Du Feiyang noticed Tan Ming’s expression, which seemed to say he had no idea what he was missing, and might even have been mocking them for celebrating too early.
Suppressing his laughter, Du Feiyang just wanted to share his joy with Tan Ming.
Whether or not Tan Ming would feel heartbroken? Du Feiyang didn’t care.
He flipped through Zhou Xiu’s compiled study notes, pointing out an experiment question here and a deduction problem there, highlighting chemical formulas one by one.
“Look, Mingming, doesn’t this look familiar?”
“Mingming, doesn’t this remind you of the biology question you saw today?”
As Tan Ming followed Du Feiyang’s finger, his face gradually changed. Zhou Xiu’s notes had indeed predicted several of the exam questions.
Other slackers gathered around, and what started as a blatant show-off session turned into a massive answer-checking event.
“Oh, man, here’s another one! I can’t believe I missed this—” That was the voice of regret.
“I got the answers mixed up. Damn. I lost at least ten points here.” That was the voice of someone wanting to kick themselves.
“I thought it was just one question, but there’s so much more in these notes…” That was the voice of someone who had just realized the fortune they had lost.
Du Feiyang didn’t know what Tan Ming was feeling at that moment and twisted the knife a little more.
He said, “Honestly, it’s not just about predicting the questions. The most important thing is that Xiu’er’s notes make basic concepts really easy for slackers like us to grasp. Even Yuan Ruoyi can understand them.”
Yuan Ruoyi nodded enthusiastically.
Tan Ming: “…”
Tan Ming turned to them and asked, “You all used these notes to study?”
The slackers nodded in unison.
Tan Ming’s brow furrowed. How could it be that these people, who normally played around and dreaded studying, had found the time before the exam to go through Zhou Xiu’s notes?
He suddenly realized this horrifying truth.
Du Feiyang, who genuinely reviewed the notes several times a day and could effortlessly recall the questions, had a bright, sunshine-filled smile on his face, exuding happiness that was impossible to ignore.
And Yuan Ruoyi, who blindly memorized everything, now had a sense of pride as if she had accidentally struck gold.
While everyone else was happily checking their answers, she said something from the heart:
“Don’t laugh, but I’m starting to feel like the grades I earned through hard work make me feel more grounded. When I used to cheat on exams, I was always on edge, stressed out, and I still didn’t do well. I’m never cheating again.”
This was the first time Yuan Ruoyi had felt the power of hard work. The satisfaction of honestly-earned grades made the answer-checking session all the more rewarding.
Hua Xu glanced at Yuan Ruoyi and smiled, “It’s good that you realize your mistakes.”
Zhou Xiu, uninterested in their discussion, used the extra time to review her English notes.
Hua Xu said, “Alright, alright, everyone quiet down. Let Xiu’er and Xu Qing study for the English exam.”
The slackers suddenly remembered the bet they made with the class monitor and the Rocket Class. The noisy classroom fell silent, and they quietly packed up their bags and left.
As they walked down the stairs, they burst out laughing again.
Yuan Ruoyi said, “If I score fifty points higher this time, I’ll give out red envelopes in the group chat with the extra New Year’s money!”
“Ahhh, waiting for Sister Yuan’s red envelopes.”
“Sister Yuan is so generous!”
Du Feiyang was also confident about his performance in this exam. He said, “I should be able to go anywhere I want this year. I’ll send you guys pictures when I get back!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with a wave of laughter.
…
In the afternoon, it was time for the English exam.
Yude’s English exams were notoriously difficult, with a large volume of questions and a challenging listening section. Zhou Xiu used even more effort than she did for the math exam, racking her brains to complete it.
She finished the essay portion, and just as she finished checking the order of her answers on the answer sheet, the bell rang, signalling the end of the exam.
Xu Qing was in the same exam room as Zhou Xiu. After the exam, he handed her a tissue.
“Wipe off your sweat, it’s cold out. You don’t want to catch a cold.”
