We, the Abstract People

After class, Chen Xiaoya called Lin Mo, Jiang Yunlu, and Xue Zigui into the office.

“Every exam, the school posts a Top 100 ranking board at the entrance. You three all ranked within the top fifty. This afternoon, you’ll be taking photos to be featured on the board, along with your personal mottos.

So, you’d better write down your mottos for me.”

[Congratulations, Host, for entering the Sect’s Heavenly Ranking! The Invincible Cultivation System is deeply comforted and hopes you will keep up the good work. The system has decided to upgrade the daily task rewards as an encouragement!]

It was about time for an upgrade, that old thing!

The daily tasks were almost always the same, and the rewards were always Qi Nourishing Pills.

For Lin Mo, who had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, they were less tasty than candy beans.

Lin Mo just collected them daily and set them aside.

When Lin Mo came back to his senses, Xue Zigui had already written on his paper: “The fate of Heaven and Earth is undecided; you and I are the dark horses.”

Jiang Yunlu thought for a moment and wrote: “Studying is for oneself.”

Too plain, too simple.

No spirit at all; might as well bite a lighter.

Lin Mo was a master of abstract expressions.

For example, “If XX is too much, then XX it a bit,” or “She talks with the innocence of a child; Honey Snow is the ultimate milk tea; she says she bought life insurance; if only she could be the boss for three days…”

After thinking it over, it was just too outrageous; better not.

In the end, Lin Mo simply wrote on the paper: “What can you do about my arrogance?”

Going for a classic, timeless phrase.

Actually, he also wanted to write “Because you’re too beautiful,” or “Rick 5 not lung” (a pun).

But those jokes were too ahead of their time.

Of course, there was also the legendary ID “Level 8 Gale.”

Lin Mo didn’t want to get banned, so he could only settle for this safe and conventional motto.

Next time, next time he’d think of something outrageously cool that could pass the review.

Looking at the mottos on their papers, Chen Xiaoya glanced at Lin Mo with suspicion and asked, “Are you really going to put this one up?”

“Teacher, youth without recklessness is a wasted youth.”

“Yours is better than that one.”

“But mine is more interesting. When classmates see it, they’ll think I’m a fun person.”

With that, Lin Mo turned and left the office.

Xue Zigui and Jiang Yunlu were both curious about what Lin Mo had written.

Chen Xiaoya didn’t hide it and reluctantly showed it to them.

Upon seeing it, Jiang Yunlu couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Is this really okay, teacher?”

“It’s fine. The school doesn’t forbid it. They want students to keep their individuality.”

After all, Lin Mo’s grades were indeed excellent. Good grades were the best weapon in school.

Though there were no explicit rules, everyone understood the unspoken norm.

......

Back in the classroom.

“Genius, please lend me your notes!”

Fang Jun looked at Lin Mo with a flattering expression.

His grades had always been in the lower-middle range of the class, so at times like this, he needed Lin Mo’s notes.

An Yuexin was about the same.

Lin Mo laid out his notes neatly and took out today’s class notebook, then handed the rest over to them.

After all, notes were just an aid.

Throughout the day, every subject teacher praised Lin Mo, since he basically ranked first in every class.

After the praise came the test paper review.

By evening self-study, many students were still busy correcting their mistakes.

And today was only part of the subjects; there was still more to come tomorrow.

After school, Xie Yuling was already waiting outside.

Usually, the two of them didn’t interact much at school and rarely exchanged words.

Today was no exception. It wasn’t until they stepped out of the school gates that Xie Yuling took the initiative to speak first.

“How did you do on the monthly exam?”

Since the class mainly announced the results of their own students, the scores of other classes weren’t recorded on their class’s list.

Xie Yuling actually cared quite a bit about Lin Mo’s results.

If she could outperform him in some areas, maybe she could even tutor him in other subjects?

“What’s this? Looks like Scholar Xie did pretty well, huh? A top hundred contender?”

Xie Yuling squinted and smiled, her expression sly, like a little fox.

“Yeah, total score 923, ranked 67th in the whole school.”

Lin Mo thought for a moment. He remembered that in his previous life, Xie Yuling’s grades weren’t this good.

Probably because he had helped her with some math, her scores had improved a lot.

“Not bad, very good. As your teacher, I feel quite reassured.”

Lin Mo walked ahead, stroking his nonexistent long beard.

“Hmph! So you’re saying your grades are good, huh!” Xie Yuling guessed what was coming.

Fang Jun immediately chimed in.

“Old Mo got second place in the whole school, 995 points. We’ll probably never catch up to that score in our lifetime.”

Although Fang Jun himself scored over 800 points and was legitimately admitted to this school, Lin Mo’s score was just overwhelmingly impressive.

He had to share this pressure with others.

As expected, Xie Yuling showed the exact expression Fang Jun wanted to see.

Surprise, disbelief, and then a sense of helplessness.

“It’s okay, you’re already amazing,” Lin Mo patted Xie Yuling’s shoulder. Though his tone was meant to comfort, it somehow came off as a subtle mockery.

Pouting, Xie Yuling snorted coldly and headed home.

Lin Mo shook his head helplessly. “I didn’t say anything, really.”

Blame Fang Jun.

But Fang Jun was enjoying himself.

Back at Xie Yuling’s house, Zheng Yuan came out carrying some fruit, but Xie Yuling went straight to her room.

Zheng Yuan didn’t ask about Lin Mo’s grades but still sat down.

“Xiao Mo, Yuling did pretty well on this exam. I promised her that if she scored well, I’d buy her a phone and get internet installed at home. Could you take her to handle it this weekend?”

Zheng Auntie didn’t know the first thing about setting up broadband.

Naturally, she turned to Lin Mo for help, and he agreed without hesitation.

Getting the broadband was easy—just get the same package.

“No problem. I won’t go home Friday, and on Saturday I’ll take Xie Yuling to set up the broadband.”

“Ah, with you helping, I can relax. That girl…”

Before she could finish, Xie Yuling opened the door and walked out.

“What about the computer?”

“The computer… well, that’ll have to wait until next time. I’m not going to buy you so many things all at once.”

Zheng Auntie had to be practical, after all.

Xie Yuling seemed to have forgotten about what happened earlier on the way. She could only sit helplessly in her chair, eating fruit and staring at Lin Mo.

“So, how did you manage to get such a high score?”

“The other subjects just had higher scores. I also lost quite a few points in Chinese and English. After the subject split, my overall ranking might not be that high.”

Lin Mo felt he had dropped too many points in Chinese. It was a pity that his spiritual awareness couldn’t help improve his reading comprehension.

Xie Yuling, however, looked at Lin Mo with a serious expression.

“No, you’ll definitely still score high because you’re really talented.”

As she spoke, Zheng Yuan grew curious.

She looked at Lin Mo and asked, “So, how did you do on this month’s exam?”

Lin Mo didn’t answer right away, so Xie Yuling spoke for him first.

“995 points, second in the entire school.”

“Ah?” Aunt Zheng hadn’t expected Lin Mo’s score to be so high.