"Shen Mianmian, you won’t get into high school anyway, so why bother working so hard? Just get through these six months and stay at home until it’s time to get married."
It wasn’t that they looked down on Shen Mianmian, but although she had made great progress, she was still far behind the top students. There was no hope for her to get into high school or college.
Being a girl, it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t get in. She would get married eventually anyway, so why waste the effort?
"As long as I’m in school, I should learn every day, to not let down the hard work of the teachers!"
Shen Mianmian’s official response left the student who had made the sly remark speechless.
Lu Siyuan had never asked Shen Mianmian a question like that, but hearing others speak to her in this way, he couldn’t help but ask her himself.
"Do you think you can get into School Number Three?"
Given his academic performance, getting into the top school wouldn’t be a problem for him, but he wanted to attend the same school as Shen Mianmian, so he was curious to know how confident she was in getting into School Number Three.
Shen Mianmian shook her head, "I can’t say for sure right now."
"If you try hard and can’t make it into School Number One, then we’ll go to School Number Two together," Lu Siyuan said casually, as if discussing what to have for lunch, "If all else fails, we’ll go to School Number Three."
As long as they could get into a high school, it didn’t matter which one it was as long as they were together. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
Shen Mianmian squinted her eyes and smiled, then patted his shoulder, "Good buddy."
The morning’s Chinese quiz had ended, and in the afternoon, math and English tests were to come. When everyone saw Chen Jie carrying the exam papers into the classroom, the more mischievous students asked.
"Teacher Chen, Li Teacher rewards us with three toffees for progress in Chinese. What will you give us for improving in math?"
Chen Jie hadn’t expected Li Qiumei to be so generous this time. Seeing the students so happy, he laughed, "Alright, we’ll do as Dong Shi imitated Xi Shi’s frown, and I’ll reward toffees like Li Teacher. You guys have to work hard."
The students let out a collective exclamation, clearly not expecting Teacher Chen to be so generous.
A few toffees might be trivial in the twenty-first century, where many would not even care to eat them, but at the time, it was seen as an excellent snack.
For Chen Jie, buying so many toffees was also a significant expense, especially considering that teachers’ salaries weren’t high then.
But seeing how happy the students were made him feel it was money well spent.
This was just a minor test, and the questions were not too difficult. The teacher didn’t require the students to switch seats; instead, they worked at their own desks.
Math was not like Chinese; there was no essay to write. After roughly checking her answers, she handed in her paper.
Even Lu Siyuan was taken aback. He had finished too but hadn’t expected Shen Mianmian to complete her test so quickly, especially since his foundation was a bit more solid than hers.
"Did you read the questions carefully?"
"Of course," Shen Mianmian said with a very confident smile. "Just wait, this time I’m going to make everyone look at me in a new light."
"What kind of big talk are you making?" Lu Siyuan said with a disdainful grin, but deep down, he didn’t doubt her words at all.
This girl had been sitting by his side and had never copied his homework.
The test papers, unlike homework books, were handed directly to the teacher’s desk once completed. Chen Jie’s eyes lit up when he saw Shen Mianmian turn in her paper first.
He had been eager to know about Shen Mianmian’s academic status and to see whether she had improved or regressed since the last term.
So, when Shen Mianmian’s paper was handed in, he pushed aside the homework books he had been marking and began to check her test.