Zhou Xiu realized that her forehead was covered in sweat.
Seeing Zhou Xiu’s nervousness, Xu Qing joked, “What’s wrong, didn’t do well?”
Zhou Xiu nodded.
Xu Qing said, “Don’t worry, you probably did well in math and science, so that should help balance out your English score.”
If the exam were anything like the monthly test, Zhou Xiu would certainly have done better than before. But what Xu Qing didn’t know was that Zhou Xiu was worried about the scholarship.
After all the exams were over, the teachers began assigning winter break homework and asked the students to go to the office to collect it.
The slackers, having just escaped the exams, felt their heads spin when they saw the blackboard filled with a dense list of assignments.
Old Huang couldn’t resist mocking them when he saw their pained expressions, “Complaining about this little bit of homework? If you can’t handle it, why are you even in school? You might as well go home and raise pigs.”
“Zhou Xiu asked me for her winter break assignments last month. Anyone who doesn’t turn in their homework after break will copy it ten times.”
The slackers in the class: “…”
They all looked at Zhou Xiu with a mix of shock and disbelief.
Du Feiyang quietly took out his phone and shamelessly sent Zhou Xiu a text, asking to borrow her math homework for “reference.”
“Xiu’er, can I borrow your math homework to take a look?”
Zhou Xiu agreed.
Then, Miss Li held a class meeting to announce the winter break plans: “The exam results will be released gradually, and you can check them on the school website. Don’t forget to attend the closing ceremony on the afternoon of the 15th.”
“Also, the school library and cafeteria will remain open until January 30th.”
Miss Li had long given up on expecting any miracles from her students, so she didn’t dwell much on exam results.
She avoided the topic whenever other teachers discussed grades, preferring to slip back to her office to pack up after school when the other teachers were gone.
One of the other teachers asked, “Miss Li, how did your class do this time?”
The homeroom teacher of Class 23 joked, “Your class always comes in last. You know the parents are going to complain if it happens again, and the principal will be calling you in for a chat.”
Miss Li: “…”
After school.
The slackers cheerfully packed their bags while discussing their winter break plans.
Du Feiyang enthusiastically listed his plans: “I’m thinking of climbing a mountain, maybe the Alphameo in the Andes. Mingming, you in?”
Tan Ming said he’d be busy with basketball practice and some games, so he couldn’t make it.
So Du Feiyang said, “Well, I’ll send you pictures then.”
Hua Xu and Yu Qingyan were talking about their plans to visit Japan for the New Year. She excitedly grabbed Zhou Xiu’s hand and invited her along.
Zhou Xiu shook her head, “I can’t go.”
Zhou Xiu couldn’t participate in any of these luxurious plans. With Zhou Cheng’s leg injury, she was only thinking about how to earn more money over the winter break.
Hua Xu asked Zhou Xiu what she would be doing during the break, and Zhou Xiu joked while packing her bag, “Probably just doing more test papers?”
Hua Xu & Yu Qingyan: “…”
Xu Qing added, “Zhou Xiu signed up for two competitions—there’s the biology preliminary in March and the finals in May, and a math competition in June. It’s not like she has time to play around like you guys.”
Alright, no need to say more. The difference between a slacker and a top student’s schedule was as wide as the gap between heaven and earth.
Hua Xu and Yu Qingyan’s voices lowered as they continued their discussion.
…
After the finals, Yude Middle School went on winter break.
Zhou Xiu continued to visit the school daily. Although the students’ tasks were done, the teachers were just beginning their gruelling task of grading exams.
For the first three days, Zhou Xiu gradually received her scores for Chinese, English, biology, and physics. She scored 115 in Chinese, 90 in biology (full marks), 101 in physics, and 84 in English.
The day Zhou Xiu got her English score, her face fell.
Miss Li remarked, “I’ve never seen someone who’s so uneven in their subjects. Your English is really dragging you down. Over the break, find a tutor—”
She paused, remembering Zhou Xiu’s financial situation, and corrected herself, “Or just study more English on your own during the break.”
