It was not much of a suspense as to what happened during the exams, Xing Peng's grades were miserable. Atleast his grades previously were "no-good" but now that they were miserable, one can easily make out how he had declined gracefully.

Xing Peng felt heavy and burdened when he got to know his grades, he knew they were going to be bad but didn't know they would be this bad.

His father never cared about him, let alone his grades but Xing Peng never cared for his drunk old man. The one he cared about was his mother, previously his grades were no-good but now they were miserable. he didn't want to see the disappointment in his mother's eyes.

He went home and let her know about his grades, Xing Peng's mother didn't say anything much other than telling him to work harder next time and to focus on his studies, but he knew that she would still be a bit disappointed in him, after all, she was struggling to provide him better education so that his later life goes smoothly and here he was getting low grades for his exams.

Although Xing Peng's mother knew that her son was bullied at home due to his brother, she had tried to ensure that Xing Shan didn't lay a hand on his younger brother, Xing Peng but she was not always around at home. She had to look after the small restaurant as well and could only hope that in school, Xing Peng studied well. 

Xing Peng didn't want his mother to worry more about him that's why he had kept quiet about the fact that he was bullied in school. Xing Peng went to his room since the exams were over and his grades were out, these few days he was in a gloomy mood. He knew if he wanted to blame anyone for his grades then that would be himself and his @sshole of a brother, Xing shan. If he studied and didn't indulge in those Chinese novels then perhaps he could have got some average grades and if his elder brother, Xing Shan stopped beating and torturing him for no reason at all, then getting grades which were a bit above the average was likely possible for him.

but those were just "ifs", the truth was that now he had miserable grades.

Feeling down for his own stupidity for over-indulging in those Chinese novels, Xing Peng once again turned to read those Chinese novels as he consoled himself: " exams are already over, so reading a bit more will not really affect me anymore and when the next round of exams come, by then I would have already stopped with these novels and would've begun studying hard to get good grades"

Next day when Xing Peng went to school, his friend, Li Chong brought him to a remote corner to show him something.

"what's up? what do you want to show me, brother Chong ?" asked Xing Peng curiously.

"hmm.. just wait a bit" said Li Chong as he took out his phone and showed Xing Peng some web novels.

"see, here are the translated versions of the Chinese novels in English and meant for the international audiences but i know that you are struggling a bit with the English language and since you also like reading Chinese novels, you should try reading some web novels and it will improve your English as well, its like killing two birds with one stone" said Li Chong.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"really? that's amazing, but sadly i only have a regular phone, not like yours which happens to be the latest smartphone" said Xing Peng.

But he didn't feel too greived over it because he knew that his finances were limited, given how his father wasted most of the money by gambling it away or by getting himself drunk, he could do nothing about it. His mother also couldn't do anything about it, she had also tried but she was slapped and lashed at

"brother Xing Peng why make me feel more miserable than before? i know that because i introduced you to some chinese novels your grades have dropped. don't try to deny it, i know it.

But i also feel that your eyes are no more gloomy as they used to be before, so i don't know whether i did a good thing or a bad thing by introducing you to some Chinese novels " Li Chong laughed out as he handed out the latest smartphone into Xing Peng's hands.

"brother Chong... this? why did you hand me your phone?" at this point Xing Peng was confused but as he saw Li Chong taking out another similar smartphone from his other pocket and grinning, he seemed to have thought of something and immediately asked: " is this phone for me?", Xing Peng regretted for asking such stupid question. This was the latest smartphone in the market so how could li chong give it to him?

But to his surprise, Li Chong nodded and said: " actually there was a offer of buy one get one free, so when i bought that latest smartphone i got another free. since you are my only friend in school, i decided to gift it to you" Li Chong smoothly lied.

Xing Peng found something was off but to give his only friend some face, he accepted his gift.

later on that day, Xing Peng's adventures in reading the web novels began.

Xing Peng's exams had just recently finished and his other round of exams were still a good 2 or 3 months away.

Xing Peng noticed that reading these web novels had somehow made him feel more at ease with the English language and he was rapidly improving and grasping it.

When he was back at home, his mother was obviously the first to notice that Xing Peng was using one of those expensive smartphones that had just recently arrived in the market. She felt shocked as she asked: "Peng'er where did you get that phone from? "

Seeing the worry in his mother's eyes, Xing peng laughed and said:" mom, don't worry, my friend, Li Chong gifted it to me today."

Xing Peng's mother already knew of this "Li Chong", as Xing Peng sometimes mentioned him to her and she also knew he was his best friend, so she felt a bit calmed down but nevertheless she was still shocked inside, Peng'er's friend must be from a rich family, no wonder he can afford to gift away those smartphones to his friends. as she thought of this, she couldn't help but sigh.

As a mother, she also wished the best for her children but given the limited finances she had, she couldn't really afford it.

But she still felt happy inside, if Peng'er holds firmly onto this friend of his perhaps he wouldn't have any troubles in the society in the future, she thought.

Xing Peng's mother's assumption about Li Chong was truly not that far-off from the mark, Li Chong was indeed from a rich family, but he was an illegitimate son, so his finances were strictly limited.

Xing Peng went to his room and was busy the whole night reading webnovels. He was mostly interested in those reincarnation-type novels, those were his favourites.

one such novel he came across was "Divine Ice God", it seemed it was only recently that it had come into publication on the webnovel platform. It had a few chapters released already, and out of pure curiosity Xing peng checked it out and found out that it was quite an impressive piece of work.

Although it was in the beginning phases, he was sure it would be a great novel as it develops, thought Xing Peng as he proceeded to read other interesting webnovels.