The final exam was in late January. Without the burden of checking the homework, the teachers were able to check the test papers quickly. This time, the results came out faster than the usual monthly exams. After the analysis of the test papers was finished, the new ranking came out.
After this semester, Zhiyuan had fully adapted to and mastered the learning rhythm of high school. He climbed up the rankings again and again, and finally climbed to second place in Class 2 at the end of the semester.
In this exam, the first and second-place scores surpassed the few people at the bottom ranking in Class 1.
After everyone applauded, the teacher announced directly, “Chang Ran, Zhang Zhiyuan, you two pack up and go over there.”
The teacher encouraged them, “Go to Class 1 and continue to work hard! If you fall back into my hands again in the future, just wait for me to train you hard!”
The classmates laughed and expressed their envy.
After thanking the teacher, the two students walked out. Zhiyuan let the girl walk in front of him very gentlemanly.
He was in a calm mood because this result was not an unexpected surprise that fell from the sky, it was a solid step-by-step for him. At this point, he already knew exactly where his position was and where he should go next.
So, although he was happy, there were no surprises, and his heart was calm. But when he was about to step out of the classroom, he couldn’t help but glance back.
The girl he wanted to see was also looking at him.
Yansheng quietly gave him a thumbs-up.
She knew that he would not return to Class 2 in the next two and a half years. He would fight steadily until he took the crown of ‘champion’ and entered the Q University of his dreams.
Go on. Yansheng raised her head and smiled.
Zhiyuan also smiled slightly and walked out of Class 2.
Students from several classes could be seen coming out in the hallway. Obviously, all classes were making adjustments, waiting for these students to go to the new class to arrange the next steps.
The expressions of these students were different because some students entered a good class from a bad class, while others had fallen from a good class to a bad class.
When Zhiyuan saw Lichen, who was carrying a schoolbag like him, in the corridor, he was stunned.
Because Lichen was from Class 8. A few students in Class 8 could pass the exam because even students in ordinary classes basically wouldn’t get worse grades than Class 8.
This guy… his expression is so ugly, he can’t be expelled from school, right? Zhiyuan thought.
Actually, Lichen was terribly upset now.
There was a sense of stubbornness in his bones and Yansheng knew his character well, so she used a radical approach to him. Sure enough, he really liked this setup. In the last monthly exam, he ranked 100th from the bottom.
After meeting with Yansheng alone at her house last time, Lichen wanted her to look at him differently, so he really studied hard for the final exam.
He was actually a very smart person, otherwise, he would not have rushed up from the bottom 100 as soon as he tried his best. He just wouldn’t try hard enough.
As long as he worked hard, he would definitely be able to make it. That was what he thought himself.
However, he overlooked one thing — others would work hard too.
In the last monthly exam, Lichen, who had been punished in Class 8, actually surpassed many other students in ordinary classes. The teachers used Lichen to stimulate them in their own classes.
He held back to make Yansheng look up to him and tried hard to review at home, thinking that he would be able to move up in the ranking.
But he didn’t know that those students from other classes he surpassed became furious and devoted themselves to studying for the last month.
He never expected that after working so hard, as soon as the final ranking came out, he actually fell to the 72nd place from the bottom.
He was stunned on the spot.
Until the teacher smiled, praised him, and asked him to pack up and go to Class 5, he was still in a daze when he walked into the hallway with his school bag on his back. He couldn’t figure it out and wanted to break his head. He was baffled as to why he regressed in the rankings after studying so hard.
This made no sense.
When he stepped into the new class, he became energetic again. He had never been in the same place with the ‘good students’. These good students might not be pleasing to him and might join forces to exclude him.
But Lichen was not easy to be bullied by others.
When he walked into the classroom, he had already pulled up his cool and domineering aura, ready to meet the hostility from these good students at any time.
Unexpectedly, his new homeroom teacher asked, “You are Xu Lichen who was transferred from Class 8, right?”
He nodded his head. “Yes!”
Before the sneer on his face could be revealed, the homeroom teacher had already stretched out her arms at him and said to the students in the class, “Students, everyone, let’s welcome Xu Lichen!”
The unprecedented applause scared Lichen so he took a step back until his school bag was against the blackboard.
What the… what the hell is going on???
Why does everyone have such a curious and enthusiastic look in their eyes as if they’re really welcoming me?
Lichen didn’t know that just before he came over, the homeroom teacher had just used him to give motivation for the students in the class to study hard.
“So as long as you work hard, you will reap the rewards!
“Even if you’re a student in Class 8, if you work hard, you can move forward!
“It’s not anything else that determines where you can go and where you can stay, it’s your efforts and yourself!
“Only hard work will not fail you!”
