Chapter 4: None of My Damn Business

Chapter 4: None of My Damn Business

Everyone was silent, then they erupted into another wave of furious roars: “Holy crap, that statement completely shattered my worldview! Such a simple thing, how did I never realize it before!”

At this moment, they were completely sure that Fool Yang had truly changed, completely changed. He was no longer the Yang Qi who only knew how to grin foolishly. The current Yang Qi was clever and witty.

They were shocked and also completely baffled, full of confusion.

In everyone’s impression, Yang Qi had always been described by one word: stupid.

But upon careful thought, it seemed wrong. If he was truly stupid, why were his grades always in the middle, and that too at Ruiyun High School? Could it be that he just appeared stupid, unwilling to talk to people, or had he been pretending to be stupid all along?

Especially now, after Yang Qi answered these questions, everyone had a strong feeling that this rascal had been playing the fool to hide his skills. Otherwise, how could this be explained?

For a moment, the dorm room became extremely quiet. The roommates looked at each other, then at Yang Qi.

Lu Liangjie crossed his legs and rubbed his hands together. He looked up at Yang Qi, giving a dry, forced smile, and said, “Um, Yang Qi, can I ask you a question about yourself?” He was about to speak but paused, adding, “It’s not that I mean to be rude, but if I say something offensive, you have to forgive me, okay?”

Hearing Lu Liangjie’s rambling words, Yang Qi smiled and nodded. He knew that whenever someone said “it’s not that I mean to be rude,” what followed would definitely be rude. Just like when someone says “I’m not bragging,” everything after that is definitely bragging.

“You used to always be stupid… foolish and simple-minded,” Lu Liangjie asked. “At least that’s how everyone saw it. How did you suddenly become like this now? It’s like you suddenly had an epiphany. I’m really curious…”

After saying this, Lu Liangjie glanced at the other roommates. The others also nodded, chiming in, “We’re very curious too. You’ve changed too much.”

Yang Qi narrowed his eyes. He knew this question was bound to come up. His current situation was a problem he definitely had to face. Yang Qi hadn’t planned to keep pretending to be clueless, and the Golden Paper’s task was to get into the top ten. Whether subjectively or objectively, he couldn’t pretend his way through high school. So, when talking to the homeroom teacher earlier, Yang Qi hadn’t pretended and said that line “maybe getting beaten up opened my mind.” That could be considered laying the groundwork for his “return.” And now, Yang Qi naturally built upon that groundwork, aiming to at least let his roommates quickly get familiar with and adapt to his current self.

“Like I suddenly had an epiphany? Sort of, but not really,” Yang Qi said with a laugh. “Actually, all along, I wasn’t stupid. I was just closing myself off to think about a few questions. That’s why I didn’t pay much attention to things outside, so I seemed foolish.”

“Think about questions?”

The roommates were even more puzzled.

“Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?”

Yang Qi stated these three questions, adjusting his lying position, and said, “These are the three questions I was thinking about. I like to fixate on things, so once I got stuck on them, I couldn’t pull myself out.”

“Ugh, that’s way too pretentious!”

Lu Liangjie clicked his tongue. The others felt the same. Naturally, they had all heard these three highly philosophical questions. But who the heck would be bored enough to delve into these three questions? Wouldn’t they go mad?

However, considering Yang Qi’s change before and after, it seemed possible that he really had thought about these three questions and gotten stuck in a rut. The roommates chewed over these three questions repeatedly, then shook their heads, not daring to think too deeply.

“These three questions are way too damn philosophical. They’re not something us mere mortals dare to think about. I’ve heard that many geniuses start thinking and asking all sorts of weird questions from a young age. Later, they either go crazy or become scientists or philosophers.” Chen Gong, who slept on the bunk below Yang Qi, chuckled and said, “When I was a kid, I asked my mom an awesome question: why did she give birth to me without my consent? After getting a slap, I never dared to think wildly again. My mom just killed a genius like that.”

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this. Another person said, “When I was a kid, I thought about why people die, when I would die, and what happens after death. The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became. For several days, I was confused and disoriented. Luckily, I wasn’t the type to fixate on things, or I might have fallen into depression. Later, when I got older, I looked it up and found out it was called death anxiety.”

“I once heard a really interesting answer to those three questions: I am me. I come from heaven, go to hell, just passing through the human world!”

“Holy crap, can you guys be serious for a moment? You’ve gone completely off track.” Lu Liangjie stopped everyone’s nonsense and said, “We haven’t asked Yang Qi how he suddenly stopped thinking about those three questions and changed to be like this now!”

“That’s right, that’s right. Yang Qi, what happened next?” Everyone looked at Yang Qi.

Yang Qi smiled and said, “I figured it out, so I stopped thinking about them.”

“You figured it out? Meaning what? You didn’t actually figure out those three questions, did you?”

“By ‘figured it out,’ I don’t mean what you think. Anyway, I figured it out, so I stopped thinking about them.”

“Holy crap, what kind of logic is that? It’s just as convoluted as those three questions! I don’t want to think about it anymore, I don’t.”

“So, you all figured it out too.”

“… Fuck!”

