After a tiring conversation, Fang Ping finally satisfied the young girl.

　　Fang Ping had owed her more debts for that. He did not remember how many good things he had promised the girl.

　　…

　　The next day, April 8th.

　　Fang Ping was now famous — in Senior Three Class (4) at the least.

　　Wu Zhihao had arrived in school before him.

　　When Wu Zhihao arrived, Zhang Hao and Yang Jian, already bursting with curiosity, came to ask for the details instantly.

　　Old Wu was probably loath to admit to himself that he was shocked by Fang Ping’s result the past day. When the two of them asked, he quickly replied with a mysterious voice, “113cal!”

　　He did not mention the result of Fang Ping’s second checkup — 108cal — because it was not as accurate as the first time due to the depletion of energy.

　　The entire class was shocked after his words.

　　Was Fang Ping, one half of the Mediocre Duo, no longer mediocre?

　　They were the same people yesterday, in that they were both working hard for the social sciences examinations. Fang Ping’s results were not even particularly outstanding.

　　But now?

　　113cal!

　　Those only taking social sciences did not know the situation the others were in.

　　There was something that they knew, though.

　　The minimum standard set by NMAU was 112cal.

　　Did this mean that Fang Ping’s Vitality had already surpassed the threshold that NMAU had set?

　　With that, how could he not be famous?

　　The would-be-bearded Yang Jian muttered, dejected resignation evident on his face, “Unreasonable, this is absolutely unreasonable! How could his Vitality be higher than mine with that diminutive size of his?”

　　Even martial arts had to be based on reason, but Fang Ping’s result was beyond that.

　　He could easily flatten eight people his size!

　　While Yang Jian was busy screaming, Zhang Hao beside him was twitching as if he had epilepsy. “This is impossible!

　　“113cal!

　　“Mine’s only 108cal…”

　　Zhang Nan said faintly from his side, “Mine’s 108cal. I remember that yours is only 107cal…”

　　Zhang Hao said crossly, embarrassed, “That was from half a month ago. Now mine’s at 108cal!”

　　Zhang Nan was unperturbed as she said lightly, “Fine, yours is 108cal. Fang Ping’s only at 113cal…”

　　“You!”

　　Zhang Hao was on the brink of tears. He turned to Wu Zhihao and asked, “Old Wu, tell me, did you lie to us?”

　　Wu Zhihao spoke while reading a book, “What would I lie to you for? His Vitality isn’t as high as mine, so what business do I have with this?”

　　“How can you say something like this?” Zhang Hao demanded bitterly, “Think of how sad our lives are!

　　“We have to attend supplementary classes alongside normal classes and train our bodies at the same time.

　　“We can’t eat fried foods and skewers, and we can’t drink soft drinks. We don’t even dare to lick on a milk ice lolly during the hot summer.

　　“That dude Fang Ping is inhuman!

　　“Old Wu, aren’t you even a little envious at the least?”

　　Wu Zhihao lost his composure after hearing Zhang Hao’s words.

　　Ordinary students envied folks like Wu Zhihao without realizing that he envied them too.

　　Martial sciences students had to pay a huge price just to prepare for the martial sciences examinations. Sometimes even that did not yield results.

　　Like Zhang Hao had said, they were eating nutritional supplements while others were eating delicious foods.

　　Did they think that nutritional supplements tasted good?

　　They ate them every day until they threw up or started salivating at the sight of grilled skewers on the roadside.

　　To maintain their figures, to ensure that no accidents occurred, to gain admission to martial sciences… They gritted their teeth and were left with saliva in their mouths, resisting their urges.

　　They accepted their fate because everyone else suffered the same as them for their future.

　　That guy Fang Ping did not need to follow a diet at all.

　　Comparing him to themselves was infuriating.

　　Wu Zhihao was also somewhat rattled as he grimaced. “We can’t do anything except accepting the difference, especially when he’s so talented.”

