Chapter 6: Life After Calamity

  Out of "night night Shang Ge", a gust of cool wind came, blowing Liu Yi's drowsy brain slightly awake. With a slight movement of his arm, the pain from his injuries began to throb, making Liu Yi groan in agony.

  Liu Yixin thought, it's better to go back first, so he rode the bow and arrow towards home. Enduring the pain, he finally arrived home.

  Liu Yi crept in quietly, but found that his mother was already asleep. He went into the bathroom to clean up his wound and tidy himself up before returning to his room to rest. That night, Liu Yi had a strange dream where he saw himself strolling on clouds, looking down at the entire land of China, dreaming that he had achieved an unparalleled divine skill, defeating Black Dragon and others, and even dreamed of moving into a luxurious villa with several beautiful women inside...

  The next morning, Liu Yi woke up unusually early. He shook his arms and stretched his legs, finding that the injured areas from yesterday were no longer as painful, and the swelling on his face had also subsided a lot, almost to the point where it was unnoticeable if one didn't look closely. Thinking back to the dream he had last night, Liu Yi couldn't help but feel amused, yet he had no idea that in the future, this dream would actually come true.

  She quietly walked to her mother's room and found that she was still asleep. Liu Yi had just entered the living room when he suddenly saw a family photo in the living room, which showed happy times with his parents, thinking that his father had gone out to sea again (Liu Yi's father Liu Gang was a sailor, who would be at least several months at sea and often not at home), and it had been a while since he last saw his father.

  Thinking of his father's deep expectations for him, Liu Yi secretly made up his mind that he could no longer be idle and must make a name for himself to let his parents live a good life.

  Liu Yi left a note for his mother and rode his bow to school. On the way, he bought a meat pie and a packet of soy milk, and Liu Yi began to think about what had happened last night. Although Heilong seemed to have let him off on the surface, but that sentence he said at the end seemed to have some sinister plot, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't guess what Heilong was really thinking.

  Arriving at the classroom, Liu Yi reviewed the formula that Fan Yi had taught last night and started reciting ancient poems from his language textbook. "The vast desert smoke rises straight, the long river sunset is round..." At this time, Hu Jingjing walked in and saw Liu Yi reciting ancient poems, and she couldn't help but feel suspicious: could it be that he really wanted to start studying hard? But there were only four months left before the college entrance exam, would he make it? As the saying goes, "a prodigal son's return is not too late", anyway, Liu Yi's current trend was good. Walking to her own seat, Hu Jingjing also took out her English book and started morning reading.

  After a while, the classmates came in one after another. Seeing Liu Yi reading on his seat, they couldn't help but feel curious. Has Liu Yi started to work hard and study? Has the sun risen from the west?

  The bell was about to ring when Zhao walked in leisurely. He put down his bag and saw a bruise on Liu's arm, and asked in a hurry, "What happened? Did the Black Dragon people find you?"

  Liu Yi pulled down his school uniform sleeve and replied calmly, "Nothing, just an accidental touch."

  Zhao Tong thought this was definitely not what Liu Yi said, and pouted "Hmph, looks like someone doesn't consider me a brother." Liu Yi put down his textbook "Alright, I'll tell you the truth, listen carefully and don't get agitated." Then he told Zhao Tong about what happened last night.

  Zhao Tong's face was full of discontent. "We're all brothers, why didn't you call me to do this together? Many hands make light work!" Liu Yi smiled faintly and said, "It's precisely because we are brothers that I don't want to drag you into this muddy water, and let you suffer this injustice!"

  "What do you plan to do then?" Zhao Tong's face was filled with worry.

  "This matter is temporarily settled, let's plan for the long term first." Liu Yi slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

  This was Wang Baozi's Chinese class again, and in this lesson, Liu Yi unexpectedly didn't fall asleep, and from time to time he took notes, which also surprised Wang Baozi, thinking that even a withered grass can have a spring? Maybe something is wrong with him.

