Chapter Seven: Divine Translation

Chapter Seven: The Divine Translation

Liu Xiaojuan paused in surprise. “Shi Bai, do you know Ye Ying’er?”

Before Shi Bai could respond, Ye Ying’er cut in, “No, I don’t.”

Liu Xiaojuan smiled awkwardly. “Oh, I see. Then, Ye Ying’er, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

With a hint of displeasure, Ye Ying’er shot a glance at Shi Bai. “My name is Ye Ying’er. That’s all.”

A murmur swept through the classroom. “She’s got personality!”

The boys, in particular, were mesmerized. “She’s stunning!”

Shi Bai’s deskmate couldn’t help but comment, “Before she arrived, the school beauty was Liu Feifei. Now that Ye Ying’er’s here, I’d say it’s a tie.”

Shi Bai nodded. Though Ye Ying’er and Liu Feifei had very different styles—Ye Ying’er was cold and proud, Liu Feifei was brash and fiery—their overall appeal was evenly matched.

Ye Ying’er was assigned the seat next to Shi Bai. With their proximity, conversation was inevitable. Shi Bai couldn’t help but ask, “What brings you here?”

Ye Ying’er turned away coldly. “We’ll talk after class.”

Shi Bai shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

When the bell finally rang, Shi Bai hadn’t even gone to find her when Ye Ying’er approached him first. “Hey, you liar, come with me.”

A stir rose among the students. “Liar? What’s going on between those two?”

Ye Ying’er led Shi Bai to the end of the corridor. She looked at him with great reluctance, arms folded. “My grandfather wants to thank you, so he’s inviting you over for dinner this afternoon.”

Shi Bai was taken aback. “Is that why you transferred here?”

Ye Ying’er frowned. In truth, her grandfather had arranged her transfer to Shi Bai’s school to bring the two of them together. In her grandfather’s words, Shi Bai was a golden opportunity—if he really succeeded in cultivating immortality, the whole family would prosper by association.

But Ye Ying’er had never believed it. She’d always thought Shi Bai was a fraud.

“Don’t worry about why I’m here,” she said. “Just answer: are you coming or not?”

Her attitude made Shi Bai reconsider. Even if he’d wanted to go, he wouldn’t agree so easily. He turned to leave. “Who do you think I am? You say ‘go’ and I just follow?”

Ye Ying’er panicked and hurried after him. “My grandfather insists. If you don’t come, he’ll kill me!”

Shi Bai thought it over. Forming a connection with the Ye family could be useful. When he made it big, their help would save him a lot of trouble.

But to agree so quickly would be too easy. He replied, “And what does that have to do with me?”

“You…” Ye Ying’er grabbed his arm. “I admit I was wrong! Isn’t that enough? Please, I’m begging you!”

Seeing her finally relent, Shi Bai smiled faintly. “All right, but remember—you owe me a life.”

“You—!”

After that, the day proceeded as usual. With his system, Shi Bai had no need to pay attention in class. Still, something amusing happened during English.

Shi Bai’s English teacher was an elderly woman whose pronunciation was so odd that he could hardly understand a word. Given the situation, he’d long since given up on the class, passing the time by reading comics at his desk. Unfortunately, today, the teacher caught him.

“Some people,” the English teacher declared loudly, “never consider their family circumstances! If you don’t study hard and get into college, what will you do? End up like your parents, selling fruit by the roadside?”

The whole class gave a nervous laugh, then fell silent. Everyone knew it wasn’t funny—Shi Bai was the only one whose family sold fruit.

Shi Bai was stunned, but not because he felt insulted—he was just surprised to be found out so quickly. He didn’t care; with his system, he had bigger plans. Besides, how was he supposed to learn from a teacher he couldn’t even understand?

So Shi Bai pretended not to hear, continuing with his comic.

“Shi Bai!”

This time, the teacher was truly angry. “I’ve made myself perfectly clear. Don’t you have any sense of shame?”

