The news of Duan Xingguo, the new overlord of County No. 1 Middle School, being beaten spread across the campus faster than a rumor with wings.
At first, some people didn't believe it. But more people chose to believe.
After all, many had been bullied by Duan Xingguo and his gang.
Most students who liked to study were not good at fighting.
These students had been bullied by Duan Xingguo openly and secretly, gnashing their teeth in anger, but they could do nothing.
When they heard the news of Duan Xingguo being beaten, they were so happy they could almost fly.
The few who didn't believe it, after hearing that the person who beat Duan Xingguo was Su Xiaotian's own brother, also believed it.
Combined with Su Xiaotian's previous defeat of Wen Yufei, the students in the school interpreted the martial prowess of the Su siblings in various versions.
Fortunately, martial arts novels had not yet spread to this backward small county town; otherwise, the Su siblings might have been portrayed as martial arts masters who could leap over walls and walk on roofs.
Regarding these rumors, Su Xiaotian heard some and didn't hear others.
But whether she heard them or not, it made little difference to Su Xiaotian.
Her main task every day was to study, study, and study more, and read, read, and read more.
For years, she had been very clear that she could change her family's fortune through learning.
And now, she was already seeing the results.
Her three older brothers had already gone to college, and in the future, even the worst-case scenario would be a stable job that would ensure they never had to worry about food and clothing for life.
Her remaining six brothers also had good academic performance, and in the future, they would surely have great prospects because of their studies.
But all of this was not as important as her own excellent academic performance.
The future of the Su family relied on the development of the learning system.
The extent to which the learning system released tasks was closely related to her efforts.
Although she didn't know what changes the learning system would bring in the future, Su Xiaotian felt that this system would greatly impact her life.
Watching Su Xiaotian, who dedicated all her time to studying every day, many people found it incredible.
Even Su Xiaotian's homeroom teacher, Teacher Xu, couldn't understand.
How could a ten-year-old girl be so self-disciplined in her studies?
Her academic performance was already outstanding; she was always the top student in the entire grade in every exam, yet she was still so dedicated to studying diligently every day.
She had flipped through those books so many times that she could probably recite them backward.
Looking at Su Xiaotian, Teacher Xu wondered why all the students in the class couldn't be so self-disciplined.
If all students could study with such self-discipline, they would definitely be able to go to college in the future and become successful people.
As for the other students in the class, their expressions were even more varied when they saw Su Xiaotian.
Let alone the other students, even her classmates Su Xiao Ba and Su Xiao Jiu, her brothers, felt immense pressure.
"Xiaotian, can't you leave anyone else a way to live?" Su Xiao Ba couldn't help it anymore and asked Su Xiaotian, who was engrossed in her book.
Su Xiaotian was reading a book on hydraulics, but to others, she appeared to be reading a Chinese literature book.
Startled by the interruption, she couldn't help but giggle upon seeing her brother's constipated expression.
"I haven't done anything, have I?"
Su Xiao Ba pouted and said, "Haven't done anything? You call this not doing anything?"
Studying intently for more than ten hours every day, and you call that not doing anything? It means other students are just wasting their time.
"If you study diligently for a few more hours every day, brother, you can too."
Su Xiaotian raised the book in her hand, a smile on her face.
Su Xiao Ba said with immense resentment, "I can study diligently, but with the same effort, I'm still not as good as you."
He was two years older, yet his studies were far inferior to his younger sister's, which made him lose face.
In fact, in the last few exams, Su Xiao Ba, Su Xiao Jiu, and Su Xiaotian all scored perfect marks.
But Su Xiao Ba knew in his heart that his and Xiao Jiu's scores were actually not as good as Su Xiaotian's.
They got perfect scores by exerting all their might.
They were born to the same parents, so why was he so useless?
Su Xiaotian was different; she got perfect scores because there were no higher scores to achieve.
"That's because I'm smart!" Su Xiaotian said without hesitation.
She was currently in junior high, but she had already finished the curriculum for senior high school.
She hadn't even fallen behind in university courses, and she had already dabbled in many subjects. If it weren't for the lack of systematic textbooks, she would have finished learning them long ago.
