Chapter 64: Nie Qiu, Stay!
Huang Yan caught up to Nie Qiu and asked how she did on the exam. Nie Qiu nodded and said it was okay. Huang Yan was in a good mood, so she was also very happy. After all, compared to before when she would fall asleep because she didn’t understand the questions, she could now understand over eighty percent of them. Huang Yan smiled and linked her arm with Nie Qiu’s, saying, “Let’s go to the toilet! Each subject is a hundred minutes! After one more subject, school will be over. There are still three more subjects in the afternoon!”
The nine subjects were divided into two days of exams. Compared to the seven subjects in the first year of junior high, they were even more rushed.
Nie Qiu smiled and said, “I was going to the toilet anyway, let’s go! Together.”
The break time was only ten minutes. Because there were too many people using the public toilets on the floor, by the time Nie Qiu and Huang Yan returned from the toilet, the bell for the second exam had already rung.
Mathematics.
Sitting next to Nie Qiu was a student from the first year of junior high. Since they were both in the slow class, Nie Qiu vividly remembered the boy constantly passing notes and doodling on scratch paper during the Chinese exam.
However, as soon as the test paper was handed out, the boy leaned closer to her and said, “Hey, I say, you’re in the third year, right? You should be able to do our questions, right? Can you do them for me? I’ll give you money.”
Nie Qiu heard this, frowned, and ignored him. She simply wrote her class, name, and student ID on her test paper and began answering the questions.
Seeing that Nie Qiu ignored him, the boy felt bored and moved away, muttering, “What’s so great about her? We’re all in the slow class, why is she acting so proud?”
Nie Qiu still paid him no mind. As someone with a teacher’s mindset, Nie Qiu was actually very angry. However, she didn’t know this person at all, and she didn’t want to let him affect her mood, nor did she want to affect her exam. So, she tried her best to ignore him.
Nie Qiu suppressed her feelings and carefully worked through each question. Mathematics was different from Chinese; it required understanding, logic, formulas, and calculations. It was much more convoluted than Chinese, so she worked slower. Nie Qiu finished ten minutes before the end of the exam. While checking, she found a mistake and quickly used her newly bought correction fluid to erase it, correcting the question one minute before handing in her paper.
Hearing the dismissal bell, Nie Qiu let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, fortunately, that quadratic function question was worth ten points!
No one is omnipotent! Nie Qiu was no exception; she wasn’t a goddess, nor was she perfect.
English, Politics, History, Biology, Geography, Physics, and Chemistry – after finishing them, she felt they went pretty well. However, Nie Qiu also knew that during her student years, her History and Physics grades, while not terrible, weren’t top-notch either. Compared to her other subjects, there was a significant contrast and dissonance.
As they walked out of the exam hall, most students cheered. Regardless of anything, whether it was the fast class or the slow class, the tense and dull atmosphere of exams was something no one liked, so this happiness was natural, even for those who got good grades.
The day after the exams, classes resumed as usual. However, the students in Class 10 had lost their focus on studying and had become restless, eagerly wanting to know the results of their efforts.
Nie Qiu saw that none of her classmates had sad or upset expressions, so she assumed they had all done well.
For anyone, waiting is difficult, let alone for the students of Class 10.
Five days later, Nie Qiu stood on the lectern, helplessly putting down the book in her hand. She looked at her classmates in the classroom, who were still very restless, and said, “I believe everyone knows the saying that an inch of time is worth an inch of gold. I am as nervous as everyone else and want to know how much progress I’ve made. But are you all wasting study time waiting for the results? Do you want to give up halfway?”
“I believe none of you are fools. As long as you work hard, you will definitely make progress. How much progress you make is closely related to your effort. Success equals ninety-nine percent effort plus one percent talent. Everyone has talent, and as long as you work hard enough, you can succeed. I believe this.” Nie Qiu sighed, “Today, please review on your own! If you don’t want to come to school early in the morning, you don’t have to.”
“No, no, Nie Qiu,” Wang Chao Lei stood up, looking anxious. “We… we also want to study. You tell us, we’ll listen, really! Teach us!”
Li Kai looked at Wang Chao Lei and lowered his head, his thoughts returning to yesterday afternoon.
Luo Xu’s uncle was Luo Bai, the director of the school office. Because Luo Xu was very much looking forward to his grades, and with the pleas of Wang Chao Lei and Zhang Haiyang, Luo Xu went to his uncle’s office to ask. Luo Bai happily used the computer to pull up Class 10’s report card and the entire grade’s ranking, and he even praised Luo Xu with a smile.
“Your class’s overall score is even higher than Class 5’s. Xu Wa Zi, I’m very happy! You used to be out all day, dyeing your hair yellow, and dressing in a way that was neither male nor female. I’m truly happy that you can study seriously now,” Luo Bai said, patting Luo Xu’s shoulder with a laugh.
Knowing that Wang Chao Lei, Zhang Haiyang, Ma Xin, and Li Kai were all standing outside the office, Luo Xu felt a little embarrassed. “It’s fine to talk about me studying, but why talk about my hair and clothes? This is called fashion! Do you understand fashion?”
Luo Bai kept smiling. “I don’t understand fashion. I only know that it doesn’t look good. Listen to your uncle, go dye your hair back. We Chinese people should have black hair; it looks good.”
“Uncle!”
“Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore,” Luo Bai said with a smile. “You’ve seen the grades, so you can rest assured, right? Go, go, go, go study. Uncle needs to work.”
Luo Xu nodded and turned to leave.
“Huh? Class 10 actually has someone who scored in the top ten of the entire grade! How is that possible?” Luo Bai sat down, preparing to work, and was stunned when he looked at the computer. The first-place student in Class 10 was ranked eighth in the entire grade.
Luo Xu stopped in his tracks and quickly ran to the desk, turning the computer towards him. He stared intently at the name of the first-place student. The maximum score for Chinese, Mathematics, and English was 150 points each. This person scored 142 in Chinese, 148 in Mathematics, and 139 in English…
Nie Qiu!
It was Nie Qiu, he wasn’t mistaken, he definitely wasn’t mistaken! It was Nie Qiu!
“Haha, no wonder Teacher Yang told me yesterday about applying for class transfers for some students. I didn’t expect Class 1 to improve so much this time! It seems increasing the make-up classes was the right decision! Our school’s enrollment rate will definitely be much higher this year, haha!” Luo Bai said happily, patting Luo Xu’s shoulder vigorously. “You need to work harder, kid. Aren’t you classmates? You should be studying together! Look at them, top ten in the entire grade. And look at you, 236th in the entire grade. You need to try harder! Xu Wa Zi.”
“Uncle, did Teacher Yang submit the application for class transfer?” Luo Xu asked, his eyes wide, looking at his uncle.
