Chapter 29: The Language Quiz

Lu Siwen’s visit to Zhai Da during lunch break drew the attention of quite a few people.

Of course, it wasn’t everyone, but even if it was just one-tenth of the student body, that was more than enough for the gossip to spread like wildfire in the small Maofang Middle School.

Lu Siwen’s popularity at Maofang Middle School was actually far greater than Zhai Da had realized. Unfortunately, in his previous life, Zhai Da had eyes only for Lin Shuyao, choosing to selectively ignore Lu Siwen’s brilliance and reputation. He might have even scoffed at her back then, harboring thoughts like, "How could any girl be mentioned in the same breath as Lin Shuyao, let alone be better? I won't listen, I won't listen."

He had probably forgotten all about that, though.

To those in the know, Lu Siwen was a campus goddess who ranked two levels above Lin Shuyao. Which two levels? Academic performance—completely crushed her. Family wealth—completely crushed her. One was a Cinderella, the other a true princess.

Cinderella might inspire unrequited love, but the true princess always carried a sense of unreachable detachment. It was said that Lu Siwen was chauffeured to and from school every day and had studied musical instruments; it was all beyond the imagination of most small-town high school students.

Some people thought it was a pity that Lin Shuyao wasn't around during lunch; otherwise, it would have been quite a spectacle. This matter would likely reach Lin Shuyao's ears eventually, but Zhai Da didn't care.

During the afternoon Chinese class, the homeroom teacher, Ding Rong, walked in carrying a stack of test papers. "We’re having a quiz today. It’ll last 150 minutes, including the evening self-study period. Those who need to use the restroom, go now."

Senior year quizzes came without warning, but no one was particularly surprised. Many students stood up and headed for the bathroom.

Zhai Da lifted his head, feeling a bit eager. It had been over ten days since his rebirth. Although his home was piled high with test papers, he was still in the phase of "absorbing knowledge from books" rather than "validating his sorrows through exams." Since he hadn’t done any homework, this would be his first time earnestly tackling a paper, and in Chinese—a subject he excelled at. He wondered what kind of score he could get.

The "Big Three"—Chinese, Math, and English—were the only subjects that counted toward the provincial college entrance exam (Gaokao). With a total score of only 480, every single point was worth more than in a 750-point system. If he could score over 120 in Chinese, it would be a massive boost for his university prospects. He had been memorizing ancient poetry and texts lately, so he felt reasonably confident.

The papers were distributed quickly. Zhai Da answered the questions with great focus. His memory of the texts was still deep; after all, in his previous life, he had worked as a copywriter and dealt with language constantly. Looking back at it now, he was much stronger than the teenage Zhai Da had been. For the occasional detail he couldn't quite recall, his sensitivity to language allowed him to fill in the gaps.

Fill-in-the-blanks, identifying polyphonic characters, correcting grammatical errors, idioms, modern prose reading, classical Chinese reading, subjective questions...

Time always flies during an exam, and under such intense concentration, he felt as if he were in another world. When he finally looked up, it was already dark outside. Wu Yue had already slept through two cycles. Glancing at his watch, he saw there was only twenty minutes left and he hadn't written the essay.

Zhai Da cracked his neck. This was his home turf. Surely he wouldn't be someone who excelled in every section only to flop on the essay, right?

The theme for today's essay was "Flowers." The paper provided a series of descriptions of various floral languages, and students were tasked with writing an 800-word essay on the theme of "Flowers." While the genre was open (excluding poetry and classical Chinese), 90% of students would choose either an argumentative essay or a narrative piece, using 800 words to explain their understanding of the theme.

Zhai Da spent about three seconds thinking, then began to write.

"Flowers Across the Four Seas"

Let’s try writing it as prose.

"Not all flowers bloom in spring; not all rivers flow to the sea."

...

"Flowers bloom throughout the four seasons; rivers flow in all directions. As long as there is passion, mountains and seas are all fields of flowers."

...

"I hide the rose behind my back. As the wind rises and petals fall, from now on, I gift the flowers to myself and ride toward freedom."

He barely had to use his brain. His writing flowed more smoothly than a trip to the bathroom. By sticking to the theme of "flowers" and focusing on the core message of "self-love and self-confidence," he finished the essay quickly. Of course, the vast reservoir of top-tier copywriting experience from his previous life played a huge role.

This was an experiment. The Gaokao essay didn't necessarily reward flowery language; he wanted to see how well this style would score.

As Ding Rong signaled the end, the two-hour quiz officially concluded. Zhai Da wrote the final line:

"A spring promise kept, the flowers not missed; year after year, never failing one another."

Perfect!

A pair of delicate, fair hands reached over, and the paper was whisked away before he could even admire it. He turned to see Lin Shuyao, looking strictly "professional."

