Cheating Craft Chapter 13

Library G.o.ddess (1/2)

The Three Missing One Quartet had never lost in mahjong before. All the people that had played with them before knew that they worked together to win thousands of victories. Meng Ming had long since antic.i.p.ated this situation, and so he sat in front of the mahjong table and played with them. Meng Ming gave up the first two rounds so that he could see through their cheating techniques. Once he had completely a.n.a.lyzed their skills, he won the following games one after another! The last two rounds were especially overwhelming, scaring the Three Missing One Quartet off their seats as they collapsed unmovingly onto the ground.

Meng Ming slowly stood up from his seat, picked up his homework book, and said, “Then, I’ll go hand in my homework?” He had seized an overwhelming victory, and was intending to leave now.

Meng Ming had managed to win over the Three Missing One Quartet’s combination cheating, which was claimed to be undefeatable. That meant Meng Ming had used a Cheating Technique 100x more powerful.

But since the moment he won, the Three Missing One Quartet had this nagging feeling of discomfort. They knew the Meng Ming had definitely cheated, but they couldn’t catch it. Their own combinations had been completely seen through by him, leaving a distasteful feeling in their hearts.

“Hey, wait, wait up!” Boss Ma Que shouted. He angrily stood up and said, “You, just now, you actually cheated, didn’t you!”

“Ah?” Meng Ming feigned confusion, “What cheating?”

Seeing that Meng Ming refused to confess, Boss Ma Que’s hands tightly clenched into fists as he seemed to have some type of internal battle over something.

Aside from him, no other member of the quartet spoke. They simply stared at the tiles on the mahjong table, as they thought that playing such tiles was completely impossible! Boss Ma Que finally began to show his power. His expression became taut as he slammed a fist on the table, messing up the mahjong game.

“Hmph…no one from Lin Xian has ever defeated our quartet before! He walked up to Meng Ming with his brows furrowed, his eyes shut.

Meng Ming bitterly smiled, and couldn’t help but retreat 2 steps─

It’s been a while since I trained…if he suddenly fights me, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to beat them.

But to his surprise, Boss Ma Que lowered his head and knelt down on one knee. He said to Meng Ming:

“I beg of you! Please take us as your disciples!”

The other three brothers followed their boss and did the same actions.

……

……

“Master, if you don’t take us in, we won’t let the matter drop!”

The four of them raised their heads, only to see that Meng Ming had long since slipped out.

“Master! Where’s Master?” They grew anxious, immediately getting up to look for him. They suddenly discovered Meng Ming’s escaping figure outside the window. The Three Missing One Quartet quickly chased after him, shouting for Meng Ming to take them as his disciples.

As if I’d want to! Completely ignoring these people, Meng Ming grasped his homework book tightly as he ran towards the library.

“Master! You must accept us as your disciples today!”

“Teach us a few moves!”

They seemed like rabbits as they chased after Meng Ming, reluctant to give up on their hot pursuit.

“You guys go play among yourselves! Even if I accepted disciples, I wouldn’t take people like you!” Meng Ming scowled.

The sky had already gotten dark. There weren’t really any people on campus anymore. Meng Ming’s running sounds were extremely audible, making it impossible for him to hide from the four chasing after him. He ran until he turned into a dark corner, when a brilliant idea popped up in his mind. This is the only way….Zhuge Cheating Technique─He ripped out the last few blank pages of his homework book─Water Splitting Blade Draw!

He used Water Splitting Blade Draw multiple times and used the Zhuge Style’s secretly pa.s.sed down folding technique. In an instant, he was able to create an extremely large piece of paper!

He stopped and leaned against a wall, using the paper to cover himself up. He watched as the Three Missing One Quartet sped past him, shouting for “Master”.

Meng Ming let out the breath he had been holding. Even such a crude method was able to trick that group of idiots…when he heard Three Missing One Quartet’s footsteps run further off into the distance, Meng Ming threw off the piece of paper. He surveyed the path to check if the coast was clear, and silently headed towards the library.

Not a sound could be heard in Lin Xian Central High at night. The lights in the cla.s.srooms had gone out ages ago. At this time, students were typically at home, writing their homework and self-studying. Only the library still had lights on.

Meng Ming arrived at the library entrance, and saw a sliver of light coming from the door. He found it quite strange that the physics teacher hadn’t gone home yet.

This was the first time in his life that Meng Ming had ever gone to the library. However, even he knew that the school library was a place where students and teachers borrowed books to read.

