Chapter 13: Teaching and the Exam
Although I wanted to brush it off with a joke, the atmosphere wasn’t for joking.
Sweat beaded on my forehead. I never thought I could still sweat even when my body was this cold.
What should I do? What should I say? Should I just say it’s Lianbing?
But my lying skills are so bad, won’t they see through it?
If they see through it, won’t I be confessing myself?
Lianbing doesn’t like it when I lie. If I get caught in a casual lie, I’m doomed.
“Please don’t trouble Lord Juncheng with frivolous questions.”
Oh! A savior!
My dear Yu Hui, you truly are my thoughtful little padded jacket.
Yu Hui seemed to have gone on an errand, returning with a stack of drinks. She sat beside Lianbing, took out a can of hot coffee, and offered it to me.
“Here you go. This is a return gift from before.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Taking this opportunity, I sat up.
Lanhua, who was originally at my feet, quietly moved closer. As she leaned against me, Xueqing suddenly slid off Lanhua’s lap and squeezed between Lanhua and me. Lanhua puffed out her cheeks with some displeasure, but there was nothing she could do about Xueqing and could only smile helplessly.
Thanks to Yu Hui’s timely intervention, that awkward topic didn’t continue. Xuan’er, sitting opposite, swung her legs and said,
“So, who’s going to teach Juncheng? I don’t recommend holding study sessions, as Juncheng has fallen too far behind. One-on-one tutoring would be more efficient.”
“Hold on, hold on! If someone’s going to teach, let it be me!”
“Class Monitor, are your grades that good?”
Lanhua asked before I could.
I never paid attention to others’ grades before, but I remember Lianbing should be among the top in the entire grade. Xueqing is consistently in the top one hundred, with no signs of decline. Lanhua used to be in the middle to lower ranks like me, but she seems to have improved a lot lately, entering the top group that doesn’t need to attend evening study sessions.
As for her, in my impression, she was an idiot.
“Of course! As Class Monitor, I have to set a good example!”
“Nana is consistently in the top ten in the entire grade. By the way, my ranking is similar to Nana’s.”
I thought she was definitely a struggling student like me, even among the worst!
Wait, come to think of it, she never attended any tutoring sessions during previous holidays. How could that be! I refuse to believe it! Li Nai, you idiot, you actually have better grades than me! I’m not convinced!
“Hmph! How many years do you think I’ve been in high school!”
“So that’s how it is.”
I understood. Li Nai had been a zombie for several years, and naturally, her body wouldn’t develop. Unlike me, she didn’t lose her academic memory. If she attended high school several times, she could easily handle any exam.
“Hmph hmph, that’s right! And it seems I was an excellent student when I was alive, so my high school knowledge is quite solid. I’ve switched high schools several times—now, I’ve fully integrated my high school knowledge! I’ve reached a state of seamless perfection!”
Li Nai stood up, covered her face with one hand, and struck a pose reminiscent of the first-generation JoJo, spouting chuunibyo lines.
“That’s not something to be proud of.”
“But from a certain perspective, the Class Monitor is indeed the most suitable candidate.”
“Senior Li Nai is indeed someone we don’t need to be too wary of.”
“Hey, hey, what do you guys mean!”
“Haha, they’re just saying you’re safe for the job, Nai.”
“Why do I feel a sense of indignation? Ugh, ugh, ugh!”
Li Nai inexplicably received everyone’s support, and it seemed like she would be teaching me.
No, no, no, I don’t want Li Nai to teach me.
I absolutely don’t want Li Nai to teach me. Good grades and teaching ability are two different things. Li Nai looks like the type who would laugh loudly beside me while I study and invite me to play games.
Regardless, it would be a wrong decision to have Li Nai teach me. And as for who would teach me, I had already made up my mind.
So I immediately refused.
“Thank you all for your kindness, but I already have an idea. I’ll ask Teacher Li Li to teach me.”
That’s right, Nana had also asked me to persuade Teacher Lili to change roles. These two things could be done simultaneously.
“Hmm? Teacher Lili? Oh, if a teacher were to teach, it would indeed be better than me.”
