Evening self-study.
Lin Li had nothing to do, idly holding a spirit stone in his hand to cultivate.
When he first got the system and it gave him learning tasks, he indeed had a lot of progress to catch up on, and there were indeed endless things to do every evening self-study.
Now he had completely caught up.
His super strong memory and 50% increased comprehension meant that once Lin Li caught up, he wouldn't fall behind again.
Not to mention falling behind, he was even jumping the gun… his preview progress for each subject was almost finishing a whole book.
Now, not only during evening self-study, but even during class, Lin Li would seemingly look at the blackboard, but his mind was actually on the spirit stone in his sleeve.
It could be considered another way of working hard.
"What are you looking at?" Looking up idly, he found Bai Bufan looking out the window. Lin Li also looked over, but didn't find anything unusual, so he asked.
"Observing the celestial phenomena at night," Bai Bufan answered.
"And what did you observe?"
"It's night now."
"Idiot," Lin Li answered instantly.
"Isn't Nansang Middle School a full-time school? Why is the sun (ri) gone at night? Isn't this false advertising?" Bai Bufan clicked his tongue in confusion.
(Translator's Note: "Ri" means sun/day, but is also slang for "fuck").
Bai Bufan was also quite idle, but his idleness was different from Lin Li's.
—Tomorrow he had to hand in homework and be randomly checked for recitation. Oh, yes, um, right, but what does that matter? I haven't written or memorized anything, but can't I just go die when the time comes?
Optimistic people should optimistically want to die, yay!
He studied too hard before the midterm exams, so a little bit of school aversion is not too much.
"Go find Wang Ze, he'll make up the remaining 'ri' for you." Hearing this, Lin Li raised his chin towards the front right of the classroom.
"I'll pass on this 'ri'." Bai Bufan chuckled awkwardly.
"Then I have another plan. Let's hang portraits of those three people above the blackboard—forming the shape of 'Xin' (three golds/suns)!" Lin Li raised his hands as he spoke—\0/\0/\0/.
Three suns, raised three times, reasonable.
"Three suns would burn us to death. If Hou Yi resurrected, the first person he'd kill would be you, Lin Li." Bai Bufan smiled and pointed at him.
"No need for Hou Yi. If our class really dared to hang them, the suspended principal would shoot me with a rifle the next day." Lin Li smiled.
"Hey, but, Lin Li." Bai Bufan looked at the scene imagined in his mind. He suddenly froze, turned his head, and frowned at Lin Li.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think... they would use different materials to build houses?" Bai Bufan asked.
Lin Li: "(；☉_☉)?"
Different materials?
Fuck? Fuck! After a brief moment of being stunned, Lin Li completely lost it. He lowered his head to suppress his laughter, then looked up and punched Bai Bufan in the shoulder:
"Fuck, Bai Bufan, you're really something when you curse people now."
Trolls feel a great sense of accomplishment when they amuse others. Bai Bufan immediately raised his eyebrows proudly, turned his head, poked Zhou Baowei, and asked:
"Baowei, what material will you use to build your house in the future? Straw, wood, or bricks?"
Zhou Baowei: "?"
Your mom.
But before Zhou Baowei could use a Mount Tai Meteorite Strike, the sound of the classroom front door opening came.
Lin Li instantly covered his mouth with his left hand and wrote in the air with his right hand; Bai Bufan frowned tightly, scratched his head with his left hand, leaned back in his chair, picked up a textbook with his right hand, and muttered with his lips as if reciting a book; Zhou Baowei smoothly bent down to pick up a non-existent air eraser from the floor.
Three people, eighteen fake moves in one second.
If Zhang Yimou saw this scene, he would be shocked. Fuck, fuck, what veteran actors.
If this segment were shown in a cinema, even blind people and guide dogs would cry.
After the three finished their performance, they checked the door from the corner of their eyes.
Fuck, it's not a teacher.
It was just the math representative, Hou Yuyong.
Damn it! Wasted acting skills!
"Do you know what 'the fox exploiting the tiger's might' means?" The three breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Li curled his lips and whispered to Bai Bufan.
"Elaborate." Bai Bufan was curious.
"If Yuyong walked out carrying Xue Jian's head, all of us would be scared away upon seeing it. That's 'the fox exploiting the tiger's might'." Lin Li explained, then sighed with some expectation in his eyes:
"Saying it like this, it feels so good. If I have the chance, I also want to carry Xue Jian's head to scare you guys."
Bai Bufan: "?"
"Wait, wait a minute," Bai Bufan frowned, this answer seemed somewhat wrong: "I need to think."
It's mighty alright, but it doesn't seem very fake...