…

The dorm room erupted into a chorus of howls, attracting the dorm supervisor again, who gave them a stern warning. Everyone chuckled softly, not daring to speak loudly anymore. Thus, they didn’t dwell too much on the question of Yang Qi’s change, achieving a safe and soft landing.

After this conversation, the roommates’ attitudes toward Yang Qi changed greatly. Later, they quietly talked about Yang Qi getting beaten up. Yang Qi was extremely calm about it. Seeing the person involved being so indifferent, the roommates dropped the subject and didn’t continue.

The night grew deeper. No one spoke in the room anymore. A few soft snores gradually started.

Yang Qi, however, couldn’t manage to fall asleep. His eyes remained open, looking out the window at the pitch-black darkness, yet he found it infinitely beautiful.

In his hand appeared a crystal about the size of the marbles he played with as a child. It was almost transparent, allowing him to see faint strands of reddish energy swimming inside. It was extremely beautiful, full of a mesmerizing, fantastical quality.

This was naturally the reward he received after answering his roommates’ questions. Yang Qi held it tightly, closed his eyes, and silently recited the absorption method he learned from the Golden Paper. In his mind, the energy inside the Energy Stone transformed into reddish light, which poured into the cultivation value behind the superpower Psychokinesis. It increased by a full ten percent before stopping.

Yang Qi agonized for a long time between the two superpowers, Body Secrets and Psychokinesis. He ultimately chose to cultivate Psychokinesis first. After all, compared to the body, the mind was more mysterious and more intriguing to Yang Qi.

“A Level-1 Energy Stone can increase the cultivation value of a Level 1 Psychokinesis by ten percent. If you calculate it that way, if I complete the exam task, those ten Level-1 Energy Stones should be enough to raise Psychokinesis to Level 2. That way, I can obtain the superpower’s second effect: Hypnosis!”

That night, Yang Qi slept extremely well, the best and most soundly he had ever slept since birth. Sleeping well is a very normal thing for many people, but for the previous Yang Qi, it was a luxury. The next morning, Yang Qi got up very early as before, washed up, went downstairs, and went for a run. Something hard-won should be cherished, not indulged in excessively. Yang Qi understood this principle.

Besides obtaining it from Energy Stones, the cultivation value for superpowers could also be increased through active self-cultivation, as mentioned on the Golden Paper. Cultivating Body Secrets naturally meant exercising the body. The current cultivation method was to develop muscles through movement to activate muscle activity, but obviously, the effect couldn’t compare to absorbing an Energy Stone. After running for over an hour, he increased the cultivation value for Body Secrets by less than one percent. The cultivation for Psychokinesis was through mental meditation.

He finished his run, had breakfast, and arrived at the classroom. Many students were already in the classroom by then. The guys from Yang Qi’s dorm were also much earlier than usual today. Seeing Yang Qi enter the classroom, they actively greeted him, which made others find it strange. Some, having probably heard what Yang Qi’s roommates said and knowing Yang Qi had changed quite a bit, looked at him with even more peculiar glances. Sure enough, they noticed the foolish look on Yang Qi’s face seemed to really be gone.

Word spread quickly within the school class. After just two classes, almost the entire class knew about Yang Qi’s situation. Yang Qi was indifferent to this. It was fine.

Also, what Yang Qi said last night spread like wildfire among the class. After all, something so impactful and worldview-shattering always sparked curiosity and circulation among people their age.

Ruiyun High School was a closed boarding school. They were dismissed at noon on Saturday and had to return to school on Sunday evening, making their schedule much fuller than other schools.

The bell for the last class rang. The teacher left the classroom. Qin Muchu walked up to the podium. It was about the birthday matter. He told the classmates to go out together later; the cars were already waiting at the school gate. Seeing the classmates waiting in the classroom, Qin Muchu smiled and looked at Yang Qi.

He had naturally heard about Yang Qi’s change. Because of this, Qin Muchu was unsure if Yang Qi had already “become smart” when he defied his wishes yesterday. If so, then Yang Qi had intentionally disrespected him!

Under Qin Muchu’s gaze, Yang Qi organized his desk, stood up, and walked towards the classroom door. He didn’t want to specifically pursue the matter of getting beaten yesterday, but he absolutely would not go to Qin Muchu’s birthday party.

If last time Qin Muchu was just unaccustomed to others not showing him respect and ultimately didn’t bother with Fool Yang, this time he was truly angry. You’ve become smart now? Then it’s unforgivable.

“Student Yang Qi!”

Qin Muchu’s expression darkened. He said, “All the classmates are going to my birthday party. This is also a group activity. Where are you going?”

“Oh. But I have something to do. I’m leaving first.” Yang Qi said with a smile, not stopping his steps.

“Everyone is participating, and you’re the only one not going. Isn’t that bad? You’re too unsociable!” Qin Muchu gave a dry laugh.

“Confucius, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Liezi, Mozi, Han Feizi, Sunzi, Guiguzi…”

Having listed this string of names of pre-Qin sages, he notably left out Laozi, the founder of Daoism. Yang Qi walked out of the classroom door, leaving Qin Muchu and a group of classmates utterly bewildered.