Wishing for a good New Year—a simple desire, yet one that is so challenging to achieve for students with poor grades.
If you don’t do well on the final exams, getting any New Year’s money from relatives becomes a big problem. Sitting down for a New Year’s Eve dinner means facing relentless questions about your grades from distant relatives who only seem to care about that one thing. After the questions come the endless criticisms.
But this year, things would be different.
Yu Qingyan pursed her lips, her smile particularly radiant as she carefully folded up her report card, preparing to give her parents a surprise.
Hua Xu made significant progress this time. With Zhou Xiu’s help, she miraculously passed math, and her science scores improved by over sixty points.
As for Du Feiyang, he had jumped more than two hundred places in the rankings, going from a bottom-tier student to an average one. If he had a tail, it would probably be wagging in the air with pride right now.
He happily said, “Everyone, go retweet my Weibo post. I’ll announce the winners in ten minutes. Ten people will split ten thousand yuan!”
Normally stingy, Du Feiyang was finally showing some generosity.
Hua Xu pulled out her phone and glanced at Zhou Xiu, who was engrossed in her English book. “Xiu Xiu, hurry up and retweet it. You have a one in four chance of winning.”
Zhou Xiu regretfully informed them that she didn’t have a Weibo account. “I’ll pass.”
Du Feiyang urged her, “Xiu Xiu, hurry up and register. I’ll wait for you.”
Under Du Feiyang’s persistence, Zhou Xiu had no choice but to close her English book, pull out her phone, and register a Weibo account. Then, she retweeted Du Feiyang’s post.
Xu Qing was about to retweet as well, but after hearing Du Feiyang’s comment, his thumb hovered over the screen before he eventually turned off his phone and put it back in the drawer.
The moment Zhou Xiu finished retweeting, Du Feiyang immediately announced the winners. By then, there were only 16 retweets.
The slackers who didn’t make it in time to retweet glared at Du Feiyang. “You said you’d give us ten minutes!”
Du Feiyang chuckled and waved his phone, unapologetically saying, “Can’t help it, I’m biased.”
Too many people would lower the odds of winning, and what if Zhou Xiu didn’t win?
He craned his neck to look at Zhou Xiu, who was sitting in the front, and asked, “Xiu Xiu, did you win?”
Zhou Xiu saw the automated winning message in her private messages, nodded, and smiled. “I did.”
Du Feiyang, feeling immensely pleased, began transferring the prize money to the winners one by one.
Meanwhile, Tan Ming sat expressionlessly in a corner, sipping his drink repeatedly. If not for the label on the bottle indicating it was a sports energy drink, his somber expression might make one think he was drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
As Du Feiyang joyfully handed out the prize money, he patted his desk mate on the shoulder and said, “Tan Ming, it’s okay. Keep working hard next semester.”
“You did make progress, just not as much as the rest of us.”
Tan Ming: “…”
Before school ended, teachers from various subjects came by to distribute the final exam papers and praised the students of Class 24. The chemistry teacher, in particular, was all smiles as he asked:
“I heard your class had a secret weapon this time?”
After grading the exams, the chemistry teacher noticed that the average score in Class 24 was about ten points higher than in the monthly exam, which was a rare occurrence.
Yuan Ruoyi handed her well-worn study materials to the chemistry teacher.
The chemistry teacher flipped through a few pages and highly praised it. “It truly is a secret weapon.”
The notes were more understandable and concise than a study guide, containing clever problem-solving techniques that even the teacher hadn’t taught or seen before. It was clear that a lot of effort had gone into compiling them.
After all the papers were handed out, the math exam paper arrived a bit late.
As usual, Old Huang scolded the slackers of Class 24. The final exam in math was particularly difficult this time, and he hadn’t even bothered to look at the average score for Class 24. After handing out the exam papers, he was about to leave the classroom.
But then, one of the students called out to him.
“Mr. Huang, could you please go over the exam with us?”
It was Yuan Ruoyi’s voice. The other slackers were taken aback and turned to look at her in silence. They were stunned by the seriousness in Yuan Ruoyi’s eyes.
After a moment, the other students started calling out to Old Huang as well: “Mr. Huang, please go over the exam with us.”
“I feel like the final exam won’t be complete until you’ve reviewed it with us.”
“It’s still early. We don’t want to leave school just yet.”
