited for a while, but didn’t see anyone come out.

She had no choice but to walk back and continue looking at Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenyun noticed her this time and asked, “What do you want?”

“Come out for a bit.”

Because Xiao Yuan brother was sleeping, Tan Wenbin, who was sitting inside, directly propped himself up with one hand on the desk and flipped over.

As soon as the two of them went out, many classmates in the class started whispering.

After going out, the two of them stood leaning against the corridor wall. Classmates passing by all cast special glances.

Zhou Yunyun said somewhat uneasily, “I want to ask you for a favor.”

“Ask for a favor? Easy to say. Come on, give grandpa a smile and grandpa will help you.”

Zhou Yunyun’s chest rose and fell with anger, yet she felt even funnier, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously couldn’t close.

“Tell me, what is it?”

“It’s like this, these questions, can you please ask classmate Li Zhuoyuan to help me with them?”

Zhou Yunyun handed over a notebook. Tan Wenbin took it and flipped through it. There weren’t many questions, only seven, four in math and three in physics. “These types of questions are all in my Xiao Yuan brother’s question book for me, and they are more complex.”

“How many?”

“There are many books, for math, physics, and chemistry.”

“Then can… I borrow them?”

The better a student is, the clearer they are on how useful professional practice questions are, especially in this era where teaching materials are scarce.

Most importantly, Tan Wenbin’s progress further proved how high the gold content of these questions was.

Tan Wenbin wrinkled his brow.

“Then… can’t I?”

Zhou Yunyun asked somewhat nervously. As a class monitor, she was usually used to a cold face, and rarely showed this kind of expression.

“I have to ask my Xiao Yuan brother about this, but my Xiao Yuan brother shouldn’t mind. You can borrow them, but you have to promise me one thing…”

“What is it?” Zhou Yunyun took a deep breath, seemingly making a certain decision, her eyes showing determination.

Her appearance made Tan Wenbin completely unable to refuse.

“Ah, it’s nothing big. Just, you can only look at it yourself, you are not allowed to lend it to others, and you are not allowed to spread it.”

“Of course, this is fine. Is there anything else?”

“No, just this.”

“Oh, okay, I promise.” There was a bit of disappointment in Zhou Yunyun’s tone.

Even boys and girls who are wholeheartedly focused on studying, at this age, will inevitably have some beautiful fantasies.

Especially Tan Wenbin, who has a strong desire to perform and a cheerful personality, is more likely to attract attention.

Plus, he comes from a good background and has a kind of handsome rogue look from Hong Kong and Taiwan movies, and his family’s conditions are already quite good in the township.

As for his poor academic scores, that is not a focus of consideration. After all, boys with good academic scores and good looks universally only exist in those kind of romance novels.

Most boys who are at the top of their class in reality are universally a bit hard to look at.

It’s only a pity that under his father’s high-pressure education, the most rebellious things Tan Wenbin has done, besides fighting to protect his classmates, are stealing money from his mother to buy a Russian Tetris game machine.

He has the conditions to be a bully and dominate girls, but he simply doesn’t have that inclination.

Moreover, he has unknowingly been subtly influenced by a certain person. Now, in his eyes, things like puppy love are simply boring. After all, what girl is more interesting than a dead body?

“I’ll organize the questions a bit and give them to you tomorrow.”

“Okay, good, thank you.”

The two walked back to the classroom together.

The classmates in the classroom neatly let out another, “Oh yo~”

Zhou Yunyun’s face was slightly red. She quickly ran to her seat, sat down, picked up a pen, and started doing her homework.

Tan Wenbin then very arrogantly swept the whole classroom, pointed at Li Zhuoyuan who was sleeping on the desk, signaling everyone to be quiet.

Immediately, he propped himself up with one hand on the desk and jumped back to his seat.

The pocket money his family gave him was only so much. He knew that Xiao Yuan brother spent a lot of money making those tools. So, he was inspired and came up with a wonderful idea. He even came up with the slogan:

“Imagine your exam scores suddenly improving like mine?

Want to get the child prodigy’s exclusive study secrets?

Want to reach heaven in one step and change your destiny?

Then come here and buy the question collection!”

The next class, Li Zhuoyuan continued to sleep.

Tan Wenbin also rarely had a little distraction. He took out a blank piece of paper and started planning. How much should one book sell for? Should it be a whole set or in batches?

Let’s do it in batches. After all, Xiao Yuan brother will continue to give him questions later.

Poor students in the class won’t be charged, just give it to them.

He can also give them a share and let them help sell it to other classes.

Uh, can they sell it to other schools?

It seems a bit difficult now, but maybe in the future.