Miss Li often sighed about how some of her students excelled in English, matching even the top students in the Rocket Class, but then their grades would nosedive in other subjects. Zhou Xiu was the complete opposite.
Zhou Xiu nodded, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and left the office.
The system tried to comfort her: [Don’t be discouraged, kid. Just focus on doing more math competition papers over the break.]
Zhou Xiu shook her head.
She wasn’t planning to do the math competition papers that Old Wang had given her just yet. The rewards increased dramatically with higher accuracy, so she planned to save those papers until she was confident she could score well.
Papers should be used wisely. The difference between a 40% accuracy and a 100% accuracy could mean a huge gap in rewards.
Zhou Xiu headed to the library’s study room to work on biology competition problems.
Although the school was semi-closed for the holiday, the students in the Rocket Class had not been given time off and were required to make up an additional week of lessons.
As Zhou Xiu entered the self-study room, she noticed that Xie Cheng and several top students were there. It seemed they were gathered around Xie Cheng, comparing answers.
Zhou Xiu glanced at them, then silently turned to leave and find another self-study room.
However, Qi Yaguang saw her and called out loudly, making everyone in the room turn to look at Zhou Xiu.
“Zhou Xiu, why do you always avoid people? Are you afraid to see us?”
Zhou Xiu had no choice but to walk in.
Qi Yaguang and the others turned their attention back to Xie Cheng, continuing to ask him about the math and chemistry answers.
After the exam, Xie Cheng went straight home and didn’t make up the lessons in the past few days. Today, they finally caught him in the library, and the Rocket Class students gathered around Xie Cheng to go over the answers to each question.
After Zhou Xiu finished the biology multiple-choice questions, she suddenly noticed Qi Yaguang sitting next to her, holding a score slip that Zhou Xiu had casually placed in her textbook.
Qi Yaguang looked at the score slip and was shocked. She asked, “Zhou Xiu, did your English teacher teach you?”
“Only 84?”
“Unless you got near full marks in the other two subjects, it’s hard to make the top ten.”
Zhou Xiu didn’t make the top ten in this exam, and her earlier harsh words seemed like a joke now.
Qi Yaguang paused, then said, “Ling Shan’s total score is nearly fifty points higher than yours, ranking fifth in the grade. And I’m currently ranked fourth, about fifty points ahead of you.”
Meaning she was ranked fourth in the grade.
Zhou Xiu could easily guess the top three names.
Though she missed out on the scholarship, Zhou Xiu felt heartbroken but it was no use. She quickly finished writing another biology multiple-choice question.
The top students were eagerly asking Xie Cheng for the details of each step in the math problems.
Xie Cheng suddenly asked, “Zhou Xiu, do you want to compare answers?”
Zhou Xiu had a habit of hardly using the scratch paper during exams. This time, under the strong request of the underachievers in Class 24, Zhou Xiu copied down a set of answers after finishing the paper, planning to use it for comparing answers later.
Though Zhou Xiu’s English score had been a blow, she was still confident in math and chemistry.
She handed over her scratch paper for these two subjects to Xie Cheng, who quickly skimmed through it.
Xu Haobo, Li Simiao, and even Lu Lingshan couldn’t help but peek at what Xie Cheng was writing.
Xie Cheng had an excellent memory; he remembered everything he wrote, and his math scores were almost always near perfect. His answers were often considered as reference standards.
But this time—
The top students: “…”
Xie Cheng wasn’t memorizing answers; he was clearly just copying Zhou Xiu’s scratch paper.
Was he really going to be so sloppy?
After copying the answers, Xie Cheng returned the scratch paper to Zhou Xiu and said, “Thank you.”
He quickly left the self-study room, leaving the answers he copied from Zhou Xiu on the table.
Zhou Xiu, who wanted to compare answers, was left with a series of question marks on her face: “???”
The top students in the Rocket Class silently grumbled: “Xie Shen, you just left like that? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
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