Zhou Xiu instinctively glanced at Xu Qing’s answers. Aside from a slight difference in one spot, they were almost identical to hers.
She pocketed the scratch paper and flashed a grin, revealing her canine teeth.
The top students in the Rocket Class carefully went through the answers, using the “Zhou Xiu transcribed version” as a reference.
After checking their answers, they were stunned, their expressions mirroring the defeated looks of the slackers in Class 24.
No, please tell me this isn’t the correct answer key, is it?
Xu Haobo held the answers left by Xu Qing and found that he had already gotten one of the multiple-choice questions wrong. His brows furrowed slightly.
After checking the math answers, Qi Yaguang asked Zhou Xiu, “Zhou Xiu, you made a lot of mistakes, didn’t you?”
Zhou Xiu smiled, showing her canine teeth again, and answered honestly despite Qi Yaguang’s anxious expression, “No, I got them right.”
Other top students protested, “How can that be? This question clearly—”
“Mm-hmm, you guys take your time discussing. I’m leaving now.” Zhou Xiu nodded, not interested in arguing. She glanced at her watch, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and took the bus home.
The top students in the Rocket Class stared after Zhou Xiu as she left: “…”
“Zhou Xiu is so arrogant. Does she look down on us?”
Li Simiao eventually spoke up, “Xu Qing was just like that earlier too.”
If Xu Qing could do it, why couldn’t Zhou Xiu? Plus, Qi Yaguang had been pretty rude, reading out Zhou Xiu’s scores like that.
The fact that Zhou Xiu didn’t flip out on the spot was quite admirable.
Sitting on the subway ride home, Zhou Xiu pondered her chances of winning a scholarship. It seemed unlikely this time.
She stared at her English score, lost in thought for the first time.
…
January 15th.
The exam scores had gradually been distributed to the homeroom teachers, with each teacher receiving several documents. These included rankings for each subject in both the arts and sciences, single-subject rankings, overall grade rankings for science students, and finally, class rankings.
Apart from the English single-subject rankings, Miss Li rarely bothered to open the earlier documents.
She usually only checked the class ranking, so she casually opened the file and, out of habit, started from the last place to the top.
She liked to get the worst over with first, so the rest would only get better.
Her brows furrowed as she saw Tan Ming’s score. His usually stable grades had plummeted this time, landing him in the thirties.
But it wasn’t until she reached the top two that Miss Li was completely shocked.
She scrolled through the scores, all the way to the top.
At the very top was Xu Qing, ranked third in the grade.
And Zhou Xiu? Ranked tenth in the grade. She had perfect scores in Math (150), Chemistry (100), and Biology (90), which shocked Miss Li. Oddly enough, Zhou Xiu had decent scores in Physics and Chinese, but her English score was abysmal.
Eighty-four in English. Among the top two hundred students in the grade, Zhou Xiu was the only one with such a low score. Her English score would be considered low even in Class 24.
Miss Li felt her face flush with embarrassment. How could she, as a homeroom teacher, let her top student neglect English so badly?
As Miss Li tallied up the class’s scores, she discovered another shocking fact.
The class’s average score had risen by a whopping 38 points compared to the monthly exams.
Miss Li took a sharp breath, suddenly realizing she might actually earn her performance bonus for this semester!
…
That afternoon, when the students returned to school to collect their report cards, the Math scores finally came in.
Hua Xu was walking up the stairs when she bumped into Zhou Xiu and some other classmates. She refreshed her phone and, to her delight, found that the score management system had been updated.
She had scored 92, passing the exam. Excitedly, she turned off her phone and asked everyone about their scores.
Zhou Xiu was urged to log into the system to check her final two scores. Sure enough, she had perfect scores in both subjects. She scrolled down to see her grade ranking: tenth place.
Zhou Xiu breathed a small sigh of relief. Even a tiny scholarship was still money.
Though it wasn’t the top-five ranking she had hoped for, the top ten still came with a cash prize. Plus, with three perfect scores, she would receive three single-subject scholarships.
This final exam had been difficult, especially the Math and Science sections. Zhou Xiu hadn’t expected to win any single-subject scholarships, but now she had.
It was truly a case of “the flower you plant won’t bloom, but the willow you didn’t plant grows.”
Zhou Xiu showed her results to Hua Xu, who gasped and covered her mouth, eyes wide.
As they climbed the stairs, they happened to run into students from the Rocket Class. Both groups exchanged glances, suddenly remembering the bet they had made during the monthly exams.
Qi Yaguang broke the silence and asked, “Have your scores come out yet?”
She slowly said, “I ranked fifth in the grade this time. Ling Shan should be fourth, and the top three are likely to be Xu Qing, Xu Haobo, and Li Simiao.”