“Indeed, it would be better with a teacher. And perhaps if Teacher Li Li knew Juncheng’s situation, she might even leak a few questions.”
Xuan’er scratched her cheek, then hesitated and smiled awkwardly before falling silent.
I didn’t understand what she wanted to say, but the others seemed to understand and nodded in agreement.
“Heh heh heh, ‘that’ is not acceptable, is it?”
“Mmm, that is indeed a bit problematic.”
“Huh? Why isn’t it acceptable?”
They should at least give me a reason.
At this moment, Yu Hui explained to me.
“Because that body is too lethal to men, Lord Juncheng. Of course, you are no exception. When a young female teacher and a spirited young male student are alone together for one-on-one tutoring, thoughts will inevitably drift in that direction.”
“That’s right, that’s right. If you’re not careful, it might turn into ‘Succubus Classroom OV!'”
I couldn’t refute that—and Teacher Lili was a succubus. Furthermore, in the principal’s office last time, it almost turned into an AV scene.
“Well, Yu Hui, why don’t you come with me too? I also think it’s better to have someone supervise.”
“I understand. Leave it to me, Lord Juncheng.”
“Ah! Then I’ll have Shirley look after you too, Jun Cheng. Shirley is incredibly knowledgeable; I suspect there’s nothing in this world she doesn’t know.”
“Eh? Can I?”
“Of course~ Shirley is my maid, and she’ll be your maid too, heh heh heh~”
She asserted her claim over me, resting her chin on my shoulder and caressing my cheek in front of everyone.
A greater concern was the potential for things to escalate. It seemed like they would only become more…
…And with Yu Hui assisting, and Lanhua also expressing her willingness, the lunch break quickly ended. The final decision was to ask Teacher Lili to teach me.
Surveillance? You mean you’re monitoring me twenty-four hours a day!
We all thought the same.
Although there wasn’t much time left, there was still hope if we worked hard. At this time…
However, things didn’t proceed so smoothly.
It was getting worse. Misfortunes never come singly.
After the afternoon classes ended, Teacher Xiaozhen’s announcement made me realize that things could still…
…become even more terrible. The saying “misfortunes never come singly” was particularly true for me.
With a few minutes left before the end of class, Teacher Xiaozhen clapped her hands on the desk and announced to us.
“Um~ You should already know, Teacher Yang seems to have leaked the news in advance. This summer vacation, the school will organize a summer camp. The content is a study trip to a southern island.”
Before she could finish speaking, the classroom erupted again.
Of course, the study trip was just a formality. In plain terms, it was a vacation.
“Ooooh oh oh oh oh oh!”
*Bang! Bang!*
Teacher Xiaozhen banged on the desk twice, silencing us, and continued.
“You’re all getting happy too soon! Teacher Yang should have also told you the conditions for the summer camp!”
Someone raised their hand and answered.
“I recall it’s passing the final exams, right, Teacher Xiaozhen?”
“That’s right! Passing the final exams is the prerequisite!”
Teacher Xiaozhen snorted through her nose, crossed her arms, and nodded in agreement.
“This southern vacation is a two-week ultra-luxurious trip! You’ll enjoy a heavenly vacation, and then a trip to Seychelles…”
“You won’t have to pay a single penny to enjoy this trip!”
“Ooooh oh oh oh oh!”
“Really! Teacher Xiaozhen! I love you to death!”
“Dream vacation, understand!”
“I must create wonderful memories!”
“I must find a girlfriend!”
“That’s probably impossible.”
Everyone had already started cheering.
It was the students’ noisy clamor.
With my enhanced hearing, I could even hear the cheers from other classrooms. The entire floor…
Other classes must have also received the news of the vacation.
This also indirectly proved how much of a difference there was between the school’s top students and others. At least in my previous final exams, our high school, being academically focused, had a difficult final exam. I had never finished writing within the allotted time.
The difficulty was high, and the scope was immense. The most frustrating part was the classification of each question.