Tan Wenbin turned his head to look at the sleeping Li Zhuoyuan and cheered in his heart:

“Brother, come on, win a prize in the math competition and build our brand popularity!”

…

That evening, Tan Wenbin did not go back to Zhuangzhuang’s home.

However, after going to school the next day, Li Zhuoyuan found that Tan Wenbin was not in his usual seat. He was pulling a group of students into a corner, seemingly holding a meeting.

During class, Tan Wenbin also started passing notes, seeming to be discussing something.

After school, Tan Wenbin also followed Li Sanjiang home. In the workshop, he explained his plan to Li Zhuoyuan.

“Can it make money?”

“Of course, I did market research. Everyone in our class wants to buy it, even those few statues sitting in the back row want to buy it!”

“That’s good then.”

“You agree?” Xiao Yuan brother?

“Yes.”

Li Zhuoyuan picked up a whip with thorns from the desk.

This whip was in “Zhengdao Fumo Lu” and was called the Fumo Whip.

Li Zhuoyuan greatly doubted that this was a name Wei Zhengdao came up with casually.

But for one thing, the materials are expensive, and many materials simply cannot be bought in the normal market. For another, the manufacturing method Wei Zhengdao wrote is too simple.

Perhaps in Wei Zhengdao’s eyes, everyone who reads his book should have a teacher’s guidance.

Things like the Huanghe Shovel, Li Zhuoyuan could deduce the design drawing and restore it by reversing the picture, but he couldn’t do this Fumo Whip because the picture only drew a black black whip.

Fortunately, by disassembling the dwarf things, he understood the manufacturing process and could make it.

It was equivalent to a whip in the form of black sailcloth, with greatly improved practical value. He and Runsheng could each have one. Hmm, Binbin is making money, so he can also make one.

“Binbin brother, do you have the initial funds? I mean, for the copying fee?”

“Yes.” Tan Wenbin took out a black plastic bag, filled with change. “I’ve already collected the first batch of pre-order fees. Didn’t you see?”

“I see.”

“Ah, no, brother, you don’t think I’m collecting protection fees, do you!”

Early the next morning, Tan Wenbin didn’t wait for Li Zhuoyuan. He didn’t even eat breakfast. He just hurried to the print shop outside the school gate on his bicycle. After bargaining with the boss, he confirmed the printing price.

After the first batch was bound into books, he went back to school. It was just after early self-study had ended, so he didn’t even count it as skipping class.

As soon as he entered the classroom, he didn’t rush to distribute them, but put all the books under his feet. Taking advantage of the teacher not noticing, he picked up a book, opened it, and stuffed a talisman in.

Li Zhuoyuan recognized the talisman; it was drawn by him.

Besides its detection effect, it had no other use. He initially thought he didn’t draw it well, so he drew quite a few for practice.

“Brother, when you give me questions later, pay attention to controlling the frequency. You don’t need to be too comprehensive. Give them out according to exam points, or according to difficulty, elementary version, intermediate version, advanced version, like this.

You know, after this thing sells out, someone is sure to hand copy and secretly copy it. We have to increase the frequency of issuing question collections to ensure continuous income.”

“Then you stuffing the talisman…”

“This is the peace talisman you personally drew. You will definitely win the exam. Only by buying our official channel question collection can you get it.”

“Binbin brother, you’re really thoughtful.”

“That’s right, I can’t let you be busy for nothing, brother.”

The question collections for this class were quickly distributed. There was one class’s worth left, which Tan Wenbin also sold out in the afternoon. However, he didn’t sell it himself; he let his classmates help him sell it.

After school in the evening, he pushed his bicycle to the print shop again to restock. After handing the things to those ‘distributor’ classmates, he followed Li Zhuoyuan home.

The first book of question collections sold very well. However, although Tan Wenbin had enough question collections from Li Zhuoyuan before to make four or five books, he didn’t rush to publish the second book. He planned to wait for the first batch to be digested first, and then publish the second book.

The teachers also knew about this because the first book was math. Tan Wenbin gave one book to each math teacher in the grade group.

When Li Zhuoyuan went to the school office to rest again, Principal Wu took the initiative to mention the scholarship and also reiterated that the school had not considered it thoroughly and had not paid attention to the students’ family situations.

But soon, the calm study life was disrupted.

During the English class, class teacher Sun Qing walked to the door and called out Zheng Haiyang.

Li Zhuoyuan sat by the door and could see the scene of the teacher and student talking.

He only saw Sun Qing put her hand on Zheng Haiyang’s shoulder. After a while, Zheng Haiyang cried uncontrollably.

Li Zhuoyuan silently lowered his head. It came, it eventually came.

Zheng Haiyang’s father had an accident at sea, and his body was not found.

