A few people were noisily walking through the corridor, entering the classroom one after another.
As soon as they entered, they bumped into Lao Liu, standing with a serious face on the podium with his hands behind his back. The playful noise immediately hushed, and they quietly took their seats, giggling softly.
Jiang Nian was a bit curious and glanced over.
Yu Tongjie’s usual seat was surrounded by a group of people. Lin Dong was in the inner circle, seemingly chatting happily with the new student.
"Ah, everyone, quiet down for a moment. There’s something to say before class," Lao Liu said, seeing that almost everyone had arrived, and coughed in the classroom.
"The new student, due to health reasons, is not suitable for the fast-paced zero class and has been transferred to our class."
"I hope everyone can get along well, learn from each other, and make progress together."
"The next class is math, so let’s make good use of the time." Lao Liu finished speaking, "Alright, new student, come up and introduce yourself."
After Lao Liu finished speaking, a medium-height boy from the back rows stood up and calmly walked to the podium under everyone’s gaze.
"Hello everyone, my name is Xie Zhihao."
After speaking, he looked around the class, smiling. His appearance was quite proper, exuding strong confidence from head to toe.
For others, being demoted might be a very embarrassing thing.
But Xie Zhihao didn’t think so at all; instead, he had a calm attitude because he came from the peak class of Senior Three Science, zero class!
His score of over six hundred was, at most, mid-lower tier in the zero class. But in the Olympic class, he was definitely top tier!
His first impression of Class Three was that... the seats were really damn cramped.
Secondly, there were quite a few pretty girls.
The only flaw was, Class Three didn’t seem enthusiastic. To the academic genius from the supreme field, they seemed more curious than anything.
This monkey-watching kind of atmosphere made it hard for him to exhibit his manners.
"I come from c201 zero class, and my preferred subjects are English and Physics. I hope to get along well with everyone."
After speaking, he gave a generous bow.
Instantly, the classroom erupted in applause.
Seeing this, Xie Zhihao couldn’t help but relax in his heart, feeling warm inside. He briefly felt the enthusiasm of Class Three.
New life, here I come!
As soon as the third class ended, several people surrounded Xie Zhihao’s desk instantly, bombarding him with questions, making the scene lively.
The last class in the morning was chemistry, and Jiang Nian was ready to take a nap during the ten-minute break.
Before he could lie down, Li Hua gave him a pat.
"Where?" Jiang Nian was a bit sleepy and followed the direction Li Hua indicated with a nod, "What’s up, are you thinking of switching classes too?"
"No, I mean... why’s he acting all superior?" Li Hua said with a jealous tone, "I’m from c201 zero class, like who does he think he is."
"Why make a big deal about being from zero class, what’s there to show off? The zero class, so what, in the end it all comes down to the college entrance exam!"
Hearing this, Jiang Nian got interested and curiously asked.
"Students from those kinds of classes usually participate in some kind of Math Olympiad... Physics or academic competitions, right?"
"Honestly, not much use." Li Hua said disdainfully, "I participated in high school and mainly just accompanied others to compete."
"Our small county can’t support competitive classes, they purely select from good classes for exams, then self-study and training, taking turns to compete."
Jiang Nian pondered for a moment, "Hua, could it be that you’re just too patheti..."
"Chi Shi! Chi Shi!" Li Hua got agitated, pointing behind them, "If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask the class monitor?"
Li Qingrong looked up, confusedly gazing at the two of them.
"Class monitor, would you say those competitions are useless!" Li Hua was a bit anxious to prove he was right.
"Spending a lot of effort doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win a prize."
Jiang Nian: "Patheti..."
"You bastard!" Li Hua held his head in frustration, feeling extremely insulted, "I almost made it to the top in the province."
"Oh, almost..." Jiang Nian repeated.
"Ah! You dog!" Li Hua broke down, unable to bear the mockery, "I’ll kill you, you beast!"
Suddenly, Li Qingrong spoke up.
"Competing doesn’t add points; it’s to make the target school lower their cut-off. Independent recruitment has many requirements, but few meet them."
"Having many competition certificates gives a bit of an edge if you’re top in the province; being second or third not so much. City-level is easier, provincial level is slightly harder."
Hearing this, Li Hua, who was just like a madman, went silent.
The class monitor’s words really hit him hard. Provincial competitions are slightly harder, isn’t that an understatement?
He had a setback at the provincial competition before, which had pushed him to study hard and rise again.
Li Hua remembered the past, couldn’t help but sigh, and then shook his head with a rueful smile, explaining to Jiang Nian.
"Anyway, what I mean is."
"In Junior and Senior high, if you have a knack for competitions and you’re aiming for Qingbei, then these things are useful, otherwise it’s mainly about participation."
"For example, maybe only one hundred people in the province get into a good school, but independent recruitment can get two hundred."
"Put it this way, struggling to get in is pure art for art’s sake. But if independent recruitment supported them, all the geniuses would go through anything to make it."
Hearing this, Li Qingrong softly added for Li Hua’s sake.
"Not many in small counties can navigate that path, most from zero class get into university through the college entrance exam."
Jiang Nian gave an "oh", he was just a parallel class wild child in Junior and Senior high, and indeed didn’t understand these basic facts about Olympic classes.
"So, the only difference between zero class and Olympic class, aside from grades, isn’t much?"
"About the same, some join the college entrance exam during Senior." Li Hua said indifferently, "Anyway, getting in also limits your major."
"With grades like the class monitor’s, they can get into top schools via the college entrance exam. It’s definitely to have freedom over one’s major that they didn’t bother with those."