I Have Returned!
The official announcement was released, and it became known that Xu Mang had won first place.
The whole school was in chaos.
"What in the world, is this God playing a joke on us?"
"Oh my gosh, Xu Mang got first place in the city-wide essay competition? Ow… my head, it hurts!"
"I must be dreaming, this has to be a dream!"
"Hold on, hold on, maybe I opened it up wrongly, let me reopen it and… Wow, Xu Mang really did get first place!?"
The only word that could describe the entire student population when they saw the post online was shock and maybe a little terror mixed in. Xu Mang… the idiot, the class clown, had suddenly become the best essay writer in the entire city!
This was akin to letting a pig pilot an airplane and having the plane land safely at its destination. Most importantly, the pig had been asleep throughout the entire flight and it was horrifying!
Of course, Yang Xiaoman was quite happy. She was genuinely excited and proud of Xu Mang for his accomplishment. She even went as far as to start hoping for him to reappear behind her seat again.
But… There was a twinge of sorrow interlaced with her happiness.
She had lost to her insane ex-classmate once again, why did he always outshine her when it came to writing?
"He's insane! He's a genius, and yet, he acts like an idiot." Yang Xiaoman thought back to their previous interactions and her blood started to boil, her fists were clenched, and she was grinding her teeth. She'd make him into minced meat if she ever saw him again.
Online, under the push of various media sites, the opinions of the masses slowly started to shift. Reporters wrote article after article of how Xu Mang was just a young boy with a dream, participating in the competition even though he was sick, all for the sole purpose of bringing glory to his school. During the competition, the illness had caused him to pass out, but his undying determination had pushed him to stand back up once more.
Under these grueling situations, Xu Mang had won first place! However, due to some malicious sources twisting his story against him, this hero had been attacked by netizens and was even forced to be expelled.
Basically, Xu Mang had become a role model and his story spread like wildfire. Every major Weibo forum was discussing his journey, he had gone viral.
"Ernest Hemmingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for'. I agree with the second part… What happened to Xu Mang? If the world treats a person like him unfairly, I…"
"OP, don't lose hope in our world, the world isn't as bad as it seems."
"After reading Xu Mang's story, tears started to form in my eyes. Why must bad things always happen to good people?!"
The thousands of comments made the stance of the online community very clear, which was that they were outraged at Xu Mang's unfair treatment. Under their collective pressure, the competition organizer as well as Xu Mang's previous school released another statement.
The contents of the statement were simple.
He had returned!
This finally quelled the flames.
***
At school.
It was a little past 9 am, and the class was in session. The school was strikingly quiet, only the teachers' voices mingled in the air, and then suddenly, a shout pierced through the silence.
"Hahahahaha! I have returned!"
Xu Mang stood before the entrance of the school. He… was late on his first day back, but that wasn't important. What was important was that his passion to brag was still burning brightly, and he was going to show everyone who the boss around here was.
What?! He's back!!
Chaos erupted throughout the school, but the noise didn't last long. Their teachers quickly made sure of it, and yet, the students obviously weren't interested in class anymore, causing their teachers to pull their hair out.
Good for you for coming back, but did you really need to shout like that?! Couldn't you have been a little quieter?
Xu Mang was still oblivious to the teachers' thoughts, walking in with an air of superiority surrounding him toward his class—Senior 3 Class 1.
It was his homeroom teacher's class.
"Ahem!"
"Well, then… Mr. Lin, your genius is back!" Xu Mang laughed whilst standing at the class doorway, clearing his throat loudly to attract more attention.
Lin Yishan was close to his limit. He had already heard Xu Mang's voice when his student had entered the school grounds. It was the first day of him coming back and this was the first thing he did? Well… that was their Xu Mang alright.
"Come in. And behave!" Lin Yishan scolded Xu Mang.
"Alright, alright…" Xu Mang laughed softly as he headed to his desk. His seat wasn't far from the class's entrance, but Xu Mang somehow managed to make a whole movie slow-motion sequence out of it.
Jealousy.
Envy.
Rage…
Xu Mang could feel these emotions permeating the entire classroom.
"Idiot…"
Yang Xiaoman had been in a good mood, but seeing Xu Mang like this, she couldn't help but get a little annoyed. Couldn't he just act like a normal person? Why did he have to make everyone hate him?
Speechless.
As soon as his butt touched his chair, the familiar feeling rushed through his body. This chair had been his closes acquaintance for the past two years and then some, and there was already a dent in the seat molded to fit Xu Mang's behind. To be completely honest, Xu Mang was already getting drowsy.
"Yawn~ I'm so tired!" Xu Mang stretched lazily.
Yang Xiaoman almost exploded.
Was he going to spend his first day back with his face glued to the table again?
As expected, when Yang Xiaoman turned to sneak a peek at him, she indeed found him already lying down… in that same, familiar position.
"Xu Mang! You're going to sleep on your first day back?" Seeing Xu Mang lying on his desk, Lin Yishan rushed over. "Didn't you promise me before that you would study hard and aim big?"
"Huh? Reporting, teacher, I think that there's something wrong with this chair. Once my butt touches it, all the energy drains out of my body," Xu Mang pleaded innocent.
What was this?!
You're blaming the chair?
Lin Yishan gave up. Do whatever you want. Xu Mang was the object of the netizens' worry, he was untouchable!
Seeing Lin Yishan turn back to face the board, Xu Mang made the executive decision to continue napping, all the way until recess.
Politics +1
Politics +1
Politics +1
Not long after, the bell rang, indicating that it was recess time.
Xu Mang began his bragging crusade. His first target was, of course, going to be his ex-neighbor—Sun Xiaoxiao.
"Reading? You should probably put it down… You won't understand it anyway." Xu Mang stood next to Sun Xiaoxiao's desk, and upon seeing him holding a book with a serious expression on his face, the words just slipped out of his mouth. "Come to think of it, how come the same education system that both of us went through could cause someone to turn out like… you?"
"You…"
Sun Xiaoxiao was left with his tongue tied, clueless as to how to respond to a diss like that. Xu Mang wasn't the idiot he once knew, he was no longer taking everything lying down.
Bidding farewell to the fuming Sun Xiaoxiao, Xu Mang shifted his target to Li Hua, the second-best student in the class. They didn't really talk much, but they definitely didn't see eye to eye.
Sometimes, you didn't need a reason to view someone as an enemy. A spiteful glance, a misplaced gesture, that was all it took to manifest hatred.
Li Hua was exactly that sort of person.
"Hello!"
Xu Mang greeted him politely before changing his expression to one much more mischievous. "Please, allow me to introduce myself. I'm the first place winner of the city-wide essay writing competition, officially certified!"
"How do you like that?" Xu Mang laughed.
Li Hua merely looked at him sideways before returning his attention back to his Math problems. "Please stay away from me!"
Well, I'll be! Aren't you an arrogant little fella?
Xu Mang returned to his desk, poking Yang Xiaoman in the back to complain. "Did you see that? That Li Hua kid is way too arrogant. How about we work together to knock him down a peg?"
Yang Xiaoman:（＃￣～￣＃）
You were the one to walk into school as if you owned the place and then began attacking everyone with your 'achievements', yet now, you were calling someone out for being arrogant when they fought back?
Are you sure you took your meds today?
And one more thing...
Could you not be this hypocritical!