บท 26: Let Him Do It
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Mr. Driver? How long more till we arrive?" Xu Mang glanced at the time, it had been almost an hour since he had sneaked out of the house, and yet, they were still on the highway. Luckily the taxi fare was based on mileage. If it was based on time, he would probably jump off a building upon seeing the fare amount.
"Uh...you know how the traffic in Ning District is, if you're lucky, it'll probably take about one to two hours and that's normal." The taxi driver sighed, and asked quietly, "Are you in a hurry?"
"I've got an important competition to take part in, the city-wide high school essay composition competition!" Xu Mang took out his participation pass as evidence and shook it in front of the driver.
"When I was three years old, I could already recite the Three Hundred Tang Poems. When I was five, I could recite the Four Books and Five Classics. When I was ten, I was accepted into the Oxford University intensive course!" Xu Mang proclaimed proudly. "Lowkey, lowkey. Don't go announcing it around, I don't really like to be held in a higher pedestal."
The taxi driver was dumbfounded, was this guy really that special?
"Mr. Driver, do you want to know how I am so great?" Xu Mang asked, pressing forward carefully. "As long as you give me a free ride, I'll tell you why I'm so excellent and how I became this way."
"Okay, this trip is on me, then!" The driver nodded quickly. "Little brother, hurry up and tell me!"
"It's easy!" Xu Mang said slowly, his tone solemn. "It's because I'm a genius!"
What…
What the flying f*ck, he had actually been conned by such a simple trick.
The taxi driver was depressed. He didn't expect that he, who had gone through so much in life, would actually be tricked by a fledgling at this time.
What a shame!
In the remaining time, the driver kept to himself. This meant that Xu Mang had lost a good chatting partner, and he could only sit quietly in the passenger seat, watching as the cars inched forward slowly.
Finally, they got off the highway, and the remaining journey was smooth and they quickly reached the competition venue.
"Eh?"
"You didn't pay your fare!" The driver said, stopping Xu Mang from leaving.
"Didn't you say it was on you?" Xu Mang said, freezing for a moment.
"What's free?" The driver said, clearly in disgust. "You must have heard wrong!"
"How much?"
"Fifty-five."
"..."
Xu Mang dug into his pocket and only found a fifty-dollar note. He said in embarrassment, "I only have fifty, how about you drop me off at a place that would have cost me fifty dollars?"
He thought that by saying this, the driver would give up on asking him for the remaining amount of money and leave him. Who would have thought that this driver was so rigorous and righteous, threatening to call the police...it couldn't be helped, and so, he used WeChat to call Yang Xiaoman over to rescue him.
"How much?"
"Fifty-five!"
"One hundred, keep the change!"
Yang Xiaoman was domineering, handing over the hundred dollar note.
"Miss! I have a few words of advice for you before I leave. Don't keep this kind of guy!" The driver said with his righteous heart. "He's a conniving person!"
"I'm not!"
"I...I'm not his…"
"I understand!"
Seeing the taxi driver drive away, Yang Xiaoman almost wanted to explode on the spot. She had been accidentally mislabelled as a couple with Xu Mang...Logically speaking, such a perfect girl like her, why would she want this kind of moronic boyfriend!?
"Wait for me!"
Xu Mang hurriedly followed Yang Xiaoman, who was in an angry haze, into the venue.
***
Xu Mang's arrival put a dent in Mrs. Wang's plans, the original schedule hadn't included him in the listing. Now, the guy had come on his own and could still register himself at the registration desk.
Because of his early arrival, coincidentally, Xu Mang had managed to arrive in time for the boring opening ceremony. The organizer onstage prattled on endlessly, and Xu Mang, who was standing below, was on the verge of a boredom breakdown. Although he could sleep while standing, the risk was too great if he was caught, and the one who would be embarrassed would not only be himself.
Taking advantage of the free time he now had, Xu Mang looked at his status.
Host—Xu Mang
Virtue: Level 1
Intelligence: Level 1
Body: Level 1
Beauty: Level 1
Effort: Level 1
Upgrades Cards*8
English Skills = 1,420
Chinese Skills = 1,270
Mathematic Skills = 1,400
***
Sweetened Egg Dessert Eating Skill = 100
Secretly Snacking During Class Skill = 1,030
Secretly Playing Phone During Class Skill = 1,000
Each skill value was quite average and the increase was not great.
Come to think of it, he didn't really eat during class recently, how had he amassed so many points?
Xu Mang recalled his sleeping journey and remembered that sometimes, he would dream about various food, and it added to the skill points of whatever subject skill he had at that time as well as the Secretly Snacking During Class Skill.
Huh, dreaming was also counted.
He had to find an opportunity to clear out his Secretly Snacking During Class Skill since it was useless anyway. He could probably have some snacks during his Politics class and eat some crispy potato chips. If you wanted to play, it had to be exciting!
"What are you laughing to yourself like a lunatic for?"
Yang Xiaoman stood beside him, looking at Xu Mang as he cackled silently to himself, and couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing. Just the image of me taking first place." Xu Mang replied.
"...Idiot!"
There were times when Yang Xiaoman was envious of Xu Mang. His optimism regarding victory was always unrivaled, and it always kept him in high spirits. He had no worries day by day, and the most important thing was that it enabled him to still be able to stand up in front of everybody and call them all 'trash' to their faces.
"Xiaoman?"
"Hm?"
"Do you like playing League of Legends?"
"Why?"
"What rank are you?" Xu Mang asked quietly. "Do you need me to boost you up?"
"Challenger!"
"..." Xu Mang had a surprised expression on his face, "Then, boost me up?"
"Get lost!"
Yang Xiaoman didn't know this now, but in the future, she would experience the most horrible gaming experience.
After a long while, the organizer's speech was finally over. Xu Mang and his teammates were ushered into a pre-match briefing, mainly for Wang Xue to give them some last minute advice and counseling to her students. After all, it was a competition, and there were bound to be people who were nervous.
Currently in the team, one boy and one girl were starting to get nervous.
"Mrs. Wang...I...my brain is totally blank right now." The boy said, a panicked expression on his face.
"Stay with me, breathe in...breathe out...breathe in...breathe out…"
"And then fart it out!" Xu Mang chimed in cheekily, a wide grin on his face.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Wang Xue was about to go crazy. At such an important time, this guy was still causing trouble.
"Xu Mang! Don't mess with me!" Wang Xue said, glaring hard at him, and then she turned to focus on the two panicking students.
And so, Xu Mang resembled a bird leaving his nest as he sat listlessly on the bench. Listening to the chatter around him that didn't include him, he tried to involve himself with them a few times, but he quickly retreated because he didn't understand their line of topics.
"Mrs. Wang?"
"Hm?"
"Shall I go around and scout out the competition?" Xu Mang asked earnestly.
"What are you planning to do?" Wang Xue asked, startled. Recovering hurriedly, she warned him, "Don't go around making trouble!"
"Of course not! As the saying goes, know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." Xu Mang replied in the same tone as previously.
Suddenly, Yang Xiaoman spoke up. "Mrs. Wang, just let him go ahead and do whatever he wants. If you don't let him, who knows what else he'll get up to."
"That…Fine, be careful and don't get caught." Wang Xue thought a bit and hurriedly added, "If you get caught, just say that you're a student from Cheng Xi Academy!"
"Aye!"
Xu Mang strolled around the venue leisurely, and perhaps it was because of his good salted fish image, it was easy to mingle with the other teams and not get discovered. There were even some students who treated him as though he was their very own teammate.
"Bro, I've never seen you around before."
"I'm from Cheng Xi Academy."
"Get lost!"
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