Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 242: Positive energy is just right.

Looking at the unfamiliar name "Li Zheng" on the screen, the Prague venue exploded into astonishment after a brief silence.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in an ordinary bar, Li Zheng himself had forgotten the noise around him because of those two characters.

This guy… still so insensitive…

But this time, I love it!

The undergraduate senior sitting across from Li Zheng nudged the graduate senior: "Hey, hey, hey… Li Zheng is going to cry…"

"Ah? Is he?" The senior lifted his glasses and wiped his eyes, "Wow… he really tears up easily..."

However, Shen Yiyun had already started typing through her tears: "Sister Shi Bao’er loves you!! Sister loves you!!"

At the same time, the live stream room, with only a few hundred viewers, was already filled with rapidfire comments.

[It really is Shi Yang in Prague!]

[Damn, that’s too solid, this move is just too solid…]

[Xiangnan will forever support Cobalt God!]

[Xiangbei supports him too!]

[Greetings from Chengdu No.7 Middle School!]

[Yali students and teachers protect Cobalt God!]

Amid the passionate barrage of comments, Shi Yang finally returned the gold medal to the smiling chairman and moved back to the center of the podium, holding the national flag with all his might, squeezing his eyes shut, and shouting at the top of his voice—

"I love Chemistry!!!"

In an instant, a new round of applause surged over, drowning everything else out.

Although most people in the venue couldn’t understand the Chinese phrase.

But looking at that face, that expression, it would be surprising if they couldn’t guess what he meant.

The live stream’s comments were similarly overwhelmed by an ocean of[I love Chemistry!!!]

Biomedical, environmental, and materials sciences might indeed be tough fields.

But that will never stop students from loving them.

At least, not at this moment.

With the top three finishers having received their awards, the live-streaming teacher turned the camera towards Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi’s face perfectly embodied the idea of mixed feelings.

It was like spending New Year’s Eve happily with the family, only to find a cockroach halfway through eating your dumpling.

And then with a flick of the hand.

Since it’s the New Year’s, just eat it.

But when spitting it out, something felt off, as if there were still remains in your mouth.

In short, he was extremely, extremely conflicted.

But as a mature leader, he was always alert and cautious, never letting personal emotions take control.

He suddenly turned his head and asked tensely and seriously, "How many people are watching?"

"The popularity is over a thousand… I’m not sure how many," the woman holding the phone answered.

"That’s at least a hundred people," Zhou Yi said without hesitation, pleading to the camera, "Please everyone, help me out, don’t spread this incident, if anyone has recorded it, please delete it. Only this way can we protect Shi Yang, I’m begging you all, save me this face."

He then stood up, made a gesture, and the live broadcast was swiftly cut off.

This kind of ending, although expected, still left the viewers wanting more.

Facing the black screen, the comments flooded in even more.

[Why did it cut off?]

[Did Shi Yang say something wrong?]

[Other competitions have long since abandoned the rule limiting one person per province, why does Chemistry still do this?]

[He’s not wrong, but saying such things on an international stage… is still somewhat inappropriate. It should be addressed through proper channels to the Chemical Society.]

[Did addressing it work? If it was effective, would it come to this?]

[In Magnesium Country, people around the world berate the President of Magnesium Country, and it’s fine, but you’re so sensitive over such a small matter? Does everything need to be made into a big issue?]

[Alright... let’s not argue... Listen to Teacher Zhou, everyone just disperse now...]

In the midst of the chaos, a very rational comment appeared.

[Hello everyone, I am Jian Yue, a competitor from the previous year.]

[I’ve been silent because I’ve been crying.]

[Maybe everyone is only focused on Shi Yang’s gold medal and has already forgotten Wei Dongyang’s silver medal.]

[I’m not making excuses for my failure, I just want to tell everyone that as a Xiangnan competitor, the pressure to compete each year has reached a terrifying level.]

[Occupying this precious spot, if you don’t win a gold medal, it’s simply more painful than death.]

[You all assume the team championship is a sure win and laugh at Wei Dongyang’s expense.]

[But I understand, he’s truly crying.]

[He always appears to be laughing on the surface, but inside, he must have been crushed.]

[I am very grateful that Shi Yang could say such things, he possesses a courage we cannot compare with.]

[Also, please stop arguing, let’s all stop discussing and spreading this publicly, protect him, don’t let this brave person suffer any more harm.]