Immediately afterward, the ‘hardworking’ Classmate Xu came.
The classmates, who had just finished drinking the chicken soup, looked at him with the look as if he were a big chicken drumstick and gave him a warm welcome.
Lichen was still dumbfounded until he sat down.
The teacher also took a minute to introduce him to the classmates around him.
On his left was the class leader, on his right was the study committee, behind him was the disciplinary committee, and in front of him was the first place in the final exam. This student could have gotten to the upper class with another two points.
In this way, Lichen integrated into the new class group surrounded by ‘good students’ in the front and back.
He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he always felt like he was in a trance.
Meanwhile, Yansheng’s ranking had improved a lot and she was considered to be in the medium-level rank in Class 2.
This was mainly because physics and mathematics, which had been giving her lower scores in the past, gave her higher scores this time. The money was really not wasted, and the time and energy were not wasted as well.
Seeing this ranking, Yansheng knew that she was stable in Class 2 at least for now, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
When her business was settled, she looked for Lichen on the ranking board, looking up from the bottom 100th position but she didn’t find his name.
Do I still need to look at his ranking? Yansheng asked herself.
She then moved her gaze down and finally found his name in a certain position. After counting, his rank was down to more than seventy and his ranking in the monthly test had regressed.
But she was not as confused as Lichen. She saw that his grades in various subjects were quite stable and he even made progress compared to the previous monthly exam results. After thinking about it for a while, she understood why his ranking had fallen.
She knew how her classmates pierced each other at the end of the semester.
She even guessed that he might not have an idea about it—he always felt that he had worked hard enough and didn’t know that someone had worked harder than him.
But it didn’t matter because this ranking was enough for him to be promoted to the upper class.
Yansheng originally wanted to ask which class Lichen went to, but when she finally saw him after school, Lichen turned his head and walked away as soon as he saw her.
She was dumbfounded.
Okay.
The school spent a day or two dealing with various class chores and then it was the winter vacation.
On the last day, Heling brought her award certificate home and gave it to Huan. She shouted ‘Dad’ and then threw the ‘Learning Star’ certificate in front of his face.
The little girl’s eyes were smiling and shining, full of expectation.
Huan was very enthusiastic and said, “Hehe is really amazing. Have you received an award again? Tell Dad, how well did you do on the exam this time?”
Heling raised her small chest. “First place!”
“Wow~” Huan clapped his hands. “Amazing!”
Heling raised her head. “Dad!”
“Yes?”
Heling looked at him expectantly with her bright black eyes, but Huan was puzzled. He had already praised her.
So he asked, “Do you want something? Tell Dad.”
Heling shook her head like a rattle. “No.”
But she continued to look at him expectantly.
Huan didn’t have any idea of what Heling wanted.
Yansheng couldn’t stand it anymore, so she coughed loudly.
Huan looked at her and she made eyes at him.
However, he still didn’t understand.
Yansheng pressed her chest for a breath and pointed her chin in a certain direction.
Huan then turned his head and glanced, but there was nothing.
He turned his head to look at Yansheng again, he had a naive and ignorant look.
Yansheng was speechless.
She took a deep breath and winked vigorously at his hand with her eyes.
So, Huan looked at the award certificate in his hand.
Then, Yansheng pointed her chin at a certain area again.
Huan turned his head and looked over there again, and thought, ‘There is… a wall over there.’
Finally, he understood.
He reacted immediately. “Oh~ that’s right! Post the certificate! We need to post the certificate! Hehe, get the scissors and tape! Dad will stick the certificate for you!”
Heling’s face lit up and she put her hands in her clothes pockets with a smile.
She took out the tape with her left hand and the scissors with her right hand—she had already prepared them.
Seeing this, Yansheng covered her eyes.
Huan felt very happy.
He posted the new award certificate, took a few steps back, and looked at it with his hands on his waist and his stomach hunched. Then, he looked down at his little daughter’s glowing face.
Suddenly, he could appreciate the joy of raising children.
He also felt that he was now really old too. When he was younger, he couldn’t bear to do this and left it all to his wife. When his wife was done and he came back, she would deliberately pull him over, tell him loudly what award Yanyan received, and give him a wink.
So, he would take the initiative to say a few praises like ‘Yanyan is awesome’ and join in the fun.
At that time, he could give so much to his child, but in fact, he couldn’t really sink his heart to experience the fun.
But now, he was already old and after he had settled down, his heart seemed to be less impetuous. He looked at the wall again, looked at the radiant face of his little daughter, and felt happiness from the bottom of his heart.
The sad thing about some men was that when they became parents, they were often not ready.
When they were finally ready, their children had already grown up.