Chapter 40 - The Second Monthly Test
On the day the results for the second monthly test came out, all the remedial group members didn’t pay much attention to their own scores but instead sought out Lin Qian’s ranking first.
As soon as the results were posted, everyone was relieved, but at the same time, they felt some regrets.
Lin Qian didn’t let everyone worry for long. This month’s results showed that he had returned to normal. Unfortunately, Lin Qian only ended up in second place, with first still shockingly going to Huo YeRui.
Huo YeRui’s results this month were no less monumental than last month. This was because there was a math question in the test that would usually be found in a university olympiad compet.i.tion. The question type was very complex and had a number of steps needed to be solved. Many students didn’t even understand the question. In the end, Huo YeRui was the only one in their entire grade to get the question right.
When the results were posted, the math teacher for the top cla.s.ses and the leader of the school’s mathematics research club, praised Huo YeRui. But he also expressed his regrets towards Lin Qian because when he added this particular question to the test, he had actually expected Lin Qian to be the one to solve it.
However, Lin Qian hadn’t been able to solve this supplementary question and in the end, lost to Huo YeRui by five points.
After the math results were announced, many of the top students went to Huo YeRui to congratulate and learn from him.
“Did Huo YeRui secretly take extra lessons during summer vacation? Why is he so fierce this year? He got first in the rankings for two consecutive months!”
“He’s pretty amazing. I didn’t understand that question at all.”
“Hey, hey, Cla.s.smate Huo, don’t be so secretive. Why don’t you share how you improved so much in such a small amount of time!”
……
Huo YeRui very generously shared his experiences with a smile. “I don’t have a secret. It’s mainly through hard work. I signed up for several cram schools over the summer and even joined a Math Olympiad cla.s.s. I studied non-stop, and I’d review until midnight…I was just lucky this time that the question on the test was the same in the Olympiad cla.s.s I took…”
Huo YeRui’s att.i.tude was quite sincere. Everyone nodded as they listened to him. Of course, some people couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.
“Dang, listening to that makes me feel useless and lazy.”
“So YeRui actually studies this hard. Now I regret traveling over the summer vacation. I should have partic.i.p.ated in some cla.s.ses instead.”
“Not only is he a hard worker, but he’s also talented. I went to cram school over the summer vacation too, but my grades haven’t improved all that much.”
“I also go through questions until late at night, ah….unfortunately my diligence isn’t enough.”
“I’m shedding tears of envy.”
……
While everyone recognized that Huo YeRui worked hard, his ranking also affirmed that he had great talent. Huo YeRui was neither boastful or overly modest. He made an effort to sell himself as the new top student who had talent but also worked hard.
Lin Qian quietly watched Huo YeRui pretend while he texted Zheng PingQing.
Zheng PingQing: Warm congratulations to Zheng PingQing’s boyfriend for getting first place in No. 12’s second monthly test.
Zheng PingQing: As a reward, Zheng PingQing will spend a lot of money to buy a number of couples clothes and accessories for his boyfriend.
Zheng PingQing: Including but not limited to: Couple’s clothes, couple’s shoes, couple’s schoolbag, couple’s stationery, couple’s underwear, and so on.
Lin Qian calmly replied: If someone accidentally saw the messages you’re typing out, they’d think you’re dating Huo YeRui.
Zheng PingQing: …..Then I can only say that Dong MingEn stole my phone and used it to send his secret lover Huo YeRui his congratulations.
Lin Qian:…
Zheng PingQing: Oh, and I also made great progress. I ranked 63rd, a personal best.
Lin Qian: Congratulations on Lin Qian’s boyfriend for getting 63rd in No.12’s second monthly test and breaking his personal record.
Zheng PingQing: so…?
Lin Qian:…Ah, your brother-in-law is walking towards me, I have to go offline. 886.
Zheng PingQing: …We’re SMS-ing each other.
Zheng PingQing: Not replying is useless. I’ve already written it down in a small notebook.
Zheng PingQing: Unlocked a position for licensed driving +1
Xu Yao, who had come to Lin Qian to talk, inadvertently saw Zheng PingQing’s last message. Confused, he asked: “What’s ‘position for licensed driving’?”
Lin Qian’s expression remained completely unruffled when he replied. “Oh, Zheng PingQing is just studying different driving postures for when he gets his driving license after graduation.”
Xu Yao was surprised. “How can there be more than one driving position? Isn’t that dangerous driving?”