*Hmph, childish.*

This kind of attention-seeking behavior was no different from male students pulling on a girl's hair to use as dental floss. Lin Shuyao walked away, staring straight ahead.

"Your pants are stuck in your crack."

Lin Shuyao’s waist, which she had been swaying as she walked, almost locked up. She stumbled and instinctively covered her backside.

Zhai Da said to Wu Yue, who had just woken up after 150 minutes, "Hurry and pull them up. It’s disgusting; the edge of your underwear is outlining itself."

Wu Yue nodded blankly and gave his pants a tug... he really was wedged.

Lin Shuyao froze in place, her face flushing bright red. She didn't know whether to stay or go. It wasn't until Ding Rong called out that she lowered her head and scurried away.

Zhai Da stretched, feeling lighthearted and content. Since he had been reborn, was it really so wrong to extract a little joy from the awkwardness of adolescence?

He would probably know the results of the quiz by tomorrow. He’d have to go over the paper in class, and he suddenly felt that Ding Rong had it tough, wondering how late she would be grading. In the teaching profession, at least in 2008, the pressure was high and the pay was low; for senior year, it was a full-blown "996" schedule.

For students, studying was a way to change their fate, so a little hardship was fine. But for teachers, working this hard didn't change their own destiny. Without a genuine passion for educating, one really couldn't last long.

...

On the way home, Zhai Da and Wu Yue walked side by side.

"You seemed so sleepy during the exam. Did you turn in a blank paper?"

"Pretty much..."

"Do you have any discs at home?"

Wu Yue shrank his neck. "How would I have that kind of stuff? My family's TV is in the restaurant; it’s not convenient to play those..."

"Aren't they stuck to the back of the study guides? Did you throw them away?"

"The CDs behind study guides come with that kind of stuff? That’s wild! Is it legit?"

"Some are legit, some are pirated. Go back and look. Since you don't use them, give them to me later. Any subject will do."

"Subjects... so it was that kind of disc... you scared me..."

Zhai Da had been organizing things these past two days. Because he hadn't cherished them in the past, many of his subject materials were incomplete—some had the first volume but not the second, or the third but not the second. If he waited until he reached those topics to look, it would be too late. He wasn't picky about the publisher or whether it was a "celebrity" teacher; a mix-and-match approach would work.

Wu Yue finally realized, "Are you planning to start studying?"

"I've always been studying. What about you? Have you completely given up? What have you been doing lately?"

In his previous life, Wu Yue went straight to working at his family's restaurant after high school, and after that, he just drifted through life once the demolition compensation came in. If his trajectory remained unchanged... these last few months were a complete waste of time.

Zhai Da wondered what would happen if he invited Wu Yue to study, but he felt that subjectively "doing what's best for others" might just be stirring up trouble. For someone living off demolition money, did academic performance even matter? It would be more effective to keep him from going down the wrong path and ensure he didn't end up in a detention center.

Wu Yue suddenly whispered, "I'm conducting an investigation."

"What kind of investigation?"

"There's a street behind my house with those little houses that have red lights on at night. I never dared to look twice when passing by, but lately, I've been learning about their business model."

Zhai Da gave him a surprised look. "You went in there? I'm warning you, those small joints use harsh ingredients; watch out for trouble."

Had he gone from one crooked path to another? But this one seemed... actually, it was fine. As everyone knew, there were only two major illegal activities that harmed society.

Wu Yue shook his head hurriedly. "I'm just observing their foot traffic from a distance."

As he spoke, he swung his backpack to his chest and pulled out a small notebook. It was filled with records—his "Entrepreneurial Notes." He said matter-of-factly:

"Basically, they’re busiest from ten at night to one in the morning, and it thins out late at night. Also, I suspect a small shop at the corner is connected to them. One day, a police car pulled up to the intersection, the owner made a phone call, and the roll-up door over there closed immediately."

"You're investigating this..."

Wu Yue grew more excited. "I searched on the internet at an arcade. Our province offers a reward of no less than 500 yuan for reporting this kind of thing. For every administrative arrest, there’s an extra 1,000-yuan bonus, and if a fixed venue is busted, there’s an additional 2,000 yuan—up to a cap of 10,000!"

"Think about it! Working a job only pays one or two thousand a month; 10,000 is half a year’s salary. If I investigate carefully, verify everything, and collect evidence, I can figure it out in a month at most. After that, I’ll be even more efficient. Isn't this better than working a job? I might even get a silk banner of honor!"

Zhai Da felt as if he were seeing Wu Yue for the first time. "Aren't you afraid of retaliation..."

And he was talking about being "even more efficient"—was he planning to turn this into a full-time job?

How utterly shameless.