The Wind Rises

There were no changes to Xu Mang's treatment in class even after taking first place in the competition. He was still annoying and there was no helping it...who asked him to be such a lazy worm.

Today, Xu Mang was returning to the classroom with bread and milk in his hand when he bumped into Wang Xue.

"Xu Mang! You're only having two bread and two milk for your meal?" Wang Xue asked when she saw the items in his hands that would serve as his lunch, and she shook her head. "It's better to eat more than that."

"Ah? Ms. Wang, you're mistaken, this is…" Just as Xu Mang was about to explain, he caught the glare that Yang Xiaoman was sending his way.

Xu Mang immediately understood Yang Xiaoman's meaning. It was to stop him from saying nonsense or anything impolite, but it also brought a lot of doubt to Xu Mang. It wasn't as though there was anything going on between them, she was making it seem as if it were some dirty secret to be kept.

"Ms. Wang, was there something you needed?" Xu Mang changed the subject instead.

"Here, I promised last time that as long as you got first place, I'd give you a 5,000 yuan red packet." Wang Xue said as she brought out a thick red packet and handed it to him smiling. "Hurry up and take it!"

Xu Mang was taken aback by it, and for a moment, he wanted to refuse it. However, upon seeing the determined expression on Wang Xue's face, if he refused, it could damage Wang Xue's self-esteem.

Don't assume that Wang Xue was just a female teacher. If she acted out, even ten physical education teachers wouldn't be able to stop her.

"That is…Ms. Wang, it's alright, isn't there still the provincial high school essay competition? If I get first place at the provincial level competition, you can give me the red packet then. Uh...and how bout you also add another 5,000 on that?" Xu Mang said, thinking of a solution that wasn't really a solution.

"Up to you. Speaking of the provincial essay competition, I just wanted to confirm with you about it. You and Yang Xiaoman will be representing our city in the January competition if you're both willing." Wang Xue stated.

Yang Xiaoman hesitated for a moment, and then quietly asked, "Will it be only me and this guy?"

"Uh…"

"And myself." Wang Xue quickly assured her. "I would still be the teacher in charge of the team, and the Writer's Association will also send a staff member to accompany us."

At this time, Xu Mang's mind started to run wild as he cheekily asked, "Ms. Wang, will the cost be reimbursed? I want to stay in a 5-star hotel, and after the competition has ended, I want an allowance to tour around the area."

"That is...what...uh…" Wang Xue was caught in an awkward situation. Even though it wasn't a very good thing to do, it wasn't specifically disallowed either. In many cases, this was what everyone quietly did. Since the cost was not theirs to bear, their accommodation and lodgings would be the best they could get, not to mention, they would also take whatever they could get and more.

"Hehe. Ms. Wang, I understand!" Xu Mang nodded with the expression of 'understood' on his face, smiling brightly and widely.

In stark contrast, Yang Xiaoman was feeling quite scornful. It was because people like this existed, which made society so foul.

"Then, it's been decided. When the time comes, I will inform you both." Wang Xue said as they reached the classroom door. Looking back at Xu Mang and Yang Xiaoman, she smiled lightly and said, "The two of you...have such a good relationship?"

"Ms. Wang...I...and him...don't misunderstand, we're merely ordinary classmates!" Yang Xiaoman stuttered in embarrassment.

"That's right!"

"I believe you." Wang Xue said, smiling as she left the classroom.

Needless to say, Wang Xue really did believe that Yang Xiaoman and Xu Mang weren't in any sort of relationship except classmates. After all, one of them was a elite, top, studious, godlike student, while the other was a scum student that walked between the line of a genius and a moron. The possibility of these two falling in love with each other was lower than the chance of the school having an explosion the next day. 

Wait, that wasn't right!

Wang Xue suddenly realized that there had been an explosion in school before, and the cause was the septic tank. What a time it had been...the school had been closed for a week because of that, and the culprit was highly intelligent, not leaving behind any evidence or clues. There were no suspicious characters found in the review of the surveillance cameras either.

Many had thought that it was Xu Mang, but it was just an assumption.