[That’s it, I’m leaving.]

[Thank you all for keeping quiet for me.]

[Although I chose not to pursue chemistry for psychological reasons.]

[But on one point, I am the same as everyone—]

[I love chemistry.]

After these words, a user named [Big Yueyue] exited the live broadcast room.

In such text, Li Zheng seemed to see the outline of a person.

Someone who had been hurt before, keeping their distance.

But every year at this time, they couldn’t help but hide in a corner, excitedly and secretly watching the whole event.

After Pleasure God spoke, the remaining people in the live broadcast room gradually calmed down.

After all, they are hardcore science students who truly love chemistry, and reason was bound to regain control.]

[Okay, let’s all disperse.]

[Let’s heed Teacher Zhou’s advice, don’t talk about this matter outside.]

[Farewell, I love chemistry!]

[Farewell.]

These departing people didn’t know that the real trouble onsite had just begun.

...

At the main venue in Prague, Shi Yang had achieved a great feat and was coming off the stage with an elated face, hugging the long-haired Russian guy tight. Due to the chaotic scene, they had to shout in each other’s ears to hear what the other was saying, and they were both using broken English.

"What’s his name again?" the long-haired guy shouted.

"Li Zheng!" Shi Yang shouted back, "If I can get full marks in the experiment here, he can get full marks in theory."

"Hahaha, I don’t believe it!" the long-haired guy laughed.

"Just wait, he’ll be off to IPHO soon!"

"What a coincidence, I’ll be there too!" The long-haired guy’s eyes lit up, and he swung his long hair. "Say it again, what’s his name? Your Chinese names are all too similar, hard to remember."

"Forget it, I’ll give you my jacket." Shi Yang took off his school uniform and handed it to the long-haired guy, shouting again, "Li Zheng! He once said Russian problems are just kid problems, and proclaimed he was going to annihilate your Russian physics team. Are you mad, are you mad?"

These words, when spoken in Chinese, naturally have a teasing and joking tone.

But when translated into Chinese-style English, it takes on a larger-than-life, more exciting tone.

Like this.

"Russian physics is my little brother."

"Kill Russian physics!"

"Angry? Not angry?"

The long-haired guy’s eyes reddened, and he got angry in an instant.

"Kill me? No! It’s me who will kill him! Tell him, when I was 7, I could’ve killed him! Russians learn calculus in kindergarten, a couple of middle schoolers can figure out aerospace trajectories!"

"Okay, okay, definitely, definitely." Shi Yang asked with a grin, "By the way, what’s your name again?"

"Aleksei Konoplev."

"Shoot, big brother, how am I supposed to remember your name?"

"Wait a second..." The long-haired guy fumbled around his body for a while and couldn’t find a business card or anything, so he had to pull out his phone, "Follow me on Twitter."

"Can’t do it, big brother..."

"Crap!" The long-haired guy, in his rush, tore off his own gold medal and handed it to Shi Yang, "It’s engraved on the back, tell him to figure out how to get on Twitter or Facebook, and make it clear who will kill who!"

"Ah... this is so embarrassing..." Shi Yang wiped the medal and quickly stuffed it into his pocket.

"Return it to me at the IPHO," said the long-haired guy.

"Will do, definitely, definitely!" replied Shi Yang.

Looking at Shi Yang’s smiling face, big brother suddenly felt some regret.

"I should have written your name on a piece of paper..."

"Eh eh, this is fine, Aleksei Konoplev, see how clearly it’s engraved."

"But if... Li can’t go to IPHO, could you please have one of the other members of Team China bring it to me..."

"Definitely, definitely, don’t worry big brother."

As they were talking, the third-place winner, the Korean guy, awkwardly came forward.

"Then... I’ll be leaving now, goodbye Konoplev, goodbye, Shi, I’m leaving first."

The two shook hands and hugged politely before waving goodbye.

"What’s his name?" Shi Yang asked.

"Seems like... something Bahng?"

"Fang XX?"

"Not sure, your names all sound quite similar, it’s strange."

"Believe me, big brother, your names are the odd ones."

Big brother waved his hand and laughed, "Alright, I suppose I only remember names when I’m reading Jin Yong’s novels."

"Oh? You read Jin Yong?" Shi Yang clapped his hands together, "Then that’s easy, Li Zheng has a nickname, ’Xu Zhu,’ you can remember that, right?"

