novelraw Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Time passed at lightning speed—one week was gone.
This week was the critical transition period for all kindergarten children moving into elementary school: meeting new friends, getting used to the more study-focused campus atmosphere of elementary school,
and gradually shifting toward independent action. The clearest example was going to the restroom—even if you asked the teacher to come along, the teacher wouldn't follow anymore.
You had to go by yourself.
Today was Tuesday of the second week. The homeroom teacher of Class One walked to the podium holding a thick stack of test papers:
"Today, just like we said on the first day of school, we'll choose the class committee based on the exam. Answer carefully—every question is very simple. Students in the front, pass them back."
He divided the papers into small batches and handed them to the first-row students.
Soon the papers were all handed out, and the homeroom teacher began patrolling the classroom, watching for cheating.
When Liu Wenjie got his paper he glanced at it once; questions of this difficulty didn't need any system boosts—his memory alone was enough for a perfect score.
He picked up his ballpoint pen and wrote the answers without hesitation.
One seat away, Xu Feifei's eyes swept over the questions, a smile on her lips.
It felt a bit challenging, but it should be no problem.
She secretly glanced at Liu Wenjie's lightning-fast answering speed and was startled.
He answered as if he didn't need to think at all! Mon—monster! This guy isn't human!
How can he be so good at studying too? N—no matter, I, Xu Feifei, am no pushover either. The class president spot is definitely mine!
When the homeroom teacher passed Xu Feifei's desk he glanced at her paper,
then walked to Liu Wenjie's side and glanced at his paper, unconsciously adjusting his glasses.
The documents from the kindergarten stated that Liu Wenjie and Xu Feifei from Sunshine Kindergarten collected the most little red flowers in school.
Both were outstanding in every area and worth focused cultivation; it seemed true—especially this Liu Wenjie, who was clearly on another level compared to the other children.
The Outstanding Class Award for this year and the Best Student Award for the whole grade would undoubtedly go to Class One.
He raised Liu Wenjie's paper and announced to the class: "Our class president has emerged—Student Liu Wenjie, full marks and finished in just a few minutes. Now let's see who will be the vice president."
The entire class was stunned; they all turned to stare at Liu Wenjie, gasps of surprise escaping them.
Xu Feifei was already drenched in sweat.
He finished with a perfect score already?! I'm not even halfway done—darn it! My class president spot—how did I lose to this guy again!
She put a strand of her ponytail into her mouth and bit down to focus, speeding up her answering!
In the end she turned in her paper in second place!
But it wasn't a perfect score.
Someone had answered slowly but gotten everything right, so she wasn't the vice president either.
After the whole class finished the exam, the homeroom teacher called the top few students—those who had answered quickly and scored high—up to the podium.
They were to choose their committee posts in order.
"Xu Feifei, the president and vice president spots are taken. Labor committee member, study committee member, discipline committee member, hygiene committee member—what would you like to be? You were fastest and scored highest after them, so you choose first."
Xu Feifei clenched her small fists in frustration.
If I'd been a little more careful, vice president would have been no problem; he made me hand it in too hastily.
"Discipline committee member, then."
The homeroom teacher nodded. "Good, from now on Xu Feifei is our class's discipline committee member, responsible for managing class discipline together with the president and vice president."
During break, as class president Liu Wenjie once again harvested a wave of system rewards.
"Class president, how did you answer so fast? Do you have any secrets?"
"Just need hands."
[Congratulations, Host: Lifetime immunity to athlete's foot.]
"Class president, shall we go to the cafeteria together at noon? I want to study with you."
"I don't usually study while eating, so let's not."
[Congratulations, Host: Intelligence +1]
...
Listening from the side, Xu Feifei found every sentence Liu Wenjie said more surprising than the last.
Her big eyes stole glances at Liu Wenjie, curious—this guy's personality is really special; does he have no intention of making friends with anyone? Is he an alien?
In truth, Liu Wenjie really didn't.
Why make friends with a bunch of little kids?! Their mindsets are completely different.
Besides, true kings are always alone.
That day in PE class, after the usual joint warm-up run with Class Four, everyone had free activity.
Beside the lonely king appeared a silly, sweet little girl.
"Older Brother Wenjie, I did it! I've made lots of friends this past week! I greeted so many people!"
Liu Wenjie sat in a corner of the field, surprised. "Really? Looks like the special training worked—how many did you make?"
"Lots!"
"Then where are your friends? I saw you were alone just now after the run."
Little Xia Ying hugged her knees, smiling sweetly. "Oh! That's because they're all playing with other people; they didn't play with me."
Liu Wenjie blinked, wondering if he'd heard wrong.
"Say that again."
Little Xia Ying opened her eyes and replied matter-of-factly, "I said when they're free they go play with others, so usually I'm still by myself."
Liu Wenjie was speechless—this counts as making friends? This is just talking to people a bit more, right?
Forget it; for this girl, taking the initiative to greet people is already huge progress.
Can't ask for too much.
"You've improved a lot."
"Hee-hee~ It's all thanks to Older Brother Wenjie. Oh, Older Brother Wenjie, I heard you became class president? Amazing! Our teacher said I'm 'lopsided' in my grades; I didn't know what it meant until I asked someone—lopsided means the scores aren't the same."
"Lopsided? What did your class test?"
"Only Chinese and math. I heard your class had everything on the paper."
"What were your scores for Chinese and math?"
Little Xia Ying reported honestly: "Chinese 100, math 7."
Liu Wenjie froze, staring at the harmless little girl. "That really is a bit lopsided."
"Right, so what should I do?"
"Basically hopeless."
"Oh."
"'Oh' your head—of course pay attention in math class, dummy! You clearly just didn't listen during math!"
She answered softly, "I did, I just find math a bit hard and my mind wandered."
While the two sat under the shade of a tree chatting,
far away in a cluster of girls, Xu Feifei stared in surprise and curiosity at Liu Wenjie
and little Xia Ying beside him.
Who is this girl? She doesn't look like any girl from Sunshine Kindergarten; I have no memory of her. How can she talk with Liu Wenjie for so long?
Could she be his sister?
Childhood always feels short even when you live it again; after a year in first grade, no one could count how many things had happened.
Unsurprisingly they were all small matters. Little Xia Ying hadn't changed much—at most her math score improved from 7 to 20 over the year, a tiny bit of progress.
Xu Feifei, same as in kindergarten, still wanted to compete with Liu Wenjie, but since entering elementary school she felt she had nowhere to use her strength.
Until the second half of second grade, a year and a half later,
the class underwent a minor reshuffle; Class One and Class Two swapped some students, domestic phone trends shifted, and everything began to change.