Lin Qian nodded his head in agreement and vehemently condemned Zheng PingQing. “Your sister-in-law is filled with dangerous ideas. I have to go and properly educate him later.”
Xu Yao: “….” So educate, educate. Why do you need to bring up your relationship!
Xu Yao’s lips trembled, and he finally managed to say: “Yes, you should. After all, the road is as fierce as a tiger.”
Lin Qian finished teasing Xu Yao and finally asked: “What’s up?”
Xu Yao returned to his senses, and his expression brightened. He said: “I just confirmed the results of Cla.s.s 8. This time, everyone did well on the test. Their overall average increased by about 20 points. Dong MingEn and his friends increased by 50 points on average, and they ranked near the top 300s. Gou XinDou jumped all the way to rank 257, which is the greatest increase out of all of them.”
Lin Qian nodded, unsurprised. This result wasn’t unexpected. Cla.s.s 8 didn’t have rotten brains, they just didn’t like studying. Coupled with their extremely low initial rankings, this slight increase after just a month showed their obvious efforts to improve. Of course, this was only the beginning. The higher they rise in the rankings, the more difficult it would be for them to get higher results the following month.
However, Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing never expected them to get amazing marks within the year. As long as they can keep this up until graduation, they can create a good foundation and get to a relatively good university. With this, Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing would have already succeeded in what they had set out to do.
Then Xu Yao’s face turned strange, and the corner of his mouth started twitching. He said: “By the way, I hear that their homeroom teacher went crazy and started hugging all his students one by one. I also heard that their teacher was debating whether or not to play a 21 gun salute for his cla.s.s…”
Lin Qian: “…I guess their homeroom teacher doesn’t have any children.”
After talking about Cla.s.s 8 for a bit, Lin Qian asked: “What about Cla.s.s 7? What’s their situation?”
Xu Yao replied: “Their progress is less than Cla.s.s 8, but it’s still quite the effort in such a short amount of time. Their results didn’t have any particularly obvious changes, but I heard that Li Gao did pretty well this time.”
Lin Qian nodded. He was about to say something when the cla.s.sroom broadcast speakers came to life with a ‘Bzzt bzzt’ sound. A somewhat ill at ease male voice sounded out: “h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo, can everyone hear me?”
The cla.s.s immediately erupted into smiles and laughter. A cla.s.smate said: “Is it time for another one of Cla.s.s 8’s lectures?”
Xu Yao looked at Lin Qian in bewilderment. No, it wasn’t time for Cla.s.s 8 to broadcast yet.
Lin Qian thought back to his bet with Yang ZongJie and asked: “Wah, don’t tell me Li Gao’s luck is really good?”
It turns out Li Gao was really, really lucky this time.
In order for his Boss to not lose face, Li Gao had studiously gone through all the practice questions give to him the night before the exam. Unexpectedly, he managed to answer several of the big questions in the test, and in the end, his score soared by more than 60 points.
Meanwhile, Yang ZhongJie, who had become a little nervous because of the wager, ended up making several small mistakes in the test. In a very dramatic turn of events, Yang ZhongJie ended up behind Li Gao by just two points.
Yang ZhongJie was so shocked when the results came out. Even his good friend Zhang QianJian was stunned, yelling: “Lin Qian is too toxic!”
Now, the broadcast continued. The voice coming from the speakers sounded slightly choked as it went on. “h.e.l.lo everyone, I’m Yang ZongJie of Cla.s.s 4.”
At his words, students couldn’t help but be confused. Everyone thought it would be another broadcast from Cla.s.s 8. But it turns out it was actually a student from Cla.s.s 4? How curious. Why were Cla.s.s 4 students on the broadcast?
Yang ZongJie continued, his voice full of despair. “In this month’s test, I was behind Cla.s.smate Li Gao from Cla.s.s 7 by two points. I’m very ashamed….”
After hearing this, every single cla.s.s was shaken.
n.o.body knew which cla.s.s the loud ‘f.u.c.k’ came from, but all the other cla.s.ses adjacent to it were scared silly.
But they all understood this person’s sentiments.
A Cla.s.s 4 student actually lost to a Cla.s.s 7 student? A Cla.s.s 6 student being beat was already bad enough, but Cla.s.s 7 and Cla.s.s 4 were separated by two cla.s.ses! There were usually at least 100 places between the two cla.s.ses in the rankings!
What’s more, it was the loser Li Gao?! Li Gao, who used to play truant and fight with his big bully brother behind him?!
