Rong Yu had been holed up in the research institute for many days, and in the blink of an eye, final exams were upon them.
The winter in Haicheng was damp and chilly, always drizzling, the sky a leaden gray that inexplicably weighed on one's mood.
However, Class Twenty, once labeled the class of academic slackers, had completely shed its lethargic atmosphere. All the students were now buried in their studies, discussing and learning together.
Rong Yu sat at her desk, a pained look on her face.
The Chinese language teacher had instructed her to complete at least five essays over the next couple of days. Just looking at the essay topics made her head spin.
Pei Yaru looked at her with a beaming smile. "If you can improve your essay score by ten points, your total score could break 730. Do you know what that score means? Go for it, Rong Yu."
Although she didn't need to take the college entrance exam anymore, the school needed her to set a benchmark, to serve as an example for all the students.
Rong Yu began writing her essays, miserable.
When the Chinese teacher saw the essays she submitted, he nearly fainted on the spot.
Essay Topic: Zhuangzi said, "My life has a limit, but knowledge has none." Please discuss the boundaries of cognition in relation to modern technological development.
Rong Yu wrote in her essay: "According to information entropy theory, the relationship between human cognitive efficiency and information input can be modeled as..."
The Chinese teacher: "..."
Essay Topic: Does fragmented reading reduce the depth of thought among contemporary youth?
Rong Yu wrote in her essay: "Assuming a person spends 2 hours daily on fragmented reading, switching content on average every minute, we can establish a formula..."
The Chinese teacher: "..."
Other students wrote about everything from the Analects to 'Amusing Ourselves to Death,' critiquing information cocoons and addiction to short videos, quoting classics with ease...
But this Rong Yu, from start to finish, used quantitative analysis, formulaic reasoning, and result-based arguments...
After several days of grueling practice, Rong Yu finally showed some improvement in her essays.
The final exams arrived as scheduled.
Entering the exam hall, she overheard a few classmates discussing Rong Ruoyao.
"This final exam is a city-wide joint test. I heard the top three might get early admission to top universities. Rong Ruoyao actually isn't taking it?"
"What do you know? She landed a role in a major production and has to stay on set filming. How could she find time for exams?"
"Isn't going to university just to get a good job anyway? She's already skipped straight to that. Why would she care about these exams?"
"Good point..."
Rong Yu wasn't concerned with what Rong Ruoyao was doing.
Her mind was completely occupied with essay-writing techniques. The first exam was Chinese, and she had no time to waste. She went straight for the essay. The prompt was: The Moral Dilemma of the Bystander.
In the internet age, people are accustomed to observing the misfortunes of others, either commenting passionately or scrolling past indifferently. Some believe this reflects a lack of empathy in modern society, while others argue that attention itself is a form of power. What is your view?
Rong Yu thought of all the things that had happened since she joined the talent show.
She began writing furiously.
The final exams took two days. Immediately after, scores were released, and winter break began.
In the classroom, a large group of students chattered about their winter break plans—some were going for tutoring with prestigious teachers, some heading south for warmer weather, others busy with New Year visits...
Pei Yaru walked into the classroom with light, brisk steps. "Class, I'm here to announce the results."
The students quickly settled down.
"Congratulations to every single student in our class. Even the student with the lowest score has made a significant leap in their total score," Pei Yaru said with a smile. "Originally, the bottom ten spots in the entire school were all from our class. Now, our last-place student, Liu Yang, you are now... 99th from the bottom in the school. Keep pushing, and you'll be out of the bottom hundred. That's truly commendable. Let's give him a round of applause."
Liu Yang: "..."
He had started as third from the bottom in the class.
Ever since the original bottom two, Ji Zhouye and Chen Nian, started studying like madmen, he was forced onto the path of arduous study too.
He had his parents hire three private tutors. They were so moved they practically treated him like royalty.
Under his parents' eager gazes, pressured by both Chen Nian and Ji Zhouye, and with Rong Yu occasionally giving motivational boosts... he spent every day from the moment he opened his eyes until he fell asleep at night reciting vocabulary, all on studying...
Even with all that effort, he was still last in the class.
Who could he complain to?
The class's applause thundered like a storm. He silently vowed to shed the "last place" title. Well, at least get back to third from the bottom...
After Liu Yang sat down, Pei Yaru continued, "Next, I'll announce the top scorer in our class. Any guesses?"
Ji Zhouye shouted, "Is there even a need to guess? It's gotta be Rong Yu!"
"It is indeed Rong Yu," Pei Yaru announced. "Rong Yu achieved an excellent score of 732 in this final exam. First in our class, first in the school, first in the city!"
As soon as the words were out, enthusiastic applause erupted in the classroom. Ji Zhouye led the chant of Rong Yu's name, and the whole class joined in.
"Alright, alright, quiet down," Pei Yaru said, amused and exasperated. "Next, I'll announce second place. You can guess again."
"The class monitor, definitely the class monitor."
"Probably the study committee member."
"The class secretary isn't bad either."
Pei Yaru smiled slightly. "Second place in our class is Ji Jingchuan."
Ji Jingchuan, sitting by the teacher's desk, was handsome and sported a shaved head, yet he seemed to possess an invisibility cloak. Even sitting in the front row, his presence was so low-key people easily overlooked him.
Hearing his name, the whole class was stunned.
The first transfer student, Rong Yu, took first place.
The second transfer student, Ji Jingchuan, took second place.
Are transfer students just that formidable these days?
"Congratulations to Ji Jingchuan for achieving an excellent score of 722," Pei Yaru said, her face beaming. "Second in our class, second in the school, second in the city..."
"So strong! My brother is too strong!" Ji Zhouye suddenly stood up, clapping wildly. "No matter how hard I grind, I can't break 700! My god, he's amazing! I'm impressed, truly impressed!"
Great-grandma getting first place was because she was a genius to begin with.
But Fourth Brother, who grew up in such a poor learning environment, actually came second only to Great-grandma. He was in awe!
The atmosphere in Class Twenty was fantastic.
Meanwhile, the top class felt as if shrouded in an icy chill.
The elite students hung their heads like frostbitten eggplants, letting Teacher Yang rant and rave on the balcony: "...You are simply the worst group of students I've ever taught. Not only did you fail to keep the top spot, you even lost second place. Blockheads, every single one of you, blockheads..."
Song Huai silently bowed his head.
In fact, his score had improved this time.
Last monthly exam he scored 709; this time it was 716. Managing to improve by 7 points while busy at the research institute was already a great effort on his part.
Falling short of Rong Yu was one thing, but why was he also surpassed by a new transfer student?
The former pride of the school, faced with the report card, had his arrogance humbled.
