Chapter 32: What I’m Good At ②
Li Kai looked very surprised. During the exam on Monday, he had been playing on his mobile phone and hadn’t noticed Nie Qiu answering questions. So, seeing Nie Qiu answering with such confidence now made him extremely surprised. Li Kai was surprised, but the teacher was very satisfied. He had only finished grading the exam papers from Monday last night. When he got to Nie Qiu’s paper, he read it over and over again. The handwriting was neat, and the answers were orderly, making it exceptionally pleasant to look at.
He originally thought someone else had written it, but he had been in the classroom the entire exam. He was well aware of the academic performance of the students in Class 10, so the chance of someone else helping her write it was slim. Therefore… it must have been Nie Qiu herself who wrote it?
Therefore… it must have been Nie Qiu herself who scored one hundred and forty-six points?
This was the Senior High School Entrance Examination paper for Chinese, with a total score of one hundred and fifty points. The points deducted were only from the composition! This was the first time he had given such a high score for a composition since becoming a teacher.
Now it seemed, the test paper was indeed done by this girl herself!
Actually, forty minutes was not enough time to complete the questions. Generally, the Senior High School Entrance Examination was held over three subjects in one day, with two subjects in the morning. This meant that each exam paper had about two hours for answering questions. However, the class time was only a little over forty minutes.
But Nie Qiu answered the questions with great enjoyment. The teacher said that English posed no pressure for her. She had also traveled abroad with Yang Zihao multiple times without needing any group tours or tour guides. Junior high school English exercises, apart from multiple-choice and reading comprehension, were just writing a short composition or some daily dialogues. So, as class was about to end, Nie Qiu finished writing. After carefully checking it, the group leader came to collect the papers. Once the papers were collected, it was exactly time for class to end.
Nie Qiu put her books, pens, and other things into her schoolbag, zipped it up, and then followed the teacher to the office.
The teacher took out three exam papers from his desk drawer and said with a smile, “Nie Qiu, these are your test papers.”
Nie Qiu was stunned for a moment. She took them and, seeing the scores, frowned. Why were there deductions? Although she didn’t think her composition deserved full marks, she didn’t think it would be deducted so much either.
“You’ve improved a lot, Nie Qiu. I have a request, listen to it.” Seeing Nie Qiu nod, the teacher smiled and said, “Your composition is very well written. I want to print your composition and put it on the school’s notice board as a model essay. What do you think?”
Nie Qiu thought for a moment and asked with a smile, “Teacher, does this count as a copyright issue?”
The teacher was stunned for a moment and then nodded.
“Then, Teacher, if my composition is put on the notice board as a model essay, will I receive a manuscript fee?” In the past, her compositions were always posted on the school notice board as model essays. But after she left school, with the old being replaced by the new, her achievements were transferred to the school’s Hall of Fame. Before, she would have considered it an honor, as not everyone’s composition would be posted on the notice board as a model essay.
“Pfft,” as soon as Nie Qiu finished speaking, a teacher in the office burst out laughing and turned their chair to look at Nie Qiu’s homeroom teacher, “Teacher Yang, your student has quite an ego.”
Only then did Nie Qiu realize that her homeroom teacher’s name was Teacher Yang.
Teacher Yang smiled and turned to his colleague, “You know, my student does have that ability. You also know how picky I am about compositions; the highest score I’ve given for a fifty-point composition is forty. For this student’s composition, I gave forty-six points.”
“Oh?” The teacher became curious and smiled, “Since Teacher Yang could give such a high score, it must be exceptionally well written. Young lady, let me see it.”
Nie Qiu looked at Teacher Yang, then reluctantly walked over and handed the test paper to the other teacher. Nie Qiu knew that this school had a subject-based system, and the teachers in this office were all Chinese teachers.
The teacher read it once, his eyes lit up. He read it again, and his eyes shone even brighter. After reading it a third time, his eyes seemed to sparkle, and he said with extreme excitement, “Student, I know a friend at a publishing house. If you want a manuscript fee, I can send this article to them. For an article like this, earning four to five thousand in manuscript fees should not be a problem.”
Nie Qiu’s eyes lit up. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Teacher Yang say, “Teacher Huang, you’ll make the student more eager for quick success, and it will affect my student’s development!” Excessive praise will only lead to a harder fall. This child has finally improved a lot, and he doesn’t want to affect her future.
Teacher Huang, who was holding Nie Qiu’s test paper, stiffened. He also understood the reasoning behind Teacher Yang’s words. Although he was disappointed, he wasn’t angry. He simply placed the test paper back into Nie Qiu’s hands, “Study hard. After you graduate and get into a good university, you’ll write even better essays.”
Hearing the conversation between Teacher Yang and Teacher Huang, the other teachers in the office were somewhat curious and eager. A female teacher smiled and asked, “Teacher Yang, I remember you teach the third year of junior high, right? You giving her such a high score means she’s truly good. Is she a student from Class 1 or Class 2?”
Teacher Yang smiled and didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Nie Qiu and said, “Go home and think carefully. Remember to keep working hard.”
Nie Qiu nodded, bowed, and then turned to leave the office.
Teacher Yang rubbed his temples. He knew Nie Qiu’s family situation and knew that this girl was very sensible and went out to work with her mother every day. However, if she were to receive a manuscript fee for the notice board, this money would be a drop in the bucket and wouldn’t help her family much. In reality, what could truly help this girl was not other things, but a scholarship.
As long as this girl could maintain her grades, he believed that obtaining a scholarship would not be difficult. He sighed, hoping that the girl wouldn’t disappoint him in the next monthly exam. If her grades were truly ideal, he would try his best to apply for a transfer for her. After all… in the learning environment of Class 10, the teachers had no desire to teach, and the students had no desire to study, so they couldn’t learn anything well.
Nie Qiu returned to the classroom and looked at the test paper in her hand, suddenly smiling. How could she have forgotten? Perhaps no one would hire her as a tutor now, but she could write essays and submit them! How many elementary and middle school students needed compositions? How many publishing houses were there? And how many reference books needed essay topics?
This might not earn much money, but overall, it was still some income. The deposit for book rental was ten yuan, and the rental fee was one yuan. She still had eighty-nine yuan. If she returned the books, she would get back the ten yuan deposit. This meant she had ninety-nine yuan herself, so she didn’t need to worry about postage costs at all.