  Five minutes before class ended, Wang said: "Next, I'll call on a few classmates to recite Cao Cao's 'Viewing the Sea'".

  But saw Liu Yi and himself eye to eye, thought, usually called people to get up and recite, this stuff is always lowering their heads and hiding, afraid of being called on themselves, can this one recite? Simply call him to see what he's got. So he shouted "Liu Yi, you come and recite!"

  Liu Yi did not expect Wang Huazi to ask him to recite the poem, but he had just recited it in the morning, so he naturally recited it fluently: "East of the stone wall, to observe the vast sea. The water is calm and peaceful, with islands rising steeply. Trees and plants are lush and dense, autumn wind is rustling, and huge waves are surging up. The sun and moon move as if they were coming out from within; the stars shine brightly as if they were coming out from inside. How fortunate I am! I sing to express my aspirations." The whole process was uninterrupted.

  This left Wang Pangzi stunned, he never thought that Liu Yi could recite it so fluently. At the same time, all the classmates in the class were also shocked, they didn't expect someone who was almost at the bottom of the class to be so amazing.

  "Your back is quite skilled, if you add some emotions it would be even better." Wang Baozi said critically.

  In the following classes, Liu Yi was like a different person, full of fighting spirit. Despite his poor foundation, he persisted in his efforts, and everyone began to notice the change in him. People's views on Liu Yi gradually changed from disdain to admiration. Zhao Tong couldn't help but ask, "Yi ge, haven't you been possessed by a scholar? How did you suddenly become so crazy about studying?"

  Liu Yi smiled and replied, "In the country there is a large bird that perches in the king's hall. For three years it does not fly or make a sound. If this bird does not fly, then so be it; but when it flies, it pierces the sky. If it does not sing, then so be it; but when it sings, it startles people."

  Zhao Tong suddenly interjected, "Could it be that, Brother Yi, you've become a birdman?"

  Liu Yi looked at Zhao Tong with disdain, "A child cannot be taught."

  Days are passing one by one, and the time to the college entrance examination is also flowing away bit by bit. Although Liu Yi's grades are poor, he has made some progress. Although it is impossible to compare with those top students in the front row, he is obviously much stronger than before when he was among the last few students.

  "There are only two days left until the monthly exam, I hope everyone will review well and strive for good results in the monthly exam." In the class meeting, Wang Baozi muttered, trying to motivate everyone and boost his classmates' enthusiasm. "Since the exam is approaching, I won't say much nonsense in the class meeting, let's make the most of this limited time to study hard." After finishing speaking, Wang Baozi walked out with a big belly.

  Wang Baozi sneaked away like a fox, and it was impossible for him to really leave. As expected, he pretended to return to the office but actually snuck back to observe the class through the glass door at the back of the classroom. Liu Yi and most people took out their textbooks to review, while only a few who didn't usually like studying were whispering to each other. Wang Baozi nodded in satisfaction and left.

  Finally, the monthly exam has arrived, Liu Yi nervously responded to each subject, hoping for a big improvement...

  The three-day monthly exam is over, and everyone let out a deep breath. Most people soon threw themselves back into the fervor of studying, after all, there are only three months left until the college entrance exams.

  These teachers graded the papers really quickly, just after the exam, the next day, the papers were already handed out. Liu Yi used to score around 30-40 points for subjects like physics and chemistry, but this time he actually scored over 50 points for all of them, although not passing, it's still a big improvement from before. Especially math, with a full score of 150 points, he scored 94 points and passed.

  Wang Pangzi was looking at the newly released rankings in his office. Beihai Middle School has 20 classes for each grade, with over 60 students in each class. Liu Yi's ranking had improved from around 1200th to 880th, and he was now ranked 46th in his class. The average score of Class 8 of Grade 3 also rose to fifth in the year, previously it was always eighth or ninth.

  Seeing such results, how can Wang Baozi not be happy? If we make a little more progress and our average score reaches the top three, we'll get the class director's bonus.