"Of course, I remember Xu Zhu."

"You can also pick a nickname, and I’ll tell Li Zheng, you can use that as a code between you in the future."

"Haha," big brother pondered with interest for a moment, then said, "Invincible East, I like that name."

"Uh... okay, I’ll tell him you’re called Invincible East."

"Then... can the gold medal be..."

"Ah, Teacher Zhou." Shi Yang quickly patted big brother, "See you later, our teacher is here."

"..."

Real or not, the approaching Zhou Yi had to look furious, scolding as soon as he arrived: "What are you doing, can’t you discuss things with me?"

Shi Yang had already prepared himself, scratching his head and said lowly, "Teacher Zhou... if I discussed it with you, I probably couldn’t have done it... Also, if you didn’t know about this, you wouldn’t be responsible. I should take responsibility for my own actions."

"You take responsibility for what!" Zhou Yi raised his hand and swatted at Shi Yang, "I’m in charge of the team; it’s my responsibility, everything is my responsibility. I warn you, Shi Yang, your lack of organization and discipline will soon cause trouble, not only hurting yourself, but also the people around you, your teachers, your leadership, have you thought about them?"

"..." Shi Yang remained silent, bowing his head until Zhou Yi ran out of energy from scolding, then cautiously raised his head to inquire, "Teacher Zhou... you said I’ll eventually cause trouble... does that mean... there’s no trouble this time?"

"You’re damn quick-witted!" Zhou Yi got so angry he gave another swat, "Who told you there’s no trouble? Now go back and write a self-criticism, and from now on until we disband after returning home, you’re not to say a word to anyone outside of the training team! Not to reporters, not to contestants, not to the organizing committee!"

"But... what about the banquet..."

"Banquet? It would be lenient not to lock you in the bathroom!" Zhou Yi pulled in a teacher nearby, "Take him back for me, keep a close eye on him, especially make sure the media doesn’t come into contact with him, if he stirs up trouble again, we’ll all be in it together."

After leading Shi Yang away, Zhou Yi then faced the interviewing media.

He first used a series of standard pretexts to dismiss the international media.

Then he pulled aside two domestic media outlets for a chat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I need to clarify the situation with you," he began.

"Oh, not at all," an older reporter quickly gestured with his hand, "You’re the teacher, we’re just running around, reporting the news."

"You’re too kind, every trade has its own knowledge," Zhou Yi pointed towards the awards platform and continued, "This time, for the reporting, we have to trouble you to show some indulgence. Don’t mention the abandonment of the award, just highlight ’I love chemistry’; if that won’t do, frame it as ’accepting the award in a good friend’s school uniform.’ That could work as an interesting news angle, right? Just, please, do not mention anything Shi Yang said."

The two reporters looked at each other and then unanimously nodded.

"Understood, understood."

"We just want to go with the flow and report some positive news."

"You folks have really helped us out a lot," Zhou Yi sighed in relief, extending his business card, "If you need anything related to chemistry in the future, feel free to contact me."

"You’re too kind, Dean Zhou..."

"Positive energy, positive energy..."

After exchanging business cards with tangible trepidation, they watched Zhou Yi move on to negotiate with the organizing committee, seemingly trying to get the gold medal back.

"Dean Zhou doesn’t have it easy..." the senior reporter said with a sigh after securing the business card, "Using his own resources to smooth things over for his students."

The younger reporter seemed a bit regretful, "Such a pity, I thought we could have had a big scoop."

"Don’t make trouble, if there really was a big scoop, Dean Zhou would likely get out of it unscathed, and who would be the unlucky ones if not these kids?"

"Eh... positive energy, positive energy."

...

Before long, major news websites and media microblogs began to share the good news—

[The Chinese Team Clinched the Team Championship at the 50th International Chemistry Olympiad!]

[Shi Yang of No. 1 Middle School Triumphed at the IChO! First in Theory, First in Experiment, First in Overall Score!]

[Champion Shi Yang Draped in His Former Teammate’s School Uniform, Exclaims "I Love Chemistry!"]

Moreover, in all released videos, the footage of Shi Yang’s award ceremony had the controversial content from the middle section cut out, with a focus on a positive beginning and end, full of positive energy.

Yet, the true actions and words of Shi Yang,

his fearless courage, his naive impetuosity,

were likely only remembered by the one or two hundred people who watched the live broadcast.

