Chapter 5

Time flew by, and before he knew it, it was time to start school.

Early in the morning, Zhang Chengyuan got up, practiced a set of martial arts, had breakfast, and then left home to take the school bus to his current school, Jiulao High School.

On the first day of school, everything felt fresh, the sky was especially blue, and Zhang Chengyuan's mood was particularly good. After more than a month, he looked like a completely different person.

Not only had his skin fully recovered, becoming smooth and fine, almost blindingly bright, but his height had also increased from 167 cm to 172 cm. Growing 5 cm in just over 40 days, which seemed incredible to most people, was just a normal occurrence for Zhang Chengyuan. If he wanted to, he could even grow into a muscular man in a month. However, to avoid causing too much surprise, he had only grown a little taller.

Anyway, from others' perspective, he had only grown 2 to 3 cm in over two months, which was not unusual during adolescence. And at 172 cm, he was not particularly tall, so he wouldn't stand out or draw much attention.

On the contrary, it was his smooth and healthy skin, features that rivaled those of an idol star, combined with his confident expression and haughty gaze, that made him stand out, attracting the shy glances of many young girls. As more and more admiring gazes gathered, Zhang Chengyuan felt somewhat uncomfortable and quickly took out a pair of large black-framed glasses from his pocket, putting them on, which made him look somewhat dull.

This pair of glasses was specially prepared by Zhang Chengyuan. The original Zhang Chengyuan was a dull guy with almost no redeeming qualities. Zhang Chengyuan tried to change his appearance but was afraid that too much change would lead to scrutiny from those around him, affecting his desire for a peaceful life. Therefore, after seeing a character in a TV drama who wore glasses and looked dull, he bought an ugly large-framed pair of glasses to use as a prop at school.

Sure enough, this prop served its purpose, and his classmates hardly paid attention to Zhang Chengyuan's changes. Instead, what he did after school and the events that followed a few days later became a topic of lively discussion among the students of Jiulao High School.

The day of study passed quickly, and each student was content, paying little attention to Zhang Chengyuan. Zhang Chengyuan was also happy to be left alone, quietly sitting through the day's classes. When the dismissal bell rang, he packed his bag and left the school, planning to find a part-time job at a fried chicken or barbecue restaurant to supplement his meal expenses. His father, Zhang Donghu, had left him enough money for two months before going on a business trip, but he had already spent most of it.

It wasn't that Zhang Chengyuan was frivolous or wasteful, but his body had grown so quickly that his appetite had also increased, consuming the equivalent of four to five normal people's meals per meal. This naturally increased his spending by four to five times, leaving him with only enough money for three more days of meals. This forced him to take time out from his cultivation to earn money.

Just as he walked out of the school gate, he saw three high school students with a delinquent appearance standing not far away, staring at him with ill intent. Zhang Chengyuan thought for a moment and remembered that these three had bullied the original Zhang Chengyuan before, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

These three delinquents were also students at Jiulao High School. The leader was Jin Yoo-ki, a third-year student who had always been at the bottom of the school in terms of grades, ranking within the bottom thousand out of over 600,000 college-bound students nationwide. He had long given up on the hope of getting into college and spent his days doing meaningless and foolish things, such as bullying and extorting male classmates, groping and whistling at female classmates, and deliberately causing trouble in class to make young female teachers cry. These were just everyday occurrences, and he had learned these tricks from Hong Kong movies to show off his toughness.

This guy also planned to join the yakuza after graduation and aimed to become a big boss in the Jiulao district within ten years. His thinking was rather peculiar; he believed that to become a yakuza boss, he needed to do evil deeds to make nearby students fear him. The original Zhang Chengyuan was the most cowardly, never retaliating when insulted or hit, making him the perfect target for establishing his authority. Therefore, he would often "knock down" Zhang Chengyuan, and always in crowded places near the school gate to show off his dominance.

When Jin Yoo-ki saw Zhang Chengyuan, he waved at him from a distance, his posture both confident and flashy, as if he wasn't afraid that Zhang Chengyuan would run away. In the past, Zhang Chengyuan would have obediently approached, allowing Jin Yoo-ki to hit him a few times or even take out his saved pocket money to buy peace.

But to his surprise, this time, Zhang Chengyuan just gave him a cold glance and turned to walk away.

That look was haughty, as if a lion was looking at a small monkey baring its teeth. This made Jin Yoo-ki extremely angry; he had always looked at Zhang Chengyuan with such a gaze, but today he was being despised by Zhang Chengyuan. His anger flared, and he rushed over to grab the collar of Zhang Chengyuan's shirt.

Zhang Chengyuan smiled coldly, slightly sidestepped, and easily avoided Jin Yoo-ki's hand, continuing to walk as if nothing had happened, leaving Jin Yoo-ki and his two companions behind.

Jin Yoo-ki, missing his target, was stunned. He turned to look at Zhang Chengyuan's slowly retreating back, his right hand still extended, unable to understand how Zhang Chengyuan had dodged. Seeing Zhang Chengyuan gradually walking away, he became anxious and shouted, "Hey, hey, hey! I didn't tell you to go, and you dare to walk away!" He then led his two subordinates to chase after Zhang Chengyuan.

Zhang Chengyuan walked calmly, ignoring Jin Yoo-ki's shouts. Such a small thug was not worth his attention, and he didn't even bother to speak.

Jin Yoo-ki and his two companions ran faster and faster, soon out of breath. They could see Zhang Chengyuan walking leisurely, but they just couldn't catch up. If they had a bit more sense, they would have realized something was wrong, but Jin Yoo-ki continued to chase with all his might.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Zhang Chengyuan knew Jin Yoo-ki hadn't given up. Seeing more and more people watching, he glanced back and suddenly darted into a narrow alley on the left.

When Jin Yoo-ki and his companions saw Zhang Chengyuan suddenly disappear, they became even more anxious. They rushed into the alley without looking, running for another dozen steps. Suddenly, a shadow flashed past, and they felt a sharp pain in their necks, collapsing and passing out.

After a while, Zhang Chengyuan calmly walked out of the alley, continuing his search for a part-time job. After he left, some curious classmates who liked to watch the spectacle entered the alley and were surprised to see Jin Yoo-ki and his companions huddled in a corner, wearing only their underwear.

That evening, Zhang Chengyuan found a part-time job as a waiter at a fried chicken restaurant called "Twotwo Chicken." He worked from 5 PM to 10 PM, earning 5,000 won per hour, which was enough to cover his meals. The restaurant was also close to the school, and he could walk there in just three minutes, without wasting too much time.

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