Chapter 39 Part 2
The family rushed towards the rooftop, encountering the school administrators and firefighters at the entrance. The homeroom teacher and other staff kept their distance, afraid of agitating him.
“Hahaha, got it wrong? What right do you have to get it wrong? Did you do it on purpose?!” Zhou Yi, sitting precariously on the edge, his back hunched, let out a strange laugh.
The homeroom teacher, seeing his parents arrive, whispered, “Quickly, talk him down.”
Mother Zhou immediately called out, “A-Yi, don’t do anything foolish! Your teacher said you did very well on the test!”
Zhou Yi mechanically turned his head, his eyes gleaming strangely in the darkness.
He spoke through gritted teeth, “I… did well?”
Everyone shuddered. Something was wrong with Zhou Yi, had the pressure driven him insane?
Zhou Yi suddenly stood up, his back to the edge, facing them, a strange smile on his face.
The fire chief was about to tell the parents to be quiet when Father Zhou stepped forward and shouted, “Stop messing around and come down!”
Zhou Yi’s eyes flickered with pain and something else. He suddenly took a step back and, in front of everyone, faster than any firefighter could react, jumped.
Zhou Yi’s parents’ minds went blank.
Mother Zhou collapsed to the ground, her heart pounding in her chest. Father Zhou’s legs trembled, he couldn’t believe what he had just seen.
At that moment, memories of Zhou Yi’s birth flooded their minds, the joy during the pregnancy, and when they saw their tiny newborn baby, their only thought was—
As long as he grows up healthy and safe.
They didn’t need him to be rich or powerful, didn’t need him to excel academically, didn’t need him to bring honor to the family, as long as he was a law-abiding citizen, healthy and safe, that was enough.
Humans were greedy creatures, they gradually forgot their initial, pure desires.
They compared their children to others, demanding they excel in everything, dictating their future.
As he fell from the rooftop, their simplest wish resurfaced from the depths of their hearts—
As long as he grows up healthy and safe.
What were good grades, what was a prestigious university, compared to their child’s life?!
Realization could come in an instant.
Mother Zhou wailed hysterically, pushing everyone aside and sprinting downstairs, her husband close behind.
“Zhou Yi… A-Yi, please don’t do anything foolish, your mom and dad only want you to grow up healthy, nothing else matters!”
Zhou Dagui, supported by the homeroom teacher, said, his voice shaking, “That… that wasn’t my grandson.”
The village chief was more observant than most. He felt the person looked like Zhou Yi, but not quite, and… he wasn’t wearing glasses.
Zhou Yi had severe myopia, six hundred degrees. Without his glasses, he was practically blind.
Zhou Dagui didn’t go downstairs, instead looking down from the rooftop, afraid of seeing a mangled body.
But there was nothing there.
Not even a trace of blood on the hard cement ground.
Not only was Zhou Dagui and his family stunned, even the students watching from below were dumbfounded.
Although it was a five-story building, not necessarily fatal, it was still miraculous that he was unharmed.
Even Newton would question his laws of physics.
“Zhou Yi, A-Yi! We were wrong, don’t do anything foolish!” Seeing their son standing on the cement ground unharmed, Zhou Yi’s parents rushed towards him, overjoyed, not caring about the how or why.
Zhou Yi abruptly turned his head, staring at them with a strange smile.
Then, in a flash, he ran.
His speed was incredible, almost at a professional athlete’s level, leaving everyone stunned.
Zhou Dagui, being helped down, shouted, “Quickly, after him! He’s heading towards the river outside the village!”
Zhou Yi’s parents’ hearts sank. The river outside the village, although considered their mother river, was also where Lai boy died, an ominous place.
The family, ignoring the miracle of Zhou Yi’s survival, immediately jumped onto their three-wheeler and chased after him.
After they left, the homeroom teacher picked up a crushed jar of mosquito repellent ointment from where Zhou Yi had landed, the pale green substance emitting a faint fragrance.
The country roads had almost no streetlights, and the few that existed were dim.
Father Zhou stepped on the accelerator, staring at Zhou Yi running ahead in disbelief.
Although their three-wheeler wasn’t as fast as a car, it was still faster than a person running on two legs. How could they not catch up to a child?!
Mother Zhou cried as she shouted, “Zhou Yi! Stop! Where are you going?! Don’t scare your mom and dad! Your grandfather is old, he can’t handle this!”
Zhou Yi ignored them.
Zhou Dagui stood up, gripping the railing, and saw the headlights illuminate Zhou Yi ahead, but there was no shadow.
Zhou Dagui’s heart sank, and he declared, “This child is afflicted by an evil ailment, we can’t catch him.”
No wonder Zhou Yi had been acting so strangely these past few days, he was possessed!
“What should we do? Find Grandma Lai?” Father Zhou panicked. “But we have to catch him first!”
They couldn’t even keep up.
Police sirens wailed from behind. They turned and saw a police car with flashing lights. Wang Jun shouted, “Stop the car and get in!”
The Zhou family immediately stopped their three-wheeler by the roadside and jumped into the police car.
