Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 7 Prejudice

When they returned to class, many people crowded over to see Li Zimo and Liu Ruoxue, while Xiang Ning was basically pushed out of the crowd. He took one look at them, clenched his fist around his Stellar Student badge, then returned to his seat. Any joy from receiving the award had evaporated in an instant. As he stared at the badge in a daze, he noticed a shadow out the corner of his eye and looked up to see a fat boy before him, holding up a sausage. “Want one?” 

Stunned, Xiang Ning shook his head and the fat boy pitifully said, “Fine, I’ll eat it then. It’s just one sausage, I won’t get any fatter from this.” 

Xiang Ning almost laughed when he heard him muttering to himself. You’re so fat, I guess you’re right. It truly won’t make a difference! Holding his laughter back, he said, “Nice to meet you, Wang Zhe. How may I help you?” 

“Hey? You know my name?” Wang Zhe was surprised. 

“Of course, I remember it from your self-introduction,” Xiang Ning replied with a smile. 

“Tsk, this one’s a genius.” Wang Zhe tugged at the bottom of his shirt and sighed. “Nice to meet you, Xiang Ning. I’d like us to be friends, is that alright?” 

Their conversation had attracted much attention, for it was unbelievable that Fatty Wang wanted to be friends with that Xiang Ning. Zhang Cheng, on the other hand, hated Xiang Ning’s guts and was instantly upset that someone had gone over to his side and was now infuriated that Wang Zhe asked to be friends. He started mocking him once more, “Fatty Wang, you and I both know your family background, why would you want to be friends with a person like him?” 

Zhang Cheng obviously knew Wang Zhe. 

“You don’t get a say in who I make friends with? And so what? You’ve just literally embarrassed yourself and now you’re speaking again already?” Wang Zhe didn’t hold back, for he had been bullied since lower secondary. Why wouldn’t he take this opportunity to retaliate? 

Zhang Cheng’s short temper was set off again. His cheeks were still burning from the incident earlier; if the teacher hadn’t held him back, he would have sent Xiang Ning to the hospital! 

Although Fatty Wang was witty, he was only in stage six and couldn’t afford to anger Zhang Cheng, a stage eight practitioner.

The Physical Tempering phase was divided into three sections—early, middle, and late. Right now, Fatty Wang was in the middle stage and Zhang Cheng was in the late stage. This wasn’t a small difference. If they fought… Fatty Wang would lose badly. 

When Xiang Ning saw Fatty Wang getting into a fight with Zhang Cheng over him, he shot up and grabbed the fatty, then asked Zhang Cheng, “What do you want?” 

Xiang Ning couldn’t remain silent in the face of Zhang Cheng, who looked like he was itching to attack. If this was yesterday, Xiang Ning would have feared him but now Xiang Ning might even beat him! Today, he had achieved Physical Tempering stage eight and had even taken a punch from Zhang Cheng without feeling much pain. That was it! 

In reality, Xiang Ning was much stronger than Zhang Cheng, a rich man’s son who had lived a life of luxury. Years of hard work in the mines weren’t in vain. Xiang Ning’s current physique was enough to fight Zhang Cheng. 

Zhang Cheng’s temper flared the moment the ‘poor boy’ crossed him, but he hesitated when he recalled Ma Shujing’s warning. No one wanted to be punished at the beginning of the semester, it would definitely affect his future. Just as he was stuck in a tough place, the bell rang and he heaved a sigh of relief, scoffing, “Saved by the bell!”

Fatty Wang gratefully looked at Xiang Ning, then returned to his seat after muttering his thanks. All eyes shifted away from them. Their next class would be taught by that pretty teacher again, why would they want to watch a boring fight? 

Soon, the clicking of a pair of heels echoed down the corridor and the classroom door opened. She was clad in a white shirt, her soft black hair tied back and she was flashing a smile that captured a few hearts.

“Mm, I think you all must know that while this school focuses mainly on combat, intellectual subjects have become more and more important in today’s society. It’s much better than doing physical work all your life. Alright, I won’t waste more time, let’s discuss your future class allocation.” Su Muhan turned to Xiang Ning. 

Xiang Ning sat at attention and Su Muhan nodded. “Our school has taken in part-time students for many years now. I hope you won’t look at them with prejudice, because they do as well as you in school.” 

Zhang Cheng pursed his lips. He’s just a nerd, nothing else! 

