Chapter 57: Fundamentals of Rhetoric, and the Four Heavenly Kings (Part Two)

Now, the "Enlightenment" badge truly resembled those people wearing clothes emblazoned with the circle and the character, as a beam of light struck the progress bar. The bar soared rapidly upward, and in the blink of an eye, the word "Qualified" leaped up high, shattering the three characters for "Unqualified" into smithereens, consigning that humiliating status firmly to the past.

[Basic Rhetoric, First Level: Progress advanced to Qualified]

He glanced up at the time; it had taken only an hour of focused reading. Yet in that short span, significant change had already occurred. Shi Tiexin concentrated and sensed in his brain, apart from the mathematical region, another area where threads of cool, fresh vital energy were beginning to emerge. Though still feeble compared to the mathematical area, Shi Tiexin knew it would soon grow strong.

The speed of cultivation here was truly astonishing!

Exhausted, Shi Tiexin packed up and returned to the dormitory. Zhou Nan still hadn’t come back, but Shi Tiexin paid it no mind; he washed up and fell instantly asleep. In moments, he was plunged into deep slumber.

The next day, Shi Tiexin woke at dawn. Glancing over, he saw Zhou Nan had returned, with a bulging bundle not far off—clearly, he’d had quite a harvest. Shi Tiexin was now calm; instead of urgently rifling through the bundle for secret manuals, he leapt out of bed, grabbed an auxiliary compendium, and headed out the door.

The morning hours set the tone for the day!

If you want to master a language, you must listen, speak, read, and write. And in the early morning, of course, it’s time for morning reading!

It wasn’t yet six o’clock. Bathed in the first light of dawn, Shi Tiexin walked forward. Truly, even at this early hour, Fengming No. 1 High lived up to its reputation as a sanctuary of heartcraft—several students were already up and studying. Some sat, some stood, reciting either Chinese or foreign languages, each exuding the air of a model scholar.

In such a fine atmosphere, how could I, Old Shi, be content to fall behind?

Come, let’s pull out our auxiliary compendium and surge ahead in cultivation progress!

Let’s see—this compendium is a fine piece of work.

[Auxiliary Compendium: Basic Rhetoric, First Level]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Usage Progress: 0%]
[Effect: Increases cultivation speed of Basic Rhetoric, First Level, by 20%]
[Attribute 1: Standard. This compendium assists in recognizing Chinese characters and their pronunciation, with all readings marked in standard pinyin, and all characters in standard regular script. Carefully proofread at the time of compilation, it is balanced and flawless, increasing the speed and accuracy of reading and character recognition by 20%.]

Oh, so standardized! Good, standardization means no mistakes; I can use it with confidence. Ahem, clear the throat, and begin passionately reading aloud with the other students!

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”
“Oh! Oh! Oh!”
“Eh! Eh! Eh!”

The nearby students fell instantly silent, staring blankly at a robust young man radiating the aura of a boss, who was reading aloud from the "Chinese Pinyin Literacy Cards" with a vigor that seemed to shake the mountains and rivers. His voice was loud, his presence overwhelming, and he showed not a trace of embarrassment at reciting Chinese pinyin so publicly—leaving the other students with minds utterly blank.

For a while, only Shi Tiexin's “Ah, Oh, Eh” echoed in this corner.

“Who is that, reading pinyin so early in the morning?” In the elite dormitory district not far off, on the second floor of a villa-like house, someone pushed open a window, revealing a beautiful face. The young woman seemed to have an upturned nose and rosy lips, radiantly striking. But at such a distance, it was hard to see clearly.

The only thing truly visible was her pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes.

Those almond eyes shimmered with misty light, capable of joy or vexation, displaying a rare, alluring charm for someone her age. She gazed with interest at Shi Tiexin below, then after a moment smiled softly: “What a strange person! But if you’re trying to get my attention on purpose, I must admit, that’s a clever little trick, hehe!”

“Sigh, people vying for my favor first thing in the morning. My charm really is such a bother~~” She gathered her hair, closed the window, and walked away, looking every bit the troubled beauty beset by her own allure.

Of course, Shi Tiexin was oblivious to all this.

How could he notice a window opening and closing so far away? She’s no Pan Jinlian, I’m no Ximen Qing, and the window pole hasn’t come crashing down on my head, either.

He simply felt the air was fresh, the academic spirit strong, the breeze pleasant—reading aloud here was a joy in itself. Even without any notification, he felt as if he were under some beneficial buff.

He kept reading until it was time to eat, not taking a sip of water nor pausing for even a minute. Patting his stomach, Shi Tiexin put away the literacy cards, feeling he had made great progress.

What a wonderful place—I'll be back again tomorrow!

Then he headed to the cafeteria to gamble on steamed buns.

So-called bun gambling was about seeing how much of today’s dough batch contained that rare impurity known as meat filling. The act of peeling back the bun’s skin to check was oddly reminiscent of legendary jade gambling.

The four blockheads had all but accepted their fate, causing no more mischief. After breakfast, Shi Tiexin strolled two laps around the track, practiced his Vitality Cultivation Technique, and then went early to class. He was in good form today, so he decided to take advantage of morning study to push his rhetoric studies all the way up to “Good” in one go.

Ah, so that’s how this character is pronounced...

Oh, and that one is read like that...

Wait, what? No wonder those blockheads laughed before—turns out “Over-standard Fujima” isn’t “Super Biao;” the character is pronounced “Guó!” Learned something new today! I’d always thought his parents gave him an outrageously over-the-top name...

Shi Tiexin was deep in study when Zhao Qingmiao suddenly appeared.

“Boss, your, uh, homework...” Zhao Qingmiao looked at Shi Tiexin in distress. Of course, a boss wouldn’t do homework—but things couldn’t go on like this. Just yesterday, the homeroom teacher had asked who wasn’t turning in their homework, and might well single someone out soon.

Zhao Qingmiao decided to sacrifice himself: “Boss, how about this—I’ll let you copy mine, or if you want, I’ll just do it for you!”

He felt his devotion rivaled any leading lady in a romance drama—a paragon willing to give everything for the male lead.

But this male lead was a domineering CEO.

“No.”

Shi Tiexin refused without hesitation.

What a joke—these are all auxiliary compendiums! If you take and use them, what will I do? Sure, he could squeeze Zhou Nan, but there were limits; it was best to rely on the school’s free compendiums in the future, and as he’d seen, they were good quality despite being free.

Let alone lending them out—he’d need to preserve every single one carefully for himself, letting no one else touch them! When it comes to getting by, who needs pride? He would be as greedy and stingy as a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter!

“I’ll do it myself in the future.”