Seeing this, Du Feiyang ran up to “invite” Old Huang back into the classroom.
Mr. Huang: “…”
His brows furrowed deeply as he suspiciously looked at these slackers. The feet that were leading him toward the office came to an abrupt stop.
Who knew when these slackers became so eager to learn?
Old Huang had no choice but to pick up the exam paper and review a few of the most commonly mistaken problems. As he looked down at the eager eyes of the students, his expression darkened, and his lips pressed into a frown.
Okay, he got it.
After finishing the review, he sighed and said, “Everyone has made great progress this time. Zhou Xiu also did well—I admit, you’re all pretty good.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom erupted in enthusiastic applause.
The students clapped with all their might, not caring if their hands turned red.
This time, they were cheering for themselves, applauding their classmates, and celebrating the days of being ridiculed that would never return.
The applause from Class 24 echoed down the hallway, lingering long after it began to fade.
Students from the neighbouring classes, curious about the commotion, peeked into Class 24, wondering what had happened.
Old Huang looked at the students, their eyes shining with an unusual brightness. After the applause died down, Old Huang’s face, which had been as dark as the bottom of a pot, gradually returned to normal. “Alright, alright, don’t get cocky now. The college entrance exam is still a long way off.”
“I’m leaving!”
After Old Huang left, the entire class burst into laughter. Du Feiyang let out a satisfied sigh, “I’m not just a piece of char siu.”
“I’m not trash,” one of the slackers added.
“Not worthless!” another chimed in.
“Who would’ve thought I’d live to hear Old Huang praise us?”
Ah, the feeling was so blissful—it was more soothing than listening to a bass voice.
“Hahahahahaha—”
“He even told us not to get cocky.”
Is that even possible for slackers? No way—they’d be riding high on this pride for the entire year.
Zhou Xiu couldn’t help but smile too, finding it difficult to concentrate on her English book.
….
After school.
Hua Xu inquired about Lu Lingshan’s grade ranking and was shocked to learn that she hadn’t even made it into the top one hundred this time.
She was surprised, “Didn’t Qi Yaguang say she’d definitely be in the top ten?”
A friend of Hua Xu replied, “Lu Lingshan… scored 81 in math.”
Oh my gosh, she didn’t even do as well as Hua Xu. Hua Xu was stunned.
Yu Qingyan came over to take a look. The information had been sent to Hua Xu by the class monitor from the Winner Class.
Hua Xu didn’t even need to ask the monitor as she immediately typed, “Did she claim that her poor performance was due to feeling unwell?”
The screen displayed the “typing…” notification, which suddenly stopped.
The class monitor from the Winner Class sent a voice message, “Ahhh, Hua Xu, you’re so spot on.”
Hua Xu snorted.
As someone who had been at odds with Lu Lingshan for several years, Hua Xu had thoroughly figured out her personality.
Although Zhou Xiu had also scored in the eighties on her English exam, her English had always been weak. But for Lu Lingshan, going from a score of 140 to one in the eighties—that kind of “underperformance” was just too much.
Hua Xu told her friend, “I get it, it’s all about saving face.”
She quietly dug up an old Weibo post where Zhou Xiu had been criticized by Lu Lingshan’s rabid fans after a math quiz. Hua Xu retweeted it with the comment, “Zhou Xiu, 150; Lu Lingshan, 81.”
Who’s saving face now?
…
After school, Zhou Xiu went to the biology teacher’s office to pay the fee for the winter break competition tutoring.
She happened to run into Xu Qing, who had just finished paying. He asked, “You’re attending the biology tutoring as well?”
Zhou Xiu nodded.
Xu Qing smiled slightly, “Then I’ll see you next week.”
The biology preliminaries were scheduled for March, so the biology class had decided to use the winter break to prepare, which meant there were no winter break assignments for them.
The biology class would have an additional week of tutoring during the break, so the thousand yuan Zhou Xiu had barely warmed up in her pocket was quickly handed over.
The system said, [There’s no need to worry about such a small amount.]
[You have to invest in learning if you want to reap greater rewards.]
[Ding—Achieve first prize in the biology competition preliminaries and earn 5,000 RMB.]
[Top 5 in city preliminaries earns 10,000-15,000 RMB; top 3 earns 15,000-30,000 RMB.]
Zhou Xiu’s head shot up in surprise.
The biology teacher looked puzzled. “What’s wrong? Is there another issue?”
