NOVPUBDays passed by, and life gradually got back on track; the six of them resumed their routine middle school lives, a cycle of school, home, and the market every day.
The curriculum for the eighth grade had become much harder than the previous semester, forcing the girls to spend even more time on their studies.
Studying in an atmosphere that encouraged mutual motivation and assistance, they didn’t feel too much pressure.
Surrounded by a group of friends they had grown up with, the most discussed topic every day was "I’ve thought of another solution to this problem." Even the most tedious studies became interesting with the support of good friends.
One good thing about middle school was that it never betrayed anyone’s hard work. If your brainpower was lacking, diligence could make up for it.
The so-called key high schools were not difficult to get into, as long as you had persistence and determination, and maintained at least ten hours of high-intensity study every day. Even if your primary school foundation was poor, persist for a year and not a hundred percent, but over ninety percent of the people could get into a key high school.
This approach would not work in high school, however. Not only had the difficulty of the questions increased, but the exam setters intentionally aimed to eliminate a portion of the students, and the proportion of difficult and easy-to-miss questions was much higher in university entrance exams compared to middle school exams.
The simple and warm days passed quickly, and from some day onwards, a countdown sign stating "Only 100 days left until the middle school exams" was hung at the most conspicuous corner of the teaching building.
Don’t get excited, that countdown is for the ninth graders, it has nothing to do with this group of eighth graders.
"Brother Qing Fan, it’s a hundred days now," Lin Wanning said, pointing at the red ’100’ displayed on the machine.
"If they have exams, does that mean we get to have holidays again? That’s super cool, a five-day break without having to make up for it!" Xiao Ruawen clearly remembered that in the second half of seventh grade, they had five days off in a row, including Saturday and Sunday, because their classrooms were used as exam halls.
"Still thinking about holidays? Next year it’ll be your turn," Xu Qingfan tapped the girl’s head who was off beat.
"That’s true too. Where do you guys think we should go for high school?" Xiao Ruawen, not minding the hit at all, asked with her arms around Xia Xiaoxiao’s shoulders.
"Don’t know, we’ll talk about it when the time comes," Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at Xu Qingfan and said flatly.
"I’ll definitely go wherever Brother Qing Fan goes," Lin Wanning didn’t hesitate much.
Wu Lingyu nodded in agreement, "I want to go to the same high school as everyone." After saying this, her gaze inadvertently fell on Xu Qingfan.
"If we keep up our current performance, aside from Hong Kong Teachers’ College and Provincial Experimental Middle School, we should be able to get into almost any school. It’s too early to talk about this now, let’s focus on studying for now," Xu Qingfan tilted his head thoughtfully, without giving a definite answer.
Hearing the two high schools Xu Qingfan just mentioned, Lin Wanning involuntarily clenched her hands with a slightly uneasy feeling. The total score for Licheng middle school exams was 810 points and the admission threshold for both high schools was always above 740 points.
You have to know that subjective subjects like Chinese and politics were certain to have marks deducted. For Chinese, scoring 120 points and for politics, 80 points, were considered good scores. Lin Wanning needed to do a bit better than that, but would still lose around forty points.
Subtract forty from eight hundred ten, and that’s seven hundred seventy. This meant that excluding physical education, Lin Wanning could only afford to lose thirty points across the four subjects of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and English, an almost impossible task for her.
[And I don’t even know if chemistry is going to be as hard as physics…] Chemistry wouldn’t start until ninth grade, and the more Lin Wanning thought about it, the more nervous she got.
She tugged at the hem of Xu Qingfan’s school uniform and said in a low voice, "The high school section of Licheng Middle School is also very good."
The cut-off score for the high school section of Licheng Middle School was only around 680 points, and Lin Wanning was quite confident about getting into that school.
"The high school section isn’t bad either; we’ll see when the time comes," Xu Qingfan said as he was instantly reminded of the bits and pieces of his four years in high school at this very school. He turned his head and glanced at Xia Xiaoxiao behind him, then reached out and ruffled Lin Wanning’s head with a smile.
"What do you mean we’ll talk about it when the time comes, duck? You need to say it now, right now!" the girl was unrelenting, tugging at his hem and swaying it back and forth.
"Does Wanning want to go to high school? I was originally thinking about going to Hong Kong for school to easily visit my dad during vacations. If you all are going to try for the high school section, then I might as well," at the staircase entrance, Xiao Ruawen let go of her hand that was resting on Xia Xiaoxiao and said.
"Hehe~ not really, just feel like the high school has only been built for a few years and it’s got good facilities and everything. It covers over three hundred acres, and I’ve heard the cafeteria food is delicious, they even have roasted chicken wings!"
Lin Wanning didn’t want her friends to know that she wanted to go to the high school because she feared she couldn’t get into others, so she kept on praising it incessantly.
"The high school is indeed pretty good, with a strong lineup of teachers." As Lin Wanning kept turning her head to chat, Xu Qingfan grabbed the girl’s hand to prevent her from not watching where she was going and tripping, while he commented.
"Brother Qingfan thinks it’s good too!" With Xu Qingfan’s approval, Lin Wanning immediately lost her timidity and slapped her chest with newfound confidence as she spoke.
"It’s good but you still have to pass to make it in, and chemistry next term might be really hard, you know."
"Brother Qingfan, don’t underestimate me, I’ll definitely make it!" The girl pouted in annoyance like a provoked little cow, making an engine noise.
"Hahaha..."
The six of them returned to class before long, and the next class was physics. The physics teacher was already standing at the podium; they hurried back to their seats.
"This class we’ll learn about buoyancy, everyone flip to unit four in your textbooks. Before we start, let me tell you a little story..." After the bell rang, the bald physics teacher began the story of Archimedes taking a bath.
Xu Qingfan was recalling the stories from his high school days in his previous life and wasn’t listening, staring out the window and daydreaming throughout the class.
Whether to relive his past high school life was indeed a question.
The educational resources of Licheng Middle School’s high school section weren’t bad at all, certainly not on par with centuries-old prestigious schools like Hong Kong Yat or the affiliated school of Hong Kong University, but their year nonetheless produced three and a half Qingbei students in the college entrance examination.
Why three and a half? Because there was a unique girl who had scored in the top ten of the province but unexpectedly decided to stay at a local 985 university in the end.
In his previous life, Xu Qingfan had wondered if Xia Xiaoxiao knew that no matter how many times he retook the exam, he couldn’t get into Qingbei, so she deliberately chose a local 985 university to encourage him.
And truth be told, if it weren’t for aiming for Hong Kong University, Xu Qingfan might not have scored so high on his second national college entrance exam in his previous life.
However, considering what happened later with going abroad to study, it seemed that might not have been the whole story.
It was a pity that there was no opportunity to directly ask the girl from his previous life, and their relationship in this life had improved a lot...
Xu Qingfan stared at Xia Xiaoxiao’s profile, lost in thought.
(Not feeling well today, there are only two updates, sorry. QAQ)