The accident happened quite early, probably when Zheng Haiyang fell ill, but the message was delayed.

Even without a body, the funeral still had to be handled. Zheng Haiyang’s grandpa and grandma were greatly affected by this news and had no energy to deal with matters. Zheng Haiyang suddenly became strong but also had no experience in doing this. In the end, Tan Wenbin asked Li Sanjiang to come and help handle it.

The date was on the weekend.

Li Zhuoyuan came to the funeral and saw the two old people sitting in front of the spirit hall, their expressions numb from crying.

Under Li Sanjiang’s guidance, Zheng Haiyang went through the process step by step. Li Sanjiang constantly greeted the mourning guests, “The filial son is young, please forgive his neglect.”

“Where is his mother?” Li Zhuoyuan asked.

Tan Wenbin scratched his head, “His mother is fine, but she didn’t come back to participate in the funeral.”

Li Zhuoyuan asked curiously, “Even for a mock grave, is there a saying about coming back or not coming back to participate?”

“Grandpa Li also asked that, but his grandpa and grandma said so, saying there’s no need to wait, just hurry up and handle it first.”

“Then did his mother come back or not?”

Tan Wenbin shrugged, “If she came back, why wouldn’t she participate in the funeral?”

Tan Yunlong also came. He was off work today, and there was nothing at the office. Plus, Zheng Haiyang had also come to his home for a meal before, so he came to see if he could help.

The result was that not only could he not help, but even when he gave his gift, he was informed by the gift recorder, “Tan Yunlong has already given his gift.”

Moreover, even the pack of cigarettes given when giving the gift was taken away.

After lunch, Tan Wenbin was called outside by Tan Yunlong.

“Where did you get the money?”

“I’ve been helping Xiao Yuan sell question books recently and earned quite a lot.”

“I told you to go to school just to come…” Tan Yunlong’s tone was about to rise, but he saw his son had already shrunk his head. He softened his tone and asked, “Is Xiao Yuan very short of money?”

“Xiao Yuan likes to play with models and do handicrafts, which costs a lot of money.”

“Oh, then help him more, and don’t affect his studies and rest.”

“I will.”

“You also have to maintain your own academic scores.”

“How can I just maintain them? I still have to keep moving forward. I have to take the Haihe University exam with Xiao Yuan.”

“Your grandpa wants you to take the police academy exam.”

“Dad…”

“I told him that you can still be a police officer later even if you don’t go to the police academy.”

“Dad, you are really good at fooling my grandpa.”

“Ha.”

Tan Wenbin took out the cigarettes from his pocket and put them in his dad’s pocket.

“Go accompany your classmate, spend more time with him.”

“Okay.”

After Tan Wenbin left, Tan Yunlong walked towards Li Zhuoyuan, who was standing far away.

“Xiao Yuan, Binbin told me about your kindness. Uncle thanks you.”

“Binbin brother has always taken care of me.”

“Haha, in short, if you have any problems later, just come to me, Uncle. Uncle will surely…”

“Uncle Tan, did Zheng Haiyang’s mother really not come back?”

Tan Yunlong swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked, “Who told you, his grandpa or grandma?”

“You are telling me now, Uncle.”

Tan Yunlong lit a cigarette and said in a low voice, “His mother did come back. His grandpa and grandma also saw her.”

“What happened to his mother?”

“She went crazy. She’s in Jiuhua Mountain Mental Hospital now.

His grandpa and grandma are afraid that the child won’t be able to accept this big blow at once, so they plan to hide it from him first.”

“They can’t hide it for long. College entrance exam is still far away.”

“Respect the elderly’s wishes.”

“Uncle Tan, I want to go see Zheng Haiyang’s mother. Can you help me arrange it?”

“Tell me, why?”

“Curious.”

“You can make up a more suitable reason, for example, that you have a very good relationship with Zheng Haiyang and you want to do this out of concern for your friend.”

“Zheng Haiyang and Binbin brother have a good relationship. My relationship with my classmates is more general.”

Tan Yunlong exhaled a smoke ring and said helplessly, “The child prodigy’s brain is indeed different from ordinary people.”

“Uncle Tan, do you promise?”

“I’ll arrange it. When do you plan to go?”

“Can it be this afternoon?”

“No, that place requires advance application.”

“Then tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is Monday, you have to go to school.”

“I can not go.”

“Okay, wait at home tomorrow. I’ll come pick you up.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

The next morning, Li Zhuoyuan didn’t go out. He was drawing pictures with A Li in the room.

After finishing his porridge, Tan Wenbin asked Runsheng doubtfully, “Why is Xiao Yuan still not down? It’s almost late.”