　　Zhang Hao gritted out from behind his teeth. “Doesn’t this guy not exercise?

　　“We can’t do anything about the Vitality difference except to admit that he’s stronger.”

　　“We can ask him to join us at the gym together tonight and spar with him. Only when I beat him to a pulp can I vent my anger!”

　　While Zhang Hao talked, Wu Zhihao’s eyes blinked, and he said jovially, “We’re all classmates, so there’s no need for you to do so.”

　　“No, or else I’ll feel unhappy with a stone in my chest!”

　　Wu Zhihao advised him, “Isn’t Fang Ping’s Vitality higher than yours, his social sciences better than yours, and his looks finer than yours?

　　“You really don’t need to fume. We’ll also get recognition when our classmates pass the tests.”

　　“Old Wu, which side are you on?” Zhang Hao asked angrily.

　　Wu Zhihao resumed reading and replied without lifting his head, “I’m studying. I’m not on any side.”

　　Zhang Hao wanted to continue his rant when someone tapped on his shoulder. Fang Ping’s joyful voice piped up from behind him, “Zhang Hao, if I had to say, I’d suggest beating Fang Ping up. It won’t be worth it if your anger affects your health.”

　　The corners of Zhang Hao’s mouth twitched. He turned back and said meekly, “I was joking. How could I do that?

　　“We’re best buds. How could I do something like that?”

　　He said this with an expression of bitterness that did not match his words. Forget about beating him up; he would be the one being beaten up by a martial artist if Fang Ping were to pass the tests.

　　Fang Ping did not bother arguing with him and said with a smile, “Don’t listen to Wu Zhihao’s foolish words. How can my Vitality be at 113cal? Mine’s…

　　“…115cal at most.”

　　Zhang Hao rolled his eyes. This guy was deliberately riling him up.

　　He sighed and did not believe Fang Ping’s words. Now he was really curious, so he asked, “Fang Ping, do you have any secret methods of cultivating your Vitality?”

　　“Duh. I would have been a martial artist long ago if I had secrets like that!” Fang Ping obviously did not dare to admit that he had some trick up his sleeve, so he just waved his hand dismissively. “If there are really secrets like that, martial artists would crowd the streets, and we won’t need to take the exams!”

　　“That’s true too.” Zhang Hao sighed again and said somewhat bitterly, “Now, Old Wu, you, Yang Jian and Liu Ruoqi have the highest hopes of passing among those in our class.

　　“There’s a 99% chance that we’ll be just some side characters.

　　“There were three strong candidates, but then you came. God, you might as well kill me now…”

　　Wu Zhihao, who was pretending to read, lifted his head and said, “Our chances are very low too. The average Vitality is higher this year, so I’m a little unconfident.

　　“Take our class as an example. If we count Fang Ping in, there makes four of us who possess a Vitality above 110cal.

　　“Those in the other classes who have a Vitality of over 110cal also adds up to a number over 60.

　　“There are more of them in the elite classes. Although there are few students in elite classes, there are about 40 of them who fulfill the criteria.

　　“Add them up, and you’ll see that there are over 100 students in Sun City No.1 High School alone.

　　“This is our school, after all. The other schools in Sun City can’t compare to us, but they’re doing well this year too. Their candidates who fulfilled the criteria were as many as us in total.

　　“There are over 200 students with a Vitality of over 110cal in Sun City alone!”

　　As he counted, Wu Zhihao said ruefully, “9 students from Sun City received admission from martial sciences establishments. If the ratio is the same this year, it’ll be twenty-to-one at least.”

　　Another martial sciences candidate sitting beside him shook his head and added, “Zhihao, yours is already at 115cal. Almost no one in the normal classes has a result higher than yours.

　　“It’s the same in other schools. I’ll believe it if others said that they were stressed, but not you. What kind of stress are you under?”

　　Wu Zhihao was from a normal class, but his Vitality of 115 was among the best of all normal classes.