The officer driving stepped on the gas and chased after the running boy. The Zhou family was relieved to find that the police car could keep up with Zhou Yi, maintaining a distance of about a meter.
They opened the window, wanting to call out to him, and amidst the wind and the boy’s strange laughter, they faintly heard him muttering, “sin(A+B)=sinAcosB+cosAsinB…”
Zhou Yi was reciting math formulas for the college entrance exam!
This child was crazy, still reciting formulas at a time like this, completely lost in his own world.
Mother Zhou panicked. She had a feeling that even though he survived the fall, he would be driven mad by this pressure.
She remembered the moment after his birth, looking at her husband with a smile, saying, “As long as he grows up healthy and safe.”
“What should we do? What should we do now?!” Mother Zhou cried, watching her son running tirelessly ahead, still reciting math formulas without even panting.
Wang Jun asked, “Did Doctor Wu give you anything?”
“Doctor Wu? He’s back from collecting herbs?” Father Zhou asked instinctively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Zhou Dagui immediately understood. He was talking about Wu Heng.
So, Wu Heng had even notified the police in town to assist them?
Zhou Dagui rummaged through his pockets and took out a small bag, grabbing a handful of ordinary-looking soybeans.
Mother Zhou had been there too. Wu Heng had said it was a snack for Zhou Yi, but how could he eat now?
Zhou Dagui threw four soybeans at Zhou Yi’s head. The beans grazed his ears and cheeks, and he let out a strange cry.
Throwing beans to ward off evil! A traditional folk custom.
Wang Jun also grabbed a handful and threw them at Zhou Yi, aiming for his head.
The young man slowed down, and by the time the bag was empty, he stopped, crouching on the ground, trembling.
Mother Zhou felt both heartache and embarrassment for her son.
She had told Wu Heng not to disturb Zhou Yi’s studies, yet if it weren’t for the soybeans Wu Heng gave them, he would have jumped into the river tonight, sharing the same fate as Lai boy!
The police car stopped, and they rushed towards the boy. As they approached, they saw Zhou Yi’s eyes rolling around in their sockets, his mouth still reciting math formulas.
“Quickly, tie him up and take him to Chengde Medical Clinic for emergency treatment!” Zhou Dagui shouted.
And so, Zhou Yi, a strange smile still on his face, was tied up by his family and taken to Chengde Medical Clinic.
The clinic’s wooden door was ajar, a light on inside.
Xi Xi and the little white snake were coiled on the consultation table, each with a notebook in front of them.
Xi Xi was happy. Godfather said she had been with him for a while now, and to become a true household deity, she had to study hard.
She would diligently learn everything Godfather taught her!
The little white snake, however, was depressed. What was Wu Heng even teaching? The multiplication table?
The village children recited it often, it had learned it just by listening.
It had thought Wu Heng would finally teach Xi Xi that move used against the Southeast Asian ghost tourist group, and it had excitedly come to learn it secretly.
Now, learning one times one equals one, six times eight equals forty-eight, this was child’s play, it already knew this.
And the netizens in Wu Heng’s live stream were making such a fuss.
[Wow, the streamer really keeps pet snakes, even teaching them math?]
[That little gray snake is so smart, using its tail to write numbers with the medicinal water. I want a pet snake now.]
[Did that little white one just… make a mistake?]
Even late at night, the live stream had many viewers.
As soon as Wu Heng started streaming, gifts kept pouring in. Looking closely at his gift ranking, it was filled with middle-aged women!
Wang Mei was at the top!
Since being raped and then rejected by her boyfriend, she had never married, focusing on her career and achieving some success.
Her friends were also financially well-off.
[Is this the power of middle-aged women? Us university students kneel in admiration.]
[Middle-aged women, retired with pensions, no mortgage or car loans, children grown up, wallets full.]
[I believe it now, the shaman doctor really summoned the souls of those victimized women from all over the country to beat up Lu Guoliang. That money is rightfully earned, I’m not even jealous.]
[Can Wu Heng communicate with snakes?]
Wu Heng, looking at the barrage comments, smiled, “Not taking any consultations tonight, just broadcasting pet education.”
His fans understood. Wu Heng was reluctant to give up on the 100-Day Live Streaming Plan’s daily check-in reward.
Doctor Wu’s goal remained the same: the five thousand yuan reward.
The fans wondered if he fed those two snakes something special, how could they be so smart? They could even do math!
The little white snake, wanting to leave, suddenly asked the little gray snake, ‘Xi Xi, do you know what 1+1 equals?’
The little gray snake tilted its head, thinking. ‘2?’
The little white snake said affectionately, ‘Greater than 2!’
Wu Heng cringed, while the person he just carried inside was enraged.
Zhou Yi, tied up and trembling, glared at the little white snake with bloodshot eyes, shouting, “Two! It equals two! You can’t even get such a simple math question right! So simple, you should just die!”
The little white snake, recognizing Zhou Yi, hadn’t forgotten being kicked by him a few days ago.
The little white snake scoffed. ‘You understand math, but do you understand love?’