No one paid attention to her talk about part-time students because it was irrelevant to them, while Xiang Ning already knew his tasks. Every day, Xiang Ning and another part-time student named Chen Da had to clean the classroom and the garden in front of the building, it was not a difficult job. 

Su Muhan continued, “You’ll have a physical examination this weekend. Please refrain from extremely vigorous exercise and cultivation this week.” Then, after another short briefing, she let them mingle. It was the beginning of the semester, they needed time to get to know each other. 

Very soon, the bell rang. Due to the earlier examination, this was the last period of the morning. Xiang Ning hurried out of class and sprinted toward the lower secondary block. Fifteen minutes later, he saw his little sister sitting by the fountain, holding something in her hand. He waved from afar and called out, “Xiaoyu!” 

Her eyes brightened as she hopped off the ledge and jogged up to Xiang Ning with a grin. “You’re late, big brother.” 

“Hahaha, what’ve you got there?” he asked, looking at the package in her hand. 

She grinned. “School uniform.” She held it up; it was a good-looking uniform comprised of a white shirt with a dark gray pleated skirt. 

“Mm, looks pretty good.” He smiled. 

Xiang Xiaoyu giggled and whispered, “We have to wear our uniforms at school, so I don’t need any more new clothes.” 

After a pause, Xiang Ning lovingly ruffled her hair. “Let’s eat.” 

“Mm.” After stuffing her uniform into her bag, she held his hand and they walked to the cafeteria together. 

The siblings soon arrived at the cafeteria. It was a grand place with stone tiles and orangish-yellow lighting, the pride of Qiling High School. 

“Ning, this place looks like a restaurant in the city.” Xiang Xiaoyu curiously looked around while he held her hand so he wouldn’t lose her. Every student wanted to try out the cafeteria at the beginning of the semester. 

After looking around, they were starving. Xiang Ning ordered based on Xiaoyu’s instructions: her favorite stir-fried eggs with tomatoes, a vegetable dish, and a bowl of soup. This was the cheapest combo they could get, even with two bowls of white rice to accompany it. 

Xiang Ning wanted to get her a fried chicken drumstick but she refused, citing a fear of gaining weight. 

The pair carried their food to an empty table. 

“Hmm, this isn’t as good as your cooking. I don’t like it. Xiang Ning, why don’t we bring our own food to school?” Xiang Xiaoyu hopefully asked. 

Xiang Ning secretly clenched his fists. How could he not notice the way she stared at all the food in the cafeteria? 

“Don’t worry.”

“Huh?” She looked at him quizzically. 

He shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s eat, the food’s getting cold.” 

As they ate, a booming voice rang out. He looked up and saw that it was Fatty Wang. 

“Hey Wang Zhe.”

“Hehe, let’s drop the formalities. Call me Fatty Wang. Is this your little sister?” Wang Zhe plopped down his plate. He had also come here for lunch, but Xiang Ning recognized the food on his plate—it was wild beast meat!

Xiang Ning felt the gap between them. This guy was indeed the son of a rich man. 

“Hmm?” Xiang Ning let out a grunt only he could hear because he saw a string of numbers on top of the meat. 

+3

+2

…

Does it mean the wild beast meat…? He realized something unbelievable. 

The thought only flashed for a second before Xiang Ning introduced his sister. “Mm, this is my little sister, her name is Xiang Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu, this is my classmate, Wang Zhe.” 

“Nice to meet you, Wang Zhe,” Xiang Xiaoyu politely greeted. 

Wang Zhe was amused by her manners and let out a guffaw. “Hey, you got vegetables and stir-fried eggs with tomatoes? They ran out when I wanted to get some. Come, come, all I have is meat, can we eat together?” 

Xiang Ning was stunned. Wang Zhe indeed had no vegetables on his plate. Before he could react, Fatty Wang placed a few pieces of beef in Xiang Ning and Xiaoyu’s bowls with his chopsticks. “Xiang Xiaoyu, you’ve got to eat more so you’ll grow up into a pretty young lady! Also, the gravy from the eggs goes really well with meat.” 

Xiang Xiaoyu’s eyes sparkled. “Thank you, Wang Zhe.”

Xiang Ning gratefully looked at him while Fatty Wang just grinned and wolfed down his food. When they were about to finish their meal, three people approached with a hint of mockery in their eyes.