It was still open even this late. This made Meng Ming feel a bit more admiration for China’s att.i.tude towards studying.

Meng Ming pushed the door open. The room was entirely quiet. He quietly walked in to look around.

This was the first time he’d ever seen so many books. Numerous bookshelves stood in the room, with all the books neatly organized on them. It was extremely orderly and tidy. However, all the seats were empty; any figures of students or teachers had long since disappeared. But when he listened closely, he seemed to be able to hear the sound of pages being flipped from somewhere.

Meng Ming found it. A girl wearing the Lin Xian Central High’s girl’s uniform sat at one of the reading tables. She was currently pressing a book down as she flipped through it, writing something down at the same time.

Only one person? Meng Ming looked closer. He seemed to have seen this girl’s face not very long ago!

She is…?!

Sensing that someone had entered, the girl raised her head.

She also jumped in shock from seeing Meng Ming.

The two stared at each other for a long time without saying a word.

“Please, please enter!” She suddenly said in a rushed tone.

Meng Ming walked up to her, and thought: It’s her, it’s really her! This cla.s.smate is from my cla.s.s…her name is Bai Jiu…! When he saw that there was n.o.body else in the reading room, he walked over nervously and asked, “Um, where is the physics teacher? I came to hand in my homework…”

Bai Jiu seemed to be even more nervous than he was. She lowered her head and quietly said in an embarra.s.sed voice, “Actually, truth be told…I…the physics teacher said, if cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming and cla.s.smate Huang Qiao Yi came to hand in their homework, I am supposed to help check them…”

She inwardly sighed in relief: As expected, he came to hand in the homework. That means…cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming actually, really didn’t copy the homework…

“Does that mean you recognize me?” Meng Ming asked.

“Yes…that’s right!” Bai Jiu then said with some difficulty, “….I’ve always extremely admired your grades!”

Her att.i.tude and actions made Meng Ming’s heart race uncontrollably. Meng Ming hurriedly pa.s.sed the homework book to Bai Jiu, thinking that he had to make her believe that he hadn’t copied! Even more importantly, she couldn’t find out that he was a C-type!

Bai Jiu flipped open Meng Ming’s homework book and began to examine it closely.

The answers that Meng Ming had copied were the correct answers, so he was relaxed as he silently waited for her to finish.

Not long after, Bai Jiu returned the book with a nod, saying that it was correct. Although he had planned for this result, Meng Ming still sighed in relief.

The “misunderstanding” was cleared.

Bai Jiu unexpectedly asked him, “But, cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming, what happened to the last few pages of the homework book…”

Meng Ming thought back to his hiding from the Three Missing One Quartet’s hot pursuit just now, and how he had ripped the pages out. “I, used them…”

Bai Jiu asked in confusion, “Even if you use them, you should still keep them in the book…”

“Eh, it doesn’t matter, right?”

“No…” Bai Jiu lowered her head and caressed the book as she earnestly said to Meng Ming, “Books are a student’s friends. They definitely cannot be ripped apart…”

She then picked up the teaching materials and the library books, as well as her own books. Each one was neat, and well-protected, to the point where they still looked brand new.

“Cla.s.smate Bai Jiu, you…” Meng Ming stared at the large pile of books in shock, “You like reading that much?!”

Bai Jiu hurriedly shook her head and explained, “No, no, I’m sure I can’t compare to cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming…! Your grades are so excellent…I’m sure you’ve read many more books than I have. The teacher asking me to look over your homework is really overpraising me….”

However, Meng Ming had never read any books…he came to the conclusion: It turns out that L-types’ grades are somewhat related to how many books they read…?

Bai Jiu suddenly asked, “Cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming, what books do you typically enjoy reading?”

This question was like a sudden thunderclap in a clear sky.

“Eh, I, I…” Meng Ming was suddenly speechless.

He obviously hadn’t read any books before. However, if Meng Ming admitted this, wouldn’t that just be exposing his own secret?!

Library G.o.ddess (2/2)

At that moment, the Three Missing One Quartet had long since lost Meng Ming’s tracks, and they were currently pacing back and forth in the corridor.

“Boss Ma Que, where did Master go?”

Boss Ma Que grumbled, “Weird, how did the sound of Master’s footsteps suddenly disappear?! Such a headache. He has to accept us as his disciples today!”

Huang Que suddenly said, “Didn’t Master say he needed to hand his homework in at the library? He must be there!”

“That’s right!”

