novellhall Chapter 1 The Fallen Genius
Chapter 1 The Fallen Genius
Fu Chen has always been suspected by his father that he is not his biological child.
From the year he was born, Fu Chen displayed an intelligence and talent that were completely unrelated to his elementary school education.
Walking at six months, talking at one year, reciting various poems and articles by the age of three, and attending top-tier schools from kindergarten onwards…
Achieving first-level martial arts at the age of seven and passing the exam to become a junior alchemist at the age of eleven—such a young person's resume is among the best in the country.
From school leaders and teachers to fortune teller Zhang Diaoya at the end of the pedestrian street, everyone says that Fu Chen is absolutely a genius among millions, a reincarnation of the dual stars of literature and martial arts!
They became the "other people's child" that countless families in Lanshan City talked about over tea.
With a child like this, even if you're delivering takeout or fixing screws, you'd still unconsciously hold your head high, right?
But here's the problem: Dad Fu Longhu and Mom Liu Liping didn't even complete six years of primary school combined.
How did we manage to give birth to such an amazing son?
Were we switched at birth?
Every time they saw the composure and wisdom in Fu Chen's eyes that far surpassed that of his peers, their thoughts became even more intense.
Fortunately, though.
The genius Fu Chen died when he was just fifteen years old.
This is the plot of a novel that my parents like.
"Sister Wang, I heard your child starts school tomorrow? Congratulations! Lanshan No. 2 Middle School is great, it's a top-tier high school!"
"What's so great about it... Tan Shiyun from the next street got into Shengling Martial Arts High School, which is the top key high school in Lanshan Province and one of the top 3 martial arts high schools in the country!"
At 8 p.m., in Lanshan City, many neighbors gathered under the banyan tree on Xinqiao Street to chat after dinner.
"By the way, Fu Chen, who's always been quite close to her, wasn't there a rumor last year that he suffered some kind of shock that caused his grades to plummet? How did he do on the exams, and which school did he go to?"
"Lanshan City Peicai Middle School"
Fu Chen, who was taking out the trash, stood smiling in front of his neighbors as he passed the banyan tree.
"Pui Choi Middle School," also known as the "school for the useless," resonates like thunder in everyone's hearts.
After a brief silence, the neighbors scattered and fled in an instant.
They didn't even utter a polite phrase like, "I forgot to turn off the stove when I boiled water at home."
With her delicate features, Fu Chen casually tossed the trash into the recycling bin, her smile widening.
He wasn't surprised.
Imagine you're standing in front of a universally acknowledged loser and idiot who's about to attend the worst school in the country, and who scored zero in every subject on the high school entrance exam—academics, martial arts, alchemy, etc.…
You have to run too.
Although China has gradually changed the high school streaming system to twelve-year compulsory education in recent years, it has allowed some of the worst and most delinquent students to be accommodated in schools.
But in the eyes of the public, these people are no different from the scraps and dregs of society. Putting them in schools is just a way to centrally manage them and prevent them from harming society.
In today's society, where technology, martial arts, and culture are so advanced, poor grades represent low achievement and will not be appreciated by anyone.
The impressions left by students attending the worst schools:
Useless people to society, delinquents, street urchins, idiots, geniuses, drooling sugar figurines...
It's not a rigid notion, so it's normal to avoid it.
On the way home, everyone who saw Fu Chen gave him a wide berth, seemingly unwilling to get too close to this handsome, tall young man.
People don't see the effort behind an outstanding person, nor do they dwell on why Fu Chen, who was once so talented, plummeted in such a short time, losing his martial arts skills, alchemy skills, and even his academic performance.
All they knew was that Fu Chen was no longer the prodigy he once was, but a mediocre student who had become just another ordinary person.
The saying goes, "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black." If people who are labeled like this affect their children, it will be terrible.
At the fortune-telling stall on the street corner, Old Zhang, with his rotten yellow teeth, was giving fortune-telling and face readings to customers, shaking his head and making a show of mystery. He happened to see Fu Chen passing by and looked at him as if he had seen a ghost...
He took off running, abandoning his stall and leaving the bewildered customers behind.
The fortune teller, Old Zhang, was truly terrified; calling Fu Chen the Waterloo of his career was no exaggeration.
When Fu Chen was born, Old Man Zhang predicted that he was the reincarnation of the Wenwu Shuangqu Star, possessing extraordinary talent.
That was indeed the case at first. From birth until he was fifteen, Fu Chen displayed a talent that completely surpassed that of his peers.
But who would have thought that he, who was always accurate in fortune telling and face reading, would completely ruin his reputation after Fu Chen's grades plummeted when he was fifteen and he became a "fool" who scored zero in every subject.
From then on, Old Zhang was always filled with fear whenever he saw Fu Chen.
Fu Chen smiled and shook his head. Old Zhang, the still bewildered guest, didn't recognize him, so he stepped forward and mumbled a few kind words:
"Brother, you have a full forehead, a square jaw, and a ruddy complexion; you are blessed with great fortune and excellent luck!"
The customer was pleased and handed over a hundred-yuan bill.
Fu Chen picked up a corner of the banknote with his fingers, slowly lifted it up, and the streetlight shone through the banknote to reveal the pattern in the lower left corner. He smiled and flicked it with his other hand.
He put it in his pocket and happily went home.
...
"Ah Chen's high school entrance exam results are not..."
The tattooed man spent a full ten minutes typing those words on the computer, then frowned and pondered.
He turned to his son, Fu Chen, who had just returned home, and asked, "How do you spell the character '想' (xiǎng)?"
Husband nurtures...
Before Fu Chen could answer, his mother, Liu Liping, with her curly hair, rolled her eyes.
