Chapter 25

The concept of inner strength, or neili, is said to have an untraceable origin. The commonly accepted theory is that it emerged with the advent of modern wuxia stories.

This easily understandable concept, once introduced, gained widespread acceptance. The heroes in wuxia novels transformed from ordinary people into omnipotent supermen.

Killing enemies with a single palm strike, fighting for three days and nights, and sprinting for hundreds of miles using lightness skills—all these feats are attributed to neili.

This novel setting was so deeply ingrained that it broke the traditional wuxia framework. If a wuxia novel featured a mere escort who only knew how to throw money darts and called himself "The One Who Shakes Guanzhong," readers would undoubtedly criticize him harshly.

Lin Mu had already familiarized himself with the situation in this world. Therefore, when Lin Shuiqing asked him to write a summary, he focused not on the plot of "Lian Cheng Jue" but on the novel setting of neili.

Sure enough, after he sent the summary, Lin Shuiqing almost immediately asked him to submit the manuscript as soon as possible.

"The novel 'Lian Cheng Jue' requires 300,000 reputation points for exchange! Confirm the exchange!"

Since there was nothing much to do at school, Lin Mu immediately opened his computer, created a new document for "Lian Cheng Jue," and started typing.

With the text already in his mind after the exchange, Lin Mu just needed to transcribe it, so he didn't encounter any writer's block.

Even so, the first chapter, "The Country Boy Enters the City," which was over ten thousand words, took him more than five hours to complete, and his fingers almost felt like they weren't his own.

Transcribing was already this tiring; it's easy to imagine how difficult and arduous it would be to create twenty thousand words from scratch.

"In the future, if I read novels, I'll definitely read the official version. People spend hours typing, and I only need to pay less than fifty cents to read it. If I can't even spare that, it would be too heartless!"

Lin Mu sighed, rubbed his aching temples, sent the first chapter to Lin Shuiqing, and then opened a music app.

The song, "A Faint Sadness," was uploaded online. Although it wasn't well-known, its gentle melody and lyrics were something Lin Mu enjoyed.

"Love, once I had a beautiful heart.

...

Only the heart that once gave me innocence

Can understand the sweetness of waiting.

Only the heart that shed tears in the long night

Can understand that this is also a kind of luck..."

As he was listening, the door was pushed open. Who else could it be but Su Taohua?

She seemed to have just taken a shower, her hair still damp, and she was wearing a peach-colored nightgown that revealed her collarbone, making her look extremely sexy.

"You little brat, do you know that the whole school is talking about you?" Su Taohua entered the room without any formalities, sat on the bed, and stretched lazily.

Lin Mu looked at her for a long time but could only see her delicate legs swinging, with no other parts exposed, which made him feel quite disappointed.

"Me? What's there to talk about, just skipping a class. Hasn't Old Shang gotten used to it?"

Su Taohua glared at him with her beautiful eyes: "Are you really stupid, or just pretending? What's the deal with beating up your uncle?"

She could tolerate Lin Mu's mischief and even his lack of interest in studies and frequent truancy as an English teacher, but for such a serious family matter, if Lin Mu still acted frivolously, she wouldn't mind kicking him out.

As for whether the rent would be refunded after he was kicked out, Su Taohua raised her hands to show the innocence of her wallet.

Lin Mu was taken aback. While there were a few students from his village at school, it shouldn't have caused such a stir.

Moreover, why he had suppressed the Lin Zheng family was known by everyone in the village. How could they not mention it when gossiping?

He lacked experience. Although he had no grudges with those people, his success in earning royalties had certainly aroused jealousy.

As for Lin Zheng bullying his family, those people weren't righteous enough to care.

"Um, it happened like this..."

Lin Mu had nothing to hide and explained the situation in detail.

Su Taohua relaxed but then frowned: "That's not right. There must be someone behind this, perhaps more than one. Lin Mu, have you offended anyone?"

Lin Mu thought for a moment and then smiled bitterly: "Too many, I can't even count!"

Previously, countless people looked down on him for his poor academic performance. Now that he had turned things around, the hatred he attracted was inevitable.

"Clear conscience, and besides, this is our family matter. The school can't expel me just for this. Don't worry, Taohua."

Su Taohua frowned for a while, but with no solution, she could only sigh, seeing Lin Mu's tired face after typing.

"Are you tired from typing? I'll make you a bowl of noodles!"

...

The next day, as soon as Lin Mu arrived at school for morning study, he realized that the situation was really different.

Those who knew him pointed and whispered to their friends; those who didn't know him were also informed by others about what he had done.

Every step he took, it was the same!

"Lin Mu! Come out!"

After entering the class, he hadn't even sat down when Shang Zhicheng called him out with a cold face.

Rolling his eyes, Lin Mu felt a bit annoyed but had no choice but to go out and explain the situation again.

Shang Zhicheng was initially furious. Having such a disgrace among his students made him lose face at the school-wide meeting yesterday.

But after hearing Lin Mu's reasonable explanation, although his anger hadn't completely subsided, he no longer had a reason to vent it on Lin Mu.

Although Lin Mu had brutally beaten his cousin and injured his own uncle, he did it to avenge his mother and support his brother. No matter how one looked at it, Lin Mu held the moral high ground, and others had no right to criticize him.

In the end, Shang Zhicheng could only wave his hand, telling Lin Mu to be mindful of his actions in the future.

As for explaining the situation to his colleagues and the school leadership, that was Shang Zhicheng's own responsibility.

Lin Mu, always broad-minded, had no interest in explaining to those idle people. He only told a few close friends who genuinely cared about him.

The school, which seemed calm on the surface, actually spread information very quickly. By the time the class was over, Lin Mu's explanation had already spread.

...

"It turns out it wasn't Lin Mu's fault. I said, he usually doesn't even accept girls who throw themselves at him, so why would he do such a ridiculous thing? By the way, who started the rumor in the first place?"

"Maybe not? I heard Lin Mu has never been a good person. He used to fight with small-time hooligans. Who knows if this is just a lie he made up?"

"I don't think he's lying. There's no reason. If the relationship wasn't that bad, who would have the time to beat up their own uncle for fun? I think it's because his uncle was too disgusting and didn't act like an elder. Naturally, he wouldn't treat him as an elder..."

PS: Thank you, Shen Ben Wu Ming, for another 300-point reward.

Page flip, AD starts

Page flip, AD ends