Xu Mang was taken to the hospital where he underwent a stomach check, and a gastric suction was performed. The entire process went on until three in the morning, and by then, Wang Xue had already informed his parents and they were on the way to the hospital.
Glancing at Xu Mang who was lying in the hospital bed, Wang Xue was dumbfounded. This guy really knew how to mess things up...The essay competition was on Monday, and he had gotten himself sent to the hospital on Saturday.
Of course, getting sick was unavoidable, but this guy had really dug his own grave.
Forget it, there was no hope for him anyway. This kind of result was good after all, letting him obediently stay at home to recuperate and not go outside to cause any further embarrassment. Now, they could only rely on Yang Xiaoman to stand out and break through.
"What now?"
"You don't need to go for the competition on Monday, it's more important for you to take care of your health." Wang Xue said as she gave him a deadpan look. "Don't be sad, your health is the capital to everything."
What?
Don't participate in the competition?
Then what was the point of being a person?
Xu Mang rejected Wang Xue's directive and said, "Even though a disease is devouring my body, it has not eaten my brain. As long as I still breathe and live in this world, I will fight for honor for the school!"
"Mrs. Wang! Please let me join the battle despite my ailment!" Xu Mang exclaimed with a completely serious face.
If... just if it was anyone else who was saying this, Wang Xue was sure that she would be extremely touched, maybe even shed a tear, but unfortunately...the one who had said it was Xu Mang.
"I'll be honest with you." Wang Xue said, sighing. "Mr. Gao wanted to pull your name from the list, but the list had already been submitted last week, so...you can still participate, but the school doesn't allow you to."
"What!? Why!?" Xu Mang almost wanted to jump up. "No matter what, I'm still part of the school, why won't you let me participate?"
Why? Did you really not have a single idea as to why?
Wang Xue really wanted to tell Xu Mang the cold hard truth—because you are very frustrating and they were afraid that you would make weird jokes during the competition, embarrassing their school. After pondering over it for a long while, she said, "Why don't we do it like this...I'll make a trophy for you?"
What the f*ck!
Giving yourself a trophy!?
Xu Mang was super annoyed, and the reason he felt so was not because he was being abandoned, but because he wouldn't be able to complete the System's quest that was worth a few Upgrade Cards! That was too valuable!
"Oh right, the school is giving you one week off, so you don't have to come to school next week. Take care of yourself properly at home." Wang Xue said.
What!?
Depriving the student's right to learn, what kind of school was this!
Finally, at 3:30 in the morning, Xu Mang was picked up by his parents.
On the way back home, Xu Mang was still not happy with his experience. Fortunately, he was born to rise up over this, saying no to all the unfairness in life and meeting them head-on.
Opening WeChat, he found Yang Xiaoman's contact and texted her.
@TheDreamOfAllFemalesInThe Universe: [Yang Xiaoman, may I know what is the address of the competition?]
Sadly, the other party didn't respond even after a long time.
Then again, it was almost four in the morning, this flat-chested barbarian should be asleep.
@LifeInPieces: [Don't know!]
Eh? She wasn't asleep?
@TheDreamOfAllFemalesInThe Universe: [You're not sleeping yet?]
@LifeInPieces: [None of your business!]
@TheDreamOfAllFemalesInThe Universe: [When girls stay up late, their chest becomes smaller.]
@LifeInPieces: [Get lost!]
As soon as he reached home, Xu Mang went online to check for the address. Needless to say, the internet nowadays was really powerful, much less a simple thing like an address, even ancestral graves could be found online.
The rapid development of science and technology brought about many conveniences, but it also brought about a new concern for security, such as leakage of personal information as well as the internet trolls that were everywhere on the internet.
Xu Mang had been trolled before because he had once picked on a random popular boy playing ball, and from there, he had suffered a massive landslide of keyboard warriors and internet trolls, finally leading him to delete that Weibo account.
Ding!
A notification on his WeChat application came in.
@LifeInPieces: [The address is at XXX street, XXX District, No. XXX]
Yang Xiaoman had sent him the details of the address.
Xu Mang felt very touched. This flat-chested barbarian was actually very kind, just that she had a bad temper.
To show his appreciation, Xu Mang replied with one sentence.
@TheDreamOfAllFemalesInThe Universe: [I just found it, and now you've sent it. Why would I need you?]
@LifeInPieces: [You wait and see!]
Ugh…
She was so irritable.
***
Monday came, and the school had rented a big bus to send all the participants to the competition venue. Yang Xiaoman was dressed lightly as she stepped into the vehicle in a great mood, rejoicing that the annoying existence which was Xu Mang was not here.
Sitting in the back at the last row, Yang Xiaoman looked out the window at the passing scenery. She suddenly felt a slight discomfort, as though there was something missing around her.
Why…
Why was she thinking of Xu Mang at this time?
As the thought of Xu Mang entered her mind, she couldn't help but remember the words that he kept using to make her angry, and the times she had riled him up in turn. Yang Xiaoman felt a very pleasant and warm feeling, the warmth seemed to be coming from outside her body all the way into her heart.
Wait!
That didn't feel right...this situation didn't seem right at all!
Yang Xiaoman suddenly realized that this was a serious problem—she had adapted to life with Xu Mang around! Even when Xu Mang was not beside her, it was the same as having a knee-jerk reaction. She was confused and a little lost at what to do.
It couldn't be...she couldn't possibly...like him, right?
Once the thought surfaced, Yang Xiaoman felt a shudder run through her.
"Maybe it's just...a delusion. It must be because I played League of Legends too much and slept late on Saturday."
Yang Xiaoman shook her head, putting all the blame of this entire train of thought on the game. In order for her to stop these ridiculous thoughts, she found several soothing piano instrumental songs and put on her earphones to listen to it to cleanse her soul.
However, even with the earphones in her ears, Yang Xiaoman could hear the people around her discussing Xu Mang. This made her now calm heart have waves crashing in it once again.
They were all talking badly about Xu Mang and Yang Xiaoman was very unhappy about it!
In Yang Xiaoman's mind, Xu Mang had signed the 'Xu Yang Treaty', which meant that he was her underling. The only one who had the right to talk bad or scold him was only her, no one else was allowed to!
Usually, Yang Xiaoman was a very overbearing woman, which was closely related to her family background. Of course, under special circumstances, just like now, she would be even more overbearing.
She increased the volume of her music, isolating herself from the world around her. This way, Yang Xiaoman could block out the sounds of those bad-mouthing Xu Mang.
After what seemed like a long time, the bus had finally reached its destination. The parking lot was already filled with other buses. Wang Xue was the teacher in charge this time, and she led the students into the venue. After registering them, they continued on their way to attend the opening ceremony.
Ding!
Yang Xiaoman's phone received a notification from WeChat.
@TheDreamOfAllFemalesInThe Universe: [Hehehe...I managed to sneak out, I'm on my way!]
Yang Xiaoman: (*゜ー゜*)
He…
What the hell was going on with him?
Should she tell the teacher about this?
Just as she was prepared to inform the teacher of the situation, she received another message on WeChat.
@TheDreamOfAllFemalesInThe Universe: [The traffic jam is very bad...I might not make it.]
...He really knew how to drive people mad!
'This moron, are you coming or not!?'