NOVPUBIn the following days, Lin Wanning and Xiao Ruawen both buckled down to study, determined to return to the top tier by the end of the term.
Influenced by this, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao, who used to be content just finishing their homework for the day, also joined the study group.
They cut out the segment of watching TV while doing homework after dinner and, like following school regulations, studied seriously for two and a half hours every evening.
Whenever someone encountered a problem they couldn’t figure out, they would seek help from the top students, Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao, and in the process receive a thorough review that often uncovered gaps in their knowledge, which was far more efficient than just burying one’s head in study.
"This is really simple," Xu Qingfan explained while writing on scratch paper for Xiao Ruawen. "Just open up the brackets. +4ab-4ab forms a perfect square. After transforming it, adding and subtracting cancels it out, see?"
"Oh, Brother Fan, I get it now," the girl had an epiphany and smiled at him before continuing to work on her problems.
"Brother Qing Fan, I’ve finished my paper, can you check it for me?" Lin Wanning handed her completed physics exam to Xu Qingfan.
"Let me have a look."
He received it and started comparing it with his own answers. All the answers filled in at the beginning were the same except for the last question, which was about calculating the speed of a passenger train and was different.
"You missed subtracting the waiting time at the transfer station on the last question, calculate it again," he quickly found the mistake and handed the paper back to her.
Lin Wanning’s mouth formed an ’O’ shape, nodded, and took back her paper to correct it with a red pen on the side.
Xu Qingfan was a bit bored at the moment; he used to be watching TVB at this time. He really wanted to watch "Consorts"! These kind of palace drama that involves backstabbing, deceit, and intrigue, Xu Qingfan, living for a second time, still found them entertaining. On the contrary, those dramas about a heroine traveling back in time to ancient times to fall in love bored him after just two episodes.
Isn’t that just like an African American woman traveling back to the plantation era where, with her modern-day skills in singing, dancing, and rapping, she captures the hearts of several sons of the plantation owner?
One day the plantation owner dies, and his sons fight viciously over the inheritance, then the African American sister stands by crying profusely, begging them to stop fighting!
That was a bit of a tangent.
He was sitting at his desk, pretending to look at problems, thinking about what excuse he could use to slip to the living room to watch TV. Thinking of She Shiman playing Liu Sanhao in the series, Xu Qingfan felt an itch.
Just yesterday, it ended right at the peak of a fight between two women. The thought of women fighting was thrilling!
As that idea popped into his head, he instinctively glanced over at the five girls who were studying seriously.
"No wandering eyes, finish this first!" Xia Xiaoxiao, the discipline committee member, knocked on Xu Qingfan’s head for being distracted and also threw him a book titled "Five-Year College Entrance Exam, Three-Year Mock Tests."
"I think I left my pen in the living room. I’ll go get it."
"Use mine." Xia Xiaoxiao saw through his ploy and pulled out a considerate gel pen from her pencil case for him.
"Go to the bathroom on the second floor. If there’s nothing else, keep quiet and do your work!" Xu Qingfan wanted to say something, but Xia Xiaoxiao’s subsequent words completely blocked any wiggle room he might have had.
"Just do it!"
[Thinking you can fool me? I can tell what you’re up to the moment you stick your butt out!] Seeing Xu Qingfan’s deflated little expression, Xia Xiaoxiao felt triumphantly amused inside.
Many people are overly confident, believing that if they were to do middle school math as adults, they would breeze through it effortlessly, but that’s not the case.
The difficulty level of the final questions on the middle school exams is no easier than those on the college entrance exams, and when it comes to plane geometry, it can indeed bring one to tears.
Even for top students like Xia Xiaoxiao and Xu Qingfan, there were times when they couldn’t figure out a problem for an hour, even after consulting the answer key and brainstorming together.
Turning his frustration into determination, Xu Qingfan conquered three exceptionally difficult math problems in one night. Looking at the answer area filled with beautifully written math, his mood instantly brightened.
"Aren’t you impressed with your dad?" After comparing his answers, he proudly spread the questions out for Xia Xiaoxiao to see.
"Damn, Xu Qingfan, are you cheating? Twenty minutes for one question?"
"Brother Qingfan, you’re doing those problems I can’t understand again!"
"Brother Fan’s got mad skills!"
"The best, bro!"
Listening to the girls’ compliments one after another, Xu Qingfan suddenly felt studying was quite interesting. I love math!
...
Time passed, day by day, and their evening study group did not fizzle out after three minutes of enthusiasm but continued on.
Time flew, and, before they knew it, the date of the final exams had arrived. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
All six of them were well-prepared, but still, Lin Wanning’s heart raced as she stepped into the exam room.
[Brother Qingfan said closing your eyes and taking deep breaths can relieve nerves.] Lin Wanning closed her eyes, pictured Xu Qingfan smiling at her, took a few deep breaths, and truly felt less nervous.
[Brother Qingfan really wasn’t lying!]
The girl calmed down and started answering the questions seriously.
The three days of exams quietly passed, and after a brief relaxation, the six of them took a spontaneous trip to Sha City in the neighboring province.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t spring, so there were no flocks of seagulls by the sea, but the scenery and food were quite nice. The five girls had a delightful trip, although the local prices and housing costs gave Xu Qingfan a scare—it was even higher than in Hong Kong!
When they returned to Licheng Middle School it was already a week later, and today was the day of the closing ceremony.
It turns out that practice makes perfect applies in any field.
"Will the following students please come to the stage to receive their awards? First place, Class 6 of Grade 7, Xu Qingfan, Xia Xiaoxiao; third place, Class 6 of Grade 7, Wu Lingyu; fourth place, Class 6 of Grade 7, Zhang Yiyi; fifth place, Class 6 of Grade 7, Lin Wanning; sixth place, Class 6 of Grade 7, Xiao Ruawen..."
After more than three months, the six of them reclaimed the top six ranks in their grade.
"Brother Qingfan, I want my reward!" Lin Wanning held up her newly acquired award certificate and cooed to Xu Qingfan.
"Alright~ What reward do you want, Wanning?"
"Oh my~ My pen fell over by you, Brother Qingfan."
"No worries, I’ll pick it up for you."
Lin Wanning also ducked under the table, and just as Xu Qingfan picked up the pen and was about to get up, the girl quickly pecked him on the cheek.
"Thank you, Brother Qingfan, that’s your reward!" She took the pen he handed to her after sitting back up.
"Goose goose goose... Wanning, what’s with you, so easily satisfied. Brother Fan picking up a pen doesn’t count as a reward. If you ask me, you should demand a big meal, that’s a real reward!" Xiao Ruawen laughed like a honking goose.
Xu Qingfan ruffled the girl’s hair and didn’t make a big deal out of her kiss, he was used to it; she’d been like this since she was little.
"Hehe~" Lin Wanning just smiled sweetly.
"Alright then, I’ll treat everyone to Haidilao, let’s go!" Xu Qingfan had just said this when the class teacher on stage happened to finish his tedious announcement and declared the meeting adjourned.
"Yay!!!"