　　According to the admission ratio from the year before — two students from normal classes got in — Wu Zhihao was still ahead of his peers.

　　As they chatted, they finally forgot about Fang Ping.

　　Fang Ping was glad. He got to know lots of inside information while listening to them.

　　There were more than 200 students in Sun City that had a Vitality of over 110cal.

　　Of course, Vitality was not the only deciding factor. There were always a few who would fail to pass the subsequent tests.

　　After the physical assessment, all schools of martial sciences would determine a minimum threshold according to the results they had received. It was not the threshold for admission but for progression to the third stage.

　　This was also to help those who failed to save time and prepare for the social sciences examinations instead without wasting too much time.

　　That is to say, those who failed to reach the threshold by the second stage were all eliminated.

　　The minimum standard for advancement to the third stage might be 110cal this year. That alone closed the door on half of the candidates in class.

　　Upon that realization, even the rambunctious Zhang Hao shut up.

　　Not even being able to advance to the third stage after years of preparation… This disappointment hit the students hard.

　　Many martial sciences candidates who had been eliminated became dejected and tended to screw up their social sciences examinations too. They could only study at mediocre universities after that. They were the embodiment of tiptoeing between heaven and hell.

　　When they did not speak, Fang Ping did not interject too. He thought, ‘Seems like 110cal is really not a safe number.’

　　There were already so many students in Sun City who fulfilled the criteria. No one knew if Wu Zhihao’s source was legitimate. If there were more of them, he might not be able to advance to the third stage, and that would be terrible.

　　It seemed like he would have to increase his Vitality quickly.

　　…

　　As the class started, the noise died down.

　　Fang Ping behaved as he had before: sometimes he studied cultural studies while he studied the course materials of general studies. No one interrupted him except for Yang Jian, who sat in front, and his deskmate Zhang Hao.

　　The spirit of his deskmate, Chen Fan, seemed to be ignited somehow. He was doing his practice tests more diligently, only leaving the seat for the washroom once that morning.

　　After the morning classes ended, Fang Ping was getting ready to go out for lunch when he was notified by Wu Zhihao to visit Old Teach’s office.

　　There were only four of them outside the classroom: Wu Zhihao, Yang Jian, Liu Ruoqi and himself.

　　Wu Zhihao explained as they walked, “Senior Wang is coming to our school tomorrow. The school will delegate people to fetch him, and the teacher said that he would try his best to vie for the chance.

　　“Welcoming someone does not generate profit, but you can interact with him when there are fewer people. He might share some advice when there are fewer people.

　　“You know, the third stage is organized by a few martial arts schools and the Education department. Maybe Senior Wang knows some of the details.

　　“The syllabus is a little different every year.”

　　As Wu Zhihao explained, Fang Ping said dubiously, “Then we shouldn’t be the ones who welcome him, should we?

　　There were many classes in Sun City No. 1 High School, and they had two elite classes too. There was nothing special about the class.

　　Wu Zhihao laughed after he heard his words. “Did you forget who your class teacher is? The Teaching Department Head was his student. Arranging small affairs like this is nothing to him.”

　　Fang Ping remembered something after hearing his words.

　　His class teacher was among the oldest in the school. The Teaching Department Head was his student but in junior high instead of senior high.

　　Liu Anguo used to teach in a junior high and had only transferred to teach senior high students after years of teaching.

　　It might be the reason why he was not advancing as quickly as his peers in his career, although his career was longer.

　　He was still an ordinary class teacher of a Senior Three class when his student had become the Teaching Department Head.

　　Fang Ping now understood why the teacher called them to his office.

　　He glanced at the several people walking next to him, musing. He did not know if he was asked to join them because Old Teach had heard about the checkup he did the past day.

　　Or if Old Teach was showing care toward him because of his family conditions.

　　Probably both. Fang Ping had only dwelled on it for a while. He thought that the class teacher was decent, at least.