The Three Missing One Quartet suddenly realized, and immediately flew towards the library.

“I, I read…” Meng Ming was racking his brains as he sat in front of Bai Jiu. He was fervently hoping that he could recall a book he had read, or even heard of before. “Right, that’s right!” He suddenly remembered─There seems to be a t.i.tle that has a “Three” and starts with “Romance”, a book that talks about the history of wars.

He said, “The book I read is Three…”

“Three? Three what?” Bai Jiu asked.

Three, Three…Romance something…Three Trigrams? Three Rules…? Suddenly, the word that the teacher had repeated most often in cla.s.s appeared in Meng Ming’s mind, and he finally said:

“Yea, the─!”

Bai Jiu’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t even heard of this book before, let alone read it. She immediately felt a deep veneration for Meng Ming. “I don’t know this book. Cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming, what’s it about…?”

“Ah? You don’t know?” Meng Ming was shocked. The book he recalled seemed to have been quite famous.

Could that mean he had remembered it wrongly?

But since he had already said it, Meng Ming could only force himself to continue, “The content is about a few countries that fought each other and annexed some other countries, but were annexed by others as well. However, although these wars seemed to just be some battles and invasions on the outside, they were actually the result of some generals secretly going against each other from behind. It all depended on who was better at planning, cheating…”

Outside the library, the Three Missing One Quartet was currently prepared to stride into the library. However, they were suddenly stopped by a girl at the entrance.

“Shhhh─!!” The girl was secretly hiding outside the door to eavesdrop, and she made the four people be quiet.

“Inside, inside…” She said in a soft voice, “Brother Meng Ming is talking with a female cla.s.smate!”

“Ah?” The Three Missing One Quartet was flabbergasted.

“Don’t interrupt!”

Huang Qiao Yi actually said this not to avoid interrupting them, but because she found it very interesting, and wanted to eavesdrop in secret. She wanted to see exactly what kind of show Brother Meng Ming would put on for Bai Jiu. Brother Meng Ming, that’s …

Hearing Huang Qiao Yi’s command, the Three Missing One Quartet also shut up and began to listen in from behind the door.

Meng Ming had managed to finish his explanation of in only two sentences. What was he supposed to do now? He could only start telling his own stories about formidable figures, ones that his father had always told him since he was young, stories about Zhuge Liang. He added these details to his narration to elaborate his impromptu performance.

Planning formations, mutual deception, integrating the Thirty-Six Stratagems in battle, these were all situations that constantly changed, just like in a casino.

As he continued to bulls.h.i.+t his way though, Bai Jiu became fascinated with his story. She had gotten completely absorbed by his tales. She had never imagined that so many interesting things could happen behind a war, undetected!

“I must find this book…!” Bai Jiu hurriedly stood up after hearing Meng Ming’s explanation, and quickly looked through the library’s digital database. However, she was obviously unable to find it. She turned around and asked Meng Ming, “Is this really hard to find?”

“No way?!” Meng Ming wiped some cold sweat off his brow and replied, “It should be commonly found anywhere…”

Huang Qiao Yi couldn’t hold back her laughter from outside the door. Brother Meng Ming was really working hard at pretending to be an L-type! And when the Three Missing One Quartet heard the story, they were even more engrossed in it than Bai Jiu was, and they currently stood there in a daze, waiting for it to continue.

Bai Jiu said to Meng Ming, “But the school’s library doesn’t have it…it must be an extremely profound book.” Her admiration for Meng Ming increased. “Cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming actually reads such amazing books.”

“No, actually…” Meng Ming wasn’t quite sure either. Was it him who had been mistaken, or was he actually amazing?

Huang Qiao Yi had already collapsed onto her knees in laughter outside.

“Who?!” Meng Ming seemed to have sensed there were people outside the door.

Huang Qiao Yi hurriedly covered her mouth.

Bai Jiu said to Meng Ming, “Well, it looks like I have no other choice. If I ever see the book, I’ll buy it. As an exchange, I’ll also recommend a book for cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming to read. How about it?

“Eh, recommend a book to me?”

Bai Jiu walked up to the table and picked up one of the books from the pile. This was a novel she had borrowed from the library called .

It was precisely this book that she had been so immersed in earlier. That’s why she really wanted Meng Ming to read it as well.

She handed the book over to Meng Ming and roughly summarized it.

But after hearing the summary, Meng Ming still didn’t have any desire to read it. In addition, he had never really read books before. If he read it but still didn’t understand its content afterwards, what would he say if Bai Jiu asked him something related to it….