A boy from the Rocket Class who really liked Ling Shan added, “This exam was tough. The top five and top ten will probably be from our class and the Winner’s Class. What a shame…”
His meaning was clear—he was just waiting for Xu Qing and Zhou Xiu to admit defeat.
Xu Qing, having just checked his scores, casually refreshed his phone and said, “Congratulations.”
“See you at the awards ceremony.”
After receiving their report cards, students were required to attend the grade-wide awards ceremony, where school leaders would present certificates and scholarships to the top-performing students.
Hua Xu draped an arm over Zhou Xiu’s shoulder and looked at Qi Yaguang, smirking. “Don’t be so sure of yourself. Remember what happened last time?”
“There’s no need to worry about Xiu’er. I’ll tell you now, she did great this time. Go tell Ling Shan to control her crazy fans and stop trying to step on Xiu’er. A bet’s a bet.”
Qi Yaguang: “…”
The Rocket Class students returned to their classroom, where they exchanged scores in small groups. As expected, Xu Qing was first, with Xu Haobo right behind in second place. But the third and fourth places didn’t belong to the Rocket Class. Qi Yaguang was fifth.
Qi Yaguang was shocked and asked Li Simiao and Ling Shan about their rankings.
Li Simiao shook his phone, “Eleventh. I messed up in Math.”
The top students all turned to Ling Shan. Based on the scores before the Math results came in, she had been comfortably in fifth place.
Ling Shan weakly clutched her stomach. “I had a stomach-ache during the Math exam and couldn’t finish the paper.”
With that explanation, there was no need to ask further. Ling Shan’s pale, almost colourless face made everyone feel sorry for her.
Qi Yaguang rubbed her chin and said, “So the remaining seven spots in the top ten might go to the Winner’s Class?”
No one answered, but the silence made them all think of one dramatic possibility: Could Xu Qing and Zhou Xiu both have made it into the top ten?
It didn’t take long for the Rocket Class students to find out.
At 3:00 PM sharp.
All the students gathered in the indoor gymnasium for the grade-wide awards ceremony.
The grade head read out the names of the top ten students, and the principal stood nearby, ready to personally hand out the certificates.
Through the microphone, the names “Zhou Xiu” were clearly heard. Qi Yaguang’s face suddenly froze as she looked up in shock.
She knew Zhou Xiu’s scores well. Zhou Xiu had made it into the top ten, with perfect scores in both Math and Chemistry?
But that wasn’t the most surprising part. When the grade head read the name of the third-to-last student, it was Xu Qing from Class 24.
Amid the excited gazes of the slackers from Class 24, Xu Qing and Zhou Xiu slowly stepped forward.
After the top ten awards were handed out, the ceremony moved on to the single-subject awards. This time, the awards ceremony suddenly became more interesting.
The entire grade noticed that this year, instead of the usual solitary figure of Xu Qing, there was suddenly a girl standing beside him, also receiving the Math single-subject award. Not only that, but she also received the Chemistry single-subject award alongside him.
And then she received the Biology single-subject award too, though without Xu Qing this time.
On the stage, Zhou Xiu maintained a calm expression. Without her glasses and with her bangs pulled back, she revealed her full forehead. Standing among a sea of male students, she stood out unexpectedly.
“Who’s that girl standing next to Xu Qing? She looks kind of unfamiliar. I’ve never seen her before.”
“That’s Zhou Xiu! The transfer student in Class 24 this semester.”
“When did the students from Class 24 get so good? She’s raking in scholarships left and right.”
Someone added, “She’s always been good. You guys were misled by those ridiculous posts on Weibo. She’s been in the Math competition class for a while.”
One boy quietly said, “Am I the only one who thinks this girl is kind of pretty?”
She looked so clean and neat in her school uniform. Even though it was the holiday, she was still wearing it—definitely a good student.
Standing on the stage, Zhou Xiu received four red envelopes. They were thin, and when she opened one after stepping off the stage, she was dismayed to find that it only contained a card with a number on it.
Old Wang looked at Zhou Xiu’s slightly gloomy expression and shook his head in frustration. “You’re not happy even after getting a scholarship? The money will be deposited into your account within a business day.”
Zhou Xiu glanced at the amount. The scholarship for being ranked tenth in the grade was 10,000 RMB, and the single-subject scholarships for each of the three subjects were 5,000 RMB each. So, Zhou Xiu’s total scholarship for the final exam was 25,000 RMB.
She couldn’t help but smile, revealing a faint dimple.
“I’m happy. Very happy.”
