It's Not Easy To Be A Man After Travelling To The Future - by Madam Ru

Chapter 27 "The True Intention Of The Test"

They hadn't run for long when the sunny skies above them turned dark and foreboding. Storm clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled ominously. Right at the front, Qi Long cursed, "Damn our luck! Why did it only start to rain when it's our turn? Hurry up, everyone, or else it'll be even harder to run once it really starts raining, and our results will definitely be affected."

After he finished speaking, Qi Long was just about to speed up when Han Jijyun called out from behind, "Long, don't speed up. Just keep your current pace."

Qi Long was confused. He didn't understand why Han Jijyun wanted to stop him from speeding up; if it really started to rain, they would have to expend much more energy running through the rain, and the rain would affect their speed as well ... Their score in this test was based on how quickly they could arrive at the end point, so shouldn't they try to cover more ground now before it rained?

Although Qi Long's mind was full of doubts, one of his strengths was self-awareness. He knew that his blood-sworn brother Han Jijyun was much smarter than him, so much smarter that he could only look on in envy. Since his sworn brother had said so, there must be something that he missed — it had been proven enough times in the past that it was never wrong to listen to Han Jijyun, so he would put his faith in his brother.

And so Qi Long decisively dismissed his worries, and kept running at his original pace. It had to be said that none of the children in Ling Lan's group were particularly competitive in nature, other than Luo Lang. And although Luo Lang was prideful, he was also an intelligent boy, so when he heard Han Jijyun's advice to Qi Long, he also decided not to speed up, merely keeping pace behind Qi Long.

Among their peers, Han Jijyun's intelligence was publicly acknowledged. Even Luo Lang admired Han Jijyun for his intelligence, but unfortunately, Han Jijyun had befriended that idiot Qi Long before he could get to know him. He was full of regret that he had moved too slowly and felt that it was such a waste — if he had managed to get to Han Jijyun first, Qi Long would never have had a chance.

The other kids also maintained their original pace, keeping close to the group so that they weren't left behind. Anyone who could attend the enrolment tests of the Central Scout Academy of Doha was no idiot — Qi Long and Luo Lang's fight had shown them that the two were much stronger than them, so if the two of them weren't afraid of wasting time, why should they be afraid?

Han Jijyun quickened his steps to catch up to Ling Lan, and jogged by her side. In low tones, he asked, "Ling Lan, what do you think?" Han Jijyun's gut just told him that Ling Lan knew something.

"Didn't you already notice it yourself?" asked back Ling Lan with a wounded gaze. Dammit, this was truly what was meant by heaven-blessed. Han Jijyun was only six years old, but he was already observant enough to discover something wrong with the situation — she felt pitiful in comparison.

She had only noticed the problem thanks to her experience of two lifetimes, as well as the intensive training and trials provided the learning mind-space. This year especially, Ling Lan had been free of any specific training menu or missions, but had been tormented by Number One via all sorts of methods, causing her to view everything with suspicion now. Looking deeper into everything by at least several layers had become her default reaction.

Han Jijyun was oblivious of Ling Lan's hurt little soul, continuing in a stern manner, "Hn, it won't matter whether we speed up or not, what will come will come. Perhaps they want to see how we react under pressure."

"The examiner did not set a clear path for us, I suspect that ... this test might not have a typical finish line," admitted Ling Lan. Han Jijyun's intelligence allowed Ling Lan to speak freely without worry.