Chapter 82: Chapter 82: The Monthly Exam Scores Are Posted Here, Come and Look After Class

On the way to school, Shen Yuan was limping down the road.

"You went a little too hard! I think my leg is fractured. Now when I walk, my back feels like it’s about to snap."

"Alright, alright. I’ll treat you to breakfast!"

Shen Yuan immediately perked up. "I feel much better now."

Li Zhi turned her head away and hmphed.

Instead of the steamed bun shop, Li Zhi chose to get tenggeng today.

This breakfast stall had opened recently.

Tenggeng was a dish similar to Cantonese rice noodle rolls, also made from rice.

In Jiyang, it was a dish eaten in some areas but not others.

As a result, despite growing up in Jiyang, neither Shen Yuan nor Li Zhi had ever tried the stuff.

For some reason, it had recently become a trend among Jiyang’s food bloggers.

And so the craze had found its way to the gates of Jiyang Middle School.

Jiyang’s version of tenggeng generally used pickled vegetables as a base, with added fillings like tofu, all rolled up.

Of course, you could add other things too.

Shen Yuan added a few meat items, and the price shot up instantly.

Watching this made Li Zhi grimace.

Shen Yuan took a bite of his tenggeng. After a few chews, he gave his approval. "Tastes pretty good."

Li Zhi agreed.

"But I want steamed buns tomorrow."

Shen Yuan still wanted to challenge the hand speed of the steamed bun shop owner.

"If you want them, go buy them yourself. Are you placing an order with me?"

Shen Yuan chuckled. "I’m giving you a chance. Treat me to breakfast for half a month, and we can call the punishment even." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Hmph!"

Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan scornfully. "Impossible!"

"This is a limited-time offer. Take it or leave it."

"Don’t worry. I’m guaranteed to win against you."

During the morning self-study session, Shen Yuan grabbed Eldest Female Cousin.

"Man?"

Eldest Female Cousin’s standard American accent made Shen Yuan feel like his ears had just been elbowed.

"Sis, are the monthly test scores out?"

Eldest Female Cousin nodded. "They are, sis. They are."

Shen Yuan’s eyes instantly lit up as he asked impatiently, "When will they be posted?"

Seeing the doofus’s eager expression, Eldest Female Cousin reached out and patted Shen Yuan’s head. "They probably won’t be out until this afternoon. But they’ll hand back the test papers and answer sheets this morning to go over them, so you can calculate your own score."

The corner of Shen Yuan’s mouth twitched. "They’re already graded, and we still have to wait until the afternoon for them to be announced?"

Eldest Female Cousin patted Shen Yuan lightly. "What’s the rush? Don’t the stats need to be compiled? Don’t they need to calculate the average score for each subject? And the class average? Just wait."

With that, Eldest Female Cousin strolled over to Class 14 next door.

Leaving Shen Yuan alone with his anxiety.

After the morning self-study session ended, the first class was Chinese Language.

Just as Eldest Female Cousin had said, the Chinese monthly test papers and answer sheets were indeed handed out before class began.

Instantly, a tense atmosphere began to spread throughout the classroom.

There were no scores on the answer sheets, and the test papers only had the students’ own work shown.

And with a subject like Chinese Language, the scoring was highly subjective.

After Sister Lan spent the class going over the test, Shen Yuan concluded that he had gotten all the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions right.

But as for his score on the reading comprehension and the essay, he couldn’t even begin to guess.

As for English, before Eldest Female Cousin went over the test, she had the class representative copy the answers onto the blackboard.

Besides the essay, Shen Yuan hadn’t gotten a single question wrong.

In the span of one morning: Chinese Language, English, Biology.

Estimating his Biology score should have been easy, but since the answer sheets hadn’t been returned, Shen Yuan had already forgotten his answers.

"This is torture."

After lunch, Shen Yuan flopped onto his desk and complained to Zhou Shaojie.

Zhou Shaojie nodded in agreement.

The source of Zhou Shaojie’s torture was different from Shen Yuan’s; it was all about English.