You had to identify the questions you could answer and solve them all. It was really difficult! Only by picking out the questions you knew how to solve and solving them all could you avoid the minefield of super-difficult questions. Therefore, you had to judge for yourself and ‘selectively’ answer questions to maximize your score. This required time and still had the possibility of errors!
This was all because everyone else was too brilliant.
So it’s not that I’m lazy. I’ve done everything I could, but my ranking remains stuck in the middle to lower ranks, around two hundred.
Not only that, but I’m not the type of person who would spend all my free time studying. So my grades…
It was truly terrible. Just like my dear girlfriend, who once achieved perfect scores in all subjects, she’s a well-rounded genius who has no blind spots!
*Bang!* Another sound of banging on the desk, but this one was exceptionally loud, as if it could shake the study materials.
“But do you really think it will be that simple!”
Teacher Xiaozhen announced it with a stern tone.
“The difficulty of this exam will be the highest in history! It’s not to the extent of “we won’t give you enough time to finish all the questions.” seventy percent of the questions, totaling 63 points, can be solved with high school knowledge. You’ll need a success rate of up to 95% to pass!”
“It’s very difficult to find the questions you know among the many questions and solve them all!”
“I can tell you that even with classmate Ji Lianbing, it will be difficult to score above eighty points.”
Teacher Xiaozhen vividly described the exam difficulty to us.
Lianbing, who had never scored below ninety-five, couldn’t even reach eighty points.
It was much harder than HARD mode. No, it was probably harder than that. It was DEATH mode, where failure meant complete annihilation, unlike a game where you could retry.
I couldn’t help but widen my eyes, my mouth inadvertently fell open, letting out a sigh of deflation.
Huge bad news.
I really had no solution.
Even the last sliver of hope was dashed. This time, I was truly helpless.
Facing this enhanced version of the super-difficult final exam… With my current knowledge, my chances of passing a normal exam were slim, let alone this.
It wasn’t good news for others either.
At the same time, I heard wails from other classrooms. The increased difficulty of the final exam caused everyone’s expressions to change.
But in our class, there were no wails. Everyone maintained their composure. Their expressions conveyed a sense of…
‘Even if the exam is difficult, we still have a way to pass.’
This calm confidence stemmed from the fact that each of them possessed a ‘different kind’ of ability. As anomalies, I didn’t believe they wouldn’t have one or two special means. Exams were of no help; rather, they were a hindrance. It’s true. Although I am now one of them, it has rather added a “mentally handicapped” debuff to me.
Hahaha, if only I could swap brains, then I wouldn’t have to worry about the exam. If I can swap brains without damaging my brain… That seems feasible. After all, I’m a zombie now. As long as it doesn’t affect my brain, swapping it is possible. After all, don’t mental functions arise from the brain?
But if I swap my brain, will I still be me? Isn’t spirit just what arises from the brain?
It’s better not to think about such dangerous things. If it goes wrong, it will be terrible. I’ll tell you guys beforehand, so you don’t come complaining to me later. “This time, Teacher Xiaozhen will be invigilating the entire time~”
Instantly, everyone fell silent. No, they were petrified.
The impact of Teacher Xiaozhen invigilating the exam was that immense. She was unforgiving.
Don’t let her small stature fool you; despite looking like a cute little girl, she could detect anomalies. That was the most fatal aspect. Moreover, Teacher Xiaozhen was also from the “underworld.” Even if you used abnormal methods…
“Oh, no need for remedial classes. That’s good.”
“Also, there’s one more thing I need to tell you. This time, there are no custom lines for the exam.”
“The difficulty is too high, so the number of people who pass will likely be very small.” This summer would be spent in Teacher Xiaozhen’s summer remedial class until the end.
“But! If I catch anyone using underhanded tactics, it doesn’t matter if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend.”
If you cheat on the exam and get caught, you’ll spend the entire summer in hellish remedial classes.
The dream of a southern vacation evaporated, along with the hope of passing.
One side was a vacation, the other side was remedial classes.
The difference between heaven and hell.
Teacher Xiaozhen is truly wicked (bitter smile).
Faced with such an ultimate choice, what decision will everyone make?
What about me? What should I do?