Using university knowledge to solve junior high problems was naturally more than sufficient.
Su Xiao Ba was instantly speechless.
Although he knew his younger sister was telling the truth, why did he still feel so uncomfortable?
After a long pause, he finally managed to organize his thoughts.
"You don't just read textbooks; you read other books too."
"Reading is beneficial; reading more books, regardless of the subject, is useful!" Su Xiaotian said without reservation.
Through Chen Zi'an's connections, she had obtained quite a few old books from a scrap recycling station.
Those old books were kept in a large box at home, and Su Xiaotian would also read them after finishing her homework.
Fortunately, the controls were much looser now compared to the previous two years; otherwise, she wouldn't have had this opportunity.
"Little sister, you better stop talking; you're just making people hate you!"
After saying that, Su Xiao Ba returned to his seat with immense resentment to study diligently.
He muttered to himself, "The slow bird flies first, the slow bird flies first," and so on.
He was already struggling just to learn the knowledge in the textbooks, yet Xiaotian still had time to read miscellaneous books.
Su Xiaotian couldn't help but laugh at her brother's reaction but didn't say much more.
Su Xiao Jiu also looked at Su Xiaotian a few more times. Having such a sister, is it good or bad?
The pressure was too much, wasn't it?
Forget it, study, study.
This scene also fell into Su Xiaotian's eyes, and she was very satisfied.
It was good that her brothers had motivation to study.
Su Xiaotian buried her head and continued reading her Chinese literature book.
Only she knew that the Chinese literature book was actually a cover.
Su Xiaotian's memory was now very strong; basically, she could remember anything she had read once.
Then, with the enhancement of the system skill "Learn by Analogy," she could integrate all the content when reviewing it.
As a result, she could learn in a short time what others took a lot of time to comprehend.
One day, after Su Xiaotian and her siblings returned home together, Chen Zi'an and Su Manxiu were also there.
They heard some news.
Due to a job change, her uncle had been transferred to the south.
And her aunt and Xiao Xiuyuan would also be going with him.
"Uncle is going to work somewhere else?" Su Xiaotian asked in surprise.
But after a moment, she felt that she shouldn't be so surprised.
Her uncle was destined to become a high-ranking official in the future, so he couldn't possibly live in this small county town for his entire life.
Even if it wasn't to the south, it would be to a larger city.
"Yes, I feel a bit uneasy thinking about going south."
Su Manxiu said this with a hint of insecurity.
Su Xiaotian smiled and said, "Aunt, there's nothing to be afraid of."
"I've never been there before, and I don't know if life will be good or not!" Su Manxiu's anxious feelings were clearly revealed.
Her husband had been promoted, and she was naturally happy, but the thought of going to an unfamiliar environment made her unable to smile.
Therefore, Su Manxiu's words were more of worry than joy.
Su Xiaotian could understand Su Manxiu's feelings.
The current Su Manxiu was like how she herself felt when she had to leave her hometown to go to another place in her previous life.
"It's okay, Manxiu, I'm here for you," Chen Zi'an said, comforting Su Manxiu with a smile.
Su Manxiu looked at Chen Zi'an and finally nodded.
She had never left the county town in her life, nor had she done anything earth-shattering.
The most surprising thing she had done was to thoroughly deal with Chunni at the county party committee compound and send her back to her hometown.
To go to a completely unfamiliar place, where the language was said to be different, she really couldn't be sure if she could adapt.
"Don't worry, Aunt, the south is better than here," Su Xiaotian said proactively.
Chen Zi'an looked at Su Xiaotian in surprise.
How could a little girl, who had presumably never been to a southern city, know that the south was better than here?
Su Xiaotian knew that Chen Zi'an was suspicious of her, so she smiled, her bright little face beaming with radiance.
"Uncle, are you surprised that I know about the south?"
Chen Zi'an nodded.
"That's because I had a dream," Su Xiaotian said slowly.
She knew herself that many things in the Su family over the past few years couldn't stand up to scrutiny, but because her uncle protected her, there had been no problems.
But she figured her uncle was also suspicious, and some things needed to be told to her uncle now.