“Xiao Yuan said he’s tired and won’t go to school today. You help him ask for leave from the teacher.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tan Wenbin rode his bicycle out.

More than half an hour later, a small pickup truck stopped on the road in front of the village.

Li Zhuoyuan and Runsheng walked out together, opened the car door, and got in.

There was a smell of seafood in this car; it should have been borrowed by Tan Yunlong.

“Well, there’s a bit of a smell, sorry, please bear with it.” Tan Yunlong said as he turned the car around.

Just as he finished turning, a bicycle appeared in front. The car crossed in front of the pickup, and then with a lift of his hair and a raised neck, he presented the clear, stupid air of a young person.

“Ah ha, I just guessed it! You all wanted to sneak out to play without me! I didn’t think I’d already seen through everything!”

After stopping his bicycle, Tan Wenbin stepped towards the pickup truck with stealthy steps, and then very handsomely took out a cigarette. Just as he was about to put it in his mouth, he saw Tan Yunlong sitting in the driver’s seat of the pickup truck.

“Dad…”

Who would have thought that the person driving this car was his own dad, and there were several rows of blue plastic buckets tied to the back of this car.

Tan Wenbin put the cigarette into Tan Yunlong’s mouth.

Then he took out a matchbox and with a “ka cha” sound, lit the cigarette for his dad.

“Dad, you know, I was worried that Xiao Yuan wouldn’t be safe without me by his side. Since you’re here to accompany him, then I don’t need to worry.”

“Get lost.”

“Okay!”

Tan Wenbin immediately turned around and went back. He lifted his bicycle but didn’t hurry to pedal away. Instead, his face showed a pleading look, and he frequently turned his head.

Li Zhuoyuan opened his mouth and said, “Uncle Tan, this is Binbin brother’s motivation for studying.”

Tan Yunlong’s hand holding the cigarette stretched out of the car window. He pressed the horn twice and shouted, “Get in the car.”

“Okay! Wait for me, I’ll take the car home!”

Tan Wenbin quickly ran back, opened the car door, and squeezed in.

Runsheng asked, “Did you ask for leave, Xiao Yuan?”

Tan Wenbin nodded, “Yes, I went to Aunt Zhang’s place to make a call.”

Immediately, Tan Wenbin complained again, “Dad, you too. You found this car to drive. It smells so bad inside.”

“Wait until you earn money later and buy me a car to drive.”

“That’s no problem! We’re family!”

“Ha.”

Tan Yunlong started the car. An hour later, they arrived at the gate of the mental hospital.

This place was relatively remote, but very famous, because it was mentioned in the local children’s slang. In the dialect, if you wanted to insult someone’s brain, you would say, “See you tomorrow at Jiuhua Mountain.”

The guard room was relatively strict, and there were two more checks after going in. Finally, the four of them were led to a long bench in the corridor outside the visiting room.

The leading doctor said, “Zhang Yingai is having a visitor right now. Please wait a moment.”

Tan Wenbin asked curiously, “Isn’t it Zheng Haiyang’s grandpa and grandma bringing him to visit?”

Saying that, Tan Wenbin leaned towards the door. The middle of the door was glass, convenient for observing from the outside during visits.

“Huh, it’s not Zheng Haiyang and them, it’s a man and a woman, I don’t know them.”

Li Zhuoyuan also walked over at this time and looked inside.

Because the visiting table inside was placed vertically, he could see the complete side profile of the woman sitting outside.

Li Zhuoyuan recognized her; it was Aunt Xu, she was Li Lan’s secretary.

The last time Li Lan called back, it was Aunt Xu, who was also from Nantong, chatting with grandpa and grandma.

But why would she be here?

Li Lan said on the phone last time that she was going to carry out a very dangerous mission. So, has Li Lan come back now?

Sitting opposite Aunt Xu and that man was Zheng Haiyang’s mother, Zhang Yingai.

Zhang Yingai was wearing a very tight dress, which forced her arms to stick together. This meant she still had very strong aggressive tendencies.

However, now, while communicating, she appeared very normal.

Aunt Xu constantly put photos in front of her, one by one. Zhang Yingai’s expression started to clearly show something was wrong. She started to become nervous, her pupils gradually turned red, and her body was also trembling.

The man beside Aunt Xu was shaking Aunt Xu’s arm, seemingly wanting to remind her to stop, but Aunt Xu seemed to have asked the most crucial question and might get an answer soon, so she was still continuing to ask.

Then, Zhang Yingai started screaming. Her voice was incomparably sharp and piercing, simply not something a normal human could emit, making Li Zhuoyuan and the others outside the door hear clearly.

“When it wakes up, we’ll all die, we’ll all die, ha ha ha!”