Although he had improved in English this time, seeing Shen Yuan’s test paper with almost no corrections made Zhou Shaojie’s spirit crumble.

"Yuan, how in the world do you get good at English?"

"No matter how many times you ask me, the answer is still to memorize and recite more. Only on that foundation can you move on to advanced memory techniques."

Ah Jie got excited. "Forget the basics for a second. Tell me about the advanced methods!"

Shen Yuan glanced up at Ah Jie. Seeing the thirst for knowledge in his eyes, Shen Yuan nodded.

"Let’s put it this way: contextual memory. You set a scene, find words that fit that scene, and weave them together into a short story that’s easy for you to remember. It varies from person to person."

"For a more advanced level, you can try watching English movies and shows without subtitles."

"And then..."

The corner of Ah Jie’s mouth twitched, and he cut Shen Yuan off. "That’s enough. I think that contextual memory method is already more than enough for me."

Shen Yuan shifted his position on the desk and said, "Hey, when do you think Old Zhou is going to post the monthly test scores?"

Ah Jie shook his head. "No idea."

As it turned out, Old Zhou was a real troll.

He knew the students were anxious for the monthly test scores to be released, and he also knew they’d be sleepy after their afternoon nap, which wasn’t conducive to absorbing knowledge in the afternoon.

So, he showed up with the monthly test scores right before the afternoon nap ended.

"The monthly test scores are posted here. You can come look after the nap break is over."

Under the watchful eyes of the entire class, Old Zhou slowly and deliberately posted the list of scores on the blackboard at the back of the room.

And then he didn’t leave.

"Dirty. That’s a dirty move!"

Ah Jie buried his head in a pile of books, cursing Old Zhou under his breath.

Shen Yuan felt the same. He wished his eyes could autofocus, zooming straight in on the score sheet!

"It’s all vanity."

Zhuo Peipei intoned, "Monthly test scores... they’re nothing but a source of anxiety."

But it was clear that the resident shipper still cared a lot about the test scores.

As for Li Zhi, the beauty merely glanced up once before paying it no further mind.

Such was the confidence of a top student!

Old Zhou sat at the teacher’s desk, watching the anxious students below.

In truth, Old Zhou had his reasons.

He had chosen this specific time because the boarding students were in their dorms, while some day students were in the classroom and others were at home.

This way, the students could go check their scores in batches.

It would prevent the entire class from swarming the back of the room the moment the bell rang. That kind of congestion could easily lead to small conflicts, which would be a huge pain to deal with.

The rest of the nap break seemed to stretch on forever in anxious waiting.

Finally, with the ring of the bell, the back of Class 15’s room was instantly swarmed by a crowd of boys.

"Stop pushing! Damn it, can’t someone just take a picture and post it in the class group chat?!"

"You think I came to see the scores? I came to push you!"

"Ah! Brother Jie! It’s Brother Jie!!"

"Who’s spreading rumors?!" Ah Jie stood up from his seat. "I’m right here!"

Shen Yuan ignored the chaos around him, focusing on finding his name on the score sheet.

There was a method to looking up one’s score.

Li Zhi usually just looked at the first name on the list.

But people like Shen Yuan usually scanned from the bottom up.

Not last place. Not in the bottom five either.

’Well, I’ll be damned. Is today the day I, Lao Yuan, finally escape the Laojiu Sect?!’

By the time he scanned up to ninth from the bottom, Shen Yuan could declare himself free of the Laojiu Sect—he had even escaped the bottom ten entirely!

Shen Yuan found his name at rank 47 in the class.

Chinese Language: 118.

Math: 102.

English: 146.

Comprehensive Science: 257.

Total Score: 623.

"HOLY SHIT!!"

In a single bound, Shen Yuan shot over to Li Zhi’s desk.

"623! I got 623!!"

Seeing the boy’s ecstatic expression, Li Zhi, who had been waiting for the scores to be uploaded to the group chat, immediately stood up.