As expected, Chen Zi'an spoke directly, "What kind of dream?"
"In the dream, Grandpa Dragon King took me to see many, many places. From the northwest to the northeast, and then to the south, he showed me all of them," Su Xiaotian's voice was very steady, not like someone lying at all.
As a result, Chen Zi'an didn't doubt her.
He just felt that perhaps Xiaotian suddenly had a dream for some inexplicable reason, and the Dragon King and the like were unreliable, but some things in dreams were really hard to explain.
"What did you see?" Chen Zi'an became more curious and less suspicious.
"I saw bustling traffic and tall buildings on the road. Grandpa Dragon King told me that this was life ten years from now."
Su Xiaotian's face was still smiling, and even in her smile, there was a hint of yearning, as if she longed for that kind of life.
Chen Zi'an saw that Grandma Su didn't doubt her at all and seemed to know about it already, so he turned his questioning gaze to Grandma Su and the others.
"Mother, you know?"
"Yes, when Xiaotian was rescued from the river back then, she told me!" Grandma Su nodded solemnly.
Grandma Su didn't think there was anything wrong with saying this.
After all, Su Xiaotian was truly favored by the Dragon King to have survived; in recent years, even the Su family had prospered due to the Dragon King's favor.
"Xiaotian also fell into the water?" Chen Zi'an didn't know about this.
"At that time, Xiaotian was only seven years old," Su Manxiu had heard about this, so she spoke.
But Grandma Su might have been reminded of Su Manxiang, and her mood was not good, so she remained silent.
Su Manxiu could understand her mother's feelings and quickly found an excuse to ask, "But, Mother, you never said that Xiaotian had a miraculous encounter at that time."
Su Manxiu's interruption brought Grandma back to the original topic.
"This child Xiaotian was favored by the Dragon King, which is why she survived after falling into the river. Since then, everything our family has done has been successful, and our lives have become better and better."
Her son-in-law and daughter were her own family, and it was Su Xiaotian who initiated the conversation. Grandma Su figured that Xiaotian didn't intend to hide it from her daughter and son-in-law anymore.
Therefore, she selectively told them what she could, without telling the whole truth.
Chen Zi'an frowned, not entirely believing that it was truly the Dragon King's favor; perhaps it was just a coincidence.
As for this dream, perhaps it was due to some coincidence that Su Xiaotian happened to see something.
When he was in the army before, a comrade had a dream that saved everyone's lives.
Some things were really hard to explain!
But the Dragon King was a legend; he couldn't really appear.
"What else did the Dragon King tell you?" Chen Zi'an didn't believe it, but Su Manxiu did and couldn't help but ask.
"He said that life in the future would become happier and happier. We would not only have enough to eat, but we would also eat white rice and white flour, and even meat."
"Also, in the future, children would have new clothes to wear all year round, buy clothes without coupons, eat meat without coupons, and drink milk."
"There would be airplanes in the sky, trains on the ground, and ships on the water, and they would run very fast."
Su Xiaotian described the future life as best as she could in a child's language.
The more she spoke, the less suspicious Chen Zi'an became.
These things already existed, but few people in the small county town knew about them.
Su Xiaotian must have read too many books to have such dreams, but was it really possible to not need coupons?
"Are you sure it was the Dragon King who told you this?" Chen Zi'an asked.
Su Xiaotian nodded solemnly.
Then she surprisingly added, "Uncle, if you go to the south and have the opportunity to stay in Licheng, it would be the best."
"Licheng?" Chen Zi'an frowned.
How had he never heard of such a city?
"Where is Licheng?" Chen Zi'an asked.
"I don't know either!" Su Xiaotian shook her head naturally.
Licheng, which would become famous later, was just a small fishing village at this time and wasn't even called that yet.
She couldn't say these things, but when a special economic zone was to be established one day, she believed her uncle would remember.
Grandma Su and Su Manxiu both smiled, thinking this was just a childish remark.
"Child, you say it even though you don't know."
"Grandpa Dragon King said that place would have great development in the future! Well, he told me that Licheng is by the sea!"
