Despite his loneliness, Lin Yifei continued his life. He wanted to regain control of his life.
The middle school curriculum was still boring, especially for him. Before his rebirth, he studied mechanical engineering at the university. His mathematics and physics were very strong.
However, he became very sleepy in the afternoon after having a full meal at noon. So it was very difficult for him not to doze off in math cla.s.s. At this time, everyone was struggling with a difficult equation. The teacher also tended to let the students find the answer themselves.
At first, the Hispanic students tried, but soon reached an impa.s.se. Several white students also tried it, then started a lively discussion. The Korean students received the same education as the Chinese. Their teaching style was to sit there quietly and waited for the answer (T/N: really?). Only Lin Yifei propped up his chin and looked like he was going to sleep.
"Lin, you look like you already know the answer. Do you want to come up and give it a try?" Mr. Hatchner wore a pair of old black-rimmed gla.s.ses. He had an amiable voice and was always patient with naughty students.
Lin Yifei was stunned, but Mr. Hatchner had already handed the chalk to him. "It doesn"t matter, just give it a try since no one else will."
At the moment, the white students looked at him as if they were waiting for his failure. One or two of them had mocking smiles on. The faces of the Korean students showed that they were also a.s.sessing him.
Lin Yifei walked to the blackboard with a sigh. It took only 30 seconds for him to solve the problem. Even the correct answer came out.
Mr. Hatchner gave a big smile. The students off the stage were also slightly surprised.
"Very well, Lin. Can you explain your thinking to everyone?"
In fact, Lin Yifei wrote very detailly. As long as the IQ wasn"t too bad, these people should figure it out at a glance. However, since Mr. Hatchner already said so, Lin Yifei couldn"t let him lose face. When he explained, his pure American accent once again surprised the local students. When he returned to his seat, he could clearly feel that the eyes of these students at least no longer ignoring him.
That afternoon, Lin Yifei filled out an application form and joined the fencing club at the school.
There were only two boys and one girl in the whole club. That was to say, if Lin Yifei didn"t join, they couldn"t even take part in the team compet.i.tion.
The boy who brought him into the club happened to be a cla.s.smate of Lin Yifei. He"s called Mark Della. According to Lin Yifei"s observation, this guy Mark actually has no racist ideas and wasn"t trying to exclude him. But since no one in the whole cla.s.s talked to Lin Yifei, Mark didn"t know how to speak the first words to him. In contrast to before, this time when the two people were walking alone on the school road, Mark looked much more natural.
"Hey, I didn"t expect your math to be so good…I also didn"t expect your English to be so good!" Mark hoped to break the silence between the two. And what he said was indeed true.
"Thank you. You are also good at physics."
"Huh? Have you noticed? I really like physics!" Mark turned around and smiled brightly, "I want to go to MIT!"
Lin Yifei smiled. He could see that Mark had talent. Lin Yifei was like a child who already got all the answers. The only unknown part was his ending with Chris.
"You will go to MIT and have a large scholarship. Three professors will compete to be your instructors."
"Aha! I like to hear this sentence." Mark smiled like a child, "These words come out of your mouth as if they will happen in the future! By the way, do you use a foil, sabre or épée?"
"Sabre."
"Oh! Great!" Mark looked extremely happy. "The other people in our club also used sabre, so there will be three people. We can take part in the team compet.i.tion!"
"Yes!" Lin Yifei also felt very happy to hear this.
You are reading unauthorized stolen text if you read this at any other site besides (idle turtle trans lations)
When they came to the fencing club"s activity place, Mark showed a slight expression of regret, "Ha ha, this is the only cla.s.sroom that we can use. It"s crude and there"s no place to shower or change clothes. There is no way. All of the school"s funds are put on the football and basketball teams."
Lin Yifei smiled. "I"m already satisfied. At least our school has a fencing club."
The fencing club"s adviser was Mr. Perry. He taught advance geometry at the school. He also partic.i.p.ated in the fencing club at his university before, but he was always the one on the bench. Mr. Perry didn"t care about winning or losing the compet.i.tion. On the contrary, he hoped that the students would be immersed in the joy of fencing.
"Everyone, let"s welcome our new member, Lin!" Mr. Perry solemnly introduced Lin Yifei to the almost empty cla.s.sroom.
Mark applauded happily, while another male cla.s.smate Philip looked at Lin Yifei and asked something shameful, "Can you speak Chinese?"
"I can."
Mark gave Philip a thump. "You"re out of line again!"
"Oh, what I want to ask is can you speak English?" Philip touched his head a little embarra.s.sed.
"I can." Lin Yifei smiled and nodded his head.
