Several minutes after the evening study hall bell rang, Zhang Wei finally ambled in, settling directly behind the iron podium. His somewhat short and stout frame made him look rather comical, almost as if a bald head had sprouted directly from the teacher’s podium.
“You’re all aware of the results of the entrance exam; not even the highest scorer made it into the top fifty in the grade. I truly believed your summer remedial classes would yield some results, but how has the gap only widened?”
Zhang Wei, though not harboring great expectations to begin with, could not help but lace his words with a biting sarcasm that was unmistakable to every student in the class.
“I must particularly commend Feng Yizhong. The remedial class teachers specifically mentioned to me his excellent attitude during the summer. While others idled away the time during breaks, he alone would persistently pester the teachers with questions. Consequently, he achieved the highest math score in our class this time, and his total score placed him within the top hundred in the grade, a significant improvement from his initial ranking during enrollment.”
Having finished speaking, Zhang Wei took another sip of tea. As a math teacher, he was far from satisfied with the class’s overall performance, yet he knew praise was due where earned.
Feng Yizhong, singled out for commendation, showed no signs of discomfort. He understood this praise was his due, and a sense of elation swelled within him. He was the top math student in Class Two this time, and his overall score was among the best, yet it only ranked him 79th in the entire grade. This glimpse alone was enough to reveal the abysmal overall performance of Class Two.
“There are also those who performed poorly, but I won’t name names. Fundamentals! Fundamentals! I reviewed everyone’s answers during the exam, and it’s clear that far too many of you have weak foundations. What good is it to write extensively, filling the answer sheet with scribbles resembling talismans, if there are no points to be gained? You might as well write an essay, it would be just as useless if it doesn’t hit the scoring criteria.”
Qin Zixin knew Zhang Wei was implicitly criticizing her. She buried her head, wishing she could hide inside her desk drawer. Though she could be mischievous, she knew better than to provoke Zhang Wei at such a moment.
The classroom fell into a deathly silence, with many scarcely daring to breathe aloud.
Her math score, in particular, was truly abysmal this time. Out of a possible 160, she had only scored 56, a clear failure.
Unsurprisingly, she was last in math in her class, and indeed, last in the entire grade.
Zhang Wei observed that apart from a few who had performed decently, the rest of the class was pretending to be quails, their gazes fixed on their desks. He decided not to press the issue. It wasn’t terrifying for students to perform poorly; what truly worried him was when they performed poorly and saw no problem with it, a path that would inevitably lead to further issues.
Only six students in the class scored above 130, and Feng Yizhong’s highest math score was merely 139. In stark contrast, the elite Class Four boasted a staggering 37 students above 130 points, with five scoring over 150, and their top student, Zhou Xinshu, even achieved a perfect score.
It wasn’t the poor grades themselves that were daunting, but the stark comparison. Zhang Wei felt a pang of worry.
Although he had reached the pinnacle of his career and simply lacked the ambition to advance further, these results were genuinely embarrassing. To be frank, based on his experience, these math scores were even worse than those of some ordinary classes.
The monthly exam, a grade-wide standardized test, was only two weeks away. If these students maintained such scores, and were indeed surpassed by the ordinary classes, where would he put his face?
“During last night’s meeting, Director Gao specifically praised Class Two, noting that among the four remedial classes, only Class Two ate with the most enthusiasm, only Class Two was the most energetic in the dorms at night, and only Class Two collectively vanished into the restrooms the moment break began. This is precisely what I told him: if the students of Class Two continue to maintain this exemplary behavior, I will arrange for the student with the worst grades, the one who drags the class down the most, to deliver an acceptance speech at the flag-raising ceremony.”
Below the podium, even the high-achieving students now began to shrink into themselves like quails.
Of course, it was entirely possible that Director Gao was deliberately needling Zhang Wei.
These two old men had been in the same school from elementary to junior high, junior high to high school, through university, and even now. Having known each other for half a lifetime, their bond was so deep they could practically share a pair of underwear, and they would never pass up an opportunity to playfully jab at one another.
Having delivered his subtly sarcastic remarks, Zhang Wei took another sip of water. Qin Zixin cautiously peeked her head from behind her stack of books, convinced that old geezer was deliberately targeting her.
She hadn’t even attended the summer remedial classes! Why should she have to write an “acceptance speech”?
“Forget it. This time, I’m not angry, nor am I complaining. I simply hope you can all improve. For the monthly exam, I don’t ask you to outperform the other three key classes; I have only one request. Your average score must not be lower than any ordinary class. Currently, there’s a proposal within the grade to implement something called PBL, which essentially involves learning groups. I see your current scores are fairly evenly distributed, with good and poor students mixed together, so let’s just form groups of four based on front and back seats. In a moment, I will distribute the standard answers for the exam. My sole requirement is that you understand every single problem. You must understand them completely—the steps, the thought processes—and clearly grasp where you made your mistakes…”
Zhang Wei finally concluded his sarcastic monologue, and with his unique verbal tic, instructed the math class representative to hand out the answer keys, thereby commencing the math self-study session.
PBL is an acronym for problem-based learning.
Educational reformists particularly favored these foreign concepts. A term casually coined by some obscure figure abroad would instantly be revered as a cornerstone by relevant departments at home, who would then fawn over it while repeating a hybrid, half-foreign theory. The problem in China was that utility didn’t matter as much as the “educator’s” title.