Then from the corner of his eye, Lin Li saw that Hou Yuyong didn't return to his seat, but walked over to Chen Yuying and said something to her.
Haji Lin, bristles! Enters level one stress mode! Ready to exploit Yuyong's might at any time!
But then he saw Chen Yuying nod, get up and go out, and Hou Yuyong started looking for others, Zhang Haoyang, Wang Yuezhi, Zhuo Yongfei...
Wang Yuezhi ran out like a runaway Bufan.
Lin Li looked curious, thinking about asking during the break, when Hou Yuyong actually walked over to his side.
I'm involved too?
"Lin Li, go to the office, Xue Jian is looking for you." Hou Yuyong raised his chin as he approached.
Normally, Lin Li would ask what he was wanted for at this time, but now Chen Yuying had already gone out, so he didn't have time to ask. Anyway, it obviously wouldn't be a bad thing.
Because Hou Yuyong called them one by one, the few people in the aisle didn't walk together. From near to far in Lin Li's field of vision were Zhuo Yongfei, Zhang Haoyang, Wang Yuezhi, and Chen Yuying.
Basically sorted by time, except for Wang Yuezhi.
But he was very far from Chen Yuying.
It felt... like he chose to sprint in the classroom to shorten the distance, but when he actually got to the corridor, within the visual range where Chen Yuying could see him if she turned back, he didn't dare to run anymore, and could only pretend to walk fast super casually and aimlessly.
"Psst psst…"
Since it was still evening self-study time, Lin Li could only make this sound while walking fast after coming out of the back door of the classroom, trying to attract Chen Yuying's attention.
Zhang Haoyang heard the sound and turned around. Seeing Lin Li, he smiled and reached out to high-five him: "Fuck, you're here too."
He high-fived the air… Lin Li ignored him.
Lin Li turned around after walking past: "Hmm, Haoyang, were you talking to me just now?"
"No, I never talk to sword mounds (jian zhong)." Zhang Haoyang smiled and shook his head.
(Translator's Note: "Jian zhong" sounds like "jian zhong" (bastard)).
Lin Li chuckled. It was too far, and Chen Yuying didn't hear him either, so he simply stopped accelerating, put his arm around Zhang Haoyang's shoulder and asked:
"Haoyang, who do you think among the three suns in the north is the smart little pig who builds houses with bricks?"
Zhang Haoyang: "?"
...
Office.
Since the midterm exams had just ended, and today was Monday when teachers had meetings, almost all the teachers were in the office today.
In addition, there were a few students, moving chairs, squeezing into one seat, grading test papers with red pens.
Helping teachers grade test papers is also a privilege of good students.
In middle and elementary school, Lin Li, who cared about face, envied these people. After grading and coming back, they could enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by stars—many classmates would ask if they knew their scores.
"Everyone's here, right." When Lin Li and Zhang Haoyang walked up to Xue Jian and stood still, Xue Jian glanced sideways and said something obvious.
"I called you here to ask if you have any intention of participating in a competition." Xue Jian didn't dawdle and got straight to the point.
"During the meeting today, we received a notice from the Municipal Mathematical Society that the second Xuezhi Cup Mathematics Competition is about to begin, and asked us to organize the registration."
"The Xuezhi Cup is a municipal-level competition, and it's a new competition that only started last year. The difficulty is not high. Senior One is grouped separately, and the competition content is mainly based on compulsory high school knowledge. Of course, the difficulty is definitely harder than our daily exams. The last question of a regular exam might only rank fourth or fifth from the bottom on this test paper.
There is also 30% involving elective or extended question types. In our parallel classes, we indeed don't cover competition content in our daily classes, but you don't need to worry about this 30%.
After registration, the school will organize tutoring related to the competition on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings, using one or one and a half periods of evening self-study.
After passing the intra-school selection test, before the official competition, special training will also be organized on Sunday afternoons."
"The school has a quota, so neither the registration nor the additional organized teaching will charge any fees.
The intra-school selection and the preliminary round will be held right here at Nansang Middle School. The final exam locations are at several middle schools in Pingjiang. At that time, the school will fully cover transportation, food, and accommodation, so you don't have to worry. After the exam, the school will also arrange a unified outing for everyone to relax.
As long as you win an award, a municipal third prize or above, the award will be filed in the comprehensive quality evaluation, and the school will also give certain incentives internally. Moreover, as long as you participate, this experience will have reference value for the subsequent Strong Foundation Plan application."
Having said too much alone, Xue Jian felt a bit dry in the mouth. After drinking some water to moisten his throat, he continued:
"You few are the best at math in the class. Even in the competition class, you are still very outstanding, you are good students."
His gaze swept over Chen Yuying, Wang Yuezhi, Zhuo Yongfei, and Zhang Haoyang one by one, paused at Zhang Haoyang, nodded, and swept back.