Rather than becoming a sensational, cheap, and fleeting headline news item fashioned for the public eye,

perhaps those memories buried in their hearts would serve as a more powerful final resting place.

...

As dinner time approached, Jie Qifen habitually slipped out of the lab and expertly lit up a cigarette.

Inside the classroom, a physics competition contestant who had placed third nationally the year before was lecturing everyone on experimental problems. Although not very articulate, he was still better than if Jie Qifen had taught the class himself.

It wasn’t that Jie Qifen was a poor teacher; it was mainly that he couldn’t teach to those who couldn’t keep up with his pace of thought. He also couldn’t impart problem-solving techniques that everyone could understand, often resulting in students unable to even take clear notes after his impassioned lectures.

Or he had to abandon his own thinking and style, slow down, break things down thoroughly following the teaching routines used by other instructors, and become an ordinary lecturer.

Given the current trend, it would probably be like that soon enough.

Jie Qifen shook his head with a laugh and lit his cigarette in the hallway.

He had barely taken a puff when he saw a decent-looking student carrying a backpack coming up the stairs, covering his nose and pointing behind Jie Qifen towards the wall.

Jie Qifen glanced back—

[No Smoking.]

"Sorry, really," Jie Qifen said with pursed lips, pinching out his cigarette with a sigh, "Without this, I can’t survive. I truly am infringing on your right to clean air, but I’m also doing it for my own right to survive. That sounded a bit incorrect, just tolerate it."

Li Zheng shook his head, "Heh, that’s just the biological enslavement of humans by nicotine. If you insist on not smoking for a few months, you won’t crave it anymore."

"When I don’t smoke, I start thinking about other things, and thinking about other things makes me want to smoke again." Jie Qifen took a long drag and smiled, "Why did you come back?"

"I still want to study with everyone," Li Zheng said, not mentioning the inspiration he got from Shi Yang. He covered his nose and moved towards the hallway entrance, "Is it too late?"

"Not too late," Jie Qifen dismissed with a wave of his hand, "But the instructor might not be as skilled as you. Give it a try."

"Aren’t you the instructor?" Li Zheng asked, turning back.

"Don’t count on me. You won’t understand what I say, it’s a waste of time."

"Oh?" Li Zheng’s eyebrows arched, "I’ve yet to have a class I couldn’t understand."

"Heh?" Jie Qifen also found it amusing as he pinched out the cigarette, "I’ve never had a student who could understand."

Li Zheng’s lips curled into a smirk, "It seems then, only one of us can maintain the myth, right?"

Jie Qifen stuck a new cigarette in his mouth, "Who cares about you. Go listen in the large classroom. They won’t even let me smoke."

"..." Li Zheng frowned menacingly.

He had turned back to join the training camp for three reasons.

The first reason was that he was motivated by Shi Yang. He felt too lax and arrogant and needed to return to the crowd, to learn alongside the masses.

The second reason was because of Jie Qifen.

During the conversation earlier that day with Shen Yiyun and Hu Zengwu, he had quickly realized that Jie Qifen was an exceptional character.

Although his professional ethics and personal character were questionable, it was enlightening to learn physics from him solely, ignoring his twisted worldviews.

After all, physics was too bewitching. Considering this, Li Zheng had to make some concessions.

"So, could you smoke less?" Li Zheng looked up and asked.

"Nope," Jie Qifen shook his head, "Let’s find a place. I’ll explain while I smoke, 15 minutes, then I’ll give you a problem. If you solve it, we continue."

"..." Li Zheng’s scalp tingled as he struggled to say, "If you weren’t smoking... this would be so much better..."

"Can’t handle it? Just sit on the side then."

"I can handle it!" Li Zheng clenched his teeth, "If I solve the problem, I’d appreciate if you’d go outside to smoke."

"Afraid the problem isn’t hard enough?" Jie Qifen laughed, "I’ll satisfy you."

"Then I’ll wait for you inside..."

"Wait a second, I’m still curious," Jie Qifen asked, "Why did you really come back?"

Facing the physics guru, Li Zheng looked down, providing him with the third and ultimate reason.

"There’s someone named Konoplev who indirectly sent a video, saying he wants to finish off me and my teammates. It’s fine by me if he has a problem with me, but he offended my teammates," Li Zheng’s expression turned fierce inexplicably, "So, I have to strike first."