Jiang Bei District, Rugao City, No.3 High School.

In a corner located at the last row seats of the class.

"Wake up, Ye Lingchen…"

Soon after he was jolted awake from the light tapping of his body, Ye Lingchen opened his eyes drowsily, completely in a daze.

It was Fatty Zhang's slightly greasy face that came into his sight. Fatty Zhang had a cautious yet anxious look while his eyes swept across to the lectern from time to time.

"How could you fall asleep just like that? Li Xiuluo was already looking toward our side on a few occasions. I sense that he is already on the brink of an emotional outburst," said Fatty Zhang anxiously.

"I don't know why either. I felt so sleepy all of a sudden earlier."

Ye Lingchen shook his head. He could still remember vaguely when he heard the binding sound of Prodigy System, then he fainted soon after.

He looked up and met Asura Li's exceedingly hostile eyes. Ye Lingchen sat upright in all apparent seriousness at once and looked straight ahead.

Asura Li, whose real name was Li Hongkai, was Ye Lingchen's mathematics teacher who also doubled as his form teacher. Other than that, he was also the director of student affairs of the entire school. He was an incomparably harsh person who frequently sought to meet students' parents. As a result, he was nicknamed Asura Li.

How could he allow himself to doze off during Asura Li's lesson?

It made Ye Lingchen sick even as he thought about it.

Huh?

In the next moment, he was stunned abruptly as rows upon rows of words emerged on his mind in a ghastly manner.

'Receiving guidance from high school teacher, Li Hongkai. Mathematics proficiency +1.'

'Receiving guidance from high school teacher, Li Hongkai. Mathematics proficiency +1.'

'Receiving guidance from high school teacher, Li Hongkai. Mathematics proficiency +1.'

…

The words on his mind were increasing continuously in an extremely swift speed as Li Hongkai's lesson went on.

What was happening?

Ye Lingchen's heart was pounding. He did not look toward the lectern anymore but he lowered his head and picked up the mathematics textbook. He began rifling through the pages and assumed a feigned manner of reading.

'Self-studying on mathematics textbook. Mathematics proficiency +1.'

'Self-studying on mathematics textbook. Mathematics proficiency +1.'

…

Ye Lingchen's hands were shaking so much that he found himself almost tossing out the mathematics textbook.

'Stay calm! I have to stay calm!'

Ye Lingchen made a display of his powerful mentality at this very moment. He inhaled deeply and shifted his attention to his mind.

A panel appeared in his mind. There were a few segmented small square frames on the panel similar to the skills found in a game. At present, a few of the square frames were already illuminated.

Chinese Proficiency: 20%

English Proficiency: 5%

Mathematics Proficiency: 40% and still increasing by +1 continuously.

Physics Proficiency: 10%

…

There was a total of over twenty icons illuminated in total, including his ability to ride a bicycle. It was only that none of his proficiencies exceeded 30% other than mathematics.

As for the rest of the remaining numerous small square frames that remained in black, it probably signified the skills that have yet to be unlocked.

Ye Lingchen gasped in astonishment. He had no idea that he was such a useless person had he not seen this.

'Could it be that there is a Prodigy System for real?'

Ye Lingchen's entire face blushed scarlet from excitement as he looked at his Mathematics Proficiency that kept growing steadily. In a short period of time, his Mathematics Proficiency had already grown to 60%. A large amount of mathematical knowledge that originally felt like a blur in his mind had become crystal clear now.

He could not hold himself back from wanting to try out the new proficiency level. He wondered if it was as impressive as he had imagined.

His gaze swept across the room and noticed that Fatty Zhang was looking at the lectern in confusion. Fatty Zhang pretended to nod his head occasionally as if he was suddenly enlightened during the lesson.

"Fatty Zhang, can you understand the lesson?" asked Ye Lingchen.

Fatty Zhang spoke in hesitation, "Maybe… I think I can understand ever so slightly."

"Don't fret. I'll teach you if there's anything that you don't understand," said Ye Lingchen with a confident smile.

"You're teaching me?" Fatty Zhang was astonished. He pondered for a moment before he spoke with uncertainty, "if I'm not mistaken, you came in last place while I'm second last in class!"

"Ne, ne." Ye Lingchen felt like he needed to break free from his usual image. "You're just making wild guesses for all the multiple-choice questions in the examination, right?"

Fatty Zhang muttered to himself, "Not for all the questions..."

He would make the effort to calculate every once in a while as well. It was only that every single attempt of his calculation would end up wrong without fail.

