Zhou Xiu entered the office and found her class teacher, asking, “I don’t know how to solve a math problem. Do you have time, teacher?”
Mr. Huang teaches math for Class 24. He has been teaching ordinary classes for over ten years and has never moved from his position. Teaching Rocket Class and Winner Class may have better perks, but nothing compares to the tranquillity and peace of mind of teaching an ordinary class.
He closed the stock market page he was browsing, with little interest, asking, “What problem do you want to ask?”
Zhou Xiu pointed to the problem at the end of the test paper.
“You won’t benefit from studying this problem. No need to solve it. Do you have anything else?” Mr. Huang’s gaze shifted back to the stock market webpage.
He didn’t believe that the students in Class 24 had much capability. They played games and slept in class every day. What was funny was that there was a girl in the class who only seemed to know how to do makeup.
He would rather spend his patience elsewhere, like observing the stock market.
“Why would it be of no use?” Zhou Xiu asked.
Unable to ask about the end problem, she switched to another geometry problem.
Mr. Huang glanced at the test paper. This was deliberately challenging, far beyond the level of the students in Class 24. It’s not that he looked down on Class 24; in reality, Class 24 was just a gathering place for the children of rich second-generation families who were just idling their days away.
Frowning, he said, “Do you know the properties of a harmonic quadrilateral? Recite it to me.”
Zhou Xiu shook her head.
Mr. Huang handed her a pencil, “Find the internal error points for me.”
Zhou Xiu shook her head again.
Not knowing three things, Mr. Huang, no longer maintaining his indifferent attitude, suddenly became furious, “You don’t pay attention in class, then pretend to be diligent after class. My precious time as a teacher is being wasted by students like you. Go back and copy this theorem a hundred times and hand it to me!”
Coming from a rural area with poor educational resources, Zhou Xiu had never encountered this knowledge point before.
She met the teacher’s scornful gaze, the indifference in his eyes making her feel embarrassed.
“Teacher… I…”
“Are you making excuses for your mistakes?”
Zhou Xiu said seriously, “I’m not.”
She clenched her fist inside her sleeve, holding the test paper, and walked out of the office.
[Young one, to change how others perceive you and make the world acknowledge you, you must first change yourself.]
Zhou Xiu stopped at the door of the office.
The system spoke again: [To give up on something is like discarding a decaying wood, it won’t break. To persist is like carving a stone, it can be moulded into anything. The vast majority of people have average talents, but often they can make up for it through effort. Do you want to give up, Young one?]
Zhou Xiu tightened her grip on the test paper, turned around, and walked back into the office.
Zhou Xiu approached the position of Mr. Huang. As Mr. Huang was preparing to reprimand someone with a stern face, she walked past him.
She saw a relaxed male teacher in the corner of the office, so she boldly handed the test paper to him.
“Hello, teacher. I don’t know how to solve a few questions. Could you teach me?”
“Oh, let me take a look at it?”
This middle-aged teacher seemed somewhat surprised, but quickly got to the point and started explaining the questions.
It seemed like he didn’t care whether Zhou Xiu was his student or not.
Mr. Huang opened his mouth, stunned.
Half an hour later, Zhou Xiu clumsily resolved her confusion. After spending ten minutes organizing her thoughts, she filled out the test paper on the neighbouring desk.
When the test paper was filled out, there was no sound from the system indicating the completion of a task.
Zhou Xiu gripped the pen tightly, took a deep breath, and with thick skin, she asked the gentle teacher.
“Teacher, could you help me grade the paper?”
Not only the gentle teacher was surprised, but Mr. Huang was also dumbfounded, feeling both angry and annoyed.
He believed this was the deliberate attempt of this failing student to challenge him. Otherwise, why would she seek him out specifically, the teacher with the most eccentric temperament in the grade level team?
The gentle teacher asked, “Is the score important?”
Of course, it was important.
This was crucial for Zhou Xiu to decide whether to walk or take a bus back home tonight. She knew she couldn’t rely on Mr. Huang, who was immersed in stocks, to grade her test paper.
The old teacher didn’t hesitate for long and quickly picked up a red pen to start grading Zhou Xiu’s paper.
A score of 80 points, not more, not less, precisely 80 points.
As the bright red eighty appeared, in that instant, the system immediately sounded the completion of the task. Zhou Xiu felt that there was no music in the world more wonderful than this.
[Ding—Mr. Wang’s math test (32A) accuracy reached 80%, please collect the 5 RMB reward.]
Zhou Xiu put her hand into her pocket and felt it.
She felt the thin sheet of banknote.
She smiled to herself, “Thank you, teacher.”
…
After Zhou Xiu left, Mr. Huang shifted the blame and complained to the old teacher, “That student is so immature, she must have wasted a lot of your time, right? Such students are really hard to teach. She even forgot what I just taught her a few days ago.”
Mr. Huang didn’t even know about Zhou Xiu being inserted into the class today.
The old teacher calmly replied, “How could that be? Although her foundation is a bit lacking, her logic is still acceptable. She scored eighty on the test paper.”
Eighty points?
Mr. Huang’s smile froze instantly.
Test A was always meant for students in the Rocket Class and the Winner Class, especially the last few challenging questions, which were just for fun or to select talents for competition classes. Even though Zhou Xiu benefited by asking the teacher for the solution to the main question.