The more prestigious the international title, the more effective their ideas were presumed to be. Such fickle reforms often left the long-term benefits an unknown quantity. However, it wasn’t entirely without merit; since these reforms began, at least school facilities had seen a rapid upgrade.
Notably, the iron podium now housed a built-in computer, capable of integrated control over the projector and sound system.
Crucially, this machine was connected to the internet. If one were bold enough, they could even secretly install a modem (router) beneath the podium. There were also air conditioning and heating. At least now, during summer, the air conditioning was robust.
These were luxuries Qin Zixin couldn’t even have dreamed of back in junior high, where the classroom air conditioners were mere decorations.
Although Qin Zixin dismissed the concept of study groups as utterly nonsensical, for Qiao Hua, seated in the back row, it was nothing short of a gift from the heavens. This was because Qin Zixin was now in his group. More precisely, Qin Zixin, Zhang Wanbai, Qiao Hua, and Fang Bixian formed a single group, occupying the front and back seats.
For someone nursing a one-sided crush, merely seeing the back of his goddess’s head every day was already an immense blessing. Could it possibly be a bad thing to now furtively admire her every expression and smile?
Even two days into the new school year, he still dared not speak to Qin Zixin. The moment he beheld her face, a flawless jade resembling that of a celestial maiden, he found himself utterly speechless. Ironically, it was Fang Bixian, who somewhat regarded Qin Zixin as a venomous viper, who had become familiar with her first, often engaging her in conversation.
What made him most envious was that Fang Bixian genuinely shared common interests with her.
During breaks, they frequently discussed phone specifications, and sometimes they would chat for quite a while about a game called Civilization IV.
Especially today, as Fang Bixian chatted with Qin Zixin, Qiao Hua merely listened beside them like a wooden dummy.
He tuned out Fang Bixian’s raspy voice entirely, wanting only to hear his goddess’s crisp, melodious, heavenly voice, like that of a golden oriole.
Now, with the answer keys being distributed, his goddess would soon turn her head towards him. His goddess would no longer continue discussing boring electronic accessories and games with Fang Bixian.
He would actively tutor his goddess in math.
He would ensure Qin Zixin’s face glowed with understanding, leaving her looking at him with adoration. Although his math score this time wasn’t as high as Fang Bixian’s, he had still surpassed 120. He was confident he could solidify his goddess’s shaky mathematical foundations, making Qin Zixin shyly exclaim, “Qiao Hua, you’re so smart!”
In his humble fantasies, his goddess was untouched by mortal dust, radiating boundless brilliance, and possessing no flaws save for her need of him. Tragically, fantasy and reality were forever two distinct concepts.
His goddess would possess all manner of flaws, every flaw except needing a groveling admirer.
When the PBL group discussion began, Qiao Hua noticed that only Fang Bixian and Zhang Wanbai were actively discussing the problems.
Qin Zixin had turned around and was slumped against the back of her chair, wearing a look of utter despair. Her delicate, jade-like hand rested lightly on the front of Fang Bixian’s book, her soft, jade-like breasts, pressed against the chair back, appeared remarkably prominent. Most striking was the exquisite watch on her wrist, complementing her fair, luminous skin beautifully.
Zhang Wanbai had performed reasonably well in math this time, though she only scored in the nineties. However, she had studied very diligently and attended the summer remedial classes, so this score genuinely upset her. Consequently, as soon as the discussion started, she began pestering Fang Bixian with questions.
It would be foolish to ignore a high-achieving student and instead ask a poor-performing one. Qiao Hua wanted to initiate a conversation with Qin Zixin, but again, he found himself unable to utter a single word, his face flushing crimson with frustration. Even if his goddess offered a sycophant a chance, they often couldn’t seize it.
After Zhang Wanbai finished her questions, Fang Bixian glanced at a certain individual completely lost in thought, then at Qiao Hua’s flustered expression, finding it quite amusing.
“Qin, if you have any questions, just ask. While Qiao Hua and I aren’t great at the humanities, our math is still somewhat decent.”
Seeing Qin Zixin still lost in thought and Qiao Hua’s face flushed, Fang Bixian surmised that Qiao Hua had likely lost his nerve again upon seeing the object of his affection.
Frustrated by his inability to rise to the occasion, Fang Bixian felt compelled to break the silence.
In the dorm at night, Qiao Hua was always the most vocal. From her clothes to her watch, from her facial features to her exaggerated figure, from the way she drank water to the way she slept at her desk.
Even her feet alone could keep the ‘beasts’ in the dorm chattering for a good hour.
Among them, Qiao Hua, that pathetic groveling admirer, spoke with the most fervor.
Because he sat close, Qiao Hua’s vivid descriptions truly had Zhou Dahong, Ma Lisheng, Yan Wangfei, and Feng Yizhong—his four dorm mates—utterly captivated, both physically and mentally. However, Fang Bixian had repeatedly stressed to them that Qin Zixin was not merely a pretty face as they imagined. He warned them not to let their base instincts take over, only to be made a fool of by her.
Nanshi High’s dorms were standard eight-person rooms, but due to allocation issues, some dorms were not at full capacity. Other boarding students from different classes might move in later, but for now, Fang Bixian’s dorm still only housed six people.
“Ah? No, it’s fine. I have the answer keys; I can understand them myself.”
Suddenly addressed, Qin Zixin finally snapped out of her reverie.