On Monday during the morning run, Chu Fei maintained second place.
His body had improved somewhat thanks to the training with the Wisdom Dew.
But he still couldn't catch up to Li Honggang, who placed first—maybe if he went all out like a madman, he might.
Still, if he got first today and second tomorrow, wouldn't that just invite a beating?
So second place was good enough.
Lu Hong, who came in third, did get a beating—because he didn't give his full effort. Without Jiang Shaohu, he automatically ranked third, but that wasn't considered an improvement.
That morning's class was Natural Studies. The teacher was a middle-aged woman.
"My name is Gu Yuehua. I'll be teaching you Natural Studies.
In the apocalypse, Natural Studies is about survival. It's developed quickly due to practical needs.
It's a comprehensive subject—geography, minerals, terrain, rivers, flora and fauna, mutated beasts, common tech products, archaeology, combat—all fall under it. Each year, more content is added.
Compared to other subjects, Natural Studies is a bit scattered. But it broadens your understanding and perspective.
It's also a key supplement to big data cultivation.
The exam for this subject is lenient—just pass. No rankings."
When they heard there were no rankings, the class let out a collective sigh of relief.
But Gu Yuehua added,
"However, since Natural Studies relates to survival outdoors, for your own safety, you'd best take it seriously."
In the afternoon, they had the Electronic Circuits course—this one was harder.
The next day, Tuesday, they studied Language and History in the morning. In the afternoon, Machine Language and Software Principles.
Language and History were core subjects—they dealt with where you came from.
On Wednesday, the whole day was Philosophy and Psychology.
Cultivation as a science included not just natural science, but needed philosophy and psychology as its foundation—discussing man and nature, idealism, materialism, perseverance, and so on.
Thursday was entirely devoted to meditation.
More specifically, abstract thinking training—to support psychology and philosophy.
Friday and Saturday were Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
The weekly schedule formed a "cultivation cycle."
On Saturday morning, during self-study, Cao Liwen made an announcement:
There would be an exam that evening.
The atmosphere turned tense.
Chu Fei couldn't help but tremble.
Last week's exam left one dead, one jumped off a cliff.
This week, Chu Fei somehow avoided a whipping—though he still felt Cao Liwen's gaze was... strange.
After the day's classes, they were only given 30 minutes for dinner.
The exam began at 5:30 PM and ended at 9:30 PM—four hours total.
There were ten papers: Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Electronic Circuits, Software and Machine Language, Language, Philosophy, and Natural Studies.
Each test wasn't too long, but collectively it was a lot.
The enforcer with the whip patrolled the room. Cao Liwen sat at the lectern, sweeping his gaze across the room.
Only the sounds of pens and paper rustling could be heard in the classroom.
Time passed slowly.
Chu Fei rubbed his slightly sore wrist and finally finished. He looked at the wall clock: 8:27 PM.
Most students were still busily writing, a few scratching their heads in frustration.
Chu Fei reviewed his answers while thinking about the content.
He had used one drop of Wisdom Dew during the test.
And surprisingly, he gained more than expected—each question carried the wisdom of the teacher who made it, offering deep insights into the subject.
Chu Fei absorbed the knowledge hungrily.
After completing the review, he found a few mistakes.
Even with the Wisdom Dew, human carelessness couldn't be completely avoided.
Just as he finished the second review, time was up.
Cao Liwen called for the end, and the students at the back collected the test papers.
A strange silence settled over the room, broken only by Cao Liwen flipping through the exams.
Five minutes later, roll call began.
Tonight's check was for the condition of the answer sheets. Any issues resulted in 1–5 slaps to the palm.
Chu Fei had two visible corrections on his paper—so he got four slaps. It was doubled as punishment.
Grading would begin at 11 AM the next day.
Until then, they could theoretically get a good night's sleep.
In reality, no one could sleep.
Lights out. Chu Fei quietly rubbed his swollen, itchy palm. The slaps had been hard.
You didn't go to the infirmary for palm slaps—they wouldn't treat you anyway.
Since sleep was out of the question, Chu Fei sat cross-legged and began meditating.
After just eight days of formal study, his current meditation method was still simple: visualizing plane geometry in his mind—a way to train thought patterns.
After consuming a drop of Wisdom Dew, Chu Fei entered a heightened state and began sketching geometric shapes in his mind.
From simple shapes like squares, circles, trapezoids, and ellipses, to complex ones, from static to dynamic—his mental training continued to grow stronger.
Two hours passed unnoticed. The Wisdom Dew's effect wore off.
But it had been a fruitful session—Chu Fei had constructed a looping diagram of 127 distinct triangles.
He was just shy of the first major threshold: 150 figures.
150 was a special number.
According to basic computing logic, like in a tic-tac-toe machine, 150 switches (NAND gates) marked the line between simple and complex computation.
In other words, a structure with more than 150 NAND gates could barely be called a computer.
"Wisdom Dew is powerful!
But I only accumulate three drops a week—too few. I have to keep studying hard!"
With that lingering regret, Chu Fei drifted into sleep—until the morning bell rang.
Upon waking, he first checked the results of last night's meditation.
His mental construction had dropped to 87 triangles.
"Thought is like muscle—it needs constant strengthening and training," he recalled from the teacher's lecture.
After a few minutes of reinforcement, he recovered 116 triangles.
Then he washed up, ran, self-studied, and had breakfast.
During breakfast, someone came up to him from across the table and called out:
"Chu Fei, someone's looking for you outside."
Chu Fei narrowed his eyes and recognized the speaker—it was one of Huang Dapeng's henchmen. Calmly, he replied:
"I'm right here. Let him come to me."
The guy took a deep breath.
"I don't want trouble. You'd better go out yourself."
"If he wants to cause trouble, let him come here."
"…"
Laughter erupted around them.
The guy got angry and raised his voice:
"Chu Fei, Huang Dapeng was funded by the Greedy Wolf Battle Team!
And now you've made their investment go to waste!
If you don't give the Greedy Wolf Team an explanation, this won't end well!"
Greedy Wolf Battle Team? Investment?
Even with limited info, Chu Fei had a rough idea what this was about.
He replied casually:
"Now that you've said that, I really don't dare go out."
Laughter intensified.
Someone burst out,
"Tang Zhengang, where's your brain?"
"Old Tang must be a sea squirt. When they grow up, they eat their own brains."
"So that's what sea squirts look like? Different from the pictures."
"Hahaha…"
Chu Fei looked at the guy.
"Tang Zhengang?"
Tang Zhengang turned red with anger:
"Chu Fei! The Greedy Wolf Team is giving you a chance to explain and make a choice. If you don't go, deal with the consequences yourself!"
With that, he stormed off.
"Oh." Chu Fei lowered his head and resumed eating. Calm and unhurried, though his eyes grew a little colder.
Another person walked up—a sturdy teenager similar to Huang Dapeng. He smiled and said:
"Hi, I'm Zhao Xiaofeng. Xiao as in 'small,' Feng as in 'phoenix.'"
Chu Fei: "…"
Looking at that muscular body, paired with such a delicate name, it left quite the impression.