But it didn’t mean she could solve all the previous questions.
“Well, this time’s test paper must have been easy for you to set, Mr. Wang. Xi Shaoyuan in your class probably got a perfect score even by writing casually,” Mr. Huang said with a smile.
The old teacher said indifferently, “He, he got zero.”
During break time.
Although she managed to earn back the fare to the Xi family by speculating on the exam, Zhou Xiu still spent some time thoroughly understanding the knowledge points of these several difficult questions. She filled two full pages with notes.
Her desk mate, Hua Xu, woke up and saw Zhou Xiu studying so diligently. Yawning, she asked, “With such good grades, why didn’t you go to the Rocket Class?”
Her judgment was simple and crude: if someone from a difficult background could come to Yude for schooling, they must be a top student.
Zhou Xiu corrected her honestly, “My grades are just average.”
Hua Xu snorted, “Sure.”
A top student is truly hypocritical.
After school, Zhou Xiu, who managed to return home smoothly on the subway and bus, received a call from her family.
The aunt from the Xi family informed her with a strange expression, “Xiuxiu, your family called for you.”
Zhou Xiu took the call.
“Zhaodi, now you’ve fallen into a blessed place, with good fortune. I heard that the Xi family is very wealthy. Don’t just focus on studying—”
A cold and stern voice came through the receiver, startling Zhou Xiu.
Hearing this, Zhou Xiu hung the phone at a distance without listening to the incessant and greedy voices inside. The last time Zhou Xiu was forced to drop out of school, it was because of this sharp voice saying:
“What’s the use of a girl reading so many books? In the end, you’ll still have to marry into someone else’s family!”
In her dreams, Zhou’s family repeatedly emphasized to “Zhou Xiu” to maintain a good relationship with the Xi family, especially with Xi Shaoyuan.
“Xiu, you have to cling to the young master of the Xi family. If you follow him, you’ll be wealthy for the rest of your life.”
Xi Shaoyuan had been back a long time ago when his driver picked him up. At this time, he had already finished his run and came back from outside and happened to see Zhou Xiu on the phone.
This girl from the countryside had a cold and impatient expression, holding the receiver aloft, showing no interest in listening to her family’s phone call.
A stark contrast to trying to please and cater to the Xi family. Xi Shaoyuan’s gaze lingered on her for a moment.
Zhou Xiu listened to her family’s advice to please Xi Shaoyuan and lifted her head to see his indifferent and lazy gaze.
She felt somewhat relieved that fortunately, Xi Shaoyuan couldn’t understand the dialect her grandmother spoke. Otherwise, she would have to find a crack to hide in.
Zhou Xiu hung up the phone. Her heart froze, and she became alert: it seemed that she should listen to such brainwashing phone calls less in the future.
What’s wrong with studying hard? She wouldn’t be as naive as “Zhou Xiu.” She could get rich through studying, so why rely on men?
[Well said.]
[Congratulations on establishing the correct worldview.]
In the kitchen.
The maid from the Xi family muttered while cleaning, “Zhou Xiu’s family is very strange, always prying into everything. They not only inquire about the madam but also about the young master, wanting to dig to the bottom of everything.”
They weren’t so concerned about their own children. Their greedy faces were unmistakable.
Auntie Niu and Zhou Xiu were from the same hometown, so she understood some of the dialect from Zhou Xiu’s side. She was the one who answered the call from Zhou Xiu’s family just now.
Auntie Niu felt very repulsed.
She became worried about this sudden addition of a girl from the countryside.
Auntie couldn’t help but be cautious: “Madam is too kind-hearted and doesn’t even avoid the child’s age. They’re over ten years old and still playing together…”
The poor girl, having experienced wealth, probably wouldn’t leave even if they scolded her.
The steward smiled and said gracefully, “If the young master were that easy to approach, he wouldn’t be the young master.”
“I just hope that the young master can be more cheerful. Having one more person at home adds more liveliness. Don’t you think it’s great? I think Madam probably feels the same way.”
Auntie Niu suddenly fell silent.
The young master had been raised under their watchful eyes, and it was somewhat pitiful.
His parents divorced when he was five, and he grew up with his mother. Madam Xi wasn’t particularly attentive to him, and their mother-son relationship was quite strange. Sometimes she was so busy that she almost forgot she had a son.
The steward said, “If you’re really worried, we can investigate a little.”
Actually, there’s no need to investigate.
Zhou Xiu hung up the phone early and wanted to get some water when she heard these words. It turns out that Xi’s mother is the only one who is slow, and the others have long been wary.
Zhou Xiu swallowed, resisted her desire to drink water, silently left the kitchen, and went back to her room to do her homework.
“System, I want to preview my lessons!”
[Keep up the good work, young one!]
When Zhou Xiu was in the countryside, she had already previewed one-third of the mathematics. Her best subject was mathematics. During the days when she was forced to drop out, she had nothing to do and often reviewed her textbooks.
Zhou Xiu finished tomorrow’s routine homework.
At the same time, she heard the sound of “ding” in her mind.
[Daily homework accuracy reached 90%, receive 15 RMB reward.]
Zhou Xiu touched her pocket and found two banknotes lying inside. She found a paper box and carefully put them away.
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