Reluctantly, Shi Bai put his comic away and looked up. “Teacher, I heard you. I appreciate your concern, but I’m not an ordinary person anymore, so I don’t need to learn English. Besides, I can’t understand your pronunciation at all.”

The classroom erupted. They’d all wanted to say that, but no one had dared. Who would have thought the usually quiet Shi Bai would be the first to fire the shot?

“Oh, really!” The teacher’s voice cracked with fury. “So you think my pronunciation is bad? That yours is better? Fine, then read and translate the second paragraph on page 38. If you get it right, I’ll never bother you again—you can do whatever you want in my class. But if you fail, you’re never to set foot in my classroom again! Do you dare?”

Shi Bai hesitated. “You said it.”

“I said it!”

The class buzzed with excitement. That paragraph was full of new words and grammar they hadn’t learned yet.

“This is going to be good,” they whispered, all eyes on Shi Bai.

Liu Feifei shot him a gleeful look. “Serves you right! I hope you get kicked out of every class. Best if you never come back!”

At that moment, Shi Bai called up his system. “Custom task: translate this paragraph.”

“Custom task accepted. Task initiated.”

Shi Bai realized that to fulfill the task, he had to translate the passage as incorrectly as possible. The more outrageous, the better. He grinned. “This should be fun.”

But the students were growing impatient. Seeing him stand there grinning without saying a word, someone jeered, “Shi Bai, can you do it or not?”

“Yeah, you’ve been up there forever—haven’t translated a single word!” a burly boy shouted.

The teacher crossed her arms, satisfied she’d won. “Shi Bai, have you thought it through? We don’t have all day.”

“Yeah, just admit defeat already!”

“Enough!” Shi Bai suddenly swept his hand, casting a gaze across the room with a look of supreme confidence.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. I’m about to begin my translation. Listen carefully—don’t miss a single word!”

“Pfft!” The class jeered.

“All right, listen up!” Shi Bai raised his hand dramatically and recited, “The meaning of this passage is…”

Everyone leaned in, focused intently.

“There was once a pure and sincere love right before my eyes, but I failed to cherish it…”

The classroom exploded with laughter.

“Shi Bai, you’re unbelievable!”

“Seriously! He’s quoting from ‘A Chinese Odyssey’!”

“A divine translation, indeed!”

Ye Ying’er, who’d half-expected him to pull it off, couldn’t help but laugh herself. “He really is a fraud.”

Even the English teacher was amused. “All right, Shi Bai. Since you’ve admitted defeat, it’s time to honor your promise—leave the classroom.”

“Yes!” the students shouted in unison. “Out! Out! Out!”

But Shi Bai looked utterly perplexed, spreading his hands. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“Shi Bai! Stop messing around. You clearly can’t do it—just leave!” Liu Feifei called out.

Shi Bai looked at her innocently. “How am I messing around? Look for yourselves—what’s wrong with my translation?”

“Teacher, should I throw him out?” the burly boy volunteered, rolling up his sleeves.

The teacher waved him down with a smile. “Shi Bai, you can still admit your mistake.”

“What mistake?” Shi Bai protested loudly. “Didn’t you all hear my translation? I can’t believe you people!”

“Teacher! There’s no point arguing with someone like him. Let me throw him out!” The burly boy stood up again, ready to act.

“Unbelievable!” At that moment, the class English monitor, Chen Jing, spoke up in astonishment. “His translation is actually correct!”

The whole class froze. Chen Jing continued, “In fact, his version is not only accurate, but vivid and beautiful!”

“How is that possible?!”

The teacher hurriedly grabbed her book, flipping pages. “I remember this passage was about Martin Luther King… Damn it!”

No one could have imagined that Shi Bai’s system could alter the textbook content itself—what was once about Martin Luther King had become a famous monologue from ‘A Chinese Odyssey.’

The classroom fell into stunned silence.

“The teacher must have misremembered.”

“That must be it.”

Ye Ying’er stared at Shi Bai, her eyes filled with puzzlement. “This guy… he’s got something.”