novelraw Chapter 55
Chapter 55
Chapter 55 In the midst of the busy high school life, the division between humanities and sciences quickly settled down.
The 34 original classes in the second year of high school were reorganized into 31 classes, including one science preparatory class and 30 regular humanities and science classes.
Among them, there were 10 humanities classes, divided into five first-tier and five second-tier classes, ranked at the top of the regular classes, occupying positions one through ten.
Qin Qing and Wen Yufeng, both ranking in the top 50% of the humanities students, were originally in Class 6. Based on the rule of priority by original class ranking, they were assigned to the first-tier humanities class.
The homeroom teacher of the first-tier humanities class, Niu Zhihuai, was a veteran teacher with extensive experience handling all sorts of students.
However, even with his experience, when he saw the boy entering the classroom with all eyes on him, Niu’s thick eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch slightly.
…Wen Yufeng.
Niu Zhihuai sighed. Even though he had never seen this student before, he had already heard about him from the original Class 6 Chinese teacher who was in the same group.
Setting aside other aspects, the fact that this student had managed to leap into the top 40% of the grade in the final class placement exam was surprising enough.
Moreover, after the humanities-science division, this student was now ranked in the top quarter of the grade in his new class.
Although this ranking might not be considered exceptional, it was still quite impressive.
—Especially considering this student’s past “achievements.”
With that in mind, Niu Zhihuai beckoned to the boy, who was about to walk past the podium.
“Wen Yufeng, come here.”
“…”
Wen Yufeng, holding his bookcase, paused and turned around to look at the veteran teacher on the podium.
The students, already quiet, fell into an even deeper silence, each one instinctively preparing to witness what they expected would be a fierce first clash between this notorious school tyrant and their new homeroom teacher.
But to everyone’s surprise, after a brief pause of slight surprise, Wen Yufeng calmly walked over.
He stopped in front of the podium and slightly leaned in. After glancing at the large, forcefully written characters on the blackboard spelling “Niu Zhihuai,” he straightened up and nodded towards Niu Zhihuai.
“Mr. Niu.”
This “obedient” reaction made some of the students’ jaws drop.
—Were they seeing the real school tyrant?
However, the original classmates from Class 6 who had transferred with him remained calm.
In the half semester since a new student had transferred into the original Class 6, they had already witnessed too many miraculous events.
So, for them, this small scene wasn’t anything extraordinary.
Niu Zhihuai was also slightly surprised but, being a seasoned teacher, didn’t show it.
“I’ve heard about your progress in this exam. The improvement was so significant that it surprised many teachers in the grade.”
As he spoke, Niu Zhihuai discreetly observed the boy’s reaction.
However, whether from his subtle facial expressions or his calm eyes, Niu Zhihuai couldn’t detect any hint of pride.
Internally nodding in approval, Niu Zhihuai remained composed.
“But, I’ve also heard about your previous behavior. Now that you’re in my class, unless something unexpected happens, you’ll be here for nearly two years.”
Niu Zhihuai paused slightly, ready to express his purpose.
But before he could speak, the boy standing below the podium quirked his lips into a lazy smile.
“Mr. Niu, in the next two years or so, I’ll do my best not to break any school rules, so please don’t worry.”
“…”
Although the phrase “do my best” didn’t fully satisfy Niu Zhihuai, he nodded in acknowledgment of the boy’s relatively cooperative attitude.
“All right. As long as your ‘best effort’ isn’t just for show, I’ll consider you my student and will guide and support you accordingly.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
Wen Yufeng agreed, and after confirming that Niu Zhihuai had nothing more to say, he turned around with his bookcase.
His gaze swept across the classroom, and most of the students who met his eyes quickly looked away, though a few dared to look back with curious or eager expressions.
However, Wen Yufeng ignored these different emotions and intentions. He simply locked onto a desk with two empty seats and walked over.
Placing his bookcase down, it landed with a dull thud.
The students around the seat flinched slightly.
Unperturbed, Wen Yufeng opened his bookcase and took out two sets of bookends.
Soon, two neatly arranged sets of books were placed on the corresponding desks.
The students who had been secretly observing were puzzled.
Some were curious enough to ask the original Class 6 students, “Who is that second set of books for?”
The student who was asked looked up, about to answer, but then stopped short.
He nodded toward the classroom door.
“Here she comes.”
The student who had asked quickly looked up, only to see a petite girl entering through the front door of the classroom.