"Hey honey, can't you be a little more cultured?"
If he had any education, Fu Longhu wouldn't have mistakenly tattooed "忍" (ren, meaning to endure) as "忽" (hu, meaning to suddenly or suddenly) on the tiger's mouth back then.
When an illiterate person tries to supplement their family income by writing short articles as a side job, the situation is truly dire.
Unfortunately, with the launch of multiple food delivery platforms recently, these platforms have significantly reduced the delivery fees for riders in order to attract customers with lower prices. This has forced Fu Longhu, who was originally a full-time rider, to find a suitable part-time job.
Writing short articles is what he is "best" at among all text-based jobs, as Fu Longhu himself has a wealth of experience with his mother.
We need to give Fu Chen more pocket money, after all, our precious son will officially start high school tomorrow. He will be the first descendant of the Fu family to go to high school!
Although it also benefits from the country's expanded twelve-year compulsory education policy.
After realizing what had happened, Fu Longhu finished typing and casually blew his nose with the paper beside him. He glanced at it and was shocked to realize it was his son Fu Chen's admission notice. He quickly smoothed out the crumpled notice.
Known as the worst middle school that shelters countless Chinese idiots and geniuses, the words "Lanshan City Peicai Middle School" are prominently displayed on its sign.
Fu Chen wanted to remind his father that he could use voice input, but the next second he heard the other person's Minnan accent, which was even thicker than the old man's phlegm, and he immediately gave up the idea.
He held the back of his head, and his mother, Liu Liping, who had lip and nose piercings, handed him freshly cut fruit.
Seeing his father, who only had a third-grade education, planning to use him as a model to write novels part-time, he smiled again.
Their home atmosphere is quite different from that of a traditional Chinese family.
When a genius emerges in a traditional Chinese family who can change the family's fate, the elders will be very excited; when this genius suddenly falls from grace for some unknown reason, what awaits them is the elders' desperate cries.
It's like a teammate who suddenly drags you down; instead of comforting them, you put pressure on them.
No, think about those who picked up a big red item only to have it was wasted by their teammates, those who intentionally fed kills in League of Legends when they were winning, and those who reported themselves as critically wounded after missing a single shot in CS...
Can you resist the pressure and avoid ruining your teammates' lives?
But his parents were different.
While everyone believed Fu Chen was a genius in both literature and martial arts, a true prodigy, only his wise father remained steadfast in his belief…
And he was absolutely convinced that his child was definitely a good-for-nothing!
Like father, like son.
Fu Chen said: Thank you so much (gritting his teeth).
Therefore, Fu Chen lost all his martial arts skills and alchemy abilities.
The fact that he "didn't really work hard" to get into the worst high school in the entire city, province, and even country of Lanshan (in reality, he didn't work very hard; he just handed in blank papers in every subject)...
The parents thought it was good news.
These are two incredibly good things!
First, it fully proves that the father... well, like father, like son. He inherited their intelligence, and Fu Chen is indeed their biological son!
Secondly, Lanshan No. 28 Middle School has enrolled almost all of the most hopeless, eccentric, and bizarre students in the entire province. To prevent these "marginalized students" from having the opportunity to harm society…
Typically, after graduating from high school, the government will arrange a stable, low-paying job for them, such as rehiring from their schools, where they can directly produce and sell their own products, so that they don't have to go out into the world to do odd jobs.
They've finally secured a government job.
You should know that for ordinary people who graduate from high school and get into an unremarkable university, alchemists are in a better position, but those second- or third-tier martial artists who are commonplace have difficulty finding employment.
The value of martial arts is decreasing, and some have even been relegated to low-barrier industries such as food delivery and express delivery.
Fu Longhu felt this way deeply. Those arrogant martial artists were all more skilled at driving electric scooters than he was, even with his thirty years of experience driving ghost fire. He couldn't compete with them at all when it came to delivering takeout.
Being able to get a job after graduating from the worst high school is considered a cadre-level achievement in their parents' generation.
That's good too, it gives those who aren't good at studying a place to stay.
What? You're asking what to do if I get into university?
Rest assured, since the establishment of Pui Choi Secondary School two hundred years ago, the university admission rate has been 0% to date!
"Tomorrow is Xiao Chen's first day of school, I need to get some clothes I haven't worn in ages ready, it's a big day!" Fu Longhu said excitedly.
Fu Chen sensed something was wrong and frowned: "Dad, are you talking about that Want Want bodysuit?"
Fu Longhu raised an eyebrow: "Yeah, red, isn't that inappropriate?"
Mom excitedly brought out the Want Want outfit and loafers.
My parents haven't been young and energetic in a long time. Seeing Fu Chen's grades, which reminded them of their younger selves, they suddenly felt young again, even though they're over thirty-five.
Fu Longhu, who had spent half an hour writing only one sentence, decided to take a break. He stuffed a thousand yuan into Fu Chen's hand: "Now that you're in high school, don't be stingy with money. Spend it when you need to. Don't let your classmates look down on you. Don't worry about your family; we have money!"
"Mom and Dad, don't worry about me. I have a system. Being a bad student is just a task assigned by the system. Once I finish it, wealth, martial arts skills, and alchemy will all be within my grasp."
Fu Chen said sincerely, but his parents burst out laughing.
Fu Longhu patted Fu Chen's forehead: "Little Chen, the next line isn't going to be something like 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river,' is it?"
Liu Liping: "You also have an old man on you?"
Fu Chen sighed, "Sigh, you'll understand when you grow up."
Yes, that's the taste.
He's both taciturn and immature, so incredibly lucky! He's definitely our precious son!