—Zhang, Zhuo, Wang, Chen.
"In the competition class, there are plenty of people who can't compare to you." Xue Jian swept back again, finally fixing on Zhang Haoyang's face, and said.
Lin Li: "(へ╬)?"
Moshi moshi, Teacher Xue, look at me?
Oh my, I don't want to emphasize it either, but I scored 150 in math, while these three stinky small fries and one fragrant small fry next to me, the good students you mentioned, only scored 140+~~
Didn't you hear? Old Jian, I scored 150 in math! It's 150! Perfect score!
Shit! Old man! What do you mean by stopping right at Zhang Haoyang every time you look! I think you're really getting senile! I'm angry!
"So the teacher thinks that as long as you participate and study hard, getting into the finals shouldn't be a problem."
Although he had noticed the red temperature warning from the corner of his eye, Xue Jian ignored the risk and continued explaining:
"Plus, even if you don't get in, learning some competition knowledge and accumulating competition experience will have many benefits for you in the future. After all, it's something that costs nothing."
"If your evening self-study is taken up and you can't finish your daily homework, first of all, you don't have to do the math homework, I won't care. As for the homework for other subjects, I will also help you talk to those teachers."
"Of course, whether to participate or not is up to your own free will. The teacher won't force you. You don't need to give an answer now, go back and think about it yourself. Those who want to participate, just tell me before Sunday. The tutoring officially starts next week."
"The teacher called you here just to tell you about this. Do you have any questions about this? Ask them now."
Lin Li raised his hand.
Xue Jian hesitated a bit.
"Lin Li, speak."
"Teacher, can you look at me? Just one look, please."
Fuck, I knew it, I shouldn't have asked.
"Next question." But Xue Jian mercifully glanced at Lin Li, then continued to look at the other four.
Fuck, why is this Xue Jian so bad, he really only looked once.
Seeing the other four looking at each other but not speaking, Xue Jian nodded: "If there are no questions now, go back and continue your evening self-study. Come find the teacher if you have questions later."
"Goodbye, Teacher."
After a polite phrase, the five left the office.
Naturally, after going out, they split into a group of three in front and a group of two behind.
As soon as he went out, Lin Li patted Zhang Haoyang's back: "Haoyang, are you participating?"
"Not participating," Zhang Haoyang shook his head, "My rest time is very precious. To be honest, taking up nearly half of the evening self-study doesn't matter to me, but after entering the preliminary round, having to take classes on Sunday afternoons, who can stand that? How many games will I miss out on playing in one afternoon.
And I don't think I can win an award, so forget it."
"Haoyang, don't you like weekends and after school the most?"
"Yeah, isn't that what I mean?" Zhang Haoyang was a bit confused, not knowing why Lin Li suddenly asked this.
Lin Li: "Since you like weekends the most, and you also like after school, having after school on weekends, wouldn't that feel amazing? You're actually not going?"
Zhang Haoyang: "(；☉_☉)?"
Is this a calculation method a human can say?
Is it that amazing?
Seeing Zhang Haoyang only respond with a middle finger, since asking him was just to throw a brick to attract jade, Lin Li ignored it, turned his head, and looked at Chen Yuying who was already standing on his other side:
"Class Rep, what about you, are you going to participate?"
Chen Yuying had her hands behind her back, looking at the ground, walking with cat-like steps, oh, playing the game of walking in an absolutely straight line along the gaps in the floor tiles.
Seeing this, Lin Li quietly squeezed to the right, ho ho, a butt elbow strike, making her completely deviate.
Now you've fallen into the lava, minus one life.
"I don't plan to go either," her game interrupted, she gave Lin Li a reproachful look, and Chen Yuying answered softly:
"These are not in my plans. The last time I studied for a competition was in elementary school, and I was studying chickens and rabbits in the same cage and cows eating grass.
Moreover, my Sunday afternoons are often time for me to take extracurricular classes I like."
Behind them, Zhuo Yongfei and Wang Yuezhi were also discussing whether to go.
Zhuo Yongfei expressed his intention to go.
And Wang Yuezhi, who was just saying 'I don't know', now finally made up his mind: "Yeah, I also think there's no point in going, not going."
Zhuo Yongfei blinked.
? Right now it's just the two of us talking, I'm going and you're not, why use the word 'also'?
"What about you, Lin Li?" Seeing Lin Li frown slightly, Chen Yuying asked back.
"I plan to go, to experience the legendary competition." Lin Li answered.
Of course, bullshit experience.
Lin Li wanted to experience many things, but math competitions were not among them.
The only reason Lin Li would participate in such a boring competition was that the system gave him another task.