But Bai Jiu had already pa.s.sed it to him, so Meng Ming could only accept it and smile, “Thank you, I’ll definitely read it. After I finish, do I just return it to the library?” When he held the book, he could still feel the remains of the warmth from Bai Jiu’s hands.

Bai Jiu hadn’t imagined that Meng Ming would accept her recommendation, and she was beyond happy. “Yes, that’s right.”

It was already quite late. Bai Jiu began to pack up her things to go home. The large pile of books on the desk were stowed into her backpack, one by one.

Meng Ming asked, “Cla.s.smate Bai Jiu, were you studying just now?”

“Yes.” She added, “I was studying today’s cla.s.s material to prepare for tomorrow’s…and I was reading some other books while resting.”

She was so hardworking that Meng Ming felt extreme admiration towards her.

Bai Jiu suddenly asked, “Cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming, how long do you spend studying every day?”

Meng Ming was beginning to feel his head spin. He wondered why all she spoke about were reading and studying─“I don’t spend time studying.” Meng Ming accidentally spilt out.

“AH?!” Bai Jiu was shocked, and her hand currently holding a book froze in midair.

Seeing Bai Jiu’s reaction, Meng Ming was taken aback.

d.a.m.n, I misspoke! If I’m pretending to be an L-type, then, then I can’t not spend time on studying! Seeing Bai Jiu’s astonished expression, Meng Ming was fl.u.s.tered as he flailed around, wondering how exactly he should go about justifying this…

But Bai Jiu’s expression had changed to one of further respect. “Cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming…is really awesome! You don’t spend any time, yet you get such good grades!”

“Ah?” Meng Ming hadn’t thought that she’d continue misunderstanding like this.

Huang Qiao Yi had been pacing back and forth outside the door. She couldn’t endure any longer, and so she burst into the library.

The sound of her footsteps made both Meng Ming and Bai Jiu turn to look.

Huang Qiao Yi struggled to hold back her urge to laugh, and handed over her completed homework book to Bai Jiu.

Only then did Bai Jiu realize that she hadn’t yet looked over Huang Qiao Yi’s homework, yet she had almost left by accident.

Meng Ming had thought Huang Qiao Yi had finished her homework and gone home first. “Little Qiao, why were you so slow?”

Huang Qiao Yi could only say that she had been waiting for Meng Ming so that they could go home together. Meng Ming suspected that she had been eavesdropping outside the whole time, but Huang Qiao Yi covered his mouth and said, “Anyways, Brother Meng Ming and I will go home now!”

After Bai Jiu had finished looking over the homework and returned it to Huang Qiao Yi, Huang Qiao Yi dragged Meng Ming outside. She didn’t even dare to look at Bai Jiu——she only wanted to leave her behind, and hurry up and tell Brother Meng Ming to stop bragging with such ridiculous words.

“But…” Meng Ming turned around. Although Huang Qiao Yi’s appearance had saved him from his inability to continue speaking, he still didn’t want to just abandon Bai Jiu like that. They hadn’t finished speaking….

“Master!!” The Three Missing One Quartet suddenly burst in. Meng Ming was shocked; so those people were outside as well?!

“Take us in as your disciples!!”

Meng Ming hurriedly slipped back into the library.

“Bang! Dong! Ka!”

In the late evening within the library room, the scene of a great chasing battle including four people trailing one person unfolded once more.

Bai Jiu and Huang Qiao Yi couldn’t understand what exactly had happened between these five.

“Hey, Brother Meng Ming?” Huang Qiao Yi looked around, but could only see a ton of dust flying through the air as she heard the chaotic jumble of footsteps. The four people were circling around in close pursuit as Meng Ming nimbly evaded them.

Bai Jiu knew that running around the library like this wasn’t very friendly to the books. However, she already had an extreme respect for Meng Ming, and earnestly thought, “Cla.s.smate Zhuge Meng Ming must have a reason for doing this…but what is it?”

What, what exactly are they doing… Huang Qiao Yi was baffled. She helplessly called out to Bai Jiu, “Forget it. Cla.s.smate Bai Jiu?”

“Ah?”

Huang Qiao Yi walked over with her backpack, “Let’s just go home first. Ignore those five weirdos.” She began to walk away.

Bai Jiu could only put on her backpack as well.

“……….” At the entrance, she turned around to give the library one final glance, as if she was reluctant to leave. But she then smiled, and slowly walked out.