Ye Lingchen continued, "You can get a few questions correct just by making wild guesses anyhow, but look at me. I'm always capable of avoiding all the correct answers without fail. Do you think that this is achieved through wild guesses?"

"It seems… to be quite difficult to get all the guesses wrong." Fatty Zhang shook his head after analyzing the situation based on his years of experience in making wild guesses. "Could it be that you have been getting 0 in the examination on purpose?"

Ye Lingchen nodded subtly. "That's right!"

Fatty Zhang remained ever so slightly suspicious. Meanwhile, a ray of cold radiance shot straight from the lectern. He shuddered from the cold at once.

"Ye Lingchen, Zhang Hao. You may leave the class if you're not interested in learning!" Asura Li's raging voice coupled with his menacing aura was so overpowering that the entire classroom sank into an absolute silence.

However, just as everyone was preparing to witness a comical scene, Ye Lingchen stood up slowly under Fatty Zhang's watchful eyes which were filled with complicated emotions and respect.

"Teacher Li, I was teaching Zhao Hao."

"Don't you two know about your own situations? One of you ranks last in class while the other is second-to-last in class. One of you is daring enough to teach while the other is truly daring to learn!"

As he was confronted by everyone's watchful eyes, Ye Lingchen did not show any emotions in his gaze while his eyes swept across the class with the contempt of a king. He smoothed the wrinkled shirt on his body and spoke slowly, "I was planning to get along with all of you slacker students supposedly, yet all I'm getting are feelings of estrangement and scorn. I'm going to stop pretending now. I'm a prodigy and this is my full disclosure!"

Whoa…

The entire classroom was in uproar instantaneously.

"F*ck, how dare Ye Lingchen calls himself a prodigy? Is he trying to seek his doom!"

"Oh no. The college entrance examination is almost upon us and it has driven another one of us to madness due to the immense pressure."

"The world is too insane. Even Ye Lingchen has the audacity to call himself a prodigy!"

"Since Ye Lingchen has disclosed himself, it looks like I can't hide either. I'm a billionaire actually and this is my full disclosure too."

"Is this some entertainment show before the college entrance examination. Keep calm everyone and watch in an orderly manner."

…

Bang bang bang!

Asura Li knocked on the table. The entire class regained its silence instantaneously akin to the calm before the storm.

"Prodigy?" Asura Li could not help laughing in rage upon hearing Ye Lingchen's magniloquence. He turned around and began writing on the blackboard with a whooshing sound.

Even though he did not elaborate much, everyone was looking at Ye Lingchen sympathetically in the freezing aura of the classroom.

Thirty seconds later, Asura Li stopped writing. A mathematical word problem appeared on the blackboard to everyone's surprise.

"Come over to the lectern. If you can solve this mathematical word problem, then I'll permit you not to pay attention during my lessons." Asura Li looked at Ye Lingchen coldly. "If you can't solve it, then I shall invite your parents in for a chat!"

"Hiss! Isn't this the last question from the previous third mock examination?" Some of the students began to whisper to one another upon seeing the question.

"That's right. It's exactly the same. It's the most difficult question in the third mock examination. I heard that no one had managed to solve the final mathematical word question in the entire school."

"It seems like Ye Lingchen has provoked Asura Li to the utmost limit this time. No zuo no die1."

Ye Lingchen walked out from his seat proudly and boldly. He headed straight for the lectern.

His aura was overpowering while his entire body was exuding the confidence of a straight-A student. Many of the students could not help shutting their mouths upon sensing his aura.

Ye Lingchen shook his head involuntarily as he walked to the front of the blackboard.

The piercing coldness in Asura Li's eyes grew colder upon seeing Ye Lingchen shaking his head. "It's best for you to admit if you don't know how to solve it, don't waste everybody's time."

Ye Lingchen placed a hand behind his back while he raised the white chalk in his right hand. The sight of his back appeared as overbearing as a mountain and unfathomable as the sea. He spoke softly, "Are you trying to insult my intelligence with such a simple question?"

Before his voice died away and before Asura Li had the opportunity to fly into a rage, Ye Lingchen had already begun to answer the problem on the blackboard with a whooshing sound…

No zuo no die (不作死就不會死 or 不作不死) is a Chinese internet meme. The original wording of the Chinese phrase, meaning "one would not be in trouble had one not asked for it", is half-translated to Chinglish where it retains one of its Chinese characters in pinyin.