This was all she could say; she really couldn't say any more.
Su Xiaotian knew that some things should only be hinted at. If she said too much, it might backfire and cause her uncle to directly shake his head.
Chen Zi'an found it even stranger. His eyes were fixed on Su Xiaotian, as if trying to see something in her expression, but in the end, he saw nothing.
"Then tell me, what kind of development will there be?" Chen Zi'an asked again.
"I don't know. Grandpa Dragon King just told me that Licheng would develop very, very quickly and become the fastest-developing and most prosperous place in our country."
Chen Zi'an expressed his doubt about this, but he didn't say it out loud. He just thought that Su Xiaotian was too young and had read too many books, blurring the lines between reality and dreams.
He even considered suggesting that Su Xiaotian should read fewer irrelevant books in the future, lest her mind be damaged.
But then he thought that someone had once said that geniuses were always different, and he suddenly felt that Su Xiaotian might be an extraordinary child, so he put the matter out of his mind.
Su Manxiu, however, became interested in what Su Xiaotian had said.
"Xiaotian, did you really see these things in your dream?"
Su Xiaotian didn't understand why, but she nodded.
"Aunt, I really did!"
Su Manxiu said excitedly, "I also used to fantasize about future life and wrote some stories. I'll get them for you to see right away."
Chen Zi'an looked at his wife's excited demeanor and didn't know what to say.
Why were both his niece and wife so mystical?
Could this be a hereditary illness?
But looking at the others, they all seemed normal.
Perhaps the Su family had a hidden flaw that was passed down to females but not males?
Soon, Su Manxiu returned, holding a thick stack of manuscripts.
"Xiaotian, look at this. This is what I wrote. Is it the same as what you saw?"
As Su Manxiu handed the manuscripts to Su Xiaotian, her eyes were full of anticipation, as if hoping for Su Xiaotian's affirmation.
Su Xiaotian took the manuscripts with confusion.
She knew a lot because she had lived another life, which was why she could say these things. Why did her aunt say she had also thought of these things?
However, after reading a few pages of Su Manxiu's manuscripts, Su Xiaotian's mouth was so wide with surprise that she couldn't close it.
What did she see?
The manuscripts in her hands were clearly a science fiction novel!
"Aunt, how much have you written?" Su Xiaotian's fingers trembled with excitement.
Su Manxiu said shyly, "I just write as I think, and before I knew it, I've already written several books."
The "several books" Su Manxiu mentioned were several stacks of manuscripts.
Each stack had fifty pages, and each page could hold four hundred words. Several stacks meant around one hundred thousand words.
For the first time, Su Xiaotian realized that perhaps the genius in the Su family wasn't herself, but her aunt Su Manxiu.
Her aunt had only attended literacy classes in her early years. Her uncle had taught her some things in recent years, and she had also been diligently self-studying. She hadn't expected to achieve such success.
"Aunt, this is science fiction! I've read it before," Su Xiaotian said to Su Manxiu in a trembling voice. "Aunt, you can revise and organize these manuscripts and submit them to a publisher or directly to a magazine."
Su Manxiu became shy and waved her hands repeatedly, "I just write casually; how can I submit it to a publisher? It's embarrassing!"
"This is not embarrassing at all. Fourth brother, come and see if what Aunt wrote is good!"
Su Xiao Si immediately took the manuscripts from Su Xiaotian and, after reading a few pages, clapped his hands in admiration.
He never expected to have such a master in his family who could write such captivating stories. Moreover, the things in the stories were so novel, things he had never thought of before.
"Aunt, it's not embarrassing, not embarrassing at all; you're amazing!" Su Xiao Si wished he could treat Su Manxiu like his goddess.
Su Xiaotian's gaze towards Su Manxiu also changed from before.
Previously, she thought Su Manxiu would write fairy tales in the future, as she was very engaging when telling stories to the child Chen Xiuyuan.
But she hadn't expected Su Manxiu to be able to write such meaningful science fiction novels.
[Author's Note]
Tonight it's still one chapter. I'll continue to work overtime tomorrow, which makes me feel depressed. I hope things will get better after the New Year!