At that moment, Niu Zhihuai also noticed the girl.
In fact, he had been waiting for this girl all along.
—After all, any teacher would be eager to have such a talented student, who ranked first in humanities despite not being at a particular advantage in subjects like physics and chemistry.
But as soon as he saw her, Niu Zhihuai sensed something was amiss.
He scrutinized the girl from head to toe and frowned slightly.
“Qin Qing, where are your books?”
What Niu Zhihuai found odd was the girl’s overly light and simple attire on the day of class reassignment.
The girl turned around after being called.
“Mr. Niu,” she glanced at the blackboard before meeting Niu Zhihuai’s eyes, “Mr. Shen from my original class just called me over, so I asked a classmate to help me—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a lazy voice rang out in the classroom—
“They’re with me.”
“…”
All attention was drawn to the source of the voice. Qin Qing quickly bowed to Niu Zhihuai and, with slightly flushed cheeks, walked toward the voice.
As she approached, the boy had already stood up and looked toward the podium.
“Mr. Niu, the credit for my improved grades goes to Qin Qing. If possible, I’d like to continue sitting with her.”
“…”
Niu Zhihuai silently observed the two of them for a moment.
Then, he slowly nodded.
“All right.”
Receiving the answer he wanted, the boy smiled at the girl who had walked over.
Meanwhile, the students in the first-tier humanities class were stunned, while the original Class 6 students remained expressionless.
—They couldn’t help but wonder what they had done in a past life to deserve spending their entire high school years in a daily show-off hell.
…
After the division between humanities and sciences, the teachers in the second year quickly accelerated the learning pace in each subject.
Many students found it difficult to adjust to the new rhythm, leading to a significant shift in grades during the first assessment after the division.
It’s worth mentioning that Qin Qing maintained her top position on the humanities grade list, and as she adapted to the new learning direction and pace, the gap between her and the others grew wider.
Particularly her near-perfect math scores left those aiming to catch up to her feeling utterly defeated.
—Why did such an outstanding student, who even top science students came to for math help, choose to join the humanities class and make everyone else suffer?
If Qin Qing’s grades were within the teachers’ expectations, the rapid improvement of another student left many teachers and students at the school utterly shocked.
It was the fourth day after the end of the midterm exams for the first semester of the second year. All the papers had been graded, and the class rankings were already in the hands of the homeroom teachers.
In the Chinese language department office, Niu Zhihuai stared at the printed results sheet with a complex expression.
“Mr. Niu, your class’s average score is the highest in the grade again!”
A nearby teacher, looking at the electronic summary sheet on the computer, turned around and, noticing Niu Zhihuai’s expression, couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Niu, what are you looking at?”
Niu Zhihuai shook the results sheet in his hand.
“Do you know what rank Wen Yufeng achieved this time?”
Hearing this, the teacher was taken aback, then burst into laughter.
“I wouldn’t dare guess. That student’s grades are like a rollercoaster—one time he’s in the top ten, the next he’s below the average line. It’s impossible to predict.”
Niu Zhihuai’s expression twisted slightly at the mention of this.
“That kid has excellent information processing and logical skills, and his memory is impeccable. If only he didn’t often leave the long-answer questions on the comprehensive humanities exam blank, his grades would never drop out of the top ten.”
Niu Zhihuai paused for a moment, then laughed as he looked at the results sheet.
“But no worries, I’ve found a way to deal with him.”
Curious, the teacher leaned in. When he saw where Wen Yufeng’s name was on the results sheet, he was taken aback.
“Wow! Fourth in the class?”
Still somewhat incredulous, the teacher looked at Wen Yufeng’s scores in the various subjects and was even more shocked.
“With that English score, he still managed to be fourth in the class?”
“…Yes,” Niu Zhihuai chuckled. “This time, his comprehensive humanities score was first in the grade, and his math score was third among humanities students.”
The teacher was speechless for a long while, then finally couldn’t resist asking—
“What exactly did you do to make him work so hard?”
This time, Niu Zhihuai’s smile deepened, but he refused to say another word.
Meanwhile, in the first-tier humanities class.
Qin Qing blinked in surprise.
“First in comprehensive humanities?… What did Mr. Niu say to you before the midterm exams?”
Wen Yufeng glanced at the Chinese textbook, his expression darkening.
After a couple of seconds, he finally replied with a blank face, “He said if I didn’t make it into the top fifty in the grade this time, he’d move you to the desk farthest from mine.”
Qin Qing: “…”