Old Wang snorted and teased her, “Then make some time to work on your English. Balance out your subjects. Just look at your homeroom teacher’s face—she doesn’t seem too thrilled.”
Miss Li: “…”
I’m not, I didn’t, stop making things up—I’m actually really happy today.
After the awards ceremony ended.
Students from each class began to leave the gym and head back to their classrooms. The slackers from Class 24 encountered the students from the Rocket Class on their way. One of them let out a whistle.
They straightened their backs, lifted their chins, and confidently walked past the top students.
As they passed, each slacker had something to say:
“Thanks for the push.”
“For motivating our class president to work harder.”
“For encouraging Xiuxiu to strive.”
The top students from the Rocket Class stared at the bright smiles of these second-generation rich kids: “…”
Du Feiyang patted Tan Ming on the shoulder and tilted his chin toward Lu Lingshan. “Your goddess didn’t even make it into the top thirty this time.”
“Look at that pale face—don’t you want to go comfort her?”
Tan Ming couldn’t be bothered to respond to Du Feiyang.
Back in the classroom, the slackers couldn’t stop laughing. The lively atmosphere felt like a New Year’s celebration.
“Even though I wasn’t the one getting the awards, watching them go up there felt like I was up there too.”
“The class president ranked third, and Zhou Xiu ranked tenth. My gosh—”
It was hard to imagine how the students from the Rocket Class must be feeling.
Other than Xie Cheng and Xu Haobo, no one had scored higher than Xu Qing. In the entire Rocket Class, only three students made it into the top ten, while Class 24, full of slackers, had two students in the top ten.
No one had dared to believe that Zhou Xiu and Xu Qing could score so well.
But they had proven themselves with their own strength—so satisfying!
The slackers didn’t usually care about grades, but after the awards ceremony, they slowly checked their overall scores. And when they did, they were overjoyed.
Was this ranking really theirs?
Du Feiyang’s grade ranking had improved by 386 places. The report card clearly showed his progress. He had scored 91 points in chemistry, and he took a screenshot of his report card, posting it everywhere to show off subtly.
On his social media, he posted his score with the caption, “Ugh, got careless on the last chemistry question.”
On Weibo, he posted the score again, expressing how great he felt and even hosting a giveaway.
The slackers in Class 24, inspired by Du Feiyang, began a frenzy of posting their scores on social media.
In no time, many students across the grade were talking about how Class 24 seemed to have done… surprisingly well on the exams?
Students from the neighbouring Class 23 started asking around about Class 24’s success, only to find out that it was all thanks to Zhou Xiu’s study materials, which had caused their class’s scores to skyrocket.
After looking at Zhou Xiu’s meticulously compiled notes, the students from Class 23 felt a pang of envy for the first time.
Why didn’t their class have someone who could provide study guides and predict test questions? They were slackers too—they wanted that help!
The final class meeting before the break.
Miss Li walked into the classroom with a big smile and summarized the results of the final exam for her students:
“Congratulations, everyone. You all did very well this time. Our class’s average score increased by 38 points, moving us from last place in the grade to seventh place.”
Yude High School had 25 classes in total, with 13 science classes. Excluding the two top science classes, Class 24’s performance in this exam made them the fifth-best among the regular classes.
“I’ve noticed everyone’s hard work this semester. Since the monthly exams, fewer and fewer students have been sleeping in class; after school, more and more of you have been discussing your studies; and some of you even started staying for evening self-study sessions to prepare for exams.
You’ve all been quietly putting in the effort, and now you’re seeing the results. This is the happiest I’ve ever been. Really, I’m so pleased that I’m cancelling your English homework for the winter break. Go have a great New Year!”
The slackers were overwhelmed with excitement upon hearing this.
A round of applause erupted. This was the homeroom teacher applauding them. She said, “I’m looking forward to seeing even more progress from you all. I believe in you.”
The slackers sat there, stunned, their eyes starting to well up.
Damn, why does this have to be so emotional?
They had really done it—they had shed the “trash class” label themselves.
The slackers turned to look at Zhou Xiu, their eyes wet with complex emotions. Although their hard work played a part, without Zhou Xiu’s help, their scores wouldn’t have improved so dramatically in such a short time.
After the class meeting ended, the slackers felt warm and fuzzy inside.
“Zhou Xiu, thank you!”
“Hard work really does pay off—I believe it now!”
“I’ve downed this motivational chicken soup, and I even brewed a pot for myself. This time, I am the chicken soup!” Du Feiyang declared.
“Shut up! Say that again, and who’s your daddy?” Hua Xu joked, laughing.
Zhou Xiu also smiled softly, “No need to thank me.” “Everyone, have a great New Year.”
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