Holding classes during the break wasn’t exactly humane, so the tutoring was optional, not mandatory.
The biology teacher was worried that Zhou Xiu might back out and decided to give her a pep talk:
“January to February is the crucial period for review. Make good use of it to fill in any gaps, so you won’t be anxious when the exam comes. If the competition wasn’t scheduled so early this year, we wouldn’t be taking up your winter break.”
Zhou Xiu shook her head and firmly said, “Don’t worry, teacher. I’ll be there.”
Teacher He looked at this student, her eyes filled with determination, her smile so bright it could dazzle.
He was moved by Zhou Xiu’s enthusiasm—he had never seen a student so eager for extra classes.
“Good, I’ll be expecting you.”
Teacher He had no idea what Zhou Xiu was really worried about.
With the semester over, no more exams and no more assignments, Zhou Xiu had suddenly lost many sources of income. She was genuinely concerned about the tuition fees for the next year. If she couldn’t save up the 90,000 yuan needed before senior year, she might as well transfer to a regular high school.
But now, after hearing the system’s task, she felt like she had to study as hard as possible—her worries over the past few days demanded it. A biology exam? Could it possibly be worse than English?
System: […My bad, my bad, I was too stingy.]
Zhou Xiu bit her lip, grinning as she left the office.
As she walked out of the school gate, the system started ringing off notifications:
[Scored top 1 in the final exam math subject, rewarded 2,000 RMB.]
[Scored top 1 in the final exam chemistry subject, rewarded 2,000 RMB.]
[Scored top 1 in the final exam biology subject, rewarded 2,000 RMB.]
[Final exam overall score ranked top 10 in grade, rewarded 5,000 RMB.]
[Final exam overall score ranked in top 2% of class, rewarded 1,000 RMB.]
Zhou Xiu nearly forgot that the system also gave out rewards for the final exams. She touched her pocket in disbelief—over ten thousand yuan in fresh bills made her jacket puff out slightly.
At the same time, her phone buzzed with a notification, and a text from the bank popped up: a deposit of 25,000 yuan from the scholarship.
At this moment, Zhou Xiu felt a sense of happiness that surpassed anything she had experienced before. This was far better than reselling the equipment given by Xi Shaoyuan, better than getting a cafeteria card from Du Feiyang, or a hotel card from Xu Qing, or a free tour from Zhang Qi.
She smiled, her lips curling up, and happily walked out of the school with her backpack.
…
When Zhou Xiu returned home, she quickly set about changing her father’s medication.
As they say, injuries to the bones take a hundred days to heal. Although Zhou Cheng had spent half a month in the hospital, he still needed to rest in bed after returning home. The house was filled with the strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine.
Zhou Cheng asked, “Xiu’er, you seem really happy today?”
Zhou Xiu took out her phone and showed her father the scholarship she had received.
Zhou Cheng was shocked, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. “That much?”
The two of them could work for two months and still not earn that much.
Zhou Xiu showed her small tiger teeth, “It’s not much. My English didn’t go well. The top students who did well got 80,000 to 90,000 in scholarships.”
She massaged her father’s foot, helping with his circulation. “So—”
“With my scholarship and the financial aid I applied for, there’s no need to worry about tuition. Dad, just focus on getting better. When spring comes, you can find another job.”
Zhou Xiu had never thought her father was suited for manual labour. He had been weaker than others since he was young, needing to catch his breath even after a bit of farm work.
He had been cooking banquets for others for years, and his cooking skills were excellent. In a city full of foodies, his skills wouldn’t go to waste.
But the job at the construction site had been recommended by a fellow villager, and it was hard to turn it down.
Zhou Xiu gently suggested, “Dad, you’re not cut out for hard labour. But the things you make are so delicious. When spring comes, you and Mom can set up a stall. I’m sure business will be great.”
Zhou Xiu had said all the right things, good and bad, and Zhou Cheng listened, his eyes lowering, the wrinkles around them deepening as a mix of emotions filled his heart.
“Alright, alright, I’ll listen to you, Xiu’er.”
He placed his rough hand on Zhou Xiu’s head and gently stroked her hair.
**Author’s Note:**
Xiu’er: Studying won’t kill you, so study as hard as you can.
How can biology be scarier than English?
The slackers shed tears of regret: “…” English really isn’t as scary as biology.
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