"Hey, welcome!" Katherine was the only female member in the club. She waved to Lin Yifei in a friendly way.
Mr. Perry clapped his hands. "All right, let"s put on protective gears and meet again!"
Lin Yifei realized that Mr. Perry"s teaching style was indeed for entertainment. During the whole club time, half of the time was watching the fencing match video, and the rest was a one-on-one practice. He only gave tips when the students broke the rules.
From the one-on-one practice between Mark and Philip, Lin Yifei knew that their fencing skills were indeed very average. Many basic movements were learned in a bad way that made people want to slap their foreheads.
"Hey, there are no more boys here. Let"s practice together and show everyone your level." Katherine smiled and put on her mask. "Although I really want to enter the women"s single event at the interschool compet.i.tion, I don"t seem to be good enough."
Mark kindly turned to remind Lin Yifei, "Lin, you must be careful! Katherine is our trump card here!"
Katherine gave a sabre-holding salute. Judging from Lin Yifei"s experience before his rebirth, Katherine really should be the strongest here.
Lin Yifei also put on his mask. Mr. Perry gave a shout of En garde! Prêts? Allez. Katherine attacked him. Lin Yifei was slightly surprised but dodged lightly. Then he took the initiative to attack and pinned Katherine"s sabre on her shoulder.
Katherine took a step back. Mr. Perry also showed a surprised expression, because although Lin Yifei had only struck just now, his body movements were quite at professional standards. He wasn"t at all like a child learning fencing in his spare time.
"It"s quite unexpected! Come again!" Katherine had taken the initiative again.
Lin Yifei maintained his gentlemanly manner, repelling her but didn"t fight back.
Mark and Philip also stopped and watched with their mouths slightly open.
Fact showed that Katherine was like a complete beginner in front of Lin Yifei. Needless to say, she didn"t get any points on him. Most importantly, she didn"t manage to place any threatening attack.
At last, fifteen minutes pa.s.sed. Katherine suddenly took off her mask. Looking at her imposing manner, Lin Yifei suddenly realized that he should have let her win a few points just now.
Who knew that her face wasn"t angry at all, but like she saw hope, "Lin - you are too strong! I don"t care! You have to teach me! Teach me!"
Mr. Perry also laughed, "Oh my G.o.d, I"ve been abandoned by Katherine."
At the end of the club activities, Mr. Perry called Lin Yifei to the office.
"Lin, your level is much higher than I expected, even higher than most middle school students I have ever met. Is there a special coach to teach you?"
Lin Yifei smiled. Currently, it"s just like he possessed a cheat. He had rich experience in his head, but his body function had not yet returned to its former best state for an athlete. Of course, a 13-year-old body couldn"t be like a 22-year-old.
"Shouldn"t children like you continue to follow a coach?" Mr. Perry asked very seriously.
"I don"t have a personal coach. I used to have a friend in New York who has a personal coach. We have a good relationship and often get together, so his coach also taught me by the way." Lin Yifei knew that he couldn"t explain his "knowledge" any other way except lying.
"It turned out to be so. What a pity." Mr. Perry sighed, "Besides Katherine, I think you can take part in the single event. Although there will be more matches, there won"t be too much pressure."
Education in the United States had always been that it was more important to have fun than to win the championship.
"Good, thank you, Mr. Perry." Lin Yifei nodded his head. If he could take part in the individual compet.i.tions, he would have more chances to see Chris on the court.
Although being rich or poor had never been an obstacle in Lin Yifei"s mind, if reality blocked the relationship between him and Chris, Lin Yifei could only expect to meet Chris in this open manner.
At home, mother Lin told him that Uncle Chen had brought over his daughter, so that the two complete families would live together. There might be some inconveniences, but she still hoped that Lin Yifei could take good care of the little girl.
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Since he already became accustomed to the two families having dinner together, Lin Yifei looked at Chen Manman sitting on the opposite side. She had pale skin and was somewhat shy.
Chen Shu had always been very talkative. Lin Yifei also spoke easily with him.
"I say Xiao Fei, our family Manman also goes to the same school as you. She may not be used to it yet. You should take care of her a little more!"
"Good, good!" Lin Yifei looked at Chen Manman. "Manman, what"s your English name?"
Manman glanced at Lin Yifei and lowered her head. Her cheeks were a little red. "Angela."
"It"s a very suitable name for you. Angela means angel. You look like an angel in a book."
Manman"s face became redder.
"You are such a bad boy. How old are you? You can even use sweet words to coax girls!" Mother Lin knocked on Lin Yifei"s head, but her eyes were smiling.
"Don"t hit me on the head. If you knock me silly, can you find another clever son out there!"
T/N: This novel is actually harder to translate than I thought ?