47 A Strange Score (2/2)
After practicing for so many days, his score had remained at 3.6666%!? What was going on?! In similar circumstances, if one attained a high score upon Awakening, progress would be considerably faster!
Principal Liang was slightly dumbfounded and he asked blurly, ”Xiaofu, your previous score was 3.6666 right? Why is it still 3.6666 this time?”
Hong Xiaofu was also dumbfounded as he stared at the number.
Although it was true that he had been falling asleep within seconds, he had been practicing for many days—yet his score had not increased at all. That was clearly unusual. Even if his progress was slow and he could not increase his score by 0.01 a day, he should at least have gained 0.001 or 0.0001. However, it had not even increased by a tiny bit.
”Xiaofu, erm…” Su Ying hesitated for a moment before she comforted him and said, ”You could be using the wrong method to practice. Maybe we can try to work this out together?”
Although Zhang Yang had had to kneel down twice before Hong Xiaofu, he also tried to comfort him, ”That's right, don't be upset about it. You still have us right?”
In all honesty, Hong Xiaofu did not feel good. It wasn't that he did not work hard. Perhaps, he was even the one who put in the most effort. No matter how hard he tried he still could not see any results—no one would like that.
”Actually it is no big deal.” Hong Xiaofu suddenly smiled and said, ”It's fine if it didn't increase, maybe I'm using the wrong approach. I still have you guys, right? We will be able to work this out in a few days.”
Everyone nodded and said, ”Yes!”
Principal Liang was afraid that he would be too demoralized about it, so he did not think twice before standing up and patting his shoulder as he spoke, ”Xiaofu, let's do it this way. Take a few days to figure it out, I will specially approve a few days of leave for you?” He added, ”Oh right, you can take this test kit home. It would be good if you assessed your score often and saw which practice method is working out for you.”
Principal Liang sincerely thought that that child had been living quite a tragic life.
It was already not easy for him to be Awakened, and he had ended up with that strange power. It would not help him with earning money to support the family—who would dare employ him? Would the supervisor not be afraid that he would have to get on his knees as well? Forget the fact that it couldn't help him with anything, his practice was giving him problems, too! His score was not increasing! Did his life have to be so miserable?
Although nobody was feeling good, Hong Xiaofu was smiling vibrantly as he spoke, ”It doesn't really matter if my training progress is quick or slow. I cannot even understand my weird power. If the images are not helping, I'll just find another way.”
Su Ying, Zhang Yang, and Li Tianqi made eye contact as they nodded at the same time and said, ”Right, we shall settle on that!”
As they went downstairs, Zhang Yang put his arm across Hong Xiaofu's shoulder and said, ”It's alright, Brother Fu. You still have my brother and I to depend on. Don't worry, we will look out for you!”
Hong Xiaofu smiled widely and said, ”Thanks!”
They went back home quickly after class ended. Su Ying, Zhang Yang, and Li Tianqi gave Hong Xiaofu countless ideas in the group chat and Hong Xiaofu had tried many of them: things like going on an empty stomach, eating a lot, listening to songs, playing games, and more. No matter what he tried, the score would not even increase a little.
Three days passed quickly and his score still showed no change.
”What is going on?” Hong Xiaofu sat cross-legged on his bed. He stared at the test kit and frowned before adding, ”According to what Li Tianqi said, his score increased by 0.02 although he didn't practice much for the past few days. Why is my score remaining constant after so long?” Honestly, it seemed that it no longer had anything to do with his natural gift or potential. His power clearly worked in a different way from the rest.
For the past few days, Shen Xiaoling had been watching him practice, too. She did not ask about it and he did not tell her anything, but Shen Xiaoling could sense that it was not something good, because she hardly saw Hong Xiaofu sitting alone, looking troubled.
That night, Hong Xiaofu had sat alone and stared at the test kit for a whole half hour. Shen Xiaoling could not help but ask carefully, ”Brother… Are you… having some problems with your score?”
”Yup.” Hong Xiaofu sighed softly before he smiled and said, ”I don't know what went wrong either. No matter how I practice, the score does not increase at all, and I fall asleep within seconds whenever I use those images. Don't worry about me, I think I'll have it figured out.”
Shen Xiaoling thought about it seriously and suddenly said, ”Oh, right. Brother, do you remember the time that we went to buy candied gourd?”
Hong Xiaofu was in a daze for a while before he replied, ”I remember that. What's wrong?”
Shen Xiaoling said, ”I remember the pharmacy at Tianfu Commercial Plaza selling the performance-enhancing drug for Awakeners. Do you want to try that?”