[The sect hopes to send you to the "Xuezhi Secret Realm" to discuss the Dao, representing the sect to compete with the geniuses of other sects in Pingjiang. You can gain knowledge and spread your prestige, with many benefits.
You should naturally strive for it. Why fear inner sect disciples? Your sword has never been dull, why avoid their sharp edge!]
[Task Triggered!]
[Task 5: Win the qualification to participate in the Pingjiang Genius Competition.]
[Task Reward: Physique Improvement: Comprehension increased by 10%; Random Ability 1; System Currency 100]
Can the top student system stop wearing the skin of an immortal cultivation system? Enough is enough, what NTR, pure love warriors really can't stand this.
Couldn't it give me some tasks to hit bugs, this kind of making me study hard and make progress every day... forget it, it's fine.
Having a task is better than no task. Lin Li was a slut anyway, he wouldn't refuse anyone.
And visibly, after this task is completed, barring accidents, there should be follow-up tasks, preliminary and semi-finals, probably all of them.
If successful, it would also be a considerable income.
"I see."
Hearing this, Chen Yuying nodded, continuing to look at the gaps in the floor tiles, her hair swaying gently with her steps.
What reason should I use to change my mind?
"Class Rep, why don't you participate too, just treat it as coming to play." Lin Li spoke again, "So what if you have no foundation? Competitions are simple, you can completely learn C++ in one class, competitions are definitely fine too."
"Learn in one class? How is that possible." Chen Yuying asked back.
"Really, really," Lin Li looked around, and seeing no teachers, took his phone straight out of his pocket.
He was a good student now, not to mention having the super good student Chen Yuying beside him. Even if a teacher suddenly appeared and confiscated his phone, he could just ask Chen Yuying to speak up for him, and Xue Jian would definitely get it back and return it to him.
"Look, I even bookmarked the course, learn C++ in one class."
Lin Li opened his bookmarks and showed one of the videos.
The title of the video was indeed "Teach You C++ in One Class".
Chen Yuying wanted to question it at first, but after seeing it clearly, she nodded: "Yeah, you really can learn it in one class."
[0:24/35040:04]—This was the progress bar below.
If one class is over five hundred hours long... then maybe it really can be done.
But no matter what, since this reason was given, Chen Yuying felt it wasn't impossible to step down using this excuse: "Then I'll think about it again~"
"Don't think about it, participate, Class Rep. I usually ask you when I don't understand something. If you don't go, who will I ask if I don't understand or zone out during the competition tutoring class? Participate, please." Lin Li smiled and pleaded.
Chen Yuying laughed out loud.
Suddenly she felt that this kind of excuse, where she didn't need to find a reason herself, but the other party actively handed her a cleanly wiped excuse, was quite comfortable.
"Alright then, I'll go participate and play around too." Chen Yuying, who originally wanted to change her mind tomorrow, changed her mind now.
"Very good, a wise choice, ~Ahhhh Class Rep you're the best~" Lin Li snapped his fingers, very satisfied.
This way, at least the originally boring task completion process would have a lot more to look forward to.
Zhang Haoyang had morning sickness.
And listening to Lin Li imitating Ding Sihan's last half sentence, Chen Yuying gave Lin Li an amused look, then took advantage of his inattention to reach out and push him.
This time, Lin Li also stepped into the lava.
They were even.
At this moment.
—Wang Yuezhi: TAT.
No? Ah? Why did she change her face?
In the multimedia classroom, the teacher probably won't assign fixed seats, right? Then when the time comes, won't you two sit together for class?
Things like this, I don't want it!!
No! Absolutely not!
Zhuo Yongfei suddenly felt a chill, goosebumps all over his body.
"Fuck!"
"What's wrong?" Hearing Zhuo Yongfei's shout, the three in front turned around, and Lin Li asked.
"N-nothing." Zhuo Yongfei waved his hand.
When the three looked back at the road, Zhuo Yongfei looked at Wang Yuezhi, signaling with his eyes… What the fuck are you doing!?
—Just now when he turned his head, he saw Wang Yuezhi looking at him with a weird and desolate look, very scary.
Wang Yuezhi didn't speak, just pulled Zhuo Yongfei's school uniform jacket, his head occasionally turning towards Chen Yuying's side, taking a look and then quickly looking back.
Stare.
Stare!
Stare!!
Zhuo Yongfei suddenly understood.
"Yuezhi, why don't you participate too, it won't be convenient for me not to have a companion then." Zhuo Yongfei hesitated for a while, and spoke with a complex expression.
Wang Yuezhi instantly became a sunny and cheerful big boy: "Haha, Yongfei, since you put it that way, then I'll participate. I really can't do anything about you~"
(End of Chapter)