"It couldn't be…"

Just the thought of Xu Mang and Yang Xiaoman getting married and having kids was like eating a piece of sh*t, in Wang Xue's opinion. It wasn't that Xu Mang was not good enough, it was just that Yang Xiaoman was too perfect.

***

[New Quest: Participate in the essay competition (Provincial Level)]

[Description: Please win first place in the provincial essay competition]

[Reward: Upgrade Cards*8]

Xu Mang had received a new quest, and the rewards were 8 Upgrade Cards this time! What a big haul!

If it continued like this, he could probably upgrade an attribute to level 2 by the end of the school semester.

"Hey, stop zoning out. I have a request for you." Yang Xiaoman said, glaring at Xu Mang.

"What?"

"Please look to improve your virtue and thinking in the future." Yang Xiaoman said in a lecturing tone. "I feel that your way of thinking has some problems. If you're not being lazy, then you're just going with the flow and trying to gain advantages by trickeries. Can you get a bit more sunshine? If you exercise a bit, will you die?"

"Yes!" Xu Mang nodded and said gravely, "You may not know, but I have this rare disease called 'I can only lie down, if I move a bit, I will die'. The probability of catching this disease is one in a trillion."

You…

Did you think that I was an idiot!?

What was this rare disease 'I can only lie down, if I move a bit, I will die'!? Wasn't that just a made up name!?

"Just be normal!" Yang Xiaoman said angrily, kicking Xu Mang's calf. "No, my follower can't be some lazy ass, ugh...practice Sanshou with me this weekend!"

Xu Mang: #￥%...&*''

Was this woman insane?

Practice Sanshou with her, wouldn't he just end up as a murdered husband!?

Huh?

Why had he used the word 'husband'?

"No way! Won't this become something like 'Mr. Bodyguard'." Xu Mang shook his head, the words 'determination' written on his face. "And it's not as though you're some popular girl in the school. At most, you're probably just slightly popular. I also have some image to maintain, it's not like I will protect just any woman."

Yang Xiaoman: （╬￣皿￣）

***

Life was like driving a high-speed car on a road—either someone else will surpass you, or you will surpass others, but of course...there were also some special existences, for example, an accident and a pile-up of cars which would lead to the destruction of the vehicles and drivers.

Xu Mang belonged to the latter category; he had had a car accident, but fortunately, he had emerged alive.

0 marks!

0 marks!

0 marks!

This was Xu Mang's recent performance. Every test in the classroom was a zero, making his teachers angry to the point their blood vessels were bursting.

"Xu Mang! Can we return to having an attitude a normal student should have?" Lin Yishan snarled at Xu Mang, his face red with restrained anger. "Every time you hand in a blank paper, you don't even write your name anymore, what the hell are you trying to do!?"

"Mr. Lin...do you believe that this world has a symptom called, 'as long as you hold your pen, your head will be dizzy'?" Xu Mang said, an innocent expression on his face. "If you do believe it, we can continue to discuss this further, however, if you refuse to believe this fact, then I can't do anything…"

You could literally see Lin Yishan explode. Originally, he already had a short temper, but with Xu Mang's so-called symptoms of 'as long as you hold your pen, your head will be dizzy', he had reached the point of no return.

"Xu Mang! Don't think that I won't be able to cure you!" Lin Yishan roared furiously. "I'm giving you one last chance, in the city's midterm exams, you'd better be handing me a paper with satisfactory answers!"

"Aiya, Mr. Lin...don't get angry, getting angry will harm the liver!" Faced with Lin Yishan's explosive rage, Xu Mang still maintained his calm face as he continued, "Since it's like that, then I only have one thing to say…"

"What!?"

"The Wind Rises!"

Translator's Note: 

Sanshou (sometimes known as Sanda or Chinese Kickboxing) is full-contact fighting and it represents the more combat-applicable side of Wushu and Chinese Martial Arts.

Mr.Bodyguard is a Chinese drama where a guy was forced to be the bodyguard for their school's most popular girl but ended up chasing after her himself.

The Wind Rises refers to the cover of the song 'Yakimochi' by Yu Takahashi by Feng Qinyuan.