Chapter 4: Choosing a New Page

Zheng Fa and Wang Chen finished eating and returned directly to the classroom.

The classroom was quiet; more than half the seats were empty, as day students had gone home to rest, and a small portion had students napping face-down on their desks.

Wang Chen had also planned to nap a bit—sleep deprivation was routine for senior high students with morning self-study at seven.

Besides, having just eaten lunch made him even sleepier.

He had barely laid his head down when he noticed Zheng Fa, seated behind and to his side, pulling out a book and muttering under his lips.

“Fuck…” Wang Chen muttered: “You’re grinding again? Just memorize all your textbooks while you’re at it.”

Having been classmates with Zheng Fa for so long, he long ago learned of Zheng Fa’s quirk—memorizing textbooks.

Fine, subjects like Chinese and English that relied on memory were understandable.

But even math and physics? Zheng Fa insisted on memorizing those too.

“Insane!” Wang Chen couldn’t help muttering again.

“I’m not memorizing textbooks.”

“That’s more like a human,” Wang Chen said, settling back down: “Aren’t you just now memorizing?”

“I finished.”

Who the hell could sleep now?

Wang Chen sat up and reached out shakily to flip through the book in Zheng Fa’s hands:

“300 Problems on Conic Sections”…

“You’re not even human!”

Seeing Wang Chen’s incredulous expression, Zheng Fa looked slightly embarrassed: “I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Shit!”

Zheng Fa watched as Wang Chen pulled out the new test paper from this morning and began frantically working on it.

“Why aren’t you sleeping anymore?”

Wang Chen shot him a sidelong glance: “You tell me why.”

…

After studying for a while, when Zheng Fa looked up again, Wang Chen in front of him was fast asleep, face planted on the test paper.

He smiled and put away the book before him.

Memorizing textbooks, in Zheng Fa’s view, was a clumsy method he resorted to out of necessity.

When he first arrived in this world years ago, he had nothing but an identity—his mind was utterly empty.

His knowledge base, back in his old world, would’ve qualified him as a literal illiterate, let alone in this modern world.

As a middle schooler, his actual ability might not even reach kindergarten level.

When he first crossed over, he scored single digits on several exams.

Fortunately, teachers and classmates assumed his grades had plummeted due to a major family upheaval.

And since middle school was compulsory education, as long as you wanted to learn, you wouldn’t be expelled.

Zheng Fa naturally wanted to improve his grades and catch up.

But he considered himself only moderately gifted, and had fallen too far behind in foundational knowledge—ordinary methods couldn’t possibly make up the gap.

Eventually, he gritted his teeth and adopted a crude method—rote memorization.

He started from elementary school textbooks, not caring whether he understood or not—he simply memorized every single character, word for word.

He’d spend seven days memorizing in this world, then spend seven days in his original world slowly recalling and attempting to comprehend in his mind.

The only advantage of this method was that it leveraged his double the available time.

Perfect for his situation.

Later, after learning some biology, he called it the “rumination method.”

At first, efficiency was low.

His memory wasn’t naturally exceptional; initially, he could recall less than one-tenth after seven days.

Later, he picked up various dubious memory techniques—memory palaces, and others—and gradually grew proficient with this learning method.

He wouldn’t claim to have perfect recall, but after reading a book two or three times, he could retain eight or nine tenths.

Compared to the real top students’ learning techniques, his method was stupid and exhausting.

But on the other hand, his foundation was exceptionally solid.

His grades improved steadily; perhaps his admission to Qing Shui High School relied on his parents’ legacy, but now he consistently ranked in the top twenty of his class.

After all, others had studied five years; Zheng Fa had genuinely memorized ten years’ worth of textbooks.

The hardship and effort involved were beyond words.

…

Seven days later, when Zheng Fa returned to the Xuanwei Realm, he carried not just a belly full of meat, but a mind full of knowledge.

Even when listening to his mother speak, his reactions were half a beat late.

It was his younger sister’s loud cheer that snapped him back.

“Mom, are they really not letting Wang Gui go back as a page?”

Zheng Fa froze—this wasn’t a trivial matter.

Though it seemed just a page’s position, for these tenant farmers on the estate, it was a form of social advancement.

“Yes,” Zheng Mu said, recounting the estate gossip: “I heard Master Wang has been begging everyone for favors these past two days, but the Lady has already said she’ll choose a new page—she won’t take his son.”

The estate was small, and Master Wang’s former glory had drawn envy.

Besides, Wang Gui returning to the Zhao household was no small matter.

For the past two days, the entire estate had buzzed with this rumor.

Zheng Fa thought deeper than his mother and sister.

In his view, Master Wang was ambitious, even clever.

In just five years, he’d risen to estate manager, caught the Lady’s eye, and even gotten his son appointed as the Young Master’s page.

Not insignificant.

He might even become a trusted confidant of the Lady or the Young Master someday.

Losing the page position was minor—it was offending the Lady that Master Wang’s family truly feared.

“The Lady must’ve seen Wang Gui is a terrible person!”

Zheng Shan was unquestionably the happiest.

“Yes, the Lady is good. When your father passed, she gave us ten taels of silver herself.” Zheng Mu spoke of the Lady with genuine gratitude.

“The Lady is good! A great good person!” Zheng Shan nodded vigorously.

Watching their reverent expressions, Zheng Fa recalled a line from a sage of his other world:

“...the era of being a stable slave, and the era of striving to become a slave but failing.”

The words were precise, piercing, repulsive—and impossible to refute.

He nodded along with his sister, feigning excitement over the Lady’s “correction of injustice.”

After all, voicing certain truths brought no benefit and could endanger those around him.

His sister, however, began fantasizing: “If only the Lady chose Brother as the page!”

“Then Wang Gui wouldn’t dare bully us again!”

“I heard Wang Gui gets a monthly stipend!”

“He can even learn martial arts from the guards!”

“Then Brother would be the strongest person on the estate!”

As she spoke, Zheng Shan’s eyes sparkled: “If the Lady chooses Brother as the page, she’ll be the greatest good person in the world!”

Zheng Mu glanced at Zheng Fa, then patted her daughter’s head: “If your brother isn’t the page, does that mean he’s not strong?”

Zheng Shan hugged Zheng Fa’s arm and said sweetly: “Brother is already the strongest—but he could be even stronger!”

After his sister fell asleep, Zheng Mu came to Zheng Fa’s door.

“Your sister is still young and doesn’t understand. Don’t think too much…”

“Mother?” Zheng Fa looked up.

“We don’t even dream of being a page. When Wang Gui came back, he was broken—still can’t get out of bed. If you… if you were to go, your sister and I wouldn’t know how to survive.”

“I understand.”

Watching his mother leave, he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

A page?

He had to admit—even though his mother disapproved—he was tempted.

Even his sister could see the benefits; could he not?

With a monthly stipend, the family wouldn’t have to ration meat by slice.

They wouldn’t have to endure cold glances around the estate.

And there was one of the things Zheng Fa most desired and was most curious about in this world—martial training, even cultivation.

Striving to become a slave but failing…

The next morning, Zheng Mu was scrubbing dirty clothes at the door when a familiar tenant farmer ran up: “Old Zheng’s wife! Old Zheng’s wife! Great news!”

“What’s the news?”

“The Lady is choosing a new page—this time she wants someone older and steadier. Your son Fa is perfect!”