146 Helping out a classmate

The next day, Ren Xiaosu discovered that the atmosphere in the classroom was a little strange the moment he walked in. The students who were in intense conversations fell silent.

Ren Xiaosu walked over to his own seat, seemingly unaffected, and buried his head in a book. He was thinking that if he couldn't keep up with the lessons in class, he would have to start learning from scratch. Therefore, Ren Xiaosu got Wang Fugui to purchase some 10th and 11th grade textbooks for him yesterday so that he could start self-studying today.

While he was studying by himself, Ren Xiaosu had a hunch that his fellow classmates seemed to know that something was about to happen. However, all of them tacitly chose to keep it from him.

And whatever that was going to happen was definitely not going to be in Ren Xiaosu's favor.

There were four periods scheduled in the afternoon, one for Chinese, one for geography, one for mathematics, and one for physics. The Chinese class was still manageable, but Ren Xiaosu still couldn't understand anything that was taught in math and physics.

Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu felt the geography class was a little odd. He was startled to discover that what was being taught in the lessons were totally different from what he knew. Moreover, the entire subject seemed to be very loosely strung together.

There wasn't even a complete map to be found in the geography textbook, and the topics only touched on matters found in the vicinity of Stronghold 109, as well as some knowledge of economic geography.

Ren Xiaosu guessed that some of the global information in this stronghold might have been lost. Just like how the Li Consortium would never share their topographical maps with the Qing Consortium, the other consortiums would maintain secrets from each other.

Ren Xiaosu was different from most students. A normal student would only seek to learn whatever knowledge was presented in the textbooks. But when Ren Xiaosu read them, he would consider the geopolitics affecting the different consortiums.

Suddenly, Ren Xiaosu had a realization. He knew he could no longer look at problems from the point of view of a normal student.

Ren Xiaosu inadvertently turned his head at this moment and saw Cao Yuqi looking pale. It was as though she were enduring some sort of pain while holding her belly with her left hand.

At this moment, the long-awaited palace finally spoke again. "Quest: Help out a classmate."

Ren Xiaosu was starting to find the voice from the palace to be very endearing. After all, the palace always gave him a great gift whenever it spoke.

Ren Xiaosu pondered it for a moment before asking Cao Yuqi, "Do you have a stomachache?"

Cao Yuqi gave him a look but did not say anything, as though it were taboo to speak with him.

Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu was paying full attention to any possible reactions from the palace in his mind. As long as the quest wasn't completed yet, he wouldn't give up asking.

"My fellow classmate, is it because you don't have toilet paper? I have some over here," Ren Xiaosu said. He was thinking that Cao Yuqi had an upset stomach.

Cao Yuqi could not help but roll her eyes at him. "It's not an upset stomach."

"Oh." This was beyond Ren Xiaosu's understanding. "Then what's the matter? Are you sick? Why don't I send you to the hospital?"

"Stop asking." Cao Yuqi said impatiently, "What I have is incurable."

Incurable? Ren Xiaosu was stunned. 'Is it that serious?'

Honestly, Cao Yuqi was starting to regret being so hostile towards Ren Xiaosu. He was showing so much concern to her, yet she replied so harshly to him. As the saying goes, don't bite the hand that feeds you. They were ostracizing Ren Xiaosu due to his refugee status mainly because some of these ideas had been instilled in them by their parents or simply out of fear.

However, just as Cao Yuqi was thinking of softening her tone, she suddenly saw Ren Xiaosu getting up to walk to the lectern.

It gradually quieted down in the classroom as everyone looked at Ren Xiaosu. They were all waiting to see what he was up to.

Ren Xiaosu went up to the lectern and said to his classmates with a face full of grief, "Everyone, our classmate Cao Yuqi has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I hope that since all of us are classmates, we can offer her our support by donating some money."

Cao Yuqi was confused.

The students in the classroom were confused.

All of the students' eyes landed on Cao Yuqi as she nearly broke down on the spot.

'What terminal illness are you talking about!? It's just my Aunt Flo visiting! Don't you have any common sense?!'

Of course, she wasn't exactly sure if Ren Xiaosu really did not know, or if he was doing this on purpose.

At this moment, the voice in Ren Xiaosu's mind palace said, "Quest complete. Awarded Perfect Skill Duplication Scroll!"

Ren Xiaosu's eyes lit up. It was completed just like that? And the reward was even a Perfect Skill Duplication Scroll?!

He really made a killing this time!

He could copy skills from so many people in this stronghold. For instance, Yang Xiaojin and Luo Xinyu, both of them were supernatural beings with superpowers! No matter whose power he learned, it would be well worth it!

But Ren Xiaosu did not really want to use this Perfect Skill Duplication Scroll on Yang Xiaojin. On one hand, he was much more interested in Luo Xinyu's power to travel through shadows. With it, he could easily take Yan Liuyuan and the others freely through the high walls of the stronghold.

In that way, he would have the freedom of going in or out of the stronghold. This would be equivalent to him gaining the initiative to do whatever he wanted!

Moreover, it would be really powerful to have a power that allowed him to cover distances in just one step when fighting battles. This would make enemies unprepared and defenseless.

Also, Ren Xiaosu did not want to use this Perfect Skill Duplication Scroll on Yang Xiaojin because he knew she had many skills above master level, of which many were even nonsensical skills!

If he randomly copied another skill like Nursery Rhymes Singing, Ren Xiaosu would have nowhere to cry.

He had discovered the previous time when learning Xu Xianchu's power that if the other party did not have a master-level and above skill on them, the Skill Duplication Scroll would automatically choose to learn their superpowers instead. Therefore, from a risk-reward point of view, it was a better choice to learn from Luo Xinyu.

During the next class intermission, the incident that happened in Ren Xiaosu's class spread to the class next door.

Ren Xiaosu saw Yang Xiaojin standing in the hallway when he went out for a breather. She was wearing a cap and leaning against the railings in the hallway while looking at Ren Xiaosu.

Cool and composed initially, Yang Xiaojin started trembling uncontrollably.

"Go ahead and laugh if you want," Ren Xiaosu said calmly.

"Hahaha," Yang Xiaojin laughed as she returned to her classroom. Ren Xiaosu was left alone as he gazed out at the school's athletic grounds. This was the first time Ren Xiaosu had witnessed Yang Xiaojin laughing so happily.

For some reason, Ren Xiaosu felt that instead of trying to get along with those "classmates," he had been better off working together and guarding against Yang Xiaojin in the wilderness.

When the bell rang, Ren Xiaosu turned around and walked back into class. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps and chattering came from outside the class. It sounded like a group of people were heading to their classroom.

Cao Yuqi revealed a joyful look as she seemed to know what was about to happen.

The homeroom teacher of their class appeared at the classroom door. He waved to Ren Xiaosu, who was inside the classroom, and said, "Ren Xiaosu, come outside for a while."Economic geography is the subfield of geography which studies the influence of geography on economic activity.