For the past few weeks, every teacher in their year would often talk about Cla.s.s 7, so the name Li Gao and the dark past attached to it were well-known by everyone in the grade.
At first, everyone’s mentality was pretty much the same as that of Yang ZongJie’s. They thought that a little hooligan with abysmal grades could never really change. As a result, n.o.body paid much attention to him or their teacher’s words.
But now, Li Gao actually beat a student from Cla.s.s 4?
Every single student in their grade was shocked!
Many people’s first reaction was to check Li Gao’s ranking. Incredibly, compared to his results on the last test, his results suddenly jumped by 60 points, causing his ranking to directly surpa.s.s many students from Cla.s.s 6 and Cla.s.s 5.
Others then quickly checked the scores of the more famous hooligans in Cla.s.s 7 and Cla.s.s 8. After checking the results of Guo DangLi from Cla.s.s 7, many calmed down. There wasn’t such a significant change in his grades. Maybe Li Gao just got lucky this time. But when then they checked the grades of Dong MingEn from Cla.s.s 8, they all fell silent.
It’s an average increase of nearly 50 points….and it wasn’t just him…
Although Dong MingEn’s initial grades were awful, and his subsequent performance wasn’t that amazing, it was still a ma.s.sive improvement. And it was only the second monthly test. If Dong MingEn continued at this speed, then at the end of the year…
For the first time, all the students who disregarded their teacher’s various reminders felt enormous pressure.
“…I’m going to learn from Li Gao and work harder. There are eight months left before the college entrance exams. Students shouldn’t relax at a time like this…Thank you.”
Yang ZongJie finally managed to spit out his closing words and ended the broadcast. But no one in their grade was calm.
The students of Cla.s.s 7 and Cla.s.s 8 were particularly excited. This was a great win for the lower cla.s.ses. A victory for the underachievers. This was especially true for Cla.s.s 8, who had improved significantly this time around. Everyone realized that as long as they worked hard, they could surpa.s.s the students from the higher cla.s.ses. As long as they persisted, they may still have hope for the upcoming college entrance exams.
While they became more enthusiastic, others grew more panicked. For the first time, many realized that their rankings were in danger. As long as someone behind them studied a little, they could catch up to them at any time. Right now, they were only in danger from the lower cla.s.ses. But in the college entrance exams, every single student in the country was competing with them. How many hard-working students will surpa.s.s them then?
Others thought a little differently. Some of the students with simpler minds were thinking ‘FML’ for a different reason. Someone who lost to a lower cla.s.s was made to publicly broadcast his failure throughout the school!
For the sake of their dignities, they can’t lose like Yang ZhongJie!
From this moment on, the atmosphere of the seniors in No. 12 High School would dramatically change.
Yang ZongJie walked out of the broadcasting room dejectedly, only to see Li Gao waiting outside. His face sank, and he coldly said: “I already lost, what else do you want from me?”
Li Gao’s expression was twisted. After struggling for a long time, he finally managed to say: “This…this time it’s your loss. You’ve admitted your defeat, so…I’d like to apologize for all the bad things I’ve done to you before.”
Yang ZongJie blinked. He didn’t expect Li Gao to apologize.
Li Gao continued: “Boss Lin said that young people who do bad things will get beaten. Since you admitted that you lost, I’ll admit to my wrongdoings.”
Lin Qian roughly understood Li Gao’s personality. After he made a bet with Yang ZhongJie, he had asked Li Gao about his history with Yang ZongJie. After talking with Li Gao, Lin Qian could only say that Li Gao and his group used to be jerks. So as soon as Lin Qian heard the broadcast, he sent a message to Li Gao.
After receiving Lin Qian’s message, the originally elated and triumphant Li Gao wilted. “….”
It has to be said that their new Boss really was like a father.
Yang ZongJie was more than a little reluctant when he heard Li Gao’s apology, but at the mention of Lin Qian, his expression became complicated. “Lin Qian sent you over to apologize?”
Li Gao pursed his lips. “That doesn’t matter. Even I can see that I’ve been an a.s.shole.”
Yang ZongJie: “…”
The two people stood in front of each other for a long time. The atmosphere had become somewhat awkward. Finally, Yang ZongJie said: “That…Lin Qian gave you a copy of the notes they write out for remedial lessons, right? Can you give me a copy?”
It helped Li Gao improve so much, to the point that his grades skyrocketed up by 60 points, what a heavenly thing, ah!
Li Gao: “…Sure.”