Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 255 - 254 Study well, and you truly can do whatever you want

Inside a small classroom, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing sat side by side, facing Huang Ying and the male teacher.

The male teacher’s name was Wang Gang, serving as the Deputy Dean of the School of Physics, in charge of enrollment and undergraduate teaching, equivalent to Zhou Chenghuan in the Chemical Institute.

Li Zheng looked at the squared-off Chinese face and realized that he might have seen him during the provincial team training, but at that time, he was engrossed in using mathematical language to build the world of physics and hadn’t paid too much attention.

At this moment, unlike when facing the teachers during the Jinghua contract signing, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing both felt a bit nervous.

It wasn’t because they feared the contract wouldn’t be good, but simply because they were suddenly close to the land of their dreams, and naturally, nervousness came with it.

"You used to be quite active, you know, loving art and stuff." Huang Ying looked at Li Zheng and laughed, "Now that Dean Wang is here, how come you’re not talking?"

Li Zheng struggled for a while and squeezed out a few words, "Love will be indulgent, but true love is restrained."

"Nonsense..." Lin Yujing hurriedly stepped on Li Zheng’s foot, "Be more reserved, will you..."

"Haha." Wang Gang raised his hand and laughed, "You don’t have to be so nervous. The contract this time isn’t even given by our School of Physics; it is a direct order from the leadership. What were the exact words, Huang Ying?"

"Don’t tell him first... that’s so boring." Huang Ying sighed discontentedly, "Oh well, it’s come to this, no point in hiding. This matter was personally entrusted by the leadership above. The exact words were—-’Spare no expense to sign them, immediately.’

Hearing this, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing began to feel secretly exhilarated.

Yet they couldn’t show too much joy on their faces.

But they also could barely contain their smiles.

In the end, they had to stifle their laughter while forcibly being modest.

"Oh, I’m not that exceptional..."

"Mmm mmm mmm..."

"Decency, you’re laughing so hard you’re almost drooling." Huang Ying explained, "This matter also needs to thank Zhou Yi, Dean Zhou. After the national team training for the Chemistry Competitions was over, he went to see the leadership, and he also gave a heads-up to the Departments of Mathematics and Physics. His stance was, even if you didn’t make it to the national team training in physics competitions, you should still be recommended for admission, since you already qualified through the chemistry side. Look, Dean Zhou must like you a lot to do this, using an opportunity from the Chemical Institute to personally make sure you were delivered to the School of Physics."

Wang Gang added, "Moreover, Dean Zhong and Teacher Jie also specifically told me about this. It seems Teacher Jie directly approached the higher-ups to explain, and he also visited the Department of Mathematics a couple of times. Plus, with the previous ICHO incident, you had already made a name for yourself at Ji University."

"The teachers flatter me too much." After pretending to be modest, Li Zheng couldn’t help but lift his head high, chuckling as he glanced at Lin Yujing.

At that moment, he seemed to feel his status rise.

Huang Ying snickered, "What are you thinking? Signing Lin Yujing has nothing to do with you; she’s already got the level, not to mention she’s also recommended by an academician."

"Academician?" Li Zheng’s face fell.

This was bad, he had been outdone again.

Can Zhou Chenghuan even match up to 0.3 of an academician?

"Let’s not talk about it anymore..." Lin Yujing shyly lowered her head, "Please don’t say it, Teacher Huang."

"Ah? He doesn’t know?" Huang Ying was taken aback, then quickly quieted down and instantly switched topics, "You two have no idea, because of your papers last night, the marking panel stayed up until two in the morning, with dozens of teachers picking out mistakes, and even having a meeting to discuss...the possibility of cheating, given there hasn’t been a full score in the physics competition finals for many years."

"Yes, I’ve seen your papers as well, and also provided my own feedback," Wang Gang sighed, "I said at the time that both of you clearly have your own ideas and styles, which can only come from your own thinking; even Yang Changle might not be able to fabricate this."

"So, as soon as the results were confirmed this morning, we didn’t dare to wait and immediately came over with the contracts." As Huang Ying spoke, she took out two thin contracts and pushed them towards the two. "Since it’s the most extreme type of contract, there’s not much to explain. It’s just one sentence—’Recommended admission, free choice of major.’

"Oh?" Li Zheng stared at the contract and began to study it, "Including liberal arts majors?"

"Including."

"Including Yaohua College?" Lin Yujing asked.

"Including." Huang Ying sighed, "Even Yingpei College is included. Okay, stop asking, you two fall under the category of going wherever you wish, and you don’t have to decide now, just decide before June next year."

Li Zheng was confused, "Yaohua? Yingpei?"

"You really didn’t prepare at all..." Just as Huang Ying was about to speak, she suddenly remembered something and turned to Wang Gang, "Perhaps you’d like to explain?"

"No problem, you go ahead," Wang Gang nodded, then added, "There’s no need to hide anything, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing are both school-level talents, and our School of Physics has no reason, nor the right, to monopolize them."

Only then did Huang Ying begin to explain the mysterious institutions of Ji University.

Firstly, Yaohua College is actually Ji University’s School of Economics and Management.

The name sounds somewhat makeshift, akin to a strange cheap branch campus, but in reality, it’s very difficult to enroll in, as it’s one of Ji University’s most popular colleges, aimed at those who want to make money and become business owners.

As for Yingpei College, it also sounds makeshift, but it’s in fact Ji University’s experimental class.

It’s not an experimental class for a particular major, but rather the top-notch school-level class, enrolling about 150 students a year, of which only four are given to Jijing.

Without a doubt, this class is filled with the crème de la crème of exceptional students, desperate to include only the top scorers and champions from each province and from each subject.

What’s more intriguing is that Yingpei College imposes no specific major; it operates as "major-free."

During your undergraduate years, you can take any course you want to learn, and after completing the basic courses, you can switch to any major you desire at any time.

At the same time, the undergraduate phase implements a full-time advisor system, where every undergraduate will receive comprehensive guidance from professors across various departments.

Study what you want to,

Go where you wish to go.

All these words boil down to one thing—

If you study well, you really can do whatever you want.

"Oh, right, the dormitories at Yingpei are not only freer in terms of teaching style, but they are also a bit nicer," Huang Ying mentioned offhandedly. "They were updated last year, with boys and girls together, plus there are gyms, billiards rooms, study rooms, and so on…"

"Oh?" Li Zheng’s eyes widened.

"Cough…" Wang Gang hurriedly coughed, "Perhaps we don’t need to go into so much detail, Teacher Huang…"

Next, Wang Gang began to introduce the achievements of the Ji University Department of Physics.

Here, 126 academicians have been birthed.

Of the 11 key figures of the nuclear and missile program, Ji University’s Department of Physics claimed seven seats.

In the Ministry of Education’s assessment, the Ji University Department of Physics was rated A+, eternally ranking first nationwide.

The current faculty consists of 206 members, including 19 academicians.

The undergraduate majors include Physics, Nuclear Physics, Astronomy, and Atmospheric Sciences.

At the graduate and doctoral levels, the field encompasses all cutting-edge content in Physics, 90% of which are nationally leading and world-leading standards.

All kinds of laboratories are available for your choosing.

In short, coming to Ji University for Physics is the right choice.

Wang Gang passionately advertised for over ten minutes, barely managing to reel the two back from Yingpei College.

After signing the contract and seeing the two teachers off, the afternoon exams had already started.

When Li Zheng put the contract into his backpack, his hands were still trembling.

"So this is considered a direct admission..."

"Yeah…" Lin Yujing narrowed her eyes, "You piece of trash, you’re not actually considering Yingpei, are you?"

"I am actually a bit interested… The all-discipline general education seems attractive," said Li Zheng, swallowing his saliva. "Study for a year and then switch to the direction I like most, how stable is that."

"Then why not just go straight to the direction you like?"

"Hey, isn’t it better to have a more comprehensive knowledge? Dabble a bit in every subject."

"You’re too slack… That’s really too lazy…" Lin Yujing shook her head and pulled on her backpack straps, "I’m heading to School of Physics for the Astronomy specialization; you go be slack."

"Didn’t Dean Wang just say I could minor in astronomy and get a double degree?" Li Zheng smiled and hoisted his backpack, "Don’t worry, no matter how many subjects I take on, I won’t neglect Physics."

"You’re slack to the extreme… You might as well go minor in Shi Yang instead."

"Shi Yang can be majored in, too?"

"Get lost, I’m mad!" Lin Yujing shoved Li Zheng aside and headed for the door sullenly.

Although there were some small conflicts, they finally settled the most concerning matter, and when they stepped out of the lab building, they still felt quite relieved.

Only, the contract signing took too long, and now there was neither food to eat nor buses to take.

Considering their rare opportunity for free time, they decided to hop on a bus to Lake Ying.

Imagining drinking tea in a quiet arbor and rowing a boat amidst the beautiful scenery of West Lake seemed delightful.

However, reality smacked them hard in the face.

The weather was hot, the place was crowded, and the scenery didn’t differ much from the Summer Palace, making for a hellish experience.

Because of the rush, they even had their meal hurriedly.

By the time they exhaustedly returned to the hotel lobby, it was already past seven in the evening.

"I’m never visiting a tourist spot again…" Li Zheng wiped the greasy sweat from his scalp, "Had I known... I would have found a cat café to pet some cats."

Lin Yujing also staggered, her gaze lost and her steps unsteady, "Ugh… Ah… I hate crowds."

Just as the two were about to check if there was still any food at the buffet, they saw Qi Yingnan hurriedly wiping his mouth as he rushed out of the restaurant.

"Where did you two go?" Qi Yingnan had just asked when he immediately started pulling Li Zheng to walk, "Never mind, I don’t want to hear it, preliminary results are out, they’re being announced right now, hurry up."

"That fast?" Li Zheng suddenly lost his appetite.

"Theoretical scores were released this morning, and just now the experimental ones came out, too." Qi Yingnan’s voice trembled a bit, "Whether we can get an offer or not...how do you two feel about your performance?"

Li Zheng and Lin Yujing exchanged a look.

They kind of didn’t have the heart to burst his bubble.

"It was okay."

"So-so."

"Cut the crap..." Qi Yingnan couldn’t help cursing, "You’re probably first and second, right?"

"Hard to say," Li Zheng quickly raised his hand, "you forgot about those two 380+ monsters in the semi-finals, remember?"

"Mm...we didn’t do well in the experiment..." Lin Yujing suddenly remembered the upsetting incident and became anxious again, "it’s still possible to be overtaken."

"Really?" Qi Yingnan turned to look at Li Zheng.

"Why would I lie to you?" Li Zheng sighed heavily, "the experiment time was too short this time, and all the bad luck hit us at once, it was terrible."

"Ha, no way?" Seeing the Lake Ying Duo at a disadvantage, Qi Yingnan’s face lit up with a smirk, feeling secretly thrilled, "You two had your day coming!"

"Enough, let’s not talk about it." Li Zheng started walking faster, turning to Lin Yujing, "Let’s face the reality, we might not be the strongest..."

"That’s okay, I’ll be happy as long as I’m better than you."

"Joke’s on you, you missed the magnetic flux."

"Don’t bring that up again!"

The two bantered back and forth as they moved forward, with Qi Yingnan following behind with a cold sneer.

He was confident, he had done well in both theory and experiment.

He was Zhang Wujie, persevering through hardships, honing his inner strength, contemplating deeply, and fiercely practicing his sword techniques.

Finally, the moment had come.

Studying, it turns out, really can’t be done with a divided mind.

Let you all show off! Let you all show off!

It’s time for you to see how steady a singleton like me can be!

Soon, the three of them entered the small conference room where the scores were being announced.

The place was packed to the gills.

Contestants were jostling to get close to the announcement board, while team leaders were incessantly pulling aside the organizing committee members to discuss, seemingly negotiating over scores.

Li Zheng and his group had no choice but to squeeze forward as well.

Unlike the Chem Competitions, those who had seen their scores didn’t immediately leave but rather stood in a daze in front of the board.

Nobody was making room for anyone else either.

This was odd.

"So strange..." Li Zheng frowned, "At times likes this, a path should clear up like Moses parting the sea..."

"Hmph, still think you’ll take the crown?" Qi Yingnan gestured dismissively with a laugh, "Hurry up and squeeze through, stop blabbering."

"It really is strange." Li Zheng looked up at the throng of people in front of the announcement board, "Normally people would make way quickly after seeing their scores, or at worst, they’d just take a photo."

"Maybe they just can’t find their scores."

When the trio got within a few meters of the announcement board, finally, a few perceptive students looked at Li Zheng as if he was a monster, making way for him quite reasonably.

After that, more and more people gave them the same monstrous looks, and the path finally widened.

Only then did Li Zheng breathe a sigh of relief; this was how it was supposed to be, it was settled.

But Qi Yingnan got tenser.

I also have my day!

Eventually, the three of them reached the front of the announcement board.

They looked up, directly at the very top.

[36th National Middle School Physics Competition Results (Provisional) Announcement]

(Theoretical score is out of 280 points)

(Experimental score is out of 120 points)

(Total score is out of 400 points)]

[First place, Lin Yujing, Jijing, Lake Ying Middle School.]

[Theoretical total score: 280. Ranking: 1]

[Experimental total score: 87.6. Ranking: 1]

[Overall total score: 367.6.]

[Second place, Li Zheng, Jijing, Lake Ying Middle School.]

[Theoretical total score: 280. Ranking: 1]

[Experimental total score: 86.1. Ranking: 2]

[Overall total score: 366.1.]

Seeing this, Li Zheng’s body went weak, his legs buckled, and he collapsed into Qi Yingnan’s arms.

It was over.

The sky had fallen.

All was lost.

A lifetime.

This time, it was definitely a lifetime of not being able to raise his head again.

In contrast was Lin Yujing nearby.

Even though they were only about ten centimeters apart.

Li Zheng could already feel her excited trembling.

The temperature seemed to rise as well.

Inflation, she was starting to swell.

Like growing into a giant.

Lin Yujing’s complexion turned visibly crimson, not the shy kind of red, but one of excitement.

After a moment, however, the exuberance in her expression receded.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, she turned her head to the side.

Looking down from high above, at Li Zheng, who had collapsed into someone else’s arms, panicking.

She spoke up with scorn.

"Trash, trash."

She laughed.

Such laughter wasn’t a first, nor would it be the last.

But it certainly was the most devastating one yet.

Li Zheng was completely defeated.

For life, this really was for life.

There wouldn’t be another competition like this ever again.

Summit of The Forbidden, the victor and the vanquished were clear.

What remained for him was a life filled with humiliation.

And echoes of "trash... trash... trash..." reverberating again and again.

In his sorrow, Qi Yingnan suddenly dropped Li Zheng.

"Wait... this is too much..." Qi Yingnan stared dumbstruck